Naruto then began to clean up the battlefield. He did not touch the traces of the forest that had been destroyed by Shukaku. The trajectory of the Air Bullet, the large swaths of crushed trees, and the ground covered in sand could serve as evidence that Shukaku's rampage caused the entire battle. The more obvious, the better.
What he cleaned up were his own traces. He retracted the residual Chakra left behind by the battle, and smoothed out the special textures cut into the ground by the Rasenshuriken.
As for the trajectories of the three Tailed Beast Balls, he specifically kept them. The traces pointed directly to Shukaku.
After finishing all this, he gathered Kankuro, Temari, and Gaara together on a relatively flat clearing, and had them lie side by side. Then he carried the unconscious Sasuke over and placed him next to them.
The four of them lay in a row, sleeping neatly, the scene looked very absurd.
After doing all this, Naruto looked towards the direction of Konoha. He guessed that the battle between Hiruzen and Orochimaru was almost over.
Just as Naruto guessed, the battle inside Konoha was coming to an end.
After all the villagers and students had safely retreated into the evacuation shelters, the ninjas of the major clans finally had no worries and began to counterattack with full force.
The ninjas of the Hyuga Clan split into several squads to intercept the Otogakure assault troops on the streets, the starting stances of the Eight Trigrams Palm rising one after another in the firelight.
The ninjas of the Inuzuka Clan leaped down from the rooftops with their respective Ninja Dogs, dragging out the Otogakure Ninjas who were trying to infiltrate through the alleys.
The Kikaichu of the Aburame Clan permeated every corner of the battlefield, devouring the enemy's Chakra bit by bit.
Even the older generation of ninjas, who were rarely seen on ordinary days, put on their armor and walked out of their homes.
The three snakes that were rampaging in Konoha finally met their nemesis.
When Jiraiya's figure appeared, the Konoha ninjas on the entire battlefield let out a sigh of relief almost simultaneously.
Jiraiya formed hand signs with both hands, bit his thumb, and slammed a palm onto the ground.
Summoning Technique!
Gamabunta and Gamahiro appeared on the battlefield simultaneously. Gamabunta cut off one of the snake heads with a single slash, while Gamahiro's dual swords cut the second snake in half at the waist.
The last snake saw that the situation was bad and wanted to control the body to escape outside the village, but was burned by Jiraiya's Fire Release: Big Flame Bullet.
The battle within the Four Violet Flames Formation had also entered its final stage.
Hiruzen's arms were locked tightly onto Orochimaru's shoulders, and the phantom of the Shinigami from the Reaper Death Seal emerged behind him.
The Shinigami's right arm penetrated Hiruzen's abdomen, firmly gripping Orochimaru's soul, and pulling it out bit by bit.
His body was already on the verge of its limit. His Chakra was almost exhausted, his chest had been pierced by the Kusanagi Sword, and his consciousness was becoming blurred under the alternating erosion of severe pain and exhaustion.
Hiruzen and Orochimaru had been in a stalemate for a long time. As time passed, Hiruzen could hear his own heartbeat slowing down bit by bit. He felt his soul being devoured by the Shinigami bite by bite, but his hands gripping Orochimaru's soul never let go.
Not enough.
Hiruzen's eyes stared fixedly at this student that he was once most proud of.
In his current state, he could not pull out Orochimaru's soul. He clearly knew Orochimaru's ambition, his research into forbidden jutsu, and his hatred for Konoha.
If Orochimaru's soul were pulled out completely, everything would end. But now he couldn't do it.
Then he would settle for the second best. He shifted his gaze to Orochimaru's hands that were forming hand signs.
If he couldn't make Orochimaru die here, then he would make him unable to form hand signs for the rest of his life.
Driven by Hiruzen's will, the Shinigami's short sword changed direction and slashed across the hands of Orochimaru's soul.
The pain of a soul being severed could not be compared to any physical injury. Two pitch-black broken marks appeared on Orochimaru's wrists. He felt his hands lose all sensation in an instant, as if these hands had never belonged to him.
"My... My hands!!!"
Orochimaru widened his eyes, his face twitching from the intense pain.
He looked down at his hands. His fingers were still attached to his wrists and there were no wounds on the skin's surface, but he couldn't even bend a single finger.
The soul of his hands had been severed and sealed by the Reaper Death Seal. From this moment on, these arms of his were just a pair of dead flesh hanging on his shoulders, unable to complete even the simplest hand signs.
He had overplayed his hand!
This was Orochimaru's first thought.
Immediately after, he raised his head, and for the first time, anger appeared on his face, which had always been calm and composed.
"Old man, give me back my hands!!!"
Hiruzen shook his head. "You have become foolish, Orochimaru. But unfortunately, I might not be able to take you with me."
Orochimaru widened his eyes, hearing a decisiveness in Hiruzen's words that made his spine chill.
"No..."
Orochimaru screamed, turning his head to look at the Sound Four outside the Four Violet Flames Formation, "Break the barrier, it's over, let's go!!!"