Chapter 135: Your Hokage Has Returned

Senju Tobirama held Danzo's corpse, examining it carefully for a long time.

A powerful surge of chakra erupted from his body, and with a light wave of his left hand, he said, "Water Style: Retreat!!"

The vast ocean receded visibly to the naked eye, disappearing in just a few breaths, revealing the earth once more, along with trees scattered in disarray.

Senju Tobirama pointed his finger at the ground: "Earth Style: Earth Shore Return!"

The earth rolled and split open, creating a deep fissure.

The Second Hokage took one last look at Shimura Danzo, leaned over to toss his corpse into the fissure, and then pressed his hands together, erasing the crack in the earth without leaving a single trace behind.

Having finished all this, Senju Tobirama slowly stood up and casually tossed the Sharingan he had gouged out to Orochimaru.

Orochimaru seemed to have been prepared, catching it directly with a test tube filled with active liquid and immediately sealing it away for safekeeping.

Senju Tobirama did not care how Orochimaru disposed of the Sharingan; his gaze turned toward the direction of Konohagakure, his brow filled with an unshakable gloom.

Orochimaru and Yamanaka Chujiu stepped forward and bowed to Senju Tobirama.

Orochimaru spoke first: "The Second Hokage is truly powerful; with less than thirty percent of your chakra, you crushed Danzo so easily."

Yamanaka Chujiu followed up, thanking him: "Many thanks, Lord Second Hokage, for cleaning out the pests of Konohagakure."

Senju Tobirama looked at the two, his tone softening slightly: "Today's disaster was due to my own sentimentality back then, failing to decisively eliminate the hidden danger."

"Hiruzen is also a bastard, actually skipping your generation and letting a young Konoha ninja, who should have served as the Fifth Hokage, suppress his seniors to take the position; not only did this wrong you, Orochimaru, but it also caused the death of such an excellent young man."

"It is truly pulling up seedlings to help them grow!"

"As a dead man, I should not interfere in the affairs of the living, but since I have been brought back by your Impure World Reincarnation, I must resolve the hidden dangers I left behind, including Danzo... and also Hiruzen!"

Orochimaru nodded slightly: "Thank you, Lord Second Hokage; I brought you back with Impure World Reincarnation with the goal of peacefully resolving the conflicts in the village and avoiding the outbreak of a Konoha civil war."

"After all, Konohagakure is the place where I was born and raised, and I want to protect my home."

Senju Tobirama finally revealed a smile: "Danzo's sins exposed the corruption of the Third Hokage, and that senseless Root is nothing but a chaotic mess of power."

"Ultimately, it was because I trusted Sarutobi Hiruzen too much, thinking he could protect Konohagakure well; it was a mistake in my choice back then."

"Let's go, we will return to Konohagakure together; I will personally resolve my own mistakes and clean up the mess left behind by the Third Hokage Group."

"I will return a clear sky to Konohagakure, and I will also grant you justice, Orochimaru."

Yamanaka Chujiu said: "There is also Senior Hatake Sakumo, Senior Nawaki, Senior Kato Dan, the Uzumaki Clan of Whirlpool Village, and the Senju Clan who sacrificed themselves on the road to rescue the Uzumaki."

Senju Tobirama smiled bitterly: "Say no more, there are too many, truly too many..."

The water vapor gradually dissipated, sunlight spilled onto the land of the Bo Country, and Senju Tobirama, Orochimaru, and Yamanaka Chujiu walked toward the direction of Konoha.

Behind them were excited Konoha Ninja and the dull, expressionless Living Puppets of Root.

There were not many of them, but everyone believed they were creating a legend!

One day later, in Konohagakure.

The village gates were tightly shut, and the walls were densely packed with Konoha Ninja.

With weapons in hand and nervous expressions, they stared fixedly at the forest to the east.

The entire village was under martial law, and a suffocating, murderous atmosphere permeated the air; even the Hokage statues on Hokage Rock appeared gloomy.

Villagers and ninja knew that a terrifying enemy was coming from the east, and a horrific Wind Storm was approaching.

Senju Tobirama walked at the very front of the group; the sense of fragmentation brought by the Impure World Reincarnation did not diminish his majesty, but instead made the aura around him even more aggressive.

After all, a dead man does not need to consider too much.

Behind the Second Hokage was Orochimaru, wearing his signature robe with a sacred straw rope as a belt; his golden slit pupils looked at the city wall nonchalantly, the corners of his mouth hooked up, making no effort to hide his mockery.

Konohagakure, your Hokage has returned; will you greet him with blades?

Because his mindset was exceptionally relaxed, Orochimaru's chakra was steady and restrained, and he even kept his hands behind his back, showing no signs of attacking Konohagakure.

Yamanaka Chujiu walked beside Orochimaru; compared to Orochimaru's composure, he had the words "gloating over misfortune" written all over his face.

When their group approached within a thousand miles of Konohagakure, they triggered the village's outer perimeter alert, and the Anbu ninja transmitted the intelligence back to the village immediately.

The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, received the intelligence and immediately knew that Shimura Danzo's ambush had failed; he summoned his three classmates with a pale face.

After confirming through various means that Danzo had not only failed but was already dead, the three ordered the mobilization of the ninja from the Sarutobi, Shimura, Utatane, and Mitokado clans, joining forces with the elite ninja of the Konoha Anbu to form a Konoha army numbering as many as five thousand.

On one hand, they enforced martial law within the village, blocked roads, and drove everyone, especially the ninja clans, back to their homes.

On the other hand, they deployed heavy troops at the village's East Gate, setting up traps, sealing formations, and barriers, preparing to deal with the attack Orochimaru was about to launch.

When further intelligence arrived, Sarutobi Hiruzen realized that Orochimaru had not brought the army that destroyed Kirigakure, but had only brought a dozen or so Konoha ninja, as well as the ninja who originally belonged to Root.

The Konoha F3 could not understand why this was the case, but they believed: since Orochimaru had few people, they would surround him, destroy him directly, and then proceed to clean up the subsequent trouble.

At this moment, with Orochimaru as the center, the Third Hokage's ninja army had surrounded them in three full layers.

The first layer consisted of Anbu ninja dressed in black tight-fitting outfits and wearing masks.

The Anbu ninja were all elites selected by Jin Xin, standing tall with hidden presences; the weapons in their hands glinted with cold light, their chakra condensed and boiling, their eyes locked firmly onto Orochimaru, Yamanaka Chujiu, and Senju Tobirama.

As soon as the Third Hokage gave the order, they would launch a fatal attack without hesitation.

The second layer consisted of ninja from the four major ninja clans, excluding the Sarutobi Clan.

They wore the attire of their respective clans and the Konoha Headband; even though they could not see Orochimaru, who was blocked from view, they still watched forward with nervous vigilance.

The third layer was the ninja of the Sarutobi Clan, with 1,500 Fire Release-specialized ninja as the backbone, displaying strength and discipline far exceeding the other three clans.

"Halt!"

The Anbu Captain, Sarutobi Shinnosuke, stepped forward and shouted to stop them.

His voice was as cold as iron, without the slightest emotion: "Ahead is Konohagakure; you must lay down your weapons and accept the control of the Anbu before you can enter!"

"Konohagakure is the core forbidden territory of the Fire Country; those who trespass without authorization will be killed without mercy!"

Shinnosuke's tone was icy, filled with undisguised killing intent.

He did not know that the ninja standing in front of Orochimaru was the Second Hokage, the one with the most political talent in Konoha's history; he only thought he was dealing with Orochimaru.

Therefore, there was not a hint of fear in his heart.