Chapter 60 – Chiba Mokushū: Loyal to His People and His Nation

"Not good!" Hiruzen Sarutobi shot to his feet, finally unable to maintain his calm as he stared at the four massive tails thrashing on stage. Panic-stricken, he rushed down toward the arena.

But before he could reach it, a figure blocked his path—it was none other than Orochimaru, his body wrapped head-to-toe in bandages, draped in the Kazekage's robes.

Orochimaru's arm morphed into a tangle of serpents that instantly bound Hiruzen. With a flick, he hurled the Third Hokage onto the rooftop.

He and the supposed guard beside him—Kabuto in disguise—leapt up after him.

At the same time, the Sound Four hidden among the crowd threw off their cloaks and jumped to the corners of the roof. In an instant, the Four Violet Flames Formation ignited, walls of glowing chakra sealing off the rooftop from the outside world.

The ANBU who had followed them up were incinerated the moment they touched the violet flames, reduced to ashes in seconds.

"Orochimaru! It's you!" Hiruzen stared at the familiar figure still clad in the Kazekage's garb.

"Hehehe... Sensei, you've gotten old," Orochimaru sneered, stripping off the Kazekage robes with a flourish. "To think you'd fall for something so obvious."

Hiruzen quickly shrugged off his Hokage cloak, revealing the battle armor he wore underneath.

Orochimaru licked his lips, grinning. "Seems you've accepted your fate, Sarutobi-sensei."

Kabuto, who had posed flawlessly as a guard, stood beside Orochimaru, his every move in sync with his master's.

"Sensei, I brought a gift for you! Summoning Jutsu!"

With a dull rumble, two coffins rose from the ground. The doors creaked open, and out stepped two familiar figures.

Senju Hashirama and Senju Tobirama.

Hiruzen's eyes widened in horror. "Lord Hashirama... Lord Tobirama!"

His glare turned murderous as he looked back at Orochimaru.

"How dare you defile the dead!"

Hashirama, looking down at his own reanimated body, turned to Orochimaru with a rare scowl.

"You again? Have you no respect for the dead, boy?"

Even someone as good-natured as Hashirama was clearly displeased.

Tobirama, creator of the Edo Tensei, immediately sensed something was off. While he still retained some self-awareness, he hurriedly warned, "Hiruzen, that Orochimaru... he's being controlled by someone else. He's not the real mastermind here. Be careful—"

Before he could finish, Kabuto clapped his hands in a sealing gesture, cutting him off mid-sentence.

But those words had already reached Hiruzen loud and clear.

The masked shinobi behind Orochimaru… he was the one casting the seals.

Hiruzen gritted his teeth. "Summoning Jutsu—Enma! You've controlled Orochimaru?"

"That's right," Orochimaru answered—but the voice that followed was Kabuto's, no longer bothering to conceal his identity. "But Lord Third, you won't have the chance to pass this knowledge on."

Hiruzen's eyes gleamed with fury.

"I will never let you bring chaos to Konoha again! Enma—transform into the Adamantine Staff!"

"Understood!"

...

Meanwhile, down in the arena, Gaara's feigned slumber activated as the sealing squads were distracted.

With a roar, the massive form of Shukaku burst forth.

"About damn time! I'm out! Now DIE, stupid fox!!" the One-Tail screamed.

Rather than lashing out wildly, Shukaku immediately launched an attack at the partially transformed Naruto.

But Naruto, already in his Four-Tails state, unleashed a long-charged Tailed Beast Bomb in response.

Up above, Kakashi finally arrived, bringing Sasuke with him after their rushed training session.

He took one look at the chaos below and winced. "What a mess…"

Snapping into action, he began shouting orders to the remaining ninja.

"Forget the Tailed Beasts! Sasuke, Tenten, Lee—you Genin, help evacuate the civilians!"

"Hayate, Aoba—head to the ANBU and request backup! Intercept any Sunagakure or Otogakure ninja trying to breach the village!"

"Understood!"

"Yes, sir!"

Just then, a hand landed on Neji Hyuga's shoulder.

"No need to help with the evacuation, Neji. I'm here to take you."

Neji turned around, eyes wide with joy. "Brother!"

It was Hyuga Gakuya—well, a shadow clone of him. He wasn't ready to reveal Chiba Mokushū's true identity just yet, so he'd sent a clone to retrieve Neji for now.

"Gakuya, what are you doing here?" Kakashi's lone eye narrowed in suspicion.

Gakuya tilted his head with a calm smile.

"Just here to pick up my little brother. Figured I'd join the party while I'm at it. You all carry on."

He pulled out a sealing scroll, summoning three puppet hawks and three humanoid puppets.

"Take him home."

"Yes, sir."

Gakuya turned to Neji. "Let's get you out of here. It's too dangerous to stay."

"Neji-sama, if you'll come with us," one of the puppets said with a slight bow.

Neji climbed aboard one of the hawks. Just as the puppet hawks prepared for takeoff, a flurry of kunai and shuriken rained down on Gakuya.

"Let him go!"

It was Tenten's voice.

Gakuya turned, his eyes glowing an icy blue. With a casual wave, he batted the incoming weapons to the ground effortlessly.

"You're quite the fiery little sister-in-law," he mused.

With a snap of his fingers, Tenten was scooped up onto a puppet hawk as well.

In a flash, the hawks vanished into the sky, soaring toward the Land of Rain.

But before Gakuya could take another step, a figure appeared behind him, Rasengan in hand.

He barely dodged as Jiraiya slammed the technique into the ground, cracking the stone tiles.

Gakuya pointed toward Chiba Mokushū and began to float, lifting into the air.

"I told you—I'm just here to watch. Why are you so intent on fighting me?"

As the clone left the battlefield, the real Gakuya stepped forward, facing off against the Leaf shinobi.

"Let me properly introduce myself—Chiba Mokushū, leader of Otogakure. A pleasure."

Hinata took a hesitant step forward. "Mokushū-kun... why are you doing this? Aren't we friends?"

Gakuya's expression darkened. "I'm sorry, Hinata. But to protect my people, I have no choice."

"Hinata, fall back," said her teacher, Yuhi Kurenai, gently pulling her away. "Let us Jōnin handle this."

Jiraiya stepped forward, voice booming.

"You call this protecting your people?! You're starting a war that could drag two nations into the abyss!"

He hated war—he couldn't understand why two countries that had coexisted in peace would suddenly turn against each other.

Gakuya's eyes blazed with anger.

"You don't understand a damn thing! Of course Konoha wouldn't get it. You're a major power—you've never had to live like we have!"

"The Land of Fields has been under Konoha's thumb for years! Every year we send countless resources—under the guise of 'friendly cooperation'—when it's nothing more than protection money!"

"All of it ripped from the hands of our people. One bad harvest and hundreds die, not from nature, but from you."

"Konoha wages war year after year—and the war chest? It's not just Fire Country gold fueling it. It's the blood and sweat of the Land of Fields!"

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Pls Drop some Power Stones

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