Chapter 191 Fathers and Sons Reunion
"Stop it!!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen's voice rang out, sharp and commanding, as he swiftly drew two shurikens from his back and hurled them with precision. In the blink of an eye, he infused them with chakra, causing the weapons to expand a hundredfold.
The enormous shurikens streaked through the air in wide arcs, cutting left and right toward Orochimaru, who was twisting his face into a grotesque imitation.
Hiruzen's heart burned with anguish. He couldn't bear to see Orochimaru wearing that face—his son's face—again.
Never again.
The massive shurikens found their mark, slamming into Orochimaru's arms with a sickening impact. His body collapsed to the ground like a heap of lifeless mud.
But before Hiruzen could catch his breath, the fallen form began to writhe. Its mouth stretched unnaturally wide, and from within, a new Orochimaru emerged, dripping with viscous slime.
"Can't take a joke, can you, Lord Third?" Orochimaru's voice was as taunting as ever, his "reborn" body slinking to its feet. The slime-covered visage twisted back into his original form, a mocking grin spreading across his face.
"Fine, then," Orochimaru said with a chuckle. "I'll face you with my true form. But first—"
His expression darkened, and his voice dropped an octave. "I have a new gift for you."
Clap!
Orochimaru's hands slammed together in a resounding clap. The ground in front of him trembled violently as two coffins erupted from the soil, their wooden surfaces emblazoned with ominous markings.
"This technique..."
Hiruzen's face paled, his eyes widening in horror. As the former Hokage and keeper of the Book of Seals, he recognized the jutsu instantly.
"It can't be..."
He recalled the warning etched in the Book of Seals, a dire evaluation by the Second Hokage himself. This was no ordinary forbidden jutsu—it was a technique so heinous that its very use was banned without exception.
How did Orochimaru know it?
Two possibilities clawed at Hiruzen's mind, each one more treacherous than the last.
Either Orochimaru had stolen the forbidden knowledge while still within the village...
Or, worse still, someone within Konoha's upper ranks had betrayed them, handing it over to him.
His fists clenched tightly, the weight of the revelation settling like a stone in his chest. His voice cracked through the silence, raw with fury and suspicion.
"Have you... always been colluding with Tsunade?!"
Orochimaru's lips curled into a sinister grin, his laugh cold and mocking as it slithered out from between his teeth.
"Heh~ You've grown old, Lord Third. Took you this long to piece it together?" His golden eyes shimmered with dark amusement, a gleam of mockery flashing in them. "Did you honestly think I could get in here with a few secret techniques alone? Did you forget that I wasn't just your student, but also Tsunade's old friend?" He paused, the smirk never fading. "She still hasn't killed you after all you did to the Senju clan... but do you truly think she can't forgive me?"
Hiruzen's eyes narrowed, but it wasn't just him. The surrounding Sarutobi clan members and Shimura family ninjas exchanged uneasy glances, their minds flashing back to twelve years ago.
The last time Orochimaru attacked the two clans, they had assumed it was simply an opportunistic strike during the chaos of the Nine-Tails' rampage.
But now...
Could it be?
The implications sent a chill through them all. Someone within Konoha must have been working with Orochimaru, enabling him to infiltrate so deeply.
Orochimaru, as if savoring their growing unease, clapped his hands together theatrically. "Alright, alright, enough gossip. My time is precious, after all." His tone turned cold, a sharp edge cutting through the mockery.
"I'll wrap up these trivial matters quickly," he said, channeling chakra into the two coffins that stood ominously before him.
Click—creak.
The coffins groaned as Orochimaru's chakra flowed into them, their lids slowly shifting. Pale, lifeless hands emerged, pushing the lids open further.
The figures that stepped out of the coffins made every Sarutobi and Shimura clan member freeze in shock.
"No... it can't be..."
Hiruzen's breath hitched, his weathered face pale with horror.
"That's... Lord Shinnosuke and Asuma?!" A Sarutobi Chūnin's voice cracked as he exclaimed.
The two figures were unmistakable, even in their current state. Their faces were smeared with dust, their skin dry and cracked like withered bark, yet their identities were undeniable.
They were Sarutobi Hiruzen's sons—Sarutobi Shinnosuke and Sarutobi Asuma.
Asuma blinked, his consciousness gradually returning. His head turned side to side as he tried to make sense of his surroundings.
"Where is this...?" he muttered, his voice hoarse and disoriented.
His gaze landed on Hiruzen, whose expression was a mixture of grief and disbelief.
"Da... Dad? Is that you?" Asuma's eyes widened as he took in the sight of the aged Hokage. "What happened to you? How did you get so old?"
His gaze shifted, and he spotted the man beside him.
