Chapter 168: The Fateful Battle (Part 1)
Like a statue standing in the darkness, Hiruzen Sarutobi stood quietly on the Hokage Building rooftop, his gaze flickering, seemingly waiting for something.
Whoosh! As expected, a cold wind blew past, and the temperature on the Hokage rooftop seemed to drop several degrees.
Hiruzen glanced sideways, sighing inwardly, then continued to look at the night view of Konoha, which had recovered its prosperity and bustle after the war, becoming vibrant once more.
A figure had, at some point, silently landed several meters away from Hiruzen. The person also stood by the railing, overlooking the magnificent panorama of Konoha.
Both remained silent, simply watching the entire scene of prosperous and peaceful Konoha.
These ordinary people were ignorant and fortunate. They would never know the monumental events unfolding in the deep darkness of the night, nor would they know that the convergence of destinies and the changing of eras were fiercely playing out this evening.
Finally, Hiruzen sighed and was the first to speak: "Orochimaru, why? Why are you doing this?"
Hearing the baseless question, Orochimaru smiled elegantly and devilishly: "Sensei, your methods are too gentle! Warring states are constantly fighting, and the great nations have fought two Shinobi World Wars in less than twenty years! For a Shinobi World like this, your methods are not what the current Konoha needs in a Hokage, nor are they what the entire Shinobi World continent needs in a Hokage!"
Hiruzen continued to ask calmly and steadily: "Was placing you as the captain of the Hokage Guard First Squad not enough to prove your status as the next Hokage successor? Are you so impatient that you couldn't wait even a few years?"
Orochimaru gave an indifferent smile: "Hiruzen-sensei, I understand you too well, just as you understand me! The world is fickle. Did you not place me by your side partly to monitor me? Sensei, I simply want to hold everything in my own hands! Finally, as your prized disciple, I hope to use you—the Third Hokage, a Shinobi hero of this generation—to test my true capacity!"
Hiruzen closed his eyes, his low voice laced with disappointment and sorrow: "You have changed, Orochimaru!"
Then, Hiruzen paused before speaking again: "If you fail, will you defect from Konoha?"
"Sensei, I have already knocked on the door of endless life. When I lead the people of the entire Shinobi World toward a new era, I will have you witness it with me!" Orochimaru's dark-golden snake eyes flickered with madness and excitement as he spoke.
Looking at Hiruzen, Orochimaru held back another part of his thoughts: If I succeed, then I will become Hokage, extract more Tailed Beast Chakra and life force to achieve Eternal Life, gain even greater power, and then unify the entire Shinobi World continent, leading not just myself but the people of the entire Shinobi World toward a new era.
If I fail, then after being reborn, to be defeated again by your hands would also be a fitting end, just as walking a completely different path—one that aligns more with my own ideals and beliefs—was after my rebirth.
Gazing over all of Konoha, colorful light shimmered in Orochimaru's dark-golden snake eyes. Will I forge a new era, or will I return to dust, buried in the legends of history?
At this moment, Orochimaru was gambling, making a decision for which he had no absolute certainty.
The two fell silent again. Time gradually passed, reaching midnight. The lights on Konoha's streets slowly dimmed and went out. The villagers had all entered their dreams. The entire village was quiet, like a giant beast falling into slumber. In every corner of Konoha, fluctuations of varying Chakra strengths gradually began to surge.
Orochimaru gave a sinister laugh: "Sensei, let's begin as well!" Having spoken, he launched his body and sprinted toward the vast Konoha forest outside the village. A battle of their caliber was enough to destroy the entire village many times over.
Hiruzen knew the fight was inevitable. He turned and followed closely behind Orochimaru, flying toward the unknown battlefield.
Orochimaru, who chose another path to Eternal Life and the realization of his ideals, and grew stronger, facing Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was at the peak of his Shinobi power.
He, mastering countless forbidden and secret Jutsu. He, the pioneer of combination Jutsu.
Who will win and who will lose? Will Konoha continue to pursue a policy of peace in this continent surrounded by powerful nations, or will it be led by Orochimaru into a brand new age?
This fateful confrontation, this battle of the Shinobi World's highest level, had already begun.
In the forest several hundred kilometers outside of Konoha, the night was silent. The vast woods were quiet, save for the occasional mournful cry of an animal, which, rather than adding life, made the forest appear even more eerie and terrifying.
Whoosh, whoosh! Two figures, which to an ordinary person would appear as nothing more than a breeze—their forms too fast to discern—flashed past.
Orochimaru and Hiruzen simultaneously stopped, standing atop the branches of two towering trees, facing each other across a hundred-meter gap.
The cold night wind blew in gusts. Orochimaru's moon-white kimono and Hiruzen's fiery-red Hokage robes fluttered in the night wind, rustling loudly, mirroring the momentum secretly building between the two.
Sensing the increasingly stifling and heavy aura, birds and sparrows sleeping within dozens of miles were startled awake, flying in panic, scattering toward the far distant sky.
Boom! Boom! With two simultaneous bursts, both men pushed their Kage level auras to the peak.
The quiet, gloomy darkness was instantly torn apart. The two distinct yet equally immense and profound auras, like vast oceans, suddenly shot toward the sky.
The sheer power of the auras surging around them ravaged the forest within a hundred-meter radius.
Orochimaru's Kage level aura truly resembled a Shura (Asura) from hell, filled with dense, palpable killing intent. It was mixed with Orochimaru's inherent evil, chilling, and supremely dominant temperament, all converging to climb straight to the nine heavens with a sense of majestic power and world-defying arrogance.
Hiruzen's Kage level aura, on the other hand, was like a sky-piercing peak suddenly rising from flat ground, emitting a colossal presence that was steady as a mountain and solid as a massive range of high peaks. It gave a dense, oppressive sense of gravity, soaring far into the sky and dominating the landscape.
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