At the heart of the battlefield…
Hirofumi Ito, seeing that everything had been settled, quietly left the scene.
Orochimaru and the others instantly dispelled their summoning jutsu, vanishing in puffs of white smoke as they returned to the summoning space.
Hirofumi went straight home, acting as if nothing had happened…
His father and grandfather, Daiga Ito and Aoyama Ito, were out in the streets of the Hidden Leaf Village, leading the clan's ninjas in rescue efforts.
The Konoha Collapse Plan hadn't hit the ninja population too hard. Most of the casualties were civilians, many of whom had fallen at the hands of Kushina Uzumaki.
Truth be told, Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha, who hadn't been out on missions when the attack began, had sensed something was up from the start…
With their newfound strength, they'd initially wanted to jump into the fray. But when they caught sight of those figures, they stopped in their tracks.
Naruto felt something indescribable stirring inside him…
Especially when he saw the distant figures of his father and mother.
In the past, he'd had his loyal friends to back him up, standing in front of him when he was insulted. But now, he had his parents standing up for him too!
It was a strange, unfamiliar feeling—one Naruto had never experienced in his life.
But seeing the civilians of the Hidden Leaf killed by his mother's hands… it tugged at his heart.
Sasuke Uchiha, on the other hand, didn't feel much at all. He didn't care too deeply about the Hidden Leaf Village.
In the current village, aside from Hirofumi Ito and Naruto Uzumaki, only his close friends mattered to him.
As for everyone else's lives? They didn't concern him.
The chaos of the battle eventually died down.
From who-knows-where, Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado, those two old geezers, popped up and immediately took charge, directing ninjas in post-disaster rescue operations.
Kakashi, leading the Anbu, quickly gathered the body of the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi…
The Root ninjas seemed to materialize out of nowhere, swiftly taking control of the village's streets. Danzo, too, emerged from the shadowy depths of the Root base…
The Hidden Leaf's ninjas sprang into action, notifying the teams and ninjas out on missions.
It was as if the death of Hiruzen Sarutobi hadn't disrupted the village's operations at all.
With the three elders maintaining order, things kept running smoothly—though what those elders were truly thinking was anyone's guess…
Back at home, Hirofumi Ito channeled his chakra within the summoning space.
The commotion had been significant, and everyone in the summoning space was closely watching the events unfolding in the Hidden Leaf Village.
Aside from Butsuma Senju, Tajima Uchiha, and Izuna Uchiha, who had little connection to the village, everyone else was deeply invested in what was happening.
Tennin Hyuga, though a figure from the Warring States period, had been one of the founders of the Hidden Leaf, having led the Hyuga clan to join the village back then…
Inside the summoning space, Orochimaru's eyes gleamed with excitement. Though he'd just personally sent his teacher to his end, that didn't mean Hiruzen was truly gone.
After all, Hirofumi had mentioned wanting to see what his teacher looked like in his prime…
And honestly, Orochimaru was looking forward to it too!
In his mind, his teacher had always been the great ninja hero, not the senile Third Hokage!
Tobirama Senju's expression was far more complicated. How was he supposed to feel about his disciple?
Angry?
Oh, he was furious!
The Hidden Leaf had been thrown into chaos under that fool's leadership. But Hiruzen had already died once, which could be seen as atonement for his past mistakes, right?
Still, Tobirama really wanted to punch him!
Though, if he was being honest, he wanted to punch Danzo even more!
Hirofumi, reading the room, could tell what everyone was thinking…
"System!"
[I'm here!]
"Exchange for one golden summoning!"
[Got it!]
[Summoning System
Host: Hirofumi Ito
Wealth Points: 300,000,000
White Summons: 0
Green Summons: 0
Blue Summons: 0
Purple Summons: 0
Golden Summons: 1]
Hirofumi glanced at his system interface. He'd previously topped up 1.4 billion, giving him 1.4 billion wealth points.
After spending 1 billion on ten golden summons, he had 400 million left. He'd just used another chunk for this golden summoning…
The last time he'd performed a golden summoning was when he successfully brought back Mikoto Uchiha.
Now that the Third Hokage was dead, this should be the perfect chance to summon him!
"Summoning Jutsu!"
BOOM!
A golden array lit up, and a soul flame appeared, gradually forming a human body within the circle…
"It really is the Third Hokage…"
The onlookers' expressions grew complex as they saw the figure in the array.
A flicker of nostalgia passed through Orochimaru's eyes…
"Young teacher… you didn't expect we'd meet again so soon, did you?"
Tobirama muttered nearby, "Monkey…"
Hiruzen Sarutobi, within the array, opened his eyes in confusion.
Hadn't he just died?
His disciple Orochimaru had personally given him a glorious send-off…
So what was going on now?!
Was this the world of the dead?
Feeling his flesh-and-blood body, Hiruzen's confusion deepened.
Slowly opening his eyes, he nearly jumped out of his skin!
A huge crowd was staring at him!
There was Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki, who'd just attacked the village, along with Fugaku and Mikoto Uchiha—and Orochimaru, who'd ended his life!
And that kid Hirofumi Ito was here too?!
Wait—Teacher?!
And the First Hokage?!
What the hell was going on?!
Was everything he'd just gone through a genjutsu?!
Damn it! Such a powerful genjutsu! When did it happen?!
But then Hiruzen noticed something off.
His body… it felt young again!
No longer frail and old, his chakra was brimming with vitality. He was in the prime of his life!
Gulp…
Hiruzen swallowed hard, utterly shocked.
"Orochimaru… what's going on here?!
Are you messing with those forbidden experiments again?!
So… what kind of state am I in right now?!"