MAKING THE IMPOSSIBLE POSSIBLE – DELAYING ACT
The Medical Area
The raw panic begins to set in through the medical area as Biwako, Mito and Tsunade recall the tales Sarada told them of a man named Uchiha Sasuke, her father. This was the only man capable of fighting evenly against Naruto, the second member of the Uchiha clan to awaken the rinnegan. In the history of the ninja world Sasuke was one of the few people who had transcended the power of the Kage and reached a level comparable to the gods.
"Sasuke…" Hinata muttered with a shiver, her eyes wide as she recalls the aftermath of his battle with Naruto.
Naruto's battle with Sasuke happened only a few days ago for her, the damage on their bodies something she had seen for herself. The landscape had been completely decimated by the battle with the ten-tails and Obito yet the duo from team 7 had surpassed that level of destruction with just the two of them. They truly were monsters.
"Grandma Tsunade, you have to heal me quickly" Naruto says as he looks urgently over to the famed healer that is the 5th Hokage.
"There is no way to heal you quickly" she snaps in reply.
"THEN WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE" Naruto shouts impatiently.
Naruto is not exaggerating in the slightest, he of all people understands Sasuke's power, a power bestowed unto him by the legendary sage of the six paths.
As Biwako and Tsunade look between one another their sense of urgency elevates even further. Formerly, they brushed off the stories of Sasuke's abilities, thinking them to be exaggerations for the sake of legend. Now that they can feel Sasuke's chakra, that they see Naruto's alarmed expression despite his incredible powers, they don't hold any doubt in their hearts that the situation is critical.
Sasuke is here.
"Hold on" Mito says calmly, holding her hands out to her side, "There are several other Hokage here. Tobirama, Hiruzen, Minato, Kakashi and Sarada are all fine".
"Y… yeah" Tsunade nods, considering her grandmother's words carefully. "Yeah, yeah… you're right".
"No…" comes the voice of Uchiha Sakura, finally recovering her composure and, with Tsunade's help, her balance. "That won't be enough".
"How can they not be enough?" Biwako questions with incredulity, "That's five Hokage, five, not to mention all of the other shinobi in the village".
Sakura's voice quietens. "Other than Naruto I am the only one who has witnessed the strength of every single Hokage from the past. Further to that, I have seen the strength of the Hokage from the present as well as my husband's power".
Hearing Sakura's credentials everyone comes to appreciate that she truly is the most qualified to speak on this subject. A member of team 7, a friend to the 7th Hokage, mother to the 9th and a warrior from the war in which every one of them fought.
"Trust me, there are only two Hokage who could possibly stand up to Sasuke. They are both here with us and neither of them can fight for themselves".
"Then… what do we do?" Hinata asks.
Sakura frees herself from Tsunade's grasp with a struggle, returning to her feet before slowly standing up to her full height. "I'm going to go to him".
"Are you insane?" Tsunade practically shouts at her disciple.
"If there is anyone who can talk some sense into him it's me".
"Whatever the reason is Sakura, your husband is clearly not on our side" Biwako points towards the source of the chakra as she tries to talk Sakura out of it. "Can't you feel this killing intent".
"I know".
Tsunade continues, "If he is attacking us then he cannot be himself. He's not in his right mind".
"I know".
"To go would be to throw your life away".
"I KNOW" Sakura screams, stunning the others into silence, "But the chakra is coming from my daughter's direction. There is no way in hell I'm not going to her".
Naruto clenches his fist tightly before turning to his inner world, "Kurama, can't you help me out here?".
"I'm too low on chakra right now" the nine-tailed fox answers, "You shouldn't have made me use the Asura form".
"Dammit" Naruto curses, "None of them are capable of stopping him".
"If I don't do something, everyone will die…".
Sarada's Training Field
Sarada looks on at her father yet despite his overwhelming chakra and the killing intent he is radiating she is not overcome with fear but instead emotion. The day the hidden sand fell Uchiha Sasuke had come out of retirement, he had left the village with Uzumaki Naruto at the head of a mighty hidden leaf army. That was the last day that Sarada ever saw her father, the day that he died at the hands of General Clyde.
