Hiruzen Sarutobi had thrown everything he had into that first exchange-forcing his aging body beyond comfort, summoning Monkey King Enma, even turning him into the Kongō Nyoi ("Adamantine Staff") in a desperate attempt to gamble his life on one decisive clash. But reality was merciless.
The gap between him and Chiba was still far too vast, so wide it didn't feel like the difference between two shinobi, but between a man and a natural disaster.
Chiba's ice blade was nothing flashy, nothing theatrical. It was simply… absolute. A single strike, and the sheer disparity in strength blasted Hiruzen and the Kongō Nyoi away at the same time.
The blade then carved across Hiruzen's arm as if flesh and bone were no sturdier than paper; blood erupted instantly, hot and violent against the frozen air.
Hiruzen slammed into the ground and coughed up mouthful after mouthful of blood, each gasp tasting like iron and humiliation-because what had just happened wasn't even one of Chiba's "tricks."
It was a casual blow.
Hiruzen's mind churned between shock and fury. Yes, it had been years since he'd truly fought with his own hands, but he was still the man who had once called himself the "Strongest Hokage."
No one understood better than him how ridiculous that title was-yet perhaps lies repeated too often became something even the liar began to believe. And the cruelest part was that Hiruzen wasn't weak. If he were, he would never have survived an era like this, would never have risen to become the Sandaime Hokage
His talent was undeniable, especially in the area that mattered most: mastery over the five elemental natures. In the entire shinobi world, even possessing five elemental chakra natures was extraordinarily rare-let alone displaying true proficiency across all of them.
Records spoke of only a handful of beings in history who possessed the full range of chakra natures: wind, fire, earth, lightning, water, and even yin and yang.
Names like Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, the Sage of Six Paths, Uchiha Madara, Senju Tobirama, Hiruzen Sarutobi, Orochimaru, Hatake Kakashi, and Zetsu-a list so short it almost felt unreal.
But among them, once you stripped away gods, legends, and creations of gods, the number of true shinobi who stood in that category became even smaller. And even those who possessed multiple natures didn't necessarily demonstrate full, explicit mastery over nature transformations in battle.
Hatake Kakashi was called the Copy Ninja and supposedly held a thousand jutsu, yet even he never truly displayed every element in practice. Historically, shinobi who were clearly shown to have mastered all five nature transformations were fewer still-Nagato, Orochimaru, Kakuzu, and Hiruzen.
And even within that group, there were caveats: Nagato's breadth was tied to the Rinnegan, and Kakuzu's stolen hearts carried chakra that wasn't truly his. If you spoke strictly-purely of one's own skill-then the number narrowed to two.
Hiruzen Sarutobi and Orochimaru.
And even Orochimaru, in the end, relied far more on his personal forbidden techniques than on ordinary elemental ninjutsu. If the discussion was about raw familiarity and proficiency in the Five Releases themselves, Hiruzen could genuinely be called the foremost in the shinobi world-a man who had mastered over a thousand jutsu, who understood Konoha's mainstream techniques to an almost academic degree, who earned the title "Professor."
Those titles were deserved.
But "Strongest Hokage"? "God of Shinobi"? Those were jokes spoken too loudly and too often.
Hiruzen's competence didn't stop at ninjutsu. His taijutsu and weapon skill were formidable as well; with Enma transformed into the Kongō Nyoi, he could unleash power fierce enough to drive the Kyuubi out of Konoha, or suppress Orochimaru in close quarters even at death's door.
His Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu ("Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique") pushed the use of ninja tools into a near-absurd realm. He also excelled at barriers and sealing techniques-formations like the Shisekiyōjin ("Four Red Yang Formation"), and seals ranging from the Three-Way Seal to the Five Elements Seal, even the taboo of taboo techniques, feared even among the Uzumaki…
Shiki Fūjin ("Reaper Death Seal").
Hiruzen's greatest strength was that he had almost no obvious weaknesses.
And that was also his greatest problem.
He had too many skills, too many answers, but no singular, devastating trump card that could end a battle with one unavoidable strike. It made him look less frightening than he should have been-especially when compared to his long-time rival, Ōnoki, the Third Tsuchikage of Iwagakure. Ōnoki needed only one technique to make the entire world cautious.
Jinton ("Particle Style")-a single blade of annihilation that could decide wars.
And now, Hiruzen carried another cruelty on his back: age. What had once been his advantage-chakra reserves, strength, speed-had become his sharpest disadvantage. If one judged only by "scores on paper," perhaps Hiruzen would have ranked frighteningly high. But paper didn't fight.
These thoughts flickered through Chiba's mind like a brief, cold wind.
He looked at Hiruzen on the ground, coughing blood in great choking bursts, and felt no pity at all.
"Hiruzen Sarutobi…" Chiba's voice was calm, almost conversational, the kind of calm that made the words cut deeper. "You're confident, aren't you?"
"To fight me alone?"
Hiruzen spat out blood, forced himself upright, and glared as if hatred alone could hold his bones together.
"Mizukage Chiba-!" he roared, voice ragged with fury. "You're nothing but a brat who's only risen in the last four or five years!"
