The moment Orochimaru saw Senju Tobirama accompanying Aizen Sōsuke, he already realized that his previous hope of teaming up with Minato Namikaze against the enemy was probably unfeasible.
Not only that, given Senju Tobirama's personality, the strategy he would adopt after detecting the Hashirama cells in his body would undoubtedly be extremely aggressive.
Because of this, the first moment he saw the other party, he chose an even more extreme and aggressive approach with the fastest speed.
"Everyone, stop!"
Orochimaru's figure was half-crouched on the ground, staring directly at Aizen Sōsuke in the distance.
The surrounding water, parted by the barrier like a sky-high wall, rumbled, turning into a cascading waterfall, stirring up a spreading mist that enveloped his figure in a haze.
He held a scroll high in his hand, his expression calm.
The moment they heard this, Senju Tobirama and Minato Namikaze simultaneously distanced themselves, both frowning and looking at him, seemingly puzzled.
Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others further back also cautiously guarded against the Anbu-clad figures opposite them, but they all stopped their movements.
The Dragon Veins, as the source of the earth's pulse, were not something to trifle with; they could even be considered a latent bomb. Even a slight problem could tear open space and dimensions, and no one knew what they would face next.
Their presence here was the best proof.
If this time it caused spatial turbulence, they would truly die inexplicably.
"What do you want to do?"
Senju Tobirama's face was cold.
He was not one to be threatened.
Noticing the brief pause from everyone, Orochimaru let out a soft breath and raised his voice: "Second Hokage-sama."
"Whatever I say next, whether you believe it or not, please at least listen to me quietly until I'm finished."
"My name is Orochimaru. At the age of five, I became the direct disciple of the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, as a commoner."
"That young man over there is Minato Namikaze, the future Fourth Hokage of Konoha."
"Your presence here is all due to my summoning."
"The purpose is to deal with this man... who is prophesied to destroy the entire Ninja World."
"However, there was a slight accident during the operation of the Dragon Veins."
Orochimaru looked at Aizen Sōsuke in the distance, a relaxed smile gradually spreading across his pale face: "As a result, there was a small misunderstanding between us."
Senju Tobirama's movements paused slightly, his red eyes narrowed, first glancing at the blond young man next to him with some surprise, then refocusing his gaze, staring at Orochimaru's every move.
However, his peripheral vision also fell upon Aizen Sōsuke's figure nearby.
Clearly, he didn't entirely trust this young man he had only just met a few minutes ago.
"Orochimaru-sama."
"To have fallen to such a state as a rogue Ninja, yet still resort to such untrustworthy verbal tricks, is rather unsightly."
Aizen Sōsuke smiled gently, standing atop the surging torrent, looking down at his figure, his tone seemingly carrying a hint of a sigh: "Researching forbidden bloodline secret Ninjutsu, conducting human experiments on villagers, escaping the Village's pursuit... each and every one of these is a capital offense."
"What's the point of struggling further?"
The young Hiruzen Sarutobi first looked at Aizen, then at Orochimaru below, his gaze a little hesitant, and finally looked at his Teacher.
Since the snake-like fellow claimed to be his disciple, he shouldn't have committed such a grave sin, right?
But Mr. Aizen didn't seem like a bad person either.
Danzo Shimura, on the other hand, stared intently at Orochimaru's figure, completely unfazed, with a hint of ruthlessness in his eyes.
"Prophecy?"
Minato Namikaze caught a keyword, subconsciously widened his eyes, and looked at the elegant, tall figure, as if in disbelief.
Having come from the Third Great Ninja War, his ingrained impression of Orochimaru was extremely strong; from the beginning, it was hard for him to imagine such a person betraying the Village and the Konoha Ninja.
After hearing "prophecy," he became even more nervous, recalling his Teacher who had dedicated his entire life to a prophecy.
If what Orochimaru-sama said was true, then this man... Minato Namikaze's gaze almost instinctively settled on Aizen Sōsuke.
"Struggling?"
Orochimaru listened to Aizen's faint words, then suddenly curled his lips, his voice turning cold: "No!"
"This is a threat!"
"Second Hokage-sama, Minato-kun."
