69The Death of SarutobiAI Model: kimi-k2-instruct-0905Chapter 69 – The Death of Sarutobi
Inside the Chunin Exams arena.
Kakashi and Might Guy had just taken down the last Sand shinobi.
The fighting inside the stadium paused for the moment.
Sasuke, Shikamaru and the others had already left, chasing after Gaara—who'd been carried off by Temari and Kankuro.
Under Kurenai Yuhi's guard the rest of the Konoha Twelve Genin were unharmed.
The group regrouped and looked toward the Four Red Yang Formation on a nearby rooftop.
"Sandaime-sama… he'll be all right, won't he?"
Kurenai asked, worry in her voice.
"Relax," Kakashi soothed. "He's the strongest Hokage-sama the Village has ever had!"
...Facing the First and Second Hokage Orochimaruhad summoned with Edo Tensei.
Hiruzen Sarutobi fought three-on-one and slowly lost ground.
At this moment he knew he had no choice but to use "that jutsu."
To protect Konoha he would have to sacrifice himself.
Hiruzen Sarutobi drew a deep breath and formed hand Seals.
"Shiki Fūjin!"
A cold, commanding whisper fell.
In the void the Shinigami's silhouette slowly appeared.
First Hokage Senju Hashirama's body shuddered.
Second Hokage Senju Tobirama likewise froze.
Their Souls were dragged by an invisible hand out of their Edo shells.
"It's over..."
As the sealing advanced the Chakra of the First and Second crumbled into motes of light and was swallowed in a single gulp by the death god.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's true body locked tight onto Orochimaru's Soul.
Resolve filled his aged face; the flame of his life had reached its end.
"Old man! You bastard… let go of me!!!"
Orochimaru howled in a frenzy, the terror he had never known before.
He thrashed, his right hand calling back the Kusanagi sword that hovered in the air.
By now Enma was spent, struggling to catch the blade—but too late.
Just before the sword would pierce Sarutobi's heart.
A Yellow Flash ripped through the air, ignoring the Four Violet Flames Formation's fire, and materialised between Orochimaru and Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"Clang!!!"
A clear metallic ring echoed.
The Boar-headed Youth parried the Kusanagi with a Kunai.
"You!!!"
Orochimaru's eyes bulged; Hiruzen recognised the youth.
"Naruto!!!"
The next instant the boar-headed teen glanced back at Hiruzen.
He walked over, drew a hideous Shinigami mask from his pocket.
"Old man, you've done enough."
Naruto's voice, muffled by the boar mask, was low and calm.
"Let me see you off on the final stretch."
By now Hiruzen had already offered his life to the death god, a candle in the wind.
Naruto placed the Shinigami mask over the elder's face.
Then he slit the old man's belly with a Kunai.
"Shluck!"
The blade opened not only Hiruzen Sarutobi's aged flesh but also the spectral abdomen of the Shinigami.
The sealed gate to the underworld was forced ajar.
Brilliant streams of Souls burst out like a broken dam, gushing from the death god's belly.
The Souls of First Hokage Senju Hashirama and Second Hokage Senju Tobirama flashed by, soaring skyward as if freed.
Yet among the chaotic fragments a dazzling golden silhouette hovered before Naruto.
It was the Fourth Hokage—Minato Namikaze.
After more than ten years father and son met again.
Minato's Soul still bore that gentle look; the moment he appeared he sensed everything.
He gazed at the boy in the boar mask, Chakraviolent and overflowing.
Blue eyes first flickered with indescribable grief, then softened into deep guilt and tenderness.
They looked at each other for only a second.
No heart-rending recognition, no last-minute teachings.
The next instant Minato's Soul scattered into countless motes of gold light and vanished.
With his Soul's departure the other half of the Nine-Tails' yin Chakra that had been sealed within him surged wildly into Naruto.
Boom—!
Inside Naruto's mental world.
The Nine-Tails' eyes snapped open.
"...What?!"
Two identical sources of power fused into one at this moment!
In the real world the rooftop beneath Narutoshattered instantly.
His Chakra, previously in Three-Tails Transformation, abruptly doubled.
A pure, massive red Chakra—so immense it made Orochimaru despair—erupted from Naruto like molten rock.
"So it's you... Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, you intend to stop me?!"
Before Orochimaru's words finished his body shot forward.
He knew waiting was no longer an option.
Whatever change had come over Naruto, as long as the boy hadn't fully adapted there was still a chance.
Yet Naruto only gave him a cold glance.
"Scram."
A red fox-claw of pure Chakra ripped through the air, leaving only an after-image.
Orochimaru didn't even see the blow before he was sent flying.
"Today I let you live, Orochimaru."
Naruto spoke calmly. "One day we'll meet again, and then we will cooperate."
After a brief, eerie silence Orochimaru laughed.
"Heh... hehehehe..."
"Is that so, Naruto-kun?"
He licked the blood at the corner of his mouth. "I'll be waiting."
The next moment.
His body melted into serpent shadows and slipped away through a gap in the barrier.
Inside the Four Violet Flames Formation only the fading waves of Chakra remained.
The battle was over.
Hiruzen Sarutobi lay quietly, belly slit, his life like a candle guttering out.
His clouded single eye looked up at Naruto—the child he had branded "demon fox" and left to grow up alone for twelve years.
"Naruto..."
Hiruzen's voice was feeble. "At this point... do you hate me?"
Naruto looked down at the man once hailed the strongest Hokage.
Now he was only a dying old man.
Naruto shook his head and sighed.
"Hate? What about you is worth hating?"
"You were just too indecisive, unfit to be Hokage; you wanted everything yet were willing to lose nothing."
"So you repeated the same mistakes. If you didn't die, Konoha would never see real change."
Hiruzen's withered fingers trembled, then a relieved smile appeared.
"Is that so... so in your eyes, Grandpa is such a man."
He coughed blood and looked past Naruto's shoulder at the smoke-shrouded Village beyond.
It was the Konoha he had spent his life trying to protect.
"Naruto... promise Grandpa... I hope you'll protect Konoha... please."
Naruto gazed into the old man's fading pupils.
After a long moment he slowly nodded.
"Yeah. I'll protect my Konoha."
The next second.
The last trace of Chakra in the old man's body dispersed.
The flame of life went out; his breath vanished.
The Third Hokage—
Hiruzen Sarutobi—
died at this moment.
As the Otogakure forces retreated and the caster stopped maintaining it, the Four Violet Flames Formation quickly collapsed.
The sky reappeared above.
Naruto stood up without another glance at the corpse.
The Yellow Flash vanished from the spot.
He was heading for the final battlefield to carry out the last phase of his plan.