Uchiha Seiryu [220-222] (Patreon)

Chapter 220: The War Begins

"Uchiha Seiryu, does Konoha intend to start an all-out war with us in Kumogakure?" As soon as their two Jinchuriki suffered major setbacks in the opening exchange, C, the commander in the Kumogakure ranks, hurriedly stepped forward and asked.

The massive Susanoo sheathed its blade as Uchiha Seiryu spoke coldly: "Kidnapping Konoha's children within the Land of Fire—didn't Kumogakure already prepare itself for war with us?"

"Are you, the Hokage, even authorized to formally declare war between our countries?" C retorted.

C wasn't wrong; normally, such a declaration could only come from the Daimyo.

But at that moment, inside the Daimyo's palace in Konoha, Yoshihiro, who usually deferred all major decisions to his advisors, was loudly demanding war against the Land of Lightning! The ministers pleaded with him in vain, but Yoshihiro was resolute, pounding his chair in anger.

Finally, it was Kazuo Miura who suggested waiting for Uchiha Seiryu's return before making any final decision, which managed to calm Yoshihiro down.

Yoshihiro's uncharacteristically strong reaction was mainly because the one kidnapped was Konohamaru.

Konohamaru was Yoshihiro's only friend of the same age—their bond was so deep that, over a year ago, Yoshihiro had secretly tried to grant him a noble title. If Miura hadn't reported this to Uchiha Seiryu, and if Seiryu and Hiruzen Sarutobi hadn't put a stop to it, the Sarutobi clan would've produced a hereditary noble in this generation.

With Hiruzen Sarutobi gradually marginalized in the village, Konohamaru's words now probably carried more weight than his grandfather's.

So for Kumogakure to dare kidnap Konohamaru—how could Yoshihiro not be furious?

…

Seeing Seiryu's faint, mocking smile inside the Susanoo's head, C realized he'd misspoken. In today's Konoha, a declaration of war from the Daimyo was, in effect, just a word from the man before him.

Now, Kumogakure was cornered, unable to advance or retreat.

If they fought, their Raikage was no match for Seiryu, and their two Jinchuriki were like toys before his complete Susanoo. If they retreated, escaping unscathed would come at a huge price. In either case, the initiative no longer lay with them.

"Konoha shinobi!" Seiryu's icy voice echoed across the battlefield from within Susanoo's head crystal.

"Now, storm clouds gather at our borders! The iron tread of Kumogakure, driven by greed and arrogance, breaks the peace and challenges all we hold dear—our home, our loved ones, and our Will of Fire passed down through generations!"

His voice rose sharply, carrying the cutting edge unique to the Uchiha.

"Do they think that past suffering has made Konoha weak? That the previous Great Shinobi Wars broke our spirit? Far from it!"

"Look beside you! Look behind you! See the gaze of the Hokage on the village! The First Hokage forged peace with unmatched might. The Second laid the foundations with iron will and wisdom. The Third protected our flame with kindness. The Fourth gave his life to build our shield. And I—"

Every Konoha shinobi could see Seiryu within the Susanoo, the windless Hokage robe emblazoned with the words 'Fifth Hokage' fluttering proudly.

"—am the Fifth who inherits this will and this power! The guardian bearing the Uchiha blood and the Hokage name! The Uchiha Sharingan sees through deception, reveals truth, and burns all enemies to ash! The Will of Fire never fears the storm; it only burns brighter in adversity!"

"Kumogakure's lightning? Let it strike! Remember—the Will of Fire can scorch mountains and boil seas! Their arrogance will shatter against our resolve to protect our home; their ambitions will be buried by our kunai and our burning hearts!"

"Today, we fight not for conquest or plunder, but for protection—for the lights under our roofs, for every child's peaceful sleep, for the land of Fire where all our laughter and tears reside!"

"I, Uchiha Seiryu, the Fifth Hokage, declare: wherever Konoha's leaves dance, fire will burn eternal! And today, we are that fire, burning away our foes! I stand with you! My Sharingan will reflect the valor of every warrior; my ninjutsu will clear the path to victory!"

