Chapter 66: Sarutobi's Lion (Part 2)

"Ah, so it's Haseo."

The Third Hokage swung his weapon once midair, directly interrupting the enemy's attack. Looking down, he realized he had just saved Haseo's squad—the young ninja was currently pulling Chichio by the arm and hoisting him onto his shoulder.

Sarutobi Hiruzen then turned his gaze toward the Sunagakure ninja. "...Such a troublesome opponent indeed."

Descending from the heavens, the Hokage positioned himself alone between Konoha's group and the Sand enemies. The giant iron rod in his hands transformed into a thick club. After extending it to a certain length, he lunged forward, swinging the blunt weapon through the air and driving the enemies back.

Such a display of weaponry alone was something no ordinary ninja would dare use without official authorization.

"Third Hokage's reinforcement? How did he get here?" Seeing the descending figure of Hiruzen, Haseo felt surprised.

"A clone... probably. I think it's a Shadow Clone," Renjiro, who had previously claimed to have tracked the Hokage's location the entire time, said with uncertainty—his judgment apparently wasn't very reliable.

But whether real or fake, the "Third Hokage's" combat effectiveness was unquestionable. After forcing the enemies into slight retreat, he performed quick hand seals and completed his technique:

[Earth Release: Earth Flow River]!

Immediately after,

[Earth-Fire Dragon Flame Bullet]!

First softening the battlefield's ground, turning the enemy's footing into marshland, restricting their movements. Then following up with a series of blazing fireballs—an average ninja would have little chance of resistance against such a combo attack.

However, after releasing these jutsu, the Third Hokage vanished from sight... As Renjiro suggested, the reinforcing Hokage was indeed a clone, more specifically, a Shadow Clone.

So now, had this clone been recalled early? Or had its chakra simply run out?

As Haseo contemplated the possibilities, another commotion suddenly erupted from Konoha's battle line on the opposite flank. This uproar was so intense that it drowned out all other battlefield sounds.

It came from where the Hokage had originally been stationed. The sudden noise made Haseo unable to ignore it.

"Move!"

Without hesitation, Haseo immediately led his team toward the source of the sound. He couldn't help but worry—maybe there was some kind of trouble involving the real Hokage. But soon enough, Haseo realized his concern might be unnecessary. Before the noise even faded, faint shouts from the Konoha ninja could be heard.

He stopped and frowned, straining to catch what they were shouting. However, due to the surrounding chaos, he couldn't clearly make out what they were yelling about.

"What are they shouting?" Haseo turned his head and asked his teammates. For shinobi to start shouting loudly in the middle of a battle—it certainly counted as an abnormal situation.

"It sounds like they're chanting... 'Ten Thousand Victories'?!"

Chichio meticulously discerned the chaotic noises before giving Haseo's question this kind of answer.

"It's our people shouting?"

"I guess so?"

It sounded like Konoha ninja were shouting, but with the battlefield chaos, nobody could be sure. Soon enough, it got confirmed as their voices grew louder and more unified.

What exactly had happened over there? Haseo couldn't determine at the moment. But since the Konoha ninja seemed to be getting emotionally excited, he felt slightly reassured... This must be something beneficial to Konoha if it managed to boost the morale and spirit of the entire front line.

Without hesitation, Haseo dashed toward the heart of the commotion with his teammates following close behind. When they arrived, they found an unusual scene. Though countless Konoha and Sunagakure ninja had gathered, none had engaged in battle yet. Instead, they stood locked in tense confrontation. Within the broad empty space left between both lines, only the Third Hokage was fighting against another enemy.

"Is it the Kazekage?"

Haseo asked his squad members. From appearance and physical characteristics alone, he couldn't tell whether that enemy was indeed the Kazekage or not — after all, none from the First through Fourth Kazekage possessed particularly memorable impressions. In Haseo's memory, the story itself in this world hadn't elaborated much on Kazekage figures either, and more importantly, previous Kazekage didn't seem to have any remarkable external features worth noticing.

Still, someone capable of equally battling the Hokage should be the Kazekage indeed.

Sure enough, just as expected, Nara nodded and provided affirmative confirmation, "It's the Second Kazekage."

Was the Third Hokage actually engaging the Second Kazekage in single combat? Certainly not because both sides sought some gentlemanly one-on-one fair duel — remember, this was a real battlefield; nobody would do anything so ridiculous. However, once the Hokage and Kazekage started clashing, perhaps because ordinary ninja couldn't intervene in such Kage-level masters' fight, the scene gradually evolved into this one-versus-one showdown.

And once this delicate balance formed, it couldn't be broken easily for now.

Naturally, both Konoha and Sunagakure ninjas longed to jump into the fray and support their Kage. But mutual suspicion held them back, keeping everyone from making any sudden moves. On one hand anxious about their leader's safety, on the other forced to continue this standoff — truth be told, this tension was driving both sides nuts.

The reason why Konoha ninja cheered was because the Third Hokage had seized the initiative in battle.

Judging from physical appearance, the Second Kazekage wasn't particularly old, but he should've already passed his prime, whereas compared with him, the Third Hokage seemed significantly younger.

At this moment, the Hokage indeed had gained the upper hand. Various elemental chakra traces — [Elemental Chakra Affinities] — remained scattered across the battlefield where both had fought: water puddles and swamps, burning flames, dazzling lightning flashes, too many to list...

Perhaps "Hokage" wasn't quite the right designation for Hiruzen Sarutobi — he truly deserved to be known as the Grand Master of Elements.

"If he suddenly proclaimed 'I'll vanquish you by lunar decree!' while pulling off these flashy effects, no one would be surprised... At a distance, anyway."

But in reality, Sarutobi's beard and hair stood on end with fiery battle spirit. With terrifying aura and extraordinary combat prowess, he forcefully suppressed this elder opponent of Kage status, equal in rank to the Second Hokage.

Now, no one could deny that on this battlefield—when it came to sheer strength—Hiruzen Sarutobi had already become a worthy successor to the Second Hokage.

The Third Hokage stood upright before him while the Second Kazekage crouched halfway on the ground, panting heavily. One hand pressed against his thigh, from which protruded a kunai.

Blood flowed steadily from the wound.

"The future belongs to the young, huh? But not this old man—I won't go down without a fight," muttered the Second Kazekage as he pulled the kunai from his leg and let it clatter noisily onto the ground. Yet as he tried to stand again, his body betrayed him—he froze mid-motion.

His gaze lowered slightly, revealing dark markings spreading gradually upward from his legs.

"Is this… a binding jutsu?"

Instantly, realization dawned upon him—the moment he removed the kunai, some kind of restraining technique had been triggered.

The Third Hokage inhaled deeply before saying, "Lord Kazekage, my earlier fight wasn't just for show… The war should have ended long ago, and your death shall be a pivotal step toward peace."

At this moment, noticing their leader's abnormal condition, the Sunagakure ninja could no longer restrain themselves—they charged forth together, desperately trying to rescue their trapped Kage.

But by then, it was too late. The Third Hokage had already decided to offer his fellow ninja and respected elder a magnificent funeral. Four shadow clones simultaneously appeared on both sides of Hiruzen, and immediately afterward, they jointly activated an ultimate-level compound nature transformation technique.

This was the unique secret skill that Hagoromo had longed to see in battle from the very beginning…

[Five Chakra Natures: Five-Strike Barrage Jutsu].

Flames blazed, floods roared, lightning surged, winds swirled, and earth trembled!

Its power defied description, its range spanned a vast area. This ninjutsu instantly engulfed every enemy ahead…

Whether it was the Second Kazekage himself standing right in the center, or those Sand ninja charging forward in desperation to save him.

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