In the end, Danzo was killed.
Minato was sealing away large amounts of Root's documents, preparing to go through them later to see just how many terrible things Root had done.
Meanwhile, Orochimaru was collecting the Sharingan from Danzo's body.
This time, when Danzo tried to activate the Reverse Four Symbols Seal, Kushina's Adamantine Sealing Chains had locked down all his chakra, leaving his Sharingan completely intact.
Curious, Yang Tao walked over to watch Orochimaru work.
He saw Orochimaru casually pluck out a Sharingan with his fingers and place it into a prepared container.
"Whoa! That easy? You can just pop them out like that? And they work like plug-and-play?!"
Seeing how practiced Orochimaru was at this, Yang Tao couldn't help but wonder just how many times he'd done it before.
Once everything was wrapped up, the group gathered around Yang Tao.
Yang Tao gave them their next instructions: "Orochimaru, you go back and continue attacking Konohagakure. Minato and Kushina, you two will stop him when the time comes. Got it?"
Minato and the others nodded in understanding and headed toward the Chunin Exam arena.
At the same time, the Third Hokage and Jiraiya were preparing to seal the reanimated First, Second Hokage, and the Kazekage.
Just then, Orochimaru walked in from outside.
Seeing him enter, Jiraiya and the Third Hokage immediately tensed up.
Before Jiraiya could say anything, a three-pronged kunai flew through the opening Orochimaru had just stepped through.
Jiraiya froze when he saw the familiar kunai on the ground.
A hand reached down and picked it up.
Jiraiya looked up, and there he was—the man he knew so well.
Namikaze Minato.
He stood there with his usual warm smile, golden hair flowing, his white Hokage cloak billowing in the wind.
From a distance, Yang Tao watched the scene unfold, thinking to himself how incredibly cool the Fourth Hokage was.
At that moment, he appeared inside the Four Flames Formation, holding Kuohina in his arms.
"Long time no see, Jiraiya-sensei!"
Jiraiya stood there, staring at Minato in disbelief.
"Minato… is that really you? How are you alive?"
Minato smiled and explained, "Naruto met someone powerful and asked them to bring us back to life."
Jiraiya knew Naruto well. After all, the reason he had been called back to Konoha by the Third Hokage was to train Naruto.
He had even taken Naruto as his student and taught him the Summoning Jutsu of Mount Myoboku.
Jiraiya beamed with joy.
"It doesn't matter, as long as you're back. That's all that matters!"
Meanwhile, the Third Hokage was holding off three enemies on his own, so he had no time to talk.
Minato saw the situation and said, "Jiraiya-sensei, now isn't the time to catch up. Let's seal the First Hokage and the others first!"
Then he turned to Kushina.
"You're amazing, honey!"
Kushina nodded, and golden chains shot out from her body, wrapping around the First Hokage. With Orochimaru's help, Hashirama was quickly bound tightly like a cocoon.
At that moment, Orochimaru was exchanging blows with Minato.
"Oh! The legendary Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, has come back to life! Interesting. Let's see if you're still as strong as before!"
Giant snakes slithered across the battlefield, surging toward Minato like a tidal wave.
Minato moved swiftly, using the Flying Thunder God Technique over and over again.
"Orochimaru-sama, surrender now. You're not getting away!"
He teleported right next to Orochimaru, Rasengan in hand, and slammed it into him, sending him flying.
Orochimaru wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. His cold gaze sent chills down the spines of those around him.
"Minato, I have to admit… you're stronger than ever."
So many powerful Hokage!
Meanwhile, with Kushina's help, the First Hokage, Second Hokage, and Fourth Kazekage were all quickly sealed away.
The group surrounded Orochimaru.
The Third Hokage continued trying to reason with him.
"Orochimaru, surrender!"
But Orochimaru simply smirked and vanished without a trace.
Gone? When did that happen?
Even Minato looked surprised as he stared at the empty space where Orochimaru had been.
At that moment, the barrier around them disappeared as well, and the Sound Village ninja began retreating.
Sarutobi Hiruzen turned to Minato, his voice filled with emotion.
"Minato… you're really back. I can't believe it!"
Minato gave him a respectful nod.
"Third Hokage, let's deal with the Sand ninja outside first. We can talk about my situation later."
With Minato and Kushina joining the fight, the battle was quickly brought under control.
Every ninja who saw the two of them was in complete shock—except for Kakashi.
Naruto had already introduced him to Minato and Kushina, and he had chosen to believe in his former teacher.
The other ninjas started whispering among themselves.
"Is that really the Fourth Hokage?"
"But didn't he sacrifice himself?"
"That's the Flying Thunder God Technique! It has to be him!"
"And that's his wife!"
Before long, a crowd of ninja rushed toward Minato.
Back in the day, Minato was incredibly popular, and most of Konoha's elite jonin had been his supporters.
Everyone gathered around, bombarding him with questions.
Minato simply raised his hand.
"Focus on defeating the enemy first. We'll talk after the war is over!"
With their morale high, the Konoha ninja spread out in search of enemies.
Under Minato's leadership, the Sand ninja quickly collapsed.
---
Read 10 advanced chapters on my patreon
patreon.com/GustinaKamiya
---