The Third Hokage, who had ruled Konoha for decades, fell at last.
Yet the furious curses outside the barrier did not stop. Instead, the instant everyone saw the outcome of the battle within, they swelled into an even more deafening uproar!
At the center of the barrier, Orochimaru stood unharmed, save for one hand hanging limply at his side!
"Dead? Just like that?"
"He staked his life on a forbidden jutsu and still couldn't kill the one responsible?"
"And we're supposed to call that dying for the village?!"
"I say we exposed him, and he was so humiliated he decided to let everything go to hell!"
The last trace of sympathy in the villagers' hearts vanished in an instant.
Who was Orochimaru? Hiruzen Sarutobi's own disciple, personally trained by him!
His disciple had defected and slaughtered villagers. After fighting desperately for so long, he still hadn't cleaned up the mess he himself had created.
How was that protecting the village? He had clearly snapped and gambled all of Konoha's safety just to vent his personal anger!
Their pent-up fury swept away all reason, and curses engulfed the entire scene.
Outside the barrier, the Chunin and Genin who remained stared fixedly at Orochimaru, cold sweat soaking their backs.
Orochimaru's strength was unfathomable. Even the Third at his peak couldn't kill him, let alone low-ranking ninja like them. Charging in would mean throwing their lives away.
Konoha was leaderless. Its higher-ups were either dead or had fled. Why should low-ranking ninja like them have to fill the abyss the Third had dug?
A crushing sense of injustice weighed on their hearts. No one dared move, and no one wanted to.
Just as panic gripped the crowd, Miki Yūya stepped forward.
His clear voice cut through the din, every word a blade driven straight into everyone's heart!
"Now you finally see the truth, don't you?"
"Just now, the Hokage stripped away the last veil of decency!"
"Orochimaru was the disciple he personally trained!
His disciple betrayed the village because he sat in the Hokage position, pretending not to see or hear anything!"
"We exposed his incompetence in public, and he got so angry he couldn't even control his forbidden jutsu!"
"He knew he'd been wrong from start to finish, so he decided to let everything burn. He deliberately left Orochimaru alive to take revenge on the entire village!"
Those words nailed shut the coffin on the Third's last shred of dignity.
"So he deliberately went easy on him!"
"No wonder he only sealed the two former Hokage and let the instigator go!"
"We hit a nerve, so he took it out on the whole village?"
"He was Hokage for decades, and he was still that petty? He never deserved that seat!"
The last trace of goodwill vanished from the crowd, leaving nothing but overwhelming contempt.
At the same time, the Four Violet Flames Formation collapsed with a roar, no longer sustained by its casters.
The Sound Four rushed out and surrounded Orochimaru protectively.
Orochimaru lowered his gaze to the cold corpse on the ground, his narrow, serpentine eyes brimming with mockery.
He surveyed the Konoha ninja outside, who seethed but dared not speak, and his lips curled into a deeply scornful sneer.
"Heh heh heh... what a splendid little civil war."
"So this is the Konoha you risk your lives to protect? A swarm of ants that can do nothing but bite each other.
Old man, the village you gave your life to save turned out to be nothing but a complete joke."
Orochimaru's vicious taunts trampled everyone's dignity, instantly igniting the crowd's fury!
The villagers erupted, enraged beyond restraint, their curses rising one after another!
"Who are you to mock anyone?! You're a deranged monster!"
"A rotten teacher breeds a rotten student! You're two of a kind!"
"You and your teacher have plagued Konoha for decades! You're the last person with any right to sneer at us!"
The crowd roared as everyone's pent-up resentment, anger, and hatred burst forth.
At the very front of the crowd, Miki Yūya could no longer stand it. He snatched a hard piece of rubble from the ground and hurled it straight at Orochimaru's face with all his strength!
"Stop acting mysterious with those smug little jabs! You're just a rat everyone wants dead!"
The stone whistled through the air at tremendous speed.
