As the cursed seal chakra was quickly drained from his body, Senju Tobirama, the Second Hokage, gradually regained his will. He lowered his head to look at Naruto standing before him and spoke coldly. "Brat, how much more chakra are you going to absorb?"
"Oh, you've regained consciousness?" Naruto Uzumaki looked up. Then, to the Second Hokage's surprise, Naruto forcefully threw him to the side.
After doing this, Naruto turned his attention to the pale-faced Orochimaru not far away. "We meet again, Orochimaru... This time, who will come to save you?"
"Heh heh heh... Who knows?" Orochimaru's initial shock at seeing Naruto had faded. Perhaps because Naruto had foiled his plans so many times, he was starting to get used to it.
But escaping was still necessary.
This brat, Naruto Uzumaki, always had a way of knocking him down just when his confidence was at its peak, forcing him to recognize the harsh reality of the ninja world. During the Chunin Exams, this kid had faced three Hokage at once and handled them with ease. Now, Orochimaru had no confidence that he could escape so easily.
Orochimaru calmly extended his fingers, rested them on his other palm, and drew a small cut. He then quickly formed hand seals and slammed his palm on the ground. "Ninjutsu: Summoning Jutsu!"
A giant purple snake emerged from the summoning circle, its size even greater than Gamabunta from Mount Myoboku. This was Manda, Orochimaru's strongest summoning beast and the leader of the snakes in Ryuchi Cave, one of the three great sage regions.
"Hey, Orochimaru, don't just summon the great Manda so casually... If you annoy me, I'll eat you! Huh? Orochimaru? Hey, do you hear me?"
After Manda rambled on for a moment without a response, it slowly turned its massive head. There was no sign of Orochimaru anywhere. After summoning his beast, the man had run away immediately. What did he think the summoning contract was for?
"That bastard!" Manda hissed. It then lowered its head to look at the genin boy on the ground, its forked tongue flicking out menacingly. "Forget it. I'll eat this brat to clean my teeth."
"...Is that how you use a summoning beast?" Naruto scratched his head. He thought using Gamabunta as a stepping stone was bad enough, but he hadn't expected Orochimaru to be even more shameless. He actually used his own summoning beast as a sacrifice to cover his escape.
"Oh well, I didn't expect to be able to kill him easily anyway..." Naruto sighed. He looked up at the snake head diving toward him, clasped his hands together, and shouted, "Wood Style: Wood Golem Jutsu!"
A tall wooden golem rose from the ground. Its two thick hands tightly grabbed Manda's neck and body, capturing the giant summoning beast and forcing its mouth open.
Naruto stood on the golem's head. A pitch-black Tailed Beast Bomb formed in his hand, and he tossed it straight into Manda's mouth.
"...Wood Style... Tailed Beast Bomb..." A trace of despair appeared in Manda's eyes. As a summoning beast from Ryuchi Cave, it knew very well the power of both Wood Style and the Tailed Beast Bomb. This was a death sentence.
Before it died, it finally understood why Orochimaru had summoned it. "That bastard Orochimaru... he summoned me today just to send me to my death?"
BOOM!
A muffled explosion echoed from within Manda's body. The giant snake was instantly torn apart from the inside. Just like that, the summoning beast that was once a symbol of the Sannin was gone.
Naruto jumped down from the wooden golem and looked curiously at Senju Tobirama, who was continuously forming hand seals. "Second Hokage, haven't you broken free from Orochimaru's control yet?"
"No, I was just trying to counter-track his location," Tobirama said, shaking his head and giving up on the idea. "But that man's consciousness appears in many places. I can't determine which one is his real body..."
As expected of a master of forbidden jutsu. He had truly taken it to a whole new level. He had only just broken free from the control, yet he could already attempt to track Orochimaru through the Impure World Reincarnation's connection.
"No... perhaps every trace of his consciousness is the real him," Tobirama mused, recalling a soul-related secret jutsu he had once researched. He looked up suddenly. "Although that man is a rogue ninja, he is a remarkable genius. It's one thing to learn and improve the Impure World Reincarnation, but he even managed to figure out another soul-related jutsu that I had only half-researched."
