Tobirama's words, "Saru, you have lost the support of the people", caused Hiruzen's heart to tremble violently.
At that moment, he seemed to hear the sound of something completely shattering deep within him.
He tremblingly opened his mouth, his dry, cracked lips moving, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down, trying to make a sound, trying to defend himself.
He wanted to say that the Uchiha Clan's rebellion had become inevitable, wanted to mention Danzo's pressure and radicalism, wanted to mention the pressure of surrounding great nations, wanted to mention the difficulty of maintaining Konoha's peace and prosperity...
But countless words surged to his lips, only to get stuck in his throat when they met Tobirama's disappointed gaze.
He then looked at the First Hokage, that teacher who was always cheerful and broad-minded like the sea.
At this moment, Hashirama's face also lacked its usual sunshine, replaced only by a heavy silence. A long sigh, more than any reprimand, made Hiruzen feel powerless and desolate.
Explain?
What was there left to explain?
Facts speak louder than words.
Konoha was suffering its most serious invasion in decades during his tenure, and he, the Hokage, was trapped here, with no organized reinforcements arriving in time except for a few direct Anbu.
His teachers, as the deceased, had witnessed this upheaval and seen through the disunity within Konoha under his rule.
All excuses, at this moment, seemed so pale and ridiculous, nothing but futile attempts to save his reputation.
A deep sense of fatigue, like a tide, instantly flooded Hiruzen's entire body.
It was mental exhaustion, the confusion of finding that his life's work was rejected by his two teachers.
Hiruzen swallowed the excuses he wanted to make and clenched his teeth.
The next moment, a more intense emotion surged forth, like the final flicker of a dying flame!
He is Sarutobi Hiruzen!
The Third Hokage, chosen by the First and Second Hokages themselves, inheritor of the [Will of Fire]!
The 'Strongest Hokage' who had held the reins of Konoha for decades!
No matter how many mistakes, how many faults, his pride, his responsibility, his dignity as Hokage would not allow him to show collapse and weakness before his enemies, before his teachers!
"Sensei..." Hiruzen slowly and deeply inhaled.
"Right and wrong, I no longer have the heart to distinguish."
"The merits and faults of my life… whether I protected Konoha or betrayed your trust, whether I led it to prosperity or planted the seeds of disaster..."
"Let future generations judge."
After speaking, Hiruzen exhaled heavily.
The complex emotions churning in his chest were expelled with that breath.
He straightened his somewhat stooped back. In his aged but still bright eyes, confusion and pain rapidly faded, replaced by a rock-like firmness and solemnity settled after countless baptisms of blood and fire.
He assumed the most classic combat starting stance, his gaze passing over his two teachers, firmly locking onto the youthful Orochimaru behind them, whose lips held a strange smile as he enjoyed Hiruzen's changing expressions.
"Come, Orochimaru." Hiruzen's voice calmed down, but carried a sonorous clang, echoing within the Four Violet Flames Formation.
"Let me, your teacher, see just how much you have 'improved' over these years since you betrayed Konoha, on the path of pursuing those crooked ways!"
The moment his voice fell, the Chakra around him erupted violently, even more solid and fervent than before!
It was the Will of Fire… old but strong, throwing all his experience, will, and even his life into a blazing burn!
"Heh heh heh... The reminiscing time is over. Then, Honorable Hokage-sama, please begin your performance. Let my beloved teacher relive the experience of being taught by his most respected predecessors."
Orochimaru's golden snake eyes glimmered with pleasure. He lightly clapped his hands together, forming a seal, and instantly took complete control of Hashirama and Tobirama's actions.
"Saru! Look out!" Hashirama, unable to control himself under Orochimaru's command, could only shout a warning.
He pushed off with his legs, the ornate glazed tiles beneath his feet exploding into a deep crater. His body shot forward like a cannonball, closing in on Hiruzen with terrifying speed!
A no-frills flying side kick, tearing through the air with a shriek, aimed straight for Hiruzen's center!
Hiruzen's pupils narrowed slightly. He crossed his arms, muscles bulging, Chakra instantly concentrating in his forearms.
Boom—!!
The heavy impact sounded like a clap of thunder!
Hiruzen felt an intense soreness in his arms. His body slid backward uncontrollably, his feet plowing two clear tracks in the glazed tiles.
Hashirama's strength, even reduced by the Edo Tensei, was terrifyingly powerful!
Just as Hiruzen was about to absorb the force and counterattack, adjusting his center of gravity, Tobirama's calm yet helpless reminder came from the right: "Look out for the right!"
