Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression turned grave. His dry, cracked lips parted as he exclaimed in shock:
"You're still alive?"
He raised his head, staring at Asuma. Without thinking, he intended to rush straight through the Konoha shinobi under the control of the Yasakani and the line of defense set up by the Sand's puppet masters.
Ninjutsu bombardments.
Puppets shattered and flew apart.
In the blink of an eye, under the crushing advance of more than two thousand Sarutobi clan shinobi and over a hundred Shimura clan shinobi, the line of defense controlled by the Yasakani Mangekyō collapsed.
But the Sarutobi clan had paid a heavy price as well.
Hiruzen roared and dashed forward.
"Calm yourself, Hiruzen—he's been reincarnated through Edo Tensei too!"
Danzō quickly stepped up, blocking his old friend.
Hiruzen shoved him aside, rage in his voice:
"He's my son! How do you expect me to stay calm?"
"But he's already dead!!"
Knocked to the ground, Danzō slammed his fist angrily against the earth.
Shimura clan shinobi quickly helped Danzō up. Glancing at the few clan members still at his side, Danzō barked:
"Forget that fool! We go save people—save our clan!!"
The Shimura shinobi withdrew with him, leaping swiftly across broken stone, heading for the damaged section of the inner wall.
The Sarutobi clan's shinobi forces stood frozen in place, awaiting the Hokage's command.
They all wore Konoha headbands, clad in the standard shinobi flak jackets, their right arms uniformly wrapped with bloodstained medical bandages.
In front of the Hokage building—
Asuma and Hiruzen finally faced each other at close range, both their emotions erupting like a volcano.
Hiruzen's weathered face tightened as he grasped Asuma's right hand, his voice heavy:
"How… how could you be brought back through Edo Tensei?"
"It was Uchiha Yu!" Asuma said with a dazed expression, turning his head toward the direction of the shelter.
His bloodstained hands clutched at the white sleeves of his father's ceremonial robe. With a choked sob, he collapsed:
"They're dead… Father… they're all dead!!"
Hearing this, Hiruzen's clouded old eyes widened, filled with fatigue and grief.
"Don't panic, Asuma—say it clearly! Who died?"
His heart suddenly clenched.
"The clansmen in the shelter… all of them! Even Konohamaru is dead—ahhh!!"
Asuma collapsed to his knees, his hands trembling uncontrollably, his voice breaking in despair:
"It was me… it was me! He controlled me! I killed the last of our clan!!"
With a sudden motion, Asuma bowed low, his head striking the ground with a heavy thud.
Hiruzen Sarutobi staggered back two steps, unable to catch his breath. He stumbled and collapsed before Asuma, staring up at the sky with a deathly pale face.
"I was wrong, I was wrong… hahahaha, I was wrong, Asuma! I should never have indulged the Konoha elders in leading Itachi to slaughter the Uchiha clan. I was wrong! I truly was wrong!!"
Hiruzen alternated between bitter remorse and crazed laughter, utterly lost and broken in spirit.
At this moment, he tasted the sorrow of annihilation—Asuma serving as the "Itachi" in his place.
Asuma clutched Hiruzen tightly, crying out in anguish. Suddenly, his pupils flashed red, and the markings of the Yasaka Magatama flared across his eyes.
The few remaining members of the Sarutobi clan rushed in frantically, encircling Hiruzen and Asuma.
A beam of white light converged on Asuma's back, just like sunlight streaming onto green leaves in nature—warm, gentle, yet overwhelming.
It poured into Asuma's body.
Then, another beam converged, and another.
Hiruzen's pupils shrank in shock. He tilted his head toward Asuma and saw his son forming a strange hand seal.
"Asuma… why is your back glowing?" Hiruzen muttered blankly, his madness momentarily giving way to confusion.
But Asuma was still drowning in the despair of personally cutting down his own kin.
He glanced left and right, then looked down at the seal his hands had formed. Terror filled his face.
"Father, everyone—run! Uchiha Yu is controlling my body!!"
The white light flared, illuminating Hiruzen's aged face. His pupils widened until his sight was completely swallowed by radiance.
"No… it's too… late…" he whispered.
A storm of wind tore through the battlefield.
The explosion shook the heavens.
Forbidden Jutsu: Fury!
Centered on Asuma Sarutobi, a pillar of white light shot into the sky.
It pierced through the blackened storm clouds above, creating a small mushroom cloud.
Within a hundred-meter radius, everything was torn apart by the terrifying surge of natural energy. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ novel-fire.ɴet
Hiruzen Sarutobi, the two thousand Sarutobi warriors, and half of the Hokage building—everything within the blinding light—was reduced to ash.
Asuma's eyes widened in despair as he screamed.
But his cry was drowned out instantly by the deafening roar.
Before his reanimated body was consumed, Asuma watched with his own eyes as his father's aged body was shredded to dust and erased in the blinding light.
The shockwave scattered.
The arriving Shimura clan shinobi, who had just reached the inner walls, clung desperately to the rock walls as the gale hit, staring blankly at the scene below.
Half the Hokage building had collapsed. The street ahead had been blown into a massive crater. Nearby structures had also been torn down in the blast.
Danzō stared in disbelief at the crater, watching as Hiruzen's body was gone without a trace, and roared in rage.
The dust gradually cleared.
At the center of the crater—
Countless scraps of paper swirled together, reconstructing Asuma's reanimated body.
Reanimated Asuma stood frozen, glancing around. But nowhere remained his father, nor the Sarutobi clan.
Turning in circles, he finally dropped to his knees. After a moment of silent weeping, he burst into crazed laughter:
"Hahahaha… it was me! I destroyed the Sarutobi clan—it was me!"
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