Minato wore his hero attire and adjusted his collar while standing in front of the large window giving him sight of the White House lawn. There were hundreds of chairs in rows covering the entire lawn along with a podium; all of which were empty. 'Just thirty more minutes until I'm the number one hero...' Minato looked down while the sun continued to rise. 'It never should have happened like this...'
"The President blows!" Naruto crossed his arms and his mother put her finger up to her mouth while sitting next to him, "Shhhh, Naruto! At least wait until we're home to say something like that!"
"Oh come on, Mom! You know I'm right. If there wasn't a stupid ban, then more heroes could have gone with Stars and Stripe and pummeled him!"
"It's not about if you're right or not! It's about—"
Minato tuned out the voices of his wife and son as he received a call and checked the name. 'Hawks...' He picked it up and walked into another room, "Hello?"
"Hey, Minato. Heard that you're the new number one hero of America starting today. I'm not calling too late before your big speech, am I?"
"Not at all no, I don't think this is a congratulatory call though."
Hawks sighed, "It's not... I'm not sure how much they're telling the public outside of Japan, but our situation is pretty bad. We're hanging on by a thread over here with Shigaraki finishing his vessel process in a couple days."
Minato walked back and forth in the room, "I heard... How have the UA kids been?"
"Surprisingly good. They've been training like crazy, harder than I've ever seen anyone train... Not to brag, but I'm pretty sure they would have cleared you guys back when you visited if they were as strong as they are now."
Minato let out a soft laugh, "That so?"
"Yeah, but... Despite how strong they are I'm worried it might not be enough. I think... I think we need your help, Minato."
Minato remained silent and slipped his hand in his pocket while Hawks continued, "The world's abandoned us, I don't think they fully understand how AFO will be a global issue if we fail here..."
Minato replied, "I understand... That's why I wanted to help earlier."
"Yeah. I get the position you're in too, Minato... I don't wanna seem like I'm begging—"
"I know you're not," Minato cut in, "And you shouldn't have to..."
Hawks was silent for a minute before replying, "We have a plan in place. We discovered one of AFO's spies, and we're gonna use him to get the jump on AFO in a couple days. When this happens, there's no way it'll go smoothly. We're gonna end up having a fight that will determine the future of not just Japan, but the whole world. I hate to say it, but due to our own lack of numbers, most of the Hero course students will be helping in the fight... I wanna know if I can count on you to be there or not."
Minato didn't respond and stared out of the room at his wife and son. He clenched his fist and his gaze hardened, "I'll be there."
"Thank you..." A huge sigh of relief could be heard on the other end followed by explosions, "I gotta go now. Good luck with your speech."
"Thanks, stay safe." Hawks hung up, and Minato stared east with a glare, remembering what President Harrison had told him before. 'Sorry, Harrison, but I can't follow those orders.'
In the Oval Office, Harrison was making a phone call of his own, "We can't wait two days, Hayes. We'll have to launch the warheads tomorrow."
The Yellow Flash teleported right in front of his desk and made his heart jump, "Jesus! Minato! Hold on, Hayes. I'll get back to you later."
He hung up on him and cleared his throat. Staring at his secret service members before meeting Minato's gaze, "Yellow Flash. Did you come looking for advice on your speech or something?"
"No, I came here to inform you that I'll be leaving for Japan in two days."
Harrison blinked and held up a hand, "Hold on now, we had an agreement, Minato!"
"We did. And I'm not following it anymore."
Harrison exhaled and leaned back in his chair, "Minato Namikaze, just what the hell is going on with you? Was Cathleen dying not enough of a red flag for you?!"
Minato slammed a hand on the desk, "It was a red flag! And that red flag told me that us waiting around for Japan to fall is the worst possible choice!"
Harrison shot out of his chair, "Just because you're supposed to become the number one hero doesn't mean you should die like her too! You are not thinking rationally, Yellow Flash! Your mind is too clouded by your connection to that country!"
He pointed a finger at Minato who gritted his teeth, "Don't give me that." The soldiers gave each other wary looks and Minato continued, "Harrison... you're not an idiot, I just don't get it. Encouraging every nation to back out of Japan... keeping them isolated... What is your thought process here exactly? You told me that someone like me potentially losing my quirk is too big of a risk, but then... what exactly did you have in mind to deal with him?"
Minato's eyes narrowed and Harrison pursed his lips. "Minato. Leave my office."
Minato's eyes widened and he froze. His mind raced and a realization dawned upon him, "You don't want any heroes to fight AFO... You don't want Japan to get any help at all because... You want Japan to be... a sacrificial lamb..."
Harrison gulped, and a cold, sweaty feeling developed on his palms. Minato continued, "Sir... are you planning to nuke Japan?"
