Chapter Four
"Hayate!"
Being an ANBU meant walking side by side with death almost every day. As such, witnessing the death of a teammate ended up being a part of the job description. Hence why none of her peers appeared overly shocked about seeing Hayate dead on the ground. However, witnessing the love of her life like this made Yuugao freeze. Her analytical mind fought bravely to overcome the huge pain in her heart, but eventually lost.
Suddenly, her shoulders trembled with the mask covering the tears flowing from her eyes. Despite being the team's second in command, right now protocol just wasn't in her mind as she shunshined away, leaving her team behind to deal with the situation.
Right after the event with Hayate's death, the Hokage had gathered all the Jounin to tell them the news.
"I had gathered everyone to relay the terrible news. Today, a team from ANBU had found Gekkou Hayate dead."
Immediately after the Hokage relayed the terrible news, murmurs started to spread amongst the Jounin. The rumors had quickly started, of course. The fact that every available Jounin stood inside the village walls was of course troubling. If what happened to Hayate happened in a mission outside village walls was one thing, but with him here, no doubt this was the work of one of the shinobi teams from the other villages.
But that sprang a thousand questions in itself. While Gekkou Hayate was a Tokubetsu Jounin, his fame wasn't that high in the bounty station. No one would have risked breaching the village, risking arrest or worse, to hunt Hayate. And the ANBU personnel knew each and every shinobi from the other villages that came for the Chunin exams. None of them even bothered looking at the Chunin exams proctor, much less target him specifically.
Anko and Kurenai came together to the meeting and both flinched at the news. Most of all, both were of the same mind, to find Yuugao as soon as possible to be there for their friend.
"Is there any leads as to who could have done this, Hokage-sama?" The Hokage turned to the aloof Kakashi.
"The details are scarce, I'm afraid. Traces of corrosive chakra were found in a first analysis, but we simply can't come to any conclusions at this point." As soon as this precise piece of evidence became known, everyone immediately made the connection with the Nine Tails Host or the shinobi from Sunagakure. And of course, the Hokage knew what everyone was thinking as soon as he opened his mouth.
"And I know that most of you would point fingers at Naruto or one of the shinobi from Suna. Right now, I have Naruto in custody and ANBU teams scouting the Suna shinobi from the shadows, but so far nothing out of the norm." It was clear to the elder Hokage, though, that his Jounin personnel didn't enjoy hearing that their leader was seemingly dismissing Suna's involvement in this matter.
"This can't be ignored. What are your orders, Hokage-sama?" The Hokage then turned to Ibiki, in deep ponder as he puffed the pipe.
"Even though I can't immediately accuse Naruto nor Suna for Hayate's murder, whatever happened or whoever did this have relation to the Chunin exams." Stating the obvious, in everyone's mind.
"As such, placing everyone of you in the stands is paramount right now. Ibiki…gather with Shikaku and the ANBU personnel to increase security outside the stadium. Right now, we must at the ready for any possible threats looming, both inside and outside the stadium. Dismissed."
No sooner had the Hokage said so, all available Jounin left the room in a shunshin, leaving the Hokage alone. Even his personal advisors had left, leaving Hiruzen Sarutobi alone. The walls close to Hiruzen's position suddenly shifted, before Jiraiya revealed himself, hidden in the room the entire time.
"What have you found thus far?"
"As you said, none of the shinobi from Suna are behaving any differently. And no sign of Orochimaru as well, sensei." Hiruzen frowned at that. His prodigious student was slippery like that. Sneaking in and out of anywhere was one of the trades that made the snake sannin so dangerous. "The Kazekage is due to arrive tomorrow, isn't he?" Hiruzen nodded briefly, already knowing what his student was thinking.
"I have already placed a team of ANBU to escort him and his entourage since they crossed Fire Country. While the move in itself would cause suspicion, it is not outside the norm." Jiraiya scratched his chin, before turning to his sensei once more.
"Do you want me to stand by your side in the arena, tomorrow?" Despite it being a show of strength, it's not like Konoha to show its hand beforehand.
"No, that would be ill advised. If Orochimaru is truly behind all of this, then he will show himself when we least expect him to. It's best that you remain hidden until the threat is revealed." Jiraiya knew his sensei's line of thought and he didn't like it one bit.
