He lands in a forest with no more disturbance than a gentle breeze through the leaves. He is secretly delighted to find that he instantly feels at home in the lush green foliage. He leaps, swinging and bounding up a tree to the highest branch so he can quickly scout the surrounding area.

He's home.

Well, he's in the Land of Fire, anyways, and he has a vague idea of where he is. He knows which way the Village is, at least, and that's good enough for him. He's about to head straight there, oddly curious as to why the Monkey King didn't send him back directly to the Village, when he stops in his tracks.

Battle. This deep in the Land of Fire? He knew it was bad, had gotten daily updates from the monkeys, but knowing and experiencing are two separate things. He feels the deep, burning rage begin to well up within him at the threat to his village. He is off before he even realizes it in the direction of the battle.

He alights on the ground and takes out an enemy with his landing. A kunai to the neck from behind as he lands, he pulls out the blade and wipes it as he looks up from his crouch on the back of the corpse and sneers at the battle. Instantly, he recognizes a losing fight. A three-man squad from his Village, previously four but there's a corpse laid against a tree, up against two four-man squads.

Although with Hiruzen's kill, there's now only seven enemies. He doesn't even look at the headbands to know what Village they belong to as he leaps into a fray, a genjutsu weaving its way into the minds of as many enemies as he can reach. He wants to set them all aflame with imagined black fire, but subtlety is the shinobi's best friend and he has not yet lost the entirety of his surprise. Instead, he increases their worry and their nerves. A nervous shinobi is a dead shinobi.

One of the nin on his side is a Hyuuga, he can tell with a glance at that pale skin and flowing form. Hiruzen knows the Gentle Fist style well, it was one of the many forms that Hashirama had forced him to train in while working together. Luckily, this means he can seamlessly slip into combat without disturbing the flow and rhythm the Hyuuga has developed against two of the enemy nin. As a result his own Monkey Movements are a boon rather than a hindrance to the Hyuuga.

Hiruzen is able to leap and dodge around his new teammate. He sees the tensing of the muscles and recognizes an incoming Heavenly Rotation at the same time he feels one of the other nin break his genjutsu. He quickly leaps out of the range of the Hyuuga's technique, then darts after the two enemies. One of them attempts to twist in the air to strike out at him, and he smiles as he responds in kind.

He's seen their headbands, now, and finally notices the insignia of the Bloody Mist. He flicks through a few handsigns and lets out a water jutsu to instill some fear in the remaining nin. The enemies and his two allies momentarily pause as he performs Water Style: Raging Waterfall. He relishes in the look in their eyes as he stands over the drenched remains of their drowned allies with one more lying bloody in his wake.

That's right, he crows to himself you aren't they only ones who can use Water Jutsu! This is his home, so they better damn well expect a fight!

Rather than running away as expected, the foreign nin grit their teeth and leap to attack his comrades. An Uchiha, it looks like and -.

Danzo!

Danzo is here and too invested in the fighting to notice him as anyone other than an ally, but Hiruzen feels his Will of Fire churning in his chest at the sight of his rival in peril. Danzo is fighting the nin alone in a terrifyingly fast taijutsu battle, and the Uchiha leaps back as he sees a new group of enemy ninja arrive on the scene. One of their members already has his hands flitting through a dizzying array of handsigns and the Uchiha is attempting to copy them.

Unfortunately, Hiruzen recognizes more than a few Hare and Horse signs in the technique, with at least one Snake and two Monkeys. A lightning technique, second most common in the Bloody Mist, and a jutsu focused for speed. The Uchiha may be able to copy it perfectly, but the enemy's technique will surely land first!

Hiruzen darts in as these thoughts fire in rapid succession, his own fingers forming a few much quicker handsigns. He lands right next to the Uchiha and finishes his Earth Style: Earth Wall to defend his comrade.

There's a screaming howl that lasts less than a second as lightning arcs and scatters against the wall. Hiruzen flits through a few more handsigns, closes his eyes to further sharpen his hearing and other senses, then whips out a few punches at the Earth Wall he created, sending Earth Style: Rock Cannon Balls hurtling towards his opponents.

He leaps over the edge and sees Danzo becoming overwhelmed in taijutsu and leaps to join the fray. He hears the sharp whip of a kunai flying through the air, and a Wind Style: Forceful Gust is enough to push him out of its trajectory. Now falling rather than leaping, Hiruzen throws a kunai of his own and only smiles when it seems as though it'll miss the enemy nin.

A Substitution with the kunai puts him back up in the air, and Hiruzen harries the enemy down to the ground. Out of the corner of his eye Hiruzen sees the Uchiha and the Hyuuga have worked together to pen in their remaining foes. Danzo is gearing up for a Wind Jutsu, and a nasty one at that. Well, Hashirama and Tobirama are always harping on about teamwork. He best play along.

The one Bloody Mist nin who Hiruzen had Substituted behind attempts to take him down once more, but Hiruzen herds him into the mob of remaining Bloody Mist nin while watching Danzo work.

Duck, Kick, Jump, Inhale.

Mold, Exhale, Burn.

His Fire jutsu barely touches Danzo's wind before it explodes into a raging inferno, a blazing burst of fire which reaches high to the heavens. When the smoke clears and the heat dissipates, there is nothing left of the enemy squads.

The Uchiha and the Hyuuga both turn to him at once, and Hiruzen can see the incoming interrogation in the set of the Hyuuga's noble jaw and the malice of the Uchiha's gaze before through their battle haze they both recognize him as comrade, ally, friend.

"Sarutobi Hiruzen! Are we glad to see you, we might not have made it out alive if not for you! When the second squad showed up, I thought we were done for! We didn't even realize there was a third one on the way as well, that would have been a disaster."

"Ah, I'm just sorry I'm late."

"That's right you're late! Where have you been the past two months, we've needed you!" For a heart wrenching second, Hiruzen fears that Danzo may truly hate him now for missing the first two months of the war. "And watch where you point those Fire Jutsu, you dolt! You nearly took my eyebrows off!"

"Ah, Danzo, I think he did take your eyebrows off." Hiruzen is always shocked to see an Uchiha smile, but he has never been quite so happy to see such a sad excuse for a grin as he is in this moment.

"You see! You need to be careful! And we need to get to the village. We have important intel for the Hokage."

"Yes, let's. I'm anxious to get back to the Village."

"Oh? News from the monkeys?" Danzo has a gleam to his eye, a greediness at the prospect for help. How much worse has the war been for those who have fought in it compared to what he's heard from the monkeys? He is almost afraid to ask.

"No news. They gave me what I asked for: training."

"I'll say they did," the Hyuuga speaks up, in the gentle aristocratic lilt all Hyuuga possess. "You flit seamlessly between jutsu of all five elements, strong ones at that. It seems your training paid off."

"Then what's the rush, eh monkey-butt?"

Hiruzen smiles at the no longer quite so insulting nickname. He can't help but grin at the thought of the Monkey King's reaction if he were to hear that particular nickname. "I'm just excited to be going home, is all."