togophonebook #123 - Sarutobi Hiruzen panics! Rofu flips the table!
#123 - Sarutobi Hiruzen panics! Rofu flips the table!
In the village, almost all the ninjas who had close relationships with Orochimaru were investigated and arrested by the Anbu directly under the Hokage.
While decisively cutting off Orochimaru's wings, Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't hesitate to personally take action, wanting to gain the impression of being righteous and self-sacrificing in the villagers' hearts.
Since the Fourth Hokage's sacrifice, Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had returned to the Hokage position, had been tirelessly trying to wash away the stains on his reputation.
After all, the essence of his departure from the Hokage position was entirely due to his numerous incorrect decisions during the previous Great Ninja War, which brought huge losses to the village.
You must know that in the ninja world, except in cases of being appointed in times of crisis, no ninja village would choose to replace their village's Kage during a war.
But Konoha broke this convention.
From this point, it is not difficult to see that Hiruzen Sarutobi's prestige had fallen to an unprecedented low during this Great Ninja War.
Even with the emergence of geniuses like Minato Namikaze and Luo Fu, Hiruzen Sarutobi still had to choose to abdicate and give way to the capable, which is enough to make people realize how unbearable his performance was during the Third Great Ninja War.
It was only because the village's strength was too damaged before, with the Third Great Ninja War followed by the Nine-Tailed Fox attack, that all the villagers had a strong desire to end the war.
Hiruzen Sarutobi led the signing of the peace treaty with the Hidden Cloud Village, which allowed him to gradually re-consolidate his throne.
Orochimaru's return was too ill-timed; his prestige and talent made Hiruzen Sarutobi unable to tolerate the existence of this disciple.
The Anbu ninjas' sudden actions caught those ninjas who had good relationships with Orochimaru completely off guard.
They also passed through that terrifying passage that was enough to shatter one's worldview.
Countless Anbu ninjas completely believed that Orochimaru, the dignified Sannin, the Cold-Blooded Orochimaru, had been experimenting on innocent villagers all along.
Deep within the laboratory.
Taking advantage of Orochimaru's transformation, during this period of unconsciousness.
Luo Fu stared with interest at the Hashirama cells that resembled a Cthulhu-esque mass of flesh.
Relying on the powerful insight brought by the Sharingan, coupled with the changes in his perception after sharing with other versions of himself from different worlds, Luo Fu could even directly see the entire process of the Hashirama cells that made up the flesh mass, splitting and evolving in an incredibly mysterious but chaotic manner.
Just by observing this huge mass of Hashirama cells, Luo Fu began to faintly feel the mysteries of Wood Release.
However, what truly allowed him to gain his own understanding of Wood Release was not directly from the various secrets of these Hashirama cells.
But through observing the evolution of these Hashirama cells, Luo Fu felt the birth of his own liver-wood energy.
You must know that in the ninja world, there is actually no complete cycle of the five elements. There is only Yin-Yang and the five spiritual elements.
But now, through observing the Hashirama cells, his own liver-wood energy greatly increased.
The powerful Wood Release Bloodline Limit, which was hailed as having pacified the ninja world and ended the Warring States period, was comprehended by Luo Fu unconsciously.
What was even more incredible was that the Wood Release that Luo Fu awakened actually had characteristics similar to those of Hashirama Senju.
Besides Hashirama Senju, there are not a few people who possess Wood Release.
For example, Obito Uchiha, who obtained Wood Release by grafting a piece of Hashirama Senju's flesh, although he didn't know Sage Mode and couldn't use terrifying ninjutsu like Sage Art: Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands.
In other aspects, he had already reached a level comparable to Hashirama Senju.
Whether it was Advent of a World of Flowering Trees or Deep Forest Emergence, Obito Uchiha could easily use them.
But outside of the Uchiha clan, the so-called Wood Release of other ninjas was really too embarrassing to look at.
Whether it was Yamato or Obito Uchiha, their so-called Wood Release, not to mention compared to Hashirama Senju, even compared to Obito Uchiha, a pirated version, was embarrassing to mention.
