Chapter 493: The Fall of the Tsuchikage and a Prison Reunion
"You stubborn fool!"
Onoki's voice cracked, his small frame trembling with a mixture of exhaustion and absolute fury as he glared up at Kitsuchi.
"What use are you here? Dying beside me changes nothing!" He jabbed a bruised finger toward the retreating horizon. "Take them back! Guard the village! Protect the roots of Iwagakure! That is an order from your Tsuchikage!"
The old man's hoarse roar echoed across the shattered battlefield, cutting through the whistling wind.
Kitsuchi collapsed onto both knees. The towering, broad-shouldered man buried his face in his hands, his massive shoulders heaving as he sobbed uncontrollably. He understood exactly what his father was doing. Onoki was trading his own life, his own freedom, to carve out a bloody path of survival for the thousands of Iwagakure elites standing behind him.
This was the Third Tsuchikage's final, desperate display of the Will of Stone.
"Get out of my sight!" Onoki forced his aching body forward, landing a heavy kick against Kitsuchi's armored shin. He turned his fierce gaze toward the surrounding shinobi. "Drag him away! Now!"
From the battered crowd, two young Iwagakure Jonin rushed forward, hot tears cutting tracks through the grime on their faces. They grabbed Kitsuchi by both arms, hauling his massive frame upward with everything they had.
"Lord Kitsuchi, we have to go!" one of them pleaded, his voice breaking. "Do not let the Tsuchikage's sacrifice be in vain!"
Uchiha Akira stood a short distance away, his dark eyes entirely devoid of warmth. He watched the tearful display of fatherly devotion and filial piety with the detached observation of a predator watching prey scurry back to its burrow. The wind caught the hem of his dark cloak, making it snap sharply in the quiet air.
Then, Akira opened his mouth.
The moment he spoke, the surrounding Iwagakure shinobi froze. Pure terror gripped their hearts, their eyes darting toward the Konoha Hokage in absolute panic. A single thought flashed through their minds: he was going back on his word. He was going to slaughter them all right here.
Onoki reacted instantly. Ignoring his drained chakra and battered muscles, the old Tsuchikage threw himself directly into Akira's path. He spread his arms wide, his face twisting into a mask of desperate vigilance.
"Uchiha Akira! You gave your word!"
"Calm yourself, old man."
Akira's tone was flat, utterly unbothered by the Tsuchikage's hostility. He did not even look at Onoki. His crimson gaze drifted right past the small man, locking onto Kitsuchi's retreating back in the distance.
"I am merely offering a final piece of advice." Akira took a slow, measured step forward. The sheer pressure radiating from his body made the air feel heavy, suffocating the Iwa shinobi. "After you return to your precious village... hurry up. Surrender unconditionally. Merge the entirety of Iwagakure into Konoha."
Dead silence fell over the wasteland. The wind seemed to stop howling.
Onoki's face contorted, his features twisting into an incredibly ugly, humiliated grimace. His fists clenched so hard his knuckles turned white, but he dared not make a move.
"Otherwise..." Akira's voice dropped, the temperature around him seeming to plummet to freezing. A terrifying, murderous intent bled into his words. "When Konoha's army marches upon the gates of Iwagakure, they will not be nearly as accommodating as I am today. If you force my hand, I will not mind erasing the very name 'Iwagakure' from the maps of the Ninja World. It will become a complete thing of the past."
Having delivered his ultimatum, Akira raised a hand and waved it dismissively, exactly as one might shoo away a swarm of annoying flies.
"Get out of my sight."
In the distance, Kitsuchi stopped. He turned his head, casting one long, agonizing look at his father's small, defiant back. He bit his lip until it bled, tasting copper in his mouth. Then, without looking back again, Kitsuchi led the battered, broken remnants of the Iwagakure forces, fleeing toward the borders of the Land of Earth in utter disarray.
