Chapter 74: First decision

Riku looked at Hiruzen straight into his eyes. A second passed, then another. He did his best to calm himself. To calm his heart when he wanted nothing more to lash out. To use the hiraishin and go back to the front line and slaughter every single Iwa Shinobi until there was none then leave for Iwagakure and kill everyone there putting an end to the shinobi village.

However, he couldn’t. He knew. He was the Hokage now and he needed to be calm and collected to lead his village to victory. Closing his eyes for a brief second, he opened them again and began to give orders.

“Kakashi, tell the team to go home then reach for all the Uzumaki and Namikaze Minato. I want them here within fifteen minutes.”

“Aye, Hokage-sama.”

Saying nothing else, the fake cyclops exited the office on the spot and for once through the actual door.

“Shikaku-san, I need to know everything there is to know about our situation and our enemies’. I want every report, every map. Everything.”

“You’ll have everything soon, Hokage-sama.” And like Kakashi, Shikaku left quickly.

“Did my… predecessor leave anything? Any orders?”

Hiruzen was the one who gave him an answer. “None.”

“Any Hokage secret that I should be aware of?”

“A few but they do not concern the war.” the former Hokage answered.

“Alright. Koharu-san, Homura-san, please prepare the announcement of the succession and a meeting with the clans for tomorrow morning.”

Both elders spoke as one. ““Aye, Hokage-sama,”” then left.

Alone with Hiruzen, Riku silently went around the desk. After a moment of hesitation he sat down in his mother’s seat.

“... What happened?”

“Jiraiya reported movement in the East and North-East. Around the land of Hot Water, Sound and Iron. The undead kind. Tsunade and the Mizukage agreed to move troops to a fortified base: Sekigara castle, and make it the joint Headquarters for the war. The attack from the exploding corps came from underground and while everyone was busy dealing with it, Onoki attacked from the sky. Tsunade ordered a retreat and with the Mizukage, faced him. Things became complicated then turned for the worse when undead appeared.” Hiruzen marked a pause here to let Riku digest the information. “Since the Mizukage had not yet a successor in case of her death, Tsunade chose to stay behind while the Mizukage would lead the retreat.”

Riku wanted to shout in rage. His mother had a hiraishin bracelet, she could have bailed out without any problem. Except that would have left everyone else defenseless. The retreat would have been a disaster. And that wasn’t even touching on the moral plummeting from a kage running away while leaving her troops and allies to die.

“Tsunade’s last stand was impressive. She gave them hell. From the Mizukage’s report, she took down Onoki and kept fighting against Obito’s and Orochimaru’s troops.”

“Where are the troops now? And the Mizukage?”

“They reached another fortified base in the south: Hataro. They took a defensive position there. The Mizukage ordered a counter attack against their pursuers. The Exploding corps took quite the hit and many undead were captured. Enough that they retreated.”

“Probably not keen on losing their puppets so easily when they don’t have a counter to the seals.”

“I believe so, yes.” Hiruzen nodded. “During the defense, the Mizukage was badly injured and evacuated back here with her close guard. She’s in the hospital recuperating. Aburame Shibi is in command of the base with Noki Tatsuda, a Kiri Jonin, as a second in command.”

“How long before she’s ready to go back to the field?”

“A day. Now with you here and the Time seal in your Botib, I’d say a lot less.”

“I’ll deal with her soon enough.”

Riku bit his thumb and summoned a small Katsuyu. He hadn’t said a word that the little slug spoke.

“I’m sorry, Ri-kun. Tsunade-sama is gone.” Her tone was mournful.

“Thank you, Katusyu-chan. I’m sorry to have summoned you like this but I needed to be sure.”

“I understand.” After giving a nod of greeting to Hiruzen, she reverse summoned herself.

“Take a moment to grieve, Riku.”

“I’ll grieve when I’m dead.” Not snarling had been a tall order for Riku but he succeeded in keeping a neutral face. “I can still bring her back if I get her body back. Heck I can still get her back by creating a clone from her cells.”

“Riku…”

“I did it for Kushina and Minato. I can do it for my own mother. But it’s neither the place nor the time. Iwa lost their Kage. We need to strike now. We can’t miss the opportunity to end them for good. They’re weakened and dealing with them will deprive Obito and Orochimaru of help. It may also get us some time. For the troops to heal, train and relocate. For me to come up with better methods to seal the undead for good without needing to create a new contract with the Shinigami.”

Now, Hiruzen was intrigued. “A contract?”

“Yes. The shiki fujin is a shitty contract between the summoner and the Shinigami. You offer your soul and the shinigami take another of your choice. Not really ideal. To bring back Kushina and Minato, Karin created a new contract through a seal. You offer a soul and the Shinigami does something for you. In Minato’s case she offered a part of Orochimaru’s and Minato was released. When she sealed the Kyubi inside herself she had paid in advance with two other parts of Orochimaru’s soul. Honestly the shinigami is rather easy to deal with if you’re okay with soul bargaining.”

