At that moment, the sight of the entire Hyūga Clan fully mobilized, ready to sever ties with Konoha, plunged Sarutobi Hiruzen into utter despair. The scene before him crushed whatever hope he still clung to.
He turned toward Hyūga Hiashi, fury overflowing.
"Why?!" he roared. "Why betray me?! Why betray Konoha?!"
Hiashi answered coldly, his voice steady and sharp.
"Betray Konoha?" He let out a humorless laugh. "The one who betrayed it was you, Sarutobi Hiruzen."
Without giving him time to respond, he continued.
"That year, the emissaries of Kumogakure kidnapped Hinata and tried to steal the Byakugan of our clan. And what did you do? We-the real victims-were forced, by your order, by your cowardice and submissive policies, to go die of our own accord!"
The indignation in his voice only grew.
"No ninja village, no Kage, has ever committed such an absurd and shameful act! If not for your incompetence, Hizashi would never have been forced to die in my place, and the Hyūga Clan would never have endured such humiliation!"
Hiashi stared straight at Hiruzen, unflinching.
"And someone like you still dares to say that we betrayed Konoha? A Hokage who orders his own ninjas to die to appease the enemy… who could ever remain loyal to someone like that?"
The other members of the Hyūga Clan, who had initially been caught off guard, could only sigh upon hearing those words. They had known all of this for a long time-they had simply learned to swallow it in silence.
Hiruzen replied with forced coldness.
"At that time, Konoha had just emerged from war and was weak. I asked for your sacrifice for the sake of the village's peace and stability! Without that kind of resolve, what right do you have to call yourselves ninjas?!"
Hiashi burst out laughing, his voice filled with disdain.
"Sacrifice?" he scoffed. "I've never once seen you sacrifice yourself for Konoha! The Senju Clan vanished, the Uchiha Clan was destroyed, yet the Sarutobi Clan remains numerous and grows stronger by the day!"
He pressed on mercilessly.
"Konoha's White Fang, Hatake Sakumo, committed suicide. The Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Minato, and his wife died holding back the Kyūbi's rampage… and you? You stayed alive, comfortable, and even continued sitting on the Hokage's throne!"
"In the Second Great Ninja War, it was the Legendary Sannin who fought on the front lines. In the Third, it was the Yondaime Hokage who ended the war by himself. And you, Sarutobi Hiruzen-where were you?!"
Hiashi finished, his voice dripping with contempt.
"Don't preach sacrifice while reaping all the benefits yourself. That isn't a Hokage-it's a schemer, a power-hungry tyrant, an old man who only knows how to protect his own interests!"
Hiruzen was so furious he looked ready to explode. Yet whether it was ANBU, Root, members of the Sarutobi and Shimura clans, or even the Hyūga themselves, many felt those words were hard to refute.
Because they were facts.
"Very well!" Hiruzen roared. "It seems you and the Hyūga Clan truly don't want to live anymore! In that case, I'll wipe you out completely!"
In an instant, all the forces under his command stirred, ready for the final slaughter. The Hyūga, meanwhile, had already steeled themselves to fight to the death. Facing all of Konoha with the strength of a single clan held no hope of victory-it was nothing more than a desperate gamble.
That was when Chiba stepped forward.
The moment Hiruzen saw him, hatred exploded within him, making his entire body tremble.
"Chiba!" he shouted. "Of course… it had to be you! The mastermind behind everything has always been you!"
Chiba merely smiled, utterly calm.
"Hokage-sama, don't get so worked up. Be careful-you might hurt your health."
"You were the one who incited the Uchiha Clan, then turned Tsunade against us!" Hiruzen roared. "Now you want to tear the Hyūga Clan away from Konoha as well?!"
"More accurately," Chiba replied evenly, "they were forced out by you. Sarutobi Hiruzen… you never acknowledge your own mistakes."
He continued, his tone calm yet relentless.
"Why did these people never cause trouble under other Hokages? Why do these clans only rebel when you're in power? After everything that's happened, do you really still think it's just a coincidence?"
Chiba tilted his head slightly.
"If that's the case, then you truly were a complete failure as Hokage."
"This is all because you manipulated things from behind the scenes!" Hiruzen bellowed. "The Uchiha, Tsunade, the Hyūga-every single one of them was misled by you!"
Chiba burst into laughter.
"Then why don't you try stirring up the ninjas and clans of Kirigakure?" he mocked. "Let's see if they rebel against me. Do you really have that kind of confidence?"
"You do nothing but push your crimes onto others, convinced of your own perfection. Just as the Hyūga clan head said-you're nothing more than a fossil clinging to power, an old man driven solely by ambition."
Hiruzen Sarutobi's anger finally boiled over. He glared forward, voice thunderous. "Do you honestly believe that you alone, together with the Hyūga clan, can stand against the entirety of Konoha and escape from here?! Don't kid yourself. Because of you, Konoha is no longer what it once was. Precisely to deal with threats like you, the village's strength has continued to grow. And besides… those two will be arriving any moment now!"
Chiba merely smiled. "Those two… you mean Jiraiya and Orochimaru?" His tone was calm, almost amused. "Two of the Legendary Sannin-sure, that does sound intimidating. But if you think throwing around their reputation is enough to frighten me, then you're far too naïve."
