When the Four Man Squad from Otogakure performed the Four Violet Flames Formation, four purple flames appeared out of nowhere and shot up from the ground.
Several Anbu Jonin happened to be standing along the lines connecting the flames. They were too slow to dodge and were instantly torn in half, their bodies still burning in the purple flames.
"A barrier-type ninjutsu?"
The Third Hokage, trapped inside, knitted his brows, his expression grave.
He could feel the formidable restraining power of the barrier.
The Anbu outside saw this and their expressions changed dramatically.
They knew that they couldn't break the barrier with their strength alone.
That meant they couldn't help the Third Hokage at all!
But what happened next shocked them even more. As soon as Orochimaru performed Impure World Reincarnation, three coffins immediately burst out of the ground before him.
The words "First," "Second," and "Fourth" were inscribed on the three coffins.
As the coffins slowly rose, the Third Hokage immediately realized what ninjutsu this was.
"Orochimaru! You're actually using a ninjutsu that defies the laws of nature and insults our predecessors!"
Jiraiya, hidden in the woods, was also shocked. He hurriedly shouted,
"Ye Fan, stop Orochimaru at once! Don't let him use that ninjutsu!"
Everyone's attention was drawn to the voice. They looked toward it and saw a tall, powerfully built middle-aged man with a head of long white hair.
Someone in the crowd recognized him. An Anbu member called out excitedly, "Lord Jiraiya, come help us!"
"Jiraiya?"
"Could that be Lord Jiraiya, one of the legendary Sannin?"
The Konoha shinobi could barely contain their excitement.
For years, many had heard his name but never seen him.
Now that they were seeing him with their own eyes, he truly lived up to his reputation.
The few people from Sunagakure and Otogakure felt quite differently as they looked at him.
Jiraiya was one of the Sannin, as renowned as Orochimaru. It went without saying how powerful he was.
"Ye Fan, what are you standing around for? Hurry and stop Orochimaru!"
Seeing that only the Third Hokage was trying to stop Orochimaru, Jiraiya shouted again, his voice filled with urgency.
Seeing the legendary Jiraiya so tense, everyone instinctively looked inside the Four Violet Flames Formation.
They were curious about what kind of ninjutsu could make the famous Jiraiya and Konoha's Hokage so nervous.
"Teacher Sarutobi, don't waste your strength. There's no way you can stop this ninjutsu!" Orochimaru said with a confident smile.
The Third Hokage ignored Orochimaru and did everything he could to stop the third coffin from rising out of the ground.
The first two coffins had already risen completely, so there was no point trying to stop them. He could only focus on preventing the third coffin from emerging.
Jiraiya's shouts did nothing to make Ye Fan intervene.
Ye Fan remained motionless, carefully studying the two coffins.
He had captured Orochimaru because Orochimaru had mastered the forbidden technique Impure World Reincarnation.
For years, Ye Fan had lived with guilt.
His parents had died because of him!
Now that he had the power, he planned to use Impure World Reincarnation to bring his parents back, at least for a little while.
When Orochimaru performed Impure World Reincarnation, he wasn't bringing Ye Fan's parents back. Even so, Ye Fan couldn't help feeling a little hopeful.
After the Third Hokage exhausted himself, the third coffin finally began to sink slowly back underground.
Seeing this, the Third Hokage breathed a sigh of relief.
Orochimaru was a little surprised, but didn't think much of it.
Of everyone present, only Ye Fan knew why the third coffin had failed to appear.
Once the two coffins had risen, their lids slowly opened, revealing what lay inside.
Everyone drew a sharp breath. They were so shocked that they were at a loss.
Every person in Konoha knew the two people in the coffins: Konoha's First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, and its Second, Tobirama Senju!
"This is bad!" Jiraiya's expression darkened as he continually thought of a plan.
Even he couldn't break the barrier in a short time, and that worried him greatly.
He didn't blame Ye Fan or ask why he hadn't joined the Third Hokage in stopping Orochimaru. He was simply worried.
What was done was done. There was no point dwelling on it. All he could do was break the barrier as quickly as possible and go to their aid.
Just then, a loud boom rang out, reaching everyone's ears.
Jiraiya and the Third Hokage turned to look. Thick smoke billowed from the entrance to Konoha, and powerful Chakra seemed to surge within it.
They realized at once that Konoha was under attack!
The Third Hokage went deathly pale, instantly understanding that Orochimaru had arranged all of this.
"Jiraiya, hurry to the village and fight off the enemies. I'll handle things here!"
"I hereby suspend the Chunin Ninja Exams. All Konoha shinobi, go to full alert!"
"Third Hokage, but you..."
"Jiraiya, that's an order from the Hokage. Go support the other parts of the village at once!"
Jiraiya fell silent for a second, then turned and hurried toward the village.
"Ye Fan, protect the Third Hokage. I'll be right back!"
In the blink of an eye, Jiraiya disappeared from everyone's sight.
Watching Jiraiya rush to support the village, the Third Hokage felt much less worried.
Although Jiraiya was often anything but serious, the Third Hokage knew he could always count on him when it mattered!
With no more worries, the Third Hokage turned his gaze back to the two coffins.
Looking at the two people he hadn't seen in so long, the Third Hokage found tears welling in his eyes.
"First Hokage! Second!"
"Little Sarutobi? You've already become the Third Hokage!"
"Hm? Is this technique Impure World Reincarnation?"
Hashirama and Tobirama had very different reactions.
"Tobirama, I warned you so many times not to go around creating all kinds of bizarre ninjutsu. And now look—you've only caused trouble for future generations!"
"Brother, this isn't the time for a lecture. We need to figure out what's going on first!"
"Heh heh, First Hokage, Second, how does it feel to be alive again?"
Orochimaru stepped out from behind the coffins and walked up to them, smiling.
"Teacher Sarutobi, Uchiha Ye Fan—well, are you surprised?"
"I'd planned to save this gift for when I destroyed Konoha later."
"But, Uchiha Ye Fan, I had to bring it out early because of you!"
From the moment he saw Ye Fan kill Manda in an instant, Orochimaru had decided to use this technique.
For him, getting Ye Fan's body was the most important thing now.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have disrupted his original plan and acted ahead of schedule.
"What? Destroy Konoha?"
"And all for this naturally evil Uchiha brat?"
The Second flew into a rage and immediately tried to perform a ninjutsu to kill Ye Fan and Orochimaru.
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