Orochimaru raised two fingers.
Hashirama and Tobirama charged at them at the same time.
Chuan Yu leapt straight into the air.
"Fire Style! Majestic Destroyer Flame!"
It was as if the apocalypse had arrived.
Flames surged toward them, covering the sky and the earth.
Even Hiruzen Sarutobi, standing nearby, was stunned.
He hadn't expected Chuan Yu's ninjutsu to have reached such a level.
"Water Style! Water Dragon Bullet!"
Tobirama quickly formed Hand Seals.
A gigantic water dragon surged into the sky behind him.
But Chuan Yu's Fire Style was stronger.
In an instant, Hashirama and Tobirama were swallowed by the flames.
But soon,
their bodies returned to normal.
"So this is Impure World Reincarnation..."
Hiruzen clenched his fist and charged at Orochimaru.
"Adamantine Cage!"
The staff in his hand transformed into an iron cage, trapping Orochimaru inside.
Hiruzen thought this would be enough to stop Orochimaru's forbidden jutsu.
But Orochimaru let out a cackling laugh.
"There's currently no way to undo Impure World Reincarnation..."
"Don't waste your efforts..."
Indeed.
In the early lore,
no method of undoing Impure World Reincarnation had been mentioned.
The method was only discovered after Orochimaru's Collapse Plan ended.
Later, Suigetsu was the one who found it.
Hiruzen was frantic.
The two Hokage were already out of control.
If things continued like this,
even killing Orochimaru wouldn't stop them.
"There's only one way..."
Early versions of Impure World Reincarnation had many flaws.
Those who were reincarnated
weren't very strong, either.
That was precisely why
Chuan Yu could easily suppress Hashirama and Tobirama.
But he couldn't keep this up forever.
For a moment,
the problem stood before them all.
"Shadow Clone Technique!"
Hiruzen summoned two clones.
It seemed he couldn't escape his own death after all.
Chuan Yu froze.
The two people he'd once hated most—
one had been killed by his own hand,
and the other was now preparing to die.
Was this really the outcome he wanted?
They had both fought to protect the village.
But the Uchiha were now safe and sound.
Maybe being Hokage had left Hiruzen with too many worries.
He couldn't let go of the things he was reluctant to lose,
and he couldn't bear to give up the things he wanted to discard.
"Reaper Death Seal!"
The two clones seized Hashirama and Tobirama.
Hiruzen himself grabbed Orochimaru.
"You old bastard!"
"Let go of me!"
Orochimaru suddenly panicked.
He had already attained immortality.
He'd enjoyed the pleasures of being ageless and deathless.
But when he actually saw the Shinigami,
he was still afraid.
"Orochimaru..."
"You're still a child..."
"Your face will never change..."
"Even as you gained youth..."
"Your mind never changed at all..."
"Cough, cough..."
The sky darkened.
The enormous Shinigami appeared behind Hiruzen.
The scene looked like the final judgment.
Rain poured down.
Hiruzen exerted every last bit of his strength.
Hashirama and Tobirama's souls were pulled into the Shinigami's belly.
Orochimaru alone
fought desperately against the Shinigami's hand.
Blood ran from the corner of Hiruzen's mouth.
There wasn't enough time.
He managed to pull out only Orochimaru's arms.
"Uchiha Chuan Yu..."
"I'm sorry about what happened to the Uchiha..."
"I know what you're worried about now..."
"The Uchiha have been suppressed for too long..."
"Like the prison in your clan's district..."
"If you release someone while they're still imprisoned, their malicious thoughts will only grow stronger."
"That's the wound Shimura and I carry in our hearts..."
"But once the bottle is smashed,"
"it can never be put back together."
"Don't deliberately show everyone what you're thinking..."
"Itachi... is an example..."
"Cough, cough..."
Chuan Yu said nothing.
He stood quietly to one side, watching Hiruzen.
Perhaps this was the most dignified way for him to go,
as Hokage.
Hiruzen's words had clearly been directed at Chuan Yu's clansmen.
Chuan Yu knew it, too.
Once Hiruzen died,
the Uchiha would be completely out of control.
And if the Uchiha took control of Konoha,
it would undoubtedly be a descent into hell.
Now, at last, he understood a little why Hiruzen had let Shisui go.
"Find Jiraiya and Tsunade..."
"They'll help you..."
Hiruzen turned to look at Orochimaru.
Suddenly, he smiled with relief.
"Shimura..."
"In the end, we've both reached the end of our road..."
"Wherever leaves dance in the wind,"
"the fire will burn..."
"The fire's shadow will light the village, and new leaves will sprout..."
The Shinigami vanished in an instant.
Hiruzen's body slowly sank to the ground.
His face became still.
The clouds overhead parted.
A ray of sunlight fell across Hiruzen's cheek.
The battle was over...
Orochimaru dropped to his knees, powerless.
Yakushi Kabuto ran over, quickly helped Orochimaru up, and leapt onto Manda.
"Reverse Summoning Technique!"
And just like that,
the battle was over.
Seeing what had happened, the Sand shinobi began to retreat.
A breeze brushed Chuan Yu's cheek.
He looked up at the shaft of light breaking through the dark clouds.
But suddenly, his eyes grew wet.
At Hiruzen Sarutobi's funeral,
Konohamaru sobbed uncontrollably.
With the Third Hokage gone, Konoha suddenly felt a little more desolate.
People raised their shields toward the sky,
letting their tears wash over this tragedy.
But the trouble wasn't over yet.
At dinner,
a question from Fugaku left Chuan Yu stunned.
"Who do you think Konoha will appoint as the next Hokage?"
Remembering Hiruzen's final words,
Chuan Yu's first thought was Tsunade.
What happened next nearly proved too much for him to accept.
In that battle,
the Uchiha had done a great deal to protect Konoha's villagers and students.
But gradually,
the clan became blinded by the honor they had earned.
Uchiha clansmen could now be seen bullying other villagers all over the streets.
At the clan meeting in the shrine,
they began to set their sights on the Hokage Position.
Just three days were all it took.
Chuan Yu saw the true face of every Uchiha.
With no one restraining them, they gave themselves over to unbridled indulgence.
Their minds began to grow unhinged.
The Sharingan was a major part of the reason.
Power came bound to their bloodline.
And awakening it meant death and suffering.
Chuan Yu knew.
The Uchiha tragedy was playing out all over again.
It was just like when Uchiha Chiru had developed Izanami.
The Uchiha were born with a taste for killing and madness.
In the end, they would fall into Izanagi's genjutsu.
And Izanami was the cure.
The price was losing their sight.
It symbolized their final escape from the world of the Sharingan.
Unable to hold back any longer, the clan members decided in the shrine to join forces and threaten Konoha's daimyo.
Chuan Yu, who happened to be outside the door, heard every word of their conversation.
Fugaku was the first to propose seizing power.
But Fugaku hadn't even considered this:
Konoha's villagers were all afraid of the Uchiha's eyes.
They could seize a person's mind.
The Sharingan concealed a deadly threat.
On the surface,
the villagers were indeed grateful to the Uchiha for their help in the battle.
But in their hearts, they had never accepted that help.
They believed
that having Uchiha beside them who could control anyone's mind at will
was frightening.
That fear was inevitable.
Before you continue