The room was deadly silent and the temperature dropped while the President slowly sat back down in his chair. His fingers made micro-movements and his tongue moved around in his mouth for a while until he finally answered, "Yes." He looked around at the agents while they stared at each other, "Nothing said here leaves this room, or there will be grave consequences men."
Minato consciously felt a kunai in his pocket and he glared down at him, "Have you lost your mind?"
"I haven't lost anything. I am perfectly reasonable and ready to do what's necessary."
"What the hell is necessary about killing millions of people in a country we're not even at war with?"
"What's necessary is putting a stop to a threat before he has the chance to kill billions, that's what." He leaned in. "You lack foresight, Minato. All you're doing is looking at what would be the dead people now and ignoring the billions of lives at stake if I don't."
"You don't know that. Cathleen did well in her fight against AFO; even a teenager could see that if I was there by her side, things would have gone differently!"
Harrison shrugged, "Perhaps you're right, but you didn't, and it's too late to change course now."
Minato shook his head, 'No it isn't. I just got off the phone with Hawks. In two days they're getting the jump on AFO and plan to end things once and for all. I'm going to help them."
"No, you are not! That's the day when Shigaraki finishes his development!"
Minato gripped a kunai in his pocket, "Sir, I wasn't asking. I was just letting you know what will happen."
Harrison glared at him, "Is this insubordination? Do you want me to remove you as a hero entirely?"
"Heh, yeah. Remove the number-one hero the day of his promotion then drop nukes on Japan. That'll work out great for you."
"I'll remove anyone that gets in the way of the world's protection. Your plan doesn't matter anyway, nukes will fall on Japan tomorrow. I've already got approval."
Faster than anyone could react, Minato grabbed the President by his collar across the table and pulled him over it, making the items on the table fall over. "Call it off."
The soldiers in the room aimed at Minato, "Release the President now!"
Minato sent death glares their way, "Do you guys really think guns will work on me? I could drop you all before any of you pull the trigger a single time."
They flinched and the President stated, "Minato, this is treason! Do you understand what you're doing?!"
"I do, but I'm not sure if you quite understand how you're about to kill millions of people before they even get to fight their last battle."
Harrison remained composed and took a deep breath, "Minato, listen to me. If AFO and Shigaraki win we are all finished! No one will be able to stop them! Japan will be doomed anyway and all of the rest of us will fall with them! I need you to really think about where your priorities lie, cause I've already made my choice! Threaten me all you want, I will NOT fold on this! I'm going to make sure this planet stays free from his grip even if everyone hates me for it!"
The two men stared at each other for a long time until Minato released the President. "Two days."
The President fixed his suit, "Two days?"
"You're gonna wait two days until the heroes in Japan go through with their plan to finish off AFO, Shigaraki, and everyone else on his side. If they fail, then I won't get in your way... You can nuke Japan... but ONLY then."
"And just why should I agree to that, Namikaze?"
Minato's voice was stern, "Because it's the only compromise I'll offer you. If you don't accept then I'm using my speech to tell the world about your plan to nuke Japan before they get a chance to strike back. And if, even after that, you still plan to follow through with it, I'm not letting you nuke them anyway. I'll track down any nuke you send and teleport it mid-flight. You know I'm capable of that."
The President clenched his fist under the table staring hard at Minato, "You wouldn't dare."
Minato's response was sharp, "Don't test me."
Harrison's face went red and he looked down with a tense mouth while pondering everything, "... Fine… you have a deal... But only two days. If I hear you people lost that battle, I'm setting them off to launch right away."
"Minato nodded, "That works out fine..." He glanced up at the clock, "Now then, I have a speech to attend," he turned away, "Oh and one last thing. Not if, but WHEN Japan succeeds, I'll be expecting full support to help their country recover."
Minato teleported out of the room and the President held his hands together, trying to maintain his composure, but he couldn't help yelling and swiping the rest of the things off his desk. He puffed out his suit and exhaled deeply, "Two days you bastard... let's see what happens."
Minato cooled off in the small amount of time left before his speech and walked out to the stage above the White House lawn. Before him, what was previously empty now sat hundreds of people already taking pictures of him. He took a deep breath and gripped each side of the podium, staring down at the pre-prepped speech on a piece of paper before flipping it over.
He cleared his throat and leaned into the microphone, "Good Morning, everyone... I understand that this is a very informal Hero Promotion ceremony... I had a speech pre-made for me already but... It's not right. I'm here today because Cathleen Bate, Stars and Stripe, died trying to protect not just America but the world at large. Me and my family always aspired for me to one day become number-one, but it wasn't supposed to happen like this. However, despite that, I'll take on this role with pride and do what I must to follow in her footsteps."