Such a huge contrast made people have to admit that Wood Release is Wood Release, and Hashirama Senju is Hashirama Senju; this sentence is indeed correct.
It was not Wood Release that made Hashirama Senju, but Hashirama Senju that made Wood Release.
Even if Hashirama Senju hadn't awakened Wood Release, but other Bloodline Limits, or even simple ninjutsu, relying on that powerful chakra, Hashirama Senju would still be invincible.
The reason why it is said that the Wood Release that Luo Fu awakened is very similar to Hashirama Senju is entirely because Luo Fu's Wood Release is simply a perfect replica of Hashirama Senju's special ability to greatly restrain even tailed beasts.
At first, Luo Fu also thought that Wood Release's powerful restraint on tailed beasts came from Wood Release itself.
But now, through the study of this Cthulhu-style flesh mass, he truly understood that Hashirama Senju's Wood Release is essentially a product of the combination of sealing techniques and the Wood Release Bloodline Limit.
Even tailed beasts, once locked by Hashirama Senju's Wood Release, would have their chakra forcibly drawn away.
Ultimately, this led to the tailed beast, which should have possessed powerful chakra, falling into a weakened state due to a lack of chakra.
This is the real reason for Hashirama Senju's Wood Release's restraint on tailed beasts.
And although the effect of this sealing technique is perfectly combined with Wood Release, reaching a degree that makes it impossible to separate.
Luo Fu still distinguished the subtle difference between the sealing technique and Wood Release.
Unfortunately, before Luo Fu could completely research the true nature of the difference between the two and trace the origin of this ability.
Luo Fu sensed that outside the laboratory, a large number of Anbu directly under the Hokage were coming towards the depths of the laboratory.
His expression suddenly became strange, and Luo Fu looked suspiciously at Orochimaru, who was still unconscious, thinking to himself, "It can't be such a coincidence, right?"
Orochimaru's defection from the village is happening at this time?
Under normal circumstances, Orochimaru's defection should have been later in time.
After all, Orochimaru had personally witnessed Itachi Uchiha's awakening of the Sharingan while still in the village.
The reason why everything has been brought forward by several years now is entirely due to Luo Fu.
Who told Luo Fu to put too much psychological pressure on the Konoha F4?
When Orochimaru returned from the battlefield, he couldn't wait to visit Luo Fu immediately after handing over the mission. Orochimaru's fate was sealed.
Even Orochimaru himself made the Konoha F4 uneasy, let alone Orochimaru taking the initiative to find Luo Fu, and such an impatient reaction, which made the Konoha F4 believe that Orochimaru was definitely going to compete for the Hokage position.
Having transformed from a ninja to a pure power animal.
Even if Orochimaru was the disciple of the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Danzo Shimura, Homura Mitokado, and Koharu Utatane would not allow such an uncontrollable guy, who was also involved with Luo Fu, a Uchiha powerhouse who would go crazy at any moment, to become the Fifth Hokage.
Under these dark calculations that could not be told to others, suppressing Orochimaru and completely making it impossible for Orochimaru to gain a foothold in the village undoubtedly became the only choice.
Luo Fu had never thought that everything would be such a coincidence.
But now, unless he used a space-time ninjutsu like Kamui to quietly leave the underground laboratory, otherwise, once he was caught with Orochimaru, the ignorant villagers of Konoha would also stand on Hiruzen Sarutobi's side without hesitation.
Unfortunately, Hiruzen Sarutobi and others' small calculations based on seizing power were never taken seriously by Luo Fu from beginning to end.
It was even more impossible for him to leave the underground laboratory in a fleeing posture because of the Third Hokage and others' dark calculations.
Looking with interest at Orochimaru, who was still in a coma due to his own essence transformation.
Luo Fu sighed faintly in his heart, thinking to himself, "It seems that I have been tricked by Orochimaru this time."
But since things have come to this, then simply make a big fuss and leave this unpleasant village.
