Yami hadn't expected Hiruzen to make one final contribution before his death.
Perhaps this was when the Will of Fire shone most clearly in him.
[Hard Work Pays: All effort will be rewarded.
Host's training in ninjutsu, physical exercise, and skill development will improve efficiency.
When encountering a bottleneck, there is a chance to trigger a flash of inspiration.
The longer the bottleneck lasts, the higher the probability of activation.
Maximum duration: 100 days.]
It was rare for Yami to receive a talent more powerful than the person it was bound to, but each one he did receive was extremely practical.
Just like Sarutobi Hiruzen's "Hard Work Pays" talent, it was a much-needed gift. In the future, he would no longer have to worry about fumbling blindly while researching Sage Mode.
While Yami felt satisfied, Orochimaru was losing his mind.
His arms had completely gone numb. Without them, what ninjutsu could he study? Even if he could study it, he couldn't perform anything. What was the point?
Even the God of Shinobi might applaud the technique, but he himself couldn't even move his hands!
Yami looked at Orochimaru, who was spitting curses at Hiruzen's corpse, and tilted his head. "Orochimaru-sensei, why didn't you run when you saw me coming? Planning to follow your teacher to the afterlife?"
The cursing stopped abruptly. Orochimaru glared at the boy with gritted teeth, then snorted coldly.
The Four Sound Ninja sensibly deactivated the barrier.
Yami raised his right hand and gestured casually. "You've got five minutes. Only five minutes to escape. After that, my people will start hunting you."
"Yami-kun, don't get too full of yourself."
Orochimaru's snake-like eyes narrowed, and he sneered. "Do you think you can become Hokage now that Sarutobi-sensei is dead?"
"Don't dream. There are still people in Konoha more qualified than you."
"I'll be waiting for the day you come crawling to me."
With those parting words, Orochimaru didn't dare to waste another moment. Using the last of his strength, he activated the Body Flicker Technique and fled.
Their cooperation had now completely ended. If he lingered, he would genuinely be captured by Yami, becoming yet another achievement on the boy's record.
As the Four Sound Ninja prepared to follow, Yami suddenly called out, "Tayuya, you stay."
"Yes, Yami-sama."
To the surprise of the other three, Tayuya actually stopped and stayed behind. Orochimaru didn't even flinch, accelerating instead.
Even if all of the Sound Four were left behind, he wouldn't care. To him, they were just cannon fodder—unworthy of a pause.
Seeing that their leader didn't mind, the others didn't dare to hesitate and hurried after him.
"Yami-sama."
Tayuya walked up happily and knelt on one knee.
Yami might not be able to deceive men easily.
But seduce women?
He was the Sage of Six Paths in that department.
During the year she'd trained under Orochimaru, Tayuya had already been turned to his side.
"Stand up." Yami smiled and rubbed her head. "Once we're home, I'll test whether your flute skills have improved."
Tayuya nodded cheerfully. She quickly equipped the gear Anbu had prepared and joined the main force in eliminating the remaining enemies.
Yami glanced at Hiruzen's body. After all, they had been acquaintances. He didn't want the corpse to catch cold, so he created a coffin with Wood Release and placed it inside.
Then he continued organizing the suppression of the enemy forces.
Before, the village belonged to Sarutobi Hiruzen. Now, Konoha belonged to the Shimura clan.
One was a worker. The other, a master. Naturally, the amount of effort would be different.
To increase efficiency, Yami created 20 Wood Clones, each carrying a large amount of chakra. Enemy numbers dropped at a rate visible to the naked eye.
Root Base.
Danzō, who shared a complicated bond with both Hiruzen and Yami, seemed to sense something. He calmly raised the wine cup at his table, spilled it onto the ground, and muttered quietly:
"Monkey, rest in peace. I won't purge the Sarutobi clan's current forces. I'll take proper care of your descendants and won't let Yami wipe them out."
"Konoha will reach new heights under our grandfather-grandson rule."
After paying his respects, Danzō began issuing orders.
Dozens of ready Root members rushed to the battlefield. Within half an hour, nearly all enemies had been eliminated.
"Shimura Yami!"
The violet barrier in the sky vanished. Shisui, realizing Yami had achieved his goal, stopped blocking Jiraiya.
After chasing several clones, Jiraiya finally found Yami's real body—he had just buried two teams of Sound Ninja in magma. Seeing Jiraiya, Yami waved lazily.
"Jiraiya? Your old pal just ran off. Why come to me instead of chasing him?"
Jiraiya was like an angry lion. He ignored the taunt and asked with a low voice, "You were involved with Orochimaru? You knew about this invasion?"
At this point, Yami didn't bother hiding it. He nodded casually. "Orochimaru-sensei said he wanted to catch up with his teacher and asked me not to interfere. He seemed so filial, so I agreed."
