No one knew that both the Root Organization and the Hokage Building had been invaded by formidable enemies.
Even fewer people noticed that a fourth force was silently cleaning up the battlefield and collecting the bodies of their comrades.
At this moment, the Leaf Village ninjas were working together in tacit coordination.
Some were escorting villagers to shelters, while others were more focused on buying time rather than engaging in direct combat, striving to preserve their lives until their comrades returned from escorting the villagers, at which point they would sound the horn for a counterattack.
Meanwhile, the battle at the Leaf Village square remained intense.
Due to the First Hokage being reanimated through the Reanimation Jutsu and using Wood Release: Advent of a World of Flowering Trees to create a forest, the fight between Hiruzen Sarutobi and Orochimaru could only be observed by those skilled in sensing or possessing透视 abilities.
They also sensed that the Third Hokage was not in a good condition.
In the examination arena, the elite Jonin Kakashi Hatake and Might Guy were responsible for protecting the lives of the spectators, jointly dealing with the Sound Ninja led by Yakushi Kabuto and some supporting Sand Ninja.
On the other side, Gaara and his siblings had already been captured by Izayoi and the other young ninjas.
As soon as the Leaf Destruction Plan began, the quick-thinking Hinata and Aburame Shino, along with Uchiha Sasuke, who was also unaffected by Genjutsu, as well as Nara Shikamaru and Hyuga Neji, launched an attack on Temari and Kankuro.
Temari and Kankuro, unable to use the Body Flicker Technique to rescue Gaara due to his use of the False Sleep Technique, were quickly overwhelmed by the combined efforts of the young ninjas.
If it hadn't been for Kurenai Yuhi's timely intervention, these siblings might have been killed by the fearless young ninjas, who wouldn't have cared about the value of keeping them alive over killing them.
As for Gaara, after using the False Sleep Technique, he handed his body over to the One-Tail Shukaku.
The Tailed Beast-level Chakra surged out, creating endless sand waves that rapidly formed Shukaku's body, while also blocking the Secret Art: Light Blast Cannon, which was a fusion of three Nature Transformations.
However, just as Shukaku's body fully formed and before it could even declare its presence, its consciousness was forced back into Gaara's body.
This was because, after Shukaku's body formed, Gaara's upper body still protruded from its head.
Those below could hardly notice this target, except for Izayoi's Shadow Clone.
Izayoi, whose Shadow Clone wasn't particularly durable, quickly flew to the top of Shukaku's head before it fully awakened and punched Gaara's face, which wasn't protected by his Sand Armor.
Gaara, who had just fallen into a deep sleep, was instantly awakened.
Shukaku's massive body immediately dissolved into endless sand waves, forming a huge sand pile in the examination arena.
By the time Gaara's consciousness slowly cleared, he had already been carried by Izayoi to the contestant seating area.
"If you move even a little, I'll kill you," Izayoi's voice rang in his ear.
"Please don't kill Gaara! He's also my brother and has value in staying alive. Please don't kill him!"
The pleading tone of the female voice completely woke Gaara up.
Looking at Temari, who was tied up with ropes and usually terrified of him but was now pleading for his life, Gaara's emotions were incredibly complex.
However, no one cared about his feelings. Kurenai Yuhi issued the command, "Hinata, seal his Chakra. If he tries to break free on his own, sever his limbs. This guy cannot be killed."
"Yes."
Hinata responded and immediately acted, executing a series of Pressure Point Strikes on Gaara's body, sealing his acupoints.
Her Byakugan, with veins bulging at her temples, was also fixed intently on Gaara's body. If she noticed anything amiss, she would alert everyone immediately.
At this moment, Izayoi's voice reached Hinata's ears, asking knowingly, "How's Hanabi doing over there?"
"Don't worry, Father has already taken Hanabi away."
"That's good."
Izayoi nodded slightly, then prepared to stay out of the fray.
The main players in the Leaf Destruction Plan were Hiruzen Sarutobi and Orochimaru, the master and disciple duo.
He was merely the mysterious fourth party taking advantage of the chaos.
Kurenai Yuhi also had no intention of letting them participate in the war. She turned to Izayoi and the others and said, "Take these prisoners and follow me."
After speaking, Kurenai led Izayoi and the others, detouring away from the Leaf Village square and heading towards the Leaf Village Interrogation Department.
