Just as Orochimaru opened his mouth, fangs bared, ready to leave the Ten no Juin (Cursed Seal of Heaven) on Sasuke's neck—
A figure appeared behind him with no warning at all.
There was no smoke from Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique), no violent surge of chakra—he was simply there, as if he'd been standing in that spot from the very beginning.
The newcomer wore a white ceremonial cloak. On the back, the five characters for "Fourth Hokage" gleamed like gold even in the forest's gloom. Blond hair blazing, ocean-blue eyes warm, he looked calmly at the eerie scene before him.
Orochimaru froze. He didn't turn around, but that chakra—so familiar it chilled his marrow—made every cell in his body scream.
He turned his head.
When he finally saw the smiling man behind him, his sickly confidence, his hunter's poise, and his greed for genius shattered in unison. He knew, very clearly, that he wouldn't be doing anything to Sasuke today.
"Minato…?"
Orochimaru's pale face twisted with shock, golden serpent pupils constricting to pinpoints as his body recoiled on instinct, springing back dozens of meters to open the distance.
He'd expected obstacles. He'd even calculated that the Fourth, after his resurrection, rarely meddled. He hadn't expected this—Minato arriving this fast and tearing his plans off the rails.
Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura stared at the tall back that had suddenly appeared to shield them.
The suffocating terror evaporated the instant that man arrived. In each of their hearts arose the same thought: An invincible existence is here. We're safe now.
The Fourth Hokage. Naruto's father.
Minato ignored Orochimaru's shock for the moment. He turned, blue eyes passing over the three kids before settling, soft and fond, on his son.
"Nice work, Naruto. You knew to protect your teammates."
Naruto opened his mouth; his eyes reddened in an instant. A thousand tangled words jammed in his throat, and at last fused into a single sound. "Dad…"
Sasuke came out of his stupor as well. Gazing at the legendary man before him, his heart surged like a storm-tossed sea. So this is the Fourth Hokage… this is Naruto's father… this is a true powerhouse!
Minato gave the kids a steadying nod, then turned back to the far-off, rattled Orochimaru.
"Long time no see, Orochimaru-sensei." His voice was still gentle, but the authority within it didn't waver. "It seems you're quite interested in my son—and even more interested in his best friend. Before you lay a hand on them, shouldn't you ask their father first?"
The two words "their father" landed like a hammer, carrying a clear message: try it if you dare—where exactly are you getting the nerve?
Terror gave way to fury and bitter unwillingness on Orochimaru's face. He knew that if he didn't go all-out today, he wouldn't walk out of this forest.
"Enough with the intimidation, Minato! So you're resurrected—so what?! I want to see just how much power a man who shouldn't exist still has!"
His hands flashed through seals and slammed to the earth.
"Ninpō: Mandara no Jin (Ten Thousand Serpents Formation)!"
Boom!
The ground blew open. Venomous snakes of every color gushed from his sleeves and the shattered soil, surging together into a black tide. With reeking jaws wide, they poured toward Minato and Team Seven like a living flood.
Each serpent carried poison enough to paralyze a jōnin in an instant.
And yet Minato merely folded his arms and stood there. His eyes didn't even ripple.
A heartbeat before the serpents closed in, a figure burst from the brush at Minato's flank and cut straight into the swarm.
Steel flashed.
Not one stroke, but countless.
Uchiha Shisui.
He moved too fast; the naked eye could only barely track the blur of black afterimages. Each blur meant dozens of serpents severed. The keening of blades tearing air braided into a single continuous shriek.
It took a single breath.
The swarm was annihilated.
Blood and chunks of meat carpeted the ground. The youth slid his blade back into the sheath, stepped to Minato's side, and stood still as if nothing at all had happened.
Orochimaru went blank.
Uchiha Shisui? The prodigy who should have leapt to his death? Why is he here—and with Minato? The intel was wrong. Minato being back was bad enough—but Shisui… Shisui had returned as well.
His thoughts unraveled completely.
That brief distraction was all it took.
Minato vanished from where he stood.
Not good!
Orochimaru's combat instincts screamed at him to form seals, to swap with Kawarimi no Jutsu (Substitution Technique).
Too late.
The Golden Flash moved faster than nerves could fire—faster than hands could weave a single sign.
Minato appeared at Orochimaru's back, right hand cradling a rapidly spinning sphere of blue chakra that whined with a piercing hum.
Rasengan.
He didn't shout. He simply pressed the sphere into Orochimaru's back.
Thud!
A dull detonation.
Orochimaru's body bowed forward as the chakra shredded the fabric across his back. No sound escaped his throat before a crushing force hurled him through the air.
Crash! Crash! Crash!
He smashed through a dozen trees before boring into the side of a low hill; part of the slope collapsed in a roar, dust fountaining skyward.
Silence fell over the forest.
Naruto and Sasuke stood slack-jawed. Naruto had always known his father was strong, but he'd rarely seen it with his own eyes. In past battles he hadn't been there—or he'd been too young to remember clearly.
Sasuke's understanding of power overturned completely. Beyond his brother and the clan elders… there existed monsters of this caliber.
The legendary Sannin—an enemy who had just driven them to despair—couldn't even withstand a single move before the Fourth Hokage?
As the dust settled, Orochimaru crawled from the rubble, blood bubbling at his lips, bones broken in multiple places. He stared at the two figures in the distance, eyes brimming with fear.
So this is the Golden Flash.
Minato and Shisui approached him from left and right.
Minato spoke. "Orochimaru-sensei, can we talk now? Why have you come to Konoha—and about your research."
Orochimaru's body trembled. He knew he'd lost—utterly. All his plans and ambition were a joke before two men who, by rights, should have been dead.
"Bo… fū… Minato…" He forced the words out, face twisting. "You think this ends it?!"
The instant the last syllable fell, his body exploded into a thousand white snakes, scattering in every direction—into the soil, into the grass.
A voice drifted through the trees. "We… will meet again!"
Shisui shifted to give chase, but Minato raised a hand, stopping him.
The two watched the little snakes vanish. Both of them smiled.
A young voice sounded inside Minato's mind. "Father, Orochimaru escaped."
It was Shinju.
Minato answered silently, "Mm. According to your script, he escapes."
At the top floor of the Namikaze residence, Shinju watched the forest through a mirror of water, lifted his cup, and sipped tea.
"It's fine. All according to plan. He's already scared witless—he'll carry the message for us."
Shinju's lips curled.
"Next, we just have to finish the play."
(End of Chapter)
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