“This is… good news and terrifying at the same time.” Hiruzen commented.

“I’d rather say ‘Uzumaki’ instead. It’s more than enough to convey everything. Seriously, those people were completely insane.” Riku shook his head.

“I won’t disagree with you on that.”

The door to the office opened and Kakashi entered, leading the people he wanted to see. When their eyes landed on Riku sitting behind the hokage’s desk and wearing the hat, they knew it was serious.

“Riku, you’re…”

“The Rokudaime Hokage as of ten minutes ago.” Riku answered his father.

“Congrats.”

Everyone turned to Naruto and gave him a dumbfounded look.

“Naruto-”

Riku cut Kushina off, he had better things to do than entertain an awkward moment with his half-brother. “I summoned you because I have a task. You will go inside my own botib and train like mad using the time seal. Kakashi, Minato, I’m counting on you to train Naruto in everything. Increase his proficiency in what he’s good and what he’s bad at. Especially in how to break genjutsu in a lightning fast manner. Kushina I want you to train Karin as best you can with the adamantines chains. I also want you to teach her and Naruto how to get help from the Kyubi. I will find any scrolls my great-grandmother left about the biju and passed them over. I also want you and Karin to work on multiple methods to seal the undeads. In case Obito or Orochimaru finds a way to nullify one method. Any questions?”

“How long do we have to stay there?” Minato asked.

“As long as Naruto and Karin are not Kage level shinobi at the very least. If you have to spend ten years in there, you’ll spend ten years in there.” Then Riku turned to Kakashi. “You’re in charge of the Time seal. One day here is one year inside.” He toss his BoS at him.

“Aye.” the man caught the book, nodding.

“You’ll have the Mizukage and her bodyguards join you soon, she needs to heal. If she wants to stay and train she’s free to do so. You’re dismissed.”

“Why not faster?” Kushina interjected.

“The Time dilation? Because it would need way too much chakra to sustain. The ratio I gave would at best last for three days before recharging it is needed.”

Having the answer to her question, Kushina turned around and left with the others. Hiruzen stayed silent, waiting for Riku to do something or even say something. So far he was impressed with the young man. Like he always was. He had been in his shoes before. The night of the Kyubi attack. The night he lost his wife and his successor and had to take back the hat because there was no one else to pick it up. Save for Danzo. It had been a less than favorable situation and he soldiered on and shouldered it all. Not like he used to in his first term. He had made mistakes and his heart wasn’t quite as into leading the village but he understood.

Regardless, Hiruzen was proud to see that the young man was as he imagined him to be as Hokage. Swift, decisive, practical and pragmatic. There was no place for sentimentality. Not right now. Not when the whole village and perhaps the world if what was written on the Uchiha tablet was true.

Riku took a deep breath and exhaled deeply through his mouth. Multiple times. A breathing exercise to calm oneself down that Hiruzen was very familiar with.

“I might need some help with my speech for tomorrow.”

Of all the things that was on Hiruzen’s list of things Riku might say that wasn’t on it. Arching an eyebrow in disbelieving expression, Sandaime spoke.

“I will gladly. Although I’m surprised you need it in the first place.”

That was a fair comment. Riku had always been good at anything he set himself into. Because of his talent but also because of his hard work. Anything shinobi related. Killing, healing, politics, business. The one thing that Hiruzen had never thought of was people.

Riku was very eloquent to make a point across. He was also very good at manipulating people to do what he wanted, albeit he never displayed that much to the old man’s relief. However, Riku was first and foremost deficient in the way to rouse people. Especially after such a great loss for the village.

“I don’t. I'm just making sure you think you’re still relevant, you old monkey.”

After years of knowing the young man in front of him, Hiruzen knew that it wasn’t really an insult. It was the way Riku dealt with his grief and rage. Insults and jokes mixed as one. Not for the first time he saw Tsunade’s character in her son.

‘The apple really didn’t fall far from the tree. Minato most of the time but under stress he is his mother. Minus the destruction and yelling.’

“Not Hokage for an hour and you already cross lines.”

“Well, you’re free to fling shit at me once we’ve won the war.”

They sat down at the desk, Riku providing a chair for Hiruzen. From a drawer, the newly appointed Rikudaime retrieved a pen and a few blank papers. He began writing something and Hiruzen let him. It didn’t take long. Riku had something in mind already. It was short but concise. The only problem was that it was generic. Something that Hiruzen pointed out after praising him for making something actually good for a first try. It lacked warmth, however.

Riku gave him a long deadpan stare, then sighed. Realizing that a speech needed not only to rally people to a cause but also make their will of fire burn brighter, he didn’t voice the words of rebuttal he had for Hiruzen. Riku understood and knew the man was more experienced and shouldn’t dismiss him because he didn’t see the point or agreed with the words, first thing first.

