"Shuriken - Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
The flying shuriken suddenly split into a dozen or so, all flying towards the large tree!
Thud! Thud! Thud!
They all embedded themselves in the tree trunk.
This scene left Hiruzen dumbfounded. He had spent a lot of effort learning this technique from Hashirama back then. How many days had he been teaching this? And Orochimaru had already learned it?
"Orochimaru, did you figure this out entirely by yourself?"
Orochimaru nodded, saying earnestly, "Yes, Sensei. I didn't think it was particularly difficult, but it still took me some effort to train."
At this moment, Hiruzen didn't know what to say. Sometimes, a disciple's talent being too outstanding wasn't necessarily a good thing.
Torifu wasn't too surprised. After all, Orochimaru's talent could be said to be the best among their group of friends. It was just that he had gone astray in the original world, but such a thing wouldn't happen in this world.
"Hiruzen Nii-san, you've truly taken on some good disciples."
Hiruzen smiled upon hearing this. "Just good luck." Hiruzen didn't refute Torifu's words, because he believed that both Jiraiya and Hiruko, like Orochimaru, were disciples he recognized. Their talents were all pretty good; they were just a bit playful. Orochimaru's personality was still a bit dull, needing these two lively characters to bring him out of his shell.
"Torifu, have you considered taking on a disciple?" Hiruzen asked curiously. Torifu was a big name in Konohagakure now; the new generation of children would surely scramble to become his disciples.
Torifu waved his hand. "I'll pass for now. I don't have any such plans at the moment. Although I'm strong enough, I'm still too young, so I wouldn't want to mislead anyone."
Hiruzen nodded upon hearing this. Since Torifu was so humble, there was no need for him to press further; it was just a casual remark anyway.
Currently, Torifu's prestige in Konohagakure was almost on par with the two Hokage. Hiruzen also vaguely sensed that the two Hokage seemed to be grooming Torifu as a successor. He had no objections to this; after all, in terms of strength, he couldn't compare to Torifu, and in terms of achievements, he also couldn't measure up. Furthermore, while Hiruzen yearned for the Hokage position, he didn't indulge in excessive fantasies about it. Hiruzen simply loved this village; as long as Konohagakure was safe and peaceful, he didn't care who became Hokage. However, the prerequisite was that he had to approve of that person. And Torifu happened to be that person. Having known him for so many years, he had always contributed to Konohagakure. Only he and his teacher went together to capture the Tailed Beasts, and he brought great honor to the village at the Five Kage Summit. For such a ninja, someone recognized by both shinobi and ordinary villagers, not becoming Hokage would be what truly surprised Hiruzen.
But after all that, what impressed Hiruzen the most was Torifu's feat of single-handedly killing Kinkaku, Ginkaku, and nine thousand Kumogakure ninja. This achievement was something he dared not dream of, so much so that when he heard the news, Hiruzen's first reaction was: Impossible! Absolutely impossible! This was simply not something a ninja could do, and especially not a twelve-year-old ninja! He knew Torifu's strength wasn't just what appeared on the surface, but he hadn't expected so much to be hidden beneath! Even his own father, plus Danzo's father, together might not be able to defeat nine thousand ninja.
"You don't know what it feels like to take on disciples. Before, I was always getting lectured by my Sensei; now it's my turn to lecture others."
Torifu also chuckled. "Kids, you absolutely must work hard! Remember, your grand-teacher is the Hokage! Don't embarrass him!"
"Yes!" Torifu knew how to manage children; this sentence immediately filled the children with enthusiasm. Even the most mischievous Jiraiya looked serious and prepared to begin training.
Seeing this, Hiruzen was very pleased and decided not to disturb the children. "Alright, Torifu, I'm leaving now. Coming along?"
Torifu nodded. "Of course, I was just dragged in by you."
After bidding farewell to the three children and Orochimaru's parents inside, Hiruzen and Torifu each went home. Konohagakure was about to enter night, and the villagers were all preparing to return home for a peaceful sleep.
However, the entire ninja world was thrown into chaos by a single piece of news! The Nidaime Raikage of Kumogakure, believing that Senju Hashirama had died, publicly tore up the treaty and launched a war against Konoha. As a result, not only was Hashirama not dead at all, but he was also alive and well, cooperating with his younger brother, Senju Tobirama. They annihilated Kumogakure's army of thirty thousand! The Raikage was killed on the spot by Hashirama, with not even a corpse remaining!
As soon as this news broke out! The great nations that had previously been restless all furled their banners and retreated, fearing that Hashirama would discover their intentions. They also lamented that the Raikage was so stubborn because he thought Hashirama was dead! Such an absurd piece of news could easily be verified, couldn't it? How did it lead to such a downfall? Thirty thousand ninja! Plus the Raikage! This time, Kumogakure was probably killed to the point where there were hardly any males left, right? It remained uncertain whether they could even maintain the title of one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages. Perhaps in the future, there would only be four great ninja villages.
The messages circulated between the various countries only mentioned Senju Hashirama and Senju Tobirama. There was no mention of Torifu's existence. This was also Konoha's strategy; at that time, all the people near the battlefield were probably killed by the three of them. How could anyone know such details? It was all rumors spread by Tobirama's dispatched agents; the spies within the village had basically been manipulated by Tobirama. So, it was difficult to verify the authenticity of such news being sent out. Moreover, with Hashirama supporting it, no one would believe it was false news, so they naturally wouldn't pay attention to other things.
"Tsuchikage-sama, fortunately, we didn't get involved in this mess; otherwise, we wouldn't have been able to protect ourselves either."
Mu also looked serious at this moment. "I thought this Raikage had uncovered some huge secret to dare wage war against Konohagakure, but it turns out he just received false information!" He added, "Truly foolish." However, he had some past interactions with the Raikage. Although the man was well-built, he still had some brains; he wasn't a simple-minded person. How he could make such a fatal mistake this time was baffling. He would probably be infamous for ten thousand years. Thirty thousand people buried with him; he wondered if he could even die peacefully.
"Your subordinate is also puzzled. Why was the Raikage suddenly so impulsive?"
Mu sighed. "Eight times out of ten, some information that shouldn't have been leaked was known by Konoha, and then the Hokage set a trap to lure the Raikage in." Mu truly was a smart man; he had accurately guessed the cause of events. And the effect of this elaborate trap was remarkably significant. Konohagakure, without expending a single soldier, had caused one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, Kumogakure, to collapse.