"It really has been a long time, Naruto-kun."
Naruto had not expected Orochimaru to arrive before Gaara.
Even more unexpected were the two people behind Orochimaru.
The moment he opened the door, the air in the hallway seemed to freeze.
Orochimaru stood at the front, his pale face gleaming like porcelain beneath the dim hallway lights. His golden snake eyes narrowed slightly, and a knowing smile curved his lips.
And behind him...
Naruto's pupils abruptly contracted.
Hashirama Senju and Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"Grandpa Sarutobi, and is this... Lord Hashirama?"
Naruto was genuinely astonished.
He stood in the doorway, one hand still resting on the frame, his blue eyes sweeping over Hashirama three times.
He had seen Hashirama Senju's face on Konoha's Hokage Rock, on the enormous statue at the Valley of the End, and in the illustrations in history textbooks.
But those images were stone, static, and lifeless.
The man standing before him now was alive, with cascading black hair and a resolute face. Beneath his coarse clothing, his body was broad and solid, and the chakra radiating from him seemed to weigh down the very air.
That chakra was completely different from Naruto's in Kurama Mode-denser, purer, as though the earth itself were breathing.
The Hashirama before him certainly did not look as though he had been brought back through Impure World Reincarnation.
People brought back through Impure World Reincarnation had cracks on their faces, or grayish-white skin without cracks, while the whites of their eyes turned black or became somewhat duller.
But Hashirama's face was vibrant, his skin a healthy tan, and his eyes shone a deep brown.
He was alive.
Hashirama Senju had survived to the present day.
That realization alone was enough to astonish Naruto. What astonished him even more was how young the man looked.
His