Senshiyu ichizoku no botsuraku
-千手一族の没落-
(The Fall of the Senju Clan)
Part 7 : The weakness of Hashirama
Hashirama leapt from rooftop to rooftop, heading off in the direction of the battlefield. He had gone into battle despite Mito's protests. He absolutely had to support his family.
With Mito, they had quickly neutralized their opponents. Sure, they were tough, but nobody was strong enough for Hashirama. Single-handedly, if all went well, he could put an end to this battle.
He had finally reached the center of the village. His journey had lasted only a brief moment, he was so worried that he had almost teleported.
All around him, ninjas were fighting, sweating body and soul to triumph in battle. He could see bodies falling, dead again. Blood flowed everywhere. He was finally seeing the nightmare of his life... War.
Hashirama threw himself into the battle. He neutralized a whole flock of enemies without flinching, saving several village fighters in the process.
Ahead and behind him, he saw various ninjas arriving from all sides. He thought he recognized members of the Aburame or Inuzuka clans, but didn't linger too long to see who they were.
One by one, all the village clans arrived, taking part in the conflict. Konoha now dominated the village, and it was only a matter of time before the enemy fell back.
And yet... That was the strange thing... They still hadn't surrendered, despite their disadvantage. Why hadn't they? What did they have in mind? All this... Hashirama didn't have the answer.
Even lost in thought, he managed to deal with all his enemies with ease. He escienced by reflex, struck by instinct. Even in deep thought, he was as powerful as ever.
Suddenly, just as he was neutralizing a group of five opponents, he froze. He began spitting blood. Then he bent over, holding his stomach, choking.
— Aaargh!» he moans. «Shit... This isn't the time...!»
As he slumped to the ground, three opponents charged at him. He dodged by instinct, but not quickly enough, as a shuriken grazed his cheek. He was thrown off balance and found himself trembling.
So he immediately jumped, avoiding further volleys of attack as he went, and landed on the roof of a building. Then he collapsed on it, spitting blood again.
His illness had taken over again. He now found himself in a delicate situation. How was he going to help and encourage his family if he was in such bad shape?
He was already imagining how angry Mito or Tobirama might get at him after he'd gone to the battlefield in spite of his condition... But he had no choice... It was his responsibility as Hokage.
«But... Am I really still Hokage?»
This question suddenly sprang to mind. For years, Tobirama had been in charge of village affairs. Three-quarters of the time, he was too weak to make any decisions.
No. He didn't have to ask himself that kind of question. What drove him to come and save his people... It wasn't his responsibility as village chief... It was his own desire.
Suddenly, four ninjas leapt onto the roof, pouncing on him. Then Hashirama made his decision. He was useless now anyway. He had to... At least do everything he could to be useful to the others right now.
Hashirama leapt into the air and landed on his opponents one by one, neutralizing them with one blow of his Kunai, despite their ninjutsu attacks.
After quickly neutralizing all the opponents heading his way, he jumped off the roof, despite the pain in his chakra reserves. Despite the pain, he had to do it. For all he had created.
He then scanned the battlefield, looking for a high-ranking member of the Yamanaka clan. Eventually, he found one: Tetsuna Yamanaka.
He launched himself straight at her and landed right beside her.
— Lord First!» she exclaimed in surprise.
— Testsuna! I have a request of the utmost importance for you!» Hashirama cut her off in a hurry.
— Let's hear it.»
— I'll need to talk to all the ninjas here.»
— It can't be... I won't be able to communicate your thoughts with all the fighters, my power is limited.»
— I intend to put an end to this battle right now. If necessary, ask other members of the Yamanaka clan to join you in order to succeed.»
— I'll call them through my transmission power, then we can pass on your message. In the meantime, protect me while I concentrate.» Tetsuna agreed.
Hashirama nodded. It suited him.
*****
The unit responsible for keeping Mito Uzumaki and Hashirama Senju away from the fighting had been wiped out. Mito and Hashirama had gone, and all were on the ground, unconscious or dead.
Suddenly, one of them jumped to his feet, as if by automatism.
