"Gaara's favorability has reached Approval. Reward obtained: [Sand Manipulation Technique]. Lonely children always crave recognition. Even if they become part of a monster, it doesn't matter."
After hearing the system notification echo in his ears, Naruto wore a strange expression.
He hadn't expected Gaara's favorability toward him to rise so quickly, especially when he hadn't really done anything to improve it.
Then again, it was pretty fucking rare in the ninja world for a father to send his own brother-in-law to assassinate his son.
After silently roasting Rasa in his heart for a while, Naruto looked toward the Konoha forest in the distance. Now that Gaara's problem had been solved and Shukaku's chakra harvested, it was time to go watch the classic master-and-student murder show.
Besides Naruto, many Konoha ninja also looked toward the direction where Orochimaru and the Third Hokage were fighting.
Under Naruto's lead, the group quickly rushed toward the Third Hokage's location.
It didn't take long before they saw the exhausted Third Hokage fighting desperately inside the Four Violet Flames Formation, while Orochimaru, along with the First and Second Hokage, stood as his opponents.
Sensing the battle inside the Four Violet Flames Formation, even Naruto had to admit how terrifying the Third Hokage's strength was.
Under the pressure of three Kage-level opponents, the Third Hokage had still managed to hold on this long. He truly deserved the title of "Professor of Ninjutsu."
However, what surprised Naruto was that the Third Hokage still hadn't used the Reaper Death Seal against Orochimaru. Instead, he relied purely on Enma's staff form and his remaining stamina to continue fighting.
Could it be that after losing the Hokage position, he had also lost the courage to die together with his enemy?
Naruto was wrong about that.
The Third Hokage genuinely wanted to use the Reaper Death Seal, but he simply couldn't find an opportunity. Orochimaru clearly knew the Third Hokage would attempt a suicidal sealing technique, so he constantly kept his distance and left the First and Second Hokage to fight in his place.
For Hiruzen, sealing the First and Second Hokage was simply not worth it.
Only by crippling the true mastermind, Orochimaru, could he protect the village and give the Sarutobi Clan, who had gone down the wrong path, a chance to be forgiven. Otherwise, the Sarutobi Clan would be suppressed by the other ninja clans until they completely lost all room to survive.
"Orochimaru! I will personally kill you and completely stop your plot!"
"Sensei... it seems your comfortable life has made you old. You've completely lost your ability to judge true ambition."
Looking at the heavily panting Third Hokage, Orochimaru's expression remained calm. There was no pain in his eyes over hurting his former teacher, nor was there hatred. He merely spoke indifferently.
Hearing this, the Third Hokage suddenly seemed to realize something, but quickly regained his composure.
"I will not be shaken by your words. You betrayed the village. You are Konoha's enemy."
After smashing away attacks from the First and Second Hokage with Enma's adamantine staff, the Third Hokage once again attempted to approach Orochimaru.
But the sharp Kusanagi Sword had already pierced through his chest.
"Sensei... have you ever considered that the one who hindered Konoha's development for over ten years was actually yourself?"
The Third Hokage coughed up blood, his eyes widening.
"Impossible... every decision I made was for Konoha. Without me, Konoha would have already fallen apart."
Orochimaru's earth clone stepped closer to the Third Hokage and spoke in a low voice:
"Sensei, you overestimate your own importance. Konoha could have developed perfectly fine without you. By the way... Jiraiya knew about this Sunagakure invasion long ago. Why do you think he never informed you?"
The Third Hokage didn't even hear the second half of the sentence before collapsing powerlessly onto the ground.
After personally killing the Third Hokage, Orochimaru ordered a summoned beast to bite off a piece of Hiruzen's flesh and blood, then turned to look beyond the barrier at Naruto and the approaching Konoha ninja.
At Naruto's signal, Shisui instantly killed the Otogakure ninja maintaining the Four Violet Flames Formation, causing the barrier to collapse immediately.
The moment they entered the barrier's range, Tsunade and the others saw the Third Hokage lying in a pool of blood, while Orochimaru stood nearby with the First and Second Hokage behind him.
"Those are the First Hokage-sama and Second Hokage-sama! Why are they standing behind Orochimaru?!"
Several ANBU ninja recognized Senju Hashirama and Senju Tobirama, their faces filled with shock. Their rank was too low for them to know about the Impure World Reincarnation Technique.
Tsunade's face turned incredibly ugly.
Orochimaru had actually desecrated her grandfather and granduncle just to deal with Hiruzen-sensei.
Not only was this blasphemy against the dead, it also forced the Third Hokage to fight against the First and Second Hokage at the same time.
Unable to endure it any longer, Tsunade gathered chakra into her fist and smashed toward Orochimaru. Orochimaru easily dodged, but the ground instantly split apart with spiderweb-like cracks.
Keeping Hashirama and Tobirama positioned in front of him, Orochimaru chuckled softly.
"Tsunade, I have no intention of attacking you. After all, you are the granddaughter of the First and Second Hokage-sama."
Facing the murderous aura of Hashirama and Tobirama, Tsunade reluctantly gave up her suicidal impulse. The most urgent matter now was saving the Third Hokage first.
At this moment, an ANBU rushed over and reported:
"Lady Tsunade, the Third Hokage is dead. Cause of death: massive blood loss and excessive chakra depletion."
Tsunade frowned deeply. Resisting the lingering effects of her hemophobia, she bit her finger and summoned Katsuyu's clone.
The instant the massive slug appeared, it split into hundreds upon hundreds of smaller slugs that scattered in every direction. Then Tsunade released the Strength of a Hundred Seal, entered combat mode, and charged toward Orochimaru.
Even if she was overwhelmed, she still couldn't forgive Orochimaru for killing Hiruzen-sensei.
Compared to the furious Tsunade, Naruto remained indifferent.
After walking over to the dead Third Hokage, he realized he didn't actually hate Hiruzen as much as he once thought. Naruto gently closed the old man's eyes.
His current identity was the leader of the Land of Uzumaki. He no longer had personal likes or dislikes toward Konoha's former Hokage.
Whether Hiruzen's contributions to Konoha were great or terrible had nothing to do with him anymore. If Hiruzen had shown less empty attitude and more genuine concern, Naruto might never have left Konoha.
But unfortunately, Naruto had given the Third Hokage many chances, and the Third Hokage failed to grasp any of them.
At that point, Hiruzen's life or death no longer had anything to do with him. In the end, they were merely familiar strangers.
Seeing the Third Hokage die before their eyes, Namikaze Minato and Kushina both felt complicated emotions.
No matter how flawed Hiruzen had been, he was still one of the major figures of Konoha they had known since childhood. Nearly every ninja they knew had grown up under the Third Hokage's watch, only to eventually have their names engraved onto the cold memorial stone.
Naruto sensed the emotional fluctuations in Minato and Kushina. After loosening part of the restraints on them, he slowly said:
"The master-and-student killing show is over. Next comes the heroic Konoha act... but I won't participate for now."
"If there's something you want to do, go ahead."
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