"When I was out there carving a path through the shinobi world, your father probably hadn't even been born!"
His breathing was heavy, but his eyes were fever-bright, clinging to pride like a lifeline.
"I've lived through storms you've never even imagined. I've walked into situations where death was certain-nine deaths and one life-and I still made it to today!"
"You think I truly have no way to bring you down?!"
Chiba's lips curved. "Oh?"
"Then show me."
Hiruzen's roar shook with frustration. In a sudden motion, he hurled the Kongō Nyoi aside, as if admitting-even for a heartbeat-that brute weapon clash would never bridge the gap. His hands flew into seals, chakra surging out of him with a force that didn't match his age, as if stubbornness itself had become fuel.
Goton: Dairendan ("Five Release Great Combo")!!!!
In an instant, Hiruzen unleashed what could be called his closest thing to a signature killing move-his trump card, his culmination. Using the coordination of his body and shadow clones, he launched five elemental dragon-bullets at once, each one exploding forward with terrifying synchronization.
Doton: Doryūdan ("Earth Dragon Bullet")!
Suiton: Suiryūdan ("Water Dragon Bullet")!
Katon: Karyūdan ("Fire Dragon Bullet")!
Fūton: Fūryūdan ("Wind Dragon Bullet")!
Raiton: Rairyūdan ("Lightning Dragon Bullet")!
It felt like the entire spectrum of nature transformation was erupting at the same time-wind feeding fire, lightning carving through the air, water surging with crushing force, earth smashing forward like a stampede. Instead of canceling one another out, the elements supported and amplified, intertwining into a single torrent of destruction that looked capable of grinding everything in the world into dust.
RUMBLE-!
RUMBLE-!
BOOOOM-!!!
Back in the Fourth Great Ninja War, Hiruzen had used this very move to withstand simultaneous five-element bombardment-proof that in moments like these, the "Professor" could still shine. Against an opponent capable of overwhelming entire forces, Hiruzen's breadth had once been the answer.
But this was not that battlefield.
This was Chiba.
Chiba watched the five dragons slam toward him and, for the first time in a while, gave a small, genuine note of approval-an acknowledgment not of threat, but of craftsmanship.
"Not bad."
Then the air around him dropped.
His extreme cold surged outward again-simple, direct, unchanging.
No matter how many forms you take, I answer everything with one.
BOOOOM-!
BOOOOM-!
BOOOOOOM-!!!
A vast wave of freezing power swept through the space between heaven and earth. The air itself crystallized, turning into clear, glasslike ice-so pure it looked unreal. The five elemental dragons were sealed and suppressed inside a massive block of frozen transparency, locked mid-motion like insects caught in amber.
Flame died out.
Wind stopped.
Lightning vanished.
Water froze solid.
Earth hardened into lifeless ice.
Everything-everything-was erased into silence.
Hiruzen's eyes widened in horror.
His trump card… his final card… Goton: Dairendan ("Five Release Great Combo")-was broken apart by a casual wave of Chiba's hand.
A chill far colder than ice crawled up Hiruzen's spine.
Was this man truly… invincible?
Was today really his end?
While Chiba toyed with Hiruzen Sarutobi, the wider battlefield continued to drown in blood.
Sunagakure's ninja army was locked in a savage struggle against the Ryūchi Cave serpent legions and the Senpō: Hyōton-Hyōsetsu Ryūkishi ("Sage Art: Ice Release-Ice-Snow Dragon Knights"). Screams and impacts overlapped into a constant roar, the ground splitting under coils and cavalry, shinobi crushed beneath bodies larger than siege weapons, ice lances punching through formations while blades and jutsu answered desperately in return.
At the heart of it all was the clash everyone could feel even from afar-
Kazekage Rasa versus the White Snake Sage.
Rasa had trained relentlessly over the years, pushing himself with one goal in mind: to stand against Chiba. He had grown stronger-sharper, more refined, more ruthless. But facing the ruler of one of the Three Great Sage Regions, the master of Ryūchi Cave, that improvement wasn't enough.
The gap was still crushing.
Rasa had no choice but to reveal what he had been holding back-the technique he had inherited from the Third Kazekage's legacy, the secret heart of Sunagakure's evolved sand control.
Magnet Release.
In a single breath, gold sand erupted like a tidal wave, bursting forth into a sky-filling ocean that crashed down toward the White Snake Sage with the weight of a falling world.
Jiton: Kinsa Tōrō ("Magnet Release: Golden Sand Wave")!!!!
The White Snake Sage looked up at the descending flood and let out a small, disdainful laugh.
"Magnet Release, hm? It looks decent," she said, voice smooth and cold. "But your own strength is far too weak."
Her awareness-borne from vast senjutsu chakra-could listen to the world itself. She understood Magnet Release's essence. She understood why the Kazekage line had relied on sand control and its magnetized evolution to suppress the Shukaku's power.
But she was not Shukaku.
And this was not the endless dunes of the Land of Wind.
In the next moment, the White Snake Sage's chakra exploded-ancient, savage, and overwhelmingly pure, pouring from Ryūchi Cave like a primordial force being awakened.
