The words echoed in everyone's minds as their eyes fixed on Naruto's massive foot. Under such tremendous force, Asuma Sarutobi must have been reduced to pulverized flesh. Beyond recognition. Beyond salvation.
No, their thoughts corrected automatically. Not thirty-five million. Asuma. A person. The Hokage's son.
Asuma's death acted like a signal flare—immediate, unmistakable, declaring that this confrontation had crossed from political theater into genuine violence.
Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado launched themselves at Kakashi and Sasuke without hesitation. Kurenai Yuhi's hands flew through seals, targeting Orochimaru with genjutsu.
The battle had begun.
But not everyone joined.
Standing among the assembled clan heads, Hiashi Hyūga remained perfectly still. His Byakugan was active but he made no aggressive moves, showed no intent to intervene.
Beside him, Choza Akimichi—short, rotund, deceptively powerful—asked with carefully measured interest, "Hiashi-sama, aren't you planning to join the battle?"
"Didn't you also choose not to join?" Hiashi countered smoothly, his white eyes never leaving the scene before them.
Seeing this exchange, Choza couldn't help the slight smile that curved his lips. All the men in my family are standing behind Naruto. My son Choji is up there. How could I possibly attack?
And Hiashi's eldest daughter stands there too. Hinata. His precious heir.
Choza's gaze swept across the other assembled clan heads. Shikaku Nara, Inoichi Yamanaka, Tsume Inuzuka, Shibi Aburame. Every single one wore expressions of careful neutrality mixed with barely suppressed amusement.
What a bunch of old foxes, Choza thought with grudging respect. Are they certain Naruto will win? They're all betting on the boy rather than the Hokage.
But the calculation made sense when examined carefully.
During Naruto's childhood, only civilians had openly mocked him. Only common villagers had shown blatant cruelty and indifference. The major clans had always maintained careful distance—neither befriending Naruto nor joining the persecution.
We were afraid of Sarutobi Hiruzen's power back then, Choza acknowledged silently. Afraid of what opposing the Hokage's policies might cost us.
Later, when their children had begun forming friendships with Naruto one by one, the clan heads had noticed. Had discussed it privately. And ultimately, they'd chosen not to interfere.
Let the children do as they wish, had been the consensus. What harm could one isolated boy cause?
Then Naruto's combat strength had been revealed. Again and again, each display more shocking than the last. The harmless orphan had transformed into something that exceeded their wildest projections.
He gave us quite a surprise, Choza thought, watching the giant holding Hiruzen. More than a surprise. A complete recalculation of power dynamics.
But the truth ran deeper than simple respect for strength.
The most important reason these clan heads didn't stop their younger generation from befriending Naruto was simpler and darker: Konoha isn't actually safe. Not for families with power.
The Uchiha clan—ancient, proud, one of the village's founding families—had been completely annihilated. Such a massive clan, wiped out in a single night. The official story satisfied civilians, but the major clans knew better. Knew the massacre had been sanctioned, orchestrated, executed with village leadership's knowledge.
And Tsunade Senju, the only significant descendant of the Senju clan, had been driven from the village. Forced to wander as a nomad despite being granddaughter of the First Hokage.
The Senju and Uchiha had founded Konoha together. Built it from nothing. And both had been systematically destroyed or exiled.
That makes us uneasy, Choza admitted to himself. Deeply uneasy about Sarutobi Hiruzen's true intentions. About what he's willing to do to maintain control.
So we hope Naruto can give us another surprise. Can break Hiruzen's stranglehold on power.
Because if one man can challenge the Hokage and survive, maybe our clans have a future beyond being pawns in Hiruzen's games.
This was the unified thought among Konoha's major families at this moment. A silent bet. A calculated gamble on regime change.
Suspended in Naruto's massive grip, Sarutobi Hiruzen felt rage building like magma in his chest. Pressure increasing. Temperature rising. Ready to explode at any moment.
Naruto's voice cut through his fury with surgical precision.
"Do you feel the pain?"
The question was simple. Almost gentle.
"Do you understand the pain?"
Naruto's transformed face showed genuine curiosity.