"Dad" she quietly calls to him, "What are you…".
Before Sarada can finish a purple ribcage begins to form around Sasuke, this is the most basic form of his Susano. Along with the ribcage a giant hand slowly protrudes from above Sasuke, its palm comparable in size to a small room. Then, without warning, the hand falls towards Sarada, the open palm a signal for her impending death. In her emotional state Sarada realises what is happening far too late and becomes unable to react in time.
Just as the hand is about to reach Sarada, it is bound by the wrist. Several gold shining chains wrap around the arm of Sasuke's Susano, binding it into position momentarily. Sarada recognises these chains instantly as the adamantine sealing chains made famous by the Uzumaki clan.
In the short period for which Sasuke is bound, a flash of yellow occurs next to Sarada, a sign of the arrival of a hidden leaf legend. The 4th Hokage Namikaze Minato. Not a moment after the 4th arrives he has taken hold of Sarada and left again, escaping just in time before Sasuke smashes through the sealing chains and the Susano palm slams into the ground where Sarada was stood.
Arriving at the side of Uzumaki Kushina, Minato removes his hand from the shoulder of the 9th Hokage, allowing her a few seconds to take a deep breath.
"Thank you…" she eventually breathes out, "Minato… Kushina… thank you".
"Keep calm" Minato responds, "That man may be your father but right now he is our enemy, we need to find a way to beat him".
Although the knowledge has not been directly imparted to him, Minato quickly establishes that this man must be Sarada's father. An unmatchable chakra unseen throughout his life, the dark black hair and the Mangekyo Sharingan. This man can only be Uchiha Sasuke.
Another flash.
Tobirama arrives with Hiruzen and Kakashi.
"I can't believe that I am seeing you again. Sasuke" comes the dull voice of Kakashi, the Uchiha's former teacher.
Seeing his former teacher does nothing to affect Sasuke's mental condition. Remaining stationary, Naruto's rival does not say a word as his killing intent maintains a steady level. He is not responding to any external stimulus as a normal human would, he is showing the exact same conditions as one of the insane warriors.
"Haven't you got anything to say" Sarada asks, "After all this time. You are my father, aren't you?".
Once again Sasuke remains silent in response.
"He's no longer himself" Minato hypothesises, "He has been brainwashed or hypnotized. It's something like that I'm sure".
"Lord 2nd, this is similar the effects of your reanimation jutsu is it not" Hiruzen asks his former mentor.
"It is similar" Tobirama agrees, "However the only similarity is the lack of self-control, the lack of emotion. Not only does this man seem to be alive, he also maintained the monstrous strength that Sakura described him as having in the past".
Sarada takes a deep breath before stepping forward a few times, visibly putting herself in front of her fellow Hokage. "You guys get the villagers to safety, especially focus on Naruto and Hashirama".
"Sarada…" Kushina starts.
"If they die this will all be for nothing, it doesn't matter if I die here though. Yet, more than any of you I can buy us some time".
Sasuke's silence is then adopted by everyone. The Hokage are all people with a great deal of pride and self-respect, to run away from a fight such as this and leave Sarada to die is something none of them want to do, something forced on them, their duty as Hokage of the hidden leaf. Even Kushina, the only non-Hokage present is incredibly reluctant to leave, questioning just how much the 9th must give up before she has done her bit.
"Go" Sarada smiles as she turns her head back to look at them, "Help is on the way for me".
Not a second after saying that, a friendly face leaps from the bushes to Sarada's right. Uzumaki Boruto. Swinging his arm from his behind to his front in a grand arch, he throws a kunai straight towards Sasuke, a kunai which morphs into a rasengan mid-flight.
Boruto is not alone, from the bushes to Sarada's left emerges Mitsuki. Mitsuki stretches his arm out, firing it towards Sasuke such that it and the rasengan hit the opposite side of the Susano simultaneously. To smash the Susano individually would be impossible for these two attacks but together they succeed, breaking Sasuke's first layer of defence.
