Senshiyu ichizoku no botsuraku
-千手一族の没落-
(The Fall of the Senju Clan)
Part 5 : The fears of Mito Uzumaki
— Tuh! Tuh!»
We are currently at Konoha Hospital. In a small red room, in a large bed, lay the first Hokage, Hashirama Senju. He was slumped over, his head in his arms, coughing and spitting blood.
— You're not getting any better...» murmured a woman who had just entered the room.
Hashirama turned to her. He had already sensed her approaching presence. He was waiting for her.
— This damn disease will never stop...» he cried to himself.
— It sure isn't easy every day... Anyway, you're lucky, at least I'm here.» she says, smiling.
She sat down on her bed slowly and turned back to him.
— Do you think I'll be able to go back to the office today?» questioned Hashirama.
— Don't even think about it! You're clearly in no shape for this.» she replied «Above all, you'd better not pull the same stunt as last time!»
He had activated Mito's angry mode. It felt bad for him...
— I... I'm so sorry!» he stammered.
— I hope so!» she grumbled «Now, you stay in bed! And don't come out for any reason!»
— But I'm not always sick, you know... I can be... Hashirama wanted to point out.»
Suddenly, Mito's eyes lit up. She had turned red. Red with rage. She drew her fist from her long sleeve and swung it at Hashirama, who had recoiled in fear.
— No! No! Please! Mito! Don't kill me! Think of all our beautiful years!» he implored.
— Pfff... You piss me off. Stay here and don't move, okay?» she sighed.
She then withdrew her point and turned, as quick as a flash, to head for the exit door.
— You... The Senju... Love isn't your thing... Be careful, you'll end up disappearing.»
Hashirama was too frightened to react. He stayed in bed and waited for her to come out, finally breathing a long sigh of relief.
— She's going to kill me after a while...» he murmured to himself.
*****
Mito Uzumaki was leaving the hospital, a little annoyed. It must be said that it was difficult to live with a case like Hashirama, who was naive and did as he pleased... But then, she was used to it.
Why didn't he want to understand? Maybe if she told him the truth... He would finally agree to stop his nonsense. No. If she revealed to Hashirama that his death was near, he'd do everything in his power to achieve as much as possible before his end, accelerating it in the process.
According to his analyses, Hashirama's illness was due to the over-repeated use of cell regeneration.
By dint of being wounded in battle and regenerating, he had already developed health problems. But it wasn't just that. When people were in mortal danger, Hashirama didn't hesitate for a moment before transplanting his cells to help them recover.
The result was catastrophic: too much regeneration had led to chakra disease. He could hardly use his chakra anymore and was continually suffering from his chakra reserve.
Today, he was a shadow of his former self. He was no longer able to lead the village, let alone protect it. All that... Was over. Mito was only waiting for the moment when Tobirama decided to succeed him.
If Hashirama wanted to survive, he'd have to give up his ninja activity. That way, he could survive for at least another 5 years, if not 20, which would be ideal.
— You'd better not do any more stupid thin...»
Suddenly, Mito stopped dead in his tracks. She felt something. A form of chakra... Several forms of chakra... Not from the village.
Just as she clearly detected the presence near her, it attacked her with a Kunai. Mito instinctively ducked, then leapt towards her opponent, pulling two shuriken from her jacket.
She may have aged and been in her early fifties, but that didn't make her any weaker. This was due to a technique she had inherited from her former master: the Byakugo.
This technique stored chakra in his forehead, creating a black diamond shape. In this way, she could call on an immense mass of chakra if she released the seal. In particular, it enhanced her physical capacities and regeneration.
Mito threw his two shuriken, which his opponent dodged. She managed to see what he looked like: a man in his thirties, his face deformed by multiple scars.
He slammed his hand into the ground with a thud. It then began to grow at breakneck speed. Now enormous, it charged towards Mito, who leapt into the air, did a back somersault and fell back to the ground as the hand crashed to the ground.
— Are you a member of the Akimichi Clan?» Mito asked his opponent.
This ability to enlarge limbs... It could only be a member of the Akimichi Clan. Only, this one was loyal to Konoha. Yet she had never felt his chakra before, and a member of the village would never have attacked her.
— Who are you really?!» she grumbled, eager to explain.
— A simple renegade.» replied the man simply.
Mito flexed her arm muscles, ready to attack. At the same moment, the other raised his hand to point it in her direction.
BAAAM
Their fists collided. They were thrown. Mito managed to land with a fine pirouette, while his enemy crumpled to the ground, forming a crater.
— If you can't even beat me like that, forget it. I already won in advance.»
The other grumbled, annoyed. His eyes glared at her.
— Do you really think I don't know your reputation?! »
He licked the dripping blood from his hand and placed it roughly on the ground.
— Invocation!» he shouted.
