###
"Kakashi and his lot should've reached the other spawners by now," I mutter out loud, perched in a creaking tree like a paranoid squirrel.
Neji, sniper rifle slung over his shoulder, looks calm as ever, his Byakugan scanning the chaos below. "Since they're holding up… I'd assume they think the same as you," he says, his tone steady but with that Hyuga squint that screams trouble.
"You mean it might be rigged?" I ask, sighing like I'm already done with this day.
"It's pretty obvious by the look of it," Neji says, squinting harder at the spawner like it insulted his clan.
If a Hyuga says it looks bad, it's probably a disaster waiting to tap-dance on our graves.
"I could just seal the whole thing," I say, rubbing my chin as the tree shakes from the spawner's activation, nearly knocking me off my branch.
"Can you seal that much chakra?" Neji asks, raising an eyebrow.
"I can… if I can at least figure out the *nature* of the chakra," I say, still rubbing my chin like I'm some sage stroking his beard.
"You mean the element?" Neji corrects, looking at me like I flunked ninja school.
"No, *nature*," I snap, rubbing my fingers like I'm describing fine cheese. "Like, what it's made of. You know how the Nine-Tails' chakra is all burning-hot and toxic?"
"There's no such thing as the nature of chakra," Neji says flatly, like I'm inventing ghost stories.
"Of course there is! Have you ever seen Nine-Tails attack survivors?" I ask, leaning forward. "They've got these weird burns that never heal, no matter how much time passes." I rub my wrist, mimicking those twisted scars I read about in some sketchy scroll.
"…No?" Neji says, his voice wavering like he's hiding something.
"Is that so?" he adds, suddenly fascinated, though his face stays bland as oatmeal.
"Yeah, too bad the academy doesn't teach us jack about it," I shrug, hoping he doesn't sniff out my sources.
"It's classified information," Neji says, his expression as exciting as a rice ball.
I chuckle. "Duh!"
Thank Kami, Neji doesn't pry further about where I got that info. *Dodged a kunai there.*
"By the way, what's up with the big guns?" I ask, switching topics before he gets nosy.
"They have bigger guns?" Neji asks, genuinely confused.
*What the—?!* "No, dumbass, the Kage! Can you see them?" I say, hiding my embarrassment with a scowl.
"I… can't see them," Neji answers, hesitating like he's admitting he lost his keys.
I narrow my eyes. "What do you mean you can't see them? Are they, like, too far away?"
"No, they're not… it's just… they're inside something I can't see through," Neji says, his voice low.
"You mean a barrier even the Hyuga can't pierce?" I ask, my stomach sinking.
Neji nods slowly, like he's delivering bad news at a funeral.
Okay… okay…
Worst case scenario: they're dead.
Even worse case: Kakashi's with them, and they're *all* dead. I can't sense him.
On a good day, I can pick up Kakashi and my teammates across the village. Right now? I only catch Naruto's chaotic chakra like a wildfire, Sakura's faint flicker, and Kiba and Shikamaru somewhere west, their signals muddy.
Naruto's out there fighting like a blond tornado while I'm sitting on my ass, playing tech support with this death machine.
The enemy's broken our coordination, no question. If we want a shot at regrouping, this machine's gotta go.
A single soldier spawns below, glancing around like a lost tourist. Two more pop up behind him.
"Where are the others?" the angry one growls, fists clenched.
"Dunno, they stopped spawning," the cheery one says, his voice echoing through the clearing like a bad karaoke singer.
"Shit… that yellow brat's making things difficult. It's like they've got an HSM of their own," the cold one mutters.
"Let's take care of the blond maniac first. The other chunin will fold once we overrun them and kill anyone who seems 'stuck'—they're probably capturing us," the angry one barks.
These three are the same ones, aren't they? *Great, the stormtrooper squad's back.*
I toss a smoke tag, the clearing exploding in a thick haze. Neji takes the lead, leaping down and jabbing their chakra points to paralyze them, his fingers moving like a pissed-off acupuncturist.
I slide behind one and kick him in the groin as hard as I can. He spins, looking shocked, like I just ruined his day. I go for a second kick. *Thwack!* He stares at his groin, then at me, squeaking in a high-pitched voice, "Don't look at me like that! I've got no idea what's going on either!"
He swings a katana, but I dodge, and he collapses before he can try again—Neji finishes the job.
