On the high viewing stand, the three legendary Hokage stood together.
The First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, had long hair that flowed in the wind, his red armor especially eye-catching. Many had already witnessed his power when he fought Naruto Uzumaki earlier.
The Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, held a ninja sword, his body clad in deep blue leather armor. He fought like a phantom and had been the one to personally kill the Third Hokage.
The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, had just been resurrected, still in his old body. Having led Konoha for decades, he was the most respected by its ninjas and was hailed by the title of "Strongest Hokage," although everyone now knew that title had a hint of exaggeration... perhaps more than just a hint.
Right now, these three Hokage, all once considered invincible in the hearts of Konoha's ninjas, were being controlled by a notorious rogue ninja to corner the village's own jinchuriki.
A surge of chakra kicked up a fierce wind. On the roof of the highest viewing stand, Hashirama Senju, Tobirama Senju, and Hiruzen Sarutobi stood before Orochimaru, forming an insurmountable line of defense.
Orochimaru's cold, snake-like eyes were now incredibly arrogant. For the first time, he was freely venting his emotions. He licked his lips and smiled sinisterly. "The truly darkest moment has only just begun..."
"The battle isn't over, and you're already certain of the outcome?" A small, spiraling bullet of chakra spun rapidly on Naruto Uzumaki's fingertip. With a flick of his finger, he sent it flying toward Orochimaru—an unbelievable move.
"Water Style: Water Formation Wall!"
A wall of water rose to block the attack. After completing the hand seals, Tobirama used an even simpler method to form another seal.
"Water Style: Water Shockwave!"
A turbulent current spewed from his mouth, trying to use the impact to knock Naruto off the roof. A golden tail made of chakra appeared, blocking Naruto's front and sweeping the surging river away.
Naruto looked coldly at Orochimaru, who was staring down from the highest point, then at Tobirama, who was still forming hand seals. A look of surprise and uncertainty crossed his face. "That hand seal... it's Old Man Kosuke's jutsu!"
It was the Water Dragon Bullet Technique, which could be formed with just three hand seals. Tobirama's seals weren't fast, but they were solid and steady. He didn't need complicated movements to release an incredibly powerful ninjutsu.
"Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet!"
A huge water dragon condensed beside Tobirama and swooped down toward Naruto.
"Lightning Style: Thunder Roar!"
At that moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi joined his hands to form a seal. A bolt of lightning descended from the sky, causing the water dragon's body to crackle with electric sparks. The master and student pair of Hokage could even perform a combination ninjutsu.
The never-before-seen lightning water dragon rushed down and crashed into the golden chakra tail. The sheer force of the impact made it impossible for Naruto to stand his ground, and he was forced to retreat continuously.
What no one expected was that under Tobirama's control, the lightning water dragon suddenly swooped down, bypassing the tail and trying to swallow Naruto whole. For a Hokage, he was playing some fancy tricks with Water Style ninjutsu. Who knew what he was thinking...
"Sealing Jutsu: Devour!"
Naruto finally lost his patience. He raised his palm and pressed it onto the head of the lightning water dragon. His absorption ability burst out at full force, draining the chakra from the ninjutsu. But unexpectedly, Hashirama suddenly appeared beside him, bent down, and kicked Naruto, knocking him off the roof.
"Spiral Shockwave!"
Naruto swung his hand, unleashing the shockwave and using its force to launch himself back into the air. Then, using his chakra cloak, he formed a claw that grabbed onto a corner of the roof, pulling his body back to stand before the three Hokage again.
"Water Style: Water Severing Wave!"
Tobirama's relentless attacks came again. A thin stream of water shot from his mouth, acting like a blade that actually cut through the defense of Naruto's chakra cloak. Naruto didn't dare try to absorb it. A spiral shield appeared in front of him, blocking the attack.
Naruto looked up. Hiruzen was forming hand seals again, and Tobirama was rushing forward, which made his brow twitch. The attacks from this master and student pair were endless.
What was more troublesome was that Hashirama wasn't stopping either. Vines shot out from under Naruto's feet, binding him tightly. This time, Hashirama and Hiruzen were using their ninjutsu for support while Tobirama launched the main attack. The coordination between the three Hokage wasn't perfect, but they were all skilled in many powerful ninjutsu, and their strength was immense. Any one of them could be the main attacker, and any one of them could provide cover from the rear.
Standing at the highest point, Orochimaru watched Naruto with great interest. Seeing him miserably fend off the attacks, he couldn't help but chuckle. "The Reanimated don't need to worry about chakra consumption... Naruto, how long can you last?"
"At least long enough for you to die here," Naruto replied casually. A Rasenshuriken formed in his hand, breaking the vine restraints and finally freeing him.
But what greeted him was Hiruzen's Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique. A dense barrage of shuriken shot out, all of which were knocked away by Naruto's Spiral Shockwave.
However, Tobirama came sliding down from above, swinging his sword. Naruto hastily used his chakra cloak to form a giant claw, which pulled him away from his spot, barely avoiding the attack. Unexpectedly, the Second Hokage's attacks were relentless. Using a wooden bridge created by the First Hokage's vines, he charged toward Naruto again.
"I have to break their coordination and also go support Kakashi-sensei..." Naruto brought his fingers together in front of his chest, gritted his teeth, and shouted, "Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Four shadow clones appeared out of thin air. One went down to support Kakashi, one attacked Orochimaru, and the remaining two went to engage Hashirama and Hiruzen.
"Naruto, don't use that ninjutsu..." the Nine-Tails warned from within the seal space, but he was too late. He could only watch as Naruto performed the jutsu and sigh helplessly.
The Second Hokage, who was in the middle of his charge, saw Naruto's clones and immediately released the same ninjutsu. "Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Four of Tobirama's shadow clones appeared, swinging their swords to block Naruto's.
"Don't just randomly use the Shadow Clone Jutsu..." the Nine-Tails' expression soured. "The enemies you're facing are Reanimations. They can all use this jutsu, but their chakra is infinite, while ours is limited. Once you get caught in a battle of shadow clones, it becomes a battle of chakra consumption. Even with all our chakra, we can't afford to waste it like this!"
At least, before gaining an advantage, he couldn't just use shadow clones.
Naruto watched as the four pairs of clones fought. In the end, one of his clones relied on a single Big Ball Rasengan to cleanly destroy the other seven clones and survive.
However, a vine shot out, ending the life of the clone that had just achieved seven kills.
Hashirama stood with his hands together as five wood clones split off from his body and flew up to surround Naruto. Beside Hiruzen, four shadow clones also appeared, facing Naruto and forming different hand seals.
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Bonus:
Tobirama: You know, all the jutsus you're using are copyrighted.
Naruto: Didn't I develop them myself?
Tobirama: The copyright for Shadow Clone is mine! The copyright for Multi-Shadow Clone is also mine!
Naruto: You registered it first?
Tobirama: I developed it!
Naruto: But you're not good at it!
Tobirama: Not being good at it doesn't mean I didn't develop it!
Naruto: I suspect you're a time traveler from the future who copied the Shadow Clone developed by people in the future and claimed you developed it yourself...
Tobirama: ...Who's the time traveler here, huh? You think I don't understand Space-Time Ninjutsu?