"Tch, that useless Danzo! How could he fail like this!" Orochimaru's serpentine head lifted, noticing the concluded battle in the distance.
For their cooperation, he had diverted both reincarnated Hokages to Sakura's side. Combined with Danzo's elite Root squad, the force was sufficient to assassinate any Kage.
But now? Danzo's team was wiped out. The Hokage puppets were neutralized. The old man before him was handful enough, let alone a now-free Sakura.
"Failure, then..." Orochimaru sighed, raising his hands to form seals.
"Don't even think about it!" Hiruzen, noticing the move, swung his Adamantine Staff with force. The whistling iron staff extended instantly, its diamond-hard body whipping up a fierce gale.
Orochimaru desperately summoned snakes, spitting forth a forest of Kusanagi Swords. But frost creeping across the ground froze the serpents.
The Kusanagi Swords' impact toughness plummeted in the cold, shattering into icy dust upon contact. The staff swept aside all obstacles.
"Not good!" Orochimaru crossed his arms over his side. The force traveling along the staff instantly flooded his body. Orochimaru's face contorted as Enma's power bent him double, sending him flying backward. He crashed into the earth, sliding to a stop like a pile of mud at a girl's feet.
"Hey, you here to cool off too?" Sakura bent down, her shadow falling over Orochimaru.
"Haruno Sakura... Will you truly be the guardian of this rotting windmill?" Lying in a pool of his own blood, Orochimaru strained to lift his head.
"No, I won't." Sakura shook her head gently.
"Then why... cough" Orochimaru's eyes widened, aggravating his chest injury.
"Because I see a better future. And the younger generation has grown up. The old relics should just retire!" As she spoke, Sakura made a grasping motion.
Ice crystals grew in her hand, shaping into a massive frost axe. Armament Haki coiled around it, a heart-stopping aura surging forth.
"Hmph, you boastful brat! It's far too early for us to exit the stage!" The previously weakened Orochimaru's jaw stretched impossibly wide. A pair of hands reached out from within.
Using his special Substitution Technique, Orochimaru shed his damaged skin, emerging unharmed. He formed hand seals and spewed a thick cloud of smoke.
Transformed into a demon of the mist, Orochimaru focused solely on escape. He utilized his masterful Earth Release, his body slowly dissolving, seeping into the ground through fissures Sakura had created.
But a man who knew him better than he knew himself stood outside the smoke. Hiruzen's hands formed the Snake hand seal.
"Earth Release: Opening Earth Rising Excavation!"
With Hiruzen's roar, a volcano erupted from the ground, spewing all objects containing Earth Attribute Chakra into the sky.
"Wha...?" A stunned Orochimaru was propelled skyward. He saw Hiruzen with a smug smile on his lips.
"Damnable old fool!" Orochimaru gritted his teeth. He raised a blood-smeared hand, formed a seal, and slammed it onto the air.
[Summoning Technique]
Cold smoke exploded. A massive shadow writhed, descending from above.
"Orochimaru, you bastard! We haven't settled our last account!" Manda cursed, tearing through the smoke.
"I'll make you... Aaaaahhh!" Manda, about to raise his tail to negotiate, shrieked upon seeing the approaching girl. In his final moments, he understood he had been sold out.
A terrifying axe-light burst from Sakura's hand, carrying death-dealing cold capable of freezing all things.
"Eighty Tribal Leaders: Frozen Severance!"
Instantly, the smoke screen was cleanly split, and so was Manda. A smooth, straight cut extended from the giant snake's tail upwards. A torrent of blood sprayed out, immediately freezing into a crimson ice mist.
'No escape...' Orochimaru looked at Hiruzen ahead, Sakura charging towards him from behind, and Tsunade and Jiraiya restrained in the stands. He made a decision.
His lower body transformed into a serpent's form. He launched himself forward like a hunting python.
Hiruzen raised his staff to block, but Orochimaru dodged, climbing onto the staff and rapidly closing in.
"Orochimaru, you won't succeed!" Enma roared. An arm extended from the staff, grabbing Orochimaru's serpent tail.
But the slithering Orochimaru didn't hesitate. He used his special Substitution Technique, shedding his outer skin.
"Bad move, Hiruzen, let go!" Enma's retracted arm held a snakeskin. He urgently warned Hiruzen.
Sakura was right behind them.
"Ugh!" But Hiruzen, exhausted and aged, reacted too slowly. Orochimaru's serpent body coiled around him.
"Orochimaru, you..." Hiruzen trembled, lifting his head. Suffocation flooded him.
"Help me one last time, Sarutobi-sensei!" Orochimaru bit down on Hiruzen's shoulder.
He was reluctant to abandon this compatible body, and soul transfer had a three-year cooldown.
But to escape, he had no choice.
[Living Corpse Reincarnation]
Deep blue Chakra flowed from Orochimaru's mouth into Hiruzen's body. Wherever it passed, the old man's skin developed white patches that rapidly spread.
"Orochimaru, have you gone mad?" Sakura, ready to swing her axe, was visibly shaken.
The other two Sannin finally reached their limit.
They blasted past Onoki and Raikage, rushing into the arena. Onoki and Raikage dared not to stop them further.
"Orochimaru!" Tsunade rushed to the shifting figure, grabbing his collar.
"Well? Will you attack your teacher's body now?" Orochimaru's cold laugh came from Hiruzen's form. The aged face lifted, revealing golden snake-like slits. He scanned his old friends, his gaze settling on Sakura.
"You clearly possess means of resurrection. Why this charade? Or do you truly hate the old man that much?"
Sunlight streamed down. Sakura stepped past Tsunade and Jiraiya, standing in the light, looking at Orochimaru's struggling face.
"..." Orochimaru remained silent. Decades of resentment surged, his anger difficult to calm!
"So that's what you thought." An aged voice came from Orochimaru's mouth. Half the pale face cracked away, revealing Hiruzen's wrinkled visage.
"You... How is this possible?!" Orochimaru's eyes widened, 'The container's soul should be erased! How could he reemerge?'
"How laughable. I always took pride in nurturing you three. Yet, I failed to perceive my most gifted student's disappointment. As a teacher and Hokage, I have been... terribly negligent."
The soul fusion let Hiruzen understand Orochimaru's hatred, and what monster his own ambition had created.
Danzo, Orochimaru, Shisui, Itachi... pushed away by his indecisiveness. But it was too late for regrets.
"Orochimaru, let me teach you one last Jutsu." Hiruzen smiled, resolve in his eyes. His controlled half formed one-handed seals, performing an unknown Jutsu.
"Wait, old man, stop!" Sensing the finality, Orochimaru's expression changed.
"Orochimaru, I wonder if our passing can become the wind that makes Konoha's windmill turn again?" Hiruzen completed the seals, fingers on the Ram hand seal… the first he taught Orochimaru, now becoming their end.
[Sealing Technique: Dead Demon Consuming Seal]
"Damn you!" Orochimaru's half roared.
"Hiruzen-sensei!" Jiraiya and Tsunade felt profound grief.
"Stupid old man, you... Ah!" The frost receded from Sakura. She lowered her eyes.
"Don't lower your head for me. The times are changing."
"I leave the rest to you!" Hiruzen's fading pupils reflected the three. He shouted with all his strength.
"Seal-!"