The machine hums, but nothing spawns.
It's… like it's searching for soldiers to reanimate but coming up empty.
"It seems to spawn someone periodically," Neji says, his Byakugan glowing like twin flashlights.
I can work with that.
"Then there's gotta be something in the soldiers it's detecting," I reply, my brain kicking into gear.
Neji points at the knocked-out soldier's groin. "There's something metallic implanted here."
I yank down the guy's pants.
*Holy shit!* No poles, no holes—just smooth, empty skin, like a ninja Barbie doll.
"They… seem to have no genitals," Neji says, as matter-of-fact as if he's reading a grocery list.
I poke the area, trying to feel if it's somehow internalized. "Guess this one spawned without one?"
"Quite the crude war machine," Neji says, narrowing his eyes in disgust.
"But a revolutionary one," I add, smirking despite the creep factor.
"With the skill level of these troops, I have to disagree," Neji says, shaking his head.
"Unless it's a diversion, and the real work's happening elsewhere," I say with a sly grin.
"That could be disastrous," Neji nods, his voice grim.
"I'm afraid I don't have time to chat," I say, eyeing the machine.
It hums again with multiple beeps, but nothing comes out… except a severed leg, twitching like it's auditioning for a horror flick.
"A misfire…"
We've gotta shut this thing down, and quick.
I pull out my kunai and make an incision.
The implant's lodged in his inguinal canal, guarded by a metal grid like they use in herniotomy, protecting vital vessels.
So when I stabbed his neck earlier… some kind of intradermal armor?
Fuckin' hell…
I pull out the implant—a tiny transmitter pulsing with chakra.
I unseal my laptop and signal interceptor.
It's giving off a frequency, alright, shifting like a heartbeat on steroids.
My guess? When the pulse flatlines, it respawns.
The chakra signals are off the charts, like a file corrupted from being copied and pasted a billion times.
This device is something else. If used right, someone could control this guy limb by limb, like a puppet from across the continent.
"I think I know what it is…" I muse.
It's a super-mini version of Sasori's chakra core.
This machine isn't spawning—it's *teleporting*, bringing the device back to this… assembler, then rebuilding the soldier around it.
A giant fabricator.
The sheer complexity and ingenuity in this mess of a device! It's like mashed potatoes whipped up by mad chefs from every ninja village.
Kinda like the Akatsuki.
The device starts beeping, the spawner roaring with a deafening noise.
The core in my hand snaps, its chakra going so erratic it fries my laptop.
The mini-core glows red.
I kick Neji out of the way before the explosion can take us all out.
A blue sphere of chakra engulfs my vision, tearing my body apart like a beef patty in a blender.
Then… it all starts coming together again.
My mouth, hands, and feet reform before my very eyes.
I drop on my ass with a *thud*.
"Oya! Nice of you to join us," a sickeningly familiar voice purrs from my side.
Orochimaru's staring at me like I'm a gift-wrapped treat, his golden eyes glinting like a viper's.
It's a clearing surrounded by weirdly dead trees, like a graveyard for nature.
Orochimaru's watching a fight unfold.
Hiruzen and Mei against the freaking Senju brothers and some other guy I don't even know.
The sheer force and density of chakra pouring from their jutsu is making me nauseous.
The snake Sannin, with a hysterical smile, watches them beat two Kage to a pulp like it's his favorite show.
Orochimaru moves to join the fray.
I… I have to do something… I can't just sit here and…
Orochimaru suddenly turns, his golden eyes glowing like a predator's. Smacking his tongue on his cheek, he looks at me like I'm a roasted chicken.
"Why don't you be a good boy and stay right here?" he says, his voice dripping with menace. That's not a suggestion—it's a threat wrapped in silk.
Hiruzen notices me kneeling in front of his former student, a flash of surprise crossing his battered face.
Our eyes meet. I don't know what he's thinking… I don't know what he wants me to do.
I silently beg for an order.
*Order me to lay down my life, Hokage, and I'll do it gladly!*
But I need to hear it…
Or the shaking won't stop.
He… he… shakes his head.
He doesn't want me to do anything…
Why? Why won't you…?
Does he think I'm with *him*? This bastard?
Does he think I'm a traitor too?
No…
No…!
The clearing's filling with water, spiked vines popping up randomly like deadly fireworks.