"Sensei?"
Jiraiya caught the key word and stared at Yami in disbelief. "You refused when I asked you to be my disciple, but you took Orochimaru as your teacher?"
"Not a ninjutsu teacher. A science teacher. Do you even know what science is?" Yami wagged his finger.
Jiraiya of course understood. Orochimaru had been expelled from Konoha because of those twisted scientific experiments.
He filed that thought away. Then he pointed toward the gymnasium. "So, did you kill the old man just now?"
"Of course not."
Yami frowned. "When I arrived, the Third had already used the Reaper Death Seal to take Rasa and the First Hokage's souls. What does his death have to do with me?"
"Are you blaming me for being late?"
"Jiraiya, don't act like some devoted follower."
Yami's tone turned cold. "You know what everyone was thinking. So do I."
"If you truly wanted to save the Third, why didn't you enter Sage Mode and break through the barrier?"
"You already chose between the village and your teacher through your actions."
With that, Yami turned and left. Jiraiya remained still, expression grim.
With the emergence of Wood Release, Konoha had finally lived up to its name. It was now a village embraced by a forest. Wherever you looked, you could see enemies hanging upside-down from tree trunks, ensnared by vines.
At first, the captured enemies struggled. But the trees slowly absorbed their chakra. The more they resisted, the more chakra was drained, until they finally submitted.
Half an hour later, the battle within the village gradually settled.
Except for a few small squads that managed to escape, most of the enemies had been wiped out.
The clan heads and core jōnin gathered one after another on the rooftop.
Yami stood at the front. The others naturally positioned themselves behind him, first looking at the wooden coffin, then at the still-head-patted tailed beast, and finally at Yami, who remained silent.
Wood Release…
Konoha once again had a shinobi with the Wood Release bloodline.
Unlike the Yamato most people knew, Yami's Wood Release had displayed a power capable of suppressing an entire era—just like Senju Hashirama in the history books.
Although it was a solemn occasion, some couldn't help but let a faint smile creep onto their faces, as if under a genjutsu.
Like Hyūga Hiashi and Hizashi.
They knew they had made the right bet.
As long as Yami existed, the Hyūga clan could flourish for decades more—maybe even rise further.
Nara Shikaku kept signaling to Yamanaka Inoichi, who understood immediately, sighed, and nodded slightly.
Shikaku then smiled in relief, only for it to shift into grief so quickly that no one noticed.
Kakashi looked at Yami with a complicated expression.
This level of Wood Release mastery couldn't have been newly acquired. It had to have been hidden for a long time.
Kakashi was smart. Seeing the two giant snakes rampaging, he thought of many things—just like Jiraiya. But Kakashi was wiser in that he wouldn't dig too deeply into things that had already happened.
Judging from the outcome, the situation wasn't bad. As for the future, it would have to be taken one step at a time.
Swish! Swish!
Two figures landed behind Yami—Kurenai and Pakura.
Many recognized Kurenai. She was practically Yami's right hand, issuing orders and controlling the Third Anbu Division.
But everyone was most curious about Pakura. How had this Suna hero become one of Yami's subordinates?
Of course, no one was foolish enough to ask out loud.
Kurenai stepped forward and whispered, "Yami, the target's been captured. Yugao succeeded too. No injuries."
Yami nodded slightly. Kurenai returned to her position beside Pakura.
Yami let out a light sigh. Everyone behind him looked solemn.
"The Third Hokage truly was the strongest of all the Hokage."
"Using only his strength, he took down the First Hokage and the Fourth Kazekage and gravely wounded Orochimaru."
"It's just a shame the traitors were too well prepared."
"Iwa and Suna… actually broke the alliance."
"The price of blood should be paid with blood."
Yami raised his hand and clenched his fist. "First, recover the Third Hokage's remains. All captured enemy shinobi are to be detained separately."
"Ibiki."
"Lord Yami." Morino Ibiki immediately stepped forward.
"The Interrogation Division will handle extracting the full details of their plan."
"Yes!"
"All clan leaders."
Yami turned around, and every clan head lowered their heads respectfully.
"The tasks of assessing losses and assisting villagers are yours. Once the reports are ready, submit them to the Hokage's office."
"Understood, Yami," Nara Shikaku replied on behalf of everyone.
Yami then delegated duties to the Medical, Intelligence, and Security Departments, sending the assembled shinobi away one group at a time.
No one questioned his orders.
No one dared to challenge his authority for overstepping the Hokage.
Soon, all the jōnin were dismissed, leaving only Yami and his subordinates behind.
Yami glanced at the coffin once more.
"Old Man, look."
"This is the real Will of Fire."
"When everyone unites around me, can't Konoha become stronger?"
(To be continued.)
***
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