Son of the Sannin(Back)

The Uchiha Coup, Part III: Uchiha's End

To all my readers, thank you for supporting this story!

I'm pleased to see that, while not without its detractors, the Uchiha Coup arc is getting a good reception. Well, now we're getting close to the end of the arc. I personally feel that the fights in this chapter aren't as good as the one before (guess due the number of people involved), and they gave me even more trouble writing, but I still hope that you like it.

The title is kind of spoilery, but I'm sure all readers could guess the outcome of this conflict, or else there wouldn't be any story to tell after that. See you at the bottom.

After thirty minutes that felt like hours, Tsunade was finally out of danger. Shizune made an admirable effort closing her would and leaving no effects. Still, Tsunade had lost quite some blood and felt awfully weak. She doubted she could fight again. Still, that didn't mean she couldn't be of help.

"Tsunade-sama, how do you feel?" Shizune asked as she helped her master to get on her feet.

"Much better, thanks to you."

"Should I...fetch the kids?"

"Absolutely not. The kids will stay in the shelter until things calm down a little. Besides, we have still some work to do," Tsunade replied as she soaked her finger with the wet blood of her wound, and made five hand seals. "Summoning Jutsu!"

From a cloud of smoke, a massive white slug with a blue back appeared.

"Katsuyu, the village is under attack. I need you to reach all the wounded and use our link to let me heal them," Tsunade instructed. "But ignore the Uchiha. They're the ones who are behind this attack."

"Understood, Tsunade-sama," Katsuyu replied before splitting into smaller clones of herself and spreading through the village.

"Tsunade-sama, are you sure you can do this? The Immense Network Healing requires a lot of chakra, and you just sustained a potentially fatal injury," the lengths Tsunade was willing to push herself worried her apprentice to no end.

"I know. That's why I'm going to use part of your chakra too, if you don't mind."

"Of course I don't! But still, the amount of energy this jutsu requires could mean your death..."

"I won't die today, Shizune. Do you think I'm going to leave you and the kids alone with Jiraiya?" Tsunade chuckled weakly. "Now come on, we have a village to save."

Tsunade and Shizune sat down in front of each other, holding their hands, and started to channel their chakra towards Katsuyu.

...

During his long life, Hiruzen Sarutobi was a man that had been present in a myriad of battles, especially during the first two Ninja World Wars. Some he won, some he lost, all in which he managed to escape alive. Some against ninjas of every major village, others against ninjas of minor villages and sometimes against independent clans. Hell, he even fought against the strongest Tailed Beast and lived to tell the tale, something only Hashirama did before.

Paradoxically, it was all these battles and the deaths that ensued that shaped Sarutobi into a man whose goal was the pursuit of peace and understanding, a goal he tried to instill on his students, with varying degrees of success –and a single, catastrophic failure–. Because no man or woman should go through what the Third Hokage went through. And truth be told, he turned out relatively fine, unlike his friend Danzo Shimura, whose experience was just as extensive and gruesome, yet he turned into an unemotional, unmerciful extremist.

This wasn't also the first time that either him or a predecessor had to fight against a traitor. He had fought against Orochimaru many years ago, when the ANBU discovered the unethical experiments he was conducting –and to this day, still wonders if he should have killed his former student when he got the chance– and the First Hokage had to fight against his former friend Madara Uchiha.