"He will come for you, no doubt about that." Hiruzen nodded, concurring with his student.
"Indeed, but I can handle him if it comes to a direct standoff. It's the village that I'm worried about, Jiraiya." The Gama Sannin had his doubts leaving the Hokage alone against the snake. However, it would be naïve to assume that Orochimaru won't place the village in jeopardy while he faced the Hokage.
If it happens, this fight will be on the snake's terms. After all, a snake never attacks unless it's sure that the target won't be able to retaliate. However, Hiruzen was also quite lenient with the snake sannin in the past. So, the perverted wondered if history would repeat itself if they faced each other. Hiruzen, for his part, took the sannin's sudden quietness as humor. It could be said that Jiraiya was worried about his chances against the sannin, or worried about the village, but Hiruzen couldn't really tell.
"What, you don't believe I can handle him, Jiraiya? I may be old, but I'm still more than able to teach my student a lesson or two." The Gama Sannin smirked at the old man's teasing, but it was an empty smile, quite unlike the sannin's usual mood.
"Oh it's not that, I know how strong you can be, when pissed." The last time they sparred, Hiruzen mopped the floor with Jiraiya. "What I doubt is whether or not you'll finally fight him seriously this time."
As soon as Jiraiya finished the accusation, he saw the Hokage narrowing his eyebrows at him, even flaring his chakra and increasing his killing intent. Though, the pervert sannin stared at the Hokage, just as serious. It was no secret between the elite of the village how Orochimaru's actions were only possible due to Hiruzen looking the other way at times. And despite sometimes leaving in denial about that, Hiruzen certainly couldn't fault Jiraiya for what he said.
The hidden ANBU detail became uncomfortable in the room as the two powerhouses stared at each other. It was rare for most to see such tremendous energy nowadays, so one of the junior ANBU had fallen on the ground, with lack of air, due to the sudden attrition. After this, the pervert sannin simply smirked, easing the situation.
"Well, see you tomorrow then, sensei."
The Hokage smirked with a nod as the sannin left the room while the other ANBU assisted the unconscious junior ANBU.
Chunin Exams Stadium
The day of the Exam Finals, almost all of the Konoha citizens and the village's many visitors slowly marched towards the Stadium.
Many of the shinobi were already inside the stadium. The Jounin were placed in different sections of the audience, while seemingly chatting and having a good time with one another. The Chunin proctors were in one place, together with the Genin who participated in the exams. The most influential clans of the village had also a place for themselves, such as the Hyuga Clan filling most of the seats. Many sets of White eyes and long robes filled the seats. The other Genin were seated together as well, with Ino and Choji sitting together with their respective clan members.
The Jounin-sensei were all seated together: Kurenai, Kakashi, Asuma and Gai. Anko had decided to tag along with her best friend as they looked down at the arena. Yesterday, right after leaving the Hokage's Office, both women had tried to search for the distraught Yuugao in pretty much all possible locations. Her house, which happened to be in a building filled with ANBU operatives; Yuugao's favorite sushi restaurant and even the ANBU HQ where they would be sure that Yuugao would be, but she was nowhere to be found.
"Do you think she will be alright?" Kurenai exhaled hard at the question, pondering that herself. Despite needing to be here both for Shino's sake as well as the Hokage's orders, Kurenai's heart went to her friend.
"Yuugao-chan is strong-willed for sure, but she was head over heels for him. I can't imagine the pain she is in right now." The snake wielder then lifted her sleeves, before a brown snake came out.
"I've let one my snake summons to at least check on her from time to time, though I'd imagine that she can escape your house anytime and go back to the bar once more."
They had talked extensively last night about whether or not they could keep the ANBU kunoichi inside her house. Or if they ever should do that. No matter how much assistance they provide, unfortunately, this is something that Yuugao needs to cope with.
As both women's thoughts went to Kakashi, they knew scarecrow Jounin had gone through similar pains. Plus, Kakashi happened to be Yuugao's role model while in ANBU. The man in question could very well play a role in aiding Yuugao in this situation, but they doubted that Kakashi would effectively do anything about it.
"We should check on her the minute the exams are over, then." Anko nodded, concurring, before all eyes turned to the Hokage's seat just as the Kazekage arrived followed by two bodyguards.
