MAKING THE IMPOSSIBLE POSSIBLE – A TEAM REFORMED
The Battlefield
Sasuke's aura overwhelms the trio of hidden leaf shinobi. Of course, amongst the trio only one of them has ever experienced the full might of this man Uchiha Sasuke, that is of course Boruto, the day they rescued his father. Regardless, even Boruto staggers backwards in awe as the purple armour surrounding Sasuke grows and grows until it reaches full size. A complete body Susano.
Even during the 4th great shinobi war the complete body Susano was rarely seen, used only by three people during the conflict. These three were Uchiha Madara, Uchiha Sasuke and Hatake Kakashi who had been lent Uchiha Obito's chakra. Thus, this could truly be considered the ultimate weapon of the Uchiha clan, a power to rival the tailed beasts and now it is staring down this team of hidden leaf shinobi.
"Guys" Sarada begins, "I think this maybe it for us".
This is not an unfair assessment, after all, few people have ever defeated someone who was using a complete body Susano. Two people who had are being evacuated at this very moment, Naruto and Hashirama had fought against Sasuke and Madara respectively.
"We at least need to make it difficult for him to kill us" Boruto declares, "We've already resolved ourselves to death haven't we".
As he is met with silence, Boruto walks up to Sarada and places a hand on her shoulder. "Go, the Hokage is required to protect the village".
"But…".
"Mitsuki and I may be strong but we don't have the potential you have; we don't have your strength either. So, go, protect our dream for us".
"I'm not going anywhere". Sarada waves her arm in front of her torso in defiance. She had experienced life and death with her teammates, how could she possibly leave them to die at the hands of her own father, at the hands of Boruto's master.
"Well, our death isn't guaranteed yet" Mitsuki turns his head and smiles gently towards his two best friends.
"What do you mean?".
Ignoring the questions posed by Boruto and Sarada, Mitsuki weaves a series of signs in quick succession. Tiger, snake, dog, dragon. Mitsuki weaves the signs slowly and steadily, almost as if he is reluctant to do so, a fact that, when combined with the signs nature, is quickly picked up on by Boruto and Sarada.
Sarada calls out, "Mitsuki, that's forbidden, you agreed you wouldn't use it unless we were desperate".
"You promised" Boruto adds.
Mitsuki frowns before sighing. "I know that I shouldn't use it, I will be OK with it if you kill me afterwards but… I really want to save you two first".
"Mitsuki…".
Following his emotional display, Mitsuki claps his hands together, a wooden coffin rising from his side before the lid falls off. Not a second later an enormous chakra emerges, not quite as great as Sasuke's but certainly enough to attract the attention of any shinobi with sensory abilities.
This is the reanimation jutsu.
Out from the coffin steps… Sarutobi Konohamaru.
"Konohamaru sensei" Boruto and Sarada call in unison.
"What's this" Konohamaru asks as he looks towards his hands, "The reanimation jutsu, how regrettable".
Looking up before himself Konohamaru takes in the sight of a complete body Susano, a giant purple behemoth. Then he turns his head around to look at the man who reanimated him, his own student, Mitsuki.
"To think that you would be forced into a position such that you would use this jutsu" Konohamaru begins, "This must be just as bad as it looks".
"Sensei, I promised I would never reanimate you". Mitsuki's eyes look downward to the shoes on his feet, not daring to look his mentor in the eye. Konohamaru had been like a second father to him, a fantastic teacher, an excellent friend.
"It's alright. It seems not much time has passed, you haven't any further with your sage mode training have you Boruto?".
"No sensei".
"Then there is no way you could win this fight" Konohamaru smiles sarcastically as his gaze returns to Sasuke. "I understand that you were forced to do this Mitsuki, I don't blame you. I indeed requested not to be reanimated but it seems that you had no choice".
"Boruto, you're not a full sage yet".
"Sarada, your eyes have yet to fully mature".
"Mitsuki, you are a genius technique user".
"But none of you, none of you are heavy hitters".
"As the 8th Hokage, I will create an opening for you".
