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

Chapter 67

MADARA UCHIHA

So, it was finally here—the pinnacle of this age of shinobi. And Madara had been fairly disappointed until now, but he hoped that the sage mode would help assuage his boredom.

"You need not be so cautious," Madara said to the white-haired shinobi who frowned as he gathered his nature energy, as Madara relaxed his muscles.

"I will wait," he offered, and saw those eyes widen, for in his mind, even his Sage Mode would not do much for him.

"Are you sure?" he asked, and Madara scoffed.

"I am not fond of beating children," for already he was struggling against him, and Madara did not wish for his fun to end so soon, because if he attacked him as he was gathering natural energy, then the battle would end in a few seconds.

"Gather your chakra in peace, I will not attack you," and at least he understood his position as he took his offer, and began to gather chakra as Madara waited patiently. Then, a few minutes later, the shift in the air was obvious, as his expression shifted, and two red lines now ran down his face.

"Well then, let us resume," and in a burst of movement, he appeared in front of him, giving him no time to prepare himself as Madara smirked.

"You are quite rude," and he was using an entirely different form of Taijutsu, as he blocked the attack from his Susanoo, managing to push back the punch.

"Senpo: Frog kata..." and the Susanoo's punch was pushed back, as he turned towards him and coiled back his arm once again, and unleashed the same devastating technique once more.

Senpo: Frog Kata!" he shouted again, the technique striking with even greater force, and despite Susanoo in between them, he felt a strike on his armor as he was pushed back, but he was not quite done as his summon appeared from behind, and attacked him, and as his Susanoo shielded him, he appeared behind him, wielding a massive orb of chakra, this one nearly thrice the size of his earlier technique.

"Senpo: Odama Rasengan!" and it hit the ribs of his Susanoo, and he smirked as he heard them crack, before they tore through them, as Madara smiled, rejoicing at the excitement as he activated one of his Mangekyo's abilities.

"Limbo," he whispered, and before the Rasengan could land, his invisible clone intercepted the attack. His clone then kicked away the bastard and sent him tumbling back as his Susanoo pushed back the summons.

What the..." the white-haired shinobi muttered, eyes wide with disbelief, as he stepped out of the dust cloud, dusting himself off.

"Good! Good!" Madara laughed, for though this was nothing like his battle with Hashirama, it still felt quite good to flex his muscles like that.

"Show me more! Show me your powers!" and again the man jumped towards him, as he released a massive torrent of oil towards him.

"Senpo: Oil Bomb!" and he pushed his chakra into his Susanoo as he pushed it beyond its initial form as it gained a proper body, and sword, as he lit up the fire.

"Senpo: Fire Bomb!" and the explosion was massive, as the Susanoo swung its blade at him, yet the summons came in between the sage and the attack.

CLANK!

And parried the attack, as Madara felt a massive chakra under him, forcing him to jump, but it was too late.

"Senpo: Frog Kata..." and for the first time in the battle, he felt his face getting hit, with a massive force as he was flung into the wall, but the Sage had sensed an opportunity and was on him again with that giant blue ball chakra technique.

"Senpo: Odama Rasenga..." and Madara smirked as he activated his Mangekyo technique once more.

"Limbo..." but this time he surprised him, as he avoided his Limbo clone's attacks, much to his surprise, and screamed as he aimed the attack at his face.

"AHHHHH!" and he reacted on instinct, pushing himself off the wall. His second Mangekyo ability activated as time around him slowed down. He grabbed his arm and tore it out in rage, then kicked him with all his might.

"AGH!" the bastard screamed as his body was sent tumbling to the ground once more, while Madara simply stood there, holding out an arm as the blue orb of chakra collided with the wall behind him, causing a massive explosion and tearing apart one entire side of the cave.

BOOOM!

BOOOM!

BOOOM!

The cave shook with a thunderous explosion, stone and flame erupting in every direction.

Madara glanced at the bloodied arm in his hand, and his mood soured as he clicked his tongue. He had acted on instincts, and now, with his opponent losing an arm, he had more or less ended the battle.

He looked up and saw him push himself out of the wall, as he gasped, and the consecutive attacks seemed to have run him out of his senjutsu, which was on its last legs as he bled out of his stump.

So, he simply threw back the arm at his feet as he commanded him.

"Heal yourself, and rejoice," he whispered as he stepped forward.

"For even if it was just for a second, you made me react to you as if you were Hashirama himself," but it was only for a second.

The white haired shinobi huffed, as his arm lay there, making him frown.

"Don't tell me you cannot even heal yourself?" and the silence and inaction were answer enough, because now, without his arm, he could not gather senjutsu chakra again, marking the end of this battle.

"Hashirama could heal wounds like that in the blink of an eye," he taunted, as he saw him form a hand seal.

"I know, but I am not Hashirama. I am not even the Hokage..." he replied with a chuckle, and suddenly two small toads appeared on his shoulder, as he continued to stand there defiantly.

"And even though I cannot heal the wound that you have given me," and then he vanished again as Madara's heart leaped in his chest as he appeared behind him, as he appeared above him, and shouted.

"I AM NOT DONE JUST YET!"

"SENPO: BATH OF BOILING OIL!"

And this time, the toads on his shoulders joined him in the attack, as a massive storm of fire rushed towards him.

BOOOM!

0000

IZUNA UCHIHA

The Third Stage of the Exams continued in full, and as he healed Saiko using his iryo-ninjutsu, time came for the second bout of the team. A bout, which was rather troubling as Anko was set to face none other than Suigetsu Hozuki.