"Big brother?!"
"Asuma?" Shinnosuke's voice trembled with recognition, his expression softening with a mix of disbelief and bittersweet familiarity.
For a moment, the weight of time and death hung heavy between them. Shinnosuke studied Asuma carefully, piecing together the image of the younger brother he had last seen as a small child, now grown into a man.
The reunion was brief, and it carried no joy—only confusion and the ominous knowledge of the jutsu binding them to Orochimaru's will.
"Brother! It was Hatake Tatsuya who killed you, wasn't it?! He and Orochimaru teamed up to capture me too!" Asuma shouted, his voice a mix of rage and despair.
Orochimaru chuckled, his serpentine smile widening as he tilted his head mockingly. "Alright, alright, both of you. Let's not dwell on the past—you're dead now. Why not savor this... family reunion?"
The sinister glint in Orochimaru's eyes grew as he manipulated the two resurrected Sarutobi brothers with a flicker of his chakra. Unlike his earlier attempts to control legends like Senju Hashirama and Tobirama, these two were much easier to manage. One Jōnin and one Chūnin—child's play. No spell tags were necessary; direct chakra control sufficed.
And he'd made a choice—a cruel, calculated choice.
Keeping their consciousness intact.
After all, what could be more entertaining than watching two sons, fully aware, forced to attack their own father?
"Let's begin," Orochimaru purred, his voice cold and gleeful as he sent a surge of chakra into the pair.
Asuma and Shinnosuke's expressions shifted instantly, their eyes widening before snapping shut in unison. Their hands moved as if on strings.
"Fire Style: Fire Dragon Flame Bomb!"
"Wind Style: Gale Palm!"
The two jutsu melded seamlessly, the wind fueling the flames into a roaring inferno that surged toward Sarutobi Hiruzen with terrifying speed.
The fusion of fire and wind wasn't overwhelming on its own, but from two skilled users, it became lethal—and devastating against a father paralyzed by grief.
Hiruzen stood frozen, unable to react, still reeling from the reality of his son's forced assault.
"Clan leader move!" A nearby Sarutobi Chūnin leaped into action, slamming into Hiruzen and pushing him out of harm's way.
The flames consumed the brave Chūnin instantly, his agonized screams echoing through the battlefield.
Hiruzen stumbled to the ground, his breathing labored, his vision blurring from the shock. As he steadied himself, the horrifying truth sank in—his own sons had nearly killed him.
"Orochimaru!!!" Third Hokage's roar of rage and anguish tore through the air, his fury reaching an unprecedented peak.
But Orochimaru simply laughed, a hollow, mirthless sound that only deepened the Hokage's despair.
"Hehe, come now, sensei," Orochimaru taunted, his voice dripping with mockery. "Let's see how long you can endure."
...
...
"Winner: Yuki Haku."
Half of the arena was covered in a layer of frost, and Temari collapsed to the ground, her body shaking weakly.
Shiranui Genma raised his hand, signaling the conclusion of the second round. "Impressive," he muttered, his voice carrying the weight of the moment.
The audience couldn't help but whisper among themselves, their voices filled with awe. "It's almost like watching the Third Mizukage in his prime," Hiashi murmured.
Terumi Mei, watching with a smile, leaned slightly forward. "It seems I may be stepping into the role of the Sixth Mizukage soon," she said, a hint of confidence in her tone.
Beside her, Minato remained silent, his eyes still fixed on the arena, while Hatake Sakumo bowed his head slightly, unwilling to engage further in the conversation. The topic, after all, was not an easy one to discuss.
"The third round: Uchiha Sasuke vs. Sabuku no Gaara."
Shiranui Genma's voice rang out once more, drawing the attention of the crowd. A fresh wave of excitement rippled through the stands.
This match promised to be one of great interest—a descendant of the Uchiha clan, Sasuke, pitted against Gaara, a prodigy from the Hidden Sand, the son of the Kazekage and widely considered the strongest Genin of his village.
As the crowd murmured and speculated, betting quietly amongst themselves, Kakashi turned to Tatsuya. "Uncle, who do you think will win this match?" he asked, his tone casual but laced with curiosity.
But Tatsuya didn't respond. His eyes were fixed on something beyond the arena, his gaze seemingly drawn to the sky above the martial arts field.
Kakashi furrowed his brows. "Hm?" he muttered, following Tatsuya's line of sight.
The next moment, Kakashi's expression shifted. His eyes widened as he saw it—high above the arena, a small dark purple dot had appeared, expanding rapidly in the sky. The ominous dark spot grew larger by the second, threatening to consume the entire expanse above them.
The air grew heavy, the crowd's murmurs fading as the spectacle above captured everyone's attention.
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