"Lord Kazekage, what is the meaning of this?!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi's voice rang out in the VIP stands, carrying the authority of a longtime leader and suppressed fury. Though elderly, his world-weary eyes remained as sharp as a hawk's, fixed on the man beside him who held a kunai to his throat.
"Hehehe... Teacher Sarutobi, after all these years, you're still so perceptive. But your eyes seem to be failing you. Can't you even recognize me anymore?"
The "Fourth Kazekage" let out a chilling, sinister laugh. He slowly raised his free left hand, gripped the skin on his face, and tore it off!
"Riiip-"
A lifelike human-skin mask was ripped away, revealing an eerie face as pale as paper, with heavy eye shadow and vertical, snakelike pupils. His long tongue licked his lips, giving off a nauseating stench of blood.
"Orochimaru!" Hiruzen Sarutobi's pupils abruptly contracted, and his heart gave a violent thump. His proudest pupil, once Konoha's most dangerous rogue ninja, had actually disguised himself as the Kazekage and brazenly sat beside him!
"Correct. Unfortunately, there's no prize." Orochimaru sneered and pressed down with his kunai. A thin trace of blood immediately seeped from Hiruzen Sarutobi's neck. "Come up to the roof and catch up with me, Teacher Sarutobi!"
The moment he finished speaking, Orochimaru seized Hiruzen Sarutobi and flashed upward, smashing straight through the roof of the VIP stands and leaping onto the Hokage Building's broad tiled roof.
At the same time, four figures dressed as Sound Ninja appeared like phantoms at the roof's four corners. They were Jirobo, Tayuya, Kidomaru, and Sakon and Ukon-the Sound Four, Orochimaru's most elite subordinates!
"Form the barrier! Four Violet Flames Formation!"
All four formed hand seals simultaneously and roared in unison. In an instant, four pillars of purple chakra shot into the