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

Chapter 68

KONAN

Izuna returned to the balcony just as the match was about to reach its final moments. The Hozuki Kekkei Genkai was a true headache to deal with, and despite the constant training, Anko was struggling against the Kiri genin.

"So, how is the match going?" he asked as he stood by her, and Konan raised a brow.

"I think we are nearing the end of the bout," but despite that, she was no longer looking at it, as her gaze lingered towards Izuna, who was behaving a bit oddly.

"Where did you go?" she asked, as Suigetsu ran towards Anko for one final attack, as Anko threw three kunai around her, and began to cycle through a set of handseals.

"I will explain later," he answered as Anko used up all of her chakra on this final attack.

"Raiton: Granad Prison!" and so a lightning storm erupted in the area, devouring both her and the Kiri nin whose Kekkei Gekai had only one weakness, lightning style.

And as the storm of lightning raged, Anko found herself pushed to her knees as she launched a final attack in desperation.

"Ninpo: Snake Prison!" and the ground underneath the Kiri-nin's feet tore open as a swarm of snakes erupted ready to strike, yet he was able to persist, as he swung his blade, and cut up most of them, before he aimed his hand at Anko and used a jutsu of his own.

"Suiton: Water Bullet!" and water rushed out of his arm, and Anko was not able to jump away in time as the attack hit her in full, sending her tumbling across the arena, as she hit her back, and became unconscious.

Suigetsu was not in any better condition, and was forced to his knees, as he used his sword to prop himself up, but he was poisoned and clearly struggling to stand up.

"Shit!" the boy cursed, as he tried to take a step towards Anko but faltered, and Anko began to stir, and Izuna watched as Anko opened her eyes, and pushed herself off the ground, as she shifted in the air, unable to stand straight.

The proctor saw it all and raised his hand, indicating the end of the match.

"Both participants are unable to continue! The match ends in a draw!" and the announcement was met with jeers and boos, and even protests from the Kiri-nin.

"I can still fight!" he argued, but he was wrong, as the proctor pointed out.

"You are poisoned, and unless an antidote is administered within the next minute, you will die. Your opponent could have used an instantly fatal poison to kill you, but they did not," and he was not happy with the result, nor was Anko, but Konan was not really focused on the match.

"So, where did the Hokage-sama go?" she whispered, hiding her lips behind the raised lapels of her cloak as Izuna frowned, the air around him shifted as his eyes narrowed.

"How the hell did you figure this out?" he whispered as both contestants were carried out of the arena, and the second-to-last match was called.

"I don't know, I just felt that your chakra was a bit lower than usual," and that meant that he had used a jutsu.

"Just focus on the matches, we will talk about this later," he warned again as they turned their eyes towards the arena for the second-to-last match of the third stage, as Mei approached them once again.

"So, what are we to do about our little bet now?" asked the Kiri jounin, as Izuna turned to face her, and Izuna raised a brow.

"Well, it depends on what you want. The kid fought well, I might be able to throw in a sword if you make the deal worth it," and the orange-haired woman raised a brow.

"Wow, so generous. But aren't you getting ahead of yourself? There is still one bout left," and it was to be the grandest match of the tournament as Itachi faced off against Kiri's prized genin, Kimimaro Kaguya.

And Izuna-kun smiled as he shook his head.

"I would bet the entire seven swords on the outcome of that match," and he oozed confidence as he gave the ultimatum, as Mei's eyes widened at his audacity.

"Kiri is not winning the final bout..."

0000

MADARA UCHIHA

The white monkey had entertained him well until he had lost his arm. Madara had been truly devastated by the fact that he could not regenerate his arm like Hashirama could, despite holding the same power as him.

Though to his credit, the man had tried his best. Alas! In front of him, it was not enough.

And if this was what the best the Five Great Nations had to offer, he realised that gathering the bijuu would not be as difficult as he had thought. Even now, without a bijuu he had hardly broken a sweat against the best of Konoha.

But soon enough, he planned on giving Konoha a visit and taking the two bijuu now located in the village, and with the Kyubi under his control, gathering the rest of the bijuu would be very easy.

"You have entertained me well, little monkey," he praised as he tightened his grip over his neck, as he suffocated the man to bring this whole thing to an end.

"But I believe you have served your purpose. Though, take some solace that you were able to force me into giving my best even if it was for a second," and the white monkey was beaten up, his chakra had run out, one of his arms was gone, and both his legs were broken.

Killing him at this point was just mercy, yet even now with death staring him in the face, the man smiled, making Madara frown.

"I believe my time is not over just yet," and with that, the man slowly reached into his pocket and took out a kunai, making him frown.

"You think a strange kunai will save you." The bastard lacked even the power to swing his arm, as he coughed and choked, yet the smile never left his face. Just as Madara was about to crack out his neck, suddenly the weight in his arms vanished in an all too familiar blur, as he found himself facing that giant orb of chakra once again, and even with his Sharingan, he could barely react in time as the jutsu struck him in the chest.

"Rasengan!" and Madara's armor splintered beneath the impact, as he was thrown across the clearing and into the wall, as it cracked behind him, and for the first time since this battle had started he felt genuine pain as he pushed himself off of the wall, and pushed away the dust cloud with a wave of his hand.

