Saints and Suffering: A Naruto Fanfiction

Chapter 58

Sarutobi Hiruzen, after his sensei had trapped the army, now had to execute the difficult part of the strategy.

Using one of the numerous jutsu he had mastered, he cast his voice into the air, yelling so loudly that each and every person could hear it.

  "Lightning Warriors! I am the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen!

  I have surrounded your forces.

  Let us meet and speak with one another.

  I have witnessed your strength and wish to parley.

  But first, witness my own!"

When Hiruzen finished his quick speech, Tobirama exploded a small fraction of the tags, showing that Hiruzen's words were not empty bluff, and that the army was actually surrounded..

Hiruzen then used two shadow clones to cast a combination jutsu that while not the deadliest, was definitely the showiest.

One clone used Wind Release: Great Breakthrough while the other used Fire Release: Searing Ash Cloud.

As the giant cloud of ash and wind spread over a portion of the army, hundreds of yards in the air, the original cast an immense lightning jutsu to ignite the cloud, which detonated with a thunderous crash, the shockwave flattening trees and knocking over many of the men underneath it.

Those that were within range found themselves dazed and confused, with burst eardrums and ruined senses of balance.

Had they been closer, they would have died, but Hiruzen was trying to get the force to surrender, and a show of force was more effective than a massacre, as a massacre beyond what he had wrought with the shadow clone shuriken might cause revenge to become the primary motivator of their fight.

Over the next fifteen minutes or so, quite a number of unlucky scouts were ordered out into the minefields and promptly died. The reports were quickly passed up the chains of command, collected, and then given to General Kurowa, a man once called the Barbarian King of the North, who had only recently been folded into the Lightning Army.

The Barbarian King stoically and silently received the reports from his vanguard, rearguard, and flanks. As soon as the reports finished though, a thin and weaselly looking man stepped out and began to beseech Kurowa.

  "General, as the Lightning Nation appointed envoy and advisor to your forces, I insist that we break through the minefield.

  The Daimyo has given us our orders and we must follow them."

Kurowa said nothing in reply, and the man continued.

  "If you parley with enemy forces with us still at such massive advantage, it would be treason.

  We still retain 90% of our forces, and if we simply go through the minefield at a single point, at most we would be down to 75%.

  That is more then enough to lay waste to Konoha and the Capitol."

General Kurowa's deep scowl somehow further deepened.

  "You speak of using my men as chaff before the scythe?

  To use my brothers as fodder and give their lifeblood to clear a minefield?"

The weaselly Advisor shook his head.

  "Nothing of the sort, General.

  They would be noble sacrifices in the name of the Daimyo, and they would be remembered as heroes.

  This is our chance to strike the final and fatal blow against Fire.

  We cannot let anything get in our way, including whimsy or soft-heartedness."