"Who are you, really?"
At those words, the man standing opposite him slowly raised a hand, removed the bamboo hat from his head, and tossed it aside.
Looking at the barrier already in place, the Fourth Kazekage smiled faintly.
"Can't you even recognize me anymore, teacher?"
"Your old eyes really have grown dim!"
With a hint of wistfulness and a complicated expression, the Fourth Kazekage's figure slowly changed, revealing his true form.
"Orochimaru?!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi froze, then his pupils contracted.
Chapter 572: The Stubborn Old Man
2024-06-04
Who else could the man before him be but Orochimaru?
Yet Hiruzen Sarutobi had never imagined that the person appearing before him would be his former eldest student.
His eyes narrowed slightly, then quickly returned to normal, a little more solemn than before.
"What exactly are you trying to do, Orochimaru?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi glanced at the people fighting everywhere beyond the Four Violet Flames Formation.
"Do you know what consequences this conflict will bring?"
Orochimaru smiled faintly. Looking at the old man opposite him, whose age was already showing, he spoke softly, with a trace of emotion.
"Only to send off the man I once revered."
Hiruzen Sarutobi was taken aback by those words, then fell silent.
He understood what Orochimaru meant, and his gaze grew grave.
"A student doesn't get to decide his teacher's future, Orochimaru."
Orochimaru merely chuckled.
Neither spoke again, apparently unsure what else to say.
A confrontation between teacher and student was already deeply awkward, all the more so under these circumstances.
"No matter what, I will never allow you to throw all of Konoha into chaos."
Hiruzen Sarutobi shouted in a deep voice.
His hands moved sharply, rapidly forming seals.
"Earth Release: Earth Flow River!"
At his shout, the ground ahead rapidly shifted, and a torrent of mud