Winter Tree and Orochimaru's battle lasted only two minutes. Winter Tree opened with his trump card, then kept up the assault, taking Orochimaru down in an instant. With seventeen cards in his hand, Orochimaru could only stare in utter shock.
The fight ended so quickly that by the time the Sealing Squad noticed anything was wrong and reported it to the Hokage, Winter Tree had already gone home and Orochimaru had fled to Ryūchi Cave. All that remained at the scene was a devastated forest and a deep canyon whose terrain had been altered by Kaguya-hime.
The Third arrived at the scene with an Anbu squad. Almost no one could believe their eyes.
The lush forest had all but vanished. Deep and shallow trenches crisscrossed the unnaturally level ground. But what shocked the Third most was the terraced lake in the middle of the battlefield. In his expert opinion, there was no doubt about it—it was a fist-shaped crater!
A single punch had blasted an area of more than two hundred square meters, sinking the earth nearly thirty meters. What kind of monster could have done that?
"Lord Third, please come over here. We've found some important clues."
An Anbu wearing an animal mask appeared before the Third with the Body Flicker Technique. He knelt on one knee and reported their discovery in a stern, clipped voice.
The Third glanced at the lake, then followed the Anbu who had found the clues.
"This..."
The moment he saw the evidence the Anbu had gathered, the Third's pupils contracted. He lowered the brim of his Hokage hat. "Seal off every nearby village and conduct a thorough search. We must find out what happened here today!"
There were four things laid out before the Third. First was Orochimaru's snake skin, its limbs twisted out of shape; beside it lay a pale arm, still flesh and blood. The rest consisted of human tissue collected by the Anbu squad and a large amount of minced snake meat.
The instant he saw the evidence, the Third could almost picture Orochimaru's battle with the mysterious figure.
He knew Orochimaru too well. He could imagine Orochimaru encountering the stranger, being badly wounded in an instant, and using his Skin Shedding Substitution Technique. Then Orochimaru would have counterattacked with the Manyōra-jin, only to be crushed and killed!
Seeing Orochimaru dead filled the Third with unbearable grief. After all, Orochimaru had been his beloved student.
He could still vaguely remember the gentle, heartwarming smile Orochimaru had worn as a child. When he'd discovered Orochimaru experimenting on people from their own village, he'd deliberately let him go, hoping he would turn back.
But in the end, Orochimaru had still died.
Once his grief had passed, the Third resumed his duties. He issued one order after another, sending Anbu Ninja and members of the Hyuga Clan to search a wide area around Konoha for the powerful person who had killed Orochimaru.
A powerful stranger was roaming freely through the Land of Fire, beyond anyone's control. The Third couldn't rest easy until he at least found out whether the newcomer was friend or foe!
More than ten kilometers away, in the shelter beneath Kage Rock, Winter Tree held his adorable little sister and amused himself by playing with her. He had no idea that the Hokage's Anbu and members of the Hyuga Clan were grimly accepting search assignments from the Third.
Some had even written their wills before setting out to find the so-called "mysterious figure," as if marching to their deaths!
No one knew that the mysterious figure who had beaten Orochimaru into something like a meatball was hiding with his little sister in Konoha's last line of defense, surrounded by ordinary people trembling with fear, waiting for the all-clear.
"Winter Tree, get out here! You had the guts to beat me up before, so now come out and face me! This time, I'll beat you until you're crawling!"
Naruto's loud, shameless voice rang through the silent underground shelter.
He seemed not to realize that nearly a hundred members of the Hyuga Clan were standing right in front of him.
Even the Hyuga who didn't care for training were practically guaranteed to reach Chunin strength by adulthood!
Picking a fight with the Hyuga heir at the heart of the Hyuga Clan's territory? Naruto must have never taken a proper beating!
Surrounded by all those pale eyes, Naruto's carefree expression stiffened a little as he sensed something was off.
"Uh, I was just running my mouth. You can all get back to what you were doing. I've got things to do, so I'll get going!" Sweat beaded on Naruto's forehead, his face an awkward mask. "There's really something I have to do at home. The fresh milk expires today. If I don't get back to drink it, it'll turn into yogurt..."
When he was around Winter Tree, Naruto usually shouted and provoked him like crazy, only to get blasted in the face by the Water Spirit.
Naruto hadn't gone out of his way to find the Hyuga Clan's camp in the sea of people because he wanted to fight Winter Tree.
He was just afraid. The villagers were so cold to him, unwilling to say a word to him or even spare him a glance. Sometimes, being treated with cold indifference was far more terrifying than being beaten up.
The whole world was lively around him, but he couldn't find a place in its warmth. He was like a forgotten, overlooked stone, watching everyone else laugh and talk.
Winter Tree was impatient with him, and sometimes even summoned a ball of water to blast him. But Naruto could tell that Winter Tree and Hinata didn't hate him. Unlike the other villagers, they didn't ignore him or pretend he didn't exist.
Even in the enclosed shelter, most of the villagers still ignored Naruto, leaving him painfully lonely and afraid. That was why he'd made a point of finding the Hyuga Clan, hoping to stay with Winter Tree and Hinata!
Even if they fought, or he got beaten up, at least it would prove he existed!
"You really are an idiot. If I hadn't heard you, do you think our family would have rolled their eyes at you any less than they already have?"
Winter Tree pushed through the crowd with an exasperated look, stopping clan members who were eager to beat Naruto's backside black and blue. "We'll settle the one-on-one fight another time! There are too many people around right now. Besides, you're not going to become a god in just a few days."
"You're going to get beaten sooner or later. A few days won't make a difference."
The Hyuga Clan weren't commoners. They all knew Naruto was the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.
But so what? They were beating up Uzumaki Naruto for provoking the Hyuga Clan. What did that have to do with the Nine-Tails Demon Fox?
If Winter Tree hadn't stepped in to stop the farce, the Hyuga elders wouldn't have spared Naruto's backside. Those old men valued the clan's honor more than their own lives!
By the time they were done with him, Naruto might end up as Naruko-chan!
"Young Master..."
The elder looked like he wanted to say something, but couldn't quite bring himself to speak.
Winter Tree knew what was on his mind, but didn't care. "The Third isn't that petty. There's no need to worry."
The Nine-Tails belonged to the Hokage. Most ninja clans stayed away from Naruto, afraid of being suspected of something and then having Konoha Pot King Danzo show up to make snide remarks.
Danzo had been coveting the Hokage's position for years. He was determined to get his hands on Naruto. If the Third hadn't kept inviting Naruto to barbecues, Naruto would be calling Danzo Grandpa instead of calling the Third Grandpa.
But the Hyuga Clan didn't need to worry about Danzo. They were on the Hokage's side, and they followed whoever held the title.
At a meeting of the village's leaders, the other clans had to consider their options when the Hokage made a proposal. The Hyuga Clan didn't. They didn't even need to attend. As long as there was a share of the spoils for them, they would always say, "Lord Hokage speaks the truth!"
And with the Caged Bird Seal, all Danzo had to do was become Hokage and he'd have the Hyuga Clan's support. The other Hyuga followed the Main Branch, and the Main Branch followed the Hokage.
There was no need to worry about disagreements within the clan or a member turning traitor.
Well, that was assuming he became Hokage.
Before you continue