Slaughter! Best Friends' Showdown! An Old Friend's Interrogation!

The night was thick as ink.

Within the Sarutobi Clan.

The slaughter began.

There was no earth-shattering clash of ninjutsu, because this was a one-sided massacre—the execution of defenseless relatives by a traitor.

Splat!

The black shadow formed by the Adamantine Enma Staff instantly pierced the chest of a Sarutobi jonin who was on patrol.

The jonin's eyes widened as he looked at the familiar figure stepping out of the shadows, blood gushing from his mouth.

"C-Clan Head? Why...?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi trembled from head to toe, tears streaming down his aged face, but his hand did not stop in the slightest.

"I'm sorry... I'm truly sorry..."

"For Asuma, for Shinnosuke... you must die."

He violently pulled out the iron staff, spraying blood across his face.

The once-kindly Third Hokage was now bathed in the blood of his clansmen, like a vicious ghost crawling out of Hell.

"Ah! Murder!"

"It's the Third! The Third has gone mad!"

The screams tore through the night sky.

But they could not travel beyond it.

The barrier had sealed off everything.

Hiruzen was like a rusty yet deadly machine, madly harvesting lives within the clan compound.

Fire Release, Great Fireball Technique!

A massive fireball swallowed the houses, instantly reducing the women and children still asleep to ashes.

"Grandpa! Don't kill me! I'm Konohamaru's cousin!"

A seven- or eight-year-old child ran out crying and clung to Hiruzen's leg.

Hiruzen's body stiffened.

Looking at the child, who resembled Asuma as a boy, his heart twisted like a knife.

In his mind, Tobirama's devilish voice echoed once more:

"If you don't kill them all, Asuma dies."

"Waaah!"

Hiruzen let out a beastlike wail.

The kunai in his hand stabbed down fiercely.

Splat.

The crying stopped abruptly.

"Forgive me... forgive me..."

Hiruzen knelt in a pool of blood, weeping bitterly, but the despair in his eyes gradually turned into numbness.

Once enough blood stained one's hands, slaughter became an instinct.

Half an hour later.

Not a single soul remained in the Sarutobi Clan Compound.

The raging flames consumed all evidence and corpses.

Hiruzen staggered toward the neighboring Mitokado and Utatane Clan Compound, carrying his blood-dripping iron staff.

Tobirama stood high above, watching the scene with cold eyes.

"Shadow Clones, go give him a hand."

"Hurry up. Don't let those two old fools escape."

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Several Shadow Clones charged into the sea of flames.

With Tobirama's help and Hiruzen's madness, the other two clans did not last an hour either.

Other than the two advisers who were plotting together, every last clansman was executed.

Beneath Konoha, in the Root Former Site Secret Chamber.

This was the secret meeting point agreed upon by the Konoha F4.

It was also tonight's final destination.

Dim candlelight flickered.

Shimura Danzō, with only half his body remaining, lay inside a specially made life-support tank, malice gleaming in his lone eye.

Nearby, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu anxiously paced back and forth.

"Why hasn't Hiruzen arrived yet?"

Mitokado Homura glanced at the wall clock, his brows tightly furrowed.

"According to the plan, that envoy should have made his move by now. We need Hiruzen to cooperate and launch a public-opinion offensive."

"That indecisive old Monkey hasn't hesitated again, has he?"

Danzo snorted coldly, his voice hoarse and grating.

"At this point, there's no turning back. If he doesn't come, we'll have to do it ourselves!"

Just then.

Thud, thud, thud.

Heavy footsteps came from deep within the corridor.

The iron door was pushed open.

An overpowering stench of blood instantly filled the entire secret chamber.

"Hiruzen?"

Utatane Koharu covered her nose. Seeing the figure at the door, drenched in blood like Shura, her heart lurched.

"Y-You... how did you end up like this? What happened?"

Danzo had the sharpest sense of smell. As Hiruzen's old friend and rival for many years, he was the first to realize something was wrong.

Danzo's expression changed drastically as he shouted sternly:

"Hiruzen! What have you done? How is the plan outside going?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi slowly walked into the secret chamber and shut the heavy iron door behind him.

He raised his head. Blood tears that had not yet dried still hung from his once-clouded old eyes.

"The plan?"

Hiruzen gave a bitter laugh, his voice hollow.

"There is no plan anymore."

"And there is no future either."

"Homura, Koharu, Danzo... my old friends, I came... to send you on your way."

"What?"

The three were horrified.

"Have you gone mad?" Mitokado Homura roared. "We're on the same boat! The one we're fighting is Tobirama Uchiha!"

"Precisely because we're fighting him..."

Hiruzen gripped the Adamantine Enma Staff in his hand, chakra erupting wildly from his body.

"That's why I can only borrow your heads."

"For Konoha... no, for my sons."

"Do it!" Danzo screamed shrilly. "He's betrayed us! Kill him!"

Although Danzo could not move, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu had once been disciples of the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju. Though old and frail now, their foundations remained.

The two reacted instantly, drawing kunai to fight back.

