Lightning armor covered his entire body, sensory tools activated.
Tahara Rokuro slapped a sealing scroll behind him, and several long blades shot out, embedding themselves into the ground. Each of them weighed over twenty catties, and one among them was none other than the legendary Dragon Slayer Sword—the very one wielded by Guts in Berserk.
This massive sword stretched two meters in length, with a blade alone nearly 1.7 meters long and half a meter wide—it wasn't an exaggeration to call it a door plank.
Its weight exceeded two hundred catties.
Rokuro gripped the sword's handle with one hand—and effortlessly lifted it.
Seeing that, Sarutobi Hiruzen immediately judged that his opponent possessed monstrous strength. Combined with the Lightning Armor, that could only mean one thing—he'd run into a real monster this time.
"Hiruzen, that guy's a close-combat powerhouse—be careful!"
Enma warned. Hiruzen held his staff tightly, ready for battle.
In a flash of lightning, Rokuro vanished
and an ominous wind rushed from behind.
Hiruzen didn't have time to turn; he thrust the staff behind him instead.
A thunderous boom followed.
Bang!
The earth split apart, and Hiruzen was smashed to one knee, leaving a crater more than three meters wide beneath his feet.
Blood surged through his body.
With a furious roar, Hiruzen swung the staff with all his might, repelling Rokuro, then swept it horizontally with both hands.
Rokuro met it head-on—both hands on the sword.
Clang!
Sparks flew; the staff rebounded upward. Rokuro's sword tip darted forward—aimed straight at Hiruzen's heart.
Pfft
A sound of piercing steel rang out.
The massive Dragon Slayer Sword nearly cleaved Hiruzen in two.
But before Rokuro could retract the blade, the Hiruzen he struck melted into mud—it was an Earth Clone.
"Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!"
From underground, Hiruzen burst out ten meters away, flinging a shuriken while forming hand seals.
That signature technique—elegant and deadly.
In an instant, the shuriken multiplied—one became two, two became four, four became eight…
A storm of blades flew toward Rokuro.
But Rokuro didn't even bother dodging.
He simply took them head-on with his Lightning Armor.
Clink, clink, clank
Every shuriken bounced off the armor on contact—none even scratched his clothes.
"So it really is the Lightning Release Chakra Mode of the Raikage… Who the hell are you? What's your connection to Kumogakure?" Hiruzen demanded.
"Heh… Why should the dead need to know so much?"
Rokuro sneered. The electric light around him intensified—every cell in his body flaring to life.
His speed surged to the limit.
A flash of light
He disappeared from everyone's sight.
"So fast! We can't even see him anymore!"
"Damn it! He must be an assassin from Kumogakure! Is the Land of Lightning declaring war on us?!"
"Lord Hokage!"
While the ANBU panicked, Hiruzen barely managed to block another lightning-fast strike—but this time, he was pushed to his limits.
His staff was knocked clean out of his hands.
The skin between his thumbs split open, blood flowing freely.
With a grimace, Hiruzen pulled a smoke bomb from his pouch and hurled it to the ground.
Boom!
Thick smoke filled the air, obscuring Rokuro's sight and buying Hiruzen precious seconds.
He quickly leapt back, forming hand seals midair.
"Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld!"
The smoke-covered ground turned into a sucking mire.
Rokuro tried to move—but his legs sank instantly, the sludge twisting and dragging him down.
Even Water Walking couldn't break free.
"Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet!"
"Fire Release: Dragon Flame Bomb!"
In a single breath, Hiruzen unleashed three techniques in perfect synergy—his signature composite ninjutsu.
At the same time, the Ruyi Staff—controlled by Enma's will—spun through the air and hurtled toward Rokuro.
Now trapped and deprived of movement, Rokuro seemed cornered.
Yet, facing that deadly combination, he merely raised his left hand.
"Shinra Tensei."
Boom!
The compound ninjutsu shattered instantly, leaving no trace.
The swamp under his feet exploded outward into flying mud, releasing him from the trap.
The airborne Ruyi Staff reversed course, crashing straight into the fiery wall of the Four Violet Flames Formation.
"Ahhh!"
Enma screamed, reverting to his monkey form as flames consumed his body, rolling on the ground in pain.
"Summoning: Release!"
Hiruzen quickly released the summoning, recalling Enma from the battlefield—too injured to fight again soon.
"Banshō Ten'in."
An overwhelming gravitational pull burst from Rokuro's palm.
Hiruzen, desperate, used Earth Release to anchor himself, stone hands grabbing his legs to resist the pull.
But the force only grew stronger
the stone cracked
"crack… crack…"
"Wind Release: Great Slicing Gust!"
Hiruzen released invisible blades of wind—but Rokuro once again countered with Shinra Tensei, obliterating them all.
Before Hiruzen could react, the second Shinra Tensei hit him head-on.
He was blasted away, slamming into the barrier's fire wall just as Enma had.
"Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique!"
Through searing pain, Hiruzen countered with water, dousing the flames around him.
A flood surged toward the fiery barrier, trying to break it through elemental advantage.
"Everyone—use Water Release! Help the Third!"
The ANBU finally reacted, joining in with a volley of water-style techniques. Steam flooded the battlefield.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!"
The famous technique said to require forty-eight hand seals
Hiruzen only needed four.
So yes, Zabuza definitely got scammed—his scroll was fake.
Finally, under the combined might of one Kage-level ninja and over ten ANBU, the Four Violet Flames Formation weakened.
Seeing his chance, Hiruzen unleashed another Earth-Water composite jutsu, blasting open a gap.
With a loud crack, the fiery wall split open
Hiruzen flashed through it in an instant.
Meanwhile, the ANBU who had been chasing Orochimaru returned under Kakashi's lead, quickly surrounding the injured Third Hokage.
Boom, boom, boom, boom
Rokuro dispelled his Shadow Clones, and the barrier faded completely.
"It's him! Lord Third, that's the guy who collected the Nine-Tails' chakra before!" Kakashi exclaimed.
Lightning flared in his hand—Raikiri—as he lunged forward, Sharingan blazing.
"The so-called strongest Hokage… is this all you've got? Pathetic.
Sarutobi Hiruzen, I'll let you keep your head—for now. But I'll be back for it anytime! Hahaha!"
Cackling like a true chūnibyō villain, Tahara Rokuro activated Flying Thunder God Technique and vanished.
END OF CHAPTER
35 CHAPTERS AHEAD!!
Forbidden Java Jutsu - MrBehringer's Secret
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