The vines form a dragon of water and wood, rushing toward the Kage like a tidal wave of thorns.
Mei-sama holds her hands up, intense chakra flaring, and summons a stream of scorching lava.
Hiruzen blurs through a hundred signs in a millisecond.
A giant mud dragon with six heads erupts, spinning like a demonic carousel, spitting mud bullets coated in fire at the tsunami of spiked vines.
The bullets explode on impact, halting the assault.
The Senju brothers pump more chakra into their jutsu, but the sheer firepower of the old man's dragon minigun jutsu holds firm.
It's not just fire and mud—it's laced with gunpowder jutsu, a Sarutobi clan signature, turning each shot into an explosive inferno.
While the reanimated Kage are busy pushing the old man, two shadow clones rise from the water.
They weave the signs for the Reaper Death Seal, grabbing the Senju brothers tight.
The dude in black moves to intercept, but Mei-sama's none the wiser.
She surfs across the battlefield on a wave of lava to get on top of the guy.
He summons weird kunai made of black goo to block her strikes.
Mei-sama dumps a lump of lava on him, but he forms a goo shield, coming out unscathed.
What the fuck? Did he just tank that lava?
One thing I notice… Hiruzen's flanks are wide open.
Orochimaru's gone.
Holy fuck… where is he? I look around frantically.
He's gonna kill Hiruzen.
I… I can't… if I get in there, I'll die…
It's four Kage, a Sannin, and some weird otherworldly guy fighting in a field with no cover.
This ain't a place for a genin like me.
I… I think I'll turn the other way… just this once…
Hiruzen's scripted to die anyway…
No need for me to go down with him…
Orochimaru appears out of thin air beside the old man.
Hiruzen can only stare, wide-eyed, as Orochimaru brandishes Kusanagi to skewer him.
If he stops focusing to defend, the Senju will break free, and Mei-sama's in deep shit.
If he doesn't stop, Orochimaru's gonna slice his neck.
Not just a stab—he's going for a full swing to sever the old man's head!
The arrogant bastard's aiming to make it theatrical.
I bite down my fifth chakra pill of the day and open the second chakra gate in a second.
I'm not great at it, but I body-flicker toward Hiruzen.
I lose control mid-flight, nearly toppling from the speed.
Something like a pole smacks my foot.
The monkey staff summon catapults me across the field like a missile.
I slam head-first into Orochimaru's torso.
He bends sideways, coughing up blood, still with that creepy-ass smile.
Hiruzen watches his student fly like a rag doll, his eyes practically popping out.
"Sasuke!" he shouts.
All I see in his eyes is frustration and anger.
I drop to my knees.
"I'm not a traitor, Hokage-sama!" I scream.
"What? I never said that!" Hiruzen facepalms, looking like he's aged ten years.
He sighs, his plate already overflowing.
"How did you even get here, kid?" he asks.
"I don't know!" I yell like a marine recruit. It's the truth—I have no clue.
The old man sighs again.
A kunai flies in.
It's from Tobirama.
I barely catch the heavy blade, knowing what's coming.
*Flying Thunder God!*
Tobirama Senju teleports with the sealing clone right onto Hiruzen.
We lock into an arm wrestle, gripping the kunai.
The target's Hiruzen.
"Over my fuckin' dead body!" I scream, flaring chakra in my hands and stomach.
Tobirama was using one hand to push.
He… just adds the other.
The pressure's insane, nearly embedding the kunai in my shoulder.
"No Uchiha has ever seen through my Flying Thunder God jutsu," he says, his face flat as a board.
"Put more chakra in your arms, kid, or they'll break!" he suggests, like he's coaching me.
"You think I don't know that?" I sneer.
I bite my collar, grabbing the gas-emitting seal I keep curled up there.
I activate it in my mouth and spray it in his face.
No effect. Guess the dead don't feel pain.
My face, on the other hand, is burning like I ate a chili bomb.
"Cheap tricks like that wouldn't have worked even when I was alive," Tobirama says, kicking me in the stomach.
*Crack!* I think I broke a rib.
My grip starts to loosen, my vision fading, breakfast threatening to come up the wrong way.
Gritting my teeth, I manage to stay conscious, legs shaking. That kick did more than break bones—I think he hit a chakra point.
