On the other side, outside the Hokage Building.
When Orochimaru arrived, he saw Danzo and Hiruzen confronting each other.
On Hiruzen's lower back, a wound was bleeding profusely.
"Danzo! Have you lost your mind?"
Gripping the Adamantine Staff, which is the transformed Enma, Hiruzen panted heavily, struggling to steady his breath.
"Hmph, Hiruzen, you've grown too weak. The position of Hokage should have been mine long ago!"
Danzo's aged, gloomy face was twisted with madness. At this point in the plan, there was no turning back!
He had been an advisor for over thirty years, from youth to old age. He could wait no longer.
'Tobirama-sensei should have passed the title to me in the first place!'
"Danzo… Heh… Didn't you say you wouldn't intervene personally?"
At this time, Orochimaru's voice sounded sinisterly, drawing the attention of both men.
Hearing this, Hiruzen's eyes flashed with a hint of disbelief, followed by understanding… then fury.
"Orochimaru! So it was you… Danzo, you've been colluding with him all along?!"
"Khu khu khu… My dear sensei, there's much you don't know."
As he spoke, Orochimaru insidiously used Hidden Shadow Snake Hands, unleashing a swarm of venomous snakes that lunged at Hiruzen with gaping jaws.
Due to Naruto's sudden actions, their carefully laid plans had been thrown into chaos.
In Orochimaru's original scheme, the four Curse-Marked subordinates meant to cast the Four Violet Flames Formation had failed to arrive on time.
Meanwhile, after receiving news from the Forest of Death, Danzo had immediately dispatched his men to forge orders diverting the Jonin there.
At the same time, in order to minimize interference and eliminate witnesses, he also ordered his subordinates to cast the Temple of Nirvana Technique across the village.
At this point, nearly all the villagers had fallen under the Genjutsu.
Though things hadn't gone exactly as planned, they had still reached this critical juncture.
Yet, despite the circumstances, Danzo waited in vain for Orochimaru to arrive and deal with Hiruzen as agreed.
Not only that, even the subordinates he had sent out didn't come back to report.
Danzo couldn't bear to let this opportunity slip. If he failed now, who knew how long he'd have to wait for another chance?
How could Konoha have an advisor clinging to power for fifty years?
The urgency in his heart and the guilty conscience made him make a reckless move.
He actually stepped out of the shadows and ambushed Hiruzen himself.
Originally, he just had to wait for Orochimaru to kill Hiruzen, and then cooperate with him secretly, and finally come out to seize power when the Hokage's position was vacant.
But now that he had struck, there was no going back. It was a fight to the death.
Danzo's single eye stared at Hiruzen with undisguised killing intent.
In this situation, as long as Hiruzen lived, Danzo could never remain in Konoha… let alone become Hokage.
"Wind Release: Vacuum Serial Waves!"
Taking advantage of Orochimaru's surprise attack, Danzo also used the Wind Release Ninjutsu that he was good at.
In an instant, Hiruzen was entangled by the snakes before being sliced apart by the barrage of wind blades.
But, no blood spilled from the severed wounds.
[Earth Release: Earth Clone]
"Earth Release: Mud River!"
By the time Hiruzen reappeared, he had already repositioned himself, his hands also forming hand seals. The ground beneath Orochimaru and Danzo turned into slippery mud.
As they lost their footing, another Hiruzen emerged behind them.
"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!"
A torrent of scorching flames engulfed both Orochimaru and Danzo.
As a Missing-nin who lived and breathed schemes and treachery, Orochimaru's combat experience far surpassed that of Danzo, who had spent decades giving orders from the shadows of Root.
Therefore, the Fire Dragon Flame Bullet only hit the same type of Earth Clone that Orochimaru created by imitating Hiruzen.
As for Danzo, maybe it was because he was too old and his brain couldn't react quickly, or maybe it was because he hadn't fought for too long, or sheer incompetence, he only stood frozen in place and took the full brunt of the flame.
The flames instantly engulfed Danzo, the scorching heat spreading rapidly.
'Farewell, old friend.'
Just as Hiruzen silently bid his farewell to Danzo in his heart, the next second, a scene occurred that made him completely drop his jaw.
The fire burned away Danzo's clothes, but when the flames dissipated, his body remained completely unharmed.
But that wasn't even the most shocking part.
"Danzo… What have you done?!"
Hiruzen's eyes widened as he saw the pale arm exposed beneath Danzo's tattered sleeve, which is embedded with ten Sharingan eyes.
Then, Orochimaru's voice, emerging from another position, made Hiruzen's eyes turned bloodshot.
"Oh? It seems the Hashirama's cells have integrated well within you."
"What are you talking about?!"
At this time, Danzo sneered.
"You really have grown senile, Hiruzen."
"Don't you understand? I have integrated the power of the First Hokage into my body... as well as the power of the Uchiha Clan."
"See for yourself! I am far stronger than you! The Hokage's position should be mine!"
Now that the truth was out, Danzo didn't bother hiding anything anymore.
"You bastard!"
Hiruzen had suspected Danzo was hiding something from him, but he had never expected it was something this extreme.
Rage surged through him, and for a moment, he even forgot about Orochimaru.
Gripping the Adamantine Staff, he swung it down with all his might onto Danzo's skull.
However, after the Adamantine Staff, which is capable of splitting mountains, struck towards Danzo, he did not move at all.
"Wind Release: Vacuum Blade!"
Danzo pulled out a shuriken, exhaled sharply, and infused Chakra into it.
The shuriken spun rapidly between his fingers, its edges wrapped in an invisible blade of wind that sliced through everything around it.
The shuriken shot forward, and Hiruzen, unable to dodge in time, blocked it with Adamantine Staff. Fortunately, Enma's body was tough enough to withstand the blow and deflect it away.
"Don't forget about me, sensei."
At this time, Orochimaru, who was unwilling to stand aside on the sidelines, seized the moment to strike again.
But this time, the Ninjutsu he used didn't seem to be an offensive Ninjutsu.
After forming a series of hand seals, two coffins marked with 'One' and 'Two' were summoned.
"Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation."
Under Hiruzen's horrified gaze, Orochimaru performed the 1.0 version of the Impure World Reincarnation.
Immediately afterwards, two figures Hiruzen knew all too well stepped out of the coffins.
They are the First and Second Hokage.
"Orochimaru!"
Hiruzen roared angrily, trying to stop Orochimaru from defiling the souls of the First and Second.
But Danzo clung to him like a stubborn leech.
"Do you really have time to look away? Wind Release: Vacuum Bullets!"
Danzo spat out a compressed blast of air, which instantly pierced through Hiruzen's shoulder, leaving a wound identical to the one on his waist.
It seemed Orochimaru and Danzo were competing to see who could provoke Hiruzen more. The poor old monkey was being torn between them.
Hiruzen could only watch helplessly as Orochimaru inserted two kunai that could control the Impure World Body into the back of the heads of the First and Second Hokage.
Instantly, the cracks on their reincarnated bodies faded, restoring them to the appearance that Hiruzen was familiar with.
"Long time no see, Saru."
Despite their words, the two former Hokages showed no mercy.
The Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama, swiftly formed hand seals and unleashed a devastating Water Release: Water Severing Wave.
A high-pressure water jet, sharp as a laser, shot toward Hiruzen.
At the critical moment, a voice all too familiar to Orochimaru rang out.
"Food Cart Destroyer Technique!"