But Orochimaru's reflexes were far beyond those of an ordinary person. His neck twisted at an unnatural angle, and he easily leaned aside to avoid the flying rock.
Seeing this, the villagers around him bent down to gather stones and clods of dirt, then hurled them all at Orochimaru.
Yet he sidestepped every haphazard attack with ease. None of them so much as scratched him.
Konoha's unruly villagers might have been weak, but when trouble came, they really did step up.
"Retreat!!"
Orochimaru had no interest in lingering. He turned and left the battlefield under the protection of the four.
The remaining Konoha ninja stood frozen in place the entire time.
No one stopped him! No one gave chase!
They simply watched the culprit who had destroyed their village stroll away.
But the watching villagers didn't understand the gap in strength. They only saw the plain result-
The enemy who had destroyed their homes was right in front of them. These ninja wore Konoha forehead protectors and shouted about the "Will of Fire" every day, yet when faced with a powerful foe, every last one of them cowered!
Miki Yūya took in everyone's reactions. Without a second thought, he launched his attack, seizing the chance to put every remaining ninja on the spot!
"What a fine bunch of high-and-mighty ninja."
"Orochimaru caused all this chaos, and you talk about protecting the village every day. Yet you watched a rogue ninja from your own village stroll away right in front of you without even finding the courage to draw your weapons!"
"When trouble strikes, you ninja just cower and save your own skins. When have you ever cared whether us civilians live or die?!"
Those words instantly ignited the villagers' anger, already pushed to its limit!
Countless villagers turned and hurled furious abuse at the ninja, their voices making the ruins reverberate!
"A bunch of useless cowards! We've wasted years supporting you!"
"You're quick enough to collect your pay, but when real trouble comes, every one of you hides!"
"You don't even dare stop a rogue ninja, and you call yourselves Konoha ninja?"
"The Will of Fire? Just a coward's excuse for clinging to life!"
Publicly berated by hundreds of people pointing straight at them, every ninja's face darkened. Shame and pent-up frustration nearly suffocated them.
Finally, a young Genin clenched his fists and roared, his eyes bloodshot:
"Why are you pinning all the blame on us?!"
"This entire disaster was the Third Hokage's own doing!"
"He was the one who took Orochimaru as his disciple! He was the one who let a rogue ninja run wild!"
"The Hokage failed in his duties!
He was the one who was wrong, and he was the one who gave up! Why should us low-ranking ninja have to pay for his mistakes with our lives?!"
Those words brought the long-simmering conflict between the two sides to a boil!
The villagers instantly bristled and shouted back:
"Bullshit! The Third being wrong doesn't give you the right to cower! Protecting the village is your duty!"
The ninja finally snapped, their accumulated resentment erupting:
"Easy for you to say!
Orochimaru is one of the strongest rogue ninja in the shinobi world. Going after him would just mean dying for nothing!
The higher-ups were incompetent and neglected their duties, but we're the ones expected to clean up the mess? Why?!"
"We're selfish?"
The villagers trembled with rage.
"We're the ones suffering, while you stand here unharmed and watch without a care! Who's really cold-blooded?!"
"We spend year after year shedding blood and sweat on missions! Do you have any idea how many ninja die on missions every year?"
The ninja shot back, their faces filled with grief and indignation.
"One mistake by the higher-ups, and you're going to dismiss everything we've done?!"
Both sides abandoned all restraint, neither willing to yield! Curses and arguments tangled together, echoing through the ruins!
At the center of the crowd, Miki Yūya naturally joined the shouting match. He had started the fight, so of course he was going to participate wholeheartedly.
The swirling resentment and conflicting emotions poured into his body, while system notifications flooded his mind!
[Ding! Verbally bullied Konoha ninja. Conqueror's Haki +80!] [Ding! Verbally bullied by Konoha ninja. Observation Haki +50!]
Vast, pure power surged through every limb and bone, steadily sending his strength soaring.
Amazing. This felt absolutely amazing. This was exactly it-pure battle, pure verbal humiliation.
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