Chapter 51 – The Son of the Fourth, the End of the Third
"Nawaki… and most of the Senju shinobi… died in the war."
Hiruzen forced the words out.
The very next instant, chakra exploded from both undead Hokages.
Hashirama's alone cracked the entire rooftop.
"Monkey, you better not be lying to us…"
Tobirama's killing intent was barely restrained by the Edo Tensei bindings.
He wanted nothing more than to execute Hiruzen himself.
"The Uchiha brat is avenging his clan. What about you, kid?"
Tobirama's cold gaze shifted to Naruto.
He needed to know why the Nine-Tails jinchuriki turned traitor.
If possible, he wanted to fix it.
"Me?"
Naruto hadn't expected the question.
He smiled, slow and bitter.
"I'm just returning every ounce of pain this village gave me."
His eyes locked on Hiruzen.
"The son of the Fourth Hokage, forced to live as a hated monster."
"So destroying the village that hated me? Perfectly reasonable, don't you think?"
Son of the Fourth.
Those four words hit Hiruzen like a sledgehammer.
Everything clicked.
The hatred. The rebellion. All of it.
He had failed.
Utterly, completely failed.
Hashirama and Tobirama exchanged a heavy glance.
This was worse than they thought.
Every clan head, jonin, and even the rookie twelve who had just arrived overheard everything.
The accusations died in their throats.
Naruto… was the Fourth's son?
Shikamaru's mind raced back to his father's old instructions: "Be nice to Naruto."
Now it made sense.
"Enough chit-chat."
Naruto cut through the silence.
"Orochimaru. Still want to continue your little plan?"
The snake raised an eyebrow.
"Oh? And what does Naruto-kun suggest?"
"Right now the only elders left are Danzo and the Third."
"How about we help each other out?"
Orochimaru's smile widened.
"Nothing would please me more."
In three sentences, a temporary alliance was born.
The implications made everyone's blood run cold.
"Homura and Koharu are already dead…?"
Hiruzen sighed, exhausted.
At this point he didn't even know whether to hate or regret.
All of this was their own poison fruit.
Asuma, the clan heads, and the jonin formed a loose circle around the boys.
"Stop this, Naruto!"
"You've killed enough!"
Shikamaru and the others pleaded.
Others, drunk on the Will of Fire, screamed:
"Demon fox! Surrender!"
"Fourth's son or not—you murdered thousands! You burned the village! You die tonight!"
Naruto found it all boring.
Golden chakra erupted from his body, forming a shimmering cloak.
Nine-Tails Chakra Mode—fully activated.
The pressure that rolled off him crushed the air itself.
Every clan head, every jonin, felt like gravity had tripled.
Hiashi, Shikaku, Choza, Inoichi—every veteran felt their knees buckle.
This presence…
It was the Fourth.
No.
Stronger than the Fourth had ever been.
A bitter thought crossed their minds:
The student had surpassed the master.
And when they remem
bered Minato's sacrifice, remembered their own treatment of his son…
None of them had the will—or the ability—to stop him anymore.
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