As soon as the purple flame died out, the vacuum of silence on the roof was shattered by the roar of hundreds of throats.
"ATTACK!" the ANBU Captain commanded.
The squad of elite Konoha fighters, previously gnashing their teeth helplessly at the barrier, surged inward like a black wave. They weren't Genin. They were the village's best killers, and they had been held back far too long.
The situation on the roof flipped in a second.
The Sound Four—now a trio, as Tayuya lay unconscious—found themselves outnumbered. Sakon, Kidōmaru, and Jirōbō tried to regroup to protect their master, but they were instantly tied down in combat. Kunai, shuriken, fire, and lightning techniques rained down on them from all sides.
In the center of this chaos stood two figures. Teacher and Student.
The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, breathed heavily, leaning on his Adamantine Staff. His armor was slashed, and blood trickled down his face. A second ago, he had been preparing for death. He intended to use the forbidden technique, the Reaper Death Seal, to take Orochimaru to the grave with him because he saw no other way out.
But now...
He saw Naruto standing at the edge of the roof with a smoking arm. He saw the ANBU pressing the enemy back.
The fire of "The Professor" ignited once again in the Old Man's eyes.
"I don't need to die today," he whispered, straightening up. "I just need to hold on a little longer."
Orochimaru hissed like a cobra whose tail had been stepped on.
His plan was perfect: isolation, psychological pressure, assassination. But the Jinchūriki brat destroyed everything with a single blow.
"Hashirama! Tobirama!" the Sannin barked. "Kill them all!"
Two legendary Hokage, stripped of their will, lunged forward.
Hashirama formed seals, and the roof trembled again from the growth of giant roots.
But now, Hiruzen was not alone.
"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!" the Hokage exhaled.
"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!" Three ANBU with Wind affinity struck simultaneously with him, amplifying their commander's flames.
The fire turned into an inferno, burning Hashirama's forest to ashes.
Orochimaru leaped back, dodging a strike from Enma's Adamantine Staff, which extended and nearly took his head off.
The Sannin landed on the edge of the roof and looked around.
The barrier was gone. His guard was pinned down. The Edo Tensei were being held back by joint efforts. And he himself was a target for the entire village.
His golden eyes met Naruto's blue ones.
The boy stood aside, catching his breath, but his gaze was heavy, promising a continuation.
I lost this round, Orochimaru stated coldly. If I stay, they will crush me with numbers. Hiruzen is old, but with support, he is still dangerous.
"Retreat!" he shouted.
"But Orochimaru-sama!.." Sakon started, fighting off two ANBU.
"I said: we're leaving!" Orochimaru formed a seal.
Hashirama and Tobirama suddenly ceased their attack and rushed to their summoner, becoming a living shield.
"Water Style: Water Shockwave!" Tobirama spat a lake of water, washing away the ANBU and creating a screen.
Orochimaru took advantage of the chaos. He grabbed the trio running toward him and jumped off the roof, dissolving into the smoke and water.
"Don't let him get away!" Hiruzen screamed.
But pursuing a Sannin in his native element—chaos—was nearly impossible. The Edo Tensei coffins retracted underground, covering their master's retreat.
The battle on the roof ended as abruptly as it had begun.
Naruto exhaled slowly. His arm, covered in a crust of blood baked by the heat, throbbed with pain, but the bones were intact.
He surveyed the battlefield.
Wounded ANBU. A living Hokage.
And a girl with red hair lying unconscious near the ruined corner of the barrier.
Tayuya.
One of the ANBU fighters in a Bear mask approached her, raising a tantō.
"Enemy is still alive," he stated emotionlessly. "Eliminating."
"Stop!"
Naruto's voice was hoarse, but it rang with steel.
The ANBU froze, the blade hovering a centimeter from the girl's neck. He turned his head to the Genin.
"She is an enemy, Uzumaki. She held the barrier."
Naruto walked up to them, limping slightly. He stood between the sword and the girl.
"She is unarmed and unconscious," he said firmly. "And she is a highly valuable source of information. She knows Orochimaru's hideouts, his plans, his experiments. Killing her now means throwing that information away."
The ANBU hesitated. The logic was ironclad, but the hatred for enemies attacking the village demanded blood.
At that moment, Tayuya opened her eyes, clouded with pain, for a second. Through the haze, she saw a back clad in black. The one who shielded her from the killing blow. This image burned into her fading consciousness before she slipped into darkness again.
"He's right," a voice came from behind.
Hiruzen Sarutobi, leaning on his staff, approached them. He looked terrible—old, beaten, exhausted, but alive.
"Take her prisoner," the Hokage ordered. "Transfer her to the Torture and Interrogation Force. Ibiki will take care of her."
The ANBU fighter bowed and sheathed his sword. He roughly hauled Tayuya up, binding her hands with chakra-suppressing cuffs.
Naruto looked at the girl. Pale, with blood on her face, she didn't look like a monster, but like a broken doll.
Just another tool discarded by its master, he thought. Orochimaru took the others but left her because she fell first. He doesn't care about his own.
This strengthened his resolve. He didn't stop her execution out of pity, but out of principle. He would not play by Orochimaru's rules.
Hiruzen placed a heavy hand on Naruto's shoulder.
"You..." the old man coughed, wiping blood from his lips. "You did the impossible, Naruto. You saved me. Saved the village. I... I am proud of you."
Naruto looked at the Hokage. For the first time in many years, he saw not guilt in the old man's eyes, but pure gratitude.
But Naruto didn't smile.
He turned his head toward the forest, where pillars of smoke and dust were still visible. To where Sasuke had run. To where Gaara was raging.
His Qi Sensory picked up distant but powerful flares of chakra. Evil, cold chakra and a mad sandstorm.
"It's not over yet, Old Man," Naruto said quietly, shrugging off the Hokage's hand. "You are safe. But Sasuke... he is still in the forest with the monster."
"Sasuke?" Hiruzen frowned.
"He chased after Gaara. After the Sand Jinchūriki."
The Hokage's face paled even further.
"That is... bad. Naruto, you are not in shape right now. Your chakra..."
"I'm fine," Naruto interrupted.
He took a deep breath, activating his remaining reserves. Hiruzen noticed with surprise how the steam rising from the boy's scorched arm vanished, and his breathing leveled out unnaturally fast. As if the body itself obeyed a silent command.
What is this power? the thought flashed through the Professor's mind. That's not regeneration from the Nine-Tails. That is something else.
"I'll catch up to him."
Naruto walked to the edge of the roof.
"Take care of the village, Hokage-sama. And I will take care of my team."
He jumped.
The black figure dissolved into the smoke of fires, speeding into the forest, toward the final battle of this endless day.