"...I don't really get it," Naruto admitted, confused. Although the Second Hokage spoke highly of his forbidden jutsu, everyone had seen what a joke Orochimaru's actual strength was.
Tobirama saw the genin's blank expression, then glanced at the tall wooden golem beside them and sighed, placing a hand on his forehead. "You don't understand? As expected. Are you another idiot like my brother?"
According to Tobirama's observations, very few powerful ninja possessed sufficient intelligence. Even Madara Uchiha, at best, only had some petty cleverness. If that fool had known even a little bit of patience, the Hokage seat might have long belonged to an Uchiha.
"Hey, hey, Second Hokage, it's one thing to insult your own brother, but don't just insult others so casually..." Naruto pressed his temples. He had a feeling the Second Hokage was much more troublesome than the First. Just listening to him speak, you could tell he was an old troll.
Tobirama, true to form, replied softly, "I'm not insulting you, just stating a fact."
"Then let me remind you of something too, Second Hokage," Naruto said, suddenly raising his hand. A golden chain began to dance behind him. "I know plenty of ways to deal with reanimated ninja."
"..." Senju Tobirama was a rational man. He nodded calmly and changed the subject. "Let's not talk about this. Where is my brother?"
"...At the inn," Naruto replied, going with the flow.
When they returned to Tanzaku Town, Senju Hashirama gave his brother a warm welcome, which included scolding him for developing forbidden jutsu. The sight of the two founding Hokage of Konoha together was eye-catching.
Tsunade didn't know whether to laugh or cry, completely unable to figure out what Orochimaru had been thinking. He had killed the Third Hokage, only to send back two even stronger ones.
-----
While some were enjoying themselves, others were worried.
The Akatsuki's Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki had noticed the brief clash between Orochimaru and Naruto, as well as the return of Senju Tobirama.
Kisame caressed the ring on his finger and sighed. "That guy Orochimaru is everywhere. He's deliberately making it harder for us to capture the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. Mr. Itachi, what should we do now? Should we continue our preparations?"
Itachi Uchiha lowered his head in thought. After a moment, he answered softly, "Continue to request support from Pain. Two of the Sannin, two Hokage, and the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki are not opponents we can deal with easily..."
If he refused to request support, it would look like he was watching his fellow members go to their deaths—even though that was, in fact, exactly what he was thinking.
-----
Village Hidden in the Rain.
Pain, who received the news, had an even bigger headache than Itachi. It was just supposed to be a probing mission to capture the Nine-Tails. Who could have thought that after Orochimaru kept meddling, the difficulty would increase so much, and the need for reinforcements would grow?
The leader of the Akatsuki wished he could cooperate with Konoha to hunt down their common traitor, Orochimaru. It would be useless, but it would at least let him vent some anger.
An iris-like pattern trembled in the falling rain. A woman in a black cloak with red clouds retracted her paper wings and landed beside Pain. "Pain, should we have Itachi and the others retreat?"
"No. You go this time, Konan." Pain slowly lowered his head, his gaze falling upon a pair of fair feet as water droplets flowed over them. He continued softly, "This time, we will make a probing attack on the Five Great Ninja Villages. If the battle doesn't go smoothly, have them retreat immediately."
-----
Bonus:
Naruto: You're about to lose!
Konan: Wait, we have something to say!
Naruto: Say it.
Konan: How about a truce? We can team up to hunt down Orochimaru.
Naruto: Why?
Konan: He's a traitor to our organization and a rogue ninja from your village!
Naruto: The truth. None of that nonsense.
Konan: Fine! If it weren't for him, it wouldn't be so hard for us to try and catch you...
Itachi: Heh. You think it's just because of Orochimaru...
Konan: Could it be, Itachi, you...!
Itachi: No. I mean, the reason we failed is because Kakuzu bragged too much, making us think Wood Style was just a jutsu for building houses...
Konan: That makes sense. But I still have this 600 billion exploding tags project that needs more funding...
Itachi: ...Is that why our organization hasn't paid us in four years?