Chapter 9

(A/N: Thanks for 100 collections and 30,000 views despite my unpredictable releases!)

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The fight was going strong between Hiruzen and Orochimaru, Master and Student but Hiruzen was on the back foot. Orochimaru had reanimated the dead to fight for him. Not only that, but those reanimated were the previous Hokage which happened to be Hiruzen's Master, the Second Hokage, and the God of Shinobi, the First Hokage.

Thankfully, however, the technique for achieving this made them return not at their prime. Still, Hiruzen's adversaries were strong. The two reanimations seemed to be indestructible. Even not at their full strength, they were strong. Things continued to escalate until Hiruzen decided to put everything on the line to not only take out Orochimaru but also the reanimated Kages.

He crossed two fingers of each hand over each other to symbolize a plus sign,

'Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!' (Shadow Clone Technique!)

Two clones of him appeared next to him. And now he began his final technique,

Snake → Boar → Sheep → Rabbit → Dog → Rat → Bird → Horse → Snake

Then ended with clapping his hands together.

'Shiki Fūjin!' (Sealing Jutsu: Reaper Death Seal!)

Behind Hiruzen, a purple being in white floated above him. No one but him could see this figure who now had his soul in its clutches. This was a technique Orochimaru did not know of. Realizing this, Orochimaru had the First Hokage cast a Genjutsu over Hiruzen.

'Kokuangyo no Jutsu!' (Genjutsu: Infinite Darkness Technique!)

Pure darkness suddenly surrounded Hiruzen. Because of the technique he was currently using, he was unable to do anything about dispelling it. He had to endure the wounds that began to appear from seemingly every direction while he sent out his clones in an attempt to grab the reanimations. Thankfully, they were able to get a grip.

The darkness lifted and he saw that he had indeed grabbed correctly. Both the First and Second Hokages were now within his grasp.

"I summon thee!"

The God of Death thrust its hand into Hiruzuns soul, using it as a conduit to grasp at the two reanimate souls, pulling them out of their shells.

"Seal!"

Both the souls were ripped away and sealed within the two clones which then dissipated once the sealing was complete. Two-thirds of Hiruzen's soul was now gone, and it was painful, but he needed to use the last third to get rid of Orochimaru.

"Come, Enma!"

The staff flew over to him. With blood leaking out of his mouth, he looked at Orochimaru, his student. Before he had trouble stopping his student from descending into darkness but now he had the resolve to end this. 

A snake suddenly spouted from Orochimaru's mouth which it then opened its mouth to reveal the grip of a sword slowly being pushed out. He grabbed and pulled the full object out. He had 'unsheathed' the legendary Kusanagi Blade. Both parties ran towards each other clashing sword versus staff. Surprisingly, the sword was able to damage the supposed indestructible staff of Enma, The Monkey King.

The clash ended with the blade torn from Orochimaru's grip and Hiruzen thrusting the staff forward. It partially transformed in an attempt to grab Orochimaru who, suddenly seeing this, quickly thrust his hand forward to use a technique to stop the approaching staff.

'Sen'ei Jashu!' (Striking Shadow Snakes!)

A small swarm of snakes flew out of Orochimaru's sleeves, wrapping themselves around the staff, stopping its momentum and binding it. Hiruzen, however, abandoned his staff to come forward and successfully grasped Orochimaru's being, which had been the goal. He once again had The God of Death reach forward through his soul to grasp at Orochimaru.

Orochimaru instantly felt paralyzed. He could not perform any techniques or even simply move away. Something felt off. Something inside of him felt as if it was being pulled away, and that's when he saw it. Behind his teacher, he could suddenly see a terrifying being that was reaching into him, slowly ripping something out of him.

This was bad, so he did the only thing he could think of and controlled the Kusanagi Blade which had landed behind Hiruzen to fly forward in a last-ditch effort to kill Hiruzen or at least get him to move away before whatever was happening continued.

Yet Hiruzen had let the blade stab through him and Enma, who was still bound by the previous snakes, transformed into his real form to grasp the blade as it passed to prevent it from causing maximum harm.

"Why…didn't you evade?" Orochimaru asked.

"This Jutsu…you see…the caster must hand over their soul to the God of Death for this Jutsu to work. It's a sealing Jutsu that requires the complete sacrifice of one's life to take the others."

Orochimaru began to feel afraid, especially when that being appeared behind Hiruzen in his eyes. Sweat beginning to form, he saw the God of Death cut off and eat the souls of the previous Kage and two-thirds of Hiruzen's soul. His soul was the only thing he needed to continue to be Immortal. This technique might actually succeed in killing him.

But then he calmed down, remembering the contingency he had in place, causing his ugly expression to turn calm, and a smirk began to bloom to Hiruzen's confusion.

"This technique is truly terrifying but seems to not be unbeatable. Yuro-kun, if you would."

Suddenly, the Kusanagi Blade was drawn out of Hiruzen's back to Hiruzen and Emma's shock. Both turned to notice a child holding onto the hilt of the blade. But his appearance was not the only thing that surprised them. It was that the child's eyes held the Sharingan, both with three-tomoe.

Yet where had this child come from? The barrier was still in place. Could it be that this child was present during the whole battle? But how did they not notice? Unless?

"Genjutsu?" But when?

"Do you like it, sensei?" Orochimaru spoke, a smile now plainly visible. "A Genjutsu made specifically for those who possess the Sharingan? When you look into those eyes, you forget about his presence entirely. I'm glad it ended up working so well, but Yuro-kun, kill him."

With that, Yuro stepped forward without any visible expression and the Kusanagi Blade in hand. Enma tried to break free of the snakes that still bound him to put a stop to this but to no avail.

Placing the blade to the left side of Hiruzen's back, Yuro thrusted the blade forward, making sure to put it down to the hilt so even the tip managed to stab part-way through Orochimaru as well. He also twisted the blade just because he could as well.

He knew it wouldn't kill Orochimaru, but he took the opportunity anyway. Even if he faced punishment later, he would still find this act of pettiness worth it.

Hiruzen on the other hand, felt the blade pass slowly through him at what felt like a snail's pace. It felt as if everything was moving slowly. He had lost. The fight in which he sacrificed everything was now ending without him even partially achieving his goal which was to end Orochimaru, his corrupted studded once and for all.

And then he began to think about the village. He was leaving it in such a state, not only damaged but without a leader. If only he had stopped Orochimaru sooner, so many things would have gone differently.

The sword was pulled out and he collapsed onto the ground, everything starting to go dark. Oh, how he regretted so many of his decisions. But now, it was too late to rectify any of them.

'I am so very sorry, everyone.' Was the last thought he had before succumbing to death. The God of Death then ate the rest of Hiruzen's soul to join the First, Second, and Fourth Hokage within its belly.

Enma, seeing this all unfold, unable to do anything, was left extremely saddened. Death during battle was the finest way to go for a shinobi, yet this wasn't the end he wanted for his friend. 

He dispelled his summoning, leaving the battlefield with a heavy heart.

'Goodbye, old friend.'