Two bodies reanimated through Edo Tensei stepped out of their coffins.
"Long time no see, Saru."
"Hah, so it's you. You've gotten old too, Sarutobi."
Taking a deep breath, Hiruzen Sarutobi raised a hand toward his two teachers, signaling them to wait.
"Please excuse me. Could you both hold on for a moment?"
He turned his head toward Minato Namikaze, eyes wide.
"Minato, is that really you?!! And the one next to you is Obito Uchiha?!"
The Third Hokage seriously began to wonder if age had finally caught up with him.
"Orochimaru! Not only did you use Edo Tensei to revive the First Hokage-sama and the Second Hokage-sama, you even used it to summon the long-dead Minato and his student Obito?!"
Minato Namikaze looked visibly awkward. It was obvious that the Third Hokage had completely misunderstood the situation.
Obito jumped in agitation.
"Minato-sensei and I are still alive!!"
The summoned Hashirama Senju glanced sideways at his younger brother.
Tobirama studied the two standing opposite them. One was a blond young ninja whose gentle smile carried a warm presence, the other a boy who looked simple and straightforward.
"Both of them carry fluctuations of Space-Time Ninjutsu."
Orochimaru, standing behind the two Hokage, added with a sinister grin,
"Indeed. By all rights, these two should have been dead for over a decade. And unlike you, they weren't summoned through Edo Tensei."
"Is that so, Tobirama?" Hashirama asked, seeking confirmation.
Tobirama nodded.
"Edo Tensei is a technique I created. The two speaking with Saru are not reincarnated by Edo Tensei."
He then turned his gaze toward Orochimaru.
"So you're the one who used this forbidden technique to summon us. You're quite something for a young man."
Hashirama continued calmly,
"Was your goal to have us fight Saru and the young people beside him? War really does follow us wherever we go. At the very least, let that child leave the battlefield."
"Hoh. Judging by his clothes, he's a Uchiha too."
Hashirama's expression softened slightly. That easily provoked Uchiha boy reminded him of Madara when he was young.
Back then, Madara had been the same. Whenever something felt wrong or displeased him, he would shout it out just like that.
Orochimaru cut in coldly,
"Let's put an end to this meaningless chatter."
He drew out two kunai etched with cursed seals.
Minato and Obito recognized them immediately. This was the method Orochimaru used to suppress the two Hokage's wills and force them to attack Konoha.
Now that they knew his plan, how could Minato and Obito possibly allow him to continue?!
A Flying Thunder God kunai shot out, skimming straight between the two Hokage as it flew directly toward Orochimaru!
Orochimaru hadn't expected Minato Namikaze to anticipate his intentions. Assuming it was just a direct attack, he casually tilted his head and dodged.
Whoosh!
Minato Namikaze appeared behind Orochimaru with Obito Uchiha in tow. A blue sphere of chakra formed in Minato's palm. It was his own A-rank, hand-sign-less ninjutsu—the Rasengan!
As a former Konoha ninja, Orochimaru knew exactly how dangerous that technique was.
He bit his finger.
"Triple Rashōmon!"
The Rasengan slammed into the Triple Rashōmon and instantly shattered the first gate.
"Heh, your experience is still lacking, Minato Namikaze," Orochimaru sneered.
But what he never expected was—
Minato Namikaze passed straight through the Rashōmon like a ghost. In the instant Orochimaru was completely unguarded, Minato severed both of his arms and snatched the two kunai from his hands!
Orochimaru let out a shrill scream, his eyes burning with malice as he stared at Minato… and then—
At the Obito Uchiha he had completely overlooked.
Obito was quick-witted. The moment he and Minato-sensei phased through the Rashōmon, he immediately deactivated his Sharingan.
Orochimaru could sense that the young Uchiha was behind it, but he had no proof and couldn't begin to understand how it had been done.
Standing behind the Rashōmon, Tobirama Senju and Hashirama Senju had clearly seen Obito's Mangekyō Sharingan.
After their brief surprise, there was a distinct trace of admiration in their eyes.
At the rear, Hiruzen Sarutobi saw nothing, as Obito had his back to him.
Even so, Hiruzen was already overwhelmed. Shock, disbelief, astonishment—there was nothing else left for him to process.
At the four corners of the Four Violet Flames Formation, the Sound Four heard Orochimaru's agonized scream and couldn't help but be stunned.
Someone had actually managed to injure Orochimaru?!
"Orochimaru-sama?!!"
Losing control over the two Hokage was Orochimaru's greatest miscalculation.
He decisively released the Edo Tensei, sending the souls of the two Hokage back to the Pure Land. Otherwise, as a Missing-nin, he would have been forced to face the First, Second, Third, and Fourth Hokage all at once.
Four Hokage.
What chance of victory would he have had?!
But he overlooked one critical issue…
Edo Tensei itself was a technique developed by the Second Hokage.
For Orochimaru to do this was no different from flaunting his skills in front of the original creator. With just a few hand seals, Tobirama Senju unraveled Orochimaru's Edo Tensei and rewrote the situation, turning it into a summoning that brought back himself and his elder brother instead.
He curled his lips into a smile as he looked at the young man who had summoned them.
"Your decision was decisive, but I had already anticipated your intentions."
Orochimaru returned the remark with a stiff, insincere smile.
"As expected of the Second Hokage-sama I admire the most. To think of summoning yourself… should I call that fearlessness, or fear of death?"
