Naruto: IHCS Ch. 133

The dust in the air stirred restlessly. Battle was about to erupt.

Many Iwa ninjas fixed their killing intent upon Shiratori.

There is no mercy on the battlefield. Mercy toward the enemy is cruelty toward oneself. And ninjas have no need for something like mercy. If blame must be laid, then blame this brat's ill fate.

"Please wait a moment!"

Standing in front of Minato, Shiratori suddenly spoke. His voice was calm and resolute, forming a stark contrast with his young appearance.

He faced the Iwa unit head-on. His body was small, especially when set against the towering figures of the Iwa ninjas.

The Iwa ninjas frowned slightly, the boy truly had courage.

Since they were destined to die here anyway, letting them say a few last words hardly mattered.

Minato instinctively reached out, wanting to pull him back behind him, but Shiratori gently shook his head. His gaze firm, he stepped forward a few paces.

Without shifting his eyes, he stared straight at the Iwa ninjas before him.

"Before the battle begins, could you tell me, why do you want to kill the Konoha ninjas?"

A low, mocking laugh rippled through the Iwa unit. They looked at him with ridicule.

Why kill Konoha's ninjas? Why didn't he ask why Konoha's ninjas were killing theirs?

An Iwa jonin swept a cold gaze across him. "War needs no reason. All you need to know is that Konoha and Iwa are at war. That alone is enough."

Shiratori agreed with that answer, but his character could not agree.

"But war does need a reason!" he insisted.

"Killing also needs a reason!"

The Iwa jonin narrowed his eyes, inhaled deeply, and spoke slowly, "Last month, in battle with Konoha, Iwa lost nearly three hundred ninjas. Is that not reason enough? We are here for revenge."

Shiratori looked earnestly at the Iwa jonin. His gaze was clear, holding no hatred, only sorrow for the lives lost in war:

"I'm sorry to hear that. In the war between Iwa and Konoha, surely it wasn't only your village that lost comrades."

"Konoha too has lost many ninjas, and so have the civilians of the Land of Grass. They are the most innocent of all."

"It isn't only you who have lost comrades. It isn't only you who suffer. Why must more suffering and slaughter be created?"

"Hatred only breeds more hatred, doesn't it?"

He looked at the Iwa jonin with genuine puzzlement, as though he could not comprehend their way of thinking.

[Affection detected: Minato +1000 points]
[Curse Growth - Love: 52.6%]

Minato never thought he would hear such words from the mouth of a boy. The last time he'd heard something like this, it had come from Jiraiya.

This time, however, it came from an unfamiliar youth.

Shiratori's words drew a cold sneer from the Iwa jonin. "How naive! If we put down our hatred, the enemy will only raise the slaughter! We will lose even more comrades!"

The Iwa jonin's tone shifted as he continued, "Besides, the shinobi world is survival of the fittest. Konoha occupy the most fertile lands and enjoy the richest resources, naturally you become the target of everyone's ire."

"..."

All that talk of hatred and comrades ultimately comes down to resources.

"Can resource problems really be solved through war?" he countered.

"Isn't the way to solve problems to work together and cooperate?"

A scoff came from the Iwa jonin.

"That's enough! I'm tired of hearing your naive speeches!"

Shiratori's face remained expressionless. You may refuse to listen, he seemed to say, but you can't interrupt my performance.

"Before we slaughter one another, I want to ask, do we really have no other way to resolve this?"

"Are ninjas only meant to exist as instruments of killing?"

"When the First Hokage founded Konoha, when the First Tsuchikage founded Iwa, wasn't it to protect the people who mattered and to create peace?"

"When did we forget those original ideals?"

Confusion filled his eyes as he stared unblinkingly at the Iwa ninjas opposite him.

The Iwa jonin fell silent for a moment, none of the ninjas beside him spoke.

"I'll admit, you're a good talker, but talk won't win a war!" he said. "Talking won't stop a war! Peace can't be grabbed by taking it with our own hands!"

He clenched his fist.

Shiratori "..."

On what basis?

On what basis, exactly?

Why is it that when Naruto talks his way through things it works, but when I do it, it doesn't?

Is it simply because Naruto is the protagonist?

At least give me some protagonist treatment, make these ninjas feel something!

"Peace is not won by snatching! Violence will never bring peace!" he shouted at the Iwa jonin, his voice full of deep feeling.

"I am a war orphan. I have fought in wars. I have been to the battlefield... Relying on violence will never win peace! And it will never protect peace!"

The Iwa jonin stared at him, raised the long blade in his hand, his eyes cold.

"Regrettably, no matter what you say, today we will cut you down here!"

He paused, then, perhaps honestly, added, "Still, you do have a way with words."

"..."

Why did the Iwa jonin have to add that last line?

"Attack!"

"Kill them!"

"Avenge our fallen comrades!"

The Iwa jonin let out a furious roar.

A hundred Iwa ninjas launched their assault without hesitation.

"Earth Release: Fissure!"

"Earth Release: Rock Pillar Spears!"

"Earth Release: Earth Flow Spears!"

Boom!

An explosion erupted.

The ground beneath Shiratori and the others suddenly split apart into a massive rift. The crack yawned open like a giant, bloodthirsty maw, threatening to swallow them whole.