The warning came, but Tobirama's attack, precisely controlled by Orochimaru, also arrived!
From Hiruzen's visual blind spot, a well-telegraphed, fully charged straight punch slammed viciously into Hiruzen's right cheek, which he couldn't fully protect!
"Ugh!"
Hiruzen let out a grunt, a trace of sweetness overflowing from his mouth. He was sent flying backward, spinning in the air, and crashed heavily onto the tiles several meters away, sliding further before barely stopping, the sound of shattering tiles crackling.
"Saru..." Hashirama watched Hiruzen somewhat awkwardly pick himself up from the broken tiles, wipe the blood from his mouth, a flicker of reluctance in his eyes, but more of a sigh at his declined condition.
"It seems you've really aged a lot. You can't even keep up with this level of reaction and speed anymore?"
"It's not just due to age, Brother." Tobirama flexed his right wrist, the one that had just struck Hiruzen, but his gaze fell on an explosive tag that had, unbeknownst to him, been stuck to the back of his hand.
It was a contingency left by Hiruzen during their exchange, using his rich combat experience despite being at an extreme disadvantage.
"These two Edo Tensei bodies of ours, under Orochimaru's improvements, can exert strength that is only slightly inferior to our prime. And..."
Boom—!!
Before he could finish, the explosive tag on his hand suddenly detonated!
An orange-red fireball instantly engulfed Tobirama's right arm and the right half of his body. The violent shockwave blew away nearby broken tiles!
The gunpowder smoke quickly dispersed.
However, countless tiny dust particles, like scraps of paper, were floating back from all directions to Tobirama's destroyed right arm and right torso, rapidly condensing and reshaping, restoring them in an instant… even his clothing was completely undamaged.
Only the faint, residual smell of gunpowder in the air proved that an explosion had just occurred.
Tobirama looked down, examined his just restored arm, lightly clenched his fist, feeling the vast Chakra flowing within.
He looked up at Hiruzen, then glanced at the smiling Orochimaru behind him, and concluded: "See, Saru. Ordinary attacks, even if they cause damage, are quickly repaired by this immortal body. It seems your disciple's mastery in forbidden techniques are indeed extraordinary."
His words even faintly carried a trace of recognition for Orochimaru's talent.
"That's why, Tobirama!" Hashirama spread his hands to the side, his tone carrying an elder brother's complaint to his younger brother, as well as a deep helplessness at the absurd situation before him.
"I told you repeatedly back then, don't create these forbidden techniques that play with life and death and defile the dead!"
"Look, now you've made these things, so we dead can't even rest in peace. We have to be dragged out to deal with our own juniors and students! What kind of nonsense is this?!"
"What use is talking about that now, Brother." Tobirama glanced at Hashirama, his tone as always pressing down on Hashirama.
"Right now, we are nothing but puppets controlled by others. Let's talk after we deal with the controller."
Just as the two were briefly conversing, Hiruzen had already stabilized his breathing.
He stopped trying to find opportunities with conventional Taijutsu and explosive tags.
Facing his two teachers, who had immortal bodies and strength close to their prime, he knew he had to use his real trump card.
His hands quickly formed hand seals, then suddenly pressed down on the glazed tiles beneath him!
"Summoning Technique!"
Poof!
A cloud of white smoke exploded and quickly dispersed. A tall, elderly monkey with white hair and beard, wearing ancient armor, appeared before Hiruzen.
It was the summoning creature contracted to the Sarutobi clan, the Monkey King: Enma!
Enma crossed his arms over his chest, just summoned, about to ask about the battle: "Hiruzen, this time the enemy is..."
His words abruptly stopped.
Because he saw those two familiar faces opposite.
'Senju Hashirama, Senju Tobirama!'
Enma's pupils suddenly contracted, an extremely grave expression appearing on his face, even carrying a hint of shock.
"Sorry, Enma." Hiruzen's voice sounded from behind Enma.
"This time, the enemy is my traitorous disciple, Orochimaru, who has forcibly summoned the First Hokage and Second Hokage from the Pure Land using the 'Edo Tensei' technique."
Upon hearing this, Enma slowly turned his head, looked at Hiruzen, and from his old friend's eyes, burning with determination to fight to the death, confirmed this absurd and cruel fact.
He took a deep breath and nodded heavily. All questions and shock were suppressed, leaving only the purest resolve to fight to the death alongside his partner.
"I understand." Enma's voice was low and firm.
"Then, as usual."
