Chapter 42 – The Snake's Ambition and the Village Full of Explosive Tags
Through the purple barrier, Hiruzen could see Sound and Sand shinobi running rampant.
Combined with the One-Tail's premature appearance, everything was clearly premeditated.
War.
Hiruzen's mind flashed to the Third Great Shinobi War.
That one had started because of the Third Kazekage's disappearance, sparking conflict between Sand and Cloud, then spiraling until the entire shinobi world was dragged in.
The Five Great Villages had barely recovered.
He could not let that happen again on his watch.
"As Kage, our duty is to avoid force and seek peace. That is true responsibility to our villages, Kazekage-dono!"
Orochimaru gave a soft, mocking laugh.
"Peace? Like when your village handed over Hyuga Hizashi?"
"You haven't changed at all, still so weak… Sensei."
His voice shifted back to its true raspy tone.
"?!"
That voice made Hiruzen freeze for a split second.
"Surprised to see me, Sensei?"
"So you killed the real Kazekage, Orochimaru."
Everything clicked.
Hiruzen's face darkened instantly.
"You bastard! This will drag Konoha into war!"
"This is your home!"
He couldn't even imagine the fallout when the Kazekage's death became public.
Konoha would be the scapegoat.
"Home?"
Orochimaru released him and walked to the edge of the barrier, gazing down at the village he once called home.
"Maybe once. Now it's just a windmill that stopped turning."
"Pretty for a while, but after years it becomes dull. No value left to admire."
"So!"
He spun back with a cold smile.
"I'm going to destroy it with a storm, just to watch the windmill spin again!"
"Then you'll have to step over my corpse first!"
Hiruzen glared at his former student.
"I'm looking forward to it, Sensei."
............
As Konoha's clans and shinobi poured into the streets, the Sand-Sound invasion began losing ground.
Inside the arena, only a few groups remained:
ANBU trying to break the Four Violet Flames
Naruto, Kakashi, and Might Guy still fighting Shukaku
And five very relaxed spectators enjoying the show.
"Tsk tsk. The 'devoted disciple' tradition in this village is truly something else."
Besides the barrier fight, Aike's Observation Haki had swept the entire village.
Orochimaru had brought extra muscle: Jugo, Suigetsu, and others who weren't supposed to appear for years.
Plus Kabuto, raising the elite count significantly.
Then there were the shadow clones Naruto and Sasuke had secretly left all over Konoha.
They had been busy.
They'd removed explosive tags from certain areas… and triple-layered them in others.
Specifically, the compounds belonging to the F4 clans and elders.
"Those two brats are ruthless."
Aike couldn't help but grin.
"What is it?"
Izumi asked.
Aike didn't keep secrets.
He told them about the village-wide explosive tag network.
"The entire village is rigged with bombs?!"
Nami, Carina, and Kaya all jumped.
To them, explosive tags = bombs.
And the village was apparently stuffed with enough to level everything.
"We won't get caught in the blast, right…?"
Even with their new strength, the idea of that much firepower was terrifying.
Aike had said the full detonation would send Konoha into orbit.
Anyone would be nervous.
At least they couldn't do that kind of destruction yet.
"Relax. When have I ever let you get hurt?"
Aike rolled his eyes.
They really didn't trust him enough.
"Also, did you forget you can turn into literal lightning?"
He poked Carina's forehead.
Carina blinked, then facepalmed.
"Oh. Right."
==============================================================
Support me and be 100 chapters ahead of webnovel:
patreon.com/inkshield