A Winning Hand Ruined

With a thud.

Sarutobi Hiruzen fell to the ground and closed his eyes forever.

"Lord Third Hokage!"

"Third Hokage."

"Kakashi actually killed the Third Hokage!"

The conclusion of the rooftop battle also caught the attention of Minato Namikaze, Nawaki, Fugaku, and Itachi.

Minato Namikaze looked on in disbelief. One was the Lord Third Hokage, who had helped him ascend to the Hokage position, and the other was his student. The two were fighting to the death, which was not a scene he wanted to see. But he did not expect that the outcome would be decided so quickly. Kakashi killed the Third Hokage!

Compared to him, Nawaki, Fugaku, and Itachi reacted much calmer. The three of them were currently focused on dealing with Hashirama and had little energy to grieve for the Third Hokage's death, or rather, they were not sad at all.

After all, the Third Hokage did many things that disappointed everyone in the later stages.

Minato Namikaze was too injured and unconscious to experience these things, but they were able to witness them firsthand.

Now that the Third Hokage is dead and the Fourth Hokage has awakened, the old era of Konoha has ended, and a new era is about to begin.

Of course, we need to wait until Konoha overcomes this current crisis; otherwise, it's all just empty talk.

"Kakashi killed the Lord Third Hokage!"

"Kill him!"

After resolving the battles on other battlefields, the Anbu Ninja and Konoha Jōnin arrived later came to the center of the Arena. Danzo, who should have been in the Death Cell in Danzo of everyone, also appeared among the crowd.

When they saw Kakashi kill the Third Hokage, everyone was enraged and wanted to rush up and kill Kakashi, but they were blocked outside by the Four Violet Flames Formation.

"Hiruzen." Danzo looked at the Third Hokage lying dead in the Four Violet Flames Formation, his face filled with sorrow. He thought to himself, "Why be soft-hearted at a time like this? How foolish! But... thank you."

If he kills Hatake Kakashi, who betrayed Konoha and plotted against the Third Hokage, then at the very least his merits and demerits can offset each other, and he can be released from his life imprisonment. Otherwise, he can leave the Death Cell now with the ideal of thinking about the safety of Konoha, but after he gets through this hurdle, who knows what will happen.

Rumble!

Loud noises echoed through the sky as a massive snake head, severed at the neck, plummeted down, spraying blood.

Each snake head is at least the size of a small house; just falling to the ground would likely create a large crater.

Minato Namikaze quickly used the Flying Thunder God Spatial Barrier to move the snake heads out of the village.

Thunderous sounds echoed continuously from above the clouds, which gave an idea of how intense the battle was.

Crackling sounds!

The white arcs of electricity on the White Fang Short Sword quickly faded, and Kakashi's body went limp, half-kneeling on the ground, using the White Fang Short Sword to support himself.

After delivering the final blow, his Chakra was almost completely depleted; he could be said to have held on until now only with his last bit of willpower.

"Why?!"

Kakashi stared intently at Sarutobi Hiruzen's corpse, a slight smile playing on the other's lips.

Kakashi had finally avenged his family, but he wasn't as happy as he had imagined.

After all, even if all those who killed Sakumo were killed, Sakumo could not be brought back to life.

and

Click~

A crisp sound interrupted Kakashi's thoughts. Startled, he looked down sharply at the White Fang Short Sword in his right hand and saw a fine crack appear in the middle of the blade.

Soon, the crack expanded rapidly and spread like a spider web.

With a snap, the White Fang Short Sword broke.

Kakashi spread his hands, looking at the hilt of the broken sword in his hand.

Although the White Fang was invincible in his father's hands, striking fear into the hearts of ninjas from all the villages in the Shinobi World, and continued to exert its original power in his hands, it was ultimately not a Divine Weapon weapon. The reason it was able to fight against the Enma, the Monkey King's transformed Adamantine Staff for so long was because Kakashi did not confront it head-on.