Taking advantage of the opening Boruto quickly weaves a series of signs, sending a tidal wave hurling towards Sasuke. Even someone with the might of Sasuke cannot face this attack head on without defence, as such he is knocked back several meters while Boruto and Mitsuki arrive at Sarada's sides.
Seeing their joint attack a smile comes to Minato's face, "We'll trouble you guys with this then".
"It's no trouble" Sarada replies, "He is my father after all. He is my responsibility".
Hearing Sarada's resolve the Hokage disperse and set about evacuating the camp.
"Sarada, are you OK?" Boruto asks, not taking his eye from his master's direction.
"I'm fine" Sarada answers, "But thank you, Boruto".
"I told the shinobi on patrol duty to help the villagers to get away" Mitsuki explains, "We need only keep him at bay".
"That's easier said than done" Boruto notes, "He's not even using the rinnegan yet".
"Boruto, you know my father's fighting style even better than I do. Do we stand a chance?".
"Right now he doesn't know about your full power" Boruto declares, "We have to use that to our advantage".
"A sneak attack" Mitsuki concludes.
"I need to get close with this power" Sarada declares as the tomoe in her eye begin to spin, "And if I miss…".
"Then don't miss" Boruto interrupts his Hokage, "I believe in you".
Sarada nods, grateful as ever to Boruto who has perhaps been her greatest supporter ever since she first dreamt of becoming the Hokage. They had always worked together to reach the peak, Hokage and Shadow Hokage, perhaps without one another, their dreams would be impossible.
Suddenly, Sasuke emerges from the water with a sword in hand. Sparks of electricity dance on the body of the sword, showing off his manipulation of kamui to strengthen the blade.
"Here I go" Mitsuki announces as he summons a snake sword to his hand and charges at Sasuke. They engage in sword-play that would be difficult for many to even follow with their eyes. The two onlookers though are using the Mangekyo Sharingan and the Byakugan, their observational powers are anything but ordinary.
As Sasuke's advantage begins to become more and more evident Boruto takes that as a cue to make his move. "Don't hold back, the man before us isn't your father nor my master".
Boruto dashes to Mitsuki's side to help him fight Sasuke, he throws two kunai, the first towards Mitsuki and the latter towards his teacher. Mitsuki understands Boruto's idea perfectly, ducking beneath the kunai to help confuse Sasuke. Following this dodge, Boruto creates an invisible wall, rebounding the kunai that Mitsuki dodged, putting both projectiles on course to hit Sasuke.
As Sasuke swings his sword with the intention to block the kunai, Boruto activates his transformation, morphing both kunai into rasengan. 'Not even you can use a sword to block this'.
As the rasengan bear down on him, Sasuke throws his sword up into the air, causing his daughter to start her run towards him. Ignoring his incoming child, Sasuke creates a chidori in each hand, slamming them into the rasengan before him. The time this bought is enough, Sarada arrives before Sasuke ready to attack.
Sasuke sees this coming though, a veteran of many battles and the wielder of the legendary Mangekyo Sharingan, he catches the sword he through into the air not a moment ago before sheathing it into his daughter's stomach.
Just as Sarada planned.
As Sasuke gazes into Sarada's eyes her tomoe rotate before her body disappears, she bursts into a sea of crows, disorientating Sasuke. Although the crows would be enough to make anyone flinch, his reaction is different, for a moment only he is himself again as the crows bring back memories of a man from his past.
Sarada materialises behind Sasuke before punching him solidly in the back. No ordinary punch could hurt Uchiha Sasuke but this is a punch from his daughter, from Sakura's daughter. While Sasuke was away Sakura often gave Sarada advice on her path to being a shinobi, naturally one of the things Sakura taught her was the keen chakra control that leads to otherworldly strength.
As Sasuke flies into a nearby tree Mitsuki and Boruto return to Sarada's side.
"Good work Sarada".
The 9th Hokage doesn't acknowledge the praise though, instead lowering her head slightly. "But…" she begins.
Before she can finish Sasuke's chakra starts to surge again, a purple aura flaring around him as a more developed Susano begins to form.
"… he's going to fight seriously now".