What the Hell Are You Laughing At?

Obito Uchiha slowly walked out from the mountain entrance of Ryūchi Cave, sunlight glinting off his dragon horns.

"Whew, after four years of training, it was time to see the results..."

Before coming out, Obito Uchiha had already gathered intelligence. Hidden Cloud Village had declared war on Konoha!

In the four years he had been gone, the Shinobi World had become a complete mess, with changes taking place everywhere.

Because the Third Raikage had not died, the pressure on Konoha was unprecedented!

On top of that, Killer B had mastered the Tailed Beasts' power and become a perfect Jinchuriki. His coordination with A was unstoppable on the battlefield!

They were known as the AB Combo, and some even compared them to the Silver-Gold Brothers from decades ago.

Yugito Nii had also mastered the Two-Tails. Three forces had set out at once!

They formed a pincer-like encirclement against Konoha!

The Third Raikage led one ninja force, the AB brothers led another, and Yugito Nii led a third.

With all three forces advancing, Konoha's situation was dire.

Konoha had no choice but to transfer Jiraiya and Orochimaru to the Hidden Cloud Village battlefield.

But just as Hiruzen Sarutobi was preparing to deploy them, Orochimaru suddenly defected from Konoha!

Hiruzen Sarutobi was completely baffled. Later, an ANBU investigation revealed that Orochimaru had been secretly conducting human experiments, which Jiraiya had discovered.

The two fought fiercely. In the end, Orochimaru left Konoha, while Jiraiya went after him!

It turned out that ever since Jiraiya had learned of the prophecy that "a snake will destroy the world," he had been keeping a close eye on Orochimaru, hoping to uncover some clues through him.

Jiraiya was an expert at gathering intelligence. If he wanted to investigate someone, it was fairly easy—especially when that person was his own comrade.

And sure enough, Jiraiya had found something. By sheer chance, he uncovered news of Orochimaru's human experiments.

That was when Jiraiya became completely convinced that Orochimaru was the one destined to destroy the world!

That was why the two of them had fought.

The moment Hiruzen Sarutobi learned that his two disciples had clashed, his head started pounding.

He knew something about Orochimaru's human experiments.

But Hiruzen Sarutobi understood that where there was light, there was darkness. He believed Konoha might need that science someday, so he had tacitly allowed Orochimaru to conduct human experiments.

Officially, Hiruzen Sarutobi had only permitted Orochimaru to use corpses from the battlefield. As for using living people... he had turned a blind eye.

After all, they were in the middle of a war, and he still needed Orochimaru. Orochimaru was also one of Konoha's top combat forces, so Hiruzen Sarutobi did not dare say much to him.

Orochimaru was different from other ninja. He could not be bound by morality, nor did he believe in the Will of Fire.

There was no use talking to Orochimaru about the Will of Fire.

So Hiruzen Sarutobi had adopted a somewhat permissive attitude toward him.

Unexpectedly, his other disciple, Jiraiya, had directly started fighting Orochimaru...

Well, that was that. Neither of them knew where the other had gone, and the Three Sannin existed in name only!

Helpless, Hiruzen Sarutobi could only send Minato, Kakashi, and a group of Jonin to resist Hidden Cloud Village.

To stabilize morale at the front, Konoha even spread word that the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, would personally face the Third Raikage!

"If that's the case, I'll just head to the front lines myself!"

Obito Uchiha formed a seal with his hands and vanished in an instant!

Konoha Building

"Sarutobi! The situation on the Hidden Cloud Village front is critical. Make a decision now! If it comes down to it, you should go personally!"

Shimura Danzō said sternly to Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Hiruzen Sarutobi puffed on his pipe. He seemed to have aged decades, and his already hunched body had become even smaller.

"Sigh..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi let out a deep sigh.

Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura both looked toward Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"That's right, Sarutobi! You're the only one who can go now!"

"Hiruzen! For Konoha! For the Will of Fire! Please charge forward once more!"

The two stared at Hiruzen Sarutobi with blazing eyes, full of hope.

His three old friends all looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled bitterly. If he were still in his prime, he could still fight.

But now... he still had Kage-level strength, just not much of it.

Though the Third Raikage was the same age as him, the Third Raikage was still strong and vigorous.

By the time he finished forming a seal, the Third Raikage would probably have already flashed in front of him and sent him flying with an elbow.

If this were his final battle, Hiruzen Sarutobi would dare to risk his life against that Third Raikage brat. At least he would leave behind a good reputation for dying in battle for the village.

But Hiruzen Sarutobi still wanted to live, and he also wanted to preserve the army's morale.

If he won, that would be one thing. But if he lost, Hidden Cloud Village would surely publicize it everywhere, claiming they had shattered the undefeated myth of the Hero of the Shinobi.

And once Konoha saw that even the Hokage, the strongest person in the village, had been defeated, they would probably lose faith in him.

"Sigh, you're all old friends of mine, so I won't hide it from you. Perhaps... I'm already past it..."

After saying that, Hiruzen Sarutobi looked like an eggplant wilted by frost.

Shimura Danzō, Mitokado Homura, and Utatane Koharu looked at one another.

Then the three of them began criticizing him together!

"Hiruzen, this isn't like you. You used to be unyielding and never admitted defeat. Why are you getting scared before the battle has even begun?"

Mitokado Homura sternly rebuked him.

"Hmph, Monkey, the Hokage must shoulder the Hokage's responsibilities. If you can't do it, I will!"

Shimura Danzō said bluntly.

"Hiruzen, if you don't try, how will you know your strength has weakened?"

Utatane Koharu said slowly.

Hiruzen Sarutobi gave a bitter smile.

"Maybe it was when I woke up one morning and realized I wasn't standing at full mast anymore..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi said helplessly.

"Pfft!"

The moment he heard that, Mitokado Homura could no longer hold back his laughter.

Even Shimura Danzō, who was always stern and unsmiling, nearly lost his composure after hearing Hiruzen Sarutobi's words.

Utatane Koharu truly deserved to be called an old hand. Even after hearing that, her face did not redden in the slightest.

As the saying went, women were like fine wine—the older they got, the richer their flavor.

"Hahaha... sob... hahahaha..."

Mitokado Homura did not know whether he should laugh or cry.

The situation was critical, so he should not have been laughing. But whenever he thought of what Hiruzen Sarutobi had just said, he could not help laughing again.

"What the hell are you laughing at?"

"We're the same age. You're telling me you wake up like that every day?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi could not help saying when he saw Mitokado Homura's expression.

"Sorry, Hiruzen, it's just too fucking funny."

Mitokado Homura said with a laugh.

Shimura Danzō sat to the side with his eyes closed, sipping tea.

"Enough. The urgent matter now is dealing with Hidden Cloud Village! Minato is too young, so he may not be able to handle it! And we're too old. What should we do now?"

Shimura Danzō could not help asking.

"Perhaps we can send the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki as reinforcements."

Utatane Koharu said calmly.

"No!"

Shimura Danzō and Hiruzen Sarutobi rejected the suggestion in unison!

Kushina was tied up in too many complications, and she had not mastered the Nine-Tails' power. Sending her out rashly would surely be sending her to her death.

After thinking for a long time, resolve appeared in Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes!

"At this point, we can only send out the newest generation of Jonin!"

"Send my sons, Shinnosuke Sarutobi and Asuma, to the Hidden Cloud Village battlefield as well! And deploy the entire Ino-Shika-Cho!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi finally made his decision.