Chapter 26: Chapter 25 – A Painful Loss

When Jiraiya rushed at Orochimaru, his speed had increased substantially. When he struck, his punches were overpowering. If Orochimaru somehow dodged the blow, the power behind it was enough to destroy a tree. Orochimaru's look had changed. His previous confidence seemed to have dissipated in seconds. His fighting style had also changed. He was more on the defensive now.

“Oodama Rasengan!” Jiraiya attacked.

“Kuchiyose, Rashomon!”

Orochimaru summoned a large gate to block Jiraiya’s big Rasengan.

“Did you see that? Orochimaru is on the defensive!” White Zetsu commented as Jiraiya destroyed the gate.

"Like last time..." Black Zetsu muttered.

“I'm going to have to intervene. There should be no witnesses.”

“Do you want to go in person?” White Zetsu wondered.

"Wait," Black Zetsu said. Let’s give him some time… Orochimaru isn’t that weak.”

But Orochimaru was completely mistreated. He was fighting hard, that much was obvious.
Neji and Kakashi didn’t dare to move from their spot. The fight they were witnessing was on a whole different level than the previous one.

Jiraiya suddenly managed to graze Orochimaru with a kick, propelling him several meters back. Orochimaru had his entire left flank open and remained motionless on the ground. Kakashi could see that Neji was completely focused on the fight. Although he had been hiding it well since the start of the fight, the boy seemed particularly nervous.

Suddenly, to everyone's surprise, Orochimaru's wound became covered with snakes that merged together and fixed him up.

Jiraiya frowned. Orochimaru sneered, but his laughter was suddenly muffled by Jiraiya's long white hair, which had just wrapped around his body.

"How fast..."

At the entrance to the village, Hiashi stared Shisui straight in the eye.

“Are you trying to insult us?”
“Insult you?” Shisui wondered.

Mikoto stood to Hiashi's right.

“You hear that your daughter is being held, and your first reaction is that it's an insult?”

Hiashi did not answer.

"Is your honor more important than your daughter's life?"

"Shisui..." Mikoto intervened.

There were a few seconds of silence, during which Shisui stared Mikoto straight in the eyes. Then his gaze turned again to Hiashi.

“If that's all you care about, then no, it's not an insult. And while you probably don't care, your daughter is fine.”

Mikoto gave him a questioning look.

“We just wanted to interrogate her and protect her."

Mikoto frowned.

"Interrogate her; I understand... But protect her... From whom? And in this case, why not also protect her little sister who is not even three years old?”

However, other Uchihas seemed to disagree with Shisui's opinion. Their astonishment was clearly visible on some faces, but no one wanted to contradict their leader.

To everyone's surprise, Hiashi smiled.

“Well, so be it. For the time being, it would be wiser to cut this discussion short because things are likely to escalate… both here and outside…”

He glanced into the distance, into the forest.

“I agree,” Shisui replied. “Let's go.”

They all rushed straight onto the battlefield. Neji spotted them immediately.

“Lord Orochimaru, they are coming!”

Orochimaru smiled and licked his lips. He sadistically tore out a strand of Jiraiya's hair, which had little effect on the hold.

“You think the roles are reversed, don't you, Jiraiya?” He sneered.

“Do you think you managed to beat me? Your two friends, the old toads, must have thought the same thing…”

Jiraiya frowned. Orochimaru suddenly pulled out of his mouth a sword that was growing fast. Jiraiya wanted to dodge it, but it was too late. His reflexes had weakened, his speed greatly diminished, and his appearance returned to normal. The Sage mode had vanished.

Stabbed in the right shoulder, Jiraiya could not move.

“Not bad, is it? You know this sword; I imagine. Kusanagi's blade…”

The Konoha shinobis were approaching quickly but were still a good distance away.

They won't make it in time… Kakashi thought worriedly.

Suddenly, the Uchihas stopped, then changed direction. The Hyugas, although in front, did not miss this sudden change thanks to their Byakugan. But they didn't stop, because each of them had just seen Orochimaru taking the upper hand in the fight against Jiraiya. The latter was in a bad position. The confrontation could end before they got there. They didn’t want to waste time worrying about the Uchihas’ movement.

They'll never arrive in time… Kakashi repeated to himself. I have to do it...

With a clumsy gesture, due to his condition, he quickly crawled up to Neji in order to strike him a violent blow with the Kunai he held in his hand. He knew it was a risky attempt, but it was the only solution.

Neji, seeing him approaching, closed his eyes.

"You think that because I'm a child, I won't kill you?" he whispered.

He opened his hand, focusing his chakra in it.

“Think again because I will quickly dispose of you.”

Neji got into his fighting stance.

“Juken, Palm Heel Strike!”

Pure Chakra escaped from the boy's hand and hit Kakashi head-on. The latter was literally propelled to the place where the unconscious body of Tenzo was. Neji had pushed him toward a big rock, head first. At such speed and considering Kakashi's weakened state, he wouldn't survive it.

Time seemed to stand still. Kakashi saw his fall in slow motion. The closer he approached the rock, the closer his death seemed and, paradoxically, the longer the time seemed.

The sun glinted off the kunai Kakashi was holding, its blade glinting. Orochimaru and Jiraiya turned their heads at the same instant. Jiraiya smiled. Orochimaru opened his eyes wide, then freed the blade from Jiraiya's shoulder and charged straight at Kakashi.

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“Neji, flee immediately! Orochimaru yelled.