And so, he finally saw the person who had just attacked him, and he noticed the blonde hair first then the blue eyes, and last he gazed at the uniform, and the all too familiar cloak he wore.

The very one that Hashirama had once worn.

"Minato, you are finally here?" the white Monkey wheezed out as Madara raised a brow.

"Minato?" he racked his mind, for both Zetsu and the Monkey had mentioned that name before.

"You are the Hokage, correct?" he asked, dusting himself as those blue orbs narrowed, and Madara was impressed as he saw the man assessing the battlefield, gleaming what he could from the destruction and the decimation around him.

"Indeed, I am the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato," he announced as Madara felt his blood spurt in excitement.

"Hokage huh. So, you are Hashirama's successor," and that gave him some hope.

"Let's see if you can entertain me any better than that little Monkey," he challenged, though his eyes continued to move towards the kunai as he thought about how he had appeared in front of him in a blur, and the way he held that kunai in his hand.

It couldn't be, he thought. However, all evidence pointed to the contrary, suggesting that this was indeed his technique, one created by Hashirama's brother.

The very technique that had been instrumental in the demise of his brother.

He could see them conversing with one another using signs, and the fools had not thought for a second that he was one of the founders of the village, and knew the language better than both of them, and so he realised that they were planning on escaping.

And the disregard angered him, for he wanted to be entertained. He wanted to see the power of the man who had inherited Hashirama's title.

And so just as the blonde reached down to touch the white monkey's body, he activated his Mangekyo's second ability, one that allowed him to halt time for a split second, and in that moment, he vanished and appeared just behind the white haired monster and reached for him as well, and the world around his shifted.

His body moved through space and time, and for a second he was disoriented, until his feet hit the ground once more, and as soon as the blonde Hokage realised his presence, his chakra roared in alarm as he jumped back, and looked around the surroundings to make sense of where they were.

"Where do you think you are going?" he whispered, as the blonde jumped away with the injured shinobi, as Madara scanned his surroundings, and as he saw Hashirama's face carved into the mountain, he knew exactly where he was.

"How!" the man gasped, alert and aware, and he could sense the sheer vastness of the village, amazed at how the little settlement that he and Hashirama had laid the foundation for had become a bustling and burgeoning place.

"So, this is Konoha," he said, smiling, as the blonde man gazed at him.

"Truly, I am impressed," and he was, but he would have to tear it all up, for this was a mistake, a hindrance in his greater plan.

"How are you here?" and Madara scoffed as he answered.

"You are not the only one with a few tricks up his sleeve, and the language you were using, do you have any idea who invented it, you fool!" the taunt mad the man realise his mistake, as Madara looked around and took in all the changes that had occurred over the years.

"I always wanted to see what became of the village, and so I am grateful. Though it changes little," he whispered as he prepared himself for battle.

"Because I will have no choice but to destroy it," and suddenly, nearly a dozen shinobi appeared and surrounded him, as a massive sealing formula spread out from the ground underneath them.

"You will do no such thing," and in a blur, he saw four shinobi gather around him, as they cycled through a set of handseals.

"Ninpo: Four Violet Flame Formation..." and in unison, a purple barrier emerged around them, trapping him and the Hokage within the walls, as Madara raised a brow.

"Do you think this barrier can hold me?" he asked with a scoff.

"Perhaps not," he whispered, and as he reached down, he teleported the injured white monkey away, before he reached into his pocket and threw out three kunai into the ground.

"But it will let me protect the village as I fight you," and the fool thought that he could win against him all by himself.

"And you think you can win against me all by yourself?" Madara asked, and suddenly his face shifted, and in the blink, he saw the upper eyelid of his eye gain an orange hue, as his eye turned golden, and gained a horizontal slit.

"Alone, maybe not," he answered as Madara realised exactly what he was witnessing, for that change in his face and chakra. It could only be one thing.

"Senjutsu," he whispered, and Senjutsu was one of the most difficult skills to learn and was even more difficult to master, yet in the last few hours, he had witnessed not one but two Sages.

"But here, I am no longer alone..." and suddenly three figures blurred where he had thrown his kunais.

"Maa! Maa! I never thought that I would be facing off against old legends like him," came the first voice, and the shinobi was pale white, and had snake-like eyes, reminding of a clan that used to exist long ago.

"Do not underestimate him. Madara Uchiha is not a shinobi to be underestimated," and this voice was familiar, and so were those eyes, which shone in a red and black hue similar to his own, showing him to be a Uchiha.

"When I heard the news that I would be facing Madara Uchiha, I could not believe my ears," and this voice he recognised, as he smiled.

"But it seems today is the day of impossibilities," and age had taken a toll on him, but he looked much like his own father now as he stood against him.

"I had heard that you were still alive, you monkey," and Tobirama's little sapling had grown up into quite a menace, as the four of them stared at him.

"Yet it is quite a shame that you have grown quite old," and so he would be no match against him.

"And I had thought that you were dead?' and Madara scoffed.

"Well, I had no choice but to come back so that I may rectify the mistakes of the past," and with that, he got into his own stance, as he cracked his neck in anticipation of a great fight.

"And the greatest of those mistakes was the creation of this wretched village...."

0000

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