Suddenly, a huge wave of smoke formed behind him and four silhouettes appeared.
Judging by the headbands with crossed-out insignia on the foreheads of some of them, it was very likely that they were all renegades who had left their village.
— Are you going to gang up on me? It's really unfair...» remarked Mito.
— You can never be too careful!» replied a woman whose features suggested she belonged to the Nara clan.
Mito analyzed the others. Obviously, there was also a member of the Yamanaka Clan. With the one from the Nara clan and the one from the Akimichi clan, they probably formed a team, these three clans being renowned for their fighting synergy.
The other two enemies had less visible affiliations. But she noted that one of them resembled a member of the Kaguya Clan, given the signs on his forehead and his long white hair.
The latter, on the other hand, must not have belonged to a well-known clan, as she didn't recognize any particular traits in him.
— I can see I'm not dealing with just anyone...» Mito murmured «But I suppose if you attack me separately... Is it to keep me away from something? There are others like you. In the village.»
— Hoho... She's smart.» laughs the woman of the Kaguya Clan.
— Shut up, Kinema! She was only formulating a hypothesis...» grumbled the Akimichi clan man in her direction.
— And you... You've just confirmed his hypothesis even more...» sighed the woman of the Nara clan.
— You're really not very clever...» Mito huffed. «Anyway. I'm going to give you the honor of showing you some of my power... If my hypothesis is true, I'm in a hurry. But I'm sure you'll let me go.»
— Indeed...» asserted the woman of the Nara clan.
The fight was about to begin. Suddenly, a huge mass of chakra emanated from Mito's body. All around her, raids of orange chakra split the ground.
His eyes flashed flame-red and his pupils formed two black lines. His canines lengthened, protruding from his mouth to form fangs. And finally, three little whiskers appeared on each cheek.
— This chakra... It's huge!» exclaimed the woman from the Yamanaka clan.
— Oh... I see... So that's him... Kyûbi.» Laughs the one called Kinema.
— Kyûbi?! He's the nine-tailed fox demon, isn't he?!» exclaimed the man from the Akimichi clan.
— Yes, we do. The most powerful of the nine Bijus... It is said that no one can defeat it. The only ones who could are the first Hokage and his brother. And this woman doesn't just possess this ability. We have to be very careful, and it's not for nothing that we've been assigned to hold her back...» explained the Nara clan woman.
— She was already super-powerful barehanded without resorting to this chakra... I can't imagine her power!» swallowed the other.
— She is clearly one of the three most powerful ninjas in the world.» Kimena Kaguya declared «Fascinating...»
— Don't you think you should have at least informed yourself before coming? Konoha has the best ninjas of the five villages, so no one can destroy us.» Mito said.
— Our aim is not necessarily to destroy you all...» asserted Kimena.
— It would be nice if you stopped talking.» scolded the Nara clan woman.
— Pfff...»
Claws had grown on Mito's hand. The slightest of his blows could easily neutralize his opponents. She was ready to face them. So she charged forward.
— Bah?!» Protested Kimena.
Mito had sensed something. A form of chakra. A masked form of chakra... But very powerful. In Kyûbi chakra mode, she could now detect everything around her more clearly.
— What the...?!» she exclaimed in surprise.
Suddenly, an unexpected thud sounded.
BRAOOOM
Buildings shattered. Debris landed wherever Mito and his adversaries were. She turned around to see what was really going on.
To her amazement, she understood. The explosion had come from the center of the village, where the Senju clan's territory lay. They were under attack.
— Oh! Looks like it's already started!» Kimena exclaimed.
Suddenly, the hospital door shattered and fell suddenly. A man stepped out.
— What's going on?! Is the village under attack?» he exclaimed.
No... Not him... No... It wasn't supposed to be like this...
Mito's greatest fear was becoming reality. Hashirama was going to fight again. And she wouldn't be able to stop him.
*****
The explosion had just sounded. Lightning now flashed across the sky. From the flames, a stormy shadow emerged. It was our man.
The destiny he had foreseen... was about to come true. At last, he would be able to take his revenge.
He laughed a chilling laugh. A laugh so sinister... You'd lose your reason for living. All around him... Was everything he'd ever loved... Chaos.
In the flames, his pupils glowed a scarlet red. Then they took on a slightly blue tint. In reality, this was because a form of blue chakra was forming all around him, obliterating the flames around him.
This mass of chakra... Senju had faced it all too often... Not least against the legendary brothers Madara and Izuna Uchiha.
— Susano...» growled the man.
The mass of chakra intensified until it was as big as a building. It was now visible from afar. Most of the Senju would soon converge on this man to neutralize him.
Just... he... He was near... ready to welcome them.
— The end of your destiny... Is near!!» he chuckled.
The storm intensified. It was the beginning of an immense inferno.
📖To be Continued...📖