"Hakumen, what's wrong?"
Kakashi looked at the person beside him.
Hakumen was holding a glowing white magatama necklace, his gaze tightly fixed on a villager in front of them.
"Thank goodness! You're here to save me," the villager said with joy all over his face.
However, in the next moment, Hakumen abruptly drew the short sword from his back, raising it high and bringing it down swiftly.
The villager was instantly beheaded on the spot.
"Hakumen, you..." Kakashi was utterly shocked.
Yet the beheaded villager did not bleed; instead, his body transformed into a pale-skinned creature.
"This is..." Kakashi's eyes widened.
He recalled having seen such a thing in Orochimaru's laboratory.
He hadn't expected it to be capable of transforming into the appearance of a villager.
Hakumen took out a scroll, performed a series of seals, and sealed the corpse away.
"Let's go."
After finishing, he spoke to Kakashi.
Meanwhile, under the Hokage Rock, the shelter was already crowded, with ninja maintaining order inside.
At the shelter's entrance, several members of the Anbu suddenly appeared.
The person in charge immediately stepped forward to greet them.
The Anbu usually carried out special tasks assigned by the Hokage, so the staff naturally did their best to cooperate.
"There are some escaped prisoners from the jail disguised among the villagers. We need to identify and remove them."
After a brief discussion with the person in charge, the Anbu entered the shelter and began patrolling among the villagers.
It didn't take long before they identified a few individuals and led them away.
After being taken to an isolated area, these individuals were immediately executed by the Anbu.
Without exception, all were revealed to be White Zetsu clones.
When the Anbu returned again and identified another villager to take away, this time, the person fiercely resisted, shouting for help and claiming that the Anbu were trying to kill him.
Clearly, it had already sensed the deaths of its companions and, knowing it was no match for these Anbu, could only try to protect itself.
The surrounding villagers whispered among themselves but dared not step forward — after all, it was the Anbu handling the matter.
The "villager" was forcibly taken away.
Shortly afterward, the person in charge of the shelter explained that those taken earlier had been prisoners disguised as villagers.
The crowd erupted in astonishment, followed by unanimous praise for the Anbu and the Hokage.
These Anbu were all members of the Hyuga clan.
They had received genuine orders to locate and eliminate all White Zetsu hidden within the village.
The method for identifying White Zetsu had also been provided by Makoto.
.......
"The Third Hokage is nothing special!"
A wildly arrogant voice echoed above Konoha as a figure, glowing blue like lightning, streaked across the sky.
His destructive power was immense, leaving a trail of collapsed buildings wherever he passed.
He fought with reckless abandon, every move made with a desperate ferocity.
Sarutobi Hiruzen, locked in combat with him, was visibly constrained.
After all, they were fighting in the middle of Konoha.
Hiruzen tried to lure the Raikage to an open area, but the Raikage refused to fall for it.
As a result, Hiruzen found himself on the defensive, suppressed by the Raikage's onslaught.
Many Konoha ninja attempted to assist, but they were mostly unable to intervene in a battle of this level.
The Raikage was simply too fast — faster than their eyes could track, faster than their shuriken and jutsu could follow.
Facing him directly, they couldn't last even a single exchange.
Hiruzen had no choice but to order the ninja to stand down and stay away from the battlefield, taking on the Raikage alone.
However, the Raikage's goal now was to cause as much damage to Konoha as possible.
It wasn't just about destroying buildings — every Konoha ninja within his line of sight became a target for his attacks.
Although he'd been imprisoned in Konoha's dungeon for a long time, his strength had not diminished much.
Hiruzen struggled to keep up with his speed.
An enemy so cunning and elusive seemed like the kind only Minato could catch.
But Minato was...
Hiruzen shouted in a low voice, "Raikage! Have you forgotten that we still have a group of your Kumogakure prisoners?"
During the previous war, Konoha had captured a group of Kumo ninja who were not imprisoned in the Konoha jail.
Therefore, they hadn't been released during this prison riot.
The Raikage remained completely unfazed by the threat. "Don't underestimate anyone from Kumogakure. We have no cowards who cling to life!"
To him, prisoners were merely bargaining chips for the enemy — death was the best liberation.
The two figures dashed across rooftops, relentlessly pursuing one another.
The Raikage fought while constantly moving, never allowing himself to be drawn into a prolonged confrontation.
Although he held the upper hand, he knew killing a Hokage was no easy feat, especially one as renowned as the Third Hokage.
His sole objective now was slaughter — to kill as many Konoha ninja as possible.
A squad of ninja attempted to trap him using sealing techniques.
However, they underestimated his speed.
Before they could even complete their hand signs, the Raikage had already closed the distance.
Boom!