When Sakumo proved his resolve with his death, Kakashi, after being advised by Shiraha, thought that one day he would use this White Fang Short Sword to sever the cause and effect and cut through the darkness of Konoha.

Now that Sarutobi Hiruzen is dead, and the White Fang Short Sword is broken, it can be considered a successful retirement.

In this First Shinobi World War, Kakashi used Lightning Release, Hatake Style Swordsmanship, Breathing Technique, and the Mangekyō Sharingan to their fullest extent in order to kill Sarutobi Hiruzen.

However, Kakashi did not expect that Sarutobi Hiruzen stop at the last moment.

They were supposed to die together.

Thump!

Without the support of the White Fang Short Sword, Kakashi, already exhausted, finally collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

Buzz!

The Four Violet Flames Formation surrounding the roof of the Arena trembled slightly, bursting like bubbles.

Seeing that the battle between Kakashi and Sarutobi Hiruzen had ended, the Sound Four finally gave up.

Might Duy's Eight Gates was too powerful; even the Four Violet Flames Formation, affected by the aftershocks of the battle, was already struggling to withstand it.

The four looked up at the blood-red sky, somewhat worried about Orochimaru, but still followed Orochimaru's previous orders and immediately left the rooftop.

As for Kakashi, he was left all alone in the same place.

"Kill Kakashi!"

The Anbu Ninja swarmed forward.

As for the other Konoha Jōnin who arrived, some of them did not step forward. After all, it was just an unconscious Kakashi, and many of them had connections with Sakumo. Even if Kakashi chose to betray Konoha, at least at this moment, they would not go up and kill Kakashi with their own hands.

Just as everyone was about to rush up and kill Kakashi, a Uzumaki pattern suddenly appeared in the space around Kakashi.

The next second, a ninja dressed in a black robe and wearing Uzumaki mask appeared in front of Kakashi, blocking everyone's way.

Obito glanced at Kakashi, who was lying unconscious on the ground, and frowned slightly.

"This is the second time, Kakashi."

The mysterious figures who suddenly appeared paused the Anbu Ninja, but this did not stop them from launching an attack, hurling a large number of ninja tools at the group.

Obito's eyes turned cold beneath his mask, and his Mangekyō Sharingan activated.

' Fire Style: Blast Wave Wild Dance!'

The Mangekyō Sharingan combined with Fire Release Ninjutsu.

Obito unleashed Kamui using his Mangekyō Sharingan, continuously creating a vortex-like, distorted space in front of him, with a powerful whirlwind sweeping across the entire roof of the Arena.

At this moment, terrifying Fire Style Chakra spewed from his mouth, and a huge vortex-like whirlwind, amplified by the flames, formed a giant fire serpent that rapidly swept outwards.

The ninja tools released by the Anbu members were enveloped by the giant fire serpent carried by the whirlwind, and attacked the Anbu Ninja instead.

"Ah!"

Some of the Anbu Ninja were unable to dodge in time and were struck by this attack, perishing in the flames.

After Obito a successful blow, he did not intensify his attack. Instead, he activated Kamui, sucking Kakashi into the Kamui dimension, which was safe, secluded, and extremely empty. Apart from the many strange things Kakashi had thrown into it using Kamui over the years, there was nothing else there.

The next second, Obito used Kamui to teleport.

Because Shiraha's figure appeared in his line of sight.

Although he wanted to surrender, for Obito at this moment, taking Kakashi away was the key; the battle was not over yet.

During the spatial teleportation, Obito glanced at the sky above. ' Might Duy, Orochimaru, I didn't expect them to be hiding such power. Even if Madara were still alive, I'm afraid...'

Boom--!

The clouds directly above the Arena were shattered by a red-glowing fist shadow, revealing the scene above the clouds.

A colossal eight-headed serpent, as large as a mountain, appeared. Its massive heads were repeatedly shattered by Might Duy's fists, only to regenerate.

