Chapter 239: Ashes of Alliances

Another year ended. The Fire, Wind, and Lightning Alliance clashed against the Earth, Water, and Iron Alliance in what would later be recorded as one of the most brutal battles in history. It took place in what was once the Land of Waves, now the northern border of the Land of Fire.

Forty thousand shinobi and samurai filled the battlefield. Blood and steel drowned the land. The Blood Lightning and the Golden Sage shone together like twin calamities. When combined, they unleashed, BOOM, and the entire battlefield was reduced to a black inferno, a hell of burning light.

Earth, Water, and Iron suffered catastrophic losses. Just as Fire, Wind, and Lightning seemed poised for final victory, the source of all evil appeared again. Hatake Kakashi.

Disguised within the allied forces, he suddenly struck. He assassinated the Fifth Raikage, and critically wounded Killer Bee, Kumogakure’s strongest weapon. Earth, Water, and Iron seized the moment, and a counterattack surged like a tidal wave.

With the death of two Raikage within a year, both at the hands of the same man, Kumogakure collapsed in morale. They withdrew from the war. The battlefield ended in stalemate, but two hundred thousand lives had already been lost.

With Kumogakure gone, the Fire and Wind Alliance became dominant. Konoha’s strength stood unmatched. The Blood Lightning. The Golden Sage. The White-Eyed Strategist. The Leaf Hurricane. The Ino-Shika-Cho formation. The Inuzuka beast corps. The Aburame insect corps. Countless elite shinobi carved their names into history during this war.

By contrast, Sunagakure was hollowed out, losing its strongest fighters one after another. Only the Fifth Kazekage remained. Konoha stood on an entirely different level.

In truth, even alone, Konoha could likely defeat the Earth, Water, and Iron Alliance. Under the Sixth Hokage, Konoha reached its greatest military and economic peak in history. Yet one strange thing remained. He repeatedly refused to have his face carved into the Hokage Rock.

“I am deeply relieved that all of you are safe.” The speaker was Danzo. The location was the Hokage ceremonial hall, and the audience was Konoha’s highest elite.

Uzumaki Naruto. Might Guy. The Golden Sage. The Blood Thunder. The future pillars of the village.

Danzo raised his cup, then poured it onto the earth. “One cup, to the fallen.” He raised it again. “One cup, to the dead.” And a third time. “One cup, to those still standing. If we meet again, I hope you are still here.”

It was tradition. Three cups after every battle: to the fallen, to the dead, to the living.

After that, the Sixth Hokage left. The rest belonged to the younger generation hardened by war. Except this time, Uzumaki Naruto spoke.

“Wait, Old man Hokage!” Only Naruto dared call the Sixth Hokage that.

Danzo did not stop walking, but he slowed. Naruto ran after him, and Sasuke followed.

“You did well in this battle,” Danzo said calmly. “I believe you are ready to learn the Flying Raijin.”

Naruto’s eyes lit up. “Really?! How?! Who will teach me?!”

Danzo shook his head. “It is a lost technique. You must understand it yourself. I will send the scrolls.”

Naruto pumped his fist. “I’ll master it for sure, believe it!” But then he stopped. “That’s not what I wanted to ask. Old man Hokage, Kakashi-sensei.”

Danzo stopped walking. Now it was a conversation. His voice turned heavy. “Naruto, when my own teacher, the Second Hokage, died, I left him behind. That regret never left me. You are the future of this village. I do not want to burden you with such regret.”

“Kakashi.” His voice lowered. “He was once one of my finest shinobi. But now.” He sighed. “Ask what you want.”

Naruto’s voice trembled. “What are you going to do about Kakashi-sensei?”

“Nothing, for now.” Danzo continued walking.

Naruto stood frozen. Sasuke spoke quietly. “Oi, loser.” Naruto didn’t answer.

After a long silence, “Why is Kakashi-sensei doing this?”

Sasuke replied flatly, “I don’t know.”

“Do you have one too?”

“A thorn?” Sasuke nodded. “Yes.”

Naruto hesitated. “Will you pull it out?”

Sasuke glanced at him. “If you do, I will.”

Elsewhere, the Sixth Hokage was still Danzo. And Danzo was also himself.

In a dark room, a man lay broken on the floor. Danzo kicked him again. BOOM.

“You idiot! I said capture Killer Bee, not kill him and the Raikage! The war is collapsing because of you!” He was furious. A small mistake had changed everything.

The Raikage’s death destabilized Kumogakure completely. Now the alliance structure was breaking apart. And the cause, Hatake Kakashi.

Danzo grabbed him by the collar and slammed him against the wall. Cold eyes. “No, I just remembered. You’re deaf. This failure should have been expected. But the consequences are still yours.”

He straightened his clothes. “I’ve already agreed to send prisoners to Orochimaru’s research. Three hundred to start. The rest depends on your performance.”

Kakashi broke. “I’m sorry! I was wrong! Don’t touch them! There are only six hundred left! Please!”

A year earlier, when Kakashi refused to cooperate with Danzo’s plans, the antidote to a poison called Jofuku flower was stopped. Within a day, one thousand two hundred prisoners became six hundred. Half died screaming in agony.

Danzo lifted Kakashi’s face. “Say it clearly. Who will you kill the Tsuchikage for?”

Kakashi trembled. “For you, I will kill him.”

Danzo nodded. Good. Obedience was everything.

Later, he spoke again. “Do not touch the Tsuchikage. Kill Mifune. Disable Chojuro.”

Kakashi repeated everything incorrectly. Danzo sighed. “Pathetic.” But he still had use. So he continued.

“Listen carefully. If Mifune lives and Chojuro dies, there will only be 150 prisoners left.”

Kakashi panicked. “No, no, kill Mifune, don’t kill Chojuro, leave 634, leave 634.”

Danzo let go. “Go.”

Kakashi crawled away, repeating numbers like a broken machine.

Later, Danzo stood alone. He looked toward the smoke rising in the distance. “Hashirama.” His voice was almost quiet. “When I take something from the enemy, I return it tenfold. When they swallowed pain before, I will make them spit it out.”

Smoke drifted like a ghost, and for a moment, it looked like someone was still there, listening.

“I have no attachment left to humanity. If this is what I’ve become, is this acceptable to you?”

Only silence answered.