No sooner had the Hokage greeted the Kazekage and exchanged a few pleasantries, the Hokage had quickly announced the beginning of the Chunin exams's final round, before the Genin competitors entered the arena forming a line. Naruto, Neji, Shikamaru, Temari, Kankuro, Shino and Gaara. Sasuke haven't arrived yet.
They calmly entered the arena amongst the cheers of the crowd, before they gathered in the middle as a Konoha Jounin was there already waiting for them, wearing a blue bandanna just like Hayate, though this man happened to be chewing a toothpick by the looks of things. Everyone was expecting that it would be the same proctor from the preliminaries.
Most people where making bets. The finals of the chunin exams had arrived. Some people just wanted to enjoy good fights while some wanted to enjoy the good fights while making some money off the tournament. No one could be blamed really for making bets; it was what made the tournament worthwhile watching.
Well the streets where full a few hours ago, but now they were all quiet. Only a select few could be seen within the streets of the village. The majority of people were gathered at the stadium which the finals are to be held.
The stadium was full of people. There were no empty seats, each seat was taken. To some the stadium was a bit too small since not everybody could get inside the stadium.
The Fire Lord as well as other leaders of other countries where also present at the stadium. Even some leaders of small villages where present at the stadium, all in the name of the chunin finals. They were present to observe the next generation of powerful shinobi and also to see the strength of genins from other villages. Konoha had the most genins in the finals it was good because it also gave them a chance to see if Konoha was still producing strong shinobi's as it had been over the previous years.
''It certainly is lively in here. Don't you agree Hokage-dono?'' The 'Kazekage' suddenly spoke. One could not see his face clearly due to the Kage robe he wore.
The Sandaime looked at the 'Kazekage' and smiled, ''It certainly is.''
Before the conversation between the two kages could go further a man appeared before the Hokage. He had shoulder-length brown hair which hanged about his face with brown eyes. He wore a forehead protector like a bandanna, and a standard jonin outfit and a senbon in his mouth.
''Should I start with the finals, Hokage-sama?'' The man asked.
The Sandaime nodded in approval. All the contestants were already present along with other important people. There was no need to keep the crowd waiting any longer.
When the audience quieted down, the Jounin proctor named Shiranui Genma addressed the lined up Genins with the rules.
Genma stepped forward and jumped at the middle on the arena just in front of the contestants. He smiled at them before looking back at the crowd, which had become settled.
''Welcome everyone,'' he said loudly for everyone to hear him,
"My name is Genma Shiranui, proctor of the finals. I would like to welcome you all to Konoha's chunin selection exam finals!'' Genma yelled out to the crowd who welcomed his words with cheers, ''We will now begin with the matches between the contestants that have worked hard and reached the finals of this tournament!''
"As you can see, the terrain is quite different than the other parts and this is a one-on-one fight until the last Genin remains standing. The fights shall proceed until one is either dead or admits defeat, but I can step in at any time."
Genma then allowed some time for everyone to acknowledge the rules or lack thereof, before continuing.
"Okay, so the first round is between Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuga Neji. The rest shall clear the arena right now." Shikamaru and Shino had briefly wished good luck to Naruto, before the six Genin left the arena. Genma then stood on the side as Naruto and Neji eyed each other for a while.
The two Genin had eyed each other for a while, both measuring each other up. However, before Genma could authorize the match, Naruto and Neji were quite surprised by the sudden noise from the crowd.
It was not a noise of cheer, however, but of boos and curses and the blond Genin didn't need to focus his hearing to see exactly what the crowd was saying. He looked around quietly as he observed the seemingly unison voice of the crowd patently obviously against him. His face betrayed nothing, already knowing how the village felt about him…still felt about him. He shrugged and dawned a goofy smile.
Neji narrowed his eyes at the blonde fool, "What are you smiling at loser? Can't you see you're a disgrace to the Village. Fate deemed it so."
Naruto continued his Foxy smile not concerned about the Hyūga's disrespect. He didn't even waste his time responding.
Genma raised an eyebrow at the weird interaction, seeing both were ready, he rose his hand about to begin the match.
"Okay, if both contestants are ready then... BEGIN!"
!!BOOOOOOMMMM!!!
A exposition rocked the Village as giant summon snakes busted through the wall of the arena, causing everything to go into chaos.
