Naruto: Kage of Kages

Right after Shiki fell into his self induced coma, Tsunade had caught him and performed a quick first aid and diagnosis of his condition.

Seeing that he could last for a while if the barest of support of medical ninjutsu, the Senju princess swiftly decided the best course of action was to take the boy to a proper facility for dedicated medical attention rather than to try and perform any extra procedure on the field.

And since they were not that far from Konoha and its facilities were the best, it became the most suitable destination.

First however, Tsunade had to decide what to do about the rest of Shiki’s Team, sensei included. 

After all, if the bad elements were truly irredeemable, they could choose to eliminate the Senju princess and the unconscious Shiki to conceal the evidence of their actions and muddy the situation enough for those truly responsible to avoid punishment.

However, it seemed like there was repentance.

“Do not worry Tsunade-hime, I will return to the village with my other two students and accept whatever punishment is set for in light of my role in this whole debacle.” Inori gravely spoke.

The Senju princess turned her head with a raised eyebrow.

“Not even trying to deny it?” She questioned but did not wait for an answer.

“Still, hearing you speak that formally is outright creepy.” Tsunade mocked.

Despite the attitude, Inori’s words had actually assuaged some of her concerns.

“May I go and find Shinka then? She probably headed for the town.” The violet Rose asked for permission, almost preemptively treating herself like a prisoner under watch.

“Go ahead, I’ll return with Shiki first.” Tsunade replied, no sass in her voice this time.

Inori turned to go but just as the Senju princess began to do the same, the Yamanaka added a few words without turning back.

“It is likely word of the situation has already reached Konoha’s shadows.” And with that, she body flickered away.

Tsunade frowned.

“So the Aburame girl is from the Root . . .”

Inori had remained on the battlefield the whole time and did not manage to get any information out so that was the only way.

The Violet Rose had declared that the information had reached them so it meant they themselves were not keeping watch, likely to avoid any evidence that pointed towards them, little did they know, Kumo had massively outplayed them.

Tsunade was sure there was no over interpretation on her part. Inori had worded things and spoke with very clear intent.

‘We might get intercepted.’ The Senju princess worried.

That said, there was not much she could do besides running towards Konoha at the fastest speed she could manage.

Shiki needed help urgently and interception was only a possibility.

“I can always hope.” Tsunade mockingly said to herself before body flickering away, Shiki in her arms.

*

A little while later, at the town near the valley, Inori was arriving with Mei still passed out on her back.

Just as she was pondering on the best way to find her missing student however, the girl herself came to her.

‘Oof!’ Inori reflexively thought to herself.

Despite being covered in her usual getup that did not leave even a single bit of herself showing, it was clear for anyone decently observant, that Shinka was disturbed.

A sense of confusion seemed to practically ooze out of her small covered form.

{Sensei. You made it out.} The girl signed.

Her gaze seemed to be drawn to Mei, still passed out on the Violet Rose’s back.

“Tsunade-hime seemed to be in the area and helped us out.” Inori replied, much to the Aburame genin’s shock.

Countless thoughts and possible explanation towards the presence of the Senju princess crossed the girl’s mind but feeling guilty and confused already, she gravitated towards her secret mission being exposed.

And she was in fact, not entirely wrong as her allegiance had indeed been suspected, even since before she formally made a squad with Shiki.

But so far, no one really knew if she had a special secret assignment or what said assignment might be.

‘But that would mean our actions are not in line with the village and the Hokage’s will . . .’ Shinka thought.

In her mind, the duty assigned to her felt treasonous.

Inori could almost read her thoughts.

‘That old man at Root was not nearly as thorough as usual with this one . . . Afraid she would be caught out by Mito-sama if he turned her into one of his hollow puppets perhaps?’ She wondered.

It mattered little however.

After a few moments recovering her bearings, Shinka began signing again.

{What happened in the valley?} The girl’s gaze once again slipped towards Mei.

“Let’s start heading back to the village, the situation needs to be reported.” Inori said in response.

“I’ll explain on the way.” She added and body flickered away, Mei still on her back.

Shinka body flickered behind, her mind still filled with questions.

The Yamanaka briefly explained things from her perspective which left some gaps when it came to Shiki’s part in the whole battle though having leff Shiki along with Mei, just before he began fighting, Shinka could extrapolate.

Still, Mei going back and even playing a part in their victory was perhaps one point the girl was stuck on.

Based on reason and logic, she had made the right move but that didn’t make the Aburame genin feel much better.

Still, since it did not occur to anybody that Shiki had used Mei as bait while fully intending on taking a Hell Stab through the chest for the opportunity to take out his opponent, Mei’s interference was still regarded as having mixed results.

But even if there were more reasonable ways to save Mei’s life, they would only have made the overall situation worse for their side.

As far as Shiki was concerned, his madness had been the best possible move to turn the tide of the battle.

With Inori telling and Shinka listening, they began to fully realize that Shiki, a damn four year old, less than half Shinka’s own age, had successfully killed 11 Elite Chunin, 2 Regular Jonin and 1 Elite Jonin while leaving yet another Elite Jonin at death’s door.

Sure, he did not accomplish it through pure combat strength, tricks were involved and his unorthodox inhuman fighting style made most of his moves utterly unexpected which was a big part of it.

But shinobi were not meant to honestly duke it out, regardless of what the most significant fights of the series showed.

*

Considerably further ahead of the rest of Team 6, Tsunade carried Shiki as they got nearer to Konoha.

With the Senju princess’ speed, it would not take a full day to arrive, ensuring Shiki would make it well in time considering his powers of self preservation.

But as the very manifestation of ill fortune, Tsunade could not escape the disasters her fate seemed determined to manifest.

And so, just as she was getting near the village, six mysterious figures, all dressed in Kumo shinobi garbs, jumped at her.

With swords and kunai, three of them moved in to attack while the remaining three remained a step behind for backup.

Shiki being in her arms, the Senju princess could not fight back properly . . . Or so they thought.

Muscles bulging on her fair and slim arms, Tsunade hurled Shiki at the shinobi ahead of her in a burst of Chakra Enhanced Strength.

Clearly expecting everything but that, the unknown shinobi was hit full on, being knocked away.

Wasting no time at all,the Senju princess twirled mid-air, launching a devastating kick to the attacker on her right and simultaneously, a punch to the one on her left.

+++++

Hey, Author here!

Just a reminder that you can read up to a FULL MONTH ahead of this site on pa-treon.

I’m trying to become a full time Author now and I’m not going to be starting any new novels just so I can make sure this one is properly completed.

Find those sweet advanced chapters on pa-treon.com/lusoba without the -