Outside the Hokage Building, the air was thick with tension.
When Orochimaru arrived, he saw Danzo and Hiruzen Sarutobi locked in a tense confrontation. A bleeding wound marred Hiruzen's lower back, and he leaned heavily on the staff transformed from Enma, his breath coming in ragged pants.
"Danzo! Have you gone mad?" Hiruzen's voice was a strained growl.
"Hmph, Hiruzen, you're too weak. The position of Hokage should have rightfully been mine!" Danzo's gloomy old face was already contorted with madness. Having come this far with his plan, he had no way of turning back.
He had been an advisor for over thirty years, from his prime to his withered old age. He could no longer continue to wait in the shadows.
How could Konoha have a fifty-year advisor? The Second Hokage should have passed the position to me back then!
"Danzo... hehe... didn't you say you wouldn't act personally?"
At this moment, Orochimaru's sinister voice slithered through the air, drawing the attention of both men.
Hearing this, Hiruzen's eyes flashed with disbelief, then understanding, and finally, pure rage.
"Orochimaru! It was you... Danzo, you've been colluding with him all along!"
"Hehehehe, my dear teacher, there are many things you don't know."
As he spoke, Orochimaru insidiously used Hidden Shadow Snake Hands, with countless venomous snakes opening their fanged mouths to strike at Hiruzen.
Due to Naruto's sudden actions, all their previous plans had been thrown into disarray. The four Sound ninja who were supposed to arrive and cast the Four Violet Flames Formation were nowhere to be found. After receiving news from the Forest of Death, Danzo had immediately dispatched subordinates to forge orders, luring the jonin away. To avoid interference, he also had other operatives release the Temple of Nirvana Technique throughout the village, sending most of its civilians into a deep, hypnotic sleep.
Although the plan had deviated, they had still reached this critical point.
But after that, no matter how long he waited, Orochimaru never came to deal with Hiruzen as they had arranged. Not only that, even the subordinates he had sent out never returned to report. The urgency in his heart combined with a guilty conscience led him to make a very unwise move.
He emerged from the shadows and ambushed Hiruzen himself.
Originally, he only needed to wait quietly for Orochimaru to kill Hiruzen, secretly assisting from the shadows, and then emerge to seize power when the Hokage position was vacant. But now that he had already acted, it could only be a fight to the death.
Danzo's single eye stared intensely at Hiruzen, his killing intent raw and unconcealed. In this situation, as long as Hiruzen remained alive, he could forget about staying in Konoha, let alone becoming Hokage.
"Wind Release: Vacuum Serial Waves!"
Taking advantage of Orochimaru's surprise attack, Danzo simultaneously used his specialty wind release jutsu. In an instant, Hiruzen's body was entangled by venomous snakes, then relentlessly sliced by invisible wind blades.
But the wound's cross-section didn't bleed.
Earth Release: Earth Substitution.
"Earth Release: Earth Flow River!"
When the Third Hokage's figure reappeared, he had already flashed to the side. At the same time, he formed hand seals, instantly turning the ground beneath Orochimaru and Danzo into a churning river of mud.
Both men lost their footing, and in that same moment, another Third Hokage appeared behind them.
"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!"
A torrent of scorching flames immediately hit both Orochimaru and Danzo.
As a rogue ninja who lived every moment in schemes and conspiracies, Orochimaru's combat experience far exceeded that of Danzo, who had spent years giving orders from the safety of Root headquarters. The Fire Dragon Flame Bullet only struck an earth substitution that Orochimaru had created, a perfect copy of Hiruzen's technique.
As for Danzo, whether because he was too old to react or had been out of real combat too long and lost his touch, he took the full force of the jutsu head-on.
Flames instantly enveloped him, and the high temperature warped the air.
Farewell, old friend.
Hiruzen had just silently bid farewell to Danzo in his heart when, in the next second, a scene that completely shattered his composure appeared.
The flames burned away Danzo's clothes, but when they dispersed, Danzo stood there, completely unharmed.
But that wasn't the focal point.
"Danzo... what have you done!"
Hiruzen stared in horror at Danzo's exposed pale arm, which was grotesquely embedded with ten Sharingan eyes.
Next, words from Orochimaru, who had reappeared from another position, made Hiruzen's eyes burn with an inferno of rage.
"Oh? It seems the Hashirama cells are working quite well in your body."
"What are you saying?!"
At this point, Danzo also spoke, his voice dripping with condescension.
"You've really become senile, Hiruzen."
"Don't you understand? I've already integrated the First Hokage's power into my body, along with the Uchiha clan's power."
"Do you see! I am far stronger than you! The Hokage position should have been mine!"
Since everything was revealed, Danzo stopped pretending.
"Bastard!"
Hiruzen had long suspected that Danzo was hiding things from him, but he never imagined it would be this monstrous. His hatred maxed out instantly. He even ignored Orochimaru, directly wielding the staff transformed from Enma and bringing it down heavily on Danzo's head.
But the staff that could split mountains and crack stone didn't even make Danzo flinch when it struck him.
"Wind Release Shuriken!"
Danzo produced a standard shuriken, blew a stream of air onto it from his mouth, and infused it with his chakra. The shuriken began to spin at his fingertips, an invisible wind blade forming around its perimeter, rapidly cutting everything nearby.
The amplified shuriken shot out. Hiruzen couldn't dodge in time and could only use Enma to block it. Fortunately, Enma was tough enough, successfully deflecting it upon contact.
"Don't forget about me, teacher."
At this moment, Orochimaru, unwilling to remain on the sidelines, launched another attack. This time, what he used didn't seem to be an offensive jutsu. After forming several seals, two coffins inscribed with the numbers "1" and "2" rose from the ground.
"Summoning: Reanimation Jutsu."
Under Hiruzen's horrified gaze, Orochimaru performed the early version of the forbidden technique. Two figures Hiruzen knew all too well emerged from the coffins.
They were the First and Second Hokage.
"Orochimaru!"
Hiruzen roared and tried to stop Orochimaru from continuing to desecrate the former Hokage. But Danzo clung to him like a vengeful spirit.
"Do you still have time to look around? Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere!"
Danzo spat out a transparent ball of compressed air, instantly piercing through Hiruzen's shoulder, creating another penetrating wound to match the one on his waist.
It could only be said that Orochimaru and Danzo were masters of drawing aggression. The old Hokage was being pulled back and forth between them, unable to mount a proper defense.
Hiruzen could only watch helplessly as Orochimaru inserted two kunai into the back of the First and Second Hokage's heads, seizing control of the reanimated bodies. The cracks on their summoned forms quickly disappeared, restoring them to the appearance Hiruzen remembered so well.
"It's been a long time, Monkey," the Second Hokage said, though his eyes were lifeless.
Although they spoke, the two former Hokage showed no mercy in their actions. The Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, directly formed seals and unleashed his powerful water release jutsu.
"Water Style: Water Severing Wave!"
A high-pressure column of water, sharp as a laser, instantly shot toward Hiruzen.
At this critical moment, a voice extremely familiar to Orochimaru rang out.
"Roof Tile Shuriken!"
[Chapter Complete]
***
Want more? Check out my Patreon for:
✓ Advanced chapters of all my stories
✓ Exclusive novels & fanfics
✓ Early access content [email protected]/meowthtl
💪 Community Goal: 500 Power Stones unlocks a bonus chapter!
Thanks for reading and supporting the story!