On the battlefield below.
Gaara was undergoing a Tailed Beast Transformation, but since he hadn't encountered Sasuke as he had in the original story, he hadn't chased after him and had stayed where he was.
The Konoha Sealing Squad was on its way.
In the stands, the Sunagakure and Otogakure shinobi suddenly launched their attack.
But sure enough, just as Ōnoki had predicted,
Konoha might not have been what it once was, but it was still the strongest ninja village.
Its jōnin were exceptionally skilled. Almost none of them were affected by the genjutsu, and they immediately joined the fight.
As more Konoha shinobi joined the battle, the Sunagakure and Otogakure forces gradually began to falter.
With Yeying protecting them, Deidara, Kurotsuchi, and Karin had already reached a relatively safe area.
The combatants on both sides ignored them, so they were safe for the moment.
On Konoha's outskirts, several enormous snakes smashed through the walls, causing wave after wave of chaos inside the village.
More Sunagakure and Otogakure shinobi were rushing this way.
Now for the main event.
The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, had already been driven to the rooftop.
Ōnoki hovered nearby, waiting for Hiruzen Sarutobi to call for help.
Orochimaru exchanged two rounds of attacks with Hiruzen Sarutobi. Realizing that the old man's strength hadn't diminished much with age, he immediately retreated and formed hand seals.
Bang, bang, bang!
A coffin rose from the floor.
Seeing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi immediately demanded, "Orochimaru! Have you fallen this far?!"
"This is the Second's jutsu," Orochimaru said with an evil grin. "As a Konoha shinobi, isn't it perfectly normal for me to use his jutsu?"
Thud~
The coffin lid hit the floor.
The First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, stepped out.
Orochimaru raised a hand to reinforce the control seal and said to Hiruzen Sarutobi, "Don't panic. I'll give you two a chance to have a proper chat."
His left hand maintained the seal controlling the First Hokage while his right began forming hand seals one-handed.
Then,
one coffin after another rose into view.
There were three in all, labeled "Two," "Four," and "Four."
Hiruzen Sarutobi was shocked and immediately tried to stop him.
But Hashirama Senju appeared in front of Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Thud, thud, thud~
As the coffin lids fell,
three figures stepped out.
The Second, Tobirama Senju.
The Fourth Kazekage, Rasa.
And...
the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze!
In the sky, Jingxin frowned when he saw that figure, and a jumble of memories came together in his mind.
Once, under Chinatsu's guidance, Jingxin had gone to the Land of Whirlpools to search for the Uzumaki Clan's scrolls.
He'd succeeded.
His second task had been to collect the masks kept in the shrine.
At the time, Jingxin had noticed that one of the masks was missing. He'd sensed that something was wrong, but his teammate had called for him to leave, interrupting his train of thought.
Afterward, the masks had been stored in Iwagakure's secret vault, where sealing shinobi periodically reinforced their seals.
But the missing mask had been the Death God Mask. Somehow, it had ended up in Orochimaru's hands, and Orochimaru had used it to release Minato Namikaze, who had been swallowed by the Death God.
The situation was urgent, and Jingxin had no time to unravel these mysteries.
All he knew was that Ōnoki might be in danger!
This was an unexpected turn of events.
If things followed the original story, Ōnoki and Hiruzen Sarutobi against Orochimaru, Hashirama Senju, and Tobirama Senju would have made for a fairly straightforward outcome.
That was because Kabuto hadn't yet improved the Impure World Reincarnation technique.
Orochimaru didn't have much control over the Impure World Reincarnation, so he couldn't bring out Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senju's true strength.
But now...
Orochimaru had the Death God Mask, so Hiruzen Sarutobi's Dead Demon Consuming Seal couldn't threaten him.
And Orochimaru was extremely cautious. First, he used Impure World Reincarnation to bring back Hashirama Senju and make him hold Hiruzen Sarutobi back.
Then he brought back Tobirama Senju, Minato Namikaze, and Rasa.
That had thrown the balance of power inside the barrier completely off.
Hiruzen Sarutobi had also lost the Dead Demon Consuming Seal as a trump card.
Rasa was manageable.
Minato Namikaze was the most dangerous of all.
His Flying Thunder God Technique was even more terrifying than Tobirama Senju's.
And Minato Namikaze had been very young. This building had already existed when he died.
It was hard to rule out the possibility that Minato Namikaze had already left Flying Thunder God Marks on the building.
He was the most dangerous of all.
This was bad...
Jingxin's frown deepened.
Outside the barrier, Sunagakure had spotted Rasa inside and stopped fighting at the Konoha shinobi's urging.
Realizing the truth, the Sunagakure shinobi were furious and wanted to enter the barrier and kill Orochimaru.
One Sunagakure jōnin had already left to meet up with the main forces outside Konoha and explain the situation.
Otogakure belonged to Orochimaru. Its shinobi knew the mission was complete and had already withdrawn, leaving only the Sound Four to maintain the Four Violet Flames Formation.
Large numbers of shinobi were being held back outside the Four Violet Flames Formation.
Inside the formation, the group was chatting away.
"I never expected to see you again under these circumstances, Hiruzen."
Tobirama Senju looked around, quickly grasped the situation, and sighed. "Sorry for the trouble."
Rasa could move freely. Tobirama Senju glanced down at his cracked hands and walked to the edge of the barrier. Outside, the Sunagakure shinobi had tears in their eyes.
Tobirama Senju swept the area with a sharp gaze, then immediately warned Hiruzen Sarutobi, "Monkey, that man can control only three Impure World Reincarnations at once. The remaining one can move freely, but can't use ninjutsu. Even so, it could still pose a threat to you."
"I understand, sensei," Hiruzen Sarutobi replied respectfully.
Tobirama Senju looked at the person beside him. He only recognized Hashirama, so he asked, "Who are you?"
No one answered.
"Hey, kid! What are you standing there for?!"
"Huh?" A trace of confusion rose in Minato's eyes. "Is this Konoha? How did I come back?"
He looked toward the voice and exclaimed in surprise, "Wow! The Second! Um... I'm the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze."
Tobirama Senju's eye twitched.
No wonder he'd died so young. He was a total airhead.
"Wow!" Minato exclaimed again. "The First Hokage is here too?!"
Hashirama Senju's broad frame shuddered. "Hm? Who's calling me?"
Smack!
Tobirama Senju raised a hand and slapped his forehead.
Those two airheads!
He really couldn't take it.
But...
The situation was urgent, so Tobirama Senju kept his composure and looked up at Ōnoki. "Are you the kid who used to follow Mu around? You're wearing a hat—did you become the Tsuchikage? Are you an enemy too?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi turned his gaze toward Ōnoki, who had been watching the whole time.
"I don't know what's going on either," Ōnoki said, his brow furrowed. "But I'm not on that man's side."
Tobirama Senju immediately ordered Hiruzen Sarutobi, "Win Ōnoki over!"
Orochimaru had finally finished preparing the cursed seals. He sneered. "That's enough chatting, everyone."
He placed the cursed seals into the heads of Hashirama Senju, Tobirama Senju, Minato Namikaze, and Rasa one after another.
"Not good!" Tobirama Senju frowned. "Now he can control all four of us. The Impure World Reincarnation has reached its limit, so he can't seal our consciousnesses away..."
Before you continue