Yuto gave only a casual glance at the tiny white snake he'd just crushed underfoot, then withdrew his gaze.
"Orochimaru has more resurrection tricks than I do. He won't be able to come back for a while, but the fact that I've resurrected… that news probably won't stay secret for long."
There was a trace of helplessness in Yuto's voice, but not a hint of worry on his face.
The instant he killed the snake just now, Yuto had already more or less understood Orochimaru's aim.
There was no way Orochimaru knew that Yuto fully understood his resurrection methods.
So Orochimaru had chosen to "die" in order to slip free of Yuto's watchful eye and scheme in the shadows.
Yuto had already guessed as much about Orochimaru's little ploys—but he didn't particularly care.
Orochimaru would still need some time before he could revive.
Besides, revival via cursed seals was a very demanding method in itself.
And in that span of time, Yuto could accomplish plenty.
Whoosh!
Just then, a violent rushing sound tore through the air above.
Controlling Shin Susenju (True Several Thousand Hands), Hiruzen swung one of the colossal arms, sending a titanic fist crashing down toward Yuto.
Orochimaru's clash with Yuto had, of course, played out right in Hiruzen's field of view.
Watching Yuto dispatch Orochimaru so cleanly left him both shocked and furious.
Especially that special-patterned black cloak with red clouds on Yuto's body—it made a certain organization surface in Hiruzen's mind.
He only knew of that organization thanks to intel Itachi had risked much to smuggle back by special means.
Hiruzen's pale face grew solemn. Whether this man was directly involved or not, the first priority was to capture him.
A deafening sonic boom exploded above Yuto's head, making him rub at his ear.
Before everyone's eyes, that absurdly huge fist came crashing down.
Seeing the scene in the distance, Ameyuri unconsciously clenched her fists. Even knowing he would be fine, she couldn't help feeling nervous deep inside.
After all, those massive arms of the giant Kannon statue were strong enough to pin down tailed beasts.
Silence.
Faced with that colossal punch, the entire battlefield seemed to fall still.
No—that stillness was real.
The fist came down, but there was no imagined thunderous crash, no explosion of sound. It felt almost as if that enormous fist had always been there, unmoving in that exact spot.
On the battlefield—
Some sharp-eyed shinobi nearby clearly saw that the mountain-like fist had been stopped… by a single seemingly ordinary hand.
The sheer absurdity of that contrast left them all completely at a loss.
Hiruzen's expression changed slightly as he controlled Shin Susenju. No matter how much force he put into it, that arm remained frozen in midair, unable to descend even a fraction.
"You don't have to rush to remind me I should take care of you."
Yuto shrugged lightly, speaking in a calm tone.
He knew Hiruzen couldn't hear him. He simply didn't care.
The hand supporting that enormous palm curled slightly into a claw. With almost casual strength, Yuto gouged a hand-sized hole into the wooden palm.
He slid his hand into the opening. Borrowing the power he'd just absorbed from that arm's attack, he let out a low shout and suddenly yanked backward with all his might.
High atop the Buddha, Hiruzen felt Shin Susenju shudder beneath him.
A heartbeat later, he stared, eyes widening in disbelief at what he saw.
One of Shin Susenju's arms had been ripped off—torn cleanly from its socket.
Ripping the arm off like that was fundamentally different from the tailed beasts breaking it through sheer impact.
After tearing off the arm, Yuto smashed it down into the ground, making the earth itself seem to howl in pain.
In the next moment, he grabbed the severed limb again and, using himself as the center, swung it in a wide half-circle.
Every Iwa, Kumo, and Suna shinobi inside that arc was wiped out in an instant.
With just that one swing, the three villages' forces—save for a few lucky survivors—were almost completely annihilated.
"Alright. That's handled."
Yuto swept his gaze calmly around, speaking in a soft voice. Then he seized the arm with both hands and heaved it up, hurling it back toward Shin Susenju.
Hiruzen hastily guided Shin Susenju to bat the limb aside. At the same time, he looked down at the nearly flattened ground below and felt his heart go cold.
Since when had the shinobi world produced such a powerful ninja?
And someone like that… had stayed hidden all this time.
"The power of a jutsu isn't just about its rank. It mostly depends on who's using it."
