[Chapter Size: 2200 Words.]
Third Person POV
Konoha, Year 42.
...
...
The villagers were tense at that moment, while the residents could see the large number of ninjas gathering at that point in the village. They were very frightened by what was happening, hearing the fights, explosions, and roars.
But there were no more battles in the center now that things had finally calmed down, and everyone could see thousands of ninjas occupying the rooftops near the Hokage Monument.
Even so, everyone was worried about what might be happening.
If even the shinobi were unsure, the citizens of Konoha felt even more lost, not knowing what to do, afraid of being attacked as well, with smoke rising from some parts of the village.
Even shinobi who were just now arriving in the village after missions were finding the gate guards torn between wanting to see what was happening, since the explosions could be heard throughout the village. Yet they had to remain firm there, due to needing to protect the area in case some external threat approached as well.
In one corner of the village, at an orphanage where Minato spent the first part of his childhood, Madame Gorete, the director, was trying to remain calm with all the children as she held some of them in her arms, looking out the window trying to see what was going on. It was no surprise that everyone panicked as soon as the explosions began.
The other women at the orphanage were also caring for the frightened children.
"The monster... did it go away...?" a five-year-old girl murmured in fear.
Everyone had heard the explosions and also the roar of some giant monster — being Baku, the summoning Hanabi had called.
"I hope so... my dear," Gorete said, while her gaze returned to Konoha, seeing a great commotion at a rather distant point, but unable to see what was happening.
Her thoughts turned to a certain blond boy, worried that he might be okay.
In the Senju clan, Hanabi was still atop Baku, and many people on the streets could see the creature, terrified, they began to run from that area. Despite Hanabi keeping Baku still and calm, since there were no more enemies ahead of her.
She had defeated dozens of members of the Hyuuga clan, even from the main house, who had appeared before her, and she could still see them all fallen, defeated below the summoning. Some even tried to activate the seal on their foreheads, but were easily knocked out.
She was lucky to add her wind-style chakra to her gentle fists — her clan technique, which allowed her to easily attack from a distance of a few meters, creating bursts of air vacuum.
That was what gave her a great advantage against them, to the point of showing her superiority by defeating such a number of enemies from her own clan. All because she hadn't fully followed the clan's tradition.
That made her more powerful, diversifying her style. And she didn't even need to use her bow — after all, it would be too fatal for her opponents, and Minato had said they weren't seeking the death of enemies, since this wasn't an attack against Konoha.
Her gaze returned to the base of the mountain, where she could see Minato arguing with the Hokage through the walls using her byakugan.
"Hey, can you stay here alone? My sister and I are going to meet the Hokage as soon as Minato teleports us there."
Nawaki approached while Hanabi nodded, with enemies now nearly nonexistent.
At one of the village gates, a group had just arrived.
"Hey, what's going on in the village?"
They landed in front of the entrance gate, easily seeing some dust clouds rising in the village. This group was none other than those Minato had spared in the Land of Wind.
"We tried to get answers, but no one is certain. All ranks are concentrated in the village center. But it seems a group of clans turned against the Hokage. The village appears to be divided, and it looks like the hero Minato Namikaze is involved... It's frustrating to hear that and, at the same time, not be able to leave here," said the gate ninjas.
"Alright, we'll go check it out," the group replied and quickly moved into the village.
And, moving through the village, they kept frowning, still without any real answers about what was going on.
"Did we arrive too late?" one of them commented.
It seemed so. After all, the information that Minato had destroyed all the traps and easily killed more than a hundred and fifty ninjas was very important and provocative.
They had greatly underestimated Minato's strength.
However, they also couldn't complain much, since they were only alive because Minato had killed everyone.
As for Minato, it was no surprise that he was already here, able to be in the village at any moment.
They only knew that he had stayed with Orochimaru in the Land of Wind — they just didn't know what happened afterward.
They even waited a few hours at the border, but there was no sign of them, so they headed to the village.
They might have thought he was dead, while advancing toward the village intending to share the information.
It didn't take long to see the crowd of thousands of ninjas, as they spotted the Hokage in front of the elders and several ninjas from various clans, such as the Kurama clan, the Sarutobi clan, the Shimura clan, and other smaller clans, on top of and beside the Hokage building, making it easy to see what was happening.
All of these were against Minato and his allies.
The blond didn't stop looking at the arriving Anbu, satisfied. They had arrived at the right moment. Otherwise, Minato would've had to summon them, since he had placed a seal on each of them without their noticing. In case he needed to bring them when presenting his evidence.
"You are right."
Suddenly, Minato stopped looking at the ninjas and turned back to the Hokage, who had finally spoken after a bit of silence, while staring at Minato.
"You are right in some parts. The village really was created to preserve peace. And I admit, with regret, that I gave up the Uzumakis to keep us at peace. And I still affirm: that was the price we had to pay."
He paused.
"Now I ask all of you."
His gaze returned to all the ninjas — both enemies, allies, and those who had remained neutral.
"What would you do in my place? Would you really go back to war? Is that truly what you seek? Because I could have done it, and the Second Great Ninja War might have never ended. But I believed that this was something we all had in common: the pursuit of peace, not another bloody war. And I'm sure you've all seen your comrades being killed, losing brothers, children, parents. Is that what you're after?"
The place fell silent as he asked, and he could see several ninjas clenching their teeth and even lowering their heads, while others remained neutral or even looked at him with anger.
