Chapter 31

MIKOTO UCHIHA

Pain. Excruciating, debilitating, pain ripped through her whole body, and even the action of breathing felt excruciatingly painful as she coughed the very action making her vision blur up as she lay there against the tree as she gripped her gut.

Her once beautiful kimono had been dyed red, and her reserves had been long emptied as she saw the semi-transformed form of Iwa's jinchuriki roar. The ground around them was filled with craters, the forest burned as lava littered the ground.

The fight had been destructive, and she had given everything she had, and used every trick she could, yet battling a jinchuriki still proved too much for her. Though, as she saw the scarlet monster infront of her huff, his size nearly half of what it had been at the start of their battle showed that her efforts had not been futile.

"AGHHHHHH!" the jinchuriki roared, its roar feral and powerful, shaking the very ground she lay on. As she saw those ominous white orbs narrow onto her, the beast then opened its scissored whitish maw and it began to gather chakra once more.

And she found herself getting surprised by the volume of the chakra the beast was still able to gather; the amount was significant. It just showed the strategic powers of a jinchuriki, and he had been only the jinchuriki of the four tails. It was no wonder that the five great Nations fought to gain control over such strategic assets.

She noticed the beast thin out, and the very air rippled as it gathered that signature purple orb infront of its mouth, the very ground beneath its feet cracking from the pressure of the massive volumes of chakra it gathered in its maw.

SHAAAA!

The air between them rippled as the beast's eyes narrowed towards her. Mikoto huffed and tried to push herself up, yet despite all her efforts were futile.

"KUKH.KUKH!" she began to cough blood as her body refused to listen to her commands, and she was left stranded on the ground.

By now, a sense of cold had overtaken her, and her vision had begun to blur from the severe blood loss as she lay there waiting for her demise.

And in her last moments, her mind went to her little son, Itachi, her better half Fugaku and then to Ohashi, the boy who had been like a son to her. And as she watched the beast thrashed in rage, as its two tails wreaked havoc across the area before it roared as it gulped down the purple mass in its mouth.

"I am sorry," she uttered to all those who had ever cared for her as the beast opened its maw as a giant orb of chakra rushed towards her, its power devastating everything around it as it rushed towards her and she closed her eyes as she prayed that her six little genin had gotten away.

SWISH!

And then it happened. It was a blur that barely registered to her before she felt a shadow cover her, as a cloaked figure appeared infront of her out of nowhere, in its hand was the very weapon inscribed into every Uchiha's uniform. The very symbol of their clan.

A black and white gunbai, one of the Sage's weapons, and the man pushed chakra into his gunbai as he swung it towards the purple orb of chakra headed her way.

BOOOOM!

She saw the ground rip apart as the man's feet were dragged back, yet the gunbai held strong. The force from the clash sent shockwaves through the area, and the force was enough to rip apart trees and the man's cloak. And her heart stilled as she saw those silver hair flowing in the wind.

"Ohashi," she whispered, despite a part of her knowing that it could not be possible.

As she felt the stranger come to a stop inches away from her, as she saw the bandage covering the stranger begin to rip apart.

"AGHH!" she heard him shout as he swung the gunbai with enough might to send the purple orb of destruction back at the two-tailed jinchuriki, who shrieked in rage as its own attack was thrown back at it.

The beast tried to jump away, yet she saw the stranger place his hand on the ground as he heard him mutter.

"Doton: Multiple Earth Walls!" and then she saw a number of earthen walls rise up around the jinchuriki, boxing him in as the purple orb of destruction rushed towards him.

The beast could do nothing but shout in agony as his own attack hit him.

BOOOM!
The very ground shook as the attack hit the jinchuriki, and dust and smoke rose up as the stranger stood straight protecting her from the debris as the very forest was torn apart around them. Her heart thumped in her chest as she saw the stranger turn to face her, and she felt her heart still as she saw that face.

It was one she hadn't seen before, but even in her delirious state she didn't miss the similarities the man infront of her held with a certain silver-haired student of her. Yet those eyes were different, way too different, they were heavier, and dull, as if the whole world weighed on him.

