In the now-empty arena, Orochimaru's voice echoed faintly. A cold, chilling aura materialized behind Tsunade.
Neither Hiruzen Sarutobi, Jiraiya, nor Tsunade had realized he'd been impersonating the Fourth Kazekage. Orochimaru seemed to have a few complaints for his former teacher and old friends.
"Long time no see. I thought I did enough, really. So many hints, and none of you realized it was me. It's a pity you stood no chance against Nagato..."
But there were no greetings for him here. No Konoha ninja would ever welcome him back.
"Orochimaru, you bastard…" Jiraiya instinctively moved to get up.
"Orochimaru!" Tsunade was already swinging her fist at him.
"Orochimaru…" Hiruzen's expression was complicated as he stared at his renegade student.
Suddenly, it all made sense. "No wonder the Kazekage's fighting style felt familiar… it was you all along? You've been pretending to be the Kazekage this whole time?"
The Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, was famous for his control over gold dust. But during the entire battle, he had only used Wind Style—never a speck of gold dust, which should have been a dead giveaway.
"Of course it was me. If not me, who else was going to help you deal with the Akatsuki? Did you really expect that Kazekage, who holds a grudge against Konoha, to help you?"
"You scum!" Tsunade narrowed her eyes, completely uninterested in his excuses.
"Orochimaru…" Hiruzen understood the implication in Orochimaru's words. "So you're the one who wanted to use our strength against the Akatsuki's leader?"
"No… I never thought of using you against the Akatsuki. I've known from the beginning that none of you could ever beat Nagato, or even pose a real threat to him."
"But… Sensei… you're not entirely useless…" Orochimaru's snake-like eyes narrowed dangerously. "At the very least, your defeat brings Konoha to its most desperate moment…"
And in that moment of desperation, he could finally make his real move. Only when Konoha was on the brink of collapse could the past Hokages be forced to fight for the village once more.
"That was all just a messy appetizer," Orochimaru said, raising a finger with a sneer on his lips. "Now, it's time for the true feast. I even sacrificed three children who could use curse mark power just for this!"
"Ninja Art: Summoning Jutsu!"
Orochimaru slammed his palm onto the ground. His face grew serious as smoke billowed from beneath his hand. In full view of everyone, three coffins shot up from the earth.
"Edo Tensei…" Hiruzen's heart sank with dread.
The situation was spiraling out of control. Their loss to Pain, Orochimaru's sudden appearance—it was all trouble Hiruzen hadn't prepared for. And now, something even worse was about to happen.
What was Orochimaru planning to do with the Reanimation Jutsu?
Creeeeak...
The coffins slowly opened. Three figures, their faces marked with the cracks of reanimation, were revealed. They were familiar faces, and for some present, they were family.
"First Hokage…" Hiruzen's eyes widened in disbelief at the sight of the long-haired man in red armor.
"Grandpa…" Tsunade's heart trembled.
"And… Second Hokage…" Hiruzen's body began to shake as he stared at the man in blue armor.
"Minato…" Jiraiya saw the figure in the third coffin, and his mind went blank. He never thought he would see his dead student again.
They weren't the only ones. The other Konoha ninjas looked on in shock. While the First and Second Hokage were figures from a distant past, the Fourth Hokage, Minato, was still a legendary figure in Konoha.
And his son was right there.
Naruto, standing beside Kakashi, stared in shock at Minato, unable to believe his eyes.
"The Hokages of Konoha…" Kakashi trembled at the sight. He never imagined he'd see these dead legends again. Especially his own teacher, Minato.
"What…?" Minato's eyes snapped open. He looked at the wounded Hiruzen, Jiraiya, and the others, his face filled with surprise. "Lord Third? Master Jiraiya? Where am I? What's going on?"
No, wait…
How on earth am I here?
"The Reanimation Jutsu, huh…" Tobirama's voice was flat, as if he'd already expected this. "So… my jutsu was dug up after all."
"Tobirama!" Hashirama stepped out of his coffin and immediately glared at his brother. "I told you not to use this jutsu back then!"
But strangely enough, Tobirama didn't argue. He didn't seem interested in a debate. Instead, he glanced at Hiruzen and asked, "Is that you, Monkey?"
"Yeah… you've gotten old…" Tobirama sighed at the passage of time. "What's happening? Why are you all so badly hurt?"
"We… allow me to explain." Orochimaru interrupted with a smile. "Konoha was invaded by a powerful enemy, so I had to use the Second Hokage's Reanimation Jutsu to revive you all at this critical moment…"
"Shut up! Don't listen to his nonsense!" Tsunade cut in darkly. "Orochimaru is a rogue ninja! Don't trust a word he says!"
"Tsunade," Orochimaru glanced at her with amusement, spinning the same old lie. "I only defected because Danzo and I were secretly plotting to get rid of the Akatsuki threat…"
"…" Tsunade rubbed her forehead.
Seriously… that bastard was still lying!
Who would believe that?
"Is that so?" Hashirama stroked his chin, glancing around as if trying to spot Danzo. "I remember Danzo was always a sharp kid… Where is he? Why isn't he here?"
"…" Tsunade's face twitched. She rushed to set the record straight. "Grandpa, don't believe his lies! It's all fake!"
"But… one thing isn't fake…" Tobirama glanced around the field, then looked at Nagato's group. He could immediately sense their overwhelmingly powerful chakra. "Konoha… really is in trouble."
No one could deny it. Even Tsunade fell silent. Pain's strength had exceeded everyone's expectations. He had crushed them with a single move and still seemed to be holding back.
"What's happening?" Nagato watched the three coffins warily. He could sense three extremely powerful chakra signatures, one of which was far stronger than the others.
"The Reanimation Jutsu…" Pain remained calm, almost serene, as his eyes shifted to the other side of the chaotic scene. "Orochimaru… must have betrayed us."
After all, Orochimaru had pretended to be the Kazekage, fought alongside them, and then, upon Konoha's defeat, summoned three past Hokages. There was no way this was meant to help Konoha.
It was all a trap, aimed at them—and maybe even at Emiya Shirou, who was watching from the sidelines.
"We have to retreat…" Konan whispered to Nagato, hoping to use Emiya Shirou's name to convince him. She was wary of Orochimaru's schemes. "Lord Emiya never ordered us to go to war with Konoha."
Last time, they had stepped into a trap. Yahiko had lost his life. Konan didn't want to see Nagato take that same risk again, especially now that the enemy had backup from reanimated Hokages.
"We should leave first," Konan suggested again, knowing Nagato would listen if she mentioned their benefactor. "Let's go back and discuss Orochimaru's betrayal with Lord Emiya!"
"But…" Nagato's face darkened as he shook his head. "It looks like getting away won't be so easy now…"
Whoosh!
Two kunai flew toward them. Pain tensed and conjured a black rod to deflect them.
But in an instant, two figures appeared beside the flying kunai and moved to stab Pain almost simultaneously.
"So fast!" Pain couldn't believe their speed. He didn't even have time to react or see his attackers' faces.
"Pain!" Konan started to dissolve into paper.
"Almighty Push!" Nagato barely had time to use his real body to unleash a massive repulsive force, flinging the sudden enemies away.
But the moment the force hit them, they both vanished without a trace.
The ghostly, lightning-fast attack left both Nagato and Konan reeling in shock.