Chapter 794

But the more this situation persisted, the more frantically Sarutobi Hiruzen racked his brain, trying to find a way to remedy it.

After much thought, he suddenly grasped a crucial point: these were all dead people!

"Orochimaru, I thought you only targeted the living; I never imagined you'd now summon so many dead from the Pure Land just to frame me—and even control them."

Sarutobi Hiruzen's focus was on the fact that the dead could be controlled.

Whether others believed him or not, now that he'd spoken, someone would inevitably believe.

His life was already lost; if so, he could at least preserve his reputation!

As long as his reputation remained untarnished, his son was already a Jonin, and his grandson was known to everyone in the village—no one would dare bully him.

"Orochimaru, since you've already defected, why are you targeting Master Sarutobi now? Since you've come today, I, Ranjiu, won't let you leave!"

A giant toad suddenly descended from the sky; after Ranjiu appeared, he glared furiously at Orochimaru.

He had been emotionally shattered and lived in seclusion at a remote corner of Konoha, spending his days in quiet cultivation, with only a few Leaf Anbu bringing him food.

But just now, someone rushed to find him, saying Orochimaru had arrived in Konoha, disrupted the match, and planned to kill the Third Hokage.

In his agitated state, he didn't care about anything else—he immediately summoned Gamaken, leapt onto its back, and came straight here.

"Ranjiu, if you don't want to be killed by me in a moment, get out of the way!"

Tsunade watched Ranjiu's appearance and couldn't help but twitch her eyebrows several times.

She had previously tried to find Ranjiu to ask him some questions, but he was always elusive and impossible to locate; now that he'd shown up, he was here to cause trouble.

"Tsunade? Why are you with Orochimaru? This man is here to destroy—"

Ranjiu saw Tsunade, and naturally turned his gaze slowly toward the surroundings.

But before he could finish, he suddenly found himself unable to speak.

Because he saw the man he dared not offend—and the furious stares of Bofengshui Sect and Jiu Xin Nai; as for the First and Second Hokages over there, he hadn't yet processed it, not realizing their significance at that moment.

"Master Ranjiu truly arrived in time—but did you hear the message the Third Hokage sent, entrusting his child to you?"

Jiu Xin Nai's eyes, having shifted from Sarutobi Hiruzen to Ranjiu, still carried resentment.

When she was pregnant, Ranjiu had appeared as Water Gate's teacher and even named the child.

"I—I was searching for someone, so I didn't pay much attention back then."

Ranjiu's face flushed red as he tugged at his hair in agitation.

He was searching for the prophesied child—how could he possibly care who Naruto was?

"Prophesied child? Then let me tell you this: Naruto is the prophesied child—will you suddenly find yourself with free time now?"

Adult Lin Cheng had been present all along, simply never entering anyone else's line of sight.

Now hearing Ranjiu say he had no time, he stepped forward, walked to Naruto's side, tapped Naruto's head with his finger, grabbed his shoulder, and forced him to stand directly in front of Ranjiu.

"What? Naruto? Impossible! This can't be—he couldn't possibly be!"

After all this circling, everything had been missed. This outcome was unbearable to Ranjiu—he had spent his entire life chasing the prophesied child, and now he was told that the child he refused to even glance at was the very one.

"Ranjiu, what he says is likely true—his strength surpasses the Toad Sage's, so if he says it, it must be!"

Gamaken cautiously crouched on the rooftop and bowed his head toward Adult Lin Cheng.

He didn't want to be this cowardly, but the Toad Sanctuary was now ruled by a certain little tyrant—if he didn't behave, he'd be beaten when he returned.

"How do I know he isn't lying? He's standing with the enemy now! Gamaken, Ranjiu doesn't want to accept this truth, because if it's true, his entire life has been wasted! And back then, we even delivered the child to him—he himself chose to reject him."

"Ranjiu, don't listen to them—Orochimaru is the one who summoned the dead from the world of the departed, who controls the First and Second Hokages, and Water Gate and Jiu Xin Nai—they're all acting under his orders."

Sarutobi Hiruzen realized his only loyal disciple was being led astray—he immediately interrupted with another topic.

"Orochimaru, you've truly become too reckless—today, as long as I'm here, you won't harm Master Sarutobi!"

Ranjiu didn't want to admit his life had been wasted, so in Sarutobi Hiruzen's words, he successfully pushed aside everything he didn't want to hear—after all, Orochimaru was the true culprit.

He's still a Bai Chi, just as stupid as ever!