A heavy punch sent one of them flying, crashing into and demolishing an entire house.
"Stay away! Don't come near here!"
Hiruzen shouted urgently.
But there were still ninja below, working to evacuate civilians.
"Damn it..." Hiruzen cursed under his breath, forced to go all out in pursuit.
......
Orochimaru's laboratory.
The last time Minato visited, this place was a forbidden area under the watch of the Anbu.
No one was allowed to enter without the Hokage's order.
But this time, when he arrived, the area was deserted.
The door was wide open without anyone guarding it, and there were no signs of Anbu anywhere, which was highly unusual.
Minato searched every corner of the village but could not find any trace of Kushina.
Aside from here, this was the only place where Inoichi's senses could not reach.
It was possible that Orochimaru was still inside, especially since the only person fighting the Raikage in the distance was the Third Hokage himself.
Minato didn't hesitate.
Just as he was about to enter and investigate, someone suddenly walked out of the door.
He paused for a moment, then exclaimed in surprise, "Kushina!"
Kushina didn't expect to see Minato at the door either and was equally shocked and happy.
"Minato! You're okay!"
The two ran toward each other and hugged tightly.
"I'm so glad you're okay, I'm so glad…" Kushina said repeatedly, her eyes red.
She had honestly feared that Minato might have fallen victim to Orochimaru's hands.
"I'm fine, I've come to rescue you," Minato reassured her.
He noticed that Kushina looked a bit disheveled, her hair was loose, and her clothes were slightly disarranged.
But considering she had been captured by Orochimaru, possibly subjected to some kind of torture, Minato's heart ached, and he felt even more guilty.
"Kushina, are you alright? Did Orochimaru do anything to you?" Minato asked softly.
He noticed that Kushina stiffened in his arms.
They pulled apart, but her gaze began to avoid his, and she appeared anxious and uneasy.
"I... I'm fine…" Kushina grabbed her arm and lowered her head.
"Orochimaru didn't do anything to me."
But Minato's sharp eyes noticed the red marks on her neck.
"What happened to your neck?"
Kushina immediately panicked and quickly raised her hand to cover it.
"Ah... nothing... it's fine..."
Her attempt to cover up only made Minato's heart sink.
He thought that perhaps Kushina had been threatened by Orochimaru.
"Kushina, tell me the truth. I'll protect you!"
He reached out to move her hand away from her neck, but noticed that her arm was trembling.
Her voice quivered, and her eyes glistened with tears. "Minato, don't... don't look..."
Minato's arm froze in mid-air, then retracted silently as he clenched his fist.
"I'm sorry, Kushina. It's my fault. I didn't protect you."
Kushina shook her head silently, then suddenly grabbed Minato's hand.
"Minato, let's leave. Orochimaru wants to kill you. Let's get out of here, leave Konoha! Let's go somewhere no one can find us!"
Minato, however, turned and firmly held her hand. "Kushina, you don't need to be afraid. I won't let anyone hurt you again."
But there was a hint of despair in Kushina's eyes, and she pleaded through her tears. "Minato, please take me away. I don't want to stay here anymore."
Minato fell silent, and without a word, he pulled Kushina into his embrace once more.
"I'm sorry… we can't leave."
He still carried the expectations of many people, the weight of responsibility was too great for him to abandon everything.
Minato, while comforting the crying Kushina in his arms, turned his head and noticed the red marks on her neck.
These didn't seem like scars from torture, and Minato hadn't heard of any such form of punishment.
He suddenly recalled when he was a child, going on a mission with Jiraiya-sensei.
Jiraiya had gone to a red-light district to gather information, and when he returned, he had similar red marks on his neck.
As Minato grew older, he learned that those marks were called hickeys, the result of someone deliberately sucking on the skin.
His mind went blank in an instant.
Why did Kushina resist him looking earlier…?
Could it be that Kushina had been...?
No, that couldn't be possible! Orochimaru shouldn't be like that!
Minato felt his thoughts faltering as an unprecedented anger built up inside him.
"Kushina…" He wanted to ask her what had happened, but swallowed his words.
He feared that asking would only cause her more distress.
Minato could only silently hold Kushina tighter.
He calmly asked, "Kushina, is Orochimaru inside?"
"No, he's not."
"Then how did you escape?"
"I… I managed to escape on my own while Orochimaru wasn't around."
Minato didn't speak further.
He could sense that Kushina had been sealed, and the seal had not yet been broken.
His gaze darkened as he stared intently at the direction of the research facility beyond the door.
Orochimaru...
"Kushina, let's leave quickly."
Minato took a deep breath, released Kushina, and gave her a reassuring smile.
"Let's go. I'll take you to a safe place first."
--------------
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