Chapter 6: Setting Sun of Hoshigakure
"Son... Sensei is... grandfather is dead." His father finally said in a pained voice.
*Flashback
The third hoshikage, Akio was leaning against the ruined wall of his home.
"It seems I was right to send you all away. Cough, Cough." Akio was coughing out blood filled with poison.
The village of the stars was burning.
A few weeks prior, a group of rogue and rebel ninja began attacking the village and it's surrounding area. Akio who was prepared for this scenario had ordered the evacuation of all the village to konoha while he and the older generation stayed behind to prevent them from being flanked.
Up until today, Akio and his old friends were doing quite well fighting of the swarms of ninja. Without the drawbacks, the mystique peacock was a very strong technique. It also became obvious that many of the "rouge" ninja who they were fighting were actually anbu from Iwakagure.
'It seems the old fence sitter has gotten anxious with our sudden rise in power, paranoid as always.' He had thought.
However, today, when an old face arrived, their defense was finally broken.
"It's been a long time little Saso, how is Lady Chiyo doing? I remember our dates in the last war, we had many wonderful dances... It was when I first saw you as well, since you look the same, it's like it had just happened yesterday" Akio had spoken to the red haired teenager dressed in a black cloak adorned with red clouds in front of him.
"Hello old man, it has been a long time. Sad to say, I haven't spoken my grandmother in many years. I try to let old antiques gather dust on their own. Unfortunately for both of us, we have been hired to to kill you and ensure your village's fall. Though I am interested in your mystique peacock technique, with it you destroyed almost all of my collection. You and the rest of your comrades as material will be more than enough to replace them though." Sasori replied to him.
Behind Sasori were the corpses of the rest of the Hoshikagure shinobi as well as the broken bodies of his performance of a hundred puppets. A bit further behind him were battalions more of "rogue" ninja he had intimidated to step aside when he and his partner fought the hoshikage and his shinobi.
"Oh? Human puppetry? Ever the pioneer little Saso. You should speak to your grandmother more though, I heard that you had broken her heart when you left your village." Akio replied as if he was talking to his grandson.
Though Sasori was expressionless, Akio felt he had struck a nerve. Sasori was about to reply when he was interrupted by his partner.
"Sasori, hurry up. We have another job to finish." Up above, a purple haired woman was floating. Akio had seen how dangerous she was. From up above she started a rain of paper that was sharper than kunai. That in it self was bearable, it was when the paper started exploding that it became a problem.
'Tch, she noticed he was getting irritated.' Akio thought.
"Sigh, sure thing nee-san. I just wanted to pay respect to an old relic." Sasori's irritation was released.
"Oh? Is that a "nee-san" I hear? What in Stars name happened for you to start learning manners?" Akio, ever the sh*t starter, was still intrigued by the young man's tone change.
"Lost a bet, but that's none of your business old man. " Sasori replied with some irritation.
"Sigh... Well, she is right though. It is time to end this." As Akio said this he suddenly started visually emitting large amounts of purple chakra.
Sasori and Konan's eyes widened.
'That's Bijuu levels of chakra.' They both easily recognized.
Sasori and Konan were alarmed by this and had a bad premonition. Konan immediately covered herself and Sasori in paper and then proceeded to disappear.
Unfortunately for the remaining Iwakagure ninja, they had the misfortune of witnessing the hoshikage's final jutsu. Unknown to the rest of his clan, Akio had been able to use their new mystique peacock to create the technique's most destructive jutsu to date. One that fully harnessed the radiation emitted by stars.
"Forbidden Jutsu: Mystique Peacock... Setting Sun."
BOOM!
A large light purple explosion of radiaoactive chakra engulfed the ruins Hoshikagure. It was the size of a full scale bijuu bomb. Everything that was caught in its radius completely disintegrated. All that remained was circular crater filled with dangerous radiation.
Any corpse, resource , or secret of the hoshikagure would no longer exist here. In fact due to the radiation, the land would be toxic and barren for a long period of time.
A survivor from the battle, a yellow haired iwakagure shinobi from the explosion corp who had observed from afar, said that it was the most beautiful piece of art he had ever seen.
*End of flashback
"I... I see... So grandfather has passed. Do we have more information?" Tora asked.
"Nothing concrete, all we know is that it was rogue ninja who are suspected to be from iwakagure. It is very likely that demand on information on our secret technique has risen incredibly the past years. So in the future, be careful, though the Sharingan and Byakugan are still more valuable, our secret is less secure."
'Grandfather...' Tora thought of the old man. Due to his status as a reincarnator with a more mature mental age, he didn't exactly have a normal relationship with members of his family; such as his grandfather. However, over the 2 years of conscious interactions he had with his family, he came to truly love and treat all of the hoshi as his family. And now... His grandfather is dead and hoshikagure no longer exists.
'Is it my fault? Is it because we are suddenly stronger due to my birth that my grandfather is dead...' Tora tried to lock away the depressing thought.
"How are the refugees Father?" Tora then asked, trying his best to compartmentalize his grief by focusing on other things. If he did not do this, he would likely be crying his eyes out.
