At the final moment, Hiruzen no longer had the strength to stop it, his vision was already starting to blur.
His life flashed before his eyes: the days when he studied under the Second Hokage when he was young, the companions he lost in the First Great Ninja War, the oath he made when he was appointed as the Third Hokage, the entrustment he received from Minato before he died, carrying the newborn Naruto.
Then, the twelve young ones of the younger generation appeared in his mind.
Shikamaru, who was exhausted to the point of collapse during the preliminaries and smiled while saying it was troublesome.
Neji, who accepted his fate with resentment but also unwillingness.
Lee, who stood on the field in an attacking stance despite having fractures all over his body.
...
Finally, his mind locked onto Naruto's smiling face, the firm look of Naruto wearing a white trench coat in front of him saying, "I want to become the Hokage."
Where the leaves dance, the fire will burn. The shadow of the fire will illuminate the village, and leaves will take root and sprout again.
With a smile, his consciousness began to fade, and then he fell to the ground.
As the Sound Four released the Four Violet Flames Formation, it exploded into countless purple light particles and dissipated.
The four of them appeared beside Orochimaru using the Body Flicker Technique and dragged him off the roof by his paralyzed arms.
Before leaving, Orochimaru turned back to look at Hiruzen, who lay on the ground. His aged profile showed no signs of life, yet the faint smile remained on the corner of his lips.
Orochimaru's pupils trembled, then he turned his face away without saying another word.
The moment the barrier dissolved, Anbu surged onto the roof from all directions. When they landed beside Hiruzen, he had already stopped breathing.
Several Anbu turned his body over, and examined him carefully before finally confirming.
"The Third Hokage has fallen in battle."
Someone collapsed onto the roof on the spot, their shoulders trembling.
The moment the news spread, all of Konoha was plunged into deep grief.
In the evacuation shelters, villagers who had just received the news from their families covered their faces one by one.
The ninjas still fighting bloody battles against the enemy also paused and then gripped their weapons tightly again.
They were still alive, and their loved ones were in the rear. The Third Hokage had used his life to protect Konoha. They had no time for grief, for there was still a battle to be fought.
The joint forces of Otogakure and Sunagakure, which had invaded Konoha, quickly collapsed after losing their core commander, Orochimaru.
Konoha achieved the final victory in this defensive battle. But everyone knew that in this war, Konoha had lost a Hokage who had governed the village for decades.
—
Meanwhile, in a forest.
Accompanied by a hoarse cough, Gaara slowly opened his eyes.
"Cough, cough..."
The first thing he saw upon waking was Naruto sitting nearby.
"Gaara, you're awake."
"Naruto... you..."
Gaara propped himself up to sit, then froze.
He sensed that Shukaku was gone. The voice that had been roaring in his ears, filled with hatred and the desire for destruction since he could remember, had vanished.
Gaara subconsciously sank his consciousness into the seal. Shukaku was still there, but it was now wrapped in a thick layer of Fuinjutsu.
Gaara looked up at Naruto in disbelief.
Noticing Gaara's confusion, Naruto explained, "Don't worry, Shukaku is still inside you. I just reinforced the seal. The Fuinjutsu structure of your village was too crude, so I replaced it with a better one. From now on, without your permission, it won't even be able to enter your dreams."
"So that's it."
Gaara asked, "Why did you help me seal Shukaku?"
"Given the current hostile state between Konoha and Sunagakure, you should have handed me over to your Anbu interrogation squad instead of helping me suppress the Tailed Beast."
"You did this because you want to use Shukaku as a bargaining chip to trade for post-war benefits, right?"
After listening, Naruto nodded first, then shook his head. "Correct, but not entirely."
Gaara remained silent, waiting for Naruto's follow-up.
A normal ninja's first reaction upon learning that a ninja from an enemy village had placed a Fuinjutsu on them would be anger or fear, but Gaara felt neither. He was accustomed to being treated as a tool, so he only calmly analyzed how Naruto intended to use him.
"First, your Sunagakure definitely lost this time. Second, you were used by Orochimaru."
Naruto held up two fingers, then lowered them. "Finally, I didn't help you seal Shukaku to use it as a bargaining chip for post-war benefits."
"Orochimaru?" Gaara's brow twitched slightly.
Naruto explained, "The Fourth Kazekage at the exam venue was Orochimaru in disguise. Your Fourth Kazekage has likely already been killed by Orochimaru."
"The joint operation between Sunagakure and Otogakure was planned by Orochimaru from the beginning. Your Sunagakure was just cannon fodder he used to draw out Konoha's main forces."
Upon hearing this news, Gaara only frowned slightly, then quickly returned to a calm state.
Naruto continued, "You should find out about all this soon after you return. Gaara, I understand the plight of a Jinchuriki better than you, because I am one myself."
"Since I was a child, people treated me as a fox demon. No one dared to look me in the eye when I walked down the street."