Konoha - Forest of Death
After acquiring the souls of Hashirama Tobirama, this place became their private training ground.
Sakura and Neji finished their Hashirama and sat cross-legged on the ground to recover their Chakra.
Meanwhile, Hashirama and Tobirama's souls floated behind the two, face to face... arguing.
"(ー`′ー) Tobirama! How could you start a war! I founded Konoha to keep people away from war. Stop this immediately!"
"Brother, this is no longer a personal grudge. Orochimaru has assassinated the Third Hokage and Fifth Hokage in succession. If we don't eliminate the Sound Ninja immediately and demonstrate Konoha's bottom line and the village's magnanimity, the situation will only worsen."
"War is always wrong. Konoha does not survive through intimidation. Once war breaks out, it will only instill fear in the people."
"Brother, that's romanticism. Reality is cruel and rational! The people of Konoha will understand."
Tobirama! Don't make a mistake.
"Brother, sacrificing the Otogakure is for the future of Konoha. Only in this way can your Will of Fire be better passed on."
"We have all experienced the darkest and most chaotic times. Let's not let history repeat itself. Only peace is what people truly desire."
"The peace of yesteryear is just the beginning of history. Only by minimizing the risks before an unfortunate future befalls Konoha can we ensure that Orochimaru can destroy Konoha's position."
" Tobirama! Although war accompanies every era, the Shinobi World is currently enjoying a rare period of peace. Can't the matter of Otogakure be resolved peacefully?"
"Peace is a relative concept. Only great strength can keep war away. Konoha now disappointingly weak and is no longer the Konoha it was when it was founded. If this continues, Konoha will be destroyed sooner or later."
" Tobirama, you're exaggerating."
"Brother! The peace you yearn for exists only in fantasy; it's impossible to achieve. Peace through negotiation? I died at the hands of the Kinkaku and Ginkaku Brothers because I was negotiating with the Kumogakure. Peace isn't something you can talk about. It's precisely because the Monkey recklessly tried to maintain peace that evil forces inadvertently grew, and the various clans became arrogant and self-willed, showing signs of division. In this era, there are no heroes like you. War and peace are mutually exclusive and interdependent; without war, there is no concept of peace."
"I believe that Konoha will produce this hero."
"A hero is someone born in the flames of war. Now that Little Tsuna is the Fifth Hokage, she agrees to this. The Otogakure is too close to us; since we have a legitimate reason to attack, we must wipe them out in one fell swoop."
After a heated argument, the two calmed down. Hashirama was quite disappointed in Tobirama: " Tobirama, what are you doing? You used to be so calm."
Tobirama sighed, his tone softening.
"Brother, if other ninja villages might have a chance to negotiate, then Otogakure absolutely cannot!"
"Why?"
Tobirama sighed, and in his spirit form, he closed his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest.
" Orochimaru, the leader of the Otogakure, he... (皿)3 dared to bully Little Tsuna! Do you think I can tolerate this?"
This sentence immediately jolted Sakura and Neji out of their cultivation.
Sakura: "Σ()!"
Neji: "Σ()!"
Sakura: "What's going on! So it was to avenge Lady Tsunade!"
Neji: "I want to speak, but I don't dare!"
Tobirama: "You two, why aren't you training properly? Especially Neji, all you know is Gentle Fist. What will you do if you encounter a ranged Ninjutsu user? Hurry up and learn that technique. Honestly, the new generation of brats has such poor talent."
"Yes... Second, I haven't slept for two days, could you..."
"Shut up! You haven't even learned how to sleep properly. You're still the strongest of Konoha's new generation? That's a disaster!"
Hashirama a moment, then shook his head helplessly. "Sigh... Orochimaru summoning us back from the Pure Land World was already disrespectful, but... (皿)3 that bastard dared to bully Little Tsuna!!! Send ninjas immediately! A complete wipeout! Leave no one alive!"
"If it weren't for Little Tsuna's Strength of a Hundred Technique, he probably would have been injured! That won't do! Don't worry, brother, I've already made arrangements. As long as we do a good job of spreading good word, we'll set off in three days and wipe out the Otogakure!"
Tobirama suddenly sensed something. "Someone's coming."
The two souls did not linger and flew back into the seal.
" Sakura-chan!"
The person who arrived was none other than Naruto.
Seeing Naruto's hurried expression, Sakura's heart tightened. " Naruto, what's wrong!"
" Sasuke, Sasuke has been kidnapped by Orochimaru! Neji, why are your dark circles so bad?! Didn't you sleep?!"
Neji: "N-nothing... I just enjoy training, and I accidentally forgot to sleep. Um, do you know where the Hongshi is? I need to tell him something, it's urgent."
Sakura: "What! Sasuke is missing? When did this happen?"
"Never mind that, hurry, hurry to Granny Tsunade's place, she's at Konoha Hospital."
Seemingly realizing the seriousness of the situation, Sakura and Neji immediately got up and rushed to the Hokage's office.
Konoha & Konoha Hospital
Tsunade was currently focused on healing Izumo Kamizuki and Kotetsu Hagane, who were lying in bed with serious injuries.
Kakashi and Guy stood behind him, neither daring to make a sound to disturb him.
