Here's @riojiyo131, your trusted writer.
You can now get early access to Chapter 93 of Re: Naruto Uzumaki on my Patreon. You can also read up to Chapter 25 of Naruto: Satoru Senju.
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Naruto had just finished bringing down the last Giant Snake of the Ryūchi Cave with his Chokutō.
To his surprise, upon landing, the blade cracked and crumbled to pieces.
The fragments of his sword fell to the ground as Naruto watched them in disbelief.
"What garbage quality," he growled, frowning before tossing what remained of his weapon to the side.
"THE HOKAGE IS DEAD! OROCHIMARU HAS KILLED THE HOKAGE!" shouted a Konoha ninja, bursting onto the scene, desperate.
The Konoha ninjas, engaged in battle against the Sand and Sound ninjas, heard the news in disbelief.
In contrast, their enemies—the Sand and Sound Ninjas, who were already beginning to flee after seeing the Giant Snakes fall like flies—smiled upon hearing it.
That day, Konoha had suffered a blow from which it would not easily recover.
They may not have destroyed the village… but killing the Hokage was more than enough.
Taking advantage of the chaos, the Sand and Sound ninjas scattered in all directions.
"Don't let them escape! Eliminate them all!"
"Leave none alive!"
"FOR THE THIRD HOKAGE!"
"FOR DANZŌ-SAMA!"
"FOR HOMURA AND KOHARU-SAMA!"
Naruto rolled his eyes and, without bothering to chase anyone, began to withdraw.
He found it amusing that they saw him as an ally when, in reality, he had delivered the most devastating blow to the village that day.
Although, of course… no one knew that. He had personally made sure there were no witnesses.
Shaking his head, he headed toward the coliseum where Orochimaru and Hiruzen had faced off.
There, his parents and friends were waiting for him.
...
< One hour before the news of the death of the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi >
"So you finally completed that forbidden technique of yours… Orochimaru…" Hiruzen panted, exhausted.
He had just realized the true objective of the attack: Orochimaru not only wanted to kill him but also to mark Reika with the Cursed Seal of Heaven and take over her body.
Though now, Orochimaru seemed more interested in Shisui.
If Shisui fell into his hands...
If Orochimaru managed to obtain his body...
Hiruzen preferred not to think about what could happen.
He didn't even want to imagine it.
"YOU DON'T HAVE TIME TO GET DISTRACTED, SARU!" shouted Hashirama, lunging at him.
Hiruzen barely dodged.
The Edo Tensei made Hashirama and Tobirama immortal. No matter how many times they were defeated; they always got back up.
And he, in addition to physical exhaustion, was mentally drained.
He couldn't bear seeing his teacher and the First Hokage saying all those things anymore.
THEY WOULD NEVER SAY SUCH THINGS! HIS TEACHER TREASURED HIM JUST AS MUCH AS HE TREASURED HIS TEACHER!
And the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, the Founder of Konoha... WOULD NEVER SAY SUCH CHILDISH THINGS!
"What's wrong, Saru?! Already tired?! Let me kill you so we can give you a good beating in the Pure World! Why are you so afraid of death? You're already old, you don't have much time left anyway..."
"Listen to my older brother, Little Monkey! There's no point in running! Today is the day you die!" added Tobirama.
Under Orochimaru's control, Hashirama had covered the entire battlefield with a forest.
From the outside, no one could see what was happening inside the barrier.
Hiruzen glanced outside for a moment. He couldn't expect help. No one could enter. No one could leave.
Although...
Hiruzen hoped Kushina or even Minato could help him.
They were the only ones who could decipher the workings of the barrier and interfere with it.
Both were the only ones who could help him.
Hiruzen smiled, holding on to hope.
Neither of them would let him die, right? That was impossible...
For some reason, Hiruzen had a bad feeling.
Though he didn't understand why.
But after a while, he realized what was happening.
No one had come to save him.
Neither Minato nor Kushina had come to his aid.
Instead, both were watching the fight from the stands, surrounded by the bodies of Sand and Sound Ninjas.
The battle in the stands had ended a while ago thanks to their intervention.
The civilians, the general public, were completely safe.
Seeing the Hokage's gaze on them, both Minato and Kushina frowned.
Then, both relaxed and smiled.
"What...?" Hiruzen watched this in surprise.
Then he realized.
"There's no way they're Minato and Kushina...!" His gaze turned to Fugaku, Mikoto, Shisui—even to Might Duy and Sakumo Hatake.
Although none of them could help, all were watching from the stands, standing, with smiles on their faces.
Hiruzen looked at Orochimaru.
"I thought they had somehow come back to life with Naruto's help because of Duy's words! But now I realize it was all your doing! They're not who I thought they were! I refuse to believe it!"
Hiruzen was completely certain it was another trick.
Upon hearing his words, Orochimaru tilted his head, confused.
Realizing what his former teacher meant, he scoffed, amused.
"How far can your stupidity go, Sarutobi-sensei? Do you not remember your own past mistakes? Every one of them hates you for one reason or another! You've earned their contempt!"
"My only mistake was not killing you when I had the chance! But that ends now!"
Though he barely had chakra left, Hiruzen split it with two shadow clones.
"I'll bury you to fix my past mistakes!"
With the help of his shadow clones, Hiruzen began forming hand seals quickly.
Boar > Ram > Hare > Dog > Rat > Bird > Horse > Snake
Then, Hiruzen brought both palms together in front of his face.
Behind him, a rift opened in space, from which emerged the Shinigami, the God of Death.
"Whatever you do, it's too late. I've won, Sarutobi-sensei." Orochimaru was completely confident in his victory.
Unable to see the Shinigami at that moment, Orochimaru didn't feel Hiruzen posed any real threat.
"Are you really so sure of that?" Hiruzen smiled. "There's a technique I never taught you and you don't know, Orochimaru..." Hiruzen kept smiling. "Take this!"
"Sealing Technique: Dead Demon Consuming Seal!"
Next to Orochimaru, Tobirama and Hashirama smiled upon seeing Hiruzen use that technique.
"Just as Naruto said, Saru will use that technique against Orochimaru..." Hashirama murmured, looking at his younger brother.
Tobirama shot him a glare.
"Stay quiet and don't reveal information, brother." Tobirama glanced at Orochimaru behind them.
Orochimaru raised an eyebrow upon hearing that.
"Naruto, you say...? What is this technique about?" Orochimaru couldn't easily ignore those words, frowning as he realized neither of them would say anything else.
Realizing they wouldn't speak, Orochimaru controlled their bodies and launched them into attack.
Unfortunately for Hashirama and Tobirama, who wanted to keep beating Hiruzen, they couldn't continue.
Hiruzen's technique had finally activated, and the contract had been sealed.
With a single touch, the bodies of Hashirama and Tobirama began to crumble, like paper in the rain.
"See you in the Pure World, Little Monkey..." Tobirama said before being carried away by the wind.
Hiruzen smiled upon hearing it, though he would soon realize that wasn't a good thing for him.
When both disappeared, the only things left were the bodies of Zaku Abumi and Kin Tsuchi from Team Dosu.
Both had been used by Orochimaru to resurrect Hashirama and Tobirama through Edo Tensei.
Upon seeing that, Hiruzen's face trembled with rage.
"You used your own subordinates?!" he asked in disbelief.
Orochimaru merely observed him with disdain.
"Always worried about nonsense," he spat coldly.
Hiruzen gritted his teeth. He couldn't take it anymore.
"Let's finish this once and for all, Orochimaru!" he roared, his voice full of fury and determination.