The crowd clapped and Minato gave them a moment before continuing. "As you all already know, a few days ago, Cathleen died fighting the terror known as Shigaraki. But she didn't die for nothing. She bought us all precious time to breathe and prepare for the future ahead..."
Some of the people in the crowd murmured and Minato said, "I've heard the protest about the world's response to Japan's situation, and I'm with you people. Cathleen believed in helping out when innocent lives were at stake, regardless of politics, that belief got her killed... The least I can do is try to ensure that belief will save countless others. When the time is right, I myself will go to help Japan."
The flashes of the cameras increased, and Minato let go of the podium, "To Cathleen's family, I give my condolences; to the people of Japan, I'll give you my support; and to the villains who think they've won; I'll give you all something to fear. That is all, thank you."
He walked away from the podium as the crowd erupted with questions and applause, but he continued on his way.
Back at UA as the sun set, the 1A and 1B students finished their massive sparring session. Tired, but not nearly as exhausted as the first few days of training. Mina wiped the sweat from her brow, "This is the last day we can train like this, right?"
Jiro nodded, "Yeah... Tomorrow our plan starts going into action."
Kirishima remembered seeing Midnight's body and his expression was hard, "Good, I've been waiting for this."
Sasuke stretched his arms, "Remember what Hawks said, if we lose, there's no home to go back to. It's over. So do whatever it takes to win."
Every student nodded, matching each other's determination. "Yeah!"
Once two days passed, it was finally time. AFO descended upon Midoriya and Aoyama and fell right for the trap as both sides opened portals.
AFO flew in the air as his Elite Guard and every other villain allied to him came out of their portals. On the opposite side, thanks to Monoma every scattered hero and student available came out of the portals of Kurogiri's copied quirk.
On surveillance cameras Tsukauchi and All Might watched the fight. "Just as expected, he brought his whole army along! If he takes One For All, he'll no longer have any reason to run or hide anymore! They'll attempt to bring everything to an end right now!"
Tsukauchi ordered, "All squads, take action right now!"
Shigaraki tried to decay the ground, but his eyes widened when he realized nothing happened, "Dabi."
Dabi rushed forward, "You're not the boss of me, leader! Fancy running into you here, dear old dad! Come to watch your pals get cremated?!"
He shot out a huge fire blast, but Todoroki blocked it with ice. Dabi beamed with joy and laughed while Todoroki fully emerged from a portal, "Not on my watch, brother!" "Shotoooo!"
AFO stated, "Like cockroaches..."
Sasuke emerged from a portal and spotted AFO. He jumped above the crowd of heroes and villains and drew his blade, "ALL FOR ONE!!!"
All Might yelled through the comms, "OPERATION TROY! TEMPT AND TRAP ACTIVATE!"
Multiple cages enveloped everyone, and in the two seconds that the villains were caught off guard, everyone was teleported to different places. All Might thought, 'Locking them down even for an instant is all we needed to move onto phase two! We aren't playing on your grounds; we'll seize even the slightest advantage by splitting you all up!'
Midoriya, Bakugo, Shoda, Nejire, Best Jeanist, Mirko, Edgeshot, Amajiki, and Mirio, stayed behind to fight Shigaraki, but something pulled Midoriya through a portal. Bakugo looked back, "Huh?"
At the Central Hospital, Koda, Shoji, Ojiro, Kendo, and Sero went through a portal with Hanzo and Spinner. Hanzo laughed while gripping two large scythes, "You kids will be a good warm-up."
At the Jaku Hospital ruins right next to the Gigantomachia containment facility, Mina, Yanagi, Kodai, Shiozaki, Ojiro, and Kirishima faced off with Orochimaru and Kakazu. Kirishima glared at Kakazu and asked, "Mina. That's him, right?"
"Yeah."
Kakazu glared back at them, "Children?"
At the Gunga Mountain Villa ruins, multiple portals opened up far away from each other. Kabuto fell out of the sky and when he landed, he healed up and looked up to see Tokoyami, "Your fights with me."
Farther away, Pain dropped through a portal and landed gracefully in the middle of a quiet forest. He looked around, unaware of Nagant, Hawks, Jiro, Komori, Tetsutetsu, Shihai, and Endeavor all watching him. Three pairs of footsteps broke the silence, and he turned to see Hawks with two people who looked familiar to him. One was a woman with purple hair and piercings, while the other was a redhead. The woman spoke first, "It really is him, Nagato..."
Farther away in the open ruins of what used to be a Paranormal Liberation Front hideout, Sasuke slammed AFO through the portal and toward the ground, but AFO threw him off and Sasuke manifested wings to recover. They stared at each other and AFO laughed hysterically, "Sasuke! Did you really foolishly convince the others to let you fight me alone? You wanted a repeat of last time this badly?" AFO's wound healed.
