Naruto's voice, though still slightly youthful, carried words that made Sarutobi Hiruzen feel a faint twinge of guilt.
But when he heard Naruto utter the words "leave Konoha," that tiny bit of guilt was immediately cast aside.
"Naruto, are you planning to defect from the village?"
"If you say so."
Naruto casually brushed him off and signaled for Whitebeard to lift him onto his shoulder.
Several ANBU members had already arrived and were standing silently behind Sarutobi Hiruzen. Not far off, a large group of ninja was also rushing to the scene, and among them were a few familiar faces Naruto recognized.
"Uzumaki Naruto, as the Third Hokage, I ask you one more time… Are you truly defecting from the village?!"
Perhaps feeling more confident due to the growing number of allies by his side, Sarutobi Hiruzen's voice grew firmer.
Sitting comfortably atop Whitebeard's broad shoulder, Naruto looked down with disdain at the old monkey jumping around below.
'Hmm… It feels really good to look down on people.'
"I, Uzumaki Naruto, will leave Konoha today. Not even the Hokage can stop me. I said it!"
Uzumaki *Trash Talk Mode Activated* Naruto declared proudly.
"Fine, fine! If that's the case… Then, as Hokage, I hereby declare that Uzumaki Naruto is a traitor to the village! Everyone, follow me and take these two down!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen bit his finger, performing the summoning technique, and called forth a large, muscular monkey.
"Enma, I'll need your help."
Enma nodded slightly, and a cloud of smoke erupted around him. When the smoke cleared, Enma had transformed into the Adamantine Staff, tightly gripped in Sarutobi Hiruzen's hands.
"Dad, let's charge through! But unless absolutely necessary, please try not to kill anyone. Also…"
Naruto frowned slightly, leaning close to Whitebeard's ear and whispering, "If you get the chance, could you break that old man's staff for me?"
'What kind of second-rate weapon dares to call itself the Adamantine Staff? What, trying to plagiarize the mythology's Sun Wukong, huh?! And that Four-Tails... Someday I'll catch him and give him a good beating! Seems like any monkey nowadays thinks they can imitate greatness, huh?!'
"Gurararara~ Leave it to me!"
Since Naruto had requested no killing, Whitebeard didn't even bother using Murakumogiri, simply planting it in the ground. Facing the Konoha ninja rushing toward him like hungry tigers, Whitebeard's fists, enveloped in a radiant white light, began to whirl through the air with unstoppable force.
As for the Konoha ninja who dared approach Whitebeard's fists, those struck were immediately heavily injured, collapsing to the ground. Even those who merely brushed against him spat up blood nonstop!
Even the ninjas who hadn't been hit directly but were circling around, seeking an opening to attack, felt their internal organs being stirred by some mysterious force. They were struggling to unleash even four or five-tenths of their full strength.
"This giant is strange! Don't engage him in close combat; back off and use ninjutsu to attack!"
"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"
"Earth Style: Earth Flow Swamp!"
"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!"
For a moment, various ninjutsu techniques were hurled at Whitebeard's enormous figure. But before they could even land, the terrifying vibrations surrounding Whitebeard dispersed them all.
Seeing this, Naruto sighed in relief.
He had been worried that, as a Devil Fruit user, Whitebeard might struggle against ninjutsu attacks. But to his surprise, Whitebeard effortlessly neutralized every attack, and he hadn't even used his Haki yet.
'As expected of one of the Four Emperors, known as the world's strongest man—Edward Newgate is indeed ridiculously powerful. This is just… too cool!'
"Gurararara~ The flames you conjured together reminded me a little of another son of mine… But only a little, and just his shadow at that. The temperature of your fire… is still far too weak! Gurararara~"
Whitebeard laughed heartily, and his fists, glowing with white light, suddenly collided with each other.
"Quake!"
With one strike, the space around Whitebeard rapidly shattered. A powerful shockwave radiated from him, sending nearly ninety percent of the surrounding ninja flying far away.
"Adamantine Staff, extend!"
From within the cloud of dust stirred by the shockwave, a hoarse voice suddenly roared. In the next instant, the massive Adamantine Staff, thick enough that it would take three men to wrap their arms around it, burst through the smoke, hurtling toward Whitebeard's chest at a speed too fast to react.
"Got him!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen smirked triumphantly, confident that if this attack landed, Whitebeard would be gravely injured, if not killed. Once that happened, Hiruzen could easily capture him and slowly extract the secrets of his terrifying techniques. Despite not having any chakra, this giant's abilities were formidable. If Sarutobi Hiruzen could master such techniques for himself, he would truly become the strongest Hokage!
Hiruzen's grin widened, but in the next second, it was replaced by a look of sheer terror.
His Adamantine Staff had collided with the giant's chest, but… it wasn't budging?!
The scene shifted to Whitebeard, whose chest had been struck by the staff. His chest, as well as his hands, which were firmly gripping the staff, were now black, gleaming with a metallic sheen.
This was Armament Haki, one of the three forms of Haki, being unleashed for the first time in the world of Naruto!
"Gurararara~ I was just wondering how to grab hold of this staff, but you went ahead and handed it to me… Well, I won't be polite, especially since my son asked for it. Gurararara~"
"Ahh!"
With a mighty tug, Whitebeard's fingers sank into the staff as if they were steel spikes, causing the transformed Enma to let out a howl of agony.
[Whitebeard: 'I'll take that!' .JPG]
With another powerful yank, Sarutobi Hiruzen suddenly felt the staff slip from his grasp.
"W-wait!"
"No, don't!"
*Crack!*
Whitebeard didn't give Hiruzen a chance to cancel the summoning technique or revert the staff back to Enma. He simply broke the enormous staff in two right before everyone's eyes.
"What? You want this back? Then here you go!"
Whitebeard, looking at the still-dazed Sarutobi Hiruzen, tossed the two pieces of the staff toward him.
*Boom!*
"Uwaaah~"
The first piece struck Hiruzen squarely in the chest, knocking him unconscious instantly. His final thought before blacking out was:
'So this is what it feels like to get hit by my own staff… It's awful.'
The second piece landed right between Hiruzen's legs after he collapsed, causing the onlookers to wince as they felt a sense of visual discomfort due to the sheer size of the staff.
With Hiruzen out cold, the Konoha ninja hesitated, fearing the terrifying power of Whitebeard. They all stopped attacking, unsure of what to do next.
Seeing the lull in the battle, Naruto noticed that most of the two-hour time limit the system had given him had already passed. He immediately turned to Whitebeard.
"Let's go, Dad."
"Gurararara~ Then let's be off."
Fate or coincidence, Naruto and Whitebeard chose to exit the village in the direction of the Uchiha district.
As Naruto thought of a certain emo kid, who was likely sulking at home, trying to look cool, he patted Whitebeard's shoulder.
"Dad, do you want another son?"