— Tsss... I thought so... The master knew right from the start that this would be a suicide mission...» he sighed.
— At least it was fun!» exclaimed a voice behind him.
Kimena Kaguya had also managed to get to her feet. Clearly, they were the only two to have survived.
— If Hashirama Senju has made it to the battlefield, our plan is already falling apart.» replied the man from the mysterious clan.
— But according to the master... He's not in the best of health, is he?»
— It's a hypothesis, nothing more.»
— He has just been discharged from hospital... Which seemed to upset his partner.» she laughs.
— We can't say for sure, but it's true...
— The master was probably right. Hashirama Senju is weakened... We may have a chance of killing him.»
— Hu... Hu... Hu...» Kimena giggled. «It promises to be interesting.»
— In the meantime, we move on to the second phase of our mission...»
Their master had made it clear that if they failed, which they inevitably would, they would have to execute a counter-attack. Now, to dominate the village, they had to attack the weakest.
— Just the thing... Hashirama Senju is no longer in Konoha hospital. We've got our chance!» Kimena exclaimed.
*****
The Senju clan civilians were in a panic. These days, not everyone in Konoha was a ninja. Anyone with no fighting skills was in a very critical situation.
This was particularly true of the Hokage family.
Mino and Shinara Senju had fled their home with their three children. Now they were fleeing towards the nearby Sarutobi clan camp.
Mino carried Tsunade on his shoulders and Shinara pushed Ozaya and Jidda by the arms, urging them to accelerate.
— What's going on? Where are we going?» Tsunade asked, worried and curious.
— We've got to get away from here, and fast.» replied his father, without clearly explaining the situation.
Suddenly, as they approached the entrance to the Sarutobi camp, a bolt of lightning flashed in front of them.
A ninja stood in their way, and one thing was certain: he was certainly no ally.
— Oh! A Senju family in panic!» he exclaimed, a big smile on his face «How exciting!»
— Don't come any closer!» Shinara shouted, putting her two children behind her.
— Hun! Hun! And what will you do to me if I come any closer? You expect me to believe you know how to fight?» sneered the enemy.
Shinara instinctively pushed her two children towards Mino. At the same time, the man lunged at her.
— Shinara!» Mino exclaimed, frightened.
He wanted to throw himself on top of the other to help her, when he became aware of the presence of his children. He couldn't abandon them; the enemy would kill them.
— Ozaya!» he shouted. «Take Tsuna! Run away, all three of you! We'll take care of him!»
He lifted Tsunade and placed her in his son's arms, then turned back to their enemy.
Just as he was about to reach Shinara, who had so far managed to dodge a few blows even though she had received a few cuts, Mino charged at their enemy, who was thrown off balance and fell to the ground.
— Thanks, Mino!» exclaimed a chilled Shinara.
Then she turned to her children, who had remained motionless on the spot, worried.
— Run away! Run!» she shouted «Don't worry, we'll defeat him!»
Ozaya and Jidda fled in fear, the elder still carrying Tsunade.
They had believed their parents' words. Unfortunately for them, their naiveté would soon catch up with them.
As they ran at full speed, they heard a shrill cry behind them.
— Gwaaah !!»
Concerned, Jidda turned around sharply. Then she saw with horror what had just happened.
Flames danced wherever their parents were. In the center, their mother lay dying, her body engulfed in fire.
— Mummy!» exclaimed Jidda, horrified.
All Hashirama Senju's weaknesses were now exploited. Whether it was his illness, his family, his clan, his village, in short, his desire to help those he loved. It was going to be his undoing.
When you get too attached to something, losing it without being able to do anything about it was the worst kind of suffering.
*****
The war was far from fiction. It was reality. A reality that would remain with the human race forever. Man was like... Born for war.
That's what the man standing in front of Tobirama Senju understood. A definite, returned from the dead, to put an end to human suffering.
From now on, Konoha would be aware of the chaos that ninjas could create. They would understand that it was time for them to disappear. And so... Madara Uchiha's peace project could be realized.
The storm continued to rumble impassively across the sky.
📖To be Continued...📖