At this moment, Might Duy's aura had greatly diminished, and the red aura around him was also very weak, clinging tightly to his skin. He no longer possessed the terrifying amount of Chakra had when he first opened the Eight Gates Formation.

However, on the other hand, Orochimaru's Chakra was also almost completely depleted.

Orochimaru's body has undergone Soft Physique Modification, Immortal Body. However, if Might Duy the Eight Gates and strike his body head-on, his body would likely be blasted into dust.

He wouldn't be able to handle that either.

Therefore, they have been using Soft Physique Modification to stubbornly resist the fatal flaws that they could not avoid.

Orochimaru never imagined that after absorbing Ōtsutsuki Isshiki and gaining a huge boost to his life level, he would be Jōnin a Konoha who only knew Taijutsu.

Even when facing Minato Namikaze, who was using Senjutsu Mode, he wasn't completely serious.

But when facing Might Duy, he dared not relax in the slightest, because he might really die.

With the blessing of the Gate of Death, Might Duy's power seemed to be able to distort space. The key was that his speed was so fast that even Orochimaru had a hard time reacting to it. He could only fight back against many attacks head-on or use the Orochimaru-Style Clone Technique to withstand them.

Orochimaru left the Heavenly Cursed Seal on the others. If he were killed by Might Duy now, he could be resurrected from the Cursed Seal of the others. However, that would require the other subordinates to actively release the power of the Cursed Seal. Orochimaru was absolutely unwilling to entrust his life and fortune to others.

Moreover, he spent several years cultivating this body, and most importantly, it has completely merged with the Chakra Ōtsutsuki Isshiki he had absorbed. Losing this body would be equivalent to dying half of him.

After repeatedly using the Orochimaru-Style Substitution Technique, Orochimaru himself was also starting to feel the strain. So he used his final move, the Eight Branches Technique, transforming into the Eight-Headed Serpent. His physique and strength were enhanced once again, allowing him to fight Might Duy, who was already at his limit. He needed to conserve some Chakra just in case.

"Ha!"

Might Duy a loud shout, his face contorted in pain, and finally attacked Orochimaru.

Orochimaru was alarmed when he saw this. Might Duy's final attack was about to begin. He immediately controlled all eight snake heads to attack Might Duy simultaneously, trying to use his regenerative abilities to exhaust the power of Might Duy's final blow.

"Not good!"

Might Duy's Minato Namikaze Guy's body fell from mid-air halfway through the flight, and the red aura on his body disappeared instantly. His skin turned completely black, as if it had been scorched by high temperatures.

Under Minato Namikaze's powerful Chakra perception in Minato Namikaze Sage Mode, he discovered that Might Duy's Chakra was like a candle flickering in the wind, ready to be extinguished at any moment.

"Hmm?" Orochimaru, who was floating in the air, changed his expression. Might Duy couldn't even finish his last attack before he couldn't hold on any longer. He was the ultimate victor. He immediately lunged forward, intending to kill Might Duy completely. The Eight Gates Formation was too much of a threat to him, and he had to leave no loose ends.

Whoosh!

Minato Namikaze flashed to Might Duy's side, gently embraced him, and then Flying Thunder God Jutsu to teleport away again.

At this moment, Might Duy's Eight Gates Formation had ended. Without that terrifying power that almost distorted space, Minato Namikaze was able to use the Flying Minato Namikaze Flying Thunder God Jutsu to get close. Otherwise, he would have joined the battle earlier.

Orochimaru's attack missed, and he was able to dispel the Eight Branches Technique.

His body returned to its original state, but his breathing was still very weak.

Orochimaru's eyes flickered as he gazed at the vast ruins surrounding the Arena, and he said coldly:

"Consider yourselves lucky!"

As he spoke, Orochimaru glanced deeply at the already deceased Third Hokage, and sensing the rapidly approaching Shiraha, he began to consider retreating.

Even at his peak, he wouldn't dare say he could defeat Shiraha.