Onoki watched the dust settle behind his retreating shinobi. Only when he was absolutely certain they had escaped did the rigid tension holding his body together finally snap.
His legs gave out. The Third Tsuchikage slumped heavily onto the cracked earth, looking every bit his advanced age.
"Are you satisfied now?" Onoki tilted his head up to look at the towering figure of Uchiha Akira, a bitter, self-deprecating smile pulling at his lips.
"The Tsuchikage certainly knows how to adapt to the circumstances," Akira replied, his voice smooth and devoid of mockery, simply stating a fact.
He closed the distance between them with slow, deliberate steps. Stopping right in front of the defeated Kage, Akira reached his right hand out into the empty air. Dark chakra flared. A dense chain of black sealing runes materialized out of thin air, slithering forward like venomous snakes. The runes instantly coiled tightly around Onoki's torso and limbs, locking down his chakra pathways and binding him in place.
"Time to go." Akira leaned down, his grip closing effortlessly around the back of Onoki's collar. He hoisted the old man up as easily as lifting a sack of grain. "The Raikage is already waiting for you. The two of you can catch up on old times in the holding cells."
Onoki simply closed his eyes. He did not struggle. He did not utter a single word of protest.
In the harsh reality of the Ninja World, the winner takes all. As a defeated prisoner of war, he had lost the right to speak.
A short while later, the skies above the Konoha Main Camp darkened slightly.
A sonic boom echoed overhead, drawing the eyes of every shinobi on the ground. Uchiha Akira descended from the sky like a falling meteor. He landed dead in the center of the camp. The earth groaned and trembled violently beneath his boots, kicking up a massive, expanding ring of dust.
The Konoha ninjas, who had been waiting in anxious anticipation for hours, subconsciously held their breath, their eyes wide as the dust began to settle.
As the air cleared, the imposing figure of their Fifth Hokage was revealed. Akira stood tall, one hand casually tucked into his pocket. Tossed unceremoniously at his feet was a short, battered old man. The prisoner sported a signature bulbous red nose and wore the traditional Tsuchikage robes. Though the fabric was severely torn, scorched, and caked in dirt, the emblem of Iwagakure was still perfectly recognizable.
"Is that... is that the Tsuchikage?" a Chunin near the front stammered, his voice breaking the heavy silence.
A split second later, the realization hit the crowd. A deafening, earth-shaking cheer erupted from the camp, washing over the clearing like a massive tsunami.
"Long live Hokage-sama!"
"Victory for Konoha!"
"Hahahaha! Look at him! What 'Onoki of Both Scales'? The old man is nothing but a joke in front of our Hokage!"
Onoki coughed weakly, his chin resting against his chest. The piercing, jubilant cheers of the Konoha shinobi stabbed into his ears like physical blades. The sheer humiliation of being paraded like a hunting trophy made him want to crawl into a hole and die.
Just then, the heavy canvas flap of the central command tent was pushed aside.
Jiraiya stepped out into the sunlight. He had been inside poring over tactical maps and discussing the next phase of the war with Shikaku, but the sudden uproar had drawn him out. The moment the Toad Sage laid eyes on the scene, his jaw dropped, quickly followed by a wide, delighted grin.
Jiraiya folded his thick arms across his chest and sauntered over to Onoki with an exaggerated, arrogant swagger. He circled the bound Tsuchikage slowly, clicking his tongue as he marveled at the pathetic sight.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't the famous Onoki of Both Scales," Jiraiya drawled, his tone dripping with theatrical surprise. "Did you take a wrong turn? How exactly did the great Tsuchikage end up rolling around in the dirt at our Konoha Main Camp?"
Hearing Jiraiya's mocking, sarcastic tone was the final straw.
Onoki snapped his head up, his eyes blazing with renewed fury. He bared his teeth and barked at the towering Sannin.
"Shut your mouth, you perverted old fool! Everyone knows you spend more time peeking into women's bathhouses than training!" Onoki spat, straining against the black sealing runes. "Stop gloating over someone else's victory! If it were a one-on-one fight between you and me, I would turn your miserable hide to ash with a single blast of Dust Release!"