I push a chunk of chakra to the spot, forcing the point open. Nearly blew a vein, but my grip's back.
"Do you intend to sacrifice yourself, kid?" he asks.
I stare into those hollow eyes.
The guy was emotionless to begin with—being dead ain't helping.
"I don't… want to sacrifice myself, Nidaime-sama," I say, voice shaky.
"I… I want to get married, have kids, die of old age… this won't kill me," I say with a smirk.
A faint smile crosses his face.
A white tanto pierces his stomach.
Wrinkled white hands jab out.
The Shinigami, lady of death, pulls a lumpy bag of chakra from the flimsy Second Hokage's body.
She sniffs it like prime steak, pleased with today's haul.
Then…
Fear hits me so hard I think I wet myself.
Our eyes meet.
She's angry…
Very… very angry with me.
What the fuck did I do?
She points two fingers at her eyes, then at me.
*I'll be watching you,* she signs.
A hot stream runs down my pants.
Tobirama crumbles to dust before he realizes one of the few Uchihas he ever acknowledged pissed himself.
Oh my god… I survived.
Even though I peed my pants… I survived an arm wrestle with Tobirama.
A shaky chuckle escapes my lips.
Let's not jinx it.
I glance to my side.
Hiruzen leaps away as a horde of thick wood devours our spot.
Well, look at that. I'm not dead, thanks to the old man carrying me out of the way.
Mei-sama's floating face-down in the water.
The man in black watches us, chased by Hashirama Senju, with a wild smirk.
I jinxed it… didn't I.
"Can you stand?" Hiruzen asks.
I nod, though my ribs are screaming.
"Keep him off me," he orders.
Holy fuck! Holy shit! Am I replacing Mei-sama?
"And escape with the Mizukage," he adds.
I stare at him, eyes wide as dinner plates.
"That's an order," he says, voice firm as iron.
That's a tall fuckin' order.
"Do not let her die! You're a medic," he says with a smile, like he's reading my damn mind.
Every hair on my body stands up from the sheer acknowledgment. *Me? A medic? I'm barely passing that class!*
"Hei!" I nod, trying to look confident.
He sets me down and bolts to the side, drawing Hashirama's attention away.
The man in black approaches. Orochimaru's nowhere… no, wait, he's floating face-down too.
Or that's a clone or some homunculus… or whatever that snake cooks up.
That aside… if Mei-sama couldn't beat this guy, how the hell am I supposed to?
The black guy charges, a pond of goo trailing him like a disgusting pet.
That black goo is nothing but trouble.
His chakra's as dense as the other soldiers', but this dude's got skills, moving like a pro.
I don't wait for his attack and launch a preemptive strike.
I can't afford jutsu with my Sharingan burning through chakra like Naruto through ramen.
I leap high and aim a simple drop kick.
The bastard dodges, bending his torso in a freaky, rubber-man way.
Then he turns into that black goo, slithering up my legs, trying to wrap around my neck and wrists.
My oiled-up limbs slip free, letting me throw an arm up before he can lasso my neck with that gooey, tar-stinking rope.
What's with people turning into shit? Sand, lava, wood, water, and now freaking goo that smells like a burnt tire.
Is there a shit release jutsu out there? That'd be so freaking… disgusting.
Blood? Semen? I almost chuckle.
"What's so funny, kid?" the goo guy asks, his coarse voice right by my ear, like a creepy uncle at a barbecue.
They all sound the same? What are these guys, some stormtrooper squad?
I deploy my wrist blade. He dodges, getting just a tiny scratch.
He lets go and jumps back to safety.
That's all I needed. The poison should kick in… any second now…
Goo man touches the scratch, and the toxicity makes the vessels in his face bulge with pus.
"You're done for, man," I say, wiping goo off my arms like it's radioactive snot.
He grabs his kunai and disembowels himself, collapsing in a heap, entrails splattered across the muddy ground from Tobirama's water attacks.
Oh… I see what's going on.
He's respawning… and this black goo is his respawner? Some kind of Kekkei Genkai?
Are the machines outside his extension?
I'm making assumptions here.
In my defense, I can see the goo eating his corpse like it's crunchy bacon, complete with a giant mouth.
Then it spits him out.
A new body, a new life.
He glares at me like he just woke up from a nap, immediately locking in and sending a spiral of black goo my way.
I pull a larger seal from my bag.