"They have just arrived a few days ago, your mother is helping them get set-up in our newly assigned clan area outside the village. It is a good thing you were able to get us the 5 year tax break, this helps us greatly."
"I see, that's good. What is our clan planning to do now?" Tora continued to try and focus on other things.
"Well... many of our shinobi will be joining the Konoha police force. The village values our ability to fly as it has many applications from guarding to scouting." His father said.
"Huh? What do you mean father? Isn't that the exclusive job of the Uchiha?" Tora furrowed his eyebrows.
"...Due to a recent event, the Konoha police force is integrating other clans beside the Uchiha as they are currently not at full strength." His father said after a pause.
"What? What happened while I was asleep father." Tora was surprised and had a sinking feeling.
"Sigh... There was an attempted coup d'etat within the Uchiha clan. Many of their shinobi are gone."
"Oh? How did that happen Father?" Tora's eyes widened in confusion.
"... I'm not fully aware of the details... However it is known there has been a large amount of tension between the Uchiha clan and the village for some time now. Many of the hardliners within that clan were enraged and saw the recent death of the elders and reveal Danzo's crimes as a valid reason to revolt and to usurp the third. They did not want to negotiate and felt Danzo's crimes were unforgiveable and was not something that could be bargained for. To them, they wouldn't be happy unless they had all of the Sarutobi clan's heads on spikes and an Uchiha as unquestioned hokage. When they tried however, they did not expect Fugaku to refuse them. Fugaku scoffed at the feasibility of their plan. Instead he negotiated with the third and wanted the clan to have their original home inside the village returned to them with many financial reparations for Danzo's crimes.
The third was forced to agree since he didn't exactly have a lot of support and Fugaku was being reasonable. Fugaku, also had enough with the hardliners of his clan and felt disrespected by the repeated questioning of his rule and their stupidity over the years. Thus, he set-up a trap with the third to consolidate his power. When the coup faction were meeting, they were ambushed and many of the hardliners were burnt to death by the black flame Fugaku showed in the meeting hall. Unfortunately, it seems he had overused his eyes in the process and had to temporarily step-down. Currently, his wife Mikoto is acting as clan head while his son Itachi is still young and being groomed as heir. She was the one who actually suggested the Konoha Police Force be reintegrated with the rest of the village alongside the agreements Fugaku made with the hokage. Our clan's new area is actually their old one. Since they were moving back inside the village, it was a waste to not use the already developed land." Aka tried his best to explain what had happened succinctly without missing any important details.
Tora fell into deep thought, trying to take in all the information that has happened.
'So the planned coup d'e'tat still happened, but at an earlier date. I guess the Uchiha have their own versions of Danzo, Homura, and Koharu. I thought it would be better if no one except the three idiots died, but this is still better than everyone dead... I wonder if Itachi opened his mangekyo with what happened. His father could have asked him to be there when they killed the Uchiha rebels, with Itachi's pacifist personality this might have been enough.'
'I had gotten three of the most annoying character's killed, konoha is stronger, and the uchiha clan is still present with most dissenting elements gone... But, my home is gone. My grandfather is dead...' Try as he might to ignore it, Tora's mind still went to his fallen home and family.
Guilt, self-loathing and depression started to set-in.
"Tora, please take some time to rest. I know you and that look in your eyes, you might do something dangerous in the future. I just want you to know, it's not your fault... Being born is not a sin. " His father had correctly read what Tora was feeling.
Tora nodded despondently. He knew that it wasn't his fault, his heart just couldn't accept it emotionally. In his mind, it was easier to blame himself than accept that there was nothing he could do.
'Useless garbage... couldn't save his own village.' He condemned himself, tears started falling from his eyes.
His father, seeing this and realizing what he was thinking, sighed deeply before speaking.
"Son, we are all feeling helpless. In fact, I am seething knowing my sensei is dead and I could do nothing but wait and follow his orders to protect the evacuees." A tear started to form in his father's eye. He was shaking.
"But the truth is, we are weak, and the weak have no right to choose. The only thing we all can do now is get stronger. So in the future, we have a choice." His father said with full conviction as his body became still.
Tora, seeing his father's determination, steeled his own will.
'I will be stronger... I don't give a damn about revenge, but I will not let anyone take anything away from me.' A flame started burning in Tora's heart. If he was a member of the Uchiha, he would have already opened his mangekyo.
It was at this point, the "Starscourge of Hoshi" truly started his journey.
*Author's Corner (Has some of my current future plans... so maybe spoliers?)
Hey guys! This chapter ended up being longer than I thought. I ended up writing a longer and longer death scene for the Hoshikage since it felt lame for him to just get off-screened, also wanted to give more backstory and character to my favorite Akatsuki member (Sasori, My Man... He's a bit younger in this version too by the way.).
I also ended up using this as the catalyst for Tora to have an emotional character moment. He now has a personal reason to get stronger. Though he rejects the avenger route that Sasuke took, and takes more of the greedy protector path.
Both are unhealthy approaches by the way. In Tora's case, it will slowly lead to him becoming obsessed with growing strong to protect everyone by himself. He, like Radahn, will try to metaphorically hold-up the stars if it means his loved ones are protected.
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