Hunger, boundless hunger. The returning memories did not cause Sarutobi Hiruzen the slightest remorse or pain, but only made him more and more hungry.
—Ha ha ha, am I not in great shape right now? This is bliss, this is happiness! Ha ha ha!
Sarutobi Hiruzen laughed, and the layered laughter seemed to come from his very monstrous body.
— Come on, ha ha ha, let's merge together, let's become one! Ha ha ha!
He immediately used powerful ninjutsu: the huge head turned into a blurred silhouette and rushed towards the ninja.
— It's bad!
Upon seeing this, the Shinobi immediately dodged and attacked Sarutobi Hiruzen without hesitation.
He did not even think to defend himself. Injuries appeared on his huge head, but in the next moment, they instantly healed. Even having turned into such a monster, the properties of Edo Tensei have not gone away.
In the end, the bodies of several ninja ended up pinned to the ground.
Scarlet blood gushed out in a fountain, splashing one of the Shinobi. He watched in horror as a monster, exactly like their Third Hokage, devoured the body of his comrade. The crunching of bones, the sounds of tearing flesh, the splashing of blood—everything indicated that there was a monster in front of him.
— No, no, wake up, Mr. Hokage! Wake up! We're the ninja from the village! Wake up! Do you remember the Will of Fire? As Hokage, how can you harm people from your village!
He howled in despair, hoping to awaken the mind of Sarutobi Hiruzen. However, the current Sarutobi…
—Haha, oh, ninja souls are so amazing, ha ha ha! Wake up? Ha ha ha, that's right, wake up! I was fully conscious the whole time! I'm following the Will of Fire right now! Let's get together with me. By becoming one with me, you can exist forever, we can all be together forever! Ha ha ha!
— no!
Scarlet blood sprayed out, the remaining half of the body twitched, spewing streams of blood.
Soon, both the ninja and the civilians were swallowed up by Sarutobi Hiruzen, not a single survivor remained. When he was sated, he continued to wander, driven by the thirst of souls.
Some time later.
"Are they all dead?" How could this happen? Who! Who dared to commit such a sacrilege, to attack our Konoha?
"Are the ninjas from other villages?"
— No, it's impossible! They're not crazy. If this gets out, Mr. Jigen will punish them. And if a Child of Fate turns out to be among the dead, then everything is over!
"Such an attack... it doesn't look like it could have been done by a human." Look here, it was clearly bitten off by something, not damaged by ninjutsu or a sharp blade!
"A man—eating monster?" What could it be?
— We need to report. This is no longer an ordinary monster, you need to deliver a crushing blow! Otherwise, if you let him keep killing…
Soon, the news of the appearance of a man-eating monster in the Land of Fire fell into the hands of Orochimaru.
"A man—eating monster?"
Orochimaru frowned at the report. He didn't just eat people. Konoha's ninjas did not find any traces on the spot, only remains and traces of ninjutsu.
The absence of footprints, the use of ninjutsu — it looks like it's not a monster, but a ninja. But there were bite marks and lacerations on the bodies, as if they had been gnawed. It looks like a human, but at the same time it is not.
Okay, it doesn't matter what it is, Orochimaru thought. "I wouldn't have looked at it before." Well, we ate a few people, and that's fine. There are a lot of people in the Land of Fire, everyone uses them, so a small loss doesn't matter. But you can't do that now. This monster that dares to so shamelessly devour people in the Land of Fire, whether human or monster, must be destroyed."
After thinking about it, Orochimaru decided to leave his shadow clone to continue his research, and personally lead the squad and destroy this monster.
***
"What do you mean, we should go too?" Utatane Koharu protested in the Hokage's office. — Orochimaru, when you became Hokage, did you completely forget about subordination? We, the advisers, are here to give you advice, not to risk our lives. Do you think you're Sarutobi Hiruzen? If it wasn't for Sensei, you'd still be a renegade ninja!
"That's right, Orochimaru,— Mitokado Homura supported her. "You shouldn't have come to us with this kind of thing. There are so many ninjas in the village, which one of them is not stronger than us old men? We are already old, the village belongs to you, the young ones!
The two elders looked down on Orochimaru as if he was not the Hokage, but their subordinate.
"That's enough, you two,— Orochimaru interrupted them coldly. — Do you think there are still times when Sensei was alive? Don't act like an elder in front of me. Remember, I am the Hokage. As a ninja, you must obey the orders of the Hokage. I order you to participate in this mission, and you will go! The village doesn't keep you so that you can be rude to me!
He was fed up with these two. After this case, he decided that he would just get rid of the useless old men. He was sure that Second-sama would approve of it too.
—Orochimaru... you... you...— Utatane Koharu stared at him, her hand raised, her body trembling, and her face reflected extreme indignation and resentment. She wanted to object, but she couldn't say a word because Orochimaru was right.
Since he, as Hokage, decided to personally go on a mission, then why on earth would they, the advisers, refuse?
— Get ready, gentlemen advisers. And try not to die there," Orochimaru grinned, waved his hand and, turning his back on them, left.
— Orochimaru! You'll regret it! Utatane Koharu's angry voice rang out from behind him. — What should I do now? Are we really going to let him keep doing this? He doesn't respect his elders at all, is there even a drop of the Will of Fire in his heart?
"Sensei, he's…