Orochimaru immediately used the Reanimation Jutsu, and in front of him, two coffins began to rise from the ground. The earth cracked apart with a low rumble as the wooden coffins slowly emerged.
Seeing these two coffins rise, Hiruzen, who have also arrived here with Danzo and many other Anbu ninjas, immediately understood what this was. Without hesitation, he shouted towards Renji, "Stop him from using that technique, or it will be very bad! He is using the Reanimation Jutsu, the forbidden technique that reanimates dead ninjas!"
Minato, who has also seen the description of this technique during his time as Hokage, immediately understood what Orochimaru was doing. His expression became serious, but it was already too late. The two coffins had already fully risen from the ground.
Orochimaru stood behind those coffins with a cold smile on his face and said, "Now you are too late."
As soon as Orochimaru said this, the lids of both coffins slowly started sliding away. The sound of wood scraping against wood echoed throughout the battlefield, making the atmosphere even heavier.
As for Renji, he calmly watched the rising coffins without the slightest bit of panic. His eyes remained steady, and his expression did not change at all because he did not feel even an ounce of threat from the people inside those coffins.
They are strong... but not enough to make me worry.
Soon, both coffin lids completely slid off and fell heavily onto the ground with loud thuds, sending small clouds of dust into the air.
From inside the coffins walked out two men.
One had long black hair and wore red armor, while the other had white hair, a stern expression, and blue armor. Even though they had the appearance of the dead, the aura around them was still imposing.
As soon as Hiruzen saw these two men, his eyes widened, and he immediately said in disbelief, "First Hokage... Second Hokage..."
Minato also looked towards them with a serious expression and said, "Lord First, Lord Second..."
The same was the case for Danzo and the other Anbu ninjas who were still awake. Shock and disbelief appeared on all of their faces.
Most of the people of Konoha were still unconscious due to Shanks' Conqueror's Haki, but the few who remained awake all stared at the two legendary figures standing before them.
After all, these were not ordinary ninjas.
These were the founders of Konoha themselves.
When they saw the First and Second Hokage, everyone around the location where Renji and Orochimaru were fighting was definitely shocked.
Hashirama and Tobirama both looked towards their opponent, Renji.
Hashirama observed him for a moment before saying, "Someone from the Uzumaki Clan. It seems that we were summoned by someone to fight against you."
Tobirama then turned towards Sarutobi Hiruzen and asked, "Saru, what is going on? What has happened, and why were we summoned here like this? That too to fight against an Uzumaki?"
Orochimaru, who was standing behind the coffins with a faint smile on his face, said, "I have summoned you. For now, you only need to know this—Uzumaki and Konoha are no longer allies, and their relationship is not very good right now."
As soon as Hashirama heard this, he frowned slightly. There was visible disbelief in his eyes.
The same was the case for Tobirama.
If Tobirama had heard that it was someone from the Uchiha Clan whose relations with Konoha were not good, he would have thought, I knew it. I absolutely knew it.
But he would have never expected to hear that Konoha and the Uzumaki Clan had become enemies.
For a brief moment, both of them became silent.
The atmosphere around the battlefield became even stranger. Broken rocks, cracked ground. Dust still floated in the air from the appearance of the coffins, and the cold wind made the robes of everyone present flutter slightly.
Just at this time, amidst all of this rambling, a calm but authoritative voice came from above.
"Renji, finish this battle as soon as possible."
The voice was calm, but it carried immense pressure.
"You are taking too long. Go all out and don't waste your time."
Antares was clearly telling Renji to stop holding back, directly use Bankai, destroy Orochimaru, and finish everything quickly instead of wasting more time.
As soon as this authoritative voice echoed through the battlefield, both Hashirama and Tobirama immediately turned towards the sky.
There, floating high above everyone, was Antares.
His expression was calm as he looked down at everyone below him as if he was merely watching something insignificant. His robes moved slightly in the wind, and his presence alone made the atmosphere feel heavier.
Even Hashirama and Tobirama narrowed their eyes slightly when they looked at him.
Because from Antares, they could both sense danger.
As soon as their eyes fell on Antares, both Hashirama and Tobirama felt a jolt in their hearts.
With their sensory abilities, they could immediately tell just how terrifying he was.
For Renji, who was currently only in his Shikai state, they could say that if they were at their full strength in their prime, then defeating him would not be impossible. They would definitely face difficulties while fighting Renji, and it would not be an easy battle by any means, but they still had confidence that they could eventually win.
