Chapter 83: Visions of the Past, Present, and Future...

As Hinata entered the arena and waited for her opponent to join her, someone entirely different made their way onto the battlefield, Gaara. Hayate immediately told the boy he needed to leave, but Gaara ignored him, forming a seal with his hands as he whispered, "Try to focus on the village, not its people..." before slumping over.

Though Hayate moved to neutralize and detain Gaara, he was much too slow. The moment Gaara slumped over, the ground beneath him erupted into the same sand-colored, flesh-like substance that had materialized during his fight with Lee. At the same time, a massive cloud of dust filled nearly the entirety of the stadium, temporarily blinding the crowd as a peal of eerie, high-pitched laughter echoed through the area, its volume so great the very air shook.

As the dust cleared, dispersed by the shockwaves emanating from within, an enormous, tanuki-like creature with sand-colored flesh, blue markings, and a single massive tail appeared in the center of the arena. It was easily 20m tall and nearly as many broad, its belly protruding like a sphere as its multi-segmented tail, resembling a collection of scales, swished behind it.

Following the appearance of the monstrous creature, whom several had already identified as the One-Tailed Demon Tanuki, Shukaku, a variety of snake-like summons popped up throughout the village. None exuded the same pressure as Shukaku, but there were three and five-headed snakes that exceeded 50m in length, their multiple heads thrashing about as they attempted to rampage throughout Konoha. Attempted being the operative word.

Before the snakes could cause any substantial damage, a series of red and gold staves erupted from their heads like spikes, immediately killing them. At the same time, the original Wu appeared in front of Shukaku, a massive grin on his face as he remarked, "Damn, you're fat..."

"Huuuuuuuuuh!?"

Noticing the 'bug' hovering in front of him, Shukaku attempted to swat Wu out of the air with its massive, 5m wide paw. The wind pressure produced by the casual movement generated an inverse force strong enough to tear people from the crowd like a vacuum. Wu, however, just stood his ground in the air, smiling as he raised his hand with the apparent intent to halt the much larger appendage.

While he was nowhere near the level of a Tailed Beast in terms of physical might or power, Wu's comparably small size and inordinate resilience gave him a unique advantage. Just as a sharp needle or the tip of a spear could easily pierce through someone's body, Shukaku's hand swept through the area where Wu was 'standing,' a hole forming clean through it.

Though he could reconstitute his body even if he sustained catastrophic damage, Shukaku was not impervious to pain. Having a hole created in his hand caused the giant Tanuki to scream bloody murder, his voice so high and grating that many within the crowd immediately began bleeding from their ears.

"Yeah, you need to shut up..."

Rising higher into the air, Wu pulled out his staff, expanding it to a mere 50m before bonking the oversized Tanuki on the head. The only served to enrage Shukaku further, but Wu didn't allow him to scream. Following the initial bonk, several of his clones appeared in the surroundings, encircling the enraged creature. Then, with almost machine-like precision, they took turns smacking Shukaku over and over, gradually deforming its body while the people in the crowd watched on with stupefaction and awe...

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Seeing how easily Shukaku was being suppressed, Orochimaru's mouth was slightly agape. The moment Gaara appeared, he forcefully dragged Hiruzen onto the roof, holding a kunai to his former mentor's neck while Tayuya and the rest of the Sound Four produced a purple barrier capable of setting anything that touched it aflame. His original intent was to have Hiruzen bear witness to the destruction of Konoha for a while, but all of the summons his subordinates had combined their Chakra to create had been eliminated in an instant...

Interrupting Orochimaru from his stupor, Hiruzen exhaled a chuckle and asked, "Are things not going as you anticipated? Don't worry, if you live past today, you'll eventually get used to Wu-kun's way of doing things..."

Though he had a kunai to his neck, Hiruzen knew Orochimaru wouldn't attempt to kill him outright. His former student wasn't the type of person to hold a grudge, and the changes he wanted to bring about required a bit of 'showmanship.' He needed people to witness his power and the control he had over the situation if he wanted to send a proper message. Cutting an old man's throat and then fleeing wouldn't exactly inspire fear in those who would oppose him.

"Hokage-sama...!"

As the audience he required began to arrive, one nearly making the fatal mistake of contacting the barrier, the still-disguised Orochimaru snorted through his nose and said, "No matter...if Senju Wu intends to oppose me, I will eliminate him. My ideals will not be crushed just because some brat has more power than sense..."

After stabbing the palm of his hand, Orochimaru released Hiruzen from his grasp, kicking the old man away as he added, "Let me give you a vision of the future, starting with the past..."

Punctuating his words, Orochimaru slammed his bleeding hand against the clay tiles of the roof, shouting, "Edo Tensei...!" for effect. The moment he did so, four coffins began to emerge from a malicious-looking purple vortex. The first three had the Kanji for 1, 2, and 3 on them, while the final coffin had a swirling pattern, the symbol for Uzu.

Realizing what Orochimaru was attempting, Hiruzen ran toward him and began to form seals as quickly as possible, throwing a trio of shuriken just as he finished. The moment they left his hand, the three turned into nine, twenty-seven, eighty-one, and then two-hundred-and-forty-three before embedding themselves in the coffins.

Snorting a second time, Orochimaru remarked, "Foolish old man...did you truly believe a bunch of shuriken could hinder the Reanimation Jutsu...?"

Despite his words, Orochimaru was slightly confused as the coffin bearing the Kanji for four dipped back into the purple vortex. Fortunately, he really only needed the first two to complete his plan. The remaining casket was just a form of...insurance.

Undaunted by Orochimaru's words, Hiruzen strung together more than a dozen seals before inhaling a breath so deep his chest appeared to inflate to more than double its size. When he exhaled, a massive plume of ashen gunpowder enveloped both the caskets and Orochimaru before Hiruzen formed one final seal, causing a controlled explosion, the temperature of which exceeded 1500 degrees.

