NARUTO SI: A Burdened Soul (Elder Brother to Itachi SI)

Chapter 18

IZUNA UCHIHA

The death of his team had been a mystery to him, and he had always been suspicious of foul play, and yet he never had proof of it. The precise attack of Kumo's team caught them all by surprise and could not have been a coincidence. And yet, despite his initial research, he had found no evidence to the contrary, evidence pointing towards a certain one-eyed war-mongering bastard having a role in that tragedy.

But he had been wrong. His hunch had been correct. The attack had not been random, that much proven by the second attempt on his life.

Someone was plotting against him, someone from Konoha itself. And there was only one person who would do such a thing, and though he remained oblivious to the reason behind this malice, he was certain about the identity of the culprit.

Shimura Danzo.

And Izuna promised to make the man pay. It was the least he could do for Shisui, but before that, as he lay there alone in the medical tent, he quickly reached for the hand headed for his neck before he opened his eyes and stared straight through the slits of that ceramic mask, into eyes hidden underneath.

"Now, what are you doing here?" he whispered. His eyes spun, and his hand glew green. He used iryo-ninjutsu to paralyze the man in a second simply by disturbing the balance of a few ions inside and outside the cells.

It was one trick, a single trick, and the Foundation-nin was done, paralyzed from head to toe as Izuna pushed himself up and looked the man in the eye.

"Who sent you here?" he asked. His Sharingan spun as his genjutsu took hold, and just as the masked nin made to answer, suddenly, the masked nin's body froze, and Izune saw the light vanish from his eyes in a second as he failed to mouth nothing more than a single letter.

"D...."

As his lifeless body dropped to the ground, Izuna jumped down and pulled away his mask to reveal a brown-haired shinobi barely into his teens, with lifeless eyes and a frothing mouth, one which was now covered by a seal.

"The Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal" was a piece of work, a cruel and unforgiving seal that would kill someone in an instant if they tried to say certain things.

In Konoha, he knew only one person was deprived enough to use it.

"Are you just going to stay there and watch?" he whispered as he stood up, as a chuckling sound appeared from behind him before another person appeared in the tent, someone he was not so capable of killing at the moment.

Though he doubted that he would be attacked here, right now. For if he had wished it, the man could have launched an attack by now.

"Impressive, Izuna-kun," Orochimaru, the Snake Sanin, an ally of Danzo, praised him as Izuna turned to face the man, ready for battle. His Sharingan spun in his eyes as he stood there, ready to fight for his life.

"You are the one who messed me with my seal," and it was not hard to guess. Fuinjutsu was not as common as one would think, and even tempering with a seal as was done required a certain level of skill. And only one shinobi here possessed such a skill.

Him. Orochimaru.

"And why would I do that," he questioned sharply as Izuna looked him in the eye.

"Because Danzo Shimura ordered you to," the man's lips turned up at those words.

"You truly are smarter than people realize," he whispered, and Izuna could see the man's finger twitch as the Snake Sanin wet his lips.

"So, what will it be, Orochimaru? Because I can assure you, killing me won't be as easy as you think," and the man chuckled.

"I am beginning to see that," and then Izuna saw the man put back his kunai.

"And I am afraid you have piqued my interest, Izuna-kun. So, why don't we call a truce, you and I. After all, as you said, I only did as I was ordered by Danzo Shimura. He is the one truly after you," the man said as Izuna shrugged, not believing a word coming out of that mouth.

"Truce it is then," he agreed, and the man nodded.

"Then I will see you later," Izuna called out as he turned away from him.

"You still tried to kill me," Izuna called out as the Snake sanin stopped and glanced back. Izuna looked him in the eye and gave him a warning.

"The next time you try that, you will pay for it with your own life," the man was stilled by his warning before he chuckled.

"Is that so...."

...

And over the next few days, things returned to normal as they celebrated their success. News of the Third Raikage's arrival made them a bit nervous, given the man's legendary prowess. But thankfully, Kumo was in no shape to attack them.

The tides of war were finally turning in their favor, especially as Orochimaru and Shikau Nara summoned the whole force again and spoke of their new orders.

"Fugaku Uchiha has slipped the whole offensive force behind enemy lines and is now attacking the secondary host with all his might. It is said to be a complete rout, and after that, they shall have a clear path straight to Kumo itself," and the whole Hall bubbled in excitement at that news as Shikaku Nara continued.

"But they are vulnerable from the back. Kumo's front lines will be retreating and will try to attack them from behind, and if that happens, it could jeopardize the whole offensive, and that is why we will be mobilizing at once," Shikaku Nara announced as he drew a straight line from their positions to the behind enemy lines.

"Our forces here will be splitting into two groups. One will leave right now, blitzing through what remains of enemy lines to cut off the fringes of the Kumo forces aiming for the back of Konoha's offensive force," he announced.

"The second group will move in behind the rest of the Kumo force and decimate to crush them with full force." It was a simple hammer and anvil strategy that would have them praying on the Kumo forces.

"And what of the Sandaime Raikage?" a man questioned and Izuna was about to voice out the same thing.

"We have credible reports that the man left for Kumo; he will not be a problem," Orochimaru announced, and he felt palpable relief swell throughout the gathering as the Sanin stepped forward.

"I will be commanding the second unit, while Shikaku Nara will be taking command of the first unit. Those in the first unit will leave in an hour," the man announced. His rank and reputation made it so that everyone listened when he spoke.

"You are all dismissed," and Izuna made to leave the tent when he was called out once more.

"Izuna-kun, wait," he said, turning around and seeing Shikaku Nara walking up to him.

"Yes," he asked, and the man looked him up and down before asking.

"Have you recovered fully?" the man asked, and Izuna nodded.

"I have," and the man nodded.