Okay! Wish me luck!" Anko grinned, flashing a thumbs up, and was about to jump down, as he called out to her.

"Be careful," he warned because Suigetsu was one of the more troubling opponents in the exam, and she nodded cockily as Saiko stood up.

"I think I am fine now," and he pulled back his arms as he led her to the seat, and then walked forward towards the balcony and stood beside Konan.

"This one could be dangerous," she whispered, sharing his sentiment, as he nodded and turned his gaze towards the Kage booth, and saw Minato-san looking down at him and frowning for some odd reason.

The stands around them were packed with spectators and guests, and until now, the matches had been fairly exciting and non-lethal, though that could all change in but a few seconds.

The exam was reaching its conclusion, though, and after this match, only two more bouts would remain, including the last match between Itachi and Kimimaro. But something was off, and Izuna could feel it, a sort of tension that was eating away at him.

He eyed the arena, trying to find the source of it all, yet despite the dangers of the match, this was not it.

No, there was something else making him worry.

"I do hope you have not forgotten our little gamble?" and he glanced back and saw Mei standing there with the young Kimimaro as he nodded.

"I have not," he answered as she joined him, and the young, white-haired genin greeted him.

"It is good to see you again, Izuna-sama," and Izuna nodded.

Still, she's unlucky to face Suigetsu-kun," Mei said with a teasing smile, and the proctor brought down his hand as the match began.

"After all, you do know what they say about him," Mei teased, and indeed, Suigetsu had the blood of a killer running through his veins, and not just a simple killer.

No. Mangetsu was called the demon and it seemed as if his brother had inherited Mangetsu's skillset, and was often referred to as the 'Second Coming of the Demon' and it showed for even in this dry weather, the monster began to jump around the arena as he aimed water pistol on Anko who was forced into jumps to avoid the attack, before she suddenly used snakes to attack him from below ground.

But Suigetsu cut them up with a single strike, and their battle continued in earnest, and despite his training, Anko was struggling against Suigetsu, yet the sense of unease continued to grow until another person joined their group and called him out.

"Izuna-kun," and he glanced back and saw Inoichi-san standing there, and he frowned.

"Inoichi-san," he greeted, and the man seemed fairly serious as he called out to him.

"Would you mind coming with me?" Izuna frowned and eyed the Kage booth, and noticed the empty Hokage seat, and with a final nod towards Konan, joined Inoichi-san, as they moved up the stairs and towards the back of the arena. When they were away from prying eyes, he finally asked the question.

What happened?" he asked, heart sinking. It had to be serious for the Hokage to leave mid-match, especially during one of Konoha's own bouts.

"I do not know myself," he answered, though it was apparent something had happened.

"The Hokage-sama just ordered me to bring you to him," and with that, they reached the room allotted to the Hokage, which was just behind the Kage booth, and Choza-san was already there along with a very serious Minato-san.

"What happened?" he asked, and the Hokage looked him in the eye.

"Izuna-kun," Minato said gravely, "I must leave Suna immediately."

And he stilled, for he could think of only one matter that would make someone of his stature worry so much.

"Don't tell me?" Izuna gasped, but a subtle nod was answer enough.

"Yes, it is as you suspect," and then he turned towards Inoichi and Choza-san.

"Give us the room," and the two senior jounins left them alone, as Izuna spoke up.

"So, he found him," and Minato-san nodded.

"Yes, and they are fighting as we speak, and things are not looking good. I need to go to his aide," but the Hokage leaving the exam like this would reflect poorly on Konoha.

"But if you leave right now, it would reflect badly on the village?" Izuna argued.

"Let me go in your stead, I can..." but the blonde Hokage stopped him as he placed a hand on his shoulder.

"No. This is my burden to bear, Izuna," he said, looking him in the eye.

"If the person we face is indeed Madara Uchiha, then we must prepare for everything. No matter the outcome of the battle between us, as long as you are alive, Konoha lives on, the will of fire lives on," and his words reeked of conviction. He knew that Minato-san had been preparing for this eventual fight for years now, but he had not thought that it was not just winning that he was preparing for.

No. He was preparing the village for the worst as well. Preparing him for the worst.

"I will also be teleporting Choza and Inoichi to the village as well, to shore up our defences," and that was wise, because if Madara attacked the village to get his hands on the Kyuni, it would end in disaster. Inoichi-san was the head of the Intel division, and if he were away from the village during a crisis, it could cause havoc.

"In the meantime, you will use clones to replace us all. No matter what happens, no village must get a hint about our disappearance," and despite his reluctance, he nodded.

"As soon as the matches end, you are to leave Suna and head back to Konoha at once," and he nodded.

"You remember what I told you about the Rinnegan and that plant-like creature, right?" he confirmed, and using Konan as a cover, he had submitted an entire report about Rinnegan's abilities to him, and with Minato-san's intellect, the man must have prepared counters for them.

And though it was Madara that they faced, but the true enemy was Black Zetsu, the person that had been pulling the strings for years.

"Yes, I remember," and so with that, the man removed his cloak and hat, and handed over the cloak and hat—the symbols of Konoha's leadership.

"Izuna-kun," he added slowly as he looked up from the hat and the gown.

"I don't plan to fail. But if the worst comes to pass..."..."

"...I leave the village in your hands!"

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.

.

.

And in another corner of the village, two masked shinobi met with Gari in a back alley, as he passed along a massive case filled with money.

Here's the money," Gari said gruffly, snapping the case shut.

"Your target is Minato Namikaze—the Fourth Hokage."

0000

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