Chapter 77: The Ape Demon
As the words fell—
Naruto's figure vanished in an instant.
The next moment he reappeared, he was already inside the Hokage's office, right in front of Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura.
Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura looked at Naruto in horror. Their expressions were extremely flustered, full of fear.
Immediately, they screamed in terror:
"You—Uzumaki Naruto! How dare you kill Konoha's elders! This is a capital offense!"
Hearing what they said, Naruto snorted coldly. His eyes were full of killing intent.
He was not afraid of their threats.
At this point, was he still afraid of the "capital offense" these elders spoke of?
Kill them.
Senbonzakura rose high.
In Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura's eyes, the pitch-black blade looked like Shinigami's own scythe. It filled them with terror.
The next moment, the blade came down.
Naruto's voice rang out:
"Why not? Die!"
Puff!
Senbonzakura struck.
Blood splattered. Blood sprayed through the air.
A massive, bloody gash instantly appeared across Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura. Blood gushed out continuously.
Before they died, their faces were frozen in extreme horror.
It seemed that even in death, they never imagined they would be killed by the young man they had kept under surveillance for thirteen years.
Their bodies fell to the ground.
Sakura and Ino, standing nearby, gasped when they saw it.
As for the Third Hokage—he watched his two old friends, his former partners, the revered elders of Konoha, be killed by Naruto right in front of him.
Suddenly, the Third Hokage roared in fury:
"Uzumaki Naruto! You're finished! Konoha will never let you go!"
"Get him!"
The Third Hokage's roar rang out. Konoha's ANBU once again launched an attack on Naruto, charging fearlessly to their deaths.
Naruto snorted coldly. He ignored the ANBU completely and looked directly at the Third Hokage with cold eyes.
"You're next."
That's right—Naruto's next target was the Third Hokage.
Thirteen years of bloody reckoning.
Naruto would let no one escape.
Seeing this, the Third Hokage took a deep breath. He immediately formed hand signs, bit his finger, and slammed his palm on the ground.
Bang!
A massive summoning pattern appeared. White smoke rose.
Then, everyone saw a pitch-black ape appear beside the Third Hokage.
The ape looked very strong. When it appeared, it radiated a powerful aura.
It seemed this was an opponent on par with the Third Hokage himself.
After the ape appeared, it spoke with some complaint:
"Sarutobi, why did you call me out again so soon?"
But before the Third Hokage could respond, the ape saw the ground below—devastated, covered in scars, Konoha reduced to ruins.
The ape froze for a moment. It glanced at the Hokage building, then looked at the ruins of Konoha again.
Instantly, the ape's eyes went wide. His face was full of disbelief.
He hurriedly asked the Third Hokage in shock:
"Sarutobi, what's going on? This is Konoha? How did it become like this? What happened?"
The Third Hokage's heart was very heavy at that moment. He was full of anger and hatred. He had no time to answer the ape.
Then, the Third Hokage took a deep breath, stared intently at Naruto, and shouted:
"Ape Demon, I don't have time to explain right now. Help me quickly—take down the traitor in front of me."
The Ape Demon soon noticed Naruto.
Hearing the Third Hokage say their opponent was Naruto—
The Ape Demon's shock grew even stronger. His eyes were full of incredible horror.
Could it be that the one responsible for all of this was Uzumaki Naruto?
Such a young kid had actually destroyed Konoha?
How was that possible?
Orochimaru had teamed up with the Sand and Sound ninja, and even they hadn't destroyed Konoha like this.
And yet Naruto—all by himself—had turned Konoha into ruins.
It was unbelievable.
Not only did the Ape Demon think this—at that moment, everyone in Konoha, including Kakashi, Sakura, and Ino who had witnessed it with their own eyes, was still so shocked that they could barely accept what was in front of them.
Even Kakashi and Sakura, who had seen it firsthand, found it a bit unbelievable. It felt like a nightmare. Let alone everyone else.
But the Ape Demon quickly calmed down. He suppressed the shock in his heart, followed the Third Hokage's instructions, and transformed with a bang into a thick black staff.
As soon as the black staff appeared, the Third Hokage gripped it tightly in his hands and swung it fiercely at Naruto.
Seeing the Third Hokage launch his attack, Naruto didn't delay any longer. He took a deep breath.
Senbonzakura flashed in his hand.
Then, Naruto said calmly:
"Scatter, Senbonzakura."
As the words fell—
In an instant—
Thousands of Sakura petals burst forth.
Countless petals surged like a wave of bees.
As soon as the petals appeared, they swept toward the Third Hokage.
The Third Hokage frowned when he saw the countless densely packed petals, but he didn't panic.
Instead, he placed the black staff in front of him, waved his hands, and spun it at high speed.
With the high-speed rotation of the black staff, a howling whirlwind kicked up in front of the Third Hokage.
The whirlwind was extremely violent. It grew larger and larger—like a tornado—resisting the thousands of petals coming at him.
The two forces collided.
The clear, crisp sounds of clang, clang, clang rang out one after another.
The Third Hokage was actually using this method to block the petals' attacks again and again.
Seeing this, Naruto knew that he couldn't harm the Third Hokage with just this approach alone.
After all, this was Konoha's Hokage. The leader of a village. A powerful ninja known as the Professor of Ninjutsu.
So Naruto decided not to hold back.
He would let the Third Hokage know how terrifying the strength he had concealed for thirteen years truly was.
And he would let the Third Hokage know how heavy and terrible the price would be when thirteen years of darkness finally erupted.
Naruto took a deep breath.
The next moment—his eyes opened.
A pair of scarlet eyes suddenly appeared.
The three tomoe spun slowly.
Sharingan—activate.
Not only that—a massive surge of chakra burst from Naruto's body. Chakra rose into the sky like a monstrous wave.
Then, Naruto shouted softly:
"Eight Inner Gates—Open!"