"Are they here?"
In front of a sheer cliff, Orochimaru and Minato hung from ropes.
Minato tried desperately to decipher the jutsu sealing his chakra, but it was too meticulously constructed for him to undo on his own.
"Lord Orochimaru..." Minato had already guessed who was behind this.
It hardly needed guessing. The sides had already laid their cards on the table.
"Minato, who do you think our teacher will choose?" Madness filled Orochimaru's snake-like eyes. This was just one final test from a student who had never known enough love.
Well?
Would their teacher, like in that novel, choose this Minato who had appeared out of nowhere? Or would he choose Orochimaru?
"I don't understand why you'd do this." Minato shook his head with a bitter smile as he looked down into the abyss.
Was it because of the Hokage position?
Had his rapid rise made Orochimaru feel threatened?
But that didn't make sense.
He and Orochimaru weren't even from the same generation. Minato was still young and wasn't in any rush to become Hokage.
"Are they here yet?"
On the shore, White Zetsu Rock Ninja yawned. The other Iwagakure ninja waited anxiously. When would Lord Tsuchikage arrive?
The captain had made a startling decision: he would force Hiruzen Sarutobi to choose between Orochimaru and Minato in front of all the Konoha ninja. Whoever wasn't chosen would be thrown off the cliff and fall to their death.
Good grief.
No matter who fell, Hiruzen Sarutobi would vent his fury on them.
He'd spent forty-six years in Iwagakure. Yeah, he was pretty damn nervous.
"They're here."
Hearing the steady footsteps draw closer, White Zetsu Rock Ninja picked up a kunai and went to stand beside Orochimaru and Minato.
This choice was completely unfair.
Orochimaru could use chakra, but Minato couldn't.
White Zetsu Rock Ninja had no idea who Hiruzen Sarutobi would choose.
As for Madara, when he learned about Orochimaru's move, he was a little speechless, but also rather curious to see whom Hiruzen Sarutobi would save.
So, for once, Madara got up early to watch the whole thing unfold.
The Konoha forces arrived all at once.
"Minato?!"
"Orochimaru?!"
"Minato-kun?!"
"Lord Orochimaru?!"
"Sensei!" X3
Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others saw the two men hanging over the cliff.
It really was them.
Shikaku Nara clenched his fists tight. How could Minato have been captured by a mere Rock Ninja when he had the Flying Thunder God? Something was definitely going on.
Without drawing attention, he shot a glance at Zhengyi, who was equally on edge.
Zhengyi stood with Danzo and several of Orochimaru's supporters, clearly separated from Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others.
"If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it. For someone like Orochimaru to be captured..." Danzo furrowed his brow. If Orochimaru died, how would he get his hands on Hashirama Cells?
"You're here?" White Zetsu Rock Ninja called out with a grin.
"Release them." Hiruzen Sarutobi had no idea how long Jiraiya could hold out. Whatever happened, they had to settle this before Ōnoki arrived.
"Release them?" White Zetsu Rock Ninja looked at him in confusion.
Hiruzen Sarutobi had expected him to say it was a pipe dream, but instead came a casual, "Sure."
The Konoha ninja were overjoyed.
"What are your terms?!" Hiruzen Sarutobi hurriedly asked.
"Third Hokage, whatever they demand, we'll agree to it for now. Let's get them back first," Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu said beside him.
"Of course." He nodded.
But White Zetsu Rock Ninja's demand was cruel. "Hokage, we can release them, but we'll only release one."
"What do you mean?" Shikaku Nara stepped forward and demanded.
"Simple. Your Hokage chooses one of them. We'll throw the other off the cliff to his death."
"Impossible!" Hiruzen Sarutobi roared.
"These two have both served Konoha. We can't abandon either of them."
"Then there's nothing we can do." White Zetsu Rock Ninja put his kunai against Orochimaru's rope. At the same time, another Rock Ninja, trembling like a leaf, crouched down and put his kunai against Minato's rope.
Everyone was terrified he might slip and send Minato tumbling to his death.
White Zetsu Rock Ninja and the unnamed Rock Ninja were poised to cut the ropes.
Minato closed his eyes and thought back over his life. Was this really where it ended? What would happen to Kushina if he died? This was a terrible ending.
"Wait!" Hiruzen Sarutobi roared.
"Oh? Have you made your decision, Hokage?"
"How can we get you to release both of them?"
Every Konoha ninja stood tensely, hardly daring to breathe as they waited for Hiruzen Sarutobi to negotiate.
Zhengyi, meanwhile, waited with confidence, certain of what was coming.
"No way! No way, Lord Hiruzen Sarutobi!" White Zetsu Rock Ninja taunted him.
If he'd been standing close to Hiruzen Sarutobi, the furious Hokage would probably have smashed him into a pulp with his staff.
Too bad there was some distance between them.
"Can you give me a moment to think?" Hiruzen Sarutobi's scalp prickled. It was the pressure of the moment. He wanted to think of a solution, but how could he come up with one in so little time?
White Zetsu Rock Ninja already had his blade against both ropes.
Damn it!!
Hiruzen Sarutobi no longer cared whether his choice was right or wrong. He just wanted to save them both.
They were both his right-hand men! Neither could die! Both had to live!!!
"Fine." White Zetsu Rock Ninja agreed.
"Whose summon could fly..." Hiruzen Sarutobi wondered who in Konoha might have one.
The Uchiha who had signed a contract with the Ninja Hawk were at the Kirigakure front line.
Wait?!
That was it! The Aburame Clan's bugs could carry people.
Aburame Shibi had thought of the same thing. He gradually sent the bugs inside him away, directing them to wait beneath the cliff and catch the men.
As if he'd seen through Hiruzen Sarutobi's plan, White Zetsu Rock Ninja pointed his kunai at Orochimaru's temple.
"Didn't you say you'd only cut the ropes?!" Hiruzen Sarutobi roared again.
"Oh, I changed my mind." White Zetsu Rock Ninja picked his nose with his free hand.
"Bastard!" Choza Akimichi stomped the ground in anger.
Despair settled over everyone. Would one of Minato and Orochimaru really have to die, just as this demon said?
What if the Hokage made his choice and this bastard was only playing with them, then killed them both?
"Choose, now!" Before he finished speaking, the two sharp kunai pressed forward.
"Ahh..." Minato's head throbbed where the kunai dug into it.
Beneath Orochimaru's icy expression lurked a trace of anticipation, of which he himself was unaware.
"Stop!"
"Can't you let me die in their place?!" Hiruzen Sarutobi pleaded.
"I'm the Hokage. What do you say? My life in exchange for both of theirs. That's a fair trade, isn't it?"
"Third Hokage!!" Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu knew he really would do it.
"Rock Ninja!!"
"Fight us one-on-one!!"
The other Konoha ninja glared at White Zetsu Rock Ninja, furious enough to tear them limb from limb.
"Lord Third Hokage!" Minato was moved.
"Sensei." Orochimaru's eyes, too, showed his emotion.
"No! No! No!"
"Why would we want the life of an old geezer like you? How much longer can those old bones last? If we're killing anyone, we'll kill one of your young Konoha shinobi."
"Enough talking!"
"Minato or Orochimaru! I don't want to repeat myself."
Before you continue