The Death of Hiruzen Sarutobi

"Hurry!"

Jingxin's warning snapped Minato Namikaze back to his senses.

He knew the plan Jingxin was referring to...

No, it couldn't even be called a plan.

It was nothing more than a delusion.

The success rate of this delusion was infinitely close to zero.

But the situation was dire, and Minato had no time to overthink it. He said to Jingxin, "!@#￥%...&(o.O)--+)/-!"

???

Everyone turned their gazes toward Minato.

What did he just say?

Was that even human language?

"I see, I have memorized it," Jingxin's voice came through.

No!

Big brother?

What exactly did you memorize?

"Be careful," Minato warned Jingxin.

This time, Jingxin did not dodge; he activated Susanoo and unleashed the Aragami.

Reflect!

Bang!

The upper half of Minato Namikaze's Impure World Reincarnation body was shattered instantly.

Taking advantage of the gap while the Impure World Reincarnation body regenerated, Jingxin closed in on Minato and brought down his Ninja Blade.

Enhanced by the nature transformation of Wind Style chakra, the blade was incomparably sharp, severing the right arm of Minato's Impure World Reincarnation body.

Jingxin grabbed the severed arm, his left hand forming seals—complex, dazzling, and so fast they left afterimages.

A tyrannical sealing force surged from Jingxin's hands into Minato's right arm.

Just like that, Jingxin successfully obtained Minato's chakra.

Without a moment's hesitation, he descended, landing right beside Karin.

"Karin."

"Understood!"

The two had shared trials and tribulations for so long that some things required no verbal reminders; their coordination was so seamless they could have transitioned to piloting mechs in the Pacific Rim without a hitch.

They interlaced their fingers, and chakra surged from their palms into each other's bodies.

You in me, and I in you.

Karin activated her sensory ability, and her Mind's Eye of the Kagura locked onto the Flying Thunder God mark Minato had left inside the Four Violet Flames Formation almost instantly.

Jingxin, now possessing Karin's chakra, could also "sense" it vaguely.

Following this, Jingxin's palm, still gripping Minato's right arm, condensed a near-maniacal, massive amount of chakra.

Under the mobilization and influence of Jingxin's own chakra, the chakra within Minato's right arm began to circulate slowly.

Jingxin closed his eyes, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

Year after year of training.

Millions, tens of millions of times spent sensing and controlling chakra.

Every drop of sweat, every night spent collapsing on his bed, his body aching to its absolute limit after dispelling Shadow Clones.

Combined with the system's Linear Potential.

It had brought Jingxin's control and precision over chakra to a level unprecedented in the ninja world.

Every point, every thread of chakra was being manipulated methodically, influencing the chakra within Minato's right arm to force it into the circulation pattern of the Flying Thunder God technique.

Then, using the sensory data provided by Karin's Mind's Eye of the Kagura, he locked onto the Flying Thunder God mark Minato had left inside the Four Violet Flames Formation.

"Let's give it a try."

The next second.

Jingxin, Karin, and Minato's right arm vanished from the spot.

Thud.

A soft sound of landing echoed.

Pairs of eyes filled with hair-raising shock fell upon the interior of the barrier.

"They... they got in?"

"Is he a monster?"

The Flying Thunder God Technique has always been synonymous with extreme difficulty.

Even the disciples of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, required all four of them to join forces just to execute its derivative, lower-tier substitute: the Flying Thunder Formation.

This guy not only reduced the required number of people from four to two in one go.

He even used the actual Flying Thunder God Technique.

Doesn't that mean...

As long as this guy went home and glanced at a scroll, or learned any basic sensory-type auxiliary ninjutsu, he would be able to use the Flying Thunder God Technique all by himself?

"Why would a genius like this be forced to leave Konoha?"

"Quick! Quickly save the Hokage!"

Kyoshin Uchiha's vision blurred, and he appeared inside the Four Violet Flames Formation.

He felt little joy in his heart.

He had only intended to test it out; he hadn't expected to succeed on the first try.

Having known the training method for the Flying Thunder God Technique, even if he had failed, he was destined to master it eventually upon returning.

But now, having entered the Four Violet Flames Formation.

