"Perfect shinobi?!"
Hearing Orochimaru’s warning, the Second Hokage, who had entered the dark-red Susanoo, raised an eyebrow.
He then glanced at the ruins of the ritual altar beneath his feet, examined the various sealing formulas remaining among the rubble, and followed the chakra transmission array’s lines with his gaze. As his eyes traced them outward, his expression gradually grew solemn.
Evidently, with just a few glances, the Second Hokage had already deduced the general outline of the Bloodline Fusion Ritual.
Perhaps because he had been Hokage and possessed extraordinary strength, people often unconsciously overlooked the Second Hokage’s talents as a researcher. In reality, however, he was one of the most outstanding inventors in the shinobi world.
Whether it was Orochimaru or Kagami, both paled in comparison to the Second Hokage when it came to scientific research.
Techniques that had changed the shinobi world, such as the Shadow Clone Technique, the Impure World Reincarnation Technique, and the Flying Thunder God Technique, were all creations of the Second Hokage.
Even Orochimaru, Kagami’s own sensei, was often merely building upon the achievements of his predecessors, absorbing and studying the techniques the Second Hokage had left behind.
BOOM!
Suddenly, an afterimage flashed past and slammed head-on into the Second Hokage, who was standing inside the dark-red Susanoo, producing a tremendous explosion!
Accompanied by a deafening crash, the Second Hokage was sent flying like a cannonball, smashing violently into the distant wall of the volcanic cavern and leaving a massive crater in the solid rock!
"Huff... Huff..."
Only after sending the Second Hokage flying did the afterimage reveal its true appearance.
It was none other than Danzo, panting heavily, guttural roars rumbling in his throat, his appearance now resembling something half-human and half-demon.
In that last attack, he had pushed his Swift Release almost to its absolute limit.
Among everyone inside the volcanic cavern, only the First Hokage and Kagami, who possessed the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, had managed to perceive his movements.
Even the Second Hokage, renowned for his speed, had failed to notice the attack in time because he had been distracted by his examination of the Bloodline Fusion Ritual, allowing Danzo’s sneak attack to succeed.
At that moment, Danzo, who seemed to have completely lost his reason, swept his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, brimming with bloodlust and a crimson glow, across the First Hokage, Kagami, and Orochimaru—the remaining survivors inside the volcanic cavern.
Then, with a low, guttural roar, he bellowed, "Die! Die! Die! All of you must die!"
After roaring, Danzo instinctively formed a hand seal, detonating the explosive tags he had planted beforehand.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
In an instant, violent explosions erupted simultaneously from all four walls of the volcanic cavern!
At the same time, blood-red crystals silently appeared at the cavern’s entrance.
These crystals, as clear and brilliant as diamonds, instantly sealed the entrance completely!
......
Outside the volcanic cavern.
The violent shaking of the earth and the fragments of rock continuously tumbling down the volcano caused both sides of the ongoing standoff to turn their attention toward the mountain before them.
"What’s going on?"
"Is it an earthquake or a landslide?!"
"Lord Hokage is still inside, isn’t he?"
Whether it was the surviving Konoha shinobi on the chakra transmission array or the Root shinobi confronting Kakashi, everyone was momentarily at a loss.
As the tremors grew increasingly violent, deep, seemingly bottomless cracks began appearing across the volcano. These fissures stretched all the way from the foot of the mountain to its summit, as though the entire volcano were breaking apart!
Faced with this sudden development, the Root shinobi could no longer concern themselves with Kakashi, for their leader, Danzo, was still inside the volcanic cavern.
On the other side, Kakashi was equally astonished. He had no idea what had happened inside the volcanic cavern to cause the entire mountain to show signs of collapsing.
Of course, what he knew even less was that his spur-of-the-moment decision had inadvertently prevented the birth of a new pair of Rinnegan!
......
In the distance.
Rumble... Rumble...
Hearing the faint rumbling coming from afar and feeling the earth tremble beneath his feet, a trace of confusion appeared on the Fourth Raikage’s anxious face.
He turned to the Kumogakure shinobi beside him and asked, "Is it coming from that direction?"
"Yes. That sound is indeed coming from the area where the Konoha shinobi have gathered."
A Kumogakure sensor-type shinobi immediately confirmed his suspicion.
The Fourth Raikage declared, "We can’t wait any longer! We’re setting out immediately!"
An elite jonin from Kumogakure hurriedly stopped the anxious Fourth Raikage and advised, "Lord Raikage, according to the ANBU’s report, more than a thousand Konoha shinobi have gathered over there. Even if we wait for all our reconnaissance teams to return and regroup, we’ll still be at an overwhelming numerical disadvantage. Besides, half of our reconnaissance teams haven’t even returned yet!"
Because their mission involved infiltrating the Land of Fire to investigate, the Fourth Raikage had not brought many Kumogakure shinobi with him this time.
His force consisted of only a little over twenty squads, totaling just over a hundred Kumogakure shinobi.
That was precisely why they had yet to make their move. They were waiting for the scattered reconnaissance teams to return and regroup one by one.
Otherwise, charging an army of more than a thousand shinobi with a force of only a few dozen would be extremely dangerous, even with the Fourth Raikage leading them!
Although the Fourth Raikage was impatient by nature, he understood that he was the pillar supporting Kumogakure. Given the current situation in the shinobi world, if anything happened to him, the entire village could face collapse.
Thus, suppressing his impatience, he asked, "How much longer until everyone returns?"
A shinobi from the communications team hurriedly replied, "Lord Raikage, the order to regroup has already been sent out. At... at most, fifteen minutes! Everyone should be assembled by then!"
The Fourth Raikage waved his hand decisively.
"Ten minutes! No matter how many have gathered, we depart in exactly ten minutes!"
......
Inside the volcanic cavern.
The entrance had been sealed by Danzo’s Crystal Release, while explosions continued to erupt along the cavern walls, filling the air with smoke and dust.
For a moment, the entire cavern was plunged into darkness and chaos, as though hell itself had descended upon it.
Kagami and Orochimaru exchanged glances, neither looking particularly pleased.
The more chaotic the battlefield became, the more disadvantageous it was for the side with superior numbers. Moreover, Danzo possessed seven Kekkei Genkai and had no reason to fear the cavern’s collapse.
Just then, the First Hokage pressed both hands against the ground and shouted:
"Wood Style: Advent of a World of Flowering Trees!"
In the blink of an eye, countless thick, sturdy trees burst from beneath the ground!
They intertwined with one another. Some stood like enormous pillars, supporting the rock walls that were on the verge of collapsing, while others spread like climbing vines, forming vast nets that caught the falling rocks.
In just a few breaths, the collapse of the volcanic cavern was effortlessly halted!
"This...!?"
Staring at the trees that now filled the entire cavern, Orochimaru was utterly astonished.
Although he had always known that the First Hokage’s Wood Release was powerful, he had never imagined it could be this formidable.
With seemingly no effort at all, the First Hokage had stopped a mountain collapse that Orochimaru had considered utterly impossible to prevent!
After stabilizing the collapsing cavern, the First Hokage shouted, "Tobirama, I’m getting serious now!"
The Second Hokage, who had previously been smashed into the rock wall by Danzo, staggered a couple of steps before getting back to his feet.
He replied, "Mm. Go ahead, Big Brother!"