Hashirama Senju frowned and responded without hesitation.
"Wood Release: Nativity of a World of Trees!"
Roots burst forth from the roof tiles, rapidly transforming into towering trees. In the blink of an eye, the area was completely overtaken by the First Hokage's Wood Release, turning into a dense forest that blocked out all light. Orochimaru himself was tightly bound by the Wood Release, which moved as if it possessed a will of its own.
Witnessing the First Hokage's Wood Release, Obito Uchiha felt a deep shock. Compared to his own Wood Release, the First Hokage's original version was overwhelmingly stronger.
"Orochimaru-sama!"
Jirōbō hesitated, unsure whether he should step in.
Sakon and Ukon quickly warned him,
"Don't lose your composure! As long as we stay inside the Four Violet Flames Formation, they can't do anything to us!"
"Wood Release: Cutting Technique!"
Obito Uchiha launched four wooden spikes forward.
Because they were nothing more than four small, bare wooden rods, the Sound Four dismissed them entirely. Tayuya even mocked him for being an inexperienced brat.
However, Tobirama Senju and Hashirama Senju had just seen the Mangekyō Sharingan in this Uchiha boy's eyes. They knew it couldn't possibly be that simple. On top of that, he was using Wood Release.
A Uchiha using Wood Release?!
The mocking smiles on Jirōbō, Kidōmaru, Tayuya, and Sakon and Ukon's faces froze as they watched those small wooden rods fly toward them—
The expected collision with the Four Violet Flames Formation never happened.
The rods moved forward as if they felt no resistance from the barrier at all.
Time seemed to slow. Though their perception registered the movement as sluggish, their bodies couldn't react in time. They could only watch as the rods passed inch by inch through the barrier, closing in on them, before stabbing into parts of their bodies that narrowly missed vital areas.
Orochimaru's snake-like eyes widened.
Even while restrained by the Wood Release, he understood what had happened.
Earlier, it hadn't been Minato Namikaze using some special ability to pass through the Triple Rashōmon. It was that Uchiha. He had taken Minato Namikaze through the barrier—and then straight through the Triple Rashōmon as well.
In an instant, the image of Itachi Uchiha flashed through Orochimaru's mind. Those Mangekyō Sharingan that had fascinated him beyond measure.
And now, on this brat, he had discovered an even more desirable dōjutsu.
A Space-Time Mangekyō Sharingan?!!
The young Obito brought his index and middle fingers together, holding them upright before his chest. Then—
"Boom!"
Wood Release erupted inside the bodies of Jirōbō, Kidōmaru, Tayuya, and Sakon and Ukon.
They weren't dead, but their injuries were undeniably severe.
The Four Violet Flames Formation had been destroyed from within.
ANBU operatives swarmed in at once, swiftly restraining the four.
The sudden appearance of Minato Namikaze and Obito Uchiha completely threw Orochimaru's plans into disarray. Yet instead of growing angry, he took advantage of the chaos, stretching his neck forward and lunging straight for the back of Obito's throat.
"Don't even think about it!"
Minato flashed to Obito's side like a streak of golden light and kicked Orochimaru's head away with a single blow.
At the same time, the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, used branches grown from Wood Release to bind Orochimaru's head and neck in place.
"So this is how it ends," Orochimaru said, his voice tinged with regret.
Hashirama showed no mercy. The Wood Release tightened relentlessly, twisting Orochimaru's body and crushing it until it was grotesquely deformed.
Hiruzen Sarutobi paused, as if considering whether to intervene.
No matter how far things had gone, Orochimaru had once been his student.
Looking at Orochimaru, now gravely injured by Wood Release with all four limbs broken, Hiruzen asked him once again why he had attacked Konoha.
The answer was the same as ever. Konoha was rotten and boring, and it was time for a change in leadership.
From his words, Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senju understood clearly that he was a traitor to Konoha.
Orochimaru then revealed even more. Not only had he killed the Fourth Kazekage, but he was now capable of reanimating not just the Hokage, but also the Third and Fourth Kazekage as well.
"So you stirred conflict between Konoha and the other villages, deliberately provoking war?!"
Having obtained all the information he needed, Hashirama did not hesitate. The power of his Wood Release intensified once more.
"Water Release: Water Severing Wave!!"
Tobirama Senju brought Orochimaru's life to an abrupt end.
That said, this snake-like genius was truly someone who feared death. While no one was paying attention, a small white snake quietly slipped away. As long as he lived long enough, he believed there would always be another chance to strike back.
Hashirama looked at the aged Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"You're still serving as Hokage? You really are getting on in years. Still, it's a good thing that ninja can live this long in times of peace. Hahahaha."
His hearty laughter made the scene feel strangely unreal to everyone else.
Only Tobirama let out a quiet sigh.
Hiruzen couldn't help but reflect. The First Hokage-sama truly was still the same as ever.
Tobirama Senju turned his gaze toward Hokage Rock.
"This should already be the era of the Fourth Hokage, brother."
"It should have been," Hiruzen sighed, then looked toward Minato Namikaze. "But in my memories, Minato should have died twelve years ago during the Nine-Tails' Rampage, sacrificing himself to protect the village."
"The Nine-Tails' Rampage?!" Hashirama and Tobirama asked at once. "Then Mito must have already passed away, which allowed the Nine-Tails to break free?"