"Disperse! Fire the signal flares!"
The Sarutobi Hiruzen felt a sharp surge of unease and immediately issued orders. Whatever Orochimaru was planning, it could not be allowed to unfold without the village being alerted.
Whoosh—whoosh—!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Several ANBU raised their flare launchers without hesitation, firing brilliant signals into the night sky. The darkness above the Forest of Death erupted in dazzling bursts of light.
"Orochimaru!" Hiruzen barked.
"What is your reason for secretly infiltrating the village?!"
Orochimaru sneered.
"Infiltrating?" he repeated mockingly.
"Hmph… Do I really need to sneak into Konoha anymore, Sarutobi-sensei?"
His golden, slit pupils gleamed.
"No need to be so tense. I didn't come back of my own will this time—I was invited."
"You should know exactly who I'm talking about."
"After all… you know very well how I left the village back then."
Hiruzen's face darkened instantly.
Of course he knew.
Shimura Danzo.
Back when Orochimaru's inhumane experiments were exposed, Hiruzen had deliberately allowed him to escape. He knew Danzo had been secretly colluding with Orochimaru—and even if Konoha forces had tried to intercept, Root would have opened an escape route.
What Hiruzen hadn't expected…
…was that after all these years, merely two months outside the village, Danzo had already reconnected with Orochimaru.
"Letting you go back then because of my soft heart…"
Hiruzen said coldly, chakra flaring.
"…was my greatest mistake."
"But now, I'll correct it."
He cast aside his Hokage cloak.
Beneath it was his old battle armor—gear he hadn't worn in years.
"Oh?" Orochimaru's tongue flicked out grotesquely.
"You plan to kill me?"
"What a thrilling idea."
"But Sensei—if you couldn't do it back then, you certainly can't do it now."
He laughed softly.
"I've also heard the village has become… chaotic lately. Disorderly."
"And you—growing duller with age—no longer seem fit to sit in that Hokage seat."
"Especially now, seeing how worn you've become… ah, how merciless time is."
Hiruzen stepped forward.
A terrifying killing intent rolled outward like a storm.
"You're still the same, Orochimaru—always speaking in riddles."
"But today, your fate is sealed!"
Orochimaru smiled faintly.
"Is it?"
"Weren't you the one who always taught me—you never know the outcome until the very end?"
"…Or is there someone hidden among these ANBU giving you confidence?"
Hiruzen answered with action.
His thumb slid across the rivet of his shoulder armor.
He slammed his palm into the ground.
"Ninja Art: Summoning Jutsu!"
"Monkey King: Enma!"
Poof!
A white-haired monkey wearing a tiger-skin loincloth appeared beside him, his gaze grim as he stared at Orochimaru.
"Sarutobi… I warned you," Enma growled.
"That snake you raised has become more than a nuisance."
"There's still time," Hiruzen said firmly.
"Let's do it, Enma—Adamantine Staff!"
"Understood. Transform!"
Enma vanished in smoke.
In the next instant, Hiruzen gripped a massive adamantine staff, thick as a man's arm.
Orochimaru narrowed his eyes, then licked his lips.
"Summoning reinforcements, hm?"
"Well then, Sensei… it seems we truly are alike."
"Allow me to present you with a gift."
He formed hand seals.
"Summoning Jutsu: Edo Tensei!"
BOOM—!
The ground shook violently.
A coffin burst from the earth.
On its lid was a single, ominous kanji:
「初」 — First
"What the hell is that…?"
Several ANBU stared in confusion.
But Hiruzen's face drained of color.
"You bastard!"
"Orochimaru—how dare you toy with the souls of the dead!"
Meanwhile — Naruto's Room
Uzumaki Naruto sat by his windowsill, considering whether now was the right moment to detonate the explosive tags planted by Gennō.
The Third Hokage had been drawn to the Forest of Death.
It was an opportunity.
Yet Naruto hesitated.
He had always planned to trigger the explosion during a major future event—when the impact would be absolute.
Acting prematurely risked disrupting his larger plans.
Just then, colorful signal flares lit up the night sky.
Naruto felt the chakra of nearly every Konoha shinobi surge into motion.
The village was on full alert.
Only the ANBU monitoring him remained in place.
Naruto decided not to detonate the tags.
He wasn't someone who changed plans impulsively.
But something else caught his attention.
The chakra signatures of the ANBU accompanying the Third—
vanished.
In their place, two new chakra signatures appeared.
One of them was especially strange.
Its power fluctuated wildly—one moment terrifyingly vast, the next barely detectable.
Naruto's eyes sharpened.
He formed a hand seal.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu."
A clone appeared.
Naruto handed it a mask and issued concise orders:
"The Third is near one of my Flying Thunder God marks."
"Disguise yourself. Go there. Observe."
"You know what to do."
The clone smirked.
"Of course. I am you, after all."
Whoosh!
Using the Flying Thunder God Technique, the clone vanished.
Forest of Death — The Battlefield
The clone appeared instantly near the battlefield and rushed forward through the trees.
At the center of the clearing—
Sarutobi Hiruzen and Orochimaru stood facing each other.
Every surrounding ANBU lay unconscious.
The summoned coffin lay shattered, reduced to splintered debris.
In the middle of it all lay an unrecognizable corpse.
"It seems your jutsu isn't quite perfected," Hiruzen said coldly.
"Perhaps you should stay behind and attend more lessons."
Orochimaru chuckled.
"You seemed quite emotional when you saw the First Hokage just now."
"What a shame the jutsu wasn't complete."
"Such a touching reunion… wasted."
"Silence!" Hiruzen roared.
"How dare you mock the dead!"
He lunged forward, swinging the adamantine staff.
"Adamantine Staff: Whirlwind!"
Wind Release chakra surged.
A massive suction force tore toward Orochimaru.
"Tch. As if!"
"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"
Orochimaru's arm split into writhing serpents, anchoring him to a nearby tree and yanking him clear of the attack.
"Sensei," Orochimaru said coolly,
"you've already lost many subordinates tonight."
"If we keep this up, who do you think will—"
He stopped abruptly.
His eyes flashed.
A new scent had entered the battlefield.
Sarutobi sensed it as well.
From the shadows of the forest, a cloaked, masked figure stepped forward calmly.
"What a shame," the figure said softly.
"I was hoping to enjoy the show a bit longer."
It was Naruto's shadow clone.
Despite remaining hidden, Orochimaru had still detected him.
"Who are you?" Hiruzen demanded instantly.
The clone walked forward, raising one hand.
"Hm?"
Both Orochimaru and Hiruzen tensed.
As the clone stepped between them, he snapped his fingers open.
Violently rotating chakra spiraled into existence.
A pitch-black orb rapidly condensed in his palm.
"Great Spiral Wheel Calamity."
BOOM—!!!
A blinding explosion engulfed the Forest of Death.
The forest was torn apart.
(End of Chapter)
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