At that moment, Naruto rushed in with Sakura and Neji.
Just then, Tsunade finished her treatment, and the two of them slowly woke up.
"Was the person you encountered really Orochimaru?"
Although Kotetsu Hagane had recovered from their physical injuries, their mental exhaustion was incurable. "Yes... yes, last night when Izumo and I were on patrol, we spotted a group from the Otogakure, and that spy Kabuto Yakushi, called a man with six arms Orochimaru."
"A man with six arms?"
"That's right. There are four of them in total. Two of them are muscular men with short orange hair, and the other is a white-haired boy with sharp teeth."
Izumo Kamizuki still felt lingering fear when recalling the battle. "That orange-haired man was terrifying. His body could change shape, and his strength and speed were extremely high. We were beaten to this state after only one move."
Izumo Kamizuki and Kotetsu Hagane had their ribs almost completely broken and their internal organs nearly ruptured. If Orochimaru hadn't Jūgo at that moment, the two of them would probably have died on the spot.
Tsunade frowned. "If that's the case, how did you all survive?"
Kotetsu Hagane replied, " Orochimaru sent us back to tell you that he has obtained the perfect vessel and will completely destroy Konoha after completing the technique."
Everyone present knew that the vessel Orochimaru referred to was Sasuke.
"Boom!"
Tsunade gritted her teeth and smashed the table next to her with her fist. "Damn Orochimaru! Kakashi, Guy, immediately assemble two teams and pursue Orochimaru!"
"Yes!"
Then Tsunade seemed to remember something and called out to Neji, " Neji, you have a more important mission, so you don't need to go."
"Yes, Lady Tsunade!"
"Why are your dark circles so bad? Didn't you sleep?"
"No, stop talking. I love cultivation; only cultivation brings me joy."
" Kakashi, Might Guy, Orochimaru too dangerous. Don't confront him head-on. Your mission is to hold them off. I'll send Hongshi with a small team to support you first. The main force will depart from Konoha in three days. We'll meet up with Shikamaru then and retrieve Sasuke."
"Yes!"
" Lady Tsunade, I need to speak with Hongshi. It's urgent, really."
"We'll talk about that later. The most important thing right now is to rescue Sasuke!"
Konoha entrance
Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu leisurely held teacups, sipping hot tea, each holding a string of four-colored dumplings, squatting under a large tree beside the main gate of Konoha. At that moment, one of their Jonin attendants Jonin the gate.
"Snoring... Ah~ (ōō) Koharu, it's been so long since I've had such a relaxing tea."
"Slurp... Ah~ This is so relaxing! Lord Tobirama made us gatekeepers so we could finally relax."
"Wow, it's been so long since I've had Amaguriama's dumplings, they're still so delicious! Mmm~ it's such a blissful taste!"
"Yeah, yeah, it's been over twenty years since we last ate here. We're always too busy to eat. We have to deal with the pressure from the daimyo, mediate between Sarutobi and Danzo, and get called old dogs all the time. Sigh."
"By the way, it seems like Sarutobi and Danzo are on an S-class mission right now. They're both old bones; I wonder if they can handle it."
" Lord Tobirama must have his reasons for doing this, after all, the two of them fought so fiercely before."
"Huh? Homura, look, isn't that Kakashi and Might Guy?"
" Lord Homura, Lady Koharu."
Even though the two former advisors are now just Jonin, their previous influence remains unchanged.
" Kakashi, Might Guy, where are you guys going? Are you in such a hurry? Even Sakura Haruno is coming with you?"
Kakashi, along with Sakura and Naruto Might Guy, along with Rock Lee and Tenten, all six of them were fully armed, as if they were about to go into battle.
Kakashi scratched his head. "Ah, Sasuke Uchiha has been kidnapped by Orochimaru. The situation is urgent. The Fifth Hokage has ordered us to give chase immediately."
Homura hearing that it was someone from the Uchiha Clan, Men Yan's heart tightened. " Uchiha Clan? That's really something."
Koharu's expression also turned serious. "If it's Orochimaru, I'm afraid the six of you won't be able to stop him. Tsunade was too reckless."
Kakashi said, "It's alright. These kids are now Chunin -level, and there's still a four-man squad that hasn't arrived yet. Lady Tsunade's orders were just to keep them occupied, so it should be fine."
Naruto: " Kakashi-sensei, let's go!"
Sakura: "Yeah, Sasuke's been gone almost a day now, if we don't leave soon we'll be too late!"
Homura: " The Sharingan is of utmost importance, you must set off immediately!"
"Yes!"
" Kakashi! Let's run! Whoever catches Orochimaru first is the champion!"
Li: "Oh! My youth is about to ignite!"
Tenten: " Teacher Guy, this is a group activity!"
Kakashi: "I refuse."
Naruto: "Me too!"
Sakura: "Are you all idiots?"
Kai wasn't embarrassed at all. "Then let's go!"
Guy, Rock Lee, Naruto dashed out at lightning speed, leaving three trails of dust behind before disappearing from everyone's sight in no time.
" Kakashi-sensei, let's not wait for Hongshi-kun, let's set off right away."
"Good."