Unfurling it with a smear of blood, it stretches out, forming a thin wall of paper in front of me.
The inscriptions glow with chakra.
The goo hits the paper and gets deflected.
I unseal more seals, connecting them with chakra wire.
As I set up my defense, he fires more rounds.
They swirl mid-air, coming from different angles, but my floating seals deflect them all.
Keeping my body from sinking into this muddy mess takes more chakra than usual.
Moving's gonna cost me big time.
I can't kill or restrain him. The goo guy just respawns.
I… I'd have to Reaper Death Seal him too.
But… why hasn't Hiruzen sealed him already?
Maybe he didn't try? Maybe he tried and failed?
I can't take chances here.
Fuck… it's hurting my brain to think while I'm being bombarded left and right.
"By the Kami, please don't let this bastard notice," I mutter, praying as I make a shadow clone while casting Hiding Like a Mole jutsu.
That took a lot out of me as I tunnel toward Mei-sama underground.
The clone's doing a bang-up job maintaining the paper seals.
It's my clone, after all—half my chakra, all my charm.
I trace her chakra and pull her underground.
I unseal another seal.
It's a space seal, made for underground operations, creating breathing space below ground.
Mei-sama's breathing, but she's lost a ton of blood.
Her pulse is thin… a few broken bones.
I pull out a blood bag.
Suddenly, she grabs my hand with a death grip.
Mei-sama's awake.
"I'm a medic, Mizukage-sama," I say politely, trying not to flinch.
"Oh… you're the Uchiha," she recognizes, her voice raspy.
"Yes, ma'am. I'm here to treat you." I pull her arm, fixing her dislocation.
"Emm! Fuck!" she squirms, hissing in pain.
"Can you swallow?" I ask.
She nods.
I pop a food pill in her mouth and jab an adrenaline shot in her neck.
That should put her back in the game.
I pull up a bottle. "Oxytocin?" I ask.
She shakes her head. "Got any booze?"
I pull out my favorite kunai and unscrew the top.
She sips the sake from the tip.
"Good stuff," she says, relaxing a bit.
I use Mystical Palm, green chakra glowing to patch her open wounds.
Those ribs will have to wait… her collarbone seems broken…
Mei-sama stands up.
"Ma'am, I'm not done! You're still injured," I say, trying to keep her down.
"Yeah, I know. You're a medic, right? Deal with it," she says nonchalantly.
The red-haired lady punches a hole through the space seal and leaps out.
What the fuck… the blood bag! It's still flapping behind her.
I jump after her, holding the bag above her head like a deranged nurse.
The goo man's already dealt with my clone and is charging at us.
He summons a literal sea of goo as Mei-sama counters with her own sea of lava.
The lava and goo collide, forming a gross, plastic-burned stench.
Mei-sama leaps above the lava to intercept the goo man.
I somehow grab her torso while we're flying through the air.
"We have to escape, Mei-sama!" I scream.
"Shut up!" she orders.
She lands a kick on the man's face.
But he retaliates with goo spirals.
The spirals are about to hit her.
So, I deploy another paper seal.
It deflects some of them… but one hits her shoulder.
Mei lands and jumps away, clicking her tongue in disappointment.
Her shoulder's got a gaping hole.
I pull out bandages to patch the wound, using Mystical Palm again.
Mei glares at the goo man, annoyed.
"Tch! What a monster," she says, eyeing my seal with a side glance. "I thought you were a medic?"
"Well… I don't major in that, but I'm a medic, and I'm kinda good at sealing jutsu," I say with a shrug.
Mei-sama wiggles her shoulders, like she's testing a rusty machine, and gives me a nod with a "Hmph!"
Then she jumps away again.
What the fuck! Even Naruto's easier to deal with!
This lady is insane!
I look at Hiruzen hopelessly.
"Get it done!" he lips, his face still half-frozen in that haunted stare.
His eyes dart behind me as he casts another mud wall to fend off Hashirama's attack.
He looks more confident now, with only Hashirama left to deal with.
"Yes, even I couldn't summon the First Hokage at his fullest," Orochimaru's voice slithers from behind me.
"Up already?" I ask with a chuckle, trying to mask the fact that my heart's doing backflips.
"Was I ever down?" he purrs, standing beside me like we're old pals chatting over ramen.
"What do you gain from all this?" I ask, genuinely curious.