Few Minutes Earlier
At the main gate, the two eternal gate guards of Konoha, Izumo Kamizuki and Kotetsu Hagane were playing cards to pass by time. They were easily bored since no one would come to the gate during this time and check into the village, so you have to pity them and find it logical that they were even bored.
They have been given this post for the last two years, even though the pay was good it it of course came with drawbacks. The only people that came through the gate were civilians, travelling merchants and the occasional musician, along with some of their own ninja. But today was going to be very different.
"Hey Izumo when is something interesting gonna happen?" whined Kotetsu. "Got any two's?".
"Be careful what you wish for you might just get." replied Izumo with a smirk.
"Go fish."
Their thoughts were soon interrupted when a horde of snakes to charge to the village. Had it been one, he may have attempted to stop it, but it wasn't just one. There were more than twenty large snakes that could swallow more than a hundred men whole and still demand for more.
Three of the monstrous creatures hissed their way into the village. They slammed into the buildings along the way.
Destroying the buildings. And then the unthinkable happened. While people cried, trying to escape the falling buildings, and flying debris, the snakes started spitting out shinobi.
It was then that he realized, the village was under attack.
His eyes turned into his partner in crime. The man was already pushing for the gates to close. To stop more of those damn hissing reptiles from crawling into the village.
He jumped into the walls, watching. Around the walls, more large snakes were trying to climb. As if prepared, more snakes were sliding throughout the village, getting ready for battle. No, the battle had already began.
It was going to be chaos. He never thought he would live to see the day were someone would be brave enough to attack the Leaf. His beloved home.
"What you gawking at?!" Kotetsu shouted at him.
He looked down, the gates were closed. Boom! A snake slammed into the gate. He hoped, there was no Bijuu. How would the village survive another trauma like that?
!!BOOOOOM!!
They were slamming into the gates. Kotetsu was sweating bullets now. Izumo knew, anymore of this and the gates would probably not hold on. Behind them, roars of battle were already started. It was like the enemy was already within the village.
How that was possible baffled him.
Anbu flashed past him, standing above the walls, with the gates below. Rather impressively, they launched lightning attacks toward the snakes. In a puff of smoke, after hisses of pain, the snakes disappeared.
The realization dawned on him – Orochimaru. He was the only known Snake summoner. And most likely the one with the power to launch this daring attack.
He jumped down to Kotetsu. "Sorry," he apologized for his daze. "We cant stay here. We need to jump and try to save civilians… usher them to safety."
Kotetsu pointed at the immediate buildings were the snakes had crashed and where the enemy shinobi had started attacking.
Without warning, both dashed toward the target in the comfort that with the gates closed, no more snakes would enter the village.
With Hiruzen
A moment later, Jiraiya appeared in front of Hiruzen "Sensei, I will deal with Orochimaru and his summons. You need to stay here to command things."
Hiruzen shook his head. Had he been willing then. Had he taken a decision then, he would have stopped Orochimaru. He wouldn't have sent him. He would have done it himself. Orochimaru was his problem and he would deal with it.
"No.. You deal with the summons. Do it now before he comes here." He then looked at his fellow Kage, "I'm terribly sorry about this KazeKage-sama, please find your people and evacuate."
Rasa waved his hand dismissively, "If it's Orochimaru we're fighting I'll help you. I'll stand behind you as back up. Consider it a favor to one neighboring village to another." He said smiling. Hiruzen smiled back as he took off his robes. "Well it looks like my student will have his hands full."
Jiraiya frowned at this. "We are still looking for him. It is going to be a disaster if he appears…" He then slammed his hands on the ground.
Summoning Technique
Jiraiya's screamed as he summoned the Toads into battle. And to think he would summon them over an attack by Orochimaru. It wasn't just the Sandaime alone who had blundered. He had too. There were many times he came across Orochimaru and he didn't do anything. He'd even tried to bring the Sannin back to Konoha. A hopeless cause if action. But friendship sometimes compelled one to do that.
This was a step too far. Something that could never be forgiven.
"Why have you summoned me, Jiraiya?" Gamabunta demanded the moment he appeared in a puff of smoke.
