A Single Word Decides Life and Death

Sarutobi Hiruzen sneered. "The victor becomes king, the loser a bandit—it all comes down to a single thought. Besides, you reek of decay. Stop resisting."

Sarutobi Hiruzen intended to provoke the Third Hokage with his words, making him surrender quickly before anything else could happen.

Then a mournful voice came from the Third Hokage. "After working diligently all these years, am I going to die here? Die at the hands of myself from this world?"

The Third Hokage was unwilling to accept it, but what could unwillingness change? He had already reached the end of his rope. What else could he do?

What was more, he knew the power of the Five Release: Great Barrage Technique. Neither substitution nor the Body Flicker Technique could evade it, and even reverse summoning was useless—Enma had already been severely injured.

In other words, there was no path to heaven and no door into the earth. Only death awaited him.

"Only death?" The Third Hokage's voice was bleak and miserable. In a daze, he suddenly recalled his life—at the end of the First Shinobi World War, he had taken on the heavy responsibility of Konoha's Hokage in a time of crisis.

He had led Konoha to a sweeping victory in the Second Shinobi World War, bringing Konoha's status to its peak.

But over the following decade or so, he seemed to have changed—changed greatly. He had begun to indulge in and become obsessed with the pleasure that power brought.

With power, one could do anything in Konoha. How many people currying favor for power, how many people delivering benefits for power.

Sarutobi Hiruzen himself had merely been a genius born into a minor clan. Where had he ever seen such things? Silver gleaming in abundance, beautiful women, and the feeling of everyone kneeling before