"Konoha is my home. The Hokage exists to be the pillar that holds this home up. It is a role of trust and inheritance, the bearer of the Will of Fire. You will not defeat it so easily."
The Third Hokage looked at his disciple, who was now beyond saving, and spoke coldly.
At that moment, the Second Hokage activated a genjutsu.
The Bringer-of-Darkness Technique.
In an instant, all light was devoured. Everything vanished into pitch-black nothingness.
"What boring nonsense," Orochimaru sneered. "In the history of Konoha as an organization, you were nothing more than a temporary leader. Even the stone statue left behind will weather and rot away soon enough."
"Konoha has never been an organization to me," the Third Hokage said, his voice low but unshakably firm. "Every year, countless ninja are born in this village. They grow up, they fight bravely, and they give their lives to protect it."
Images of ninja flashed rapidly across the screen.
"Even without blood ties, everyone in this village is precious to me. Precious… family."
The Third Hokage was breathing heavily now, barely holding on. Relying on the sharp perception he had honed over decades, he struggled to defend himself against unseen attacks in the darkness.
Seeing this, even Uchiha Sasuke, who had long harbored dissatisfaction toward the village's leadership, felt his eyes sting red with emotion.
Uchiha Itachi remained silent, his expression solemn.
This was the village he wanted to protect. The village he had to protect.
Not the dark caricature people believed it to be, a place he sacrificed his life for without reason.
"The old man still knows how to tug at heartstrings at the very end," Jiraiya muttered, wiping away a tear from the corner of his eye as he forced himself to calm down.
He knew everyone died eventually. He had always been open-minded about such things.
But watching the Third Hokage die with his own eyes still hurt deeply.
"Then I'll break this pillar of yours and destroy Konoha, this so-called home!"
Orochimaru snapped, clearly enraged by the Third Hokage's words.
"Even if you kill me, the pillar won't fall," the Third Hokage declared. "I am the man who inherited the wills of the First Hokage and Second Hokage. I am the Third Hokage. No matter how much you covet Konoha, the new Hokage who inherits my will will become the next pillar and protect this home. Isn't that right, Fourth Hokage?"
The Second Hokage remained completely unmoved.
"Orochimaru, next I'll show you a secret technique you've never seen before. Take this. Sealing Technique, Reaper Death Seal!"
The god of death behind the Third Hokage began to move, its expression turning ferocious, even impatient.
Then something even more horrifying happened.
The shadowy reaper reached forward from behind the Third Hokage, plunging its hand into him and forcibly dragging his soul out, bit by bit.
The Third Hokage spat out a mouthful of blood.
But he didn't stop.
Drawing on decades of combat experience, he reached out in the darkness and grabbed hold of a human silhouette.
Through his own body, he seized the same figure.
As the soul was torn free, the Bringer-of-Darkness Technique shattered.
The Third Hokage had perfectly grasped both the First Hokage and Second Hokage, forcibly pulling their souls out as well.
"The darkness is gone? What kind of jutsu is this?"
Orochimaru finally noticed the sudden change, but it was already too late.
The Third Hokage's shadow clones had extracted the souls of the First Hokage and Second Hokage. Once freed, their souls broke free of Orochimaru's control and regained consciousness.
"We've caused you trouble," one of them said softly.
"I'm sorry, First Hokage-sama. Second Hokage-sama," the Third Hokage said, his face twisted in pain.
The battle had reached its final stage.
It was mutual destruction.
With their souls gone, the bodies of the First Hokage and Second Hokage crumbled into ash, revealing the elite Sound ninja bodies that had served as their vessels.
"So the solution to Impure World Reincarnation is sealing techniques," Uchiha Itachi noted silently, committing it to memory.
Unfortunately, he himself knew very few sealing techniques.
In the entire shinobi world, those most proficient in sealing had been the Uzumaki Clan. After their destruction, much of that legacy had ended up in Konoha.
Konoha even possessed a complete sealing squad.
By comparison, the Uchiha Clan's accumulation in this area was practically nonexistent.
"Sealing techniques… Orochimaru, don't force me into a corner like this," Jiraiya murmured.
He was highly skilled in sealing. Others might be helpless against Impure World Reincarnation, but not him.
He could feel the old man's resolve.
If the goal had only been to seal the First Hokage and Second Hokage, there would have been no need to use something as extreme as the Reaper Death Seal.
The old man intended to take Orochimaru with him.
Seeing this, the Third Hokage was consumed by fury.
"You even…"
"You even toy with the lives of your own subordinates." By the time he said this, tears were streaming down his face.
