At the four corners of the Four Violet Flames Formation barrier, on the rooftop, the Sound Four, who were maintaining the barrier, looked focused, continuously channeling Chakra to completely seal off this space. For them, their position was an absolute safe zone.
Four grey afterimages appeared calmly and quickly at the outer perimeter of the four corners of the barrier.
The Karsten Squad moved without a single superfluous action. Almost simultaneously with landing, the four members took out four brutal-looking weapons from their tactical backpacks, resembling heavy industrial drilling equipment. The weapons were entirely dull metallic in color, and their front end was not a muzzle, but a circular oscillation disc, half a meter in diameter, covered in complex runes and energy conduction lines.
Naruto said, "Thank you," after seeing it.
There was no preheating glow of energy cannons, no violent roar of explosive tags.
The four members pressed the oscillation discs heavily onto the rooftop tiles beneath the Otogakure Ninja's feet and activated the switches.
"Buzz—"
A low hum, almost inaudible but enough to make one's internal organs resonate, suddenly sounded.
This was not an attack on the barrier; their target was the "foundation" maintaining the barrier.
The high-frequency oscillation waves instantly penetrated the tiles and wooden beams, and the structure of the entire rooftop was disintegrated and pulverized in an instant!
Inside the barrier, the four Otogakure Ninja, who had been as steady as a mountain, suddenly felt their feet give way. The terrifying vibration was transmitted backward along the flow of Chakra, making their brains dizzy, their stomachs churn, and a strong sense of nausea rush to their throats.
"What's going on?!" Sakon, the leader,'s face changed drastically. He could feel a violent fluctuation in his Chakra output.
The barrier wall began to flicker violently due to their shaking, as if it could collapse at any moment.
The four of them, almost instinctively, in order to stabilize the tottering barrier, subconsciously poured more Chakra frantically into their respective vertices, trying to forcefully stabilize the energy nodes.
However, this was exactly what they wanted.
Outside the barrier, Naruto's ice-blue pupils clearly reflected the drastic changes in the entire Four Violet Flames Formation's energy flow. He saw that the energy density in the four corners suddenly surged under the Otogakure Ninja's desperate infusion, becoming as deep as ink. As a cost, the energy at the top and side walls of the barrier became unprecedentedly thin, even showing visible dissipation.
He didn't even speak, just a subtle glance.
Karsten, the captain, who had been standing like a statue behind him, instantly understood the command. He abruptly raised his right arm, the metallic shell covering his armguard clicked open, and an energy spear, about a meter long and glowing with a faint blue light, slid out silently.
Karsten pulled the trigger.
There was no sound, no recoil; a hair-thin energy beam, compressed to the extreme, shot out at a speed beyond visual capture, precisely hitting the point Naruto's gaze was locked on—the structural singularity with the weakest energy at the top of the barrier.
"Crack!"
A crisp sound, like breaking glass, was clearly audible on the noisy battlefield. The seemingly indestructible purple barrier wall was precisely cut, and a regular circular opening, large enough for two people to pass side-by-side, with smooth edges, appeared in response.
Naruto was expressionless. He was the first to step into the arena that Orochimaru had envisioned only for him and Hiruzen Sarutobi. His figure was swallowed by the purple light wall.
Immediately following, the four members of the Karsten Squad put away their weapons and followed in with the same swift and silent movements. As soon as they entered the barrier, they formed a standard diamond-shaped defensive formation, firmly protecting Naruto in the center.
Inside the barrier, the tense, life-and-death atmosphere, due to the intrusion of these uninvited guests, fell into a strange stagnation.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was about to launch a desperate charge but stopped in surprise. Orochimaru's playful smile froze on his face, and his golden snake eyes showed genuine surprise.
Even the two legends summoned by Edo Tensei stopped their movements.
"Hahahahaha! Well done, Monkey!" First Hokage Senju Hashirama looked at the cleanly cut opening and burst out laughing. He clapped his hands, full of admiration, "I didn't expect Konoha's technological level to have developed to such an extent after so many years since my death? This method of breaking the barrier is truly ingenious!"
Second Hokage Senju Tobirama, standing beside him, frowned slightly. His sharp gaze swept over Naruto, then over the four soldiers behind him, whose aura was as solid as a mountain and whose equipment was unheard of. He calmly analyzed, "No, brother. I think it's not that Konoha's technological level has developed quickly, but that this brat himself is too extraordinary."
Their conversation made the atmosphere on the scene even stranger.
"Naruto! You're here!" Hiruzen Sarutobi finally recovered from his shock. He looked at the familiar yet unfamiliar figure, and the group of mysterious troops behind him, whose aura was murderous and equipment excellent. A spark of hope reignited in his eyes, which had been filled with the will to die.
His voice was excited, even with a hint of a choked sob, "I knew it, I knew it! The Fourth Hokage's 'will of fire' has been best inherited by you!"
At this moment, in his eyes, Naruto was a hero who had followed in his father's footsteps, coming to save the Village and save him, an old man.
However, Naruto merely swept his cold gaze over Hiruzen Sarutobi. There was no joy of reunion in his eyes, no respect for the Hokage, only a detached scrutiny.
"will of fire?"
The simple rhetorical question instantly froze the excitement on Hiruzen Sarutobi's face.
"Are you referring to," Naruto continued his "judgment" in his emotionless tone, "the will that forced a hero like Konoha White Fang, who had made outstanding contributions to the Village, to commit suicide, ultimately leading to a genius Ninja who should have shone brightly, to painfully wither away in endless criticism and shadow?"
"Boom!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi was struck by lightning, freezing in place, the color draining from his face at a visible speed.
Orochimaru, after a brief moment of surprise, let out a hoarse, joyful laugh. He watched this sudden debate, more exciting than the battle itself, with great interest, his snake eyes filled with the cruelty of enjoying a good show.
Naruto paid no attention to their reactions. His ice-blue pupils stared directly at the pale-faced Hiruzen Sarutobi, continuing his cold "judgment."
"Or are you referring to," his voice had no fluctuations, yet it seemed to freeze the air within the barrier, "the will of fire that tacitly allowed the cancerous growth known as 'Root' to fester in the darkest shadows of the Village, letting its leader—Danzo Shimura—conduct inhumane human experiments, brazenly seize power, even covet the Hokage position, and ignore the slaughter of civilians?"
"You..." Hiruzen Sarutobi's lips trembled, unable to utter a single word.
The so-called "will of fire," at this moment, had its glorious and magnificent facade torn off, revealing its dirty, compromised, and failed interior.
Naruto slowly raised his hand, pointing at Orochimaru, then at the two desecrated former Hokage, and finally, at the tottering Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"A betraying disciple, summoned specters, an incompetent leader."
His voice was not loud, yet it echoed clearly in everyone's ears, carrying the coldness and authority of a final judgment.
"Hiruzen Sarutobi, is this the fruit of the 'will of fire' that you spent your life protecting?"
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