Even bound, beaten, and thrown into the dirt, the Third Tsuchikage remained as stubborn as a boulder.
"Oh, quite fierce for a captive!" Jiraiya did not take offense. Instead, he threw his head back and laughed even harder. He leaned down and brazenly poked Onoki right on his large, bulbous red nose. "Save your breath, old man. A loss is a loss, no matter how much you bark about it."
Jiraiya straightened his posture, shifting his gaze to the calm, imposing figure of Uchiha Akira standing beside them. The Sannin's face beamed with genuine pride.
"Besides, there is no shame in this. Looking at the entire Ninja World right now, I highly doubt anyone could be found who can actually defeat Akira in a straight fight. As expected of Konoha's Fifth Hokage!"
Akira waved a hand, cutting off the celebration before it could drag on.
"Enough." His commanding voice instantly silenced the surrounding crowd. "Take him down to the holding cells. Throw him in the same cage as that brute of a Raikage. These two old neighbors should have plenty to talk about."
Jiraiya's eyes lit up instantly. A wicked, mischievous grin spread across his weathered face as he pictured the absolute chaos that would ensue.
"Heh, now that is a brilliant idea. The Raikage's explosive temper locked in a tiny room with the Tsuchikage's legendary stubbornness? Oh, this is going to be incredibly lively." Jiraiya turned toward the perimeter and gave a grand, sweeping wave of his hand. "Someone get over here! 'Invite'the Tsuchikage down to the maximum security block! And remember to'treat him well'!"
The air shimmered as several Anbu operatives materialized instantly from the shadows. They moved with silent precision, flanking Onoki and hauling his bound body off the ground.
"Let go of me, you Konoha brats!" Onoki thrashed wildly, his face turning purple with rage. "I have legs! I can walk by myself! Bastard, watch your hands! Do not pull my beard!"
Ignoring his furious, constant cursing, the Anbu operatives dragged the struggling Tsuchikage away, hauling him toward the heavily guarded temporary prison located at the very rear of the military camp.
Deep within the Konoha Main Camp lay the maximum-security prison block.
The underground structure had been heavily reinforced by elite Earth Release users, its walls lined with dense, glowing barrier formulas laid down by the Sealing Squad. It was now an absolute, impenetrable fortress. Never mind a shinobi with sealed chakra, not even a fly could hope to escape this place alive.
At the very back of the corridor sat a specially reinforced cage, designed specifically to hold Kage-level threats.
Inside the dim cell, an exceptionally burly, dark-skinned man sat cross-legged on the cold stone floor. His massive muscles were coiled tight with tension. It was none other than A, the Fourth Raikage of Kumogakure.
At this moment, the Raikage looked extraordinarily irritable.
"Bastard..." A let out a low, guttural growl. He slammed his heavy fist against the stone floor, cracking the surface beneath his knuckles. "Uchiha Akira... if I can just find a way out of here... I swear I will tear you to pieces!"
The Raikage ground his teeth together so hard his jaw popped. The sheer, unadulterated fury burning in his eyes looked ready to physically erupt and consume the entire room. As the proud, unstoppable Raikage of the Hidden Cloud, when had he ever suffered such agonizing humiliation?
Just then, the heavy iron door at the end of the hall groaned open.
A piercing beam of torchlight flooded into the dark cell. The Raikage subconsciously squinted against the sudden glare, his muscles tensing for a fight.
"It is not mealtime yet!" A roared, his booming voice rattling the iron bars. "Which Konoha bastard is here to laugh at me now?!"
No one answered him.
Instead of a verbal reply, the Raikage only heard a dull, heavy thud. An unidentified, bound mass was casually tossed in through the open doorway. The bundle rolled twice across the rough stone floor, coming to a complete stop right at the Raikage's feet.
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