Senpō: Muki Tensei ("Sage Art: Inorganic Reincarnation")!!!
The earth answered her call.
The ground roared and heaved, overturning violently as if a prehistoric beast had awakened beneath the battlefield. The soil and stone rose like a massive, gaping maw, surging upward to bite into the falling gold sand, tearing and devouring its momentum with brute, absolute control.
RUMBLE-!
RUMBLE-!
BOOOOM-!!!
Rasa's Jiton: Kinsa Tōrō ("Magnet Release: Golden Sand Wave") was crushed outright. The upturned earth blocked the entire gold-sand ocean-then flipped the pressure back, slamming downward toward Rasa's position like a collapsing continent.
Rasa's pupils shrank.
He had known the White Snake Sage was terrifying… but not like this.
And if the White Snake Sage-master of Ryūchi Cave-was already this overwhelming…
Then what kind of existence was Chiba, the man who could suppress and command forces like hers?
The thought alone made Rasa's blood run cold, sweat spilling down his face in heavy streams despite the chaos and heat of battle.
Rasa didn't collapse into despair-he couldn't afford to. Even as the overturned earth pressed down like a waking ancient beast, even as the White Snake Sage's senjutsu crushed the battlefield's rhythm into something hopelessly one-sided, the Kazekage forced his breath steady and refused to yield. His hands slammed together again, chakra surging through his palms with a harsh, metallic pressure that pulled every grain of gold dust into obedience.
Jiton: Kinsa Rippōtai ("Magnet Release: Gold Sand Cube")!!!
The raging tide of gold sand condensed at once, compressing into a colossal cube-dense, heavy, and violently spinning with contained force. Rasa drove it forward like a falling mountain, ramming it straight into the counterattacking earth.
RUMBLE-!
RUMBLE-!
BOOOOM-!!!
The impact detonated across the sky. Soil and stone burst upward in a choking cloud, gold sand exploding outward in glittering shrapnel. The heavens were blotted out completely, drowned beneath flying earth and molten-like grains of gold. Debris rained down in torrents-chunks of dirt, fractured rock, and heavy sand collapsing like a storm of rubble, pounding the battlefield with relentless percussion.
Rasa's skill was real. His control was refined, his reaction sharp, his tactics not at all foolish-he managed to blunt part of Senpō: Muki Tensei ("Sage Art: Inorganic Reincarnation") with that cube's crushing momentum. But it still wasn't enough. The core problem remained, cold and undeniable: his chakra and raw power were simply nowhere near the White Snake Sage's level.
The earth-beast didn't stop.
Even after taking the hit, the awakened ground continued to lunge downward, the overturned land twisting and snapping like jaws closing around prey, still trying to tear Rasa apart. Forced into a corner, Rasa could only reshape his gold sand in an instant-layering it into a massive shield and bracing behind it to endure the strike head-on.
The blow landed.
And the world shook.
Rasa was still sent flying, his body hurled back as if struck by a giant's fist. He tumbled through the air and slammed down hard, coughing blood in great, ugly bursts-each mouthful spilling out faster than he could swallow it back down.
"Kazekage-sama!!!"
From the distance, voices rose in alarm-Granny Chiyo, Baki, Yura, and others shouting at once, their fear sharp enough to cut. But none of them could move to save him. Not one.
Granny Chiyo was locked in a vicious battle against Tagitsuhime, one of Ryūchi Cave's three great elders. Two women, both terrifying in their own right, trading blows with such intensity that even a blink could mean death. Chiyo's puppet techniques danced like a storm of hidden blades; Tagitsuhime answered with the cold, predatory precision of an ancient being. Neither could disengage-not even for a second.
Baki and Yura were no better off. They were being tangled and harried by Sage Snake, two-headed serpents, three-headed serpents-massive Ryūchi Cave monsters that refused to release pressure. Forget rescuing the Kazekage; they were already struggling just to avoid being swallowed by the battle themselves, like clay statues trying to cross a raging river.
And then Hiruzen Sarutobi saw it.
From where he stood, through the fog of war and the brutal crush of competing jutsu, he watched Sunagakure's forces being completely suppressed. Chiba's summoned Ryūchi Cave serpent legions, along with his Senpō: Hyōton-Hyōsetsu Ryūkishi ("Sage Art: Ice Release-Ice-Snow Dragon Knights"), were not merely holding the line-they were forcing Sunagakure back step by step, grinding them into retreat.
Retreat.
The word hit Hiruzen like a blade.
All his earlier ambition-his certainty that he could reclaim Konoha, that an alliance and an army would be enough-evaporated in an instant. It was as if a bucket of ice water had been poured straight into his soul, freezing him from the inside out, leaving nothing but a deep, sinking chill.
Was this truly… his end?
Was today really the day Hiruzen Sarutobi died?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Additionally, more chapters exclusive content are available on Patreon: https://patreon.com/ImmortalEmperor?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink
- CHRONICLES OF THE ICE SOVEREIGN
-PLAYING ANIME LEGENDS
-THE OTHER WORLD'S ANIMATOR
Join now and help shape the future of the story while enjoying special rewards!