Jiraiya didn't have to answer the question. Immediately, he sensed the presence of the damn slithering reptiles and went on alarm. Konoha was under attack. Manda was probably around. It didn't take time for him to spot the dark creature hissing as it crushed buildings, charging toward them. Anbu chased after it, trying to burn it alive with Katon jutsu. But it must slid away from them.
"Grrr… I hate that damn snake…" Gamabunta said withdrawing his sword. "You owe me after this, Jiraiya."
He quickly held up his sword as Manda threw himself at him. He positioned it carefully in front of him and the snake crashed into it with its head. Orochimaru sat pretty atop, a wide grin on his lips.
Manda hissed, his forked tongue escaped from his mouth. Gamabunta quickly jumped back. He didn't want the crawling insect to spit out poison from close range.
Jiraiya glared at Orochimaru. It was good that their sensei wasn't around here yet. He was going to want to face this person. Jiraiya could face him.
The buildings were burning. Battles were already resulting in deaths. Some snakes had already passed the walls and were laying siege in the village. It was just pure destruction. There was no other intention aside from destroying things. Orochimaru was truly intent on trying to destroy the Leaf. There wasn't a lot of man power behind. But the summons and the Bijuu were making things complicated.
"How low you have fallen Orochimaru. To attack the village that made you! I cant believe you would do this to sensei!"
"Kukukuku!" Orochimaru laughed. "Don't be surprised now, Jiraiya-kun. You were planning on killing me. I decided to do the most sensible thing. And it was sensei's decision that I should be killed."
"If you think you're capable of destroying Konoha, you have one thing coming for you, Orochimaru…" Jiraiya jumped down, taking a stance. "Go deal with the other snakes. They are causing more problems!" he said to the Toads.
"I'm clumsy, so they might slip through…' the other Toad said before jumping away.
"You want to handle both Manda and Orochimaru." Gamabunta asked
"I can handle them. It push comes, I will use Sage Mode. I cannot let the destruction continue… and allow Orochimaru to escape this village with his life," Jiraiya said in a serious tone, hands held together.
"Don't be all cocky!" Gamabunta shouted but he understood and departed from the scene, heading straight toward the village gates.
"I would love to fool around with you, Jiraiya and finish the job I should have done long ago, but you're not my opponent." Orochimaru said, folding his hands. "Deal with him." He said to Manda.
"You ordering me around, Orochimaru I'll deal with you later" Manda exclaimed angrily
"Kukukuku…" Orochimaru laughed ignoring the snake "I'm making a request. I will pay of course."
"Don't forget. You still owe me from last time."
"There is plenty in this village. I will deliver…" Orochimaru said, trying to jump away, but Jiraiya jumped toward him. He didn't look back.
Jiraiya narrowed his eyes toward his right, seeing Manda's tail cutting through the air as it flashed toward him. It was going to hurt if it hit him. But this momentarily lapse in concentration was enough for Orochimaru to make his escape.
Before the tail could hit him, Jiraiya held out both his hands, positioning his body to face it. As it was about to hit him, both hands touched the tail, using it to flip in mid-air while avoiding the swing. He quickly disappeared and landed on the rooftop, staring at the large snake, wondering how the hell he was going to deal with it quick enough to chase after Orochimaru.
He couldn't leave Manda. It would just go on a destruction spree. The Anbu were busy cleaning up the walls of the other snakes and they were doing it swiftly. It was just the ones within the village. Not that many of them. With the Toads in the scene, this would be over quickly. The shortest invasion ever recorded.
Orochimaru was a fool to think this would result in Konoha being destroyed.
With Hiruzen
Hiruzen stared at his former student, not with anger, but with a look of disappointment. Sadness even. To think he had failed one of his students to such a level that he would end up hating Konoha to the point of trying to destroy it. Perhaps this was how this cruel world fated him over his failures.
But this just summed up his life. He should have done something about Orochimaru long ago. It had been pointed out to him long ago even when Orochimaru was younger that there was evil about him. But Hiruzen had been blind. Even when he opened his eyes, he'd thought his favored pupil would eventually change.
How wrong he was. Tobirama would have been disappointed in him. No, he was sure his sensei was. He wouldn't take long to know. After all, he was willing to put an end to this charade, even if it meant sacrificing himself in the end. For this village, Hiruzen was going to give his last breath.
