The Third Hokage couldn't stop Hanabi in time.
In truth, the moment he'd seen the First and Second Hokage, the Third had slipped into a daze.
Their faces—it was as if he'd been pulled back fifty years, to his boyhood.
It was the kind of scene that should have left the audience wistful and sentimental, but the danmaku was flooding with something else entirely.
[Beautiful! Beautiful! Beautiful!]
[Ero! Ero! Ero!]
[My wifey without the blindfold is seriously gorgeous!]
[Better-looking than photoshop]
[Shame her eyes are closed though]
[Today, we are ALL Miya Kiryu. Let us cry out together: Beautiful! Beautiful! Beautiful!]
The Third Hokage's reunion with his predecessors was emotional, sure, but without any backstory of his past to build on, it was hard for the audience to empathize. Everyone was far more interested in what was happening on Hanabi's end.
Amid the spreading cold, the Third Hokage snapped out of his reverie.
Hanabi stood with her eyes closed. Behind her floated a humanoid figure made of ice crystal.
"Hmph. That's all you've got."
The ice construct did contain fearsome Chakra, but its actual combat power wasn't that impressive. It couldn't even pass for a bluff.
"That girl has been spouting nonsense this whole time, but she did get one thing right." Orochimaru looked toward the Third Hokage. "You know it, don't you? The joy and sense of accomplishment that comes from hurting the person you once called teacher. I prepared this tableau specifically so you could experience that same joy."
"Zannen. Third Hokage-sama is on break right now. And besides, an Edo Tensei this crude isn't all that strong."
Hanabi rose to her feet.
And as she did, the ice construct behind her began to dissolve, its substance flowing toward her and merging into her body.
"Hehehehe, hehehehehe."
Orochimaru was ready to teach this loud-mouthed brat a lesson with cold, hard facts.
Hashirama and Tobirama closed in from both flanks, ready to put her in her place.
Hanabi simply raised her hand.
"Ancient Mirror Illuminating the Gods."
In an instant, the entire space enclosed by the Four Violet Flames Formation was engulfed in falling ice and snow.
[Grass (a type of exclamation), it's Kushina Yuki's move]
[If you haven't watched the OVA, go catch up NOW!]
[Looks like this time it's the real deal]
[Orochimaru doesn't even know what he's about to face]
[Hard to say though—didn't Kushina and Kushina Yuki fight to a draw? And Kushina fought Orochimaru to a draw too. So at most Hanabi can match Orochimaru, right?]
[I think there's a shot, but that move burns your lifespan…]
"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough."
Orochimaru tried to blow the blizzard away with Wind Style.
But his technique was smothered by the ice and snow instead.
"Ice Style?! How is that possible! A Hyuga clan ninja who can use Ice Style?!" The ANBU were stupefied.
"Could it be the power of whatever she summoned just now?"
"That's incredible—she's only a Genin, but she can suppress Orochimaru?"
"You haven't seen anything yet," Hikari said with a look of pure disdain. "And those two puppets probably don't even have half their original strength. They're too clunky. I could take them myself."
"Don't talk big," one of the ANBU couldn't help retorting.
[Hikari: I really could though]
[Lmao big talk 233]
[233]
[What does 233 even mean, you guys keep posting it]
[It's a pouty-smile emoji]
[What? Isn't it the Mop forum emote #233, the grinning face?]
[Whatever the case, let us first pay our respects with a 233]
[The ANBU everywhere else are all mysterious and cool, so why are these ones doing comedy bits like a crosstalk double act?]
[Can't help it—no one else can get inside the Four Violet Flames Formation]
[Didn't you hear Hanabi? Better that they CAN'T get in. Anyone who does is just another body for the pile]
"Wood Style: Nativity of a World of Trees!"
Trees erupted from the ground—more and more of them spreading across every surface until the entire rooftop threatened to become a forest.
The blizzard, obstructed by the canopy, was finally weakened considerably.
"So this is the First Hokage-sama's secret technique—the one that built Konoha itself…"
"So powerful! Truly worthy of the First Hokage-sama!"
"Hey, hey, HEY—you're cheering for the enemy! What is wrong with you people?!" Hikari was not amused.
—How dare they praise Hanabi's opponent?!
But Hanabi, inside the barrier, wasn't bothered.
"Hanabi, leave this to me." The Third Hokage had shaken off his stupor.
"Third Hokage-sama, please step back… otherwise, I'm afraid I'll hurt you."
Hanabi spoke again.
"Hehehehe. Parlor tricks." Orochimaru had had enough of this insufferable brat.
"No—because I'm genuinely worried I might hurt Third Hokage-sama. I said it before: Konoha—not a single person will die."
Rousing music swelled.
BGM: Hyuga Hanabi.
A BGM named after Hanabi herself.
The execution-theme BGM she'd posted a bounty for a while back had finally been completed, after the Stage had repeatedly upped the commission fee. A professional musician had taken the job.
Not one of the well-known anime bands, but this musician named Sawano had an incredible knack for hype tracks.
The piece had gone through revision after revision to match both Road to Ninja's aesthetic and Hanabi's personal style, and it had only gone live recently.
Now was the time to use it.
—Resonate with me, Jingliu-sensei.
Her black hair turned snow-white in an instant—white as the frozen world itself.
Then Hanabi opened her eyes.
Blood-red eyes.
(That's right—it's the previous cover image)
[White hair, red eyes—ahh, I've been healed!]
[I'm dead!]
[Awei is dead! Awei is dead!]
[Guhehe, guhehe! White hair, red eyes! My wifey is white-hair-red-eyes! I need to tell the whole world this hopeful news!]
[So Hanabi DOES have eyesight!]
[Those aren't normal eyes though—could they be Shinigami Eyes?]
[Look closely—the irises have no pupils. It's more like red Byakugan]
[I don't care, I don't care, this IS white-hair-red-eyes]
[What are you standing around for?! Pause and screenshot, NOW!]
Hanabi tossed Close-Up Shot Cards like they were free, and the audience's reaction was equally explosive.
The moment Hanabi opened her eyes, her follower count shattered the hundred-thousand mark.
This time, the ANBU outside didn't make a sound.
They'd all been lulled into a trance by a Genjutsu.
The camera cut to Hikari, who was watching Hanabi with a smile, her Sharingan fixed and unblinking.
And then—Hashirama and Tobirama arrived in front of Hanabi, attacking from both sides.
"Revolving Heaven."
A sphere of freezing Chakra blasted both of them away.
But mid-flight, thin steel wires had somehow wound around their legs. Halfway through their arc, the tension snapped them back toward Hanabi.
"Hanabi Style: Eight Trigrams — God Vacuum Strike!"
The Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack was the Ōtsutsuki-tier version of the Hyuga clan's Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm. Similar form, different magnitude. Hanabi couldn't replicate Kekkei Mōra, but she had refined the Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm—rather than eighty simultaneous fists, all she needed was one. That was the God Vacuum Strike.
Hashirama and Tobirama were sent flying again.
They might be the First and Second Hokage, but at this level, the Edo Tensei was far too crude—they were worlds apart from the real thing. Meanwhile, Hanabi's resonance with Jingliu had temporarily granted her a massive power boost.
This was cheating, plain and simple.
But hey—smashing the First and Second Hokage? That felt amazing.