Boruto thinks back to the days of Konohamaru training him, of his battles against the insane warriors and the occasional skirmish with a captain. Despite his talk of 'heavy-hitters' the 8th Hokage himself has never been a heavy hitter. His mightiest weapon the rasengan, Konohamaru was much like the 3rd Hokage and 6th Hokage before him, a genius who knows thousands of jutsu yet not one that could smash a Susano.
Sarada also grinds her teeth, believing this to be a fight that Konohamaru couldn't possibly win. 'Sensei used to battle with me when I first gained use of the Susano. He never used a big hit to destroy it, instead he always used a clever technique to pull me outside and make me vulnerable'.
However, Mitsuki thinks differently to his teammates. He knows Konohamaru can muster a heavy hit, that is why he is comfortable that his sensei is the ideal man to help them in this situation.
One Year Ago, The Sarutobi Compound
Konohamaru sat cross legged in the centre of the compound, attempting to focus on meditation but easily being distracted by incoming birds and insects. Not only is he distracted by the various wildlife that arrives to bother him, he is also distracted by the arrival of his pupil, Mitsuki.
"You sure are quiet in arriving" Konohamaru smiles without opening his eyes.
"As expected of the 8th Hokage" Mitsuki smiles as he approaches his teacher less subtly than before, "Even when I do my best to remain quiet you still detect me as if I'm stood right before you".
"I did ask you to come here after all". Konohamaru stands up and raises his thumb to Mitsuki.
"So, how can I help you?".
"Did you hear about what happened yesterday?" the 8th Hokage asks with a heavy voice.
"Yeah, the hidden sand was defeated" Mitsuki replies with an equally heavy voice.
"If Shinki and Gaara couldn't overpower their attackers then how am I going to do so if they attack the hidden leaf? Am I going to force Naruto and Sasuke to do all the work for me? No, if these attackers reach the hidden leaf, I am going to defeat them, no matter how strong they are. That's why I need your help".
"What do you want me to do" Mitsuki asks.
"I want to develop an attack. A powerful attack that could destroy anything in its path, to do that I require chakra, an unearthly amount of chakra and there is only one way to obtain it".
"How?".
Konohamaru looks Mitsuki in the eyes resolutely, forcing the words from his mouth as if they pain him. "You know the way don't you… to Ryuchi Cave".
"Ryuchi Cave". Mitsuki starts as he realises just what his sensei is thinking. "I know the way but… it's not a place highly thought of by the hidden leaf, nor is it a place that thinks highly of the hidden leaf. The last two people who went there were my father and Kabuto, when I went there the sage didn't want me. He said we shinobi were too fickle".
"The circumstance is exceptional, I'm sure he will realise that" Konohamaru reassures his younger, "Please Mitsuki, I'm counting on you".
The Present Day, The Battlefield
Mitsuki smiles, remembering the determination he witnessed that day. 'I'm counting on you, sensei'.
Konohamaru starts a slow walk towards Sasuke, his speed increasing slowly until he breaks out into a run. His run is not unaccompanied though, his hands also move rapidly, weaving signs as he approaches his opponent. Finishing the pattern, he claps his hands together, a thin block of earth raising from perfectly beneath his feet, propelling him into the air.
He doesn't stop, he keeps rising higher and higher until he reaches a height which he can look down on Sasuke from. 'Don't worry Sasuke, I will protect the younger generation'. He stretches his hand out to his side, a gigantic rasengan forming in it. The rasengan is so large that it would appear like a normal rasengan in the hands of the Susano.
Konohamaru swings the rasengan, perfectly hitting it into the head of the Susano. 'If you still had your wits about you, you would have blocked that Sasuke. I can smash this Susano'. Yet despite his resolve, the Susano does not even start to crack, on the contrary, Sasuke raises the Susano's hand forcing the rasengan and Konohamaru back away from its head.
'NOW'.
Dark black lines start to appear all over Konohamaru's body, altering his appearance and making him appear quite animalistic. The animal in question resides in Ryuchi cave, Konohamaru appears as a snake sage.
As his transformation takes hold, Boruto questions just how this is possible. 'Sensei never trained as a sage did he… and to switch to sage mode you are required to be perfectly still'.
"He was still" Mitsuki comments, acting like he can read Boruto's mind.