"Don't look at me like that, sensei… you'll make me feel bad…" Orochimaru started, with a small grin on his lips.
"You still call me sensei?"
"Well, you are my sensei. You taught me a lot about snakes. You led me to this path. If not for your knowledge, I likely wouldn't have come this far…"
Hiruzen doubted it. Orochimaru was a once in a generation genius. A pity, he'd become evil. Hiruzen would have made him Hokage. Maybe even if he hadn't realized the extent of Orochimaru's lust for power, he would have still made this person Hokage.
"Your arrogance knows no boundaries Orochimaru. You actually think you can destroy the Hidden Leaf. Smart, yes. But it is your arrogance that will ultimately cost you," Hiruzen said, ignoring Orochimaru's mind games.
Hiruzen removed his robe and took a stance.
"But sensei, I don't want you to die. I want you to witness the destruction of the Hidden Leaf."
"Destruction? Can't you see you're losing?"
Orochimaru laughed. "Sensei, you're not in my position to speak what I see. The numbers we are losing are nothing. You have yet to see all my cards."
Hiruzen narrowed his eyes. Those words had a chilling effect on him. What could Orochimaru be talking about?
"I like that look…" Orochimaru hissed gleefully. "And sensei, you're going to have the Grandview as I destroy the Hidden Leaf. I just want you to watch."
"Enough of this, Orochimaru! Come!" Hiruzen said taking a stance.
"As you wish!"
Orochimaru didn't lunge at his sensei, he held out his left hand. Multiple snakes burst out. They increased in size and length, stretching toward his sensei. Given their size, they quickly hit the ground and just slithered toward the old man.
It was not advisable fighting atop of the Hokage tower. It was an important building. It would only get destroyed if he fought here.
Hiruzen watched the large snakes, bundled together in their hisses as they snaked toward him in menacing glory. He dashed along the edges of the top of the tower, just as they were above to reach him. The snakes followed him and he held out his right hand, summoning a large shuriken. As he continued to make a run from the snakes, he hurled the shuriken toward the center of the snakes.
Soon, the snakes reached him and just as they were about to bite him, he disappeared in a puff of smoke, replaced by a large shuriken planted with explosive tags. The snakes couldn't stop themselves from taking a bite at the shuriken. The moment they did so, they tags exploded.
The heads of the snakes exploded, pieces sent flying as their bodies caught flames.
Orochimaru's eyes shifted toward the middle where the old man was. He saw more tags and then quickly detached himself from the snakes and jumped back.
The second he landed, he sensed a spike of chakra from above. The tags hadn't been set off. A dummy by his sensei. The old man was in mid-air, jumping toward one of the pillars with his hands around his mouth.
Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet
Hiruzen's bloated mouth expelled chakra converted into flames. He released it in the form of a stream of flames, burning in the air as they traveled toward his former student.
Seeing the attack coming all the way, Orochimaru responded by clapping his hands together. He released a powerful gusts of wind, so powerful it left cracks on the tower as it moved toward the incoming attack.
The jutsu collided in midair, exploding into a fiery of crimson flames that formed a large ball above the Hokage tower.
Sensing his sensei jump away, Orochimaru dashed toward him. As he sped past the rotting bodies of the snakes, the explosive tags glowed.
He cursed.
!!BOOOM!!
As the smoke clears, the tiles in which they were standing cracked under the force of their chakra powered dash as Hiruzen immediately went through a sequence of hand seals.
Ninja Art: Tile Shuriken
Orochimaru observed as many tiles left the roof and turned into shuriken from Hiruzen's technique. The snake then laughed and jumped to the air. His tongue turned to a large viper that attacked Hiruzen and lodged its fangs in Hiruzen's neck, making the old man flinch and the snake Sannin laughed, joking about his sensei's old age.
Orochimaru then used the snake to drag his body towards his sensei, considering the amount of venom that he was injecting in Hiruzen's bloodstream. In mid-distance, though, Orochimaru frowned as Hiruzen's body turned into mud and melted away.
Releasing the snake back inside his mouth, Orochimaru then landed on the ground and looked around for his sensei, before his eyes turned right…right where Hiruzen appeared with a finished hand seal sequence.
Earth Release: Earth Flow River
The place where Orochimaru was standing turned into a mud river as the snake Sannin was instantly dragged down the roof.