"Transform into the Adamantine Staff!" With Hiruzen's low shout, Enma was enveloped in a cloud of white smoke!
A heavy iron staff, about two meters long, completely black and shiny, with striking gold ring patterns at both ends, flew out of the white smoke.
Hiruzen reached out and steadily grasped the Adamantine Staff that Enma had transformed into.
His aura, faintly resonating with the staff in his hand, climbed once more!
"Here we go!" Hiruzen let out a low growl, holding the Adamantine Staff, and once again charged proactively towards the two former Hokages controlled by Orochimaru!
With the enhancement of the Adamantine Staff, Hiruzen's combat effectiveness noticeably improved.
The heavy iron staff felt as light as nothing in his hands, but when swung, it carried the force of wind and thunder, fully exploiting the weapon advantage of 'one inch longer, one inch stronger'.
He no longer fought Taijutsu head-on with his two teachers, but used the staff's attack range and its occasional sudden extension to engage in mid-range maneuvering and striking.
At the same time, his rich combat experience and familiarity with his teachers' fighting styles allowed him to often anticipate attacks, and with the help of the Adamantine Staff's blocks, he barely held on under the two Hokages' storm-like Taijutsu assault.
"Watch your left, Saru!" Hashirama warned.
Hiruzen swung the Adamantine Staff to his left to block, deflecting a powerful axe kick from Hashirama.
"Behind you!" Tobirama warned.
The tip of the Adamantine Staff suddenly thrust backward, precisely jabbing at Tobirama, who had suddenly appeared behind Hiruzen, pushing him back.
With the two Hokages' warnings and the assistance of the Adamantine Staff, Hiruzen temporarily stabilized his position, exchanging blows with the two controlled predecessors. Although he was still at an absolute disadvantage, he was no longer passively taking hits like at the beginning.
However, Orochimaru was clearly not satisfied with this.
"Hehe, such a touching display of master-student affection." Orochimaru stood behind, lightly clapping his hands, his face beaming with ecstatic pleasure.
"But just this is too boring. The most praiseworthy aspects of the Honorable Hokages have never been just their Taijutsu, you know."
As Orochimaru's voice fell, Tobirama, who was engaging Hiruzen, had his eyes harden, as if trying to resist, but his body uncontrollably leaped backward, putting distance between himself and Hiruzen.
At the same time, his hands began forming hand seals at a dizzying speed… so fast they even left afterimages!
High-level Water Release, which originally required forty-four complex hand seals to activate, had been simplified and optimized to just four seals in his hands!
Tiger – Ox – Monkey – Rabbit!
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!" Tobirama shouted, also warning Hiruzen.
Rumble—!!
The humidity inside the barrier instantly skyrocketed!
Countless pale blue water-attribute Chakra particles gathered from the void, furiously spinning, compressing, and condensing before Tobirama!
In an instant, a giant, breathtakingly large, azure water dragon, completely composed of high-pressure water, reared its head within the barrier!
The water dragon was lifelike, its scales and claws clear, its eyes like yellow crystals, emanating terrifying Chakra fluctuations and vast water vapor.
It let out a deafening, rumbling roar and, carrying the momentum to crush everything, howled towards Hiruzen!
"The Second Hokage's Water Release!" Outside the Four Violet Flames Formation, Yamato, who had been nervously watching the battle, exclaimed in shock.
Although he had never seen the Second Hokage, he knew well of his peak, complexity-simplifying Water Release skills.
Witnessing this simplified seals yet doubled power Water Dragon Bullet firsthand, his shock was beyond words.
Facing this terrifying water dragon, capable of tearing even steel, Hiruzen's expression was also extremely grave.
He gripped the Adamantine Staff tightly and suddenly thrust it into the tiles beneath him, embedding it deeply.
Then, his hands began forming hand seals quickly, his Chakra Nature transforming and combining in an instant.
"Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet Technique!"
Hiruzen let out a low shout.
Boom!
The roof structure before him shook violently. The head of a giant earth dragon, composed entirely of hard earth and rock, broke through the tiles and rose up!
The earth dragon opened its giant mouth and blasted out a brown mud and stone torrent!
At the same time, Hiruzen himself took a deep breath, his chest swelling, and opened his mouth to spray forward.
"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!"
A scorching orange-red fire dragon erupted from his mouth, starting later but arriving first, and actually crashed into the mud and stone torrent sprayed by the earth dragon ahead!
The Chakras of fire and earth, at this moment, produced a wondrous reaction and amplification!