Adrenaline pumped through Sasuke's veins while his red and purple eyes flared with deadly focus. "I'm not making the same mistakes twice, I wasn't even using everything I had back then... But this time around, I'm not holding anything back; you're not making it out of here alive."
AFO continued to laugh and tilted his head, "Ah that's right, I've heard you've done a bit of quirk collecting of your own. I'm proud of you, in all honesty, for following in my footsteps... It brings a tear to my non-existent eyes... But are you really arrogant enough to think that will be enough to defeat me?"
"It's not arrogance; it's a certainty," purple energy flared around Sasuke with such density that it blew the trees beneath them, "All those quirks you stole, lives you played with, and people you killed... You're still here laughing like you'll always get away with it. Do you really think you're immune to consequences?"
"Consequences? I've been planning my takeover since before your grandparents were even a thought. What could a child like you bring that I haven't dealt with before?"
Sasuke smiled and a tear drop of blood fell from his eye as a black flame coated his blade. "Before I kill you, I'll make sure to beat it into you that things are different this time, no one's gonna die like my parents did anymore because of you. What's that thing you told Midoriya once? Oh yeah..." He pointed his sword at him, "Now it's your turn."
Outside of the country, AFO's army continued to make their move causing trouble in different countries. In China, the Zhongnanhai was a bloodbath as five individuals tore through it and killed the members of the leading party. The fat one among the members dropped a body, "That wasn't so tough. And the heroes guarding were pathetic. Kidomaru, how many did you get? I got five."
A dark red man with six arms stretched out, "About six. How about you, Sakon?"
A man with a head behind his head looked toward him, "Four."
A redhead girl crossed her arms, "It's not a competition. Let's just get out of here before more heroes arrive."
"Agreed," a white-haired man strolled toward them with what looked like his bloody bone protruding out of his wrist. However, before any of them could continue, the wall next to them exploded as two men in green spandex entered the scene.
"Dynamic Entry!"
The two got into a battle stance, glaring at the villains, and Gai grimaced when he noticed their dead leader, "Looks like we're too late... The least we can do is avenge them."
Lee nodded, "Right!"
In the German Chancellery, Tsunade and Sakura ran through the hallways lathered with the blood of agents, staff, and heroes alike. Sakura asked, "What's going on?!"
Tsunade replied, "I don't know! Someone related to AFO is probably trying to assassinate the leaders! Just focus on trying to save who you can!"
"I can feel two people's energy in the meeting room!"
"Let's go there then!" The two ran at top speed through the halls and spotted the entrance to the meeting room. The doors were torn off the hinges, making the metal stick out like broken bones. When they finally entered the room, they both gasped as their eyes became dinner plates, "We're too late..."
Around the round table, the bodies of each EU leader decorated the wood with their blood and entrails as only Kisame stood above them with rain pouring down on him through a hole in the roof. In one of his hands, he held the dead German leader in his hand and Sakura said, "Soros!"
Kisame turned to them, completely drenched in blood, and smiled, showing off his teeth, "Looks like I've been caught red-handed. Word of advice for you two, run. It's not so easy to beat me when it rains."
In America, Naruto and Minato walked through the hallways together while the moon shone through the windows. Naruto asked, "When are you leaving?"
"As soon as Hawks sends me a text."
"Are you sure I can't come?"
"No... You should stay here."
Naruto pouted, "Aw c'mon! Sasuke and the rest of them are risking their lives out there, it doesn't feel right to sit back and wait!"
"I agree with you, but someone's gotta help protect your mother, Naruto. I'm..."
Minato stopped walking and looked around with narrowed eyes. Naruto perked up, "Huh? Something wrong?"
Minato replied, "Naruto, do you remember the last time we saw anyone else?"
Naruto scratched his head, "Uh... no? Why? They're probably asleep."
Minato shook his head and gripped his kunai, "No... There would still be agents walking around at all times..." He looked up, "I need to check on the President. Something's not right!'
He teleported to the Oval Office and saw the masked man Obito holding President Harrison for moments before sucking him into some kind of distortion in space. Minato yelled, "Mr. President!"
Obito slowly turned to him, "Looks like I've been caught, but the fastest man alive is still too late."
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Entering the last arc. The story is probably around 10 chapters from ending now. Also I should be posting a chapter every Saturday or sunday until the story ends(although if I finish all the chapters I'll post them a little faster)
Just as a heads up for these final war fights, they aren't gonna be light-hearted at all they can get pretty brutal and deadly. But they'll still be entertaining.