By the time Shikaku came back with stacks of thick files and huge scrolls, the speech was done. Everything was laid down on the desk and just when the head of the Nara-clan was about to begin, Riku raised his hand to stop him from doing so.

Ten shadow clones were created. They immediately began to scour everything to the side. Riku asked it directly from his Jonin commander.

“How bad are we?”

“Overall? We’re on the backfoot. Sekigara was a huge blow and we lost a lot of shinobis.” Including Tsunade but Shikaku knew better to say it out loud. “It wasn’t critical however. Everywhere else we’re either holding the line or actually moving inward Iwa’s territory. Most notably the west. The East’s hold is more tenuous because our forces are between Iwa and the undead. The latter are not active but their presence alone is a threat which can’t be ignored and dismissed.”

Riku nodded in understanding. “What about the undead? I learned that some were captured. Any one we know? Anyone that can be turned to our side?”

Both Hiruzen and Shikaku were taken aback by Riku’s last question. They manifested it differently. The former by a sideaway but calculated glance. The latter by his eyes widening for a moment before narrowing, plans already forming in his mind.

“Zabusa Momochi and his apprentice. A ice user by the name of Haku. Finally Uchiha Itachi.”

Riku blinked. The last name was heavy with implications. He did his very best to not react and turned to Hiruzen and instead focused on Shikaku.

“I’m not even going to ask about the how of it. Where are they?”

“Sealed and stored with the others.” replied the Jonin Commander.

For a few seconds Riku stayed silent. If a shinobi of Itachi’s talent could be used then they would gain a powerful but also skillful soldier. Combined with that, Itachi was undead, meaning he couldn't be killed and had infinite chakra. That was nothing but a boon.

Standing up, Riku gave an order.

“Have the three of them brought to the Senju Compound asap. Tell Kakashi about Zabusha. From what I heard from him, he was there during the man’s last moment. I’m fetching the Mizukage, perhaps she can help.”

“Four, Hokage -sama. Uchiha Sasuke was captured too.” Shikaku added before Riku could leave.

That brought the Rokudaime to a stop. Not that he cared about Sasuke but the young man was volatile, hateful and overall… Not meant to be a shinobi of the leaf. What was problematic was Naruto’s reaction to seeing his dead friend. His half-brother needed to have his head in the game.

“Noted.” Riku turned to Hiruzen. “I’ll spend time making sure everything in the Botib is ready. No longer than an hour in here.”

“I will hold the fort.”

With a green flash, Riku teleported to the hospital. There he asked a nurse to be brought to the Mizukage’s room. When he stepped in, he recognized the blue-eyed youth he had met when Mei Terumi had been here the last time. There was also another man with him. Taller than Riku, which was a feat in itself, with a seal tag on his eye.

‘Ao something. Known to have stolen a Byakugan from a Main Branch of the Hyuga after defeating one in combat during the previous war.’

Riku raised his hands in peace and while it did little to relax the bodyguard’s stance, he did calm down the Mizukage who was laying down on a bed. She was a mess. Bandage everywhere from head to toe. A missing arm and a missing breast. He wondered how that could have happened. The worst was her face. Where once a very beautiful face was now replaced by third degree burned skin. It was healed.

“Mizukage-dono.”

“Hokage-dono.” The woman answered with a clear but tired voice. The hat on Riku’s head confirmed what she already knew. He was Tsunade’s successor and Tsunade died under her very eyes.

“Let’s cut to the chase and be done with formality. I can heal your wounds and I mean everything.”

“Everything?” She was suddenly interested.

“Yes.” Riku’s tone was matter of factly. “Once you’re healed, you and your men can start training.”

Mei got confused and it showed on her lone remaining eye. “Providing you can actually do what you say. I’ll need weeks if not months of rehabilitation. We don’t have-” Updates are released by novel⚑fire.net

“We have the time.” Riku interjected. “I’m a space-time fuinjutsu master. Time is my bitch.” He revealed and Mei’s confusion began to fade away, replaced by disbelief. “Yes. I can do what you're thinking. You don’t know how smart it was of you to ally with Konoha. Well, more than you thought at least. So I’m taking you and your body guards to a special place where one day here is a year there.”

“That’s impossible!” Ao interjected but Riku paid him no mind. His eyes focused on Mei’s.

“What are you waiting for?! Let’s go!”

The auburn woman was now frantic. Was it because she could recover fully, including but not limited to her beauty, or because she wanted to see for herself if it was possible? Riku didn’t know. He just signaled Ao to carry the Mizukage in his arm while he grabbed him and the other bodyguard.

In a flash of green light, they were inside the Senju Compound. There, his own Botib was in the living room, opened.