"Is this it, sensei?" Orochimaru just chuckled at being dragged, while doing hand seals, but before he could finish, Hiruzen beat him to it, with a sequence of his own.
Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bomb
Orochimaru looked startled as a dragon head emerged from the mud river and unleashed a full bombardment of mud balls at him. Still, it didn't look as threatening, but Hiruzen had other plans as well, making even more hand seals, before unleashing a fire beam technique that mixed with the mud bombs. The result…Orochimaru was set aflame, screaming in pain.
When the mud river vanished and there was no sign of Orochimaru anywhere, Hiruzen just narrowed his eyes, visibly irritated at his student.
"Stop the stupid act, Orochimaru…please don't treat your old sensei like this." The hollow laughter of the snake echoed in the clearing, until Orochimaru emerged from below the roof, while a smile was on his face.
"Yes, very good sensei. Though, I think I deserve better coming from you. Did you truly think that this level of jutsu would be enough against me?"
Hiruzen, though, merely tsked at the comment.
"So…how about we stop playing around, sensei…or are you so desperate to finish this and go save this pathetic village?" The Hokage frowned at the small jab. To believe that he would hear this from his own student was like a punch to the gut…he truly needed to be present and protect the village, not waste his time in this pathetic fight. Still, it didn't look like he would be going anywhere, not with Orochimaru and this two-line barrier technique that his student's lackeys created around them.
In the end, Hiruzen had to consider that the village had the means to protect itself without him for a while.
So, grabbing the fire hat for a while, Hiruzen permitted himself a moment of relaxation as he inflamed his chakra coils, ready for the true fight.
Both inflamed their respective chakra to the maximum as the roof started to shake and the dust began to lift. As student and sensei stared at each other once more, neither seemed perturbed about the combined onslaught of their chakra clashing with one another.
No sooner had they flared their chakra to the brim, both superior shinobi dashed to close the distance. Hiruzen grabbed a lone shuriken from his pouch and hurled it at Orochimaru, before going through hand seals.
Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique
Afterward, the lone shuriken turned into dozens, while Orochimaru went through a sequence of hand seals of his own.
Summoning: Impure World Resurrection
Hiruzen immediately cursed his old student for daring to use this technique on him. As he saw the first and second coffins rise in front of him, Hiruzen frowned when he saw the third one rise. Doing hand seals of his own, Hiruzen managed to cancel the third coffin from rising as well, just as the shurikens embedded on the first two coffins. Orochimaru just chuckled at the vague but useless attempt to stop him. Despite the third coffin not being useful, the first and second ones were more than enough for what he wanted to do.
The Hokage was starting to sweat profusely, considering that he knew precisely whom Orochimaru had brought from the dead. Truly, from the atrocities the snake had committed, this one easily topped it all.
When the coffins opened, Hiruzen stood face to face with two of his own predecessors, the Senju brothers, Hashirama and Tobirama. The snake was visibly thrilling to see the look of pure shock coming from the Hokage.
"So, what will you do now, Sarutobi-sensei?"
The corpses belonging to the First and Second Hokages slowly walked outside the coffins, like zombies at first. Their eyes were devoid of life and even many of the usual expressions and mannerisms that were familiar to Hiruzen were present. Hashirama Senju was exuberant, expansive, and could easily attract everyone to his cause.
Tobirama Senju was calm, collected, and rarely talked unless it was necessary. Well, Tobirama didn't look much different than when he was alive, but Hiruzen knew his sensei better than most. Once Hiruzen Sarutobi could just picture himself much younger looking up to these two as his role models. Now, thanks to his student, he was able to meet them once more, however, this was not the meeting that Hiruzen wanted to have. Not by a long shot.
"Hashirama-sama, Tobirama-sama…" The two previous Hokage then stopped as they heard the familiar voice, though both clearly were struggling to realize what was going on right now. After all, seeing an old Sarutobi Hiruzen could be quite surprising.
"It's been too long, Saru…" Hashirama commented on it, but Hiruzen noticed that it still lacked the old Senju Hashirama's mannerism. Hiruzen hardened his resolve.
"Here I come…" Gathering enough air inside his lungs, Hiruzen finished the hand seals sequence and ignited the air inside his lungs, releasing it all in one great white fire beam.
Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet
The deeply concentrated white fire beam charged at the previous Hokages like a mad train, taking most of the tiles in its path. However, the Nidaime Hokage merely went through a small sequence of hand seals, before gathering water inside his lungs.
Water Release: Water Encampment Wall
Hiruzen stopped his technique as soon as he saw the geyser of water from his sensei's mouth, instantly dousing the flames. Hiruzen saw as droplets of water still hovered in front of the Nidaime Hokage, before the man made a simple praying hand seal, molding his chakra. The water started forming around Tobirama like a small water typhoon at first, before climbing towards the heavens as the man exploded his chakra with a shout.
Water Release: Water Shockwave
The tidal wave created by the Nidaime Hokage was quite threatening indeed, but Hiruzen didn't wait two seconds before spitting mud on the ground and lifting a tall earth wall to block the incoming wave from dragging him away.
Earth Release: Mud Wall
Hiruzen, now on top of the mud wall stood tall looking down at his three opponents. The power of his predecessors is amazing. Even after all this time, a fraction of their power is enough to almost break his will. Anger start to set in as a vein bulged on his head, the complete mockery to everything he stood for. He had enough! No more of this charade, he'll just use something that'll completely evaporate everything.
He now knows he can't win with a head to head combat, no he must play to his student ego. Hiruzen then looked at Orochimaru with a serious look.
Hiruzen unsealed weapon and pushed himself in the air and with his mastery of Wind style suspended himself. "HU-AHHHH!" He grunted as he spread legs out and his arms out across from each other and his chakra level skyrocketed.
"Orochimaru, you claimed to be the strongest. A genius, and a immortal well then prepare yourself! Consider this retribution for all the atrocities you've committed!" Hiruzen screamed
Orochimaru continued smiling at the ordeal
"What is he doing!" yelled a random leaf ninja
Jiraiya observed silently as the ground began to shake, he saw the veins on his Sensei forehead and his muscled bulged. A white ball of fire began phase in and out of existence in front of him. Chakra struck of from his body striking the ground creating craters and small explosions. The wind begin to pick and blow debris of rock around the battlefield.
"He's lost his mind! He going to destroy us all!" yelled another Leaf Nin.
"Hold your ground! He's still in control! Let's see how this plays out!" Ordered Jiraiya, 'You're not one for simply showing off Sensei, this attack isn't you're endgame, what's your plan?'
"He's bluffing! There is no way he'll fire an attack with that much power from here, he'll kill his comrades in the blast." said a random Oto Nin looking up in the sky. The whole battlefield froze as they felt the power of a Kage.
"INTRIGUING SENSEI!" Yelled a smirking Orochimaru with a calculating gleam in his eye.
Thunder began to echo in the background and the ground below began to rumble at the power Hiruzen was putting out. The intense look on concentration on his face suddenly turned to a smirk.
"Edo Tensei? Did you really think you can win with dead men? Now if you really think your the greatest of the Sannin then just try and stop this!" roared Hiruzen.
'So that's what he's doing! He's provoking Orochimaru in challenging his attack! Genius!' thought Jiraiya with wide eyes. "We need to move back and take some cover!" He ordered . Konoha ninja proceeded to retreat out the blast range.
Fire Release: Fire Dragon's Wrath
Suddenly, everything went white as a massive white hot blast of fire erupted from in front of Hirzuen headed straight for the Snake Sannin.
!!!BOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM!!!
Smoke covered everyone's vision. There is nothing left, the back side of the stadium and any building within a 30 mile radius was completely eviscerated. Hiruzen was exhausted completely out of chakra he gave everything and finally he achieved something he thought once unbelievable. Orochimaru was finally dead. He smiled triumphantly, panting hard.
"Finally... *pant* long last *pant*… finally he…"
SQUELCH
His eyes widen , he looked down to see a corrosive chakra covered clawed hand piercing through his chest from his back.
"Is Dead?" A familiar voice asked from behind him.
"Wh-What? " his eyes began to blur. He cough up a glob of blood and slowly turned to the side,
"You remember don't you?.."
His eyes widened in horror. In the Kazekage white robes was someone he least expected. He sputters his name.
"N-Naruto?"
"I did say I'll show you something interesting didn't I?" The blonde said smiling like the devil.