"Good, then you are on my squad. I just wanted to make sure you were back in full health or not because this is it, Izuna-kun. If we win this, the war ends, do you understand that," he added as Izuna nodded.

"Yes, I get that," and as he was about to leave, he remembered something.

"Has there been any news from the Iwa front," he asked, and the Nara-clan member looked at him in surprise as he answered.

"It has not yet been confirmed, but there are rumors that Iwa's bomber squad was wiped out in its entirely by Minato Namikaze, and that they have officially given him the title of ..." he added as he smiled.

"...Konoha's Yellow Flash!"

.

.

.

.

.

.

And a few hours later, Izuna found himself rushing through the forests alongside his team as they made to cover their offensive team's back. The squad was chosen specifically by Nara Shikaku for this mission, which required them to move at swift pace.

And the reason was plenty obvious, for just as they reached their position, their tracker moved forward.

"Kumo-nin heading straight for us," and Shikaku Nara raised a brow.

"Well then, it's time to work," he spoke as they all got ready as the man jumped behind him as Izuna reached for his two tantos as a dozen Kumo-nin blurred infront of them.

"Shit! They are already here!" one of them shouted.

"There is not a lot of them here yet. Let's bust through them," they shouted as they took out their kunais and made jumped at them all at once.

"It's done, Izuna-kun," the Nara- commander added form behind as four Kumo-nin stilled at once as Izuna cycled through a set of familia handseals.

"Katon:..." and he saw a few of them click their tongues at those words.

"Use water style to block the attack," and he saw one of them step forward as he cycled though his own set of handseals.

"...Great Fireball Jutsu!" he shouted as he brought his hand to his mouth and spewed out a massive storm of sizzling blue flames which caught everyone by surprise as the Kumo-nin shouted.

"Suiton: Water Wall Jutsu!" and he spewed a mouthful of water, which formed a wall infront of them, and yet to their dismay, his technique tore through the water as if it was nothing as screams of Kumo-nin filled the area.

"AHHHHH!"

And Izuna watched their bodies burn as the rest of the Kumo-nin now all focused on him, as he pushed chakra into his eyes, which now spun scarlet once more as the world slowed down.

"It seems this as far you are allowed to go," he challenged and took out his tantos, as the Kumo nin all glared at him with fear and hate lacing their eyes.

"We will see about that," and then with a single blink, his body multiplied in front of their eyes as a dozen Izuna Uchiha appeared around him as they all replied with him in a single voice.

"We will...."

0000

FUGAKU UCHIHA

Fugaku's gamble had worked and his men had caught Kumo's forces in disarray, and now Kumo was on the backfoot as he tore through their forces swiftly, decimating them.

"Katon: Fire ball Jutsu!" he screamed as he let out an attack that swallowed a whole group of Kumo-nin, as he jumped back and parried a volley of shuriken, as two Kumo-nin tried to blitz him, but all it took was one glance.

One glance into his eyes, and their movements stilled as Fugaku's kunai tore through their necks as he stood there on the ground and began to assess the damage, and infront of him he could see the morale of Kumo forces fall as he was joined by his shinobi and teams, as they nearly surrounded them.

"Everyone move for..." but before he could finish his sentence, he stilled as he felt an overwhelming chakra rush towards them, before suddenly an explosion rocked the whole ground.

BOOOM!

And Fugaku felt a shiver run down his spine as a cloud of dust and smoke rose into the air, obscuring their vision, but not for him. His Sharingan saw through it, and he found himself surprised as he saw just who had come.

"I never should have expected anything less from the famous Uchiha clan," the burly voice tore through the silence, as a single swift swing pushed away the cloud to reveal his form to everyone.

He was a giant man with muscles as hard as steel. His long hair ran down his back, and a single scar covered his otherwise unblemished skin.

He was the powerhouse of Kumogakure, its strongest shinobi, considered equal to a bijuu alone. The Raikage, Ay.

And his men gulped nervously at the sight of him, and yet they did not back down as they stood their ground even as the man's chakra roared, and he activated his famous lightning chakra cloak.

"You have killed enough of my men, Uchiha," he spoke as he raised his hand and slashed it into the ground, cutting a line into it that ran for miles as he turned to face his own men who had gained some semblance of hope.

"All of you return to the village, an carry the wounded," the man ordered as the Kumo-nin cheered.

"As your Raikage, I swear..." the man continued as he looked straight into his eyes.

"...no Konoha nin shall chase after you," with that, the ground broke as the Raikage's chakra roared, and Fugaku brought his hands together as his own chakra roared forth at his command.

"We will see about that...."

0000

Several days later, Shikaku Nara would make his way to the front lines where Konoha forces and the Thira Raikage had clashed and would find himself distraught at the scenes there, at the mountains of dead piled upon one another until he reached a crater, where lay the lifeless remains of the Third Raikage, alongside a beat-up, and bloodied form of the Uchiha clan head.

"He is dead," the Nara jounin would gasp, as Fugaku Uchiha would nod as a medic rushed to treat his injuries.

"Yes, it took us days and hundreds if not thousands of our men, but he is dead. Finally," the man gasped as Shikaku Nara scanned the area and asked in a whisper.

"You are telling me he did all this just by himself," and as he saw the Uchiha clan head nod. Fugaku Uchiha was alive, but the man was exhausted and his body was littered with the remains of what was definitely a great battle, one which he had triumphed in.

Though it seemed impressive at first, one had to remember that the Raikage had not just fought Fugaku Uchiha. The man had fought an entire army. One glance at the clearing told you that for every scratch, the man had felled nearly a dozen men.

Though what else could he have expected of Kumo's most powerful Kage ever?

So, Shikaku could do little else but look at the lifeless remains of the Raikage and speak out in awe as he shook his head.

"What a damn monster!"

0000

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