"This scroll I hold in my hand is an inner sealing scroll that I obtained from multiple explorations of the Dragon Veins seal in Rouran Country in the past—you can understand it as a destructive seal like the Reverse Four Symbols Seal."
"Now, please help me with a small favor, and take this guy down."
"Otherwise, I can only activate this scroll now, open spatial turbulence, and prevent the power of the Dragon Veins from falling into this guy's hands."
"Before this mission, I had already received a joint instruction from the White Snake Sage and the Great Toad Sage, that I would somehow be able to save my life."
"But as for your results, I cannot guarantee them."
"Bastard—!"
The first to speak was Danzo Shimura, the most hot-tempered.
He glared at Orochimaru, gritting his teeth: "Do you think we'll be intimidated by your threat?"
"As Konoha Ninja, we will never compromise with someone like you!"
However, Orochimaru ignored his reaction, merely staring directly at Senju Tobirama with a beaming smile.
While Danzo Shimura roared in frustration, the entire secret chamber had fallen into an eerie silence.
"Teacher Tobirama?"
Noticing the sudden quiet, Danzo Shimura abruptly looked up, incredulously gazing in Senju Tobirama's direction.
However, he suddenly noticed.
Not only Teacher Tobirama, but even Hiruzen Sarutobi seemed to have realized something, turning to look in Aizen's direction.
"Oh my..."
Yakushi Kabuto murmured softly, "It seems we'll have to trouble Aizen-sama after all."
Uchiha Itachi frowned, his gaze heavy as he scanned the people around him.
Unbeknownst to him, Senju Tobirama had already turned towards Aizen, his brows tightly furrowed, staring intently at Aizen's figure.
Suddenly, he heard him speak: "Aizen Sōsuke."
"Do you have nothing to explain?"
"Teacher Tobirama?!"
Danzo Shimura subconsciously spoke, wanting to stop him, but was suddenly pulled by Hiruzen Sarutobi's outstretched hand.
"Idiot!"
"Haven't you realized yet?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi was also facing Aizen, holding his iron staff, his expression grave, and speaking rapidly: "That guy he called a rogue Ninja is standing on the Dragon Veins right now. If he had any intentions, he could have acted earlier when he was obscured by the Wood Release."
"We don't have the ability to destroy the Wood Release in a short time."
"In that case..."
He didn't continue speaking.
Danzo Shimura's expression suddenly froze.
In that case, the only ones with true designs on the power of the Dragon Veins would be the other side of the two groups, wouldn't they?
Clearly.
Both Teacher Tobirama and Hiruzen Sarutobi realized this and made their judgment the moment Orochimaru made that statement.
Only he, Danzo, was still foolishly oblivious.
At this moment, Danzo Shimura suddenly felt a sense of intellectual superiority from Teacher Tobirama and that monkey, and he couldn't help but feel a little guilty.
But soon, his anger quickly shifted to others.
"You bastard?!"
He immediately turned and glared at Aizen Sōsuke.
Clearly.
There was a reason why Danzo Shimura had been so thoroughly suppressed by Hiruzen Sarutobi all these years.
"Heh..."
Sasori's body slowly retreated a few steps, his gaze wandering to the people around him.
He never expected to have the chance to fight alongside the Second, Third, and Fourth Hokage of Konoha in his lifetime.
With just a few words from Orochimaru, the situation had completely reversed.
Life truly is a strange thing...
He thought this, his gaze gradually returning to Aizen Sōsuke in front of him.
Facing such a lineup, this guy probably wouldn't even have a chance to escape, would he?
However, when he looked at the man opposite him, he found that his expression hadn't changed at all; instead, he shook his head with a slight sigh: "The prophecies of the Toad Sage and the White Snake Sage..."
"I didn't expect them to have such special abilities."
"Orochimaru-sama."
"This time, I miscalculated."
However, listening to his light words, Orochimaru's previously relaxed expression involuntarily sank a little.
Even at this point, why was this guy still so calm?
What other trump cards did he have?
Could it be that even when surrounded by two full Kage-level teams, he was confident he could escape from here?
Is it a spatial Ninjutsu?
Or...
"Clang."