And one of them was much like her own, a red Sharingan, with a pattern that evolved from the regular three tomoe of the regular Uchiha. A mangekyo, she gasped as she felt those eyes settle on her.

The man stepped towards her, and she could tell that he was dangerous. His chakra felt like something she had never felt. It was as if she was staring at a diety. It was dense and ominous evidence of the man's skill as a shinobi.

Yet, for some reason, he felt her heart ease as he walked towards her like a part of her told her that he wouldn't hurt her. Her body was growing colder, and darkness had begun to envelop her vision as the man stepped infront of her. and she looked up and was helpless as the man reached her hand.

She should have struggled, should have tried to run away, yet she couldn't. And a part of her didn't want to, and the more she glanced at that face, she felt it overlap with that of Ohashi.

"Ohashi," she found herself uttering as the stranger placed his hand over her head, and she had expected him to twist her, yet a sense of relief passed through her as the stranger's hand glew green, showing the use of iryo ninjutsu. She felt her breathing ease as her vision began to clear up, as the pain lessened, and she looked up and found that sole sharingan staring impassively at her.

The man was healing her, but why? She scanned his body and found no hitai-ate, showing that the man wasn't affiliated with any of the established villages. And then she remembered the gunbai, and her eyes narrowed onto the symbol of her clan, and as she glanced at it, she felt her heart stop as she recognized the weapon for what it was. And for some reason, she was reminded of a conversation from years ago.

"Sensei do you know how to use a gunbai?" the innocuous question had been asked by her newly appointed student, taking her by surprise given that the gunbai had long gone out of fashion, for the sheer difficult of use.

"No, but I know someone who does. DO you want to learn?" she had questioned and had bene surprised by the newly appointed genin had nodded his head.

"Yes, why not."

It was the legendary gunbai of Madra Uchiha, and from what she could recall, the Mangekyo in his eyes had the same pattern as that of the esteemed founder of the village. Cold chill ripped through her, as she forced herself to glance up, as she barely mouthed.

"Who are yo…" but before she could finish her words, a scarlet figure ripped out of the dust cloud, blurring through the air, as it lashed towards the stranger, who had his back to the rampaging beast.

"Behi…." She tried to warn, but there was no need as the beast

Was about to reach him, spikes erupted from the Earth, impaling the beast and its tails, before they forced the jinchuriki to the ground, holding it down even as it lashed down.

The stranger took off her hand, and she could breathe easily. The excruciating pain had dulled, but she knew that the man had just given her life-saving first aid. The man then turned to face the jinchuriki, who had thrashed around violently, though all his efforts were futile as the man made a set of handseals before he put forward his hand, and she watched wide-eyed as water began to coalesce into his hand, water that was being extracted out of thin air.

The volume of chakra the man was gathering was too much, nearly rivaling what the jinchuriki had gathered for its tailed beast bomb. And this time, she couldn't miss the resemblance the technique bore to what she had heard her own student theorize.

Could it be?

Could it be him?

She wanted to believe it, but if it was indeed him, then there were so many questions. So many questions. Where had he been? How had he gotten that eye? And why hadn't he returned?

And if it wasn't him. Then who was this stranger? How did he possess that eye and gunbai? How?

She had recovered some of her chakras and pushed it to her eyes as they spun, and she felt the world clear up as she burned the face of the stranger into her memories, as she saw his mouth.

"Forgive me for this, Son Goku!" she frowned as she saw him raise his hand, a literal storm of water in his hand as he plunged it into the strangled jinchuriki.

"Ninpo: Blood Flooding!" ( Chi no Kozuki )

0000

KAKASHI HATAKE

Kakashi and his teammates rushed through the forest as the stranger blurred past them. Kakashi's heart raced as he felt Mikoto-sama's chakra flutter weakly as a massive volume of chakra was gathered by the Iwa nin. His chakra indicated the beast had taken substantial damage, yet its ferocious chakra was leagues above anything he had ever sensed.

Was this the power of a jinchuriki, the strategic weapons zealously guarded by every village?

And this Iwa nin had been the jinchuriki of the Four tails, and from what he knew, Kushina-sama held in her the nine tails, the strongest of the bijuu. Did she possess power similar to this?

