"Then what happened?"
Jiraiya looked at the Third Raikage and his son, both of whom were wearing faces of deep gloom, trying with all their might to restrain their fury. He already had a pretty good idea.
"They're dead!
Everyone involved in the assassination, including the First Raikage's own younger brother, perished under Lord Garp's fists.
Even the First Tsuchikage, who had managed to escape at the time and had returned to today's Iwagakure, was chased relentlessly by Lord Garp all the way to the village gates.
In front of the Second Tsuchikage Mu, the Third Tsuchikage Onoki, and countless Iwagakure shinobi, he was struck down right there at the gates of Iwagakure."
When Orochimaru finished speaking, it didn't matter whether the listeners knew the details or not.
Any Konoha ninja who heard this and looked at Garp was struck with sheer horror, faces frozen as if seeing a monster.
To track a First- Kage all the way back to Iwagakure and, in front of two generations of Tsuchikage and a crowd of shinobi, kill first Tsuchikage…
This was an inconceivably terrifying power!
No wonder everyone who had witnessed Garp's feats during the Warring States period feared him to their very bones.
"No wonder Onoki is such a coward. Losing his son was enough to make him want to withdraw from the war and write a surrender letter!
So the First Tsuchikage was literally hammered to death right in front of his eyes!
Indeed, Onoki's cowardice has its reason!"
Jiraiya felt his head spin listening to this.
"…"
Minato didn't speak, but his handsome, sunny face betrayed a complex mix of emotions.
If it weren't for the Third Hokage, Tsunade, and the others who knew the truth like Fugaku, remaining silent, he might even suspect that Orochimaru was telling him a myth rather than the history of the ninja world.
Fifty elite Jonin attacking? That was manageable.
Given time, he could take them down himself.
But ten people of the caliber of Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade, attacking together… he'd better run as far as he could.
And that's not even counting the First Tsuchikage or the First Raikage's younger brother, whose strength was unknown.
"It seems someone's missing!
Weren't the ones planning that assassination supposed to be the First Raikage's two younger brothers?"
Suddenly, Shisui noticed a gap in Orochimaru's story.
"…"
The Third and Fourth Raikage father-and-son duo stiffened. Their eyes, locked on Shisui, were like two wild beasts gone mad.
Even someone as powerful as Shisui felt his scalp tingle under their murderous stares, his Mangekyo Sharingan flashing involuntarily.
"The First Raikage's other younger brother?
He was granted the name 'A' by the First Raikage, just like the A standing before you now, a preordained Second Raikage.
Because of the circumstances of building the village in the Land of Lightning, he couldn't participate in that mission… but he died too…"
Orochimaru cast a peculiar glance at the Third Raikage and his son, then said with a playful tone.
"Dead?"
Minato froze, then looked at Garp, who hadn't spoken but whose distant gaze seemed to awaken memories from long ago.
"Also… at Lord Garp's hands?" he asked hesitantly.
"No, at the hands of the First Raikage himself."
Orochimaru shook his head and revealed a death no one could have anticipated.
"What?"
"Wasn't he the preordained Second Raikage?"
"How could he not die at Lord Garp's hands, but instead be killed by his own brother?"
The sudden twist, the bizarre death of the Second Raikage, left Jiraiya and the Konoha ninja stunned.
"That's enough!"
At that moment, the Third Raikage could no longer restrain the fury building in his heart.
He had never been a man suited to endurance and restraint.
If it weren't for the Fourth Raikage's life resting in Garp's fists, if it weren't for the terror of the one who had defeated him…
Before his defeat, just a single word from Orochimaru would have had him chasing the man all the way to the Hokage's office.
"Could it be…"
Seeing the Third Raikage erupt like this, Minato's mind raced. He thought of a possibility that sent chills down his spine.
"History repeats itself. This is the tradition of your Kumogakure Raikage lineage.
I think, Third Raikage, instead of throwing a tantrum here, you might as well emulate your First Raikage… personally deliver your brother, the preordained Second Raikage A, to Lord Garp, and execute him yourself."
Orochimaru seemed utterly unfazed by the icy expression of the Third Raikage, offering his advice with a cheerful smile.
"…"
Whether it was Minato, who had already guessed part of the outcome, or Jiraiya, or any Konoha ninja present, all were left staring at each other in shock, mouths agape.
No matter how vivid a ninja's imagination, none could have guessed that the First Raikage A had ever done such a thing.
No wonder he was the shame of Kumogakure in his era.
That was his own brother, the preordained Second Raikage! And yet he had personally delivered him to the enemy and executed him.
What kind of ruthlessness could accomplish that?
Even Hiruzen and Danzo, ruthless as they were, couldn't help but quietly marvel.
"'Iron Fist,' this is my doing. If you want to kill me, then do it. Why humiliate us?
Isn't it just my life you want? I'm right here. Say the word, and it's yours anytime!"
A suddenly rose, teeth gritted, glaring at Garp with unrestrained fury, his entire body radiating dazzling Lightning Release chakra.
...
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