Kakashi released the kunai mid-flight. The marking on it was clearly visible now. Orochimaru, the sword still sticking out of his mouth, was about to hit Kakashi. However, someone put himself in the trajectory of the sword and stopped the attack.

A hand caught the kunai in mid-flight. Another grabbed Kakashi just before he hit the rock.

His cape fluttering with the rhythm of the wind, The Yondaime Hokage, Minato Namikaze, had just appeared on the battlefield.

He gently put Kakashi on the ground, then raised his head and stared at Orochimaru.

“It was a mistake to come back, Orochimaru,” he calmly said.

He threw his kunai straight at the Sannin in a fluid and swift movement.

How fast, Orochimaru thought, barely dodging the weapon.

He felt the kunai brush against his hair, followed by Minato's breath, as the cold metal was pressed on his throat.

“You lost, Orochimaru.” Minato said behind him

White Zetsu's eyes widened, impressed.

“What a move!” he exclaimed. “Incredible! He has Orochimaru at his mercy… and it only took him less than a second!”

"It's him... Yondaime Hokage…" Black Zetsu whispered. “Tobi was right; he deserves his title of Yellow Flash.”

“It’s time for me to go.” White Zetsu said as it separates its counterpart and disappeared within the earth.

Hidden in a giant and invisible creature whose mouth was ajar, a person came out, accompanied by Zetsu.

“You will not go further,” a voice said in front of them.

“Really?”

Shisui took a step forward, followed by his clan.

“Yes really. It doesn't matter who you are, you won't go over to Orochimaru,” he repeated flatly.

“I am Pain.”

The Uchiha clan stood still, Sharingan activated, staring Pain straight in the eyes.

Orochimaru chuckled.

“So I lost? You underestimate me, Minato... You should ask your sensei…”

Minato then saw Jiraiya, lying on the ground, his shoulder was injured but that wasn’t all... His heart as well.

“Jiraiya-sensei!” Mikoto shouted in the distance, arriving in the middle of the Hyuga clan.

“Maybe you should think about taking care of him first,” Orochimaru said with a voice full of contempt. “This idiot got in my way, to keep me from killing the one who summoned you here.”

Minato glared at Orochimaru. His primary role was to take down the threat Orochimaru posed. It was his duty as the Hokage. But his heart was the strongest. The Yondaime rushed at Jiraiya.
Orochimaru instantly took the opportunity to flee, following Neji.

“A medic-nin, quick!”

"No, Minato, it's too late," Jiraiya whispered with difficulty.

“Hang on. I’ll get you to the hospital right away.”

The Sannin shook his head.

“No need… Please... I would like to... tell you... something... Come closer…”

Minato obeyed.

Jiraiya whispered a few words in his ear. Minato frowned and a surprised expression appeared on his face followed by, a sad smile as Jiraiya’s head fell back to the ground.

“Thank you... Jiraiya-sensei…”

The Hyuga clan arrived, accompanied by Mikoto.

Jiraiya stared at Hiashi, to whom he winked. Hiashi stared back at his sensei, his face impassive but a tear was running down his cheek. Jiraiya's eyes turned to Mikoto, and a smile appeared on his face. His whole body exuded peace.

Mikoto then lunged at him and attempted to administer first aid through a basic medical jutsu technique. Her Sharingan was activated. However, she wasn't a fully-fledged medic-ninja.
Tears streamed down her face, flowing over Jiraiya's smiling, now lifeless face.

A hand rested on her shoulder. It was Hiashi.

“It's too late, Mikoto.”

That smile will remain eternally engraved on Jiraiya’s face. The Hyuga deactivated their Byakugan as a sign of respect. Kakashi, lying in the distance on the ground, lowered his head sadly.

But Mikoto continued, again and again. She was giving her chakra to the lifeless corpse until exhaustion...

“Mikoto, stop it,” Minato said. “He is dead.”

Mikoto then saw, on this smiling face that she had known so well, wounds and bruises. These wounds did not come from his fight against Orochimaru. She knew it because she was the one who had inflicted them when they met earlier.

That thought bubbled up in her mind, releasing another massive amount of memories… The pain of her parents’ death, which Jiraiya had alleviated. The first moments of her team: Hiashi, Minato, and her taunting Jiraiya while eating a good dish in front of him after tying him up to a post, his bells at their feet.

On their first mission, in which Mikoto couldn't hold back her tears thinking back to her parents who had died in battle… Jiraiya had taken her in his arms, like a father with his daughter, leaving Minato and Hiashi alone to fight the enemy shinobis and defeat them.

Her fear when she saw, in the hot springs, Tsunade hitting Jiraiya. The pride on his face when she became a chunin. Her becoming a jonin… Jiraiya was traveling the world then. She would have liked it so much if he was there…

Her marriage with Fugaku… Jiraiya had played the role of the father.
The birth of Itachi… Jiraiya cradled the little one and promised him that one day he would become even stronger than "The Gallant Jiraiya." Jiraiya's promise to go against the law to save Fugaku… His departure… she had missed him so much… and his return...

Jiraiya had impacted her life more than anyone.

All those memories were taking over. Suffering, love, hate; everything was getting mixed up, and she was losing control… She screamed…. Trying to let out her emotions, her pain.

Minato, facing her, put both hands on her shoulders. But Mikoto seemed not to see him. She was lost in her emotions.

“Mikoto!”

She fainted. However, Minato had seen it. Right before she lost consciousness, her eyes had changed. It was only for a brief moment, but the Yondaime had seen it.

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