Not to mention that he can't even unleash one-tenth of his strength right now, so he doesn't dare to face Shiraha in full condition.

Although the Konoha Crush Plan was not completely successful this time, the fact that the Third Hokage was killed means it cannot be considered a failure.

With that thought in mind, Orochimaru quickly flew towards the top of the clouds, away from Konoha.

At this moment, Hashirama, under Orochimaru's control, used Wood Release Ninjutsu to force back Nawaki, Fugaku, and Itachi who were attacking him. He was then retrieved by a coffin amidst a cluster of giant trees and buried underground.

Minato Namikaze was unwilling, but he could only watch Orochimaru leave. Given Orochimaru's flying speed, even with his Flying Thunder God Slash, he was not confident he could stop Orochimaru and could only let him go.

Seeing that Might Duy Minato Namikaze quickly looked at Sage Fukasaku, who was perched on his shoulder, and asked, "Fukasaku, do you have a way to save Dai?"

"Please save my father!" Might Guy stood before Might Duy in a daze. His best friend Kakashi had killed the Third Hokage, and his father was about to leave him because of the Eight Gates Formation. He could no longer be optimistic and burst into tears.

He sighed Fukasaku and shook his head, "It's too late. His life force is almost exhausted, his heart is about to collapse, and he won't survive."

"That's not necessarily true."

No sooner had Fukasaku finished speaking than Shiraha arrived.

"Shiraha?! Do you have a way to save Dai?"

Minato Namikaze quickly replied.

Shiraha arrived in front of Might Duy, sending pure Yang Release Chakra into his head with one hand, and taking out a glass Syringe with the other, injecting the scarlet blood inside into Might Duy's heart.

bang bang

bang bang

Might Duy's body regained a glimmer of life in a very short time. His heart, which was on the verge of collapse, emitted a strong heartbeat before slowly returning to normal.

"His life is saved, but he'll need to stay in bed for at least six months before he can get up," Shiraha said, getting up. Even with his Medical Ninjutsu skills, he couldn't make Might Duy recover quickly.

"Thank you!" Minato Namikaze said gratefully. Might Duy was a hero of Konoha. Otherwise, with Orochimaru's strength, it would have been very difficult for them to defeat him.

After all, he has only just awakened and cannot yet unleash his full power. He hasn't even developed more of the Sage Mode's Senjutsu, so he is currently no match for Orochimaru.

"No need to thank me right away, I have my conditions too," Shiraha said with a smile.

A tall man wearing a mask appeared behind Shiraha, followed by Neji, a genius ninja from the Hyuga Branch Family, then Hyuga Hideto, and other Jōnin from the Hyuga Branch Family.

"What are you doing here?" Minato Namikaze was taken aback.

The Masked Man removed his mask, revealing his face as Hizashi Hyuga. "As the head of the Hyuga Branch Family, I hereby declare that the Hyuga Branch Family has officially broken away from the Hyuga Main Family and Konoha, joining Uzushiogakure as allies!"

"That's right, from today onwards, the ninjas of our Hyuga Branch Family will be independent!"

"Leaving Konoha and joining Uzushiogakure! I'm free!"

The other Jōnin from the Branch Family all spoke excitedly.

Even those members of the Branch Family whose spines had been broken under years of oppression resolutely decided to follow Shiraha after the Caged Bird Curse Seal was lifted.

"What?!" Minato Namikaze's expression changed drastically, his mind went completely blank, and he was utterly dumbfounded.

He had just regained consciousness when the village underwent a dramatic change, suffering a huge blow and heavy losses.

The Third Hokage is dead! Third Hokage who killed him was none other than his student, Kakashi!

The Hyuga Branch Family is now planning to leave Konoha?!

The main Main Family of the Hyuga Main Family Head lineage and Elder lineages, has a total of fifty members.

Moreover, this group includes ordinary people, not just ninjas.

