At this, Hashirama Senju keenly picked out the key phrase, his brows instantly knotting together. "Team 7?"
Sakura nodded hard, her voice firm. "Yes! Team 7. Gekkō Raito, Sasuke Uchiha, and Naruto Uzumaki were once ninja assigned to the same squad. They were comrades who faced life and death together!"
Hearing this, Hashirama Senju felt as though he had been struck by lightning, his face filled with incredulous shock.
So!
So that was how it was!
These three brats, monsters in both strength and talent, had once been teammates who fought side by side?
And now... things had fallen apart like this. Even if Hashirama Senju racked his brains, he could not understand. Why? Why had any of this happened?
Since these three had once been comrades, and seemingly already formed exceptionally deep bonds, why not just let them grow together in peace?
Given time, once these three matured, Konoha would absolutely enter an unprecedented golden age.
Yet why had the higher-ups insisted on stirring up so much trouble? Driving away one peerless genius had not been enough; they had to force out a second.
Had everyone currently in charge of Konoha been kicked in the head by a donkey?
"Chidori!"
"Rasengan!"
Naruto and Sasuke's signature roars suddenly rang out in the center of the battlefield. The piercing crackle of electricity sounded like a thousand birds crying, while on the other side, a sphere of condensed chakra blazed with dazzling light.
The two entirely different, powerful forces collided violently in midair.
Ring after ring of visible energy ripples spread wildly in every direction.
The next second, blinding white light exploded. The world seemed to lose all color in an instant, leaving nothing visible.
Just as smoke and dust filled the air, a cold voice abruptly rang out.
"Why are you