Shocked and enraged, Orochimaru instantly bit his finger and slammed his hands onto the ground.
"Summoning Jutsu: Triple Rashomon!"
Three giant gates with demonic faces boomed and rapidly rose from beneath the ground!
The bells hanging on the gates jingled, reverberating throughout the entire arena!
As the Rashomon rose, Orochimaru's face showed no sign of relief.
Instead, he fled towards the outside of the Four Violet Flames Formation at an extremely fast pace!
At the same time, he also released his control over the Edo Tensei Hashirama and Tobirama.
Seeing Orochimaru run to the edge of the Four Violet Flames Formation and have his subordinates open a path, Feng Xu had no intention of stopping.
As the fox tails behind him swished, three Tailed Beast Balls sliced through the air and shot out.
Chapter 117: Leveled to the Ground, Minato Appears
Buzz—!
With the buzzing sound of the Tailed Beast Balls rubbing against the air, Hashirama and Tobirama's expressions changed from dead and dull back to lively.
"Oh, I can move again!"
"Wahahaha, Tobirama, that young man is quite kind; he actually released his control over us!"
The moment he awoke, Hashirama stretched his limbs, patting Tobirama's arm and shouting.
"Big Brother, you idiot, don't be foolish! Understand that he's an enemy!"
Looking at Hashirama's carefree demeanor, Tobirama felt a tightness in his chest and shortness of breath.
"But he released—"
"Shut up!"
Tobirama roared, making Hashirama shrink his neck.
Then, his peripheral vision caught sight of the terrifying Tailed Beast Balls shooting towards them.
"This is... a Tailed Beast Ball!!!"
"And three of them?!"
Tobirama instantly lost the mood to lecture his foolish elder brother and roared.
"Quickly use your Wood Release and continue controlling your Wood Dragon!"
"We can't let the Tailed Beast Balls explode here, or everything within a one-kilometer radius will be completely destroyed!"
Hearing Tobirama's shouts, Hashirama also quickly composed himself, reverting to the legendary God of Shinobi.
"Hahaha, these are Tailed Beast Balls formed from powerful Nine-Tailed Chakra—it's truly nostalgic!"
"Leave it to me; I'll do my best to block them!"
Clap!
Amidst his hearty laughter, black markings appeared between Hashirama's brows, and he suddenly clapped his hands together in front of his chest.
"Sage Art: Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands!"
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
In an instant, the entire arena shook, as if something was about to burst out from underground!
But as the Tailed Beast Balls were already flying before their eyes, the ground only trembled, and the thing underground was slow to emerge.
"Big Brother, you idiot, what exactly are you doing!?"
Tobirama shouted in exasperation while forming hand seals and rushing towards the Tailed Beast Balls.
Water Release: Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave!
A wave of water, like a bursting dam, gushed from Tobirama's mouth.
In an instant, it formed a giant water prison, completely engulfing the three flying Tailed Beast Balls!
However, this massive volume of water only briefly obstructed the Tailed Beast Balls for a second.
After that, it evaporated into steam at an even faster rate!
Hashirama also reacted within that second, apologizing while clasping his hands together again.
"Sorry, sorry, mainly because your forbidden jutsu, Tobirama, isn't very good; this resurrected body simply cannot summon the Thousand-Handed Buddha."
"However, a slightly smaller Wood Golem Jutsu, similar to the Wood Dragon, is barely possible!"
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
The trembling earth finally stopped.
A Wood Golem with an honest-looking face, over ten meters tall, rose from the ground!
It carried Hashirama, who was standing on the ground, on its head!
"Although it's less than one-tenth of my peak power, it should be enough!"
"Roar!"
As he spoke, the Wood Dragon, which had been circling nearby, instantly entwined itself around the Wood Golem.
Its form resembled the Dragon-Subduing Arhat from myths and legends!
Then, the Wood Golem, resembling the Dragon-Subduing Arhat, leaped forward, firmly grasping the Tailed Beast Balls in mid-air with both hands.
The head of the Wood Dragon wrapped around its body also shot out like lightning, biting onto the last Tailed Beast Ball!
The next second.
The obstructed Tailed Beast Balls finally transformed into golden light masses, rapidly expanding and exploding!
Boom! Boom! Boom!!!
In an instant, the entire Four Violet Flames Formation was filled with terrifying golden light!
Its shape was compressed and impacted from a square into an oval, then it shattered with a roar!