"What do you gain from getting in my way?" he counters, his golden eyes glinting like a snake about to strike.
I pause as Mei-sama screams, unleashing another lava dragon that roars across the battlefield.
"I… don't know," I admit, scratching my head.
Orochimaru clicks his tongue in disappointment. "All you Uchihas are the same. Like moths to a flame, flying toward certain doom with smooth brains," he sneers, his voice dripping with venom.
I stay silent, focusing hard to keep my chakra steady in case he tries some genjutsu bullshit.
"Say, Sasuke-kun," he says, all sugar and poison, "remember when I told you to kill someone?"
I nod, my stomach twisting.
He points at Hiruzen.
Fuckin' classic.
"Is that why you brought me here, Orochimaru-sama?" I ask with a sigh, like I'm dealing with a pushy salesman.
He nods, that creepy smile widening. He *planned* this.
He knew I'd get hold of that implant.
He teleported me into this impossible mess, where I'd have to do his bidding.
"Kill him, and I'll spare the rest of the village," he says, like it's a generous offer.
"Brand me a traitor and take me in as your pet?" I add, rolling my eyes.
"Precisely, Sasuke-kun," he says, like a shopkeeper hawking junk. "You're a practical sort, assessing situations at face value. Surely you see, with this single act, you'd save the village *and* forge an alliance between the two most powerful villages mankind has ever seen, with Suna as a bonus. Isn't that a great deal?"
"kill that old sinner and i will call it off. Spare your friends and leave Konoha for good. You become my student who will gain powers unimaginable... making your revenge easier to achieve?", he clasps his fist.
I take a deep breath.
That ain't happening. A genin can't kill a Hokage.
Mei-sama would be imprisoned or killed.
Kirigakure would declare war, and Suna would swoop in.
They'd ally with Orochimaru, the fake Kazekage, crushing the already weakened village in one blow.
Then Danzo would slink in, claim the Hokage title, and start an endless war with his sleeper agents.
I'm making assumptions here…
But why does it sound so convincing?
It's Danzo… all along.
Danzo gets to rebuild Konoha in his twisted image, while Orochimaru controls two villages.
The destruction they'd unleash together?
Another ninja war.
But it's all just my paranoid brain spinning tales.
"Yes… I see what you mean, Orochimaru-sama," I say, shaking my head. "Revenge does sound pleasing.....", I muse.
" yes... yes! my child, you do want revenge? I knew you do!!" , he slaps his toung on his cheek.
"oh! But..... the thing is.... Im not really sure about killing the oldman here. Even though he IS a sick basterd just like you.... i kind of like him", i say with a shrug.
Orochimaru glares me at for straight few seconds . His face is neutral but i can tell..... he has already decided to end my life here.
"Ah, too bad. You could've been a good student," Orochimaru says, brandishing Kusanagi with a theatrical flourish.
"Oh… I'm honored," I say with a genuine grin, sarcasm dripping like venom.
"The honor was mine all along," he replies, then stabs me with Kusanagi, the blade piercing clean through the left side of my chest.
It's so fast I don't even feel it go through.
Coughing up blood, I grab the blade, my hands shaking.
"Oh… you still have some fight left?" he asks, raising an eyebrow.
I stick out my tongue like a kid throwing a tantrum.
Orochimaru's eyelid twitches with rage.
But then he spots the blood-smeared seal on my tongue.
Did i ever tell Naruto that the second best place to put a seal on the body is the tounge.
He tries to pull back, but it's too late—the jutsu's already active.
*Forbidden Jutsu: Reaper Death Seal.*
Two scrawny hands appear from thin air, grabbing Orochimaru by the shoulders.
He flails like a fish on a hook, screaming like a madman.
Unlike Hiruzen's slow, chakra-draining version…
Mine's traditional.
The original jutsu Minato used.
In exchange for my soul and all my chakra, a powerful Shinigami answers the call.
It seizes Orochimaru instantly.
I don't know what happens with him out of the picture.
I don't know what happens when the death lady takes my soul.
In this world, I'm not the protagonist.
That's Naruto.
I'm not Sasuke Uchiha… just some guy chucked into chaos, trying to swallow more than I can chew.
I'm not the reincarnation of Indra.
Just some side hustle.
And my death will be nothing but a stepping stone for Naruto's glory.