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The Raikage frowned. "Mercy for the Uchiha?"
"Not mercy," Kaien replied neutrally. "They have high research value." However kaien internally thought, if they witness too much death, too much pain, they might awaken Mangekyō. That we cannot allow.
Renga nodded grimly. "We can source the herbs from the Genbu Island natives. They've used them for generations."
The Raikage exhaled, long and heavy. He glanced toward the north, where his son Ay commanded at the Hot Water border. The boy was strong, reckless. It was genjutsu that caught him a year ago.
Then Kaien added, almost casually, "And do not forget, Grandfather… to thank Onoki for the information on yellow flash."
The Raikage smirked. Onoki had named yellow flash and gave a flee on sight order on minato, which helped us deduce his ability, which was boon. Now, we will give him a boon as a thanks.
--
Onoki was tired. Not in the way old bones creak at dawn, nor in the way years of carrying the Tsuchikage's mantle weighed on him. This was war-weariness, and though he was a veteran of countless campaigns, this one gnawed differently.
From almost one year, Iwa's armies had gained land and ground against the Fire Country. Step by step, stone by stone, they pressed deeper. And yet their logistics strained like an overburdened mule. Supplies ran thin, rations were stretched, and still the war dragged on. Onoki had been patient. Victory wasn't always won by swift strikes. Sometimes it was slow suffocation. He was willing to wait.
But then came the scroll.
A simple courier delivered it, face pale, hands trembling. The report was straightforward: details of a skirmish, some two hundred shinobi clashing along the border against Kumo forces. The information itself was nothing new... just another battle in a war of endless battles. But the whispers that followed the scroll lit a fire in Onoki's gut.
Kumo shinobi were boasting. Laughing in taverns and camps, declaring with open throats: "Our Raikage killed the Hokage. The Leaf's old monkey is gone. Next, it will be the Stone's Tsuchikage. Onoki is nothing before our lightning."
Onoki's eyes had narrowed at that. It wasn't the kumo shinobi's supposed intention to kill him that gnawed. Raikage was powerful, yes, but Raikage's arrogance didn't concern him. What did concern him was the puzzle piece falling into place.
The Hokage dead. The Yellow Flash has been called off the battle a year ago when they were at advantage, which is weird. Somebody else is ordering in place of Hokage. Suddenly the erratic movements of Konoha's armies made sense. The overextension at Iwa's front, the weakened counter offensives, the clumsy strategic retreats. This wasn't Hiruzen's hand. Hiruzen Sarutobi would never have directed the war this way.
Onoki's lips had twisted into a grimace.
"So it's true," he muttered to himself. "The Raikage killed him. That fool old monkey… Just wait what i will do to konoha."
If it was a lie, then he would confirm it with his own eyes. If it was truth, then he would exploit the void. And so, the old man took flight.
--
For three days he flew, his body held aloft by his mastery of weight and stone. He did not hide his approach. His chakra signature was vast, deliberate, impossible to miss. Let Konoha see him coming. Let them feel dread settle in their camps.
When he arrived at the front, his eyes scanned for the Hokage... expecting him to arrive after his deliberate move of announcing his presence. None. The old monkey was truly gone.
--
The clash came swiftly after. Iwa's banners rose like waves of stone across the ridgelines. Konoha's shinobi braced in the valleys, their numbers thinner than they should have been. Dan Kato rallied one flank. Jiraiya and Orochimaru led the other.
The battle was not a single grand duel. It was not Onoki hurling a jinton beam and ending it all. No. It was a war of attrition, grinding and brutal, where earth and fire and flesh collided again and again.
Onoki floated above, surveying, guiding, crushing swaths of enemy forces when needed. His Dust Release turned squads into ash, leaving craters in the earth. Each time he raised his hand, Konoha's shinobi scattered like ants, desperate not to be caught.
Yet Orochimaru struck back with cunning. His serpents slithered across the battlefield, constricting Iwa lines, dragging soldiers beneath the earth. His sword gleamed, piercing stone-armored foes with surgical precision.
Beside him, Jiraiya unleashed a tide of summons. Giant toads crashed onto the field, smashing through earth walls with massive swings. Oil mixed with fire, creating infernos that forced Iwa to raise barrier after barrier of stone.
Dan Kato, with his spirit transformation, struck deep into enemy lines, breaking formations, rallying Konoha's wavering troops. His chakra burned bright, his will unwavering. But Iwa pressed harder.
They came in disciplined waves, walls of earth rising and collapsing in rhythm, spears of stone erupting beneath Konoha's feet. Their sheer numbers and coordination began to tell.
--
Hours bled into a day. A day into two. The battle was not a clash of instant victory...it was a grindstone. Each side feeding soldiers into the maw, each side bleeding.
Onoki's Dust Release carved too many graves. Even restrained, his presence forced Konoha to scatter, disrupting their formations.
Orochimaru adapted with venomous cunning, but he could not be everywhere. Jiraiya fought like a storm, his chakra reserves dwindling as his summons bled into smoke.
Dan Kato darted again and again into enemy lines, his spirit slamming into commanders, breaking Iwa morale where he could. But his body was weakening. Each use of the technique drained him, left him gasping, left him vulnerable. Konoha's squads fought valiantly. But for every Iwa shinobi they cut down, two more seemed to rise.
The weight of attrition pressed. Slowly, inexorably, Konoha began to bend.
--
It happened on the third day. Onoki descended personally, hovering above the central clash. His Dust Release cube expanded, threatening to erase Orochimaru's position in an instant.
Dan Kato did not hesitate. His spirit surged forth, slamming into Onoki mid-activation. The jutsu collapsed, the cube dispersing harmlessly.
But Onoki snarled, his body flickering with stone-light. He countered, catching Kato's spirit with crushing weight. The strain was unbearable. Kato's body convulsed, his chakra burning out like a candle snuffed. He collapsed to the ground, chest heaving.
"Go!" he rasped to Orochimaru and Jiraiya, forcing his body to rise again. "Protect the Leaf... don't let him..."
Onoki's final blast of Dust Release consumed him. There was no body of kato. Only ash on the wind. Konoha's defence cracked.
--
A/N: So onoki has arrived... his jutsu dwindling both konoha's and iwa's numbers with iwa shinobi getting caught. Iwa had many shinobi anyways. Tsunade has hemophobia, so she is not participating directly but supporting as medical chief