Yuto lifted his head, studying Shin Susenju. His tone held a hint of disdain, though a flicker of envy flashed in his eyes.
Whether it was Hashiboy or Madara, each of them had at least four or five massive, battlefield-level techniques—if not a dozen.
But Yuto himself didn't have a single large-scale attack he could really call his own.
If Hashiboy were the one controlling Shin Susenju now, Yuto's face might well have been far more grave. But as things stood, this so-called Shin Susenju was at best a somewhat dangerous toy.
"Kongou Fuuin (Adamantine Sealing Chains) — giant form!"
A torrent of chakra chains surged out from within Yuto's body.
Supported by the chains, Yuto was lifted up into midair. The chains that followed condensed rapidly in the sky.
In the blink of an eye, a giant the size of a tailed beast, formed entirely from chakra chains, appeared in Hiruzen's field of view.
"This is… the Uzumaki clan's Kongou Fuuin (Adamantine Sealing Chains)?"
Hiruzen's eyes went wide. His face was full of disbelief as he spoke.
Boom!
A violent crash rattled all of Shin Susenju, jolting Hiruzen back to his senses.
That chain giant had already closed the distance with incredible speed, appearing beneath Shin Susenju and launching an attack.
Dozens of arms swung toward Yuto all at once.
Whoosh, whoosh!
Multiple chakra chains shot out from the giant's body, wrapping around those arms and binding them together, holding them suspended in the air.
Using those arms as anchors and rapidly retracting the chains, Yuto's body shot higher. In that instant, he dispelled the giant form of Kongou Fuuin (Adamantine Sealing Chains).
With just a few light steps, he appeared above Shin Susenju's head.
Looking at Hiruzen, who stared at him in a daze, Yuto smiled warmly and greeted him:
"Yo, Third Hokage of Konoha."
Boom!
Enma, standing at Hiruzen's side, was the first to move, driving off with a powerful kick. In the span of a heartbeat he was right in front of Yuto, driving a heavy punch toward him.
Yuto lifted his hand and casually caught Enma's fist, then flicked his arm to the side.
Enma's body was slammed straight into the Buddha statue, embedding him in Shin Susenju's torso.
Hiruzen's face changed drastically. He grabbed the scroll beneath his hands—the one summoning Shin Susenju—and yanked, tearing it cleanly in two.
At that exact moment, Yuto was already standing in front of him.
"You're… the First Mizukage, Yuto!"
Looking at the seemingly very young man before him, Hiruzen spoke in a tone of absolute certainty.
"Correct. Unfortunately, there's no prize."
Yuto nodded and smiled as he answered.
With Yuto's acknowledgment, countless things Hiruzen had never quite understood clicked into place all at once.
And now he knew exactly what lay behind everything happening before his eyes.
"Hashiboy was right to leave this contingency!"
"You were sealed away back then, and even if you escaped that seal, your fate hasn't changed—you'll still be sealed by the measure Hashiboy left behind!!"
Hiruzen glared at Yuto, furious. When he said "Hashiboy," his voice clearly rose a notch.
Then, all at once, he smiled. He even laughed out loud as he stared at Yuto, his tone filled with bold, unyielding spirit.
"Your ambitions will never come true! Konoha will never be destroyed by you."
"So long as there are leaves dancing in the air, the fire will keep burning. The shadow of that fire will shine on the village. As long as the Will of Fire lives on, Konoha will not fall!"
Yuto's expression remained faint as he quietly watched Hiruzen, whose eyes now burned with resolve and defiant pride.
A hero among shinobi, huh?
Perhaps that was why Tobirama had chosen Hiruzen to be Hokage in the first place.
"Is that so? Shame you won't be around to see it."
Yuto spoke softly, and with a single step appeared directly in front of Hiruzen.
He extended one finger. Before Hiruzen could even raise a hand to defend, Yuto flicked him lightly on the forehead.
Buzz—
Hiruzen felt his brain suddenly jolt. In the next instant, his consciousness went hazy, and his body went completely limp and still.
In Yuto's eyes, Hiruzen didn't really count as a powerhouse—but that last moment had still made Yuto feel he was… someone worth acknowledging.
Perhaps it was because of that final flare of pride before death.
Because of it, Yuto hadn't reduced him to dust the way he had Orochimaru. Instead, he left Hiruzen's body whole.
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