The Sound Four at the four corners were the first to be engulfed by the violent golden explosion energy.
After that was the entire arena, and then it continued outwards!
However, this surging golden explosion energy abruptly vanished as soon as it reached outside the arena.
It transformed into rapidly growing giant trees that filled the entire arena!
But the terrifying wind pressure, carried along with it, did not stop.
It was like a super-large-scale B-rank Wind Release.
The spreading strong winds blew the surrounding trees almost flat against the ground.
The villagers watching from the sidelines were directly sent flying into the sky, shoulder to shoulder with the sun!
"What immense power!"
"Thankfully, it was blocked by these mysterious trees!"
The clan heads of various Ninja clans, who had arrived after being notified, all witnessed the terrifying golden explosion just now.
They were just about to turn and run, but then they found that the explosion had been swallowed by the rapidly growing trees!
Xiang and Deng, who had run out earlier, saw the clan heads and gathered around them as if they had found their backbone.
Before the clan heads could ask, Deng immediately shouted,
"Clan heads, prepare for battle! Capture the traitor who killed the Hokage, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki Whirlpool Fengxu!"
"The traitor who killed the Hokage!?" Exclamations rose one after another.
There was shock, secret joy, and also anger.
After all, Hiruzen Sarutobi's rule over the years had suppressed the various Ninja clans quite a bit!
"Deng, wait a moment, did you personally see Hokage-sama die?"
Kakashi, who followed behind, suddenly stepped forward and blocked the way.
He didn't believe that Feng Xu would kill the Third Hokage, as he was Naruto's most respected and admired person!
"Whirlpool Fengxu used the Nine-Tailed's power to ambush and break Hokage-sama's limbs, and now he's used a forbidden Tailed Beast Ninjutsu!"
"Kakashi, do you think the heavily injured and crippled Hokage-sama could survive that?!"
Xiang also angrily shouted, his face full of dissatisfaction towards Kakashi's obstruction.
"Is Father dead...?" Asuma frowned, taking a deep breath, and stepped forward.
Thinking of Naruto, whom he had taught for two months.
He also didn't believe that Naruto would let his alternate personality attack his father.
"Stop arguing, it's not too late to go in and see before making a conclusion."
When Xiang and Deng saw Asuma also coming out to stop them, they finally said nothing more.
Hyuga Hiashi, with veins bulging on his Byakugan, withdrew his gaze and spoke.
"The Third Hokage isn't dead; he's being held by Naru... Feng Xu on his tail."
"However, what's a bit strange is that I saw the figures of the First and Second Hokage; they seem to be confronting Feng Xu."
Although he didn't know why the Anbu called Naruto 'Feng Xu,' Hyuga Hiashi still described what he saw with his Byakugan.
"He's not dead!" Xiang and Deng immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
Then they explained, "Those are the First and Second Hokage puppets resurrected by Orochimaru using the forbidden jutsu, Edo Tensei."
On the other side.
The feudal lords rescued by Danzo were all trembling like sieves and collapsed to the ground.
Just now, they almost thought they were going to die, but luckily Danzo brought his men and pulled them out.
"You don't need to be afraid; I am not that weak-willed good-for-nothing Hiruzen. With me here, you will be safe."
Danzo's domineering statement immediately made the Land of Fire's feudal lord feel a long-lost sense of security.
He even stopped finding Danzo frightening, instead feeling him very reliable!
As he spoke, the gnarled and intertwined trees in front suddenly turned into dust and vanished!
Revealing the now-vanished giant circular arena inside!
In its place was a massive semicircular crater!
And in the very center of the large pit.
It was Feng Xu, who was holding Hiruzen Sarutobi with three tails, and Hashirama and Tobirama, whose bodies were slowly recovering!
The onlookers, including Danzo and the feudal lords, all moved closer.
However, before they could approach the large pit, a familiar figure wearing a Hokage robe appeared beside Feng Xu.
"That is!!!"
"The Fourth Hokage / Minato Namikaze!!!"
Chapter 118: Tobirama's Question, the Hero's Son Exposed
Minato's sudden appearance completed the gathering of all past Hokage.
"Could the Fourth Hokage also have been resurrected by Edo Tensei?!"
"And where did Orochimaru and the Fourth Kazekage go?"
"Didn't they say they invaded Konoha together?"
With these questions, everyone jumped into the crater and surrounded them.
In front, Hiruzen Sarutobi, rescued by Feng Xu, also looked at Minato with surprise and doubt.