As the plan unfolded, shinobi from Sunagakure and Otogakure erupted into chaos throughout Konoha.
Naruto and Sasuke exchanged a glance—and then turned their fury not against the invaders, but against Konoha itself.
This was just a down payment, a small interest for everything the village had done to them.
Naruto raised his hand and gathered wind chakra, shaping it into a roaring Wind Release: Rasenshuriken. With a flick of his arm, he hurled it into a building. The explosion tore through stone and wood in a violent storm of blades.
The sudden betrayal stunned Konoha's shinobi, though only for a moment. Years of discipline kicked in, and captain-level ninja quickly rallied their squads into formation.
On the battlefield, Kakashi frowned. His single visible eye flicked between the chaos around him and Orochimaru standing tall on the rooftop.
So this was it—a war against Konoha, with Naruto and Sasuke throwing their lot in with Orochimaru and Sunagakure.
Taking a deep breath, Kakashi steeled himself. He couldn't let the civilians suffer. Whatever his feelings toward Konoha, the people did not deserve to be slaughtered.
His fingers brushed the edge of his forehead protector. Beneath it lay his greatest weapon.
By all logic, a non-Uchiha like him should never have been able to push the Sharingan so far. And yet, over years of battle, the eye had begun to synchronize with his body. With Obito's will behind it, Kakashi had achieved the impossible—he had awakened the power of the Mangekyō Sharingan.
He had already mastered Kamui, and with it, he could tear open a corner of Orochimaru's barrier and free the Third Hokage. But he didn't. Instead, he turned and struck at the Sunagakure and Otogakure shinobi around him.
"Kakashi!"
A familiar voice cut through the chaos.
Kabuto appeared, glasses flashing in the firelight.
Kakashi's eye narrowed. Isn't this the Genin who withdrew from the Chūnin Exams?
Realization struck. Orochimaru's man.
The aura rolling off Kabuto was no Genin's—this was the pressure of a seasoned fighter. Kakashi's expression hardened.
Around them, the Konoha 12 reeled at the scene unfolding before their eyes.
"Sasuke! What are you doing?!" Sakura shouted, disbelief and betrayal twisting her voice. She had expected Naruto and Sasuke to defend the village—yet they were striking at it instead.
In the crowd, Hyūga Hiashi quickly pulled Hinata close, shielding her from the chaos.
Naruto's gaze flicked to them, and he let out a faint sigh of relief.
But the Konoha shinobi who noticed his betrayal reacted with open hostility.
"Uzumaki Naruto! What are you doing?!"
A Chūnin in a flak jacket glared at him, voice thick with malice.
Naruto felt it—the weight of that gaze. He had felt it countless times before, when he was younger, when the village had looked at him not as a boy but as a demon.
A crooked smile spread across his face.
He formed an Earth Release spear, gripped it, and hurled it with terrifying force. The weapon impaled the Chūnin, pinning his body against a wall. His eyes were wide even in death, as though unable to believe the end had come.
"Can't you see what I'm doing?" Naruto mocked.
For the first time, he felt free. Years of suffocating resentment poured out of him in an intoxicating rush.
"Senran!" another Chūnin cried, rage igniting in his voice. He was clearly a comrade of the fallen shinobi.
"Demon Fox brat! You dare betray Konoha?!"
Malice swelled in the air, dozens of hateful glares fixed on him.
Naruto laughed bitterly. These eyes, this venom—it was all too familiar.
"What do you know?" he spat. "Ignorant fools!"
Turning to Sasuke, he asked coldly, "Have you found Danzo?"
Sasuke shook his head. This battle wasn't meant to kill Danzo outright—just to take some interest from him. Keeping the old war hawk alive inside Konoha still had its uses.
"Figures," Naruto sneered. "That old rat is probably still hiding in some hole, gloating to himself."
Then he unleashed a Fire Release technique, instantly burning down the enemy shinobi who had dared to attack him.
"We can't crush Konoha outright this time," Naruto whispered, his tone carrying both caution and intent. "But we also can't make it too easy. Konoha still needs to draw the attention of the shinobi world for us."
Sasuke gave a small nod of acknowledgment. He understood well—destroying Konoha was impossible for now. Even setting aside the village's countless hidden cards, the sheer number of shinobi within its walls was a force that couldn't be underestimated.
At his current level, he had the strength of an elite jōnin, strong enough to wound even a Kage.
Lightning sparked violently in his palm, arcs of electricity whipping chaotically around him.
Suddenly, Hyūga branch family members appeared from the village's corners, slipping out of the shadows.
They began to tear through the village structures, wrecking homes and buildings. Though bitterness lingered in their hearts, they still held loyalty to Konoha's people. They avoided killing, but when it came to the village itself, they held nothing back.
Watching this chaos unfold, the Third Hokage's expression darkened.
"Orochimaru! Look at what you've done! This is the Konoha you mock—so vulnerable under your schemes!"
Orochimaru only smiled with cruel delight.
With a sinister flourish, he activated the Impure World Reincarnation. Three coffins burst from the ground atop the roof, each etched with the words "First," "Second," and "Fourth."
The Third Hokage's eyes widened. His voice thundered with rage.
"Orochimaru—you dare toy with the souls of the dead!"
The coffin marked Fourth sent a jolt through his heart. That one must not be allowed to open.
In that instant, Sarutobi's thoughts turned to Naruto. If Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage, were dragged back by Edo Tensei and learned of Naruto's circumstances, the result would be unbearable.
Sarutobi's heart twisted with guilt. Minato had entrusted Naruto to him, and in truth, he had failed his student.
Summoning Enma, the Monkey King, the Third transformed him into the adamantine staff and slammed it against the Fourth coffin, forcing it shut with sheer will.
The coffin retreated into the ground.
Orochimaru's eyes narrowed in confusion. Impossible. How could that coffin be suppressed so easily?
Still, he smirked. Two Hokage were more than enough. What Orochimaru didn't realize was that the Fourth could never have been summoned in the first place.
The soul of Minato Namikaze remained trapped within the Shinigami's stomach, beyond the reach of Edo Tensei. Without that soul, the technique was doomed to fail—the coffin was nothing but an empty shell. The Shinigami acted as an impenetrable barrier, a signal jammed beyond recall.
It's hard to believe the Second Hokage ever managed to contract with the Shinigami in the first place…
The aged Third Hokage stood solemnly, his once-mighty figure now diminished. In his youth, his mastery of ninjutsu and vast chakra reserves had made him unparalleled. But now, his body was no longer what it once was.
Meanwhile, the shinobi of Sunagakure glanced anxiously at one another. Rasa, their Kazekage, had yet to appear, and unease gnawed at their hearts.
Far below, in a hidden underground base sealed with powerful barriers that masked chakra perception, another scene unfolded—unnoticed even by Naruto.
A group of shinobi stood in the shadows. One of them finally stepped forward and broke the silence.
"Lord Danzō… are we truly not going to intervene?"
"Hmph."
Danzō turned his single eye toward the speaker, his face etched with disdain. This Root shinobi was new, his will not yet hollowed out into the machine-like obedience Danzō demanded.
"You still don't understand," Danzō said coldly.
"I am Konoha's future. Only I can guide this village to its true glory."
To him, Orochimaru's assault was not a calamity—it was an opportunity.
...
TN:
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