"You say that kind of boring nonsense every time," Orochimaru replied disdainfully. "Toying with the lives of subordinates."
The Third Hokage roared in rage.
"Didn't they all believe in you? Come here, Enma!"
He launched a furious assault. A relentless barrage of attacks caught Orochimaru completely off guard, and the Third Hokage seized him.
"It's over!"
As he shouted, the reaper reached through the Third Hokage's body and thrust its hand into Orochimaru.
Only then did Orochimaru realize something was terribly wrong.
He immediately controlled the Kusanagi Sword, piercing straight through the Third Hokage. His soul, which had been on the verge of being torn out, was forced slightly back in.
If Enma hadn't grabbed the Kusanagi Sword at that critical moment and stopped it from piercing any deeper, the battle would have ended instantly.
"Why didn't you dodge?" Orochimaru demanded in disbelief.
"The Reaper Death Seal trades effect for cost. The price is one's own soul," the Third Hokage said, coughing up blood as he explained. "There's no need to dodge. I'll die either way. When the sealing is complete, my soul will be devoured as well. This is the technique once used by a hero who saved this village. Now you will die by it too."
"I can't use jutsu." Only now did Orochimaru realize he couldn't move at all, much less perform techniques. "The jutsu that sealed the Nine-Tails back then… was it this one?"
"Next, I'll drag your soul out of your body and seal it."
The Third Hokage clenched his grip, forcibly pulling Orochimaru's soul outward.
"You should be able to see it now. Half your soul has already been pulled out. Anyone whose soul is sealed by this technique can never ascend. They suffer forever inside the reaper's stomach. The souls of the one who seals and the one who is sealed become entwined, hating each other, fighting forever."
At last, Orochimaru saw it.
The god of death looming behind the Third Hokage.
The reaper moved.
With a single swing of its blade, it severed a mass of souls and swallowed them whole. Drool streamed from its mouth as it devoured parts of Sarutobi Hiruzen's soul, along with those of Senju Hashirama and Senju Tobirama.
[Well, that settles it. Even the Fourth Hokage is in the reaper's stomach now. They could probably start a mahjong table in there.
But really, the most pathetic one is Orochimaru. Who dares to toy with the god of death, treating it like a Tailed Beast? The reaper probably hasn't seen a human like this in eight hundred lifetimes. Still, it's all for his biological son, Mitsuki. Though… can that really be called biological?]
"Biological son… Mitsuki?"
Seeing that message, Jiraiya felt utterly dumbfounded.
That lifelong bachelor actually had a son? How was that even possible?
And using the god of death like a Tailed Beast?
How could the god of death be used like a Tailed Beast?
Though it was only a fleeting message, Jiraiya firmly etched that information into his mind.
"This is a joke, you old bastard. I won't let you have your way," Orochimaru screamed in terror.
He desperately forced the Kusanagi Sword to pierce through the Third Hokage's body, little by little, trying to make him loosen his grip and abandon the soul extraction.
"Hurry up. Die!"
"My hands are still restrained. I can't use jutsu. This should be the end for me, right?"
Orochimaru growled under his breath.
"I won't let your ambitions drag this village down any further!"
"My ambition doesn't end here," Orochimaru snarled. "You'll die here. Look at you now, half-dead. As the Third Hokage, do you really think you still have the power to save this village? Do you even understand the situation?"
The scene shifted.
The sight of Konoha ninja corpses scattered everywhere made everyone's hearts clench.
"As the Leaf Village, your elders, your children, everyone will be wiped out. The Konoha Crush Plan is about to succeed!"
"You don't understand, Orochimaru. Your ambition ends here," the Third Hokage replied. "You indulge in ninjutsu and waste it. I'll give you the punishment best suited for you. I'll take away every jutsu you've mastered."
The Second Hokage mustered all his strength, dragging the souls of Orochimaru's arms out and sealing them into his own body.
Orochimaru's arms rapidly lost all color.
They were completely ruined.
"Now your hands are useless. Without hands, you can't form seals. You can no longer use jutsu. The plan to destroy Konoha has failed."
"You've grown foolish, Orochimaru. It's a shame I can't take you with me. But my disciple, we'll meet again in the next world."
As the Third Hokage spoke, the snarling, twisted Orochimaru before him gradually reverted into the image of the genius youth he remembered.
With a faint smile, Sarutobi Hiruzen lost his life.
[A/N: Enjoying the story? You can read more chapters early and support me here:patreon.com/Aeroscissors]