Hiruzen's eyes narrowed. "So your intelligence really is impressive. But don't get the wrong idea-it's not just Orochimaru and Jiraiya."
Almost as if on cue, the reinforcements Hiruzen had long prepared arrived in force. Alongside Orochimaru and Jiraiya, two of Konoha's strongest pillars, Kakashi Hatake, Might Guy, Yamato, and others appeared as well, leading units of ANBU, ROOT, and elite Konoha ninja. The battlefield shifted instantly, the pressure multiplying severalfold.
Despair spread through the Hyūga clan. Even before this, the gap in strength had already been overwhelming. Now, with the addition of the Sannin and so many top-tier combatants, the disparity became crushing. Against such a lineup, the Hyūga clan's total combat power might not even amount to a tenth of the enemy's.
Hyūga Hiashi's expression darkened, as did those of the elders and elite members beside him. The younger generation-Neji, Hinata, Hanabi-felt their hearts sink as anxiety tightened their chests.
And yet, at that very moment, Chiba stepped forward without hesitation, placing himself squarely between the two vast ninja armies.
At Hiruzen's side stood Orochimaru and Jiraiya, his most accomplished disciples and Konoha's greatest assets. Behind him were Kakashi, Guy, Yamato-the strongest figures of the younger generation. Surrounded by such power, Hiruzen laughed loudly, confidence surging as he looked at Chiba. "Don't tell me you intend to face all of Konoha by yourself? This is nothing but throwing an egg against a stone!"
Chiba's expression didn't change. He simply smiled. "Who said I was alone?"
As those words fell, his hands moved, forming seals with unhurried precision. Instantly, every ninja on the field tensed. No one underestimated the man before them-not Hiruzen, not Jiraiya, not even Orochimaru. No one knew what he was about to unleash, and so chakra flared everywhere as Konoha's forces braced themselves for defense and counterattack.
Then Chiba slammed his palm into the ground.
The summoning technique activated.
"Summoning Jutsu-Ryūchi Cave!"
This wasn't any elemental power or special ability. It was pure summoning. Right there, within Konoha itself, Chiba called forth the serpents of Ryūchi Cave.
The ground roared. Thunderous crashes echoed as snakes poured forth like a living tide-countless in number, vast in variety. Large and small, black, white, red, green, they surged across the battlefield. Some were lethally venomous, tongues flickering as they slithered toward the enemy. Others were colossal, their bodies massive enough to crush buildings with ease, radiating sheer intimidation. Still others wielded taijutsu, ninjutsu, even senjutsu.
And this was only the beginning.
Behind the countless ordinary serpents, the true core of Ryūchi Cave began to appear. Orochimaru's pupils shrank as he recognized them. Manda emerged first. Shock struck him, followed immediately by fury. So it really was this man-the one who had stolen his summoned beast. And now it was clear the truth went even further: Chiba had forcibly subjugated all of Ryūchi Cave, turning it into his own domain.
One massive serpent after another appeared-the twin-headed snake, the three-headed snake, the blue serpent, even those once destined to become the next Manda. Their arrival sent waves of panic through Konoha's forces, many instinctively retreating. After all, during the Konoha Crush, a single three-headed snake had already pushed the village to its limits, forcing Jiraiya himself to summon the great toads of Mount Myōboku to suppress it.
Now, Chiba was summoning more than a dozen of that very level-and they were still coming.
Among them was Sāra, once the most violent and ferocious member of Ryūchi Cave. Though now subdued and stripped of its reverse scale, its temperament calmer, its combat power remained terrifying. With its petrification ability, Sāra still ranked among Ryūchi Cave's strongest beneath the White Snake Sage and the three great elders.
Moments later, the three elders themselves were summoned: Tayūya-hime, Ichikishima-hime, and Tagitsuhime. Floating effortlessly, capable of invisibility, transformation, binding, devouring, and absorbing chakra through powerful senjutsu, their presence alone warped the battlefield. In terms of standing, they were comparable to Mount Myōboku's legendary sages, Fukasaku and Shima.
Even Orochimaru stood frozen, utterly stunned.
And then, something happened that shattered all remaining comprehension.
Under Chiba's call, the White Snake Sage of Ryūchi Cave descended and revealed its true form.
The ruler of one of the three sacred lands. A true immortal who had lived since the era of the Sage of Six Paths, surviving for over a thousand years. A being of unfathomable senjutsu and chakra, shrouded in myth.
Yet when the massive white-scaled serpent appeared, it lowered its head respectfully toward Chiba.
"Greetings, Master. At your command, Ryūchi Cave stands ready."
Orochimaru's mind went blank. Hiruzen, Jiraiya, the Konoha ninja army, and the Hyūga clan all stood frozen, as if witnessing a divine revelation. The legendary White Snake Sage… bowing in submission and calling Chiba its master.
Hiruzen tried to speak, but no words came. Surrounded by an ocean of serpents, elder-level beings wielding true senjutsu, and the White Snake Sage itself, he could only stare, mouth agape.
To the Hyūga clan, Chiba no longer looked like a man. He looked like salvation itself.
Was he standing against Konoha alone? No. He possessed power enough to challenge the entire shinobi world.
Under countless stunned gazes, Chiba finally issued his command.
"Escort the Hyūga clan out of Konoha," he said calmly. "And anyone who dares to interfere…"
His eyes hardened.
"Kill them all."
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