"Hiruzen! You traitor!"

"I'll fight you to the death!"

However.

Before the Third Hokage, known as the Ninja Hero, these two advisers who had spent their lives sitting in offices and playing politics were as fragile as paper.

"Ninja Art: Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!"

Hiruzen formed hand seals through his tears.

A skyful of shuriken poured down like a torrential rain.

Clang, clang, clang!

Their defenses were shattered in an instant, countless bloody wounds opening across their bodies.

"Enma! Transform!"

Hiruzen shouted.

The iron staff in his hand abruptly lengthened and thickened, sweeping out with overwhelming force.

Bang! Bang!

Two dull impacts rang out.

Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu were smashed into the wall like rag dolls.

Blood sprayed from their mouths as they slid to the ground. It was clear they would not survive.

Even in death, their eyes remained wide open, staring in disbelief at the old comrade they had known for decades.

"Why..."

Mitokado Homura raised a hand and pointed at Hiruzen before breathing his last.

At that moment, only Danzo remained in the chamber, lying in his tank.

Watching Hiruzen approach step by step, genuine fear appeared in his lone eye for the first time.

He wanted to run, but he had no legs.

He wanted to form hand seals, but he had no hands.

"Hiruzen... you cannot kill me..."

Danzo trembled.

"I am Konoha's Root! I am your shadow in the darkness! Without me, you are nothing!"

"We created Konoha's glory together!"

"You'll regret this! You are Konoha's sinner!!"

Hiruzen walked before Danzo and raised his iron staff.

He looked at his once-closest comrade, and also his darkest opponent.

At that moment, all their past hardships, all their schemes, all their vows made for Konoha seemed utterly laughable.

"Danzo."

Hiruzen's tears fell again, dripping onto Danzo's terrified face.

"You're right. I am a sinner."

"We are all sinners."

"But this is the fate of ninjas!"

"If there is another life... don't be a ninja."

"No!"

Splat!

The iron staff came down.

The world became quiet.

Of the Konoha F4, only one remained.

Hiruzen threw away the iron staff, knelt amid the three corpses, covered his face with both hands, and let out a heart-rending howl.

"Wuu... I'm sorry... Homura... Koharu... Danzo..."

"I've wronged you..."

That crying contained far too much regret, fear, and pain.

He had personally severed his past—and severed his own soul as well.

Clap, clap, clap.

A burst of crisp applause came from the shadows.

Tobirama Uchiha slowly walked out, a satisfied smile on his face.

"Wonderful."

"Truly wonderful."

"Hiruzen, you did not disappoint me. This act of sacrificing your own kin for righteousness was more moving than any stage play."

Hiruzen abruptly raised his head.

Those eyes were filled with boundless hatred and killing intent as they fixed on Tobirama.

If looks could kill, Tobirama would have already been torn to pieces.

"Tobirama Uchiha!"

Hiruzen roared, every word forced through clenched teeth:

"Are you satisfied now?"

"My clansmen are all dead! My old friends are all dead! I've become completely alone!"

"Are you satisfied now?!"

"Not bad."

"However, it isn't over yet."

Tobirama turned around and looked down at Hiruzen, his gaze instantly turning icy.

"Put away your hatred."

"Remember your identity. From this moment on, you are Konoha's S-Rank Rogue Ninja, Hiruzen Sarutobi."

"A madman who, dissatisfied with my rule, attempted a coup, failed, then went insane and slaughtered his comrades and clansmen."

"Of course, you'll still work for Konoha in secret. After all, you are the Third Hokage who carries the Will of Fire in his heart."

"...I understand."

"Very good."

"There's nothing else for now. I'll notify you when there's something in the future."

Tobirama glanced at the time and yawned.

"It'll be dawn soon."

"I'll give you ten minutes."

"Go say goodbye to your two good sons."

At that, Tobirama suddenly bent down, his gaze sharp as a blade:

"But remember our agreement."

"If you dare reveal even half a word about me, or try to take them away..."

"I'll have Asuma waiting for you underground."

"Do you understand?"

Hiruzen's entire body trembled. The hatred in his eyes was forcibly suppressed, turning back into fear.

"...I understand."

"Go."

Tobirama waved a hand as though shooing away a fly.

"Put on a good performance for your final act, then... get out of Konoha."

Hiruzen took a long look at the three corpses on the ground, then at the lofty Tobirama Uchiha.

He did not say another word.

Because he no longer had the right to speak.

He picked up the conical hat from the ground and put it on, concealing his face streaked with tears and blood.

He turned and staggered out of the secret chamber.

His back was hunched, like a walking corpse.

Tobirama watched his departing figure, a cold smile curling at the corner of his lips.

"The so-called Ninja Hero, once stripped of that outer garment called the Will of Fire, was nothing more than a pitiful old man."

He swept his gaze over the corpses littering the ground, feeling incomparably pleased.

In the original story, these old bastards had driven the Uchiha Clan to extermination.

Today, he had let them experience for themselves what it meant to wipe out an entire clan in a match-three game.

A taste of their own medicine! Now that was true fairness.