"Huh….".
"While pushing that rasengan into the head of the Susano, he didn't move at all".
'While pushing the rasengan… he didn't move at all'. Boruto considers this and finds it hard to believe, 'He was pushing that rasengan without moving, with his chakra alone. Just how strong are you, sensei?'.
Following the transformation, Konohamaru begins to use his muscles to push the rasengan, slowly mixing in nature chakra, slowly increasing its spin until the breaking point is reached.
SMASH
It's like the shattering of glass, Sasuke's Susano, is broken.
"Sensei…" Sarada breathes out.
"He's strong" Boruto shares her surprise, "He's stronger than we ever knew".
As Sasuke falls to the ground he glares at Konohamaru, not out of anger or rage, nor out of a hatred for the man. Indeed, if Sasuke were conscious right now, he would be thanking Konohamaru for protecting the younger generation, his daughter and his disciple. Sasuke is not conscious of his actions though, instead one thought pulses through his mind in time with the beating of his heart. 'Kill, Kill, Kill'.
The 8th Hokage is a different picture, as he falls towards the ground he turns his head to look at his three ecstatic students. All three of them are smiling towards him in return. He had shattered not only the Susano but the barrier between the rest of the world and those two. Now everyone knew it could be done, Naruto and Sasuke's level can be reached, or so they thought.
SLICE
Just as Konohamaru is about to reach the ground he instead is caught on Sasuke's sword. Despite the destruction of the Susano, Sasuke thrusts his weapon straight through his heart. His attack is so merciless one could be forgiven for thinking he had never met Konohamaru, much less lived in the hidden leaf while the latter was the Hokage.
"Sensei" Boruto shouts.
"Don't worry" Sarada smiles, "That won't kill him, he has been reanimated anyway".
Despite this Mitsuki trembles, his whole body covered in goose bumps as he feels what his teammates cannot. The reanimation jutsu allowing him to sense the jutsu the sword has been laced with.
"No" he mutters in disbelief, "There is a seal on the sword".
"A SEAL" Boruto shouts, unsure of what to do now.
If Konohamaru is to disappear again, even if Sasuke cannot reform the full body Susano he has an enormous advantage. This is Uchiha Sasuke, master of a space-time jutsu far more powerful than the 4th's or Kakashi's. A man who was among the most proficient genjutsu users in history, who's taijutsu was among the best in the world and who's ninjutsu could only be outdone by Uzumaki Naruto. Can these three shinobi defeat such a man just because he doesn't have a complete body Susano.
The chances are still unfavourable.
"Don't worry" Konohamaru smiles to his students, "I didn't want to be reanimated anyway and I'm glad that I was able to help you for a while".
"Sensei… I should have stopped you" Mitsuki stutters, "You were putting all your effort into fighting, I should have been watching out for something like this".
"Hey" Konohamaru shouts, snapping his students from their saddened states.
"You are shinobi. My part of this battle may be over but yours is only just beginning". A white aura appears around Konohamaru as Sasuke's seal begins to take effect.
"I worked hard all my life to become the Hokage. I made Naruto my rival and aimed to go higher than even he but I never could. That's not because I'm a failure it's just because he was too incredible".
"Sasuke is the same, someone that I could never reach the stellar heights of. Still I had my pride, I succeeded in my dream, I became Hokage".
"But that is not all, being the Hokage was far from my greatest honour, it wasn't my greatest pride".
"My greatest source of pride is that I taught three shinobi like you".
"You've made me proud so many times, you've defended the village even more. Now you need to do it against this man, perhaps the toughest you have ever faced".
"You can do it. This time, you need to make yourselves proud".
As his body starts to disappear Konohamaru finds the time remaining to say his final seven words.
"Go my students, I believe in you".
Sarada takes a deep breath, seeing her sensei sealed an emotional experience yet nothing compared to the torment she is being put through by this fight. Nothing compared to battling her own father.
"OK. Let's do this" she says as she punches her own palm.
"Yes" Boruto and Mitsuki call in return.
For a moment, a team had been reformed.
For a moment, Konohamaru was back.
And for a moment, he has given them an opening.
Is defeating Uchiha Sasuke, really possible?