"Peace will always be built through sacrifice, Minato. Perhaps you're too young to understand. But one day, when you take this position, you'll understand that leading Konoha is not such a simple task, and you'll have to sacrifice many things."
He spoke with a firm tone and full of wisdom, as if laying out that approach, as if Minato were his future successor. But Minato knew it was just a façade.
'Sacrifice the Uzumaki clan today, tomorrow sacrifice the Uchiha clan. Always for the sake of peace, right? Everything revolves around sacrifice. Sacrificing Kakashi's father. Sacrificing Naruto to live a life of loneliness and bitterness, when he could have had everything.'
These thoughts came to Minato's mind automatically.
As he thought about it, anger rose within him. This man didn't know it yet, but his life was full of mistakes, all stemming from this ideology of sacrifice — that people must sacrifice themselves for the village and obey its orders, all for the good of the village.
"This is wrong, and we shouldn't continue down this path. Otherwise, more and more, everyone will suffer losses."
Minato murmured aloud, only his girls and a few ninjas behind him hearing.
Then he raised his gaze and spoke out loud again to the Hokage and the entire crowd of ten thousand ninjas there.
"Tell me... you just said I would take this position in the future, but you didn't think twice about trying to sacrifice me today, did you? When you set me up."
Minato asked with a mocking tone, while people began to wonder what he was talking about.
The Hokage grimaced and didn't respond in time before Minato continued.
"You sent five squads and made an alliance with the Land of Wind... It was ten squads from Konoha and Suna and more than fifty disguised ninjas to try to kill me this very day, Hokage. All to make sure I wouldn't be in the village when night fell..."
"Tell me, Hokage... was I also the necessary sacrifice to prevent what would happen tonight? It always comes down to you seeking sacrifices, one after the other. But the only sacrifice I don't see is yours. Nor the other elders'."
He spoke with anger.
He couldn't question the Hokage's mentors from the Second War, who had indeed been necessary in many battles against Kiri. But still, the Hokage always seemed to want to save his own skin, and that was far too irritating, while letting Danzou commit all kinds of crimes out there.
Everyone looked at the Hokage, surprised.
"I had to do what was necessary, because you were seeking a civil war." he said, and Minato scoffed.
"Where is there a civil war here, Hokage? You know very well that we're stronger than you and could overthrow you. We have a perfect jinchūriki and one of the Sage. And you know... the latter isn't the only one." Minato said, as his eyes began to turn orange, staring at the Hokage.
"I am also a user of Sage Mode. I learned it at Mount Myōboku with the toads." he said, and he could see the surprised look on the Hokage's face — and on everyone else's.
Clearly, everyone was stunned by Minato's declaration, speaking of both a Jinchūriki and two Sage Mode users, knowing very well what that meant. After all, there was only one ninja known to use Sage Mode in the village, and he was widely spoken of in certain circles. Even those unfamiliar with Jiraiya's Sage Mode still knew it was a power that greatly enhanced a ninja's strength.
The Hokage seemed to be thinking quickly about what to do or say... there was no way he could have known Minato went to Myōboku, because Minato had asked the toads not to inform Jiraiya while he was on a mission. Surely, he would have asked the Hokage about how his student was doing or would have mentioned it — and that would've been bad for Minato to have contact with his sensei at that moment, since he was leaving the village in secret.
"Don't be arrogant, boy! Do you really think you can win with such a small number?"
That old man behind the Hokage shouted, while Hiruzen looked at him as if he were a fool.
"Very well, then."
Minato gave a quick glance at Tsuna, who immediately understood. They easily pierced their fingers before slamming their hands onto the ground.
All the ninjas behind them knew what that meant and jumped back, while the enemies began to prepare behind the area.
Even the Hokage was surprised as the two fists hit the cold ground, and summoning lines began to form.
In the next moment, two enormous clouds of smoke exploded in front of the Hokage building, side by side. Everyone shielded themselves from the strong blast, until it began to dissipate, revealing on one side a giant toad, and on the other, a colossal slug.
Kushina was on top of Gamabunta with Minato, and Tsuna on top of Katsuyu, still at her peak Sage Mode once again, after restoring her energy while standing beside Minato the whole time.
Everyone seemed tense as the clans also prepared behind the two summons. Even those who had remained neutral were now a bit more on edge.
Minato then stared at the Hokage, who was cautious. He couldn't afford to lose in front of the village — it would be disastrous for his reputation.
"You know, Hokage... the three of us are more powerful than you. And we don't need to team up. Each one of us already holds enough strength. We're not seeking war.
In the end, tell me... how many ninjas died today?" Minato asked openly, as everyone began to think.
No one had been killed.
They had left behind a large trail of fallen ninjas, scattered around corners of the village as they tried to recover.
The largest pile of defeated ninjas was at the Senju clan, but they were merely unconscious, while others were in alleys and on rooftops.
But no one had actually died.
"How can you say that? Because, in the end, you killed someone, didn't you?
Where is Danzou, the village elder?"
The other elder shouted with a hint of anger, still trying to paint Minato as the wrongdoer.
"Oh, well... I'm glad you asked."
Minato said, as his hand tapped against his wrist.
There was an explosion of smoke.
The Hokage looked on, then widened his eyes in shock, as did the elders, while Minato grabbed Danzou's severed head and held it up for the Hokage to see.
"I killed that plague. And I'm not afraid to admit it."
He said, holding Danzou's head up for the entire village to see.
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