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Not expecting such 'fight' from an old man pushing seventy, Orochimaru was caught off guard by Hiruzen's Fire Release: Ash Pile Burning. It was far from enough to kill him, but he emerged from the explosion with his Kazekage disguise missing, singed hair, multiple burn marks, and an ugly expression on his face as he said, "You shouldn't be this strong..."

Since Orochimaru had 'dropped' his disguise, Hiruzen gave him the same courtesy, ripping away his Hokage robes and hat to reveal his body armor and a much younger countenance. He had been 69 before consuming the 20-year peach, so with Orochimaru pushing 52, Hiruzen was 'technically' the younger of the two.

Understanding the implications of Hiruzen's appearance, Orochimaru growled, "Senju Wu..." with a hateful expression on his face. He wasn't the type to hold grudges, but that was very likely to change if he managed to survive this encounter...

Fortunately for Orochimaru, not so much for Hirzen, the coffins and their occupants were undamaged by the attack. When their heavy lids crashed to the now-devastated roof, two middle-aged men and a relatively young-looking woman stepped out. The first two had similar facial features but differing hair and eye colors. One had dark brown hair tied into a loose ponytail, dark, practically black eyes, and antiquated red armor over a dark blue jumpsuit. The second had similar armor, but it was dyed a deep shade of blue, complimenting his silvery-white hair and peculiar red eyes. Both wore forehead protectors denoting their affiliation to Konoha, but the silver-haired man's framed his face, and thick white fur popped from his collar.

While Hiruzen felt nostalgic seeing the first two figures, recognizable to everyone present as the First and Second Hokages, he was mortified to see the final figure. She was very easy on the eyes, possessing delicate features, scarlet hair, a mature figure, and gentle blue irises. The problem was her identity...

Looking around in confusion, the scarlet-haired woman remarked, "Huh? Is this Konoha? How am I back-"

Noticing the two men standing next to her, the woman startled quite a bit, shouting, "Holy crap, it's the First and Second Hokage! I'm starting to get a real bad feeling about this, dattebane...!"

Adopting a wry smile, the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, replied, "You must be one of Mito's descendants." while his brother, Senju Tobirama, looked behind them, narrowing his eyes as he added, "It would appear we've been summoned using the Edo Tensei...how utterly distasteful..."

Snorting through his nose, Orochimaru remarked, "I don't need a lecture from someone who sent children to the battlefield when he had a Jutsu capable of creating immortal soldiers that could have deterred all wars."

Without waiting for Tobirama to respond, Orochimaru pulled out kunai with red talismans attached to them, burying them into the backs of the two Senju's heads. As for the red-haired woman, her body moved against its will to intercept Hiruzen, her eyes widening until they were as round as saucers as she shouted, "Lord Third!? What's going on here!? Why do you look so young...!?"

Dodging the woman's devastating punch, Hiruzen's face morphed into a pained, apologetic expression as he replied, "Kushina-san...I'm so sorry you have to go through something like this. Orochimaru has betrayed the village and resurrected you using a Forbidden Jutsu, the Edo Tensei. I'm certain Minato must have told you about it..."

With her body continuing to move against her will, Kushina's left eye twitched as she shouted, "O-ro-chi-ma-ru...! I swear, once I break free from this Jutsu, I'm going to tan your hide until it swells to the size of a watermelon...!"

Undaunted by the woman's words, Orochimaru controlled her to return to his side, asking, "Are you able to sense Natural Energy...?" with narrowed eyes. Kushina nodded against her will, but her expression and tone were defiant as she replied, "Piss off, you snake bastard...!"

Since he still had uses for the uproarious redhead, Orochimaru permitted her to keep her consciousness intact. He 'had' to rob the consciousness of the other two as Tobirama had developed both the Edo Tensei and the means to break free from its control. If he had shared the knowledge with Hashirama and the two of them managed to break free, there was no way he could defeat both them and a revitalized Hiruzen.

Giving Kushina the mental command to attack any prominent sources of Natural Energy, Orochimaru's eyes widened when she suddenly launched a punch at his face. The attack was so unexpected that he couldn't even process what had happened until after his body crashed against his own barrier, caught fire, and slumped to the roof in a blaze.

As Orochimaru had yet to revoke his command, Kushina laughed like a demon as she leaped toward his flaming body and stomped on him with enough force to collapse the roof. The barrier formed by the Sound Four prevented the building from collapsing, but that worked in Kushina's favor as the box-shaped barrier created a platform to support the debris. When Orochimaru's body crashed into it, she dropped down on top of him and began nailing him with punches that caused the entire building to tremble until the clone created by Wu finally dispersed.

Without a 'proper' target to continue hammering, Kushina groaned, "Aw, man..." before dismounting the severely beaten Sannin. Most of the bones in Orochimaru's face and body seemed to have been pulverized, but that didn't prevent his chest and throat from swelling, his mouth stretching to impossible limits as an identical copy of Orochimaru surged outward, his body covered in a sticky, putrid substance.

Staring down at the appalling sight, a look of absolute disgust adorned Kushina's face as she questioned, "How did someone once respected by everyone in the village become this...thing? The Second was wrong. You aren't distasteful, Orochi-san...you're utterly reprehensible..."

Pushing himself to his feet, Orochimaru glared at Kushina with a furious look on his face. Not because of what she had said, but because Wu, or, more likely, one of his clones, had been sitting on his head without him realizing it. Orochimaru despised being treated like a fool, so, for only the third time in his life, he hated someone with every fiber of his being...

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(A/N: That's a mega oof moment...)

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