"This is bad! The ones summoned by Orochimaru are..."
"First Hokage! Second Hokage!!"
The Anbu ninjas stood outside the Four Violet Flame Formation and couldn't simply abandon the Third Hokage. Consequently, their role was limited to serving as commentators on the sidelines.
"Is it this guy who summoned us with the Forbidden Technique of Impure World Reincarnation? It's astonishing," remarked Senju Tobirama, turning to Orochimaru with a mix of emotions.
"Sarutobi, in this case, we have no choice but to take action against you," Senju Hashirama said helplessly. Then he complained to Tobirama, "It's all your fault. Why did you invent so many Forbidden Techniques? Look! Now it's been used to deal with our people."
"I never anticipated that there would be traitors in the village," Tobirama snorted coldly, feeling deeply upset.
"You old men, stop chatting and start the fight," Orochimaru said, thinking, "I summoned you just to fight, not to let you have a friendly conversation."
"Truly, no matter the era, there is always war," Senju Hashirama felt a sense of constancy, realizing that even after his death, the world did not seem to have changed.
*****
Konoha, eastern side.
Yamato led a group of ninjas to rush over. Then he saw a three-headed giant snake wreaking havoc on the street. Behind it, there were hundreds of Sunagakure ninjas, constantly invading.
In the distance, there was a huge gap in Konoha's city wall, which was caused by this big snake.
"Damn you, Orochimaru! You go stop those ninjas. This snake will be taken care of by us, Anbu!" Yamato said to the gathered patrolling ninjas and the commander in charge on this side.
"Got it!"
"Then let's get started!"
The Anbu headed by Yamato landed near the three-headed giant snake.
"Wind Release: Wind Cutter Technique!"
As the invisible wind blade released by Yamato left a wound on the giant snake's body, the painful giant snake became more frenzied and rolled around, uncontrollably.
"Spread Out!!"
Boom!
The entire street and a large area of houses were crushed. The huge after-effect made the Anbu as well as other ninjas retreat and dare not go forward.
"Lightning Release: Four Pillar Bind!"
Suddenly, four pillars emerged and encircled the snake, creating a formidable barrier. Within the confines of this barrier, flashes of lightning crackled and illuminated the surroundings.
Regrettably, the three-headed giant snake proved to be more formidable and powerful compared to the summoned beasts used by Pain during his invasion.
The pillar that could encircle Pain's Summoned beast couldn't surround this giant snake.
Everybody saw as the giant snake flicked its tail and swept down the pillar.
"This…"
Anbu went speechless. Perhaps only a Summoned beast of the same size could suppress this big guy.
Unfortunately, Jiraiya-sama, who possesses this Summoning technique, has already left the village...
"Yamato-sama, what should we do? We don't have any ninjutsu which could deal with this giant snake!" An Anbu ninja asked.
"With our lives on the line, we must prevent this snake from advancing, even if it means sacrificing ourselves! Understand?" Yamato declared, resolute in his decision to halt the creature at any cost.
"Yes!" Anbu responded loudly.
For Konoha, even if they have to sacrifice their lives, they were not afraid at all!
"Then, well..."
"Summoning technique..."
Just when Yamato was about to set an example and rush up to the giant snake, a voice sounded from the air, and they all looked up suspiciously.
"... Food Cart Destroyer!"
Boom!
A massive cloud of white smoke erupted, and in its aftermath, the familiar giant toad of Mount Myōboku, Gamabunta, emerged. Gamabunta fell atop the colossal snake, calmly puffing on a pipe. With his immense weight, Gamabunta caused the three-headed snake to let out a resounding roar, and then collapsed and crashed to the ground.
"Was it the Great Sannin, Jiraiya...?" An Anbu ninja exclaimed in great surprise but then hesitated when he saw the figure standing above the three-headed giant snake's head.
"Who is that?"
"He is wearing Konoha's forehead band, so he should be Konoha's ninja, and I seem to have seen that face somewhere..."
"Where?"
Upon careful consideration, it dawned on them that the face before them was one they gazed upon daily, an image etched onto the Hokage Rock statue. This realization had never crossed their minds until that very moment.
"F…Fourth…Fourth Hokage-sama?!" Yamato let out a yell, his voice tinged with horror as he stuttered in disbelief
"Oh, it's the Fourth Hokage!"
"No wonder he looked so familiar. So he was the Fourth Hokage!"
But... but the Fourth Hokage should be the one engraved on the Hokage Rock! He's been dead for over ten years!"
"No way?!"
"That's Fourth Hokage-sama!"
"Are we dreaming?!"
These Anbu ninjas are relatively young, and they do not belong to the same cohort as the Anbu during Minato's tenure as Hokage. Consequently, the only person readily recognizable among them is Yamato, who serves as the leader of the Anbu's torture department.
But even though Yamato recognized the Fourth Hokage, he still couldn't believe it.
"Yo, Yamato, leave this to me," Minato smiled gently at Yamato.
"O…Okay, Fourth Hokage..." Yamato replied blankly.
"Haha, Minato, it's been a long time. I didn't believe it when the scroll toad said you were back~," Gamabunta happily talked to Minato.
"Gamabunta-sama, it's been a long time since I saw you. It's been more than ten years now, and you still haven't changed at all. I didn't expect to see you again one day," Minato said with emotion.
"Haha, we, the toads of Mount Myōboku, have a long lifespan, but you also look the same, still so young," Gamabunta said happily.
"Haha, Gamabunta-sama, I died early~~," Minato accepted the comment without embarrassment. Not only did he maintain the same appearance as ten years ago, but Kushina was also young and beautiful. Whenever she stood next to Karin, others would think they were sisters.
"Okay, let's talk about the past later, let's deal with the enemy first."
"No problem!"
Gamabunta pulled out the Short Sword and stabbed at the giant snake under it.
"Rasengan!"
Minato also used Rasenganl and rushed toward the snake's head.
"Yamato-sama, is that... really Fourth Hokage?" A few Anbu ninjas sneaked up to Yamato and asked in a low voice.
They are very curious! After all, they grew up listening to Namikaze Minato's stories!
The hero of World War Three, renowned as the "Golden Flash", was a formidable figure. So great was his reputation that even Iwagakure issued orders for any of their operatives to abandon their mission if they were to encounter the Golden Flash.
Not to mention, twelve years ago, during the Nine-Tails Rebellion, the Fourth Hokage sealed Nine-Tails by himself, saved the village, and was, thus, hailed as a hero!
They held great admiration for the Fourth Hokage, and their only regret was that they could not witness his presence firsthand.
But now that they saw him, it was just a bit unbelievable for them. Because they thought, "Isn't the Fourth Hokage dead?"
"Why was he suddenly revived? How was he revived? Who revived?!"
They were full of questions.
"Without a shadow of a doubt, it must be the Fourth Hokage. Even if we find it hard to believe, the Summoned beast of the Fourth Hokage, Gamabunta-sama, would not deceive us. Didn't you just hear his name being called, "Fourth Hokage"?"
"We heard… But…"
"You can't believe it, right? I don't believe it either, but the facts are in front of us, so we have to believe them," Yamato said helplessly. Then he added, "Besides, it's a good thing that the Fourth Hokage has been revived. Konoha is now facing a war. With the Fourth Hokage around, we will have a better chance of winning!"
…