"What is the taste of pain, Sarutobi Hiruzen? Can you describe it for me? I'd like to know."
The Third Hokage's face flickered through emotions—rage, grief, hatred—like storm clouds racing across sky.
"Hey," Naruto continued conversationally, lifting his foot slightly to examine the result beneath. "Can't you feel the pain even like this? Look. It's become a pool of mud. Such a waste. Thirty-five million ryō. That's enough to buy thirty-five pigs for my farm."
Naruto's tone carried genuine regret over the lost bounty money.
Hearing these words—this casual dismissal of his son's death, this reduction of Asuma to missed profit—Hiruzen's expression went through rapid transformations. His aged face showed clouds and storms, emotions battling for dominance.
Like a volcano forming beneath ocean surface. Invisible pressure building. Eruption inevitable.
He hated. Gods, how I hate.
I should have listened to Danzo when Naruto was young. Should have sent him to Root immediately. Turned him into a pure weapon. A human strategic resource without independent thought or personality.
If I'd done that, Asuma would still be alive.
The regret was acid, burning through Hiruzen's composure.
His whisper was barely audible: "This is all your fault."
Then he moved.
Rip!
Hiruzen twisted violently, tearing away from Naruto's grip. His collar ripped completely, the fabric remaining in the giant's hand while Hiruzen himself flew backward toward relative safety.
He landed in a crouch, distance achieved through desperate sacrifice of dignity.
A figure emerged from Hiruzen's body even as he stabilized his position. The summoning manifested instantly—a being similar to Hiruzen in appearance but distinctly nonhuman. Monkey-like features. Powerful build. Ancient eyes that had witnessed decades of battles.
"Hiruzen," the Monkey King Enma said immediately upon manifestation, "what's the situation this time?"
Before Hiruzen could answer, Enma's gaze found Naruto. Saw the giant towering over the ruins. Felt the power radiating from that transformed body.
"Hiruzen," Enma said slowly, concern coloring his tone, "it seems your trouble is genuinely serious this time. Even I feel a hint of danger from that boy."
The admission was significant. Enma had fought countless battles alongside Hiruzen, had faced legendary opponents. For him to acknowledge threat meant the situation was genuinely dire.
Pain flashed across Sarutobi Hiruzen's weathered features. His eyes found the pulverized remains of Asuma in the distance. His hand rose, trembling slightly, pointing at Naruto.
"Kill him," Hiruzen commanded, his voice breaking on the words.
Naruto observed the summoned creature with mild interest. This monkey looks very similar to Sarutobi Hiruzen. Like brothers, almost. Though stronger than Hiruzen. Less... simian... in its proportions.
The comparison was darkly amusing. Hiruzen actually resembles a monkey more than his own summon does.
Ignoring Enma's presence for the moment, Naruto focused on Hiruzen's expression. Saw the pain written clearly across aged features. The grief, the rage, the loss—all of it visible now that Hiruzen's mask had finally cracked.
"Now it seems you feel my pain," Naruto observed with cruel satisfaction. "Understand what it tastes like. How it feels when something precious is destroyed."
At this moment, Sarutobi Hiruzen's heart overflowed with the agony of losing a child. The specific torture of outliving one's offspring. Asuma had been one of his hopes for the future—a bridge to continued Sarutobi dominance through the next generation.
Konohamaru hasn't grown up yet, Hiruzen's mind screamed silently. How can a toddler shoulder Konoha's heavy responsibilities? How can I ensure my family's legacy now?
His painful face lifted to stare at Naruto. His mouth moved, words emerging like confessions dragged from unwilling lips.
"You are a devil," Hiruzen whispered, horror and realization mixing. "If I'd known earlier, I should have sent you to Root. Made you a pure strategic material instead of giving you opportunities to experience life and grow independently."
The admission revealed everything—his true view of Naruto, his regrets about methods, his belief that the boy should have been a weapon rather than a person.
Then his voice rose to a roar: "ADAMNTINE STAFF!"
At the command, Enma immediately transformed. His body shifted, elongated, became a metallic staff—the legendary Ruyi Jingu Bang, capable of extending and contracting at will.
