Intermission 『6』Surprise

『Akatsuki Hideout. Unknown Location.』

Inside the dark cave, only two men were present. Towering above them was a massive statue with nine closed eyes.

Alongside Danzō stood a holographic body with deep, purple eyes. It's figure constantly faded in and out of existence, producing static noise.

"Pain... Now that Konoha knows about Orochimaru's plan, how the hell is he going to kill the Hokage and Kazekage?"

"No need to worry, Shimura Danzō. This is merely a temporary inconvenience... The battle shall take place anyways, albeit not in the village itself. Isn't that beneficial to you?"

"I suppose so... But they're prepared. The chance of Orochimaru managing to kill Sarutobi isn't as high anymore."

"Orochimaru will kill the third Hokage."

"..."

For some reason, Danzō couldn't help but believe Pain's words. It was as if when he said something, it would happen no matter what.

"For now, head back to the hidden leaf village and await instructions. The Akatsuki will not move until the time is right... Everyone must be patient, including yourself. Farewell."

After saying goodbye, Pain's hologram disappeared without a trace. Danzō just stood there, pondering on the situation at hand.

"Hiruzen... You must die. For the village."

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『Fire/Wind country's Border』

Orochimaru stood inside a small crater, accompanied by Kimimaro and Kabuto. The three of them were waiting for Rasa's arrival.

"Kukuku... That fickle man... Rasa. Making me wait for so long... I wonder how I'll kill him?"

The Sannin's desire for Sasuke betrayed him as he licked the blade in his hands. His mind was running through the moment he would finally acquire him.

Suddenly, he felt a disturbance in the air and looked at the direction it came from. Over there, four cloaked figures could be seen walking over.

'He's finally here...'

Orochimaru stood there, waiting for the three men to arrive. He was on the verge of exploding with killing intent but controlled himself.

Once the cloaked figures arrived, Orochimaru smiled.

"No need for those cloaks... Show me your face, Rasa."

"You asked for it."

One of the three figures lifted their hood, revealing a man that wasn't the Fourth Kazekage. He had white hair, and a headband with the Kanji for 'oil' inscribed, giving away his affiliation to the toads.

"Jiraiya!"

"Hahaha! Long-time no see, Orochimaru! How've you been?"

Suddenly, two more figures removed their hoods, revealing their identities: Rasa and Sarutobi.

"Impossible! How did you-"

"Orochimaru... I am saddened by how low you've fallen."

Sarutobi had a sad expression on his face.

"Were you planning on attacking the leaf? The village you grew up in, that carries the wills of so many people?"

"You know nothing, old man! I'm going to destroy that village, and carry out my revenge!"

"Sigh... You are a lost cause... I'll do what I wasn't capable of doing that one time... I'll remove your threatening existence from this world, Orochimaru."

"Not so fast... Kimimaro! Distract them!"

"HAI!"

Heeding orders, the curse mark started spreading across Kimimaro's body as he directly entered stage two. With a serious expression, he launched an attack on the three people.

"Hmph. You send a kid to fight me? Enma!"

"No need to tell me."

Removing his hood, Enma (The monkey King) immediately turned int a staff, which Sautobi held tightly.

"Take this!"

Not wasting time, Hiruzen swung the adamantine staff towards Kimimaro, who produced a massive shield of bones to block it.

"Your bones may be hard, but they're not adamantine!"

Hitting the bone-shield, Sarutobi completely shattered it. Continuing its momentum, the staff knocked Kimimaro far away. Orochimaru just smiled.

"Kukuku... Just in time. Kuchiyose: Edo Tensei!"

Smirking, Orochimaru slapped his palms together, and a coffin came out of the earth.

"One!"

Seeing this, Sarutobi's face changed.

"Rasa, Jiraiya! We must stop at least one!"

"Too late! Two!"

Another coffin appeared out of the ground, hitting the first.

Reacting fast, all of the sand in the area started shining with a golden color as Rasa directed it towards Orochimaru.

Jiraiya opened his hand and a blue, spinning ball started floating above it.

"Three- What?"

Suddenly, Orochimaru put on a confused expression. Seeing this, Sarutobi rejoiced.

'It seems like the third one didn't work... We got lucky.'

Not wasting any time, Rasa and Jiraiya continued their attacks. Just when they were about to hit, something happened.

Both coffins opened, and two men appeared.

One had long, brown hair and the other's was spiky white. They were the first two Hokages, Hashirama and Tobirama.

Orochimaru quickly placed a weird Kunai in their heads, and they immediately became mere puppets.

Hashirama took one step forward, and a bunch of wood came out of his hand. With it, he stopped Jiraiya's Rasengan completely, leaving the Sannin baffled.

"Hashi... Hashirama-Sama?"

"Suiton: Suijin Heki!" (Water-Style: Water Barrier!)

An incredible amount of water came pouring out of Tobirama's mouth, clashing Directly with Rasa's golden sand, and making it too heavy for him to control.

"What the hell! Is that the second Hokage?! And that's the god of Shinobi?!"

Rasa was stupefied. Where the hell did such powerful figures come from?