The iron staff was about to smash into Orochimaru's skull when the black-haired man revived by Impure World Reincarnation—the First, Hashirama Senju—lunged forward under Orochimaru's control and punched the staff with tremendous force, nearly knocking it out of Hiruzen Sarutobi's hands.
But the iron staff in Hiruzen's hands was actually his summon, Enma, transformed. Its destructive power was astonishing. Hashirama's punch, along with the entire lower half of his arm, was smashed to pieces.
"Just as I'd expect from Enma."
Orochimaru praised him. "But an injury like this means nothing to a body revived by Impure World Reincarnation."
Dust scattered around the area gathered bit by bit at the gap in Hashirama's arm, gradually forming a new one.
Tobirama Senju, standing beside Hashirama, wasn't idle either. Under Orochimaru's control, he moved mechanically, clasping his hands together. "Water Release: Water Shockwave!"
A waterspout suddenly appeared in the empty space. It grew larger at a visible speed, rose into the air, then crashed down like a waterfall. It struck the purple barrier and was burned into steam, draining some of the chakra from the four people maintaining it.
Hiruzen knew, of course, that his teacher was skilled in Water Release. Not daring to test how much of his teacher's former strength remained after being revived by Impure World Reincarnation, he used Earth Release with all his might to defend himself. "Earth Release: Earth Style Wall!"
A towering earthen wall pressed against the purple barrier, but still couldn't break through the seemingly thin violet screen.
Just then, Hashirama's arm finished regenerating. He immediately performed another jutsu. "Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!"
Thick branches burst through the Earth Flow Rampart Hiruzen had raised in the blink of an eye and swept toward him behind the wall. More branches spread in every direction, stopping only when they reached the purple barrier.
At the critical moment, the iron staff in Hiruzen's hands split into many rods, forming a protective cage. It held back the surrounding branches and trunks, giving Hiruzen a little room to survive.
"Thanks, Enma."
Hiruzen picked up the iron staff again and smashed apart all the branches and trunks around him. "My stamina has deteriorated badly. I can't keep up with this kind of intense battle anymore."
Enma's head emerged from the staff. "That's why I told you ages ago—you should've killed Orochimaru back then."
"Yes, I should've listened to you."
Hiruzen panted. "It's time to make a decision."
Enma looked at his old friend. "Are you planning to use a forbidden jutsu?"
"If I can die protecting the village, at least I won't have betrayed the title of Hokage."
Hiruzen raised his hands, ready to form Hand Seals.
Suddenly, a tree trunk split open beside them. Orochimaru emerged, holding a Kusanagi Sword, and sent Hashirama and Tobirama charging at Hiruzen at the same time.
As the attacks hurtled toward him, Hiruzen felt death approaching. His mind automatically began replaying the scenes of his life...
"Yura!"
A clear, ringing voice came from below, interrupting the scenes of Hiruzen's life.
Fourteen Golden Chains arrived with it.
Ten chains directly bound Hashirama and Tobirama, whose consciousnesses were suppressed and whose reactions had slowed. Orochimaru dodged two and used the Kusanagi Sword in his hand to deflect the other two.
Where the Golden Chains burst through, the Four Violet Flames Formation had been torn open. A huge hole gaped in the roof as seven Narutos charged inside, each connected to two Golden Chains.
Before entering, Naruto had already sensed that Hiruzen was safe. He didn't waste time with pointless questions like "Are you okay?" Instead, he locked his gaze on Orochimaru. Six clones charged ahead while the original pulled out two scrolls and slapped them onto the bound Hokage Brothers.
"Your timing couldn't be better, Naruto-kun!"
Orochimaru's attention fixed on the two scrolls in Naruto's hands. Ignoring the six Narutos charging at him, he used all his strength to control Hashirama and Tobirama, making them struggle against the chains.
Although those revived through Impure World Reincarnation couldn't use all the strength they'd possessed in life, they had one advantage over their living selves: even a fatal injury wouldn't kill them. They would only recover slowly, and their chakra would never run out.
With a constant flow of chakra bolstering them, the chains around the Hokage Brothers went taut. Naruto's clones felt the strain and had to expend even more chakra to make sure the Adamantine Sealing Chains wouldn't be broken.
That was exactly what Orochimaru wanted. He decisively opened his mouth and spat out a snake's head. The snake head then opened its mouth and spat out the blade of the Kusanagi Sword, which extended more than ten meters in less than half a second.
Naruto's clones noticed Orochimaru's attack and were about to dodge when a force suddenly tugged at them, slowing their movements by half a beat. The Kusanagi Sword pierced through two clones, and they vanished.
The information instantly reached the original and the remaining clones: at the critical moment, the bound Hokage Brothers had tugged on the chains of the Adamantine Sealing Chains, causing the clones to fail to dodge.
Losing two clones meant losing four Golden Chains, weakening their hold on the Hokage Brothers. The brothers interfered even more with Naruto's four remaining clones.
Orochimaru pressed his advantage, swinging his head with all his strength and sweeping the Kusanagi Sword across.
Just as Naruto's clones were about to be struck again, Hiruzen hugged the thickened iron staff and brought it crashing down onto the blade from above. He couldn't break it, but he knocked it far off course.
"Ha, you've still got plenty of fight in you!"
Naruto praised him without slowing down. He slapped the two scrolls onto the Hokage Brothers.
Like the scroll Naruto had used on Gaara earlier, these scrolls also contained sealing techniques—modified versions prepared by his master.
Black runes spread out from the scrolls, covering the Hokage Brothers in an instant. At last, neither of them moved.
"Why did you have to come and get in my way, Naruto-kun?"
Orochimaru kept his distance, watching Naruto with a delighted smile. "The Third Hokage is already too old. I simply couldn't bear to watch him gradually decay, so I wanted to help him along."
"That's a strange way of thinking."
Naruto looked at Orochimaru. "Grandpa Third devoted his whole life to the village. Why shouldn't he be allowed to rest in peace when he's old?"
"Because he's a ninja."
Orochimaru replied, "Ninjas can only rest in peace after they die."
"What era are you living in, still spouting that foolish traditional nonsense?"
Naruto made no effort to hide his contempt. "I don't have time to argue with an idiot like you. I'll deal with you before the village suffers any more losses."
He dispelled his four remaining Shadow Clones and recovered some of their chakra, then clasped his hands together. "Sealing Jutsu: No. 2!"
Naruto's expression became calm, his gaze as still as a lake. A golden-red Chakra Cloak covered his body, threaded with black sealing patterns. Not a trace of chakra leaked out. "Grandpa Third, step back a little. Be careful not to get caught in this."
This was the first time Hiruzen had seen Naruto like this. He retreated with the iron staff, dragging the motionless Hokage Brothers along with him.
"What sealing technique have you used this time?"
Orochimaru licked his lips with interest. Just from the newly appeared Chakra Cloak, he could tell that the sealing technique Naruto was using now was different from the one he'd used in the Forest of Death. "So you weren't even going all out last time?"
"Back then, I was going all out."
Naruto said, "This sealing technique is too powerful. I can't control it well. But now that we're inside the barrier, I don't have to worry about it hitting anyone nearby."
As soon as he finished speaking, Naruto became a golden-red flash and pierced through Orochimaru...
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