The mud and stone flow was instantly heated by the fire dragon's high temperature, partially melting, its power doubling, while the fire dragon, borrowing the physical substance of the mud and stone flow, became more solid and furious!
The brown mud and stone flow and the fiercely burning fire dragon intertwined, merged, and ferociously met the roaring giant water dragon!
Combined Ninja Technique: Earth and Fire Dragon Torrent!
Chhh—!!
An ear-piercing hiss instantly erupted!
Large clouds of white, high-temperature steam violently expanded and exploded in all directions!
They slammed fiercely against the inner wall of the barrier, causing the entire Four Violet Flames Formation to shake violently. The purple barrier flames swayed wildly, flickering unsteadily!
Water vapor permeated the air, light was dazzling, and for a moment, the scene inside was unclear.
Outside the Four Violet Flames Formation, Yamato and the others were shaken to their core by this terrifying Ninjutsu clash, sweating for Hiruzen.
'Facing the Second Hokage's terrifying Water Release, the Third Hokage could actually use such an exquisite combined Ninjutsu to resist. This strength and adaptability truly lived up to the name 'Professor'!'
However, no sooner had Hiruzen used his combined Ninjutsu to block Tobirama's Water Dragon Bullet than he had no chance to catch his breath. His field of vision was even obscured by the permeating water vapor.
"Saru! Look out! Next, I'm going to use Wood Release!"
Hashirama's loud warning pierced through the explosion's aftermath and the barrier of water vapor, clearly reaching Hiruzen's ears.
Wood Release!
Hearing these two words, not only did Hiruzen's heart sink, but Yamato outside the barrier also shuddered!
As the only inheritor of Wood Release in Konoha, he knew better than anyone the terror of Wood Release!
It was the fundamental power that allowed the First Hokage to suppress Tailed Beasts, pacify the Warring State Period, and establish Konoha!
However, just as Hashirama was preparing to form hand seals and mobilize his Chakra…
A sudden change, without any warning, occurred in the arena outside the barrier!
Rumble—!!!
The eastern side of the arena's spectator stands suddenly heaved and cracked!
Then, dozens of giant trees frantically burst out of the ground, rising up!
They grew extremely fast, their trunks twisted and fierce, their branches spreading wildly. Within just a few seconds, they had completely engulfed the large eastern section of the arena stands, transforming it into a vast sea of trees!
Thick vines entangled and strangled building debris like giant pythons, and dense canopies blotted out the sun.
"This is?!" Hashirama, who was about to perform Wood Release, paused, turned his head in surprise, and looked at the suddenly appearing, shockingly vast sea of trees outside the barrier.
A flicker of surprise first appeared in his eyes, and then, a trace of pleasant surprise even showed.
"Wood Release?! This scale... this Chakra feeling..." Hashirama murmured, an appreciative smile appearing on his face.
"I didn't expect Konoha to still have such a Wood Release Ninja! And they seem quite powerful!"
He thought that this suddenly appearing sea of trees was the work of some Konoha's Wood Release Ninja, stepping up in the village's moment of crisis.
And he was gratified that after his death, someone in Konoha had inherited this Wood Release Kekkei Genkai.
"First Hokage-sama, you may be disappointed."
Orochimaru's teasing voice sounded faintly behind Hashirama.
He licked his lips, watching Hashirama's startled face turn back, his snake eyes full of malicious amusement.
"The Ninja who performed this Wood Release is not from Konoha."
"What?!" The smile on Hashirama's face instantly froze, the surprise in his eyes turning to shock.
'Not a Konoha's Ninja?'
'At the moment Konoha was under attack, an enemy who mastered Wood Release had appeared?!'
And with Hashirama's violent emotional fluctuations, and his Chakra already mobilized to perform Wood Release, a chain reaction suddenly occurred inside the Four Violet Flames Formation!
Hum hum hum—!!!
The Wood Release Chakra around Hashirama, so vast it was suffocating and full of vitality, erupted violently!
Crack, crack, crack—!!
The sturdy glazed tile roof was, like soft soil, pushed through by countless hard wood buds breaking through the ground!
These wood buds grew rapidly, instantly turning into bucket-thick, gnarly tree trunks, madly growing upward and outward!
Thick branches, like a monster's tentacles, crisscrossed. Sharp wooden spikes burst out from the branches like spears!
In just two or three seconds, the roof, once covered with ornate tiles, was now covered by a forest of countless towering trees, twisted branches, and sharp wooden spikes!
Countless thick branches, like giant pythons emerging from their lairs, howled and strangled towards Hiruzen from all directions!