Squelch! Squelch!
The next second.
Twisted thorns with the sheen of metal rose from the ground, forming a cage of blades around Hiruzen Sarutobi's Reanimated Body.
Every sharp thorn found a gap to pierce, restricting every movement Hiruzen Sarutobi could make—even the movement of his eyelids!
"Kakashi! Have you gone mad?!"
Kakashi stood with his hands behind his back, watching Hiruzen Sarutobi with a complicated expression. "They say that when you served in the Hokage's guard, you left the Second on the battlefield to cover your retreat, then took the Hokage Position for yourself... Heh. The thought of it almost makes me laugh."
"I remember... the Will of Fire teaches that comrades matter more than anything, Third."
Kakashi shook his head and said solemnly, "And now... faced with a great enemy that threatens the Shinobi World, you, the Third of the Hidden Leaf Village, still want nothing but to run? You don't even have the courage to face an enemy from Beyond the Heavens?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes widened.
He was already dead!
Why should he care about some enemy from Beyond the Heavens? What utter nonsense!
He understood now!
Everything Kakashi had said was just an excuse. Deep down, Kakashi hated him!
Hated him over the White Fang!
Was this his attempt to take revenge?!
But... that had all happened so many years ago!
Whatever else could be said, he had spent his life working for Konoha. Even if he deserved no credit, surely he deserved some consideration. Could these people not even let a man in his seventies keep his dignity?!
Why take it this far?!
Why hound him so relentlessly?!
Boom! Humiliated and furious, Hiruzen Sarutobi unleashed his Chakra with all his might, trying to break free of the Wood Release's grip.
But he could not.
"...You?!"
Hiruzen