But Antares was completely different.
Even at their peak, neither of them could hope or even imagine defeating him.
The man floating calmly in the sky gave off a completely different feeling compared to Renji. He was not releasing his chakra wildly, nor was he showing any aggressive killing intent. He was simply standing there in the sky calmly, looking down at everyone below him.
Yet just his mere presence was enough to place invisible pressure on both Hashirama and Tobirama.
It was the kind of pressure that made even legends like them instinctively become cautious.
Neither of them felt confident that they could deal with Antares alone.
Maybe if both of them combined their strength and fought together, then there could be a chance.
But in a one-versus-one battle?
Neither Hashirama nor Tobirama had any confidence at all.
This person... he is on an entirely different level, Tobirama thought as his eyes narrowed slightly.
And the biggest thing was that Antares also seemed to be from the Uzumaki Clan.
If what the person who had summoned them, Orochimaru, was saying was true, then Konoha no longer had good relations with people like Renji and Antares.
That thought alone made both Hashirama and Tobirama frown.
Orochimaru, as if he had read their thoughts, looked towards both of them and mockingly said, "You should give credit for breaking the ties between Uzumaki and Konoha to your favorite students, right, Sarutobi-sensei?"
As soon as Hashirama and Tobirama heard this, both of them simultaneously looked towards Sarutobi.
Their expressions became even more confused.
The person calling Sarutobi "sensei" was clearly Orochimaru, yet there was not even the slightest respect in Orochimaru's tone when he spoke. On the contrary, his attitude towards both Konoha and Sarutobi seemed openly hostile.
This only made the situation even more confusing for Hashirama and Tobirama.
Their eyes moved between Orochimaru, Hiruzen, Renji, and Antares.
What exactly had happened after their deaths?
And more importantly...
What had Hiruzen and the others done to make the Uzumaki Clan become enemies of Konoha?
Sarutobi and Danzo both did not dare to look directly into Hashirama's and Tobirama's eyes.
The expressions on the faces of the First and Second Hokage had already become extremely serious, and neither Hiruzen nor Danzo had the courage to answer them properly.
As if to provoke them even more, Orochimaru added from behind with a mocking smile, "And to be honest, the person floating in the sky, Antares Uzumaki, also known as the Dragon Emperor, is not even the strongest in the Uzumaki Clan. He is only the third strongest."
Orochimaru's smile widened slightly as he continued, "The strongest is the Uzumaki Clan Head, Shanks Uzumaki, also known as Red Haired Emperor, and the second strongest is Guy Uzumaki, also known as the Demon Emperor."
As soon as Hashirama and Tobirama heard this, it felt like they were receiving one critical strike after another directly to their hearts.
Just Antares alone was already enough to make both of them feel immense pressure.
If he was only the third strongest...
Then how powerful would the other two be?
For the first time in a very long time, both Hashirama and Tobirama found themselves unable to even imagine the upper limit of someone's strength.
Tch... what kind of monsters has the Uzumaki Clan become? Tobirama thought grimly.
At this moment, Antares gave a soft "Tch."
His expression remained calm, but there was a trace of annoyance in his eyes after listening to Orochimaru continue his blabbering.
Seeing this, Orochimaru's expression stiffened for a split second.
Even though Antares clearly disdained making a move against him right now, Orochimaru still understood one thing very clearly.
If he annoyed Antares too much, then Antares might simply kill him like he was crushing an insect.
That would not only be humiliating, but it would also completely ruin everything Orochimaru was planning.
So Orochimaru immediately said, "Enough of the chit-chat."
As soon as he said this, he quickly formed a hand seal.
Because Orochimaru's Reanimation Jutsu was far superior compared to before, Hashirama and Tobirama already had control methods implanted inside them. Although it was not yet completely perfect, it was more than enough for Orochimaru to suppress their consciousness.
The moment Orochimaru completed the hand seal, both Hashirama and Tobirama suddenly froze.
Almost immediately, the luster in their eyes disappeared.
Their expressions became blank, like puppets whose strings were now completely controlled by someone else.
The atmosphere instantly turned colder.
Without saying another word, both Hashirama and Tobirama moved at the same time to attack Renji.
Renji, however, remained completely calm.
He looked towards Antares in the sky and said, "Don't worry, Onii-san. I know what I am doing."
A faint smile appeared on Renji's face.
"I won't need my Bankai."
His grip on his sword tightened slightly.
"My Shikai is more than enough."
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