Anyway, there are still several years before the start of the future plot, so it is better to take this opportunity to travel around the ninja world and, by the way, quickly transform the abilities shared from other versions of himself into the power of this world.
With this thought, Luo Fu looked towards the slowly opening door in the next moment.
Along with the opening of the laboratory door, many Anbu ninjas wearing masks were immediately stunned by the scene in front of them.
In this very spacious space, what first caught the attention of these Anbu ninjas was the huge flesh ball, which was installed in a transparent jar and grew wildly and roughly in a completely disorderly direction.
The twisted and wriggling flesh mass made people's sanity plummet just by looking at it.
Even the knowledgeable Anbu ninjas, who had seen too many Hashirama cell transplant experiments along the way, were still stimulated by this mass of Hashirama cells that was still slowly growing.
"You... you madman, what have you done?" Hiruzen Sarutobi, wearing armor and holding the Adamantine Staff transformed from Enma, who followed closely behind, was also stimulated by the Hashirama cell flesh mass.
While glaring at Luo Fu, Hiruzen Sarutobi was also caught in a dilemma at this moment.
The reason is simple: Hiruzen Sarutobi knew that Luo Fu was actually innocent, and he had no connection with this laboratory.
After all, Luo Fu only gradually showed his brilliance and rose rapidly at the end of the Third Great Ninja War, but before that, he was just a very ordinary Jonin in the Uchiha clan.
Even within the Uchiha clan, Jonin weren't exactly a dime a dozen. After all, awakening the Three Tomoe Sharingan was pretty much the limit for most Uchiha.
Many Uchiha, in fact, only ever reached the One Tomoe or Two Tomoe stage in their entire lives.
The Mangekyo Sharingan was simply not something the average Uchiha could awaken. Historically, only a very few Uchiha had ever managed to achieve it.
This meant that even within the Uchiha clan, not many people knew about the Mangekyo Sharingan.
Being able to awaken the Three Tomoe Sharingan and become a Jonin was already considered a pillar of the Uchiha clan's strength.
Keep in mind that an Uchiha who awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan was recognized as a Kage-level powerhouse.
Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others might be wary of Kage-level powerhouses and the Mangekyo Sharingan, but they certainly wouldn't care about the Three Tomoe.
After all, Konoha's F4, though old now, were once Kage-level shinobi.
An Uchiha ninja like Lofou, who had awakened the Three Tomoe Sharingan, might be worth remembering, but he certainly wasn't worth the extra effort to target.
Even Orochimaru wouldn't care about a mere ordinary Jonin.
But now, even Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't know what to do.
How could he, when Lofou was actually in the laboratory? This was a fact witnessed by a large number of Anbu ninja.
Under these circumstances, he, the Hokage who had come specifically to target Orochimaru, couldn't possibly exonerate Lofou first, could he?
But the idea of taking this opportunity to smear Lofou, killing two birds with one stone by taking down Lofou and Orochimaru together, never even crossed Hiruzen Sarutobi's mind.
Orochimaru alone was already troublesome enough, let alone Lofou, whose depths were unknown and who had awakened the eyes that Uchiha Madara once possessed.
Putting aside everything else, Lofou's previous display of a terrifying chakra giant, and even his ability to freely switch between chakra and a flesh-and-blood body, were enough to make Konoha's F4 wary and unwilling to directly fall out with Lofou.
"Third Hokage?" Lofou looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi with a smile that wasn't a smile, and said, "I was originally planning to play with you for a while, but now it seems I'll have to change my plans."
"Lord Starlight Fang, why… why are you doing this?" An Anbu with a raccoon-like mask and silver, spiky hair, after regaining his senses, seemed unable to accept the scene before him.
"So it's the son of White Fang, Kakashi Hatake?" Lofou recognized the Anbu with the raccoon mask at a glance. It was indeed Kakashi Hatake.
The truth was, even though Kakashi wore a mask,
Lofou could easily see the Sharingan belonging to Obito Uchiha hidden within his eyes, through the eye holes of the Anbu mask, thanks to his distinctive silver hair.
Such a distinct image, there was only one Kakashi Hatake in the entire Konoha.
