The moment the kitchen door closed, Uchiha Tonan’s expression became cold and his eyes narrowed. While cooking, he was thinking about what to do next. Just now, he had taken the chance to observe the living room.
The broken smoke pipe on the ground as well as the portrait that had been put in the cabinet was taken out at some point. Together with today’s out-of-character action, it’s very likely that the issue was related to Shinnosuke and Asuma’s death.
Fortunately, before coming here, he went back to bring Kotoura along with him to stabilize the situation before the unknown conflict was set off. But the baby could only win a bit of time. What had to happen will still happen.
“I wonder how much Hiruzen knows. If he knows that I killed Shinnosuke and Asuma, then he’ll fall out with me. Right now, he is stronger than Orochimaru. I can kill Orochimaru even if I didn’t use lightning-style secret techniques. But if I’ve to fight to the death with Hiruzen, then I can win if I go all out in a one-on-one situation.”
But that’s the ideal situation. In the battle between ninjas, strength can only account for the greatest factor before reaching the Six Paths level. Tonan not only needed to prevent Hiruzen from using big forbidden techniques like the Death Reaper Seal but also from summoning Konoha ninjas to besiege him.
The current Konoha was just a bit tougher than the Konoha of the original works. Although he was strong, his strength might not rival Pain.
If he fought against Hiruzen, Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina would help Hiruzen even if they acknowledged him. Just the Flying Thunder God alone will annoy him to death.
Moreover, if he killed Hiruzen, then leaving the village would be the only way left for him. At that time, everything would collapse, and his large-scale plantation would be useless. For now, he could only take a step and observe.
The best result was to resolve the suspicion and let Hiruzen put down the hatred of killing his sons. Naturally, the worst result was that he had to denounce the village and go to other places to develop rations.
After a while, Tonan pushed open the kitchen door and came out with food, filling the living room with a rich aroma. After setting up the table, he walked over to Hiruzen and took Kotoura back in his arms. Then, with a smile on his face, he said, “Kotoura is not crying anymore. Sensei, come and eat. I’ll take care of feeding him.”
Hiruzen nodded numbly and got up. He sat at the dining table but instead of eating, he stared at Tonan who was feeding Kotoura. Tonan scooped a spoonful of gruel and put it in his mouth. He chewed it for a while and spat it back to the spoon and fed it to the baby.
Seeing Kotoura smacking his lips, Hiruzen recalled how cute Shinnosuke and Asuma were when they were children. For a moment, intense grief surged in his heart.
His eyes turned red, and he said in a hoarse voice, “Tonan, you are Abe Seimei, right?”
The question made Tonan pause his hand for a moment. The smile on his face disappeared and then looking at Kotoura in his arms, he remained silent. The atmosphere of the room became tense and still. Only the whistling sounds of cold wind could be heard.
After a while, Tonan continued to feed Kotoura indifferently and softly said, “Sensei, let’s go out and talk after dinner. Don’t frighten Kotoura.”
Seeing the change in Tonan’s expression, Hiruzen felt a chill in his heart. But taking another look at the infant staring at him with big innocent eyes filled with curiosity, he suppressed his anger and nodded.
He picked up the chopsticks and put food in his mouth, slowly chewing it. The food was delicious but at this moment, Hiruzen felt like he was eating wax. After a few bites, he put down the chopsticks and sat there in a daze, staring at the food on the table.
Ten minutes later, Tonan put the full Kotoura back on the sofa and created a shadow clone to look after him. The main body went to the clothes hanger behind the door and fetched Hiruzen’s rob.
He walked over to Hiruzen and handed it over, “Sensei, it’s cold outside. Let’s go out and talk.”
Hiruzen nodded and got up, leaving the courtyard with Tonan. The two left the Sarutobi district. Side by side, Tonan and Hiruzen walked in silence. It seemed that Hiruzen didn’t want this matter to spread, so he took Tonan out of the Konoha Barrier and came to the forest near Orochimaru’s previous secret base.
The forest was dark. The branches of most of the tall trees were bare. Only the dim light could be seen, making the forest look mysterious. With the mist covering nearly everything, the place was strangely quiet.
They went through the forest and continued to walk away from Konoha. When they came out, there was only a light snowfall, but now, it was getting dense. Only the sounds of cold winds could be heard as the snowfall gained momentum.
A thin layer of snow had already coated the ground. Suddenly, Hiruzen, who had been walking in the front, stopped. Tonan also stopped. Adjusting his glasses, he softly said, “Sensei, feel free to ask if you have any questions.”
Hiruzen turned around and asked coldly, “Are you Abe Seimei?”
“Yes.”
“You killed Shinnosuke and Asuma?”
“Yes.”
Hiruzen’s eyes turned cold as he angrily glared at Tonan. He immediately raised his right hand, making a hand sign with one hand. In the next moment, the soil at Tonan’s foot turned into a quagmire and pulled him into it.
Tonan, however, didn’t struggle in the slightest. Soon, only his head was left above the ground, and he quietly watched Hiruzen.
“Don’t you have any excuse?” Hiruzen looked down at Tonan with cold eyes.
Tonan calmly answered, “Sensei, I don’t want to fight with you.”
Hiruzen clenched his fists tightly. His heart was filled with anger. He gritted his teeth and said, “Don’t call me sensei, I can’t afford it.”
Tonan replied lightly, “Sensei, I still have dreams that have not been realized, so I can’t die here. I’m sorry.”
Bang… Tonan in the quagmire turned into a ball of white smoke. Hiruzen’s eyes narrowed. He turned back towards the forest in the distance and made hand signs.
“Compound Ninjutsu – Multi Earth Dragon Flame Flow.”
The earth trembled violently, and more than ten earth dragons broke out from the ground in the forest. These dragons spat fire in a certain direction in the woods.
The impact force of the earth dragons and the burning effect of fire style fused. In an instant, wherever earth dragons passed, trees broke into pieces and collapsed, scaling up the fire. The mist in the forest was instantly dispersed by the high temperature of the flames.
Facing Hiruzen’s ultimate move, Tonan muttered in the forest. “Senjutsu – Multi Nine Rock Pillars Technique.”
Rumble… Instantly, densely packed hard stone pillars rose in the woods, piercing every incoming earth dragon. The forest within a radius of more than ten miles had turned into stone and below was raging fire.
As soon as the master and apprentice exchanged their moves, the landscape of the place changed completely. In the center of the stone forest, a stone pillar slowly rose to the highest point.
Tonan stood on the top of this stone pillar. The three tomoe in his eyes were spinning, as he looked down on Hiruzen, “Sensei, don’t waste your energy. You can’t deal with me, let me go. This is my fault. I don’t want to continue to lie. When I realize my dream, I’ll come back to admit my mistake and seek punishment from you. At that time, whether you want to kill me or cut me into pieces, I’ll leave it to you.”
Hiruzen looked very gloomy under the blazing light of the fire and yelled, “Do you truly think I’ve grown old and can’t stop you?”