"What is going on?" Asuma questioned, with a worried expression, and Kakahsi gulped as he replied.

The stranger is about to reach Mikoto-sama, and her condition is bad. Kakashi didn't mince his words and saw Asuma curse as he broke formation and rushed forward.

"What are you doing, Asuma? Don't break formation?" he chided him, but the man didn't answer, and he sighed as he spoke up.

"Push more chakra. We are going full tilt," he spoke as everyone complied with his order, as they rushed past and then he felt it as the wind rippled through the forest and the ground shook, and he felt Mikto-sama's chakra flutter dangerously before the very area was rocked by a loud explosion.

BOOOM!

And his heart nearly gave out as the massive explosion messed with his sensing, and he saw all of them pale as they saw the explosion in the distance.

"Sensei!" Asuma and Yuhi gasped as they rushed towards her, and Kakashi closed his eyes as he pushed his sensing, using everything he had learned from Minato sensei and Ohashi as he searched for that familiar chakra, and he found it.

"She is alive! She is alive!" he announced, and he felt relief ripple through their group at his words before Kurenai added.

"And she is recovering! Someone's healing her," she answered, and Kakashi frowned at this new piece of information. They neared the source of the attack, and then Kakshi felt sweat appear on his forehead as he felt another massive volume of chakra getting gathered, this one more ancient.

If the previous chakra had been mad and angry. This one was like a cold rage, like an impassive anger that threatened to rip the whole world apart, and as he landed on a tree meters away from Mikoto-sama, she watched as the grey-haired stranger plunged a blur orb into a scarlet chakra-covered beast.

"Brace for impact!" he shouted as he pushed his chakra to his soles, and he rooted himself to the tree, much like the rest of the group as the justu ripped through jinchuriki.

BOOOM!

And he was pushed back, the thick forest tree shook as a literal flood ripped through the forest, drowning it in several feet of water that tore up trees and made the whole ground shake, and Kakshi barely held onto the tree as he glanced towards where he had seen Mikoto-sama.

And it was as if he was looking at the eye of a storm. Water crashed against an invisible wall that surrounded the area as the water began to fall. His heart thumped in his chest as he caught a glimpse of the man and the Iwa jinchuriki.

And he stilled as he saw that nothing remained of the Iwa jinchuriki. The jutsu literally ripped his very body apart, reducing it to nothing. And there stood the man, who had just killed one of Iwa's strongest shinobi in the world, as he turned towards the injured form of Mikoto-sama once again.

"NO!" Yuhi shouted as she rushed towards him, and he paled as he saw her rush towards the stranger, knowing that the man could reduce all of them to dust just as he had done to the Iwa jinchuriki.

He prayed as he jumped after her, trying to pull her back, but she was too fast, and he prayed that the stranger would spare her life.

And then, as if the Gods had answered his prayer, he watched as lightning crackled where the man stood before suddenly a literal yellow flash appeared. He sensed the all too familiar chakra of his sensei appears behind the man, his three-pronged kunai in hain, as he plunged it into the stranger's neck.

And he felt his heart ease as relief rippled through him.

Everything would be fine, for Leaf's Yellow Flash was finally here.

0000

Back in the village, hidden in the rain, three shinobi sat together as they discussed the ultimatum they had received from the man who had slain Hanzo.

Now, a little over twenty days remained till they would meet with the man, and as they sat down, they discussed the implications.

"We cannot face him alone. He literally killed Hanzo, and no matter what one may say of the man, he was a very powerful shinobi," remarked the red-haired member of the group.

The purple-haired girl nodded.

"Nagato is right. We have to think of something." She spoke with trepidation, and the last remember the one who had a tuft of orange hairs on his hand nodded, agreeing with their concerns.

"But what can we do? We cannot run away. The man will hunt us down," he said, and the other two nodded before suddenly the purple-haired girl spoke up after much silence.

"There is one way. We could try and contact him," she said, and she didn't need to take the name. For all of them knew whom she was referring to.

The man who had trained them all, moulded them into the shinobi they were.

The legendary shinobi, Jiraiya of the Sanin.

0000

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