The moment Naruto appeared, Hiruzen Sarutobi noticed the sudden gathering of gazes around him and immediately realized what they wanted to do. He then shouted:
"Absolutely not!"
He had promised Minato that he would take good care of Naruto.
Moreover, Naruto is still so young. Even Kushina spent so much time training to master the Nine-Tails' power. If something were to happen to him, how would he face Minato and his wife after he died?
Hiruzen Sarutobi knew that he was a power-wielding creature who was persistently indecisive and intermittently abused his power, and that he had not kept the promises he had made to many people. Naruto's life was not very good either.
However, this does not mean that he was a coward who was so afraid of death that he would have to sacrifice a child to save his own life.
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At least, he did not lack the courage to die like Danzo.
At this moment, his gaze was blood-red as he looked at those around him, exuding an imposing aura, like a maddened dwarf monkey, making people dare not look him in the eye.
However, compared to the life of a child, or even the life of a Jinchūriki child who has already been sacrificed, the formidable enemy before them is far more terrifying.
The power displayed by the man opposite them had made them truly realize the gap between themselves and their enemy.
The mask on Sarutobi Shinnosuke's face was half shattered in the battle, revealing half of his anxious face. His voice was urgent: "Father! There's no time to think about it!"
In his haste, he didn't even care about his job title.
"Yes, Lord Third Generation!"
Uchiha Shisui was also extremely anxious.
His loyalty was never to any particular person or clan; even Hiruzen Sarutobi never received his absolute loyalty.
He was the one among everyone present who had the purest loyalty to Konoha.
But it is precisely because of this that he and Hiruzen Sarutobi became adversaries under such circumstances.
What Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, what Fourth Hokage's orphan, could they possibly be more important than the entire Hidden Leaf Village?
Blood was still flowing uncontrollably from the edges of Uchiha Shisui's bloodshot eyes, and half of his vision was so blurred that he could barely see.
Despite this, he still forced himself to shout loudly, his voice urgent: "Third Hokage! I can control the Nine-Tails!"
"Please let me try!"
"We...have no other choice!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi's face was stern, and his gaze toward the white-haired young man in the distance grew increasingly heavy.
"Danzo is dead. I have no intention of arguing with you about the rights and wrongs of the past."
"Now that I am still alive, it is not the time for young people to sacrifice themselves."
He slowly straightened up and looked at the lava giant opposite him. The short figure seemed to exude an unprecedented sense of high spirits.
It felt like I was back on the battlefield of my youth.
Jiraiya's gaze towards him was also unusually complex.
Among everyone present, perhaps no one faced a more difficult choice than his elderly teacher and the only orphan left behind by his disciple.
At this moment, seeing the teacher make a choice, Jiraiya couldn't help but turn his head away and choose to remain silent.
Just then, a cold voice suddenly came from behind:
"snort."
"You old monkey do have some backbone, though."
"..."
"?"
Upon hearing that voice, everyone present was startled and instinctively turned their heads in the direction from which the voice came.
Then, a short-haired man with one eye stood there, looking quite composed.
It was Shimura Danzo.
Moreover, compared to the beginning of the battle, he now looked even cleaner, as if he hadn't experienced that fierce battle at all.
However, the look he gave Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shisui Uchiha was inexplicably tinged with gloom and even a chilling killing intent.
Upon seeing him, Hiruzen Sarutobi was momentarily stunned, then exclaimed in surprise:
"Danzo?!"
Only Uchiha Shisui seemed to realize something, and he suddenly looked down at his arm, which was now wrapped in bandages again, and gritted his teeth.
"Izanagi..."
"He's even mastered this kind of secret technique?"
As Uchiha Shisui looked at him, Shimura Danzo also met his gaze, and the chilling aura around him intensified.
I remember now.
I remember everything.
Once activated, Izanagi can physically restore the caster to the recorded state regardless of any damage or even death the caster suffers.
Furthermore, they only choose to realize things that are beneficial to themselves.
Clearly, the part of his mind imprinted by Kotoamatsukami that was hypnotized was not included in the scope of 'beneficial to him'.