The rest of the Hyuga clan are all members of the Branch Family. If all these Branch Family members leave Konoha, what difference is there Hyuga clan being wiped out?

What exactly happened while he was unconscious?

"Why?! Hizashi!" Minato Namikaze looked at Hizashi with a puzzled expression. "There must be some misunderstanding. Konoha needs you, how can you leave? The village!"

"You shouldn't be asking me that!" Hizashi interrupted Minato Namikaze. Having experienced life and death, his mindset had changed drastically. He had no intention of showing any mercy to the Fourth Hokage, with whom he had once had a good relationship.

"Minato!" After the battle ended, Fugaku took a breath and quickly went to Minato Namikaze's side, whispering in his ear the shady dealings of the Third Hokage and Danzo during the years he was unconscious.

These included compromising with Kumogakure and handing over Hiashi to die in place of Hizashi; as well as the oppression of the Uchiha Clan by the higher-ups, Danzo's sneak attack on Shisui, which caused the conflict to erupt, and the Uchiha Chiho, joining Uzushiogakure.

In addition, there are some minor matters that Fugaku has not yet elaborated on.

Minato Namikaze took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down, and looked at Fugaku with a shocked expression.

Seeing Fugaku nod with a solemn expression, he reluctantly believed Fugaku's words. It wasn't that he didn't trust Fugaku, but rather that what Fugaku said sounded like utter nonsense.

Before he fell into a coma, at least half of the conflict between the Uchiha and the village had been resolved. Many conditions had already been agreed upon, and as long as they were implemented step by step and some concessions were made on both sides, there would be no major conflict.

How did things get to this point?!

Two-thirds of the Uchiha Clan left Konoha, including Shisui, Chiho, and Issei, three possessors of the Mangekyō Sharingan. Many other talented Uchiha ninjas were also taken away, which directly resulted in Konoha losing many outstanding new talents for the next few decades.

How dare Danzo ambush Shisui, a Jōnin of the village, in the village? Moreover, the Third Hokage tried to protect him and even wanted to release him in recent years.

At this moment, Minato Namikaze was still in Sage Mode, with his physique greatly enhanced, but he still felt a tightness in his chest and some difficulty breathing.

Minato Namikaze glanced at the Third Hokage Hokage's body being carried down from the roof out of the Minato Namikaze eye, and suddenly realized that Kakashi killing the Third Hokage wasn't such a bad thing after all.

Before he fell into a coma, the village had undergone the brutal baptism of the Third Shinobi World War; then Shiraha and Kushina left Konoha, reducing the number of top combatants; then the unexpected incident of Kinkaku Ginkaku Kinkaku control in the village occurred, and he was seriously injured and fell into a coma, but Konoha was still the strongest village in the Shinobi World. How come when he finally recovered and his strength greatly increased, Konoha was injured again.

What has Konoha been doing for the past decade or so? Resting and recuperating, recovering its strength, and then directly destroying Konoha's two major powerhouses?!

At least a third of the Uchiha clan remains, including two Kage Level fighters Fugaku and Itachi.

Now that all the Branch Family Hyuga clan have left, isn't the Hyuga clan still in Konoha essentially gone?

"Hizashi, I..." Minato Namikaze still wanted to try to persuade them to stay, after all, he wouldn't treat the Hyuga clan like that.

"Fourth Hokage, you are good. This is not your fault. But since the soil of Konoha is not suitable for us, we can leave Konoha like the Uchiha Clan."

Hizashi responded.

"Lord Shiraha has lifted the Caged Bird Seal from all of our Branch Family, which is equivalent to giving me a second life!"

"Having lived most of my life, I'm only now experiencing the taste of freedom. Even if I die tomorrow, I will leave Konoha."

"Fourth Hokage, even if you are the Hokage, you cannot interfere in the affairs of the Hyuga clan. With the Caged Bird Curse Seal lifted, there is no point in us staying in Konoha any longer."

The other Hyuga Branch Family echoed this Jōnin.

