Naruto : Hidden Cloud

"Teacher.."

Hiruzen spoke in a hoarse voice; there seemed to be too many emotions hiding under his words.

Hiruzen's low voice broke the silence of the situation, and everyone simultaneously clenched their weapons. The situation could tilt any second now.

"Teacher, maybe you are right. It is time for me to pass on my position to someone else."

But when Hiruzen compromised with a tired voice, everyone was shocked. Did they hear this right? Was this still the power-hungry third Hokage!

Although Hiruzen himself seemed to not care about anybody's surprised faces, he just smiled a relived smile.

"Somewhere along the way, I seemed to have lost my ninja way."

"I have made countless compromises throughout the years—too many to count. But I failed to see that this was hurting Konoha fundamentally."

"I am sorry, teacher; I couldn't stand up to your expectations."

Everyone was shocked once again; even the second hokage and the first hokage were surprised by the third hokage's courage.

Accepting your mistakes in front of everyone takes a lot of courage, but the third Hokage still did it. This made the two Hokage smile with relief.

The second hokage shook his head with a sigh and a wry smile. He sighed again when he remembered the dead senju, but he decided to let it go in the end.

Hiruzen had compromised so that Konoha doesn't fight between themselves; he shouldn't bring up the Senju topic again.

"Forget it, Monkey; I expected such an end when Big Brother asked the Senju clan to split. I believe you had your reasons."

Tobirama decided to let it go, and Hashirama, who was listening from the side, also understood that the third hokage had killed off the senju. 

But Hashirama was the first Hokage; this was the guy who had surpassed his own limits as Asura's reincarnation.

Hashirama wouldn't blame anyone else for this; in Hashirama's mind, it was his decision that eventually led to Senju's demise.

"Senju is gone, huh? If anyone here knows little Tsunade, can you please tell her I said sorry?"

"It was my fault; I made a wrong decision all those years ago. I should have listened to Tobirama and let the Senju clan continue."

Hashirama hung his head in depression, which made everyone feel touched but also surprised at how gentle the first hokage was.

"I am afraid nobody in Konoha has a close relationship with Tsunade anymore; everyone close to her is dead."

Hiruzen twitched his eyes but decided to tell the truth. The crowd was once again speechless at this.

But before the Hokage's could get angry at Hiruzen, Sato raised his hand like he was an academy student.

"Excuse me, does it have to be someone from Konoha? Because I have a good relationship with her, I can tell her if you want."

Sato smiled at the first hokage. The first hokage was taken aback, but he quickly cheered up.

"Really? Please tell her for me. Thank you!"

The first Hokage bowed in thanks, which made Sato chuckle. If Hashirama wasn't a total monster who was capable of slapping the ten tails, Sato would have tried to control him.

But Hashirama was so strong that Sato didn't dare to risk it. He was happy with having good relations for now.

"The hidden cloud again? Even Tsunade is close to the Raikage, while she doesn't even have anyone close in Konoha."

"What a mess."

Tobirama's veins jumped in anger, but he was helpless. Hidden cloud had far too much influence on Konoha already; it was too late to stop them now.

Hiruzen saw the situation wasn't good for him and quickly stepped in. He didn't want his teacher to target him again.

"Ahem teacher."

Hiruzen coughed, reminding Tobirama not to get angry. Hiruzen then looked at Sato with hopeful eyes.

'Help me.'

The third hokage's eyes said this. Then, without giving Sato time to respond, Hiruzen quickly walked upto Sato and grabbed his hand.

"Sato is our village's friend. Teacher! Hidden cloud and Konoha are very close to each other."

"Sato also owns the Uchiha district in the middle of Konoha. He always abides by Konoha rules."

"There is nothing to worry about, teacher!"

Hiruzen introduced Sato in an exaggerated way, but he was whispering to Sato in a low voice.

"Help me convince them that you are not a threat, Raikage; if they do not believe so, we both will be in danger. When I retire, we can deepen our business relations in return."

Hokage whispered to Sato; his voice was low, but Sato and his team heard this. His fake actions made Asuma and the Konoha ninjas behind Sato blush with shame.

Although Sato didn't seem to mind, this was how Hiruzen had behaved all his life.

"Deal."

Sato whispered back and then walked forward two steps. He stood before the third hokage and smiled at everyone.

"I don't mean any harm second hokage, first hokage. I have always been Konoha's ally-"

Squelch

Sato's words came to an abrupt end. He slowly looked down and saw a translucent, wrinkled hand poking out of his stomach.

"Monkey! What are you doing?!"

First Hokage Senju Hashirama's smile had vanished completely; in its place was the rage of a super Kage.

"You cast the death reaper seal on him! You sneak attacked an ally of Konoha like this! How dare you!"

Hashirama's chakra pressure was breaking apart the environment; his anger was so harsh that even Sato's group was unable to move.

"Sneak attacked? What are they talking about! I can't see anything but Sato Sama is frozen. What happened?!"

Darui growled and questioned the Third Hokage loudly. The Third Hokage simply pursed his lips and sighed.

"I am using the death reaper seal. Only those touched by the reaper can see it. That's why I used this jutsu for sneak attack. This attack is invisible before it hits."

"Sorry, Sato Nii. Your presence is what makes hidden cloud so strong. It was my fault that you have this much influence in Konoha."

"I have made many mistakes in this life, teacher. But you are right. The hidden cloud has too much power over us."

"And it's all because of me. So before I die, let me solve the greatest threat to this village."

Hiruzen smiled, but Hashirama was still furious and so was Sato. This was the closest he has been to the reaper since his rebirth.

"You dam old man...!"

Sato growled; electricity was crackling around him. His multicolored eyes were glowing with power.

An attack directly on the soul seemed to have inspired the tailed beast powers within him.

The more the reaper tried to pull Sato's soul out, the brighter his eyes were starting to glow. Hiruzen was sweating; things seemed to be going beyond his expectations.

A/N

The stolen book got removed, thanks for your support!