Chapter 485: Let Go
In front of the Hokage Residence, the scene plunged into complete, chaotic disarray.
A dense formation of high-tier Konoha powerhouses heavily encircled the area, but because Ryo had explicitly verified that the entity was merely a clone, they stood briefly frozen, not quite knowing how to proceed.
The gathering commoners were largely swimming in panic—specifically the civilians living in the western street blocks. Three years ago, when Orochimaru launched his hidden ambush, they had literally gone to sleep only to wake up and find their entire neighborhood completely obliterated. Talk about terrifying! If a scenario like that played out a second time, how could things possibly end well?
"Tsunade, step up to cover me for a single minute!" Ryo hollered toward the roof edge.
"Senior, there is zero need to trouble her," Orochimaru proactively responded first. "Since my presence has been smoothly detected, this clone might as well conclude its performance right here."
"Orochimaru, wait—" Jiraiya urgently opened his mouth to shout, but the middle-aged man in front of them systematically dissolved into a pile of loose dirt. As expected, it was an authentic Clone technique—a Mud Clone.
"Orochimaru..." Hiruzen's expression was incredibly complex.
Ryo fell into deep, focused contemplation. A mere Mud Clone failed to yield an immense repository of active data, but Ryo could still razor-sharply perceive that the current Orochimaru was formidable beyond measure—completely eclipsing any single ninja native to Konoha. A standard, ordinary Mud Clone of his already commanded a raw strength tier that sat infinitely close to Jiraiya's personal baseline.
To think he genuinely possessed the vessel of the White Snake Sage. Truly spectacular... Eh? Possession? He couldn't possibly be actively charting a political trap to possess the vessel of the Great Ancestor next, could he? Terrifying.
The chaotic commotion was steadily pacified by the joint efforts of the Konoha Anbu and the active shinobi forces. Despite such a massive disruption striking mid-address, very few of the assembled commoners ran away from the plaza, bringing a further trace of profound comfort to Hiruzen's old heart.
"I have zero regrets remaining," murmuring softly under his breath, Hiruzen maximized his vocal output, continuing his resounding broadcast of the Will of Fire.
Ryo, on the other hand, systematically resumed his daydreaming.
In a hidden, desolate corner of the shinobi world.
"Inviting me to officially join your organization?" Orochimaru's raspy, deeply amused voice rippled through the shadows. "The Akatsuki?"
"A name is merely an arbitrary code. Since the shinobi world is universally resolved to address me by that title, labeling it the Dark Akatsuki poses zero issue," Tenji responded in a slow, calculated cadence.
Orochimaru lightly flicked his tongue across the edge of his lips: "Exactly why are you extending an invitation to me? Who else populates the ranks of the Dark Akatsuki?"
"Having just the two of us is more than sufficient," Tenji smiled subtly. "Our common adversary, Ryo Uzumaki, has lived for heaven knows how many millennia; this is a grueling war of absolute attrition. We must ensure we possess a baseline that won't be easily outlived by him. As for those alternative short-lived mortals... they are utterly useless!"
"Operating as an adversary to the Senior, is it?" Orochimaru left his stance completely open to interpretation. "Mind resolving a minor confusion of mine? Exactly how did you achieve true immortality?"
Tenji fell into a brief silence: "A corpse that actively retains its sovereign consciousness naturally lacks the capacity to die a second time..."
"Oh?" Orochimaru spoke with a half-smile, his snake-like gaze briefly lingering across the vertex of Tenji's collarbone before systematically shifting to lock onto his pair of Rinnegan. "Your primary objective centers entirely on capturing the tailed beasts?"
"That's correct. The logical next target is the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki. His escape parameters are exceptionally high-tier, which is why it demands that we launch a joint ambush together... No, in truth, merely utilizing that specific subordinate of yours to assist my movement will be more than sufficient."
"Capturing the tailed beasts to resurrect the Ten-Tails?"
Tenji's expression instantly stiffened: "As expected, you truly know a catastrophic amount of detail, Orochimaru!"
Orochimaru let out a low, sneaky laugh. I know a fraction more than you could ever possibly conceptualize in your wildest illusions.
"Indeed. Only by rebirth of the Ten-Tails and successfully becoming the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki will we command the raw capability to engage in a direct, head-on clash against Ryo Uzumaki."
"A direct, head-on clash?" Orochimaru maintained his amused expression. As long as you are happy... He parsed out with absolute clarity that a person who wielded the pure power of destiny and had faithfully survived for so many centuries was terrifyingly formidable. The only entity capable of matching him would likely be...
Right at that exact fraction of a second, the visual memories of his Mud Clone systematically transferred back into his consciousness, causing a highly complex expression to flash across Orochimaru's face before instantly reverting to normal: "Exactly when do we strike?"
Tenji revealed a subtle trace of joy: "Welcome to the Dark Akatsuki. There is zero rush to initiate the ambush. The Eight-Tails Jinchuriki is currently operating right at his absolute physical peak; over the subsequent few years, his raw capability will naturally begin to degrade. We command the luxury of time to wait, do we not?"
Orochimaru gave a firm nod, his vertically slit serpentine pupils locking squarely with a pair of rippling, concentric eyes. The genuine, unadorned thoughts dwelling within their respective minds remained strictly known to themselves alone.