In the past Caged Bird Curse Seal was like a sword hanging over their heads at any moment.

They can only live on their knees; they are the dogs of the Hyuga Main Family.

Now that I can go to the Land of Whirlpools and become a human, why not go?

Minato Namikaze froze, staring intently at Shiraha.

"You don't need to look at me like that. This was the Hyuga Branch Family ninjas' own choice. I released them from the Caged Bird Seal just because I didn't want to see them oppressed anymore."

"As an ally, I've done enough regarding Orochimaru's invasion of Konoha."

Shiraha spread his hands and smiled.

Soon, more Konoha Jōnin and Chunin arrived at the scene.

"The Fourth Hokage has awakened?!"

"Fourth Hokage- sama!"

"Very good!"

The Konoha Jōnin were overjoyed to see Minato Namikaze, who was wearing a divine robe, had Sage Transformation Eyeshadow around his eyes, and exuded Minato Namikaze powerful aura.

Upon hearing the news of the Third Hokage's death in battle, many people sighed in their hearts.

The Sarutobi Clan ninjas wore expressions of grief; the pillar of their Sarutobi Clan had fallen.

However, upon learning that the Hyuga Branch Family was going to leave Konoha entirely, no one could believe that the news they had heard was true.

Until a large number of the Hyuga Branch Family ninjas also gathered in the ruins around the Arena.

"The Hyuga clan is also leaving Konoha?!"

"Why did this happen?!"

"We barely managed to repel the treacherous Sunagakure ninjas and the traitor Orochimaru, and now the Hyuga Branch Family doing the same."

Some ninjas even felt that Konoha was doomed.

"Everyone, let's go!" Shiraha ordered the large group of the Branch Family ninjas behind him, who were accompanied by their families.

"Goodbye, everyone in Konoha."

Shiraha waved goodbye to everyone.

"Fourth Hokage!?"

"Lord Hokage!"

The other Konoha Ninja all looked at Minato Namikaze. They knew that Minato Namikaze, unlike the Third Hokage and Danzo, did not expect the Fourth Hokage to take action to persuade him to stay.

However, Minato Namikaze waved his hand, signaling everyone to make way.

Under his Sage Mode perception, Shiraha's strength was even slightly greater than Orochimaru's.

Logically speaking, there is no reason not to let the Hyuga Branch Family leave.

From a physical standpoint, they absolutely had to leave.

"Ouch!"

"What kind of mess is this?!"

Everyone sighed. Many could understand that circumstances were beyond their control, but it was hard for them to accept that Konoha, which had once been a formidable force in the ninja Shinobi World and could even defeat four opponents single-handedly, had fallen so quickly in just over a decade.

The Third Hokage Danzo did indeed make great contributions during the early and middle periods of Konoha's leadership, but in the later stages, they almost single-handedly destroyed Konoha's decades of accumulated strength.

They played a winning hand terribly!

"Dad." Shion, Hikari, Taichi rushed over, followed by Pakura and Sasori, both covered in blood.

Pakura nodded to Shiraha with a relaxed smile, clearly having avenged her great grudge.

"The Fourth Kazekage has been killed by Aunt Pakura and Uncle Sasori, and the One-Tail has also been captured alive by us."

Shion came to Shiraha's side and explained in a low voice.

"Neji!"

"Neji!"

When Rock Lee and Tenten, classmates, saw that Neji was about to leave, they rushed over to him.

"Neji, are you really going to leave Konoha?"

"Why? Aren't we in the same class? What will happen to Team Three if you're not there?"

Rock Lee and Tenten wanted to persuade him to stay.

Neji stopped and gave the two of them an apologetic smile, saying, "I'm sorry."

With that, Neji turned and caught up with the crowd.

As the sun set, the departing figures of the Hyuga clan gradually lengthened on the horizon, and the smoke from the battle around Konoha slowly dissipated, but the aftershocks of this great war were far from over.

PS: Book club group number is 854443970