Doesn't that mean he has to help Hiruzen Sarutobi?

No!

I won't help!

What is pride worth, anyway?

Can you eat that stuff for dinner?

Kyoshin looked at the dying Hiruzen Sarutobi.

The next second, figures flashed.

Tobirama appeared behind Orochimaru, the Impure World Reincarnation bodies of Hashirama and Rasa vanished, and outside the barrier, after Minato's Impure World Reincarnation body recovered, they appeared one after another at the four anchor points of the Four Violet Flames Formation.

In the blink of an eye.

Minato and Tobirama used the Flying Thunder God Technique to gather Orochimaru, Kabuto Yakushi, and the Sound Four together.

And then...

They vanished.

In the final instant before they disappeared, Kyoshin could only catch the complex look in Orochimaru's eyes.

Perhaps, at this moment, Orochimaru was marveling at Kyoshin's talent.

Or perhaps, it was because Orochimaru felt a trace of surprise at his own previous misjudgment regarding Kyoshin's purpose in attacking the barrier.

In any case, the Four Violet Flames Formation was collapsing.

The moment Orochimaru saw Kyoshin enter the barrier, he didn't hesitate or waste a single second, choosing the most secure method to retreat.

A dense crowd of ninjas swarmed onto the rooftop.

The scene immediately descended into chaos.

"Medical Corps! Medical Corps!"

"Get out of the way, I'm a medical ninja!"

Kyoshin felt the grateful and admiring gazes cast toward him, and Asuma's voice rang in his ears: "Thank you, Kyoshin Uchiha."

Asuma had a cigarette in his mouth, his eyes filled with the emotions of someone who had just survived a catastrophe.

Kyoshin's expression remained unchanged, appearing less than pleased.

But no one noticed anything amiss.

The Uchiha clan members were all like this.

Although Kyoshin hadn't been like this when he was previously in Konoha, after experiencing so much, people do indeed become numb.

No one suspected whether he had feigned saving Hiruzen Sarutobi; everyone only saw that he had indeed rescued Hiruzen Sarutobi alive from Orochimaru's hands.

"It's useless..."

Suddenly, the exhausted voice of the head of the Konoha Medical Corps came through.

The scene quickly fell silent.

Kyoshin's expression remained unchanged.

However, while he had felt a bit of regret just a moment ago.

Now, he had to struggle to keep from laughing out loud.

Karin, sensing the change in Kyoshin's emotions, revealed a curious look in her red eyes: "Brother Kyoshin?"

Kyoshin squeezed her small hand with a bit of force, while his face assumed a look of sorrow.

His Mangekyō Sharingan was accumulated bit by bit entirely through the practice of genjutsu and the aid of the system; having experienced everything within those illusions so many times, Jingxin's state of mind and emotions had been tempered to an entirely different dimension.

As long as he did not wish for his true thoughts to be seen on the surface, no one would be able to discern them—unless that person possessed a high-level sensory ninjutsu or a Kekkei Genkai, such as Karin.

Karin slowly lowered her head, not daring to let anyone else see her expression.

Jingxin cast his gaze toward Hiruzen Sarutobi.

He lay on the ground, surrounded by a circle of medical ninja, while Ōnoki hovered in mid-air, watching with a complex look in his eyes.

At a further distance, Asuma and Konohamaru were walking toward this side, the crowd automatically parting to clear a path.

In his final moments, Hiruzen Sarutobi's gaze swept past Asuma and Konohamaru, finally landing on Jingxin's face.

That calm expression seemed to prove that a once kind and lively Uchiha youth had finally been forced into becoming a "normal" member of the Uchiha clan.

"I understand now."

"What a fine child he was..."

There had originally been no enmity between the village and the Uchiha.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's vision began to blur.

Everything was his fault; if he had been able to see these things sooner, perhaps he could have changed the outcome between the Uchiha and Konoha.

But it was all too late.

Amidst extreme grief, regret, and self-reproach, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, closed his eyes forever.

Yet, across the wrinkled corners of this Hokage's eyes, a single turbid tear slowly traced a path down his face.

There were not many who could understand what it meant.