Back inside Konoha Village.
Hiruzen was currently speaking to his absolute heart's content, when he suddenly parsed out that the support pressing against his spine had magically transformed from a single palm into two solid hands.
"Senior, is the clock running out... eh?"
Hiruzen turned his head over his shoulder, only to find that Ryo's expression had turned monumentally solemn, and a faint plume of white steam was literally billowing from the crown of his head... Exactly what ghostly scenario was this?
Why on earth is he emitting white steam?!
"It's no issue, carry on with your prose. The Great Ancestor simply felt that given my current stance, adding a localized special effect to the crown of my head would be highly appropriate. Hurry up and pick up your pacing, you have a mere six minutes left!"
Hiruzen offered a bitter smile. A person is literally kicking the bucket right here, could you please maintain a baseline of seriousness?!
Glancing over at Obito, who appeared to be violently twitching as if he were on the absolute verge of passing out from sorrow, Hiruzen found a trace of comfort in his heart. Turning his head back to continue his majestic declaration, he suddenly froze—he had entirely forgotten his script lines!
Having preached the Will of Fire for his entire lifetime, to think he would actually experience a complete memory wipe right at his terminal boundary. As expected, I have truly grown old...
He plunged into a prolonged silence, and the crowd below steadily grew rowdy and嘈杂. Heaven only knew which civilian proactively hollered 'Lord Third!' first, but the entire plaza instantly spiraled out of control.
Tens of thousands of Konoha citizens chorused the title of 'Lord Third!' in absolute, thundering unison, causing hot tears to cascade down Hiruzen's withered face as he murmured under his breath one more time: "I have zero regrets remaining..."
Two minutes later, the chaotic roaring subsided. Hiruzen dynamically swayed his body to entirely break away from Obito and Shinnosuke's physical support. Scanning the expanse below, his gaze tracked across a violently weeping Konohamaru, across Jiraiya, Tsunade, Kushina, and the rest of their lineage, before lifting his voice to declare resoundingly:
"Wherever leaves flutter, fire burns.
The shadow of the fire will illuminate the village, and once more, new leaves will bud. It is when a person commands the absolute desire to shield those precious to them that the true, authentic strength of a shinobi will manifest!"
It was still that exact same template of prose, entirely identical to his very first inauguration.
With those words delivered, Hiruzen slowly began to collapse backward, however...
Ryo braced both of his hands against his back to forcefully prop him straight back up: "What are you doing? What's the rush? You still have a solid two minutes on the clock!"
Hiruzen: "..."
"Senior, it is enough. Every single detail I desired to articulate has been fully declared," Hiruzen proactively begged for his release.
Ryo chose to accommodate his wish, entirely withdrawing the Medical Ninjutsu chakra sustaining his vital organs. Hiruzen slowly and peacefully collapsed straight into Ryo's embrace... The plaza in front of the building instantly erupted into a deafening torrent of sorrow, and countless youths wept openly at the top of their lungs.
Tsunade, Kushina, and the others swiftly deployed Body Flicker to materialize on the roof, while Obito and Shinnosuke frantically rushed forward.
"I... exactly why am I still not dead yet?" Hiruzen murmured softly, resting flat against Shinnosuke's chest.
"The Great Ancestor explicitly stated you still command a solid two minutes. Why on earth are you being this impatient? Go find someone to cleanly punch you out then."
Hiruzen: "..."
An increasing number of shinobi attempted to scale the summit of the Hokage Residence, but Ryo seamlessly flicked his wrist to deploy an absolute wall of repulsive force, barricading their advance while strictly letting a handful of Hiruzen's immediate relatives through... Konohamaru commenced his sorrowful performance.
"Jiraiya, Tsunade, Minato, Kushina! The four of you set up a Four Violet Flames Formation right over this roof coordinates immediately!"
"Erect a barrier? Great-grandfather, there shouldn't be any practical necessity for such a drastic measure, if they try to climb up we can just block them manually..." Kushina countered.
Ryo shook his head with an exceptionally grave countenance: "Erect the barrier. The Great Ancestor is about to engage in a high-powered tug-of-war competition; it could easily inflict massive collateral trauma across the civilian population."
The four ninja exchanged a highly perplexed look. Though they failed to parse the underlying logic, they systematically executed Ryo's instructions down to the letter, and a translucent, crimson barrier rapidly blanketed the absolute summit of the Hokage Residence.
As the final two minutes ticked away, Hiruzen finally achieved his ultimate milestone. His relatives broke into deep sorrow, and Ryo smoothly harvested *20 (5) = 100 Witness Points from the system.
Possessing zero luxury of time to celebrate the harvest, Ryo concentrated his absolute focus, tracking the soul parameters of Hiruzen as they slowly decoupled from his vessel to ascend toward the heavens.
Tsk! The old Sage of Six Paths has truly learned his lesson, he refuses to flash even a single fraction of his presence.
Left with no alternative, Ryo let his monumental spiritual energy sweep out in a torrential wave. His conscious awareness directly dove forward to clamp down on the thigh parameters of Hiruzen's soul, ascending higher and higher, shooting straight up into the atmosphere...
"Holy crap! LET GO!"
Ryo violently crashed backward, falling flat on his face.
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