With a soft metallic scrape, Aizen slowly drew the katana from his waist, his expression composed as he looked at the group of murderous Ninja before him, and continued: "However, similarly."
"Orochimaru-sama."
"You also overlooked a very important factor."
"What?!"
Orochimaru's brows suddenly furrowed tightly.
Aizen Sōsuke looked down at him, a gentle smile appearing on his handsome face: "That is..."
"The disparity in power."
"Hmph."
The moment he heard this, Senju Tobirama even scoffed, looking at him disdainfully and arrogantly saying, "A frog in a well!"
Almost as soon as the words fell, several Kunai shot out in unison, completely covering every possible angle of evasion for the opponent.
It wasn't just Senju Tobirama.
The moment the sound of the Kunai cutting through the air rang out, Minato Namikaze, who was beside him, had already shot out several three-pronged Kunai, his figure flashing and leaping like lightning, outflanking Aizen and his two companions from another direction.
Whether what Orochimaru-sama said was true or false, anything concerning a prophecy, he absolutely could not stand by and do nothing.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was already accustomed to coordinating with Teacher Tobirama; the Adamantine Staff in his hand swept out, rapidly extending several meters, forcibly blocking the other side, and creating a scorching current of air.
Sasori in the distance secretly raised his hand, manipulating large amounts of iron sand to encircle Aizen's figure from all directions, completely enveloping him from above.
Close, mid, and long range.
Three-way cooperation.
Experts making their moves needed no warning; from the very first strike, they formed a perfect coordination, instantly sealing off all possible blind spots of the opponent.
However, the only problem, and the biggest problem, with such perfect coordination was...
A direct breakthrough.
"Hado #78: Zangerin."
The tall man opposite faced the four-pronged assault without moving a single step, gently raising the tip of his left finger.
Silky smooth threads, like satin, were effortlessly brushed aside by him from the air, as if a band of light was drawn from the atmosphere.
With a swift sweep, dozens of light-wheels, like light, shot out, breaking through all obstacles as they sped towards the crowd in front.
Senju Tobirama, who was at the very front, initially paid no mind, instinctively wanting to dodge sideways.
But just as his body was about to move, he saw a Kunai that had just been thrown in front of him, effortlessly split into two by the stream-like Zangerin, like a hot knife through butter.
His red eyes narrowed, and his figure instantly vanished from the spot.
The next moment.
"Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle—!"
The dozens of light bands cut from the opponent's hand thus shattered all obstacles in their path with overwhelming force.
Whether it was Kunai, iron sand, rocks, dust, water, or even air.
In an instant, a large blank area was suddenly swept clean around him, entirely cleared by that abnormal slashing wave.
What kind of Ninjutsu was that?!
Senju Tobirama's heart tightened.
Before he could react, Hiruzen Sarutobi's iron staff had already struck down.
"Boom!"
Amidst the muffled sound wave, the thick Adamantine Staff abruptly stopped in front of the man.
If one looked more closely, they would see the Adamantine Staff being held in his palm.
"What?!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression froze.
Before he could react further, the hands gripping the Adamantine Staff were suddenly pulled forward by an immense force, drawing his entire body close, slightly floating.
"Bang!"
A raised leg suddenly shot up, and a hard knee, like a steel pillar, mercilessly plunged into his abdomen, causing his short body to abruptly shoot upwards with a dull thud, slamming into the ceiling, and spewing a large mouthful of blood.
"Hiruzen!"
Danzo Shimura subconsciously cried out, about to move closer, but a golden flash suddenly streaked across his vision.
"Flying Thunder God Technique!"
Among the Kunai torn apart by the slashing wave, one piece remained, and Minato Namikaze's expression was resolute.
However, the moment his Kunai descended, it was precisely blocked by a sharp blade, emitting a faint clang.
Minato Namikaze looked up.
He saw the young man opposite him had already gently drawn a section of the blade from his waist.
Aizen Sōsuke looked down at him, his smile still gentle.
As the blade and Minato Namikaze's Kunai were locked in a standoff, the blade slowly emerged, section by section, from its sheath.
Along with it, he softly uttered: "Shatter, Kyōka Suigetsu."