At the same time, countless sharp, solid rock pillars materialized in the air and rained down like a violent storm from every direction.

Not only that, razor-sharp earthen spears burst from below, thrusting upward at incredible speed toward their vital points.

Shiratori's words had proven completely useless.

The battle had fully erupted.

Fugaku's Sharingan spun wildly, allowing him to dodge every attack with pinpoint precision.

Nanami swung her hammer with wild force, shattering all the incoming rock rods and earthen spears erupting from the ground.

Shards of stone scattered, smoke and dust filled the air.

"Earth Release: Earth-Style Rampart!"

Dozens of Iwa ninjas finished their hand signs at the same time, pouring vast amounts of chakra into the earth.

Boom!

The ground seemed to be heaved up by an invisible giant, rumbling with deafening force, then the massive slabs of earth surged toward the five clustered around Shiratori, closing in with crushing momentum.

The sky was blotted out by the rapidly converging slabs of earth, and the light instantly dimmed.

"This is bad!"

Nanami's hammer could shatter ninjutsu attacks, but against such enormous slabs of land, she would need a hammer at least as big as a person to break them apart.

"Minato!"

Fugaku turned to him beside him. "Can you use your jutsu?"

In this situation, aside from Minato's Flying Thunder God Technique, no other method came to mind.

Minato gritted his teeth. If he used Flying Thunder God now without complete mastery... His brow furrowed tightly.

Suddenly, Shiratori's hand was gripped firmly by Nagato. He turned to him, Nagato's face was pale. His pupils locked onto the Iwa ninjas with a glare.

"I told you, I will protect you!"

The ghostly glow of the Rinnegan flickered.

Shiratori immediately restrained the impulsive Nagato.

"Nagato! Don't be reckless!"

Looking into his eyes, he said slowly and firmly: "Trust me. I can handle this!"

The raging chakra surging within Nagato's body halted in an instant.

[Affection detected: Minato +2000 points]
[Curse Growth - Love: 52.8%]

Shiratori glanced at Nanami shielding him from the front, then at Minato, who seemed to have steeled his resolve.

Since he himself had not yet managed to copy Minato's Flying Thunder God, there was no way Minato could be allowed to die here.

For him, there were many ways to break free of the current crisis.

First method, brute force.

He could simply summon Rika and Rain, let them take their complete forms, and smash apart the collapsing slabs of earth.

This would be the fastest and easiest solution.

But it wouldn't work.

Rika was too conspicuous, summoning her would risk exposing his identity. In fact, in the intelligence networks of the shinobi world, Rika had already been placed on the watch list.

After all, Shiratori's identity was that of the student of Hanzō. His every move could easily spark international conflict. He had no intention of bringing disaster to Ame.

Second option, relocation.

By using Takako's Sky Manipulation, he could transfer the space beneath their feet to a safe location.

He could even shift the very ground beneath them thousands of miles away.

But this method demanded insane precision. He had no complete confidence in pulling it off.

After weighing the options, he chose the third method. A cold aura suddenly manifested at his side without warning.

Space itself seemed to twist under some invisible force.

A violet-black vortex appeared out of thin air. The whirlpool rotated silently, growing wider and wider.

As a sensory kunoichi, Nanami immediately noticed something wrong. She spun around sharply, her pupils shrinking as she saw the violet whirlpool beside him.

"What is that thing?"

Fugaku had just spoken when the vortex rapidly expanded to over a man's height.

Within it swirled endless darkness.

A tall figure slowly stepped out.

He wore a wide, dark-blue monk's robe. His long black hair was tied back into a half topknot, with a few loose bangs hanging casually.

On his face was a faint, mocking smile. His gaze swept past Shiratori, then over Minato, Fugaku, Nanami, and the Iwa ninjas.

"One monkey..."

"Two monkeys..."

"Three monkeys..."

"Four monkeys..."

"Five monkeys..."

"Six monkeys..."

"Seven monkeys..."

"..."

"So many monkeys?"

"I can't even count them anymore."

Realizing what Suguru was saying: "..."

Nanami's pupils trembled.

This man... why was he here?

A space-time ninjutsu?

Unconsciously, she glanced at Minato, who stared intently at the strange man in monk's robes. He couldn't sense any chakra from him at all, yet the man radiated an aura so chilling it froze the blood.

What was going on?

This man had just emerged from that violet vortex, hadn't he?

"What monkeys?"

Fugaku glared warily at the man before him.

Why was he counting monkeys?

No, more importantly, where were there monkeys here?

"Just the sight of these monkeys makes me sick..."

Suguru's lips curved in a smile, but his eyes were utterly devoid of warmth, cold and indifferent.

This time Fugaku was finally certain of his suspicion.

The "monkeys" this monk-like man spoke of were them!

Damn it!

How arrogant could he be?

"Who are you? Why are you here? What do you want?"

Nanami fixed her wary gaze on the man.

The threat of the Iwa ninjas wasn't even resolved yet, and now another dangerous figure had appeared.

Still, his arrival had at least caused the Iwa ninjas' attacks to pause.

"Shut up."

"I have no interest in speaking to monkeys."

The smile faded abruptly from Suguru's face.