After that brief moment of death, being reborn from the ground brought a flood of memories into my mind.
The most memorable scene was when this evil brat from the Uchiha clan planted a mark on him.
Thinking about his own muddled state these past few days, and how this brat had been able to do whatever he wanted with him, Shimura Danzo felt an uncontrollable rage.
However, the current situation clearly does not allow him to vent his emotions at will.
He merely glanced at Uchiha Shisui, yet skillfully controlled his emotions, and said to Sarutobi Hiruzen:
"Since this guy is confident, let him do it!"
"Jinchūriki are born to be weapons of Konoha. If we don't use them now, are we going to wait until Konoha is destroyed before we use them?!"
"Hiruzen, you're so foolish!"
"this--"
Upon seeing Shimura Danzo 'come back to life', Hiruzen Sarutobi was momentarily stunned, caught off guard by Danzo's preemptive strike, and didn't know how to refute him.
In that brief pause, Uchiha Shisui had already rushed out and grabbed the equally bewildered Uzumaki Naruto.
Before he could even struggle, that scarlet Mangekyou Sharingan had already met his azure eyes.
"Buzz!"
In an instant, a familiar feeling of dizziness suddenly entered the still-sleeping Nine-Tailed Fox's mind.
The moment I opened my eyes, I saw those familiar eyes, and immediately let out a furious roar:
"Uchiha!"
"You bunch of bastards—!"
Before it could finish its tirade, the layers upon layers of seals were torn apart by Shimura Danzo, who was right behind it.
The double seal set up by Minato Namikaze was not intended to protect the village's own people.
In an instant, surging, intense chakra, burning like flames, burst forth continuously from the boy's young body, the scorching chakra corroding his skin and muscles like sulfuric acid.
The intense pain caused Naruto, who was gradually losing consciousness, to involuntarily let out a series of howls like a wild beast.
"roar--!!!"
In just a few seconds, Naruto's body suddenly swelled and expanded, transforming into a deformed state of connected muscles and joints, growing rapidly in size.
At this moment, Uchiha Shisui disregarded everything else, unleashing his already limited eye power to its fullest extent, continuously draping a layer of illusory armor over the body of the giant beast beneath his feet.
It looks blurry and fragile.
Seeing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi clenched his fists.
Danzo Shimura, on the other hand, had a sinister smile.
Regardless of whether this evil Uchiha brat wins or loses this time, given Hiruzen's personality, he's doomed.
"It's barely enough."
On the Hokage Rock, Aizen, who was watching this scene from afar, nodded slightly.
Whether it was guiding Naruto Uzumaki to such a coincidental location, or Danzo Shimura's technique being dispelled, it was all within his expectations.
The final test for the experimental subject requires a qualified subject.
After resolving the Hyuga issue, Hiruzen Sarutobi will need further checks and balances, and even gradually stripping him of his power.
Since such a grand show has been designed, it is natural that both are necessary.
With a slight thought, the increasingly heavy pressure on his soul seeped out of his body and was transmitted directly to his clone.
However, the slight residual pressure emitted during this transmission process made the two people behind them feel somewhat oppressed, and even their breathing became slightly difficult.
Kabuto Yakushi's eyes, however, were filled with increasing excitement as he looked at Aizen.
What kind of power is this man still hiding?
Just as everyone was lost in thought.
The Susanoo Nine-Tails, located in front of the Hokage Building, has already begun to advance under the full control of Uchiha Shisui.
Its bony limbs pounded the earth, leaping forward as if launching an unstoppable charge towards the figure standing atop the lava giant.
The Otsutsuki clone, maintaining a hand seal, merely stared coldly at the armored beast before him, a slight upturn at the corner of his lips.
In an instant, the lava giant beneath their feet suddenly rose higher with the influx of chakra, its heavy steps advancing forward, seemingly slow but actually fast, treading on the earth and producing a rumbling, earth-shaking sound.
"boom--!!"
The two savage behemoths clashed fiercely, and a sweeping storm engulfed the surrounding area.
The aftershocks lingered.