These three were the children of the Kazekage and surely knew a lot of valuable information.
Along the way, they were attacked by numerous Sand Ninjas and Sound Ninjas.
But soon, Leaf Village ninjas arrived to provide support.
No longer needing to hide his strength, Izayoi floated into the air and unleashed his Secret Art: Judgment.
Faced with Izayoi, who treated his Secret Art like a regular attack, not only were the Sand Ninjas and Sound Ninjas dumbfounded, but even the Leaf Village ninjas who came to assist were left in shock.
Watching the laser beam that could either compress or expand—the former being a weakened version of the Light Blast Cannon and the latter a wide-range attack—Uchiha Sasuke's eyes burned with fervor, almost drooling with desire.
Even the Lightning Release: Chidori, which he had recently learned but hadn't had the chance to use, suddenly seemed unimpressive.
At the same time, Sasuke made a decision in his heart.
Once the war was over, he would train in Water Release Nature Transformation. Then, he would first approach Izayoi politely, asking him to teach him. If Izayoi refused, he would pester him relentlessly, freeloading and standing by his side like a third wheel until Izayoi finally agreed to impart the Secret Art to him.
"Damn it, my house!"
Just as Sasuke was scheming, a furious shout snapped him back to reality.
Izayoi, who was flying in the air, exuding an aura of divine might, suddenly looked in a certain direction and began cursing loudly.
Then, without a word, he abandoned Kurenai and the others, flying straight toward that direction.
Hinata's eyes instantly turned sharp, and without saying a word, she turned into an afterimage, closely following him.
Looking in the direction they were headed, Kurenai and the others couldn't help but feel a mix of amusement and exasperation.
In the city district, a massive three-headed snake was rampaging, destroying buildings left and right.
Exploding Tags and Five Elements Release Techniques had failed to kill it, instead making it even more ferocious.
While its three heads attacked the ninjas who had harmed it, the three-headed snake swung its tail, accidentally demolishing a two-story standalone house.
That house happened to be Izayoi's home.
No wonder he was so furious.
Kurenai Yuhi snapped back to reality and said to the young ninjas, "Don't worry about them, just keep following me." "Storm Release: Judgment!"
A white laser beam shot down from the sky in the distance, hitting the middle head of the three-headed snake with pinpoint accuracy.
Immediately, the massive laser beam began to shrink at a visible speed, transforming from a simple electric heat attack into a sharp laser cut. As the caster's arm moved, the entire three-headed snake was sliced apart, its body turning into a puff of white smoke and returning to Ryuchi Cave.
"That... that's an incredibly powerful Lightning Release attack!"
"It's not Lightning Release, it's the Storm Release Secret Technique. It's the work of that ninja genius everyone's been talking about recently."
"What an impressive kid, he even knows flying ninja techniques!"
"Great, we've finally dealt with this trouble. Let's go support the others."
"..."
Watching Izayoi descend from the sky, the Leaf Village ninjas exclaimed in awe before quickly turning into afterimages and rushing to support their comrades.
As Izayoi landed, he looked at the ruins before him and his mouth twitched. "The main body and those Shadow Clones are really useless."
When someone is ruthless, they even criticize themselves.
In fact, not only the Shadow Clones, but even Izayoi's main body and the Shadow Clone responsible for controlling the puppets hadn't anticipated this.
The main body was busy harvesting the Root Organization and Shimura Danzo's treasures.
The Shadow Clone at the Naka River was responsible for controlling the puppets to finish off, collect, and hide the bodies. The Tenseigan was completely overwhelmed.
The Shadow Clone protecting Ranmaru was busy recharging him.
The Shadow Clone infiltrating the Hokage building was occupied with cleaning up traces and escorting Tenzo out of the Leaf Village.
None of them had noticed the three-headed snake, as it had come all the way from the village entrance. In the original story, it was crushed by the giant toad summoned by Jiraiya.
But unexpectedly, after Jiraiya received news about 'Tendo Pain,' he immediately dropped everything and rushed to the underground base of the Hokage building.
Perhaps all the luck was used up on drop rates, as the three-headed snake just happened to head straight for Izayoi's street.
Out of all the houses, it had to choose Izayoi's home.
Hinata appeared beside Izayoi in an instant and comforted him softly, "It's okay, Izayoi-kun. The house can be rebuilt. As long as we're safe, that's what matters."