As a clan known for their eye techniques, don't think that Sharingan were common in Konoha just because Danzo Shimura had a whole arm full of them in the future.
On the contrary, even Kakashi Hatake's Three Tomoe Sharingan, which was given to him by Obito Uchiha, had caused a huge uproar in Konoha back then.
In the end, Fugaku Uchiha, as the clan leader, had to suppress the clan's uproar in order to curry favor with Minato Namikaze, who was about to become the Fourth Hokage.
Aside from Kakashi Hatake, no one else would dare to directly transplant the Sharingan of the Uchiha clan, even if they obtained it.
To ensure the uniqueness of their own bloodline limit, the Hyuga clan developed the Caged Bird seal, specifically designed to protect bloodline limits.
Regardless of whether the Caged Bird would later go against its original intention,
the Caged Bird curse mark did indeed provide a safe surge for the Hyuga clan's bloodline limit.
But the Uchiha were different.
The Sharingan was like plug-and-play. What truly deterred others from coveting the Sharingan was the strength of the Uchiha clan.
Even Danzo Shimura, even if he had many Sharingan in his hands now, he would never dare to show them openly.
This shows the deterrent power of the Uchiha clan in protecting their bloodline limit.
After recognizing Kakashi Hatake's identity, Lofou also understood why Kakashi was so agitated at this moment.
Back then, Konoha's White Fang, Sakumo Hatake, had chosen to commit suicide amidst notoriety.
And Lofou, a sword master who had risen in a very short period of time, was both a clansman of Kakashi Hatake's close friend, Obito Uchiha, and, like his father, renowned in the ninja world for his swordsmanship.
Lofou's appearance here at this moment was indeed somewhat unacceptable to Kakashi Hatake.
"Lofou," Hiruzen Sarutobi said with a stiff face, "I know that you and Orochimaru have never had any relationship before. Tell me, why are you here? Were you deceived by Orochimaru?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi could only hope that after giving Lofou a way out, he would take it. In that case, at least the two sides wouldn't directly tear up their faces.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was confident that even if he exposed Orochimaru's conspiracy, Orochimaru was more likely to defect directly than to fight the village to the death.
But Lofou was different. He was a truly crazy Uchiha. Who knew if this guy would directly flip the table if he was now branded with the same crime as Orochimaru?
Konoha Village, now in a peaceful environment, could afford to lose Orochimaru, but it could not afford the revenge of a madman like Lofou.
If possible, Hiruzen Sarutobi even wished he could cut Lofou into a thousand pieces, but Lofou's strength forced Hiruzen Sarutobi to compromise.
Unfortunately, Lofou was not a person who would easily change his mind.
He didn't have much goodwill towards Konoha in the first place. This time, due to a twist of fate, he was actually involved in Orochimaru's defection.
Then Lofou could only simply make a big fuss.
Staying in Konoha was no longer of much significance to Lofou.
The reincarnation of Indra and Asura's chakra, after Lofou understood the truth of so-called chakra, he already understood that the so-called Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki, the two protagonists who led the storm, were essentially just another Indra and Asura.
Compared to the Six Paths Sage and Kaguya Otsutsuki, who were regarded as opponents by Lofou, the small-scale troubles in the ninja world were at most helping Lofou consolidate his own foundation.
"Hiruzen Sarutobi, you are really hypocritical enough." Lofou sneered, his eyes instantly turned into a Mangekyo pattern, and then, the squirming flesh block cultivated from Hashirama Senju's cells was instantly taken into his Kamui space.
Although Lofou's bloodline had already undergone the most fundamental transformation, and was completely different from the Otsutsuki clan,
the Yang Release of Hashirama's cells, coupled with the Yin Release of the Uchiha clan's Sharingan, was the best way to directly glimpse the foundation of the Six Paths Sage.
How could Lofou let it go?
Such a large lump of flesh, God knows how much effort and time Orochimaru had spent.
Staying in Konoha, it would either be destroyed for a grand reason, or it would directly fall into the hands of