Defeat the Mysterious Person in One Strike

Sarutobi Hiruzen sat on the floor. The villagers and the ninja clans watched him with complex expressions, their eyes filled with regret and reluctance. At the same time, they cast their gazes toward Uchiha Izuna, Uchiha Itachi, and Uchiha Shisui, their hearts filled with deep apprehension.

Three Susanoos in one family—even during the Warring States period, the Uchiha Clan had at most two. At this moment, everyone felt as if a massive boulder were pressing down upon them.

Previously, the villagers had isolated the Uchiha, but now that the clan was on the verge of soaring, some even felt that the next Hokage would undoubtedly come from the Uchiha Clan.

Three Susanoos in one family; if they were to rebel, the three of them alone could sweep through all of Konoha. Each Susanoo was equivalent to a Nine-Tails!

(Kurama: "???" Uchiha Madara: "???" Hashirama Senju: "???")

Uchiha Izuna took a deep breath. "Since the Third Hokage has acknowledged his mistakes, I wonder if he is willing to abdicate voluntarily? It would at least preserve some shred of dignity."

The Third Hokage looked up at Uchiha Izuna, his lips trembling. He did not want to step down; to be honest, even after committing so many wrongs, he had no desire to relinquish his position.

The taste of power was truly intoxicating, causing him to sink into it unconsciously. Possessing absolute ruling authority meant he had priority access to both resources and missions.

Standing in a high position, distributing resources, and having many clans come to offer gifts and bow their heads in sycophantic smiles made him, born into the ordinary Sarutobi Clan, feel as though he had instantly elevated his status by several tiers.

He, Sarutobi Hiruzen, was the most noble person in Konoha.

But at this moment, Uchiha Izuna's forced abdication was like the final straw that broke the camel's back.

Sarutobi Hiruzen slowly stood up and walked to his desk, preparing to draft his resignation letter. At that very moment, the space in front of everyone began to distort.

A figure flew out from the spatial vortex and stood in the Hokage's office. In an instant, the entire room fell into a deathly silence.

"Oh? It seems I've come at a bad time. What are you all discussing?" The mysterious man wearing an orange spiral mask stood right in the middle of the crowd.

Minato Namikaze's pupils constricted. He would never forget this figure even in death! It was him—the guy who summoned the Nine-Tails on the night of the Nine-Tails Incident, attacked Konoha, and held him back from providing reinforcements.

When enemies meet, their eyes blaze with hatred! Sensing the Flying Thunder God mark he had left on the man, Minato Namikaze said in his heart, "Kurama."

Kurama naturally recognized him as well; this was the guy who had controlled him during the Nine-Tails Incident. Although he had broken free, he had been controlled by the Sharingan, stripped of all freedom, and used as a tool.

Therefore, Kurama did not hesitate to connect his chakra with Minato Namikaze. Little Naruto's body instantly turned golden, and then, with a flash of gold—

He appeared behind the mysterious man. A voice inside the mysterious man's body warned him: "Obito, watch out behind you!"

The mysterious man's Sharingan instantly transformed into a Mangekyou, and his body turned intangible. Minato Namikaze's Rasengan failed to hit the target.

Instead, the mysterious man turned to the side, pulled out a kunai, and thrust it toward Naruto Uzumaki's head. "Hmm, so it's you. I even held you when you were a baby!"

"But what a pity, you're going to die here today!" At the moment the kunai was about to touch Naruto Uzumaki, Uchiha Izuna made his move.

His expression was grim. "You bastard, aren't you being a bit too arrogant?" With that, he pulled out the Uchiha Gunbai and smashed it toward the mysterious man's flank!

The mysterious man's pupils constricted. On one side was his teacher's son, Naruto, and on the other was his own flank—the choice was obvious, wasn't it?

The mysterious man's intangibility ended. He turned and parried the Uchiha Gunbai with his kunai, but the force of the collision sent him flying.

He rolled three times on the ground before crashing into the wall with a dull thud.

He gritted his teeth and looked at the figure holding the Uchiha Gunbai. Suddenly, his pupils shrank; that aura was exactly the same as the guy who had taught him how to cultivate.

Uchiha Madara!

Even Black Zetsu spoke up: "Holy crap, has Lord Madara been resurrected? This demeanor, this temperament, these movements, this flowing long hair and arrogant face."

Black Zetsu's voice was even more excited than Uchiha Obito's. In Black Zetsu's mind, this Obito was fine before, but after Uchiha Madara left—

Uchiha Obito had revealed his fangs. Although he was still executing the Eye of the Moon Plan, he was doing it for himself.

He wouldn't resurrect Uchiha Madara, which meant Uchiha Madara wouldn't take back the Rinnegan. If Uchiha Madara didn't take back the Rinnegan, there would be no way to summon the Ten-Tails, and no way to release his mother.

But Madara was different. While Madara was smarter than Obito, he was easier to manipulate. Obito, though stupid, had his own obsessions and was hard to sway.

If, if that ten-year-old boy opposite really was Uchiha Madara, he would be desperate to return to Lord Madara's side right now.

Uchiha Obito stood up and muttered, "Who are you? Why do you have this appearance?"

"I am your father!" After saying this, Uchiha Izuna formed the 'Horse' seal with both hands, channeled his chakra, took a deep breath, and spat out a torrent of flames.

The flames surged and spread rapidly, rushing toward Uchiha Obito! Uchiha Obito felt his scalp tingle at the sight of this Fire Style, while Black Zetsu was even more thrilled—this was Uchiha Madara's signature technique, his specialty Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame.

Uchiha Obito's face turned ashen, but a wise man knows when to retreat. He immediately opened the Kamui Dimension and dove inside.

The intense flames burned within the room. The nearby ninjas reacted, using Water Style to extinguish the fire while casting their gazes toward the culprit, Uchiha Izuna.

Sarutobi Hiruzen remained silent. Could he defeat Uchiha Izuna? Probably not. Even his ultimate technique, Five Elements: Great Elemental Barrage, might not be able to break his defense.

Uchiha Izuna remained expressionless. He had plenty of ways to defeat Uchiha Obito; why choose a wide-range Fire Style technique like Majestic Destroyer Flame?

Because it looked cool!

It demonstrated his strength while driving away the enemy. Didn't you see how the eyes of the various clans in the Hokage's office, previously filled with calculation, had now become much clearer?

After the fire was extinguished, Minato Namikaze stated that it was that very man who had controlled the Nine-Tails, launched the Nine-Tails Incident, and caused the deaths of him and Kushina.

Hearing this, the crowd nodded and looked back at Uchiha Izuna. This meant that Uchiha Izuna's actions just now were to avenge the Fourth Hokage and protect everyone!

They began to shower Uchiha Izuna with compliments. At this moment, Shikaku Nara stepped out from the crowd: "In that case, since the Third Hokage is about to abdicate, in my opinion, why don't we all jointly nominate Uchiha Izuna as the Fifth Hokage?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the commoners were fine, but the expressions of the ninja clans shifted unpredictably, making them hard to read.

Uchiha Izuna, however, shook his head. "Although the Third Hokage is abdicating today, I am shallow in talent and cannot shoulder such a great responsibility."

"Many thanks for your kind words, Shikaku Nara. Uchiha Clan, let's go, we are returning to our district!" Uchiha Izuna cast a meaningful glance at Shikaku Nara.

Shikaku Nara's lips curled upward. He understood instantly—this wasn't a refusal at all; it was clearly waiting for the Third Hokage to persuade him a few more times, so as to gain a reputation for benevolence.