"That's all we can do. Let's find the scroll first. It contains my savings and our photos," Izayoi nodded. What's done is done, and unless he could turn back time, even he couldn't change it.
So, Izayoi used the X-ray vision of the Tenseigan to search for important items in the ruins.
Soon, Izayoi found it.
"Hinata, you handle those guys."
Izayoi glanced at the few Sound Ninjas who had appeared out of nowhere and spoke to Hinata.
"Yes."
Hinata nodded with a sharp look in her eyes, and then a large amount of chakra surged from her hands, transforming into two purple lion heads.
Immediately, Hinata used Lightning Release Chakra Stimulation Cells to boost her speed, appearing in a flash in front of one of the Sound Ninjas and striking out with her palm.
The Sound Ninja hit by this palm had the chakra in his meridians instantly drained, while an external surge of chakra penetrated his flesh and struck his internal organs.
The Sound Ninja immediately spat out blood, losing their ability to fight.
With a single palm strike, Hinata killed one Sound Ninja and continued to attack the others.
Using the Hyuga Clan's Advanced Secret Technique: Gentle Step Twin Lion Fists, Hinata effortlessly dealt with these cannon-fodder-level Sound Ninjas.
After she finished the battle, Izayoi retrieved a few scrolls and some photos protected by frames from the ruins.
Seeing that the photos were undamaged, Izayoi breathed a sigh of relief. Then, looking at the ruins before him, he comforted himself, "It's better this way. Now we can get a bigger house."
At that moment, both Izayoi and Hinata turned their gaze toward the direction of Hokage Rock.
In their perception, a massive surge of Chakra was rushing toward them from the direction of Hokage Rock.
Having read the safety manual, they knew that the Leaf Village had begun its counterattack.
With the villagers safely escorted to shelters, the ninjas could now fight without worry.
The once strongest ninja village was about to unleash its astonishing cohesion.
Unless the opponent was a major ninja village mobilizing all its forces or a super-strong individual with the ability to deliver a devastating blow, no one could stand against the Leaf Village.
Sure enough...
As the escorting ninjas returned, the Leaf Village, which had initially seemed passive and even at a disadvantage against the combined forces of the Sand Ninjas and Sound Ninjas, suddenly displayed overwhelming power, crushing the Sand Ninjas and Sound Ninjas into a rout.
At the same time, the Sand Ninjas in the Leaf Village square brought back their discovery: their Fourth Kazekage was actually Orochimaru in disguise, and the real Kazekage had gone missing.
Led by Baki, the Sand Ninjas no longer had time to search for Gaara and the others. They quickly fought their way out of the Leaf Village, intending to bring this news back to their village and let the council make a decision.
The Sand Ninjas who couldn't escape chose to surrender without hesitation.
As long as they weren't dead, their village would find a way to redeem them.
Meanwhile, the battle between Hiruzen Sarutobi and Orochimaru, master and disciple, had reached its conclusion.
As in the original story, the aged Hiruzen Sarutobi was no match for Orochimaru.
Moreover, Orochimaru had used the Reanimation Jutsu to summon the First Hokage and the Second Hokage. Even if they were less than one-tenth of their peak strength, they still caused significant trouble for Hiruzen.
At the critical moment of life and death, Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had often instilled the Will of Fire in the younger generation, made a decisive choice. He gave up the chance to go to the Pure Land World and instead offered his soul to the Shinigami. He first sealed the souls of the First Hokage and the Second Hokage. When he realized he couldn't seal Orochimaru's soul as well, he decisively took away the souls of Orochimaru's hands, rendering him unable to perform any ninja techniques.
Amid Orochimaru's agonized screams, Hiruzen Sarutobi closed his eyes forever, a faint smile on his face.
Having grown up together, served as Hokage's guards and disciples, built the Leaf Village side by side, and engaged in both overt and covert struggles, these two close friends, who had once led the Leaf Village to victory against four enemies, had now achieved the feat of "dying on the same day."
Unfortunately, while one soul could still journey to the Pure Land World, the other was destined to remain in the Shinigami's belly.
The Leaf Destruction Plan initiated by Orochimaru had no winners—not the Hidden Sound Village, not the Leaf Village, nor the Hidden Sand Village.
The only winner, and indeed the biggest winner, was Izayoi.
The Leaf Destruction Plan had made Izayoi immensely wealthy in one fell swoop.
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