Hiruzen caught the staff mid-transformation. Without hesitation, without pause for strategy, he launched himself at Naruto. The staff swept toward the giant's waist with tremendous force, carrying decades of combat experience and desperate fury.
"Too weak," Naruto said simply. "Far too weak."
In his transformed state, with his perception enhanced by spirit-energy-body unity, Sarutobi Hiruzen's attack appeared almost comically slow. Like watching a child swing a stick during playground games.
Not worth mentioning.
Naruto's fist moved casually, intercepting the staff with overwhelming force.
CLANG!
The impact sent shockwaves radiating outward, cracking ground, shattering nearby rubble.
"Hey," Naruto said, his voice carrying dark amusement. "Did you finally speak your true feelings? Finally reveal what you actually think?"
His smile was sharp and cold.
"Some people never reflect on themselves. They inflict tremendous pain on others, then act surprised when that pain returns."
"Tell me, Sarutobi Hiruzen—is your pain real pain, while the pain of others doesn't count? Is that how your moral calculus works?"
Hiruzen struggled against the staff, trying to push against Naruto's overwhelming strength. But the force differential was too vast. Like an ant trying to move a mountain.
"Because of your connivance," Naruto continued, his voice taking on a sharper edge, "I—as the son of the Fourth Hokage—should have lived a wealthy and happy life. Should have been respected by everyone. Honored as the child of a hero."
"But because of your deliberate choices, what kind of life did I actually live?"
"Since I could walk, I've never had enough food. Never had money to buy meals. No one wanted to be my friend. Indifference and isolation were my constant companions. Do you know how I survived those years?"
Naruto's grip tightened on Hiruzen, his massive fingers applying subtle pressure.
"Seven years. Seven years, Sarutobi Hiruzen. Do you know how I lived those seven years? If I hadn't received my own opportunities, the current me would probably still be trapped in that abyss. Unable to escape. Unable to see any path forward."
His voice dropped to something quieter but infinitely more dangerous.
"Maybe I would have committed suicide. Left this hateful world forever. Ended the suffering the only way available."
A pause. Then Naruto's expression shifted to dark amusement.
"Oh wait. No. I couldn't even have chosen death freely, could I? Because I had your ANBU ninja beside me. Named 'protection' but actually surveillance. Monitoring the strategic resource you cared about most. I probably wouldn't have been allowed to die even if I'd wanted to."
"Thinking about it now, I suddenly understand. You're really calculating, Sarutobi Hiruzen. Really skilled at manipulation."
"In order to control me—to ensure the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki remained your loyal weapon—you orchestrated everything perfectly."
Naruto's voice took on the quality of someone presenting evidence in court. Methodical. Comprehensive. Damning.
"First, you swallowed all my father and mother's property. Their wealth, their techniques, their legacy—all of it disappeared into Konoha's coffers. Or more accurately, into your personal control."
"Then you gave me minimal money each month. Just enough to survive but never enough to thrive. Kept me perpetually hungry, perpetually desperate, perpetually dependent on your minimal generosity."
"Next, when Danzo leaked my Jinchūriki status and caused villagers to hate me, you simply went along with it. Never dispelled the rumors. Never corrected the misunderstandings. You actively continued allowing Konoha's villagers to hate me, show indifference toward me, isolate me completely."
"You let my world fill with darkness. Made it so deep and pervasive that I couldn't see any light at all."
Naruto's smile widened, showing teeth.
"And THEN you appeared. Sent me to school. Gave me small encouragements. Became the only light in my world. That way, I would feel overwhelming gratitude toward you. Would listen to whatever you said. Would become whatever you wanted me to be."
"It's really a perfect manipulation scheme when you examine it closely. Absolutely flawless psychological warfare."
His grip tightened further, making Hiruzen gasp.
"If I hadn't learned my true identity in advance, I suspect the current me, even with tremendous strength, would just be a knife in your hand. A weapon you could point at any target you chose."
"Isn't that right, Sarutobi Hiruzen? Wasn't that always the plan?"
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