Seiryu drew the blade at his waist, its tip pointed at Kumogakure. The cold gleam shone in his blood-red eyes as he roared:

"Konoha shinobi! Grip your weapons! Ignite your chakra! Show the enemy what true Konoha strength is! Some of you may fall today, but victory will be ours!"

"For Konoha—!"

A thunderous cry erupted across the battlefield: "For Konoha! For the Hokage!"

The will to fight blazed in every Konoha ninja's heart.

"What do we do, is war inevitable?" a Kumogakure elite jonin nearby C asked, unable to hide his nerves.

"We have no choice now," C replied with a bitter smile. "All we can do is hope the chakra cannon can break through Susanoo's defenses."

"But, sir, the chakra cannon hasn't been tested yet… and if we go to war, our morale…" The jonin trailed off, glancing anxiously at their shaken ranks.

Most Kumogakure shinobi, facing Susanoo, which had just defeated two Jinchuriki in a single blow, now showed unmistakable fear. The camp's white shinobi were visibly restless.

In today's increasingly divided Kumogakure, many white shinobi saw this crisis as the result of the current Raikage's reckless aggression and questioned why they should risk their lives for his mistakes.

C, himself white, had once been approached to lead this faction. He knew exactly what they were thinking.

But at this point, with the enemy showing no signs of mercy, Kumogakure had no choice but to fight.

From Seiryu's perspective, war now wasn't ideal. At the current pace, the Land of Fire only needed three more years to unify the continent, allowing the shinobi world to preserve more of its strength for the looming alien threat.

However, since Kumogakure had so brazenly challenged Konoha—kidnapping the former Hokage's grandson—Seiryu had no reason to let them off. His authority as Hokage rested on his ability to protect the village; anything less would be a serious blow to his reputation.

"All forces—advance!" Seiryu's icy command rang out as Susanoo drew its blade, pointing it at the enemy. The Konoha shinobi, led by Kakashi, charged at Kumogakure's lines.

A figure wielding a staff soon leapt past Kakashi, landing atop Susanoo's shoulder beside Seiryu.

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, looked at Seiryu within the Susanoo and asked, "Seiryu, do you need my help to summon a thundercloud for your technique?"

Having confirmed his grandson was safe, Hiruzen's worry was replaced by rage. He was a legendary shinobi; when he made his name, even the current Raikage wasn't born. Now his grandson had been kidnapped—he wouldn't let this go unpunished.

"Thank you, Third. I'd love to see the power of the Ninjutsu Professor's five-element techniques," Seiryu replied with a grin.

"Then watch closely." Hiruzen released his summoning, his hands weaving complex signs.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Another Hiruzen appeared on Seiryu's left shoulder. The two Hiruzens performed intricate seals simultaneously.

"Combination Ninjutsu: Storm Flame Dragon!"

"Combination Ninjutsu: Lightning Water Dragon Bullet!"

Each jutsu required over eighty hand signs, yet Hiruzen completed them both in three seconds.

On Susanoo's shoulder, the flame dragon wrapped in wind and the lightning-infused water dragon surged toward Kumogakure's lines.

Fire fed by wind and lightning guided by water—these techniques wreaked havoc on Kumogakure's ranks before the armies could even clash.

Massive steam rose, gathering in the sky.

"Stop him!" C shouted in alarm. Uchiha Seiryu's Lightning Release: Kirin had earned him renown in the Third Great Shinobi War's Mist battlefield, and Kumogakure had collected extensive intel on it.

They knew exactly what the gathering steam foretold.

"If this much steam forms a thundercloud…" C's face turned grim. The threat of Kirin far outweighed the damage from the earlier attacks.

Hiruzen's mastery of ninjutsu hadn't faded with age; if anything, it had only grown.

"We have to stop him," said Yugito Nii, the Two-Tails Jinchuriki, returning to C's side after a brief medical treatment. "If that technique forms, less than one in ten of our troops might survive."

"You've provoked an enemy you couldn't hope to handle," the Two-Tails, Matatabi, sighed within the sealing space.

Just from their brief exchange, Matatabi knew she was no match for Seiryu. The last time she'd felt so powerless was during the Warring States era, when Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju hunted Tailed Beasts.

"Sorry, Matatabi," Yugito said, "but we have to try."

"Very well." Matatabi let Yugito enter Tailed Beast Mode.

At the same time, Gyūki and Killer B readied themselves, charging Susanoo again.

"Seiryu?" Hiruzen, maintaining his combination ninjutsu, frowned as the two Tailed Beasts attacked.

Seiryu smiled. "Keep going, Third. They won't reach you."

His eyes sharpened. Sending Hiruzen to a tall pillar, Susanoo flexed its arms and strode toward the two Tailed Beasts.

Matatabi struck first, darting like a wraith and lashing out with her fiery blue tails, trying to burn through Susanoo's defenses.

Seiryu smiled. Susanoo didn't falter; it stomped sideways, the earth shattering, and drove its sword down like a giant stake, piercing the flaming tail at its root.

"Raaaargh!" Matatabi screeched in pain.

Lightning surged along the blade, violently clashing with blue fire, breaking the tail's grip.

Chapter 221: The Two-Tails Captured

As Seiryu dealt with Matatabi, Gyūki seized the moment. Its massive body charged like a mountain, eight tentacles swinging like battering rams, striking Susanoo from every angle. The air rippled visibly.

"Hmph!" Seiryu snorted. Susanoo's right arm swung out, the giant blade slicing with thunderous force, severing half the tentacles in an instant. The ground quaked as they fell, raising clouds of dust.

But then, Gyūki completed its Tailed Beast Bomb, firing the devastating black sphere straight at Susanoo's head crystal.

Seiryu smiled, swinging Susanoo's left arm to hurl Matatabi aside. Both divine swords crossed before Susanoo's chest.

Boom!

The Tailed Beast Bomb struck the swords, a blinding sphere of light expanding explosively. The shockwave would have leveled everything for kilometers—

But a series of sealing symbols manifested mid-air, locking the blast within their bounds, compressing it into a golden seal before it vanished.

"He can even seal a Tailed Beast Bomb?" Gyūki and the battered Matatabi despaired. Was he truly an Uchiha or a Uzumaki? Even the Uzumaki clan rarely produced sealing masters of this caliber. They couldn't win by force or by Tailed Beast Bombs; his sealing jutsu countered them too perfectly.

Seiryu gave them no time to recover. Susanoo's twin swords gathered raging power, sweeping up in two enormous, blue arcs—Susanoo: Thunder God's Twin Slash! The target: Gyūki's throat, exposed after firing the bomb!

Gyūki hastily blocked with its thickest tentacles.

Screech!

With a terrible sound, two mountain-sized tentacles were cleaved cleanly away, blue lightning burning the wounds to prevent regrowth, black blood spraying like a waterfall.

Matatabi, seizing the distraction, rushed in from behind. She fired a point-blank Tailed Beast Bomb at Susanoo's back, her fiery tails lashing at its wings to cripple its movement.

But Susanoo's massive wings folded back, shielding its body from both the tail strikes and most of the bomb's power. The blue flames scorched the chakra wings, hissing furiously.

Susanoo spun, wings flaring, and with a single, swift cut, the sword slashed at Matatabi's exposed neck.

Cat-like reflexes saved her—she dodged at the last moment.

Boom!

The blade grazed her back, slicing off a swath of flaming mane and leaving a deep, burning wound. Blue blood and lightning sprayed as she tumbled away, gouging a flaming trench in the ground.

"Damn it, let's go all out!"

Enraged, Gyūki and Matatabi unleashed their full power. Gyūki's six remaining tentacles grew and swelled, trying to entrap and crush Susanoo; his horns gleamed, aiming to gore its abdomen. Matatabi, summoning her full fire, swept a sea of blue flames upward, aiming to incinerate Susanoo's base.

Seiryu's Eternal Mangekyo flared brilliantly. He formed hand seals, Susanoo's wings wrapping around itself to withstand the assault. Gathering all his strength, he poised for the decisive blow.

The energy peaked—Susanoo's wings burst open, flinging Gyūki aside. Twin swords flashed: Susanoo Dual Sword Iaido!

Whummm—

Two colossal, crisscrossing crescents of blue energy tore forward.

Gyūki's horns were sliced off.

The tentacles trapping Susanoo were shredded to nothing.

Matatabi's sea of blue flame was split and scattered, the ground torn open in deep, endless trenches.

Both beasts, ravaged by the attack, were hurled away like meteors, their bodies marked by deep, burning wounds where blue lightning devoured their chakra.

The impact shattered Kumogakure's already faltering lines. With their Tailed Beasts defeated, Konoha's forces surged forward under Kakashi's lead, cutting through Kumogakure like a hot knife through butter.

The resistance from Kumogakure was far weaker than before—unsurprisingly. Until now, their shinobi believed their Raikage would save them. But after seeing him defeated, his arm blown off in front of everyone, and both Jinchuriki beaten like toys, how could they find the courage to resist a godlike Susanoo?

"Hurry! Use the Heavenly Transfer Technique to send the Raikage and both Jinchuriki back to the village!" C shouted desperately.

Victory was now impossible. The only option was to cut losses. If they lost a third of the village's strength here, or even worse, the Raikage and Jinchuriki, Kumogakure itself might not survive.

As for the risks of the Heavenly Transfer, Kumogakure could no longer afford to care.

"Hmph, trying to run?" Seiryu, watching from above, noticed everything.

The transfer team sent the unconscious A away first, then rushed toward the two battered Jinchuriki.

Seiryu didn't stop A—having lost an arm, his fighting power was crippled, and his reckless actions had brought this disaster. His authority within Kumogakure would now plummet, with rivals unlikely to tolerate him any longer.

But the Tailed Beasts?

Those would stay.

Seiryu formed hand seals, sending a shadow clone to the Jinchuriki's side just as the transfer team arrived. The team panicked, accelerating their jutsu.

Seiryu methodically formed more seals and slammed his hands into the ground. Black sealing marks spread, enveloping the Jinchuriki. Blue and red chakra flowed from their bodies, forming the Tailed Beasts in midair, as if ripped out by force.

The transfer team sped up, but Seiryu sneered, sending arcs of lightning at them.

Two Kumogakure jonin leaped into the lightning's path, sacrificing themselves to buy time.

"Commendable spirit, but too slow," Seiryu said coldly, and with a final seal, stripped the Two-Tails and Eight-Tails from their hosts.

As the technique finished, the Jinchuriki's bodies vanished.

"These two Tailed Beasts will be Kumogakure's interest for provoking Konoha…" Seiryu smirked at the stunned C. But before he finished, the Eight-Tails' body burst into smoke, leaving only a twitching octopus tentacle behind.

Seiryu's lips twitched—he'd forgotten about that trick.

Still, capturing the Two-Tails was a decent haul.

He eyed the bound Two-Tails, then activated his Mangekyo Sharingan, casting a beast-specific genjutsu.

Soon, the Sharingan's pattern appeared in the Two-Tails' eyes, but she shook it off with a scream, her chakra form growing faint.

"Isn't this Madara's Tailed Beast genjutsu? Why did it fail? Is my genjutsu that bad?" Seiryu muttered in annoyance.

"Kakashi!" he called.

Chapter: 222

A whirl of space appeared, and Kakashi stepped out.

"Take this thing back," Seiryu ordered.

Kakashi shrugged, then used his own Mangekyo Sharingan to cast a genjutsu on the Two-Tails, who soon bowed her head in submission.

Seiryu waved him away, dismissing the sealing jutsu.

Kakashi, suppressing a sigh, opened a space portal and disappeared from the battlefield with the Two-Tails.

Seiryu looked up at the immense thunderclouds now covering the battlefield, created by Hiruzen's combination ninjutsu. Even Seiryu was startled by the sheer power contained within—if he used Kirin now, would any Kumogakure shinobi survive?

"Not bad, old man." Seiryu nodded at Hiruzen, who returned the gesture.

Susanoo soared into the sky, wings beating as Seiryu ascended beneath the thunderclouds.

With Kakashi gone and the Tailed Beast secured, Inuzuka ago took over battlefield command and ordered a full withdrawal.

The pressure on Kumogakure's remaining forces eased, but C was terrified; if Seiryu unleashed Kirin, none of them would survive.

"Hokage! We surrender! Please, show mercy!" C called out, disregarding the lightning overhead.

He had to save as many lives as possible, no matter the cost.

"Oh? Surrender?" Seiryu looked down, eyes sharp.

If possible, he didn't want all-out war with Kumogakure now. If hostilities broke out, the other villages would seize the opportunity, sparking the Fourth Great Shinobi War.

Konoha could still win, but the continent would be devastated, and his plan to unite the shinobi world against future threats would be delayed. He hadn't forgotten—the Otsutsuki clan still lurked in the shadows.

So, at C's surrender, Seiryu paused and said, "You can surrender. Have your people lay down their weapons, and submit to chakra sealing."

"Yes! Please allow us some time!" C nodded, glancing at the churning thunderclouds.

"You have ten minutes. Otherwise, you'll face my Kirin," Seiryu warned, backlit by lightning.

"Thank you, Hokage." C began ordering the surrender.

The white shinobi immediately complied, but the black shinobi hesitated.

"We've lost so many, and the Raikage and Killer B are both hurt. Are we just supposed to give up?" one elite jonin protested.

C had no choice but to be firm. "This is an order! If you disobey, we'll all be killed when the lightning falls."

"You white shinobi just want to seize power while the Raikage is down!" someone snapped.

"Shut up! Do you want to get us all killed?" C barked.

"Do you still think A should remain Raikage? If he hadn't provoked Konoha, we wouldn't be in this mess," a white shinobi said.

"Have you forgotten the Will of Lightning?" a black jonin roared back.

"Enough!" C finally exploded, silencing them. "The Raikage isn't here. I'm in charge. We're surrendering to preserve Kumogakure's future. Drop your pointless divisions and obey orders!"

With his authority, C finally restored order. Under Seiryu's watchful eye, the remaining Kumogakure forces surrendered.

Seiryu dispelled Susanoo, landed, and after a series of hand seals, set up a large sealing array, motioning for the prisoners to step forward.

C sighed and led the way; soon, the sealing marks bound his chakra completely.

C, skilled in sealing himself, tried to analyze the technique, but could only shake his head in defeat—it was beyond him.

Once all prisoners were sealed, Konoha took custody.

The thunderclouds, without Seiryu's control, soon released a torrential rain, washing the blood from the battlefield.

Seiryu and Hiruzen approached C.

"You must be C, the Raikage's right hand. Nice to meet you," Seiryu said coldly.

"I should say the same. The Azure Lightning of Konoha lives up to your reputation," C replied, maintaining his composure despite his sealed chakra and shackled hands.

"Honestly, I thought you'd just run," Seiryu said, studying him.

"I'm not good at running," C replied, "and I doubt we could have escaped your lightning."

"You're much smarter than your Raikage," Seiryu laughed. "If you were the Raikage, none of this would have happened."

C simply ignored the bait.

"What does Hokage plan to do with us?" he asked.

"That depends on the Land of Lightning's sincerity. For now, you'll stay in the Land of Hot Water's prison," Seiryu replied.

C fell silent.

Soon, the Kumogakure prisoners were escorted to the Hot Water prison. After securing the Two-Tails in the protected reserve, Kakashi went to oversee the prisoners.

As for whether the Two-Tails would cause trouble, the reserve's current guardians—Fū and Chōmei, along with the well-fed Isobu—would make sure the newcomer learned the rules.

With Kakashi handling the prisoners, Seiryu returned to Konoha overnight.

Kumogakure would have to pay a heavy price to ransom their people, but that could wait. Seiryu had more pressing matters.

This was his first military crisis as Hokage. Though they'd won decisively, the cause was sensitive. If not handled well, unrest could spread in Konoha.

So, on returning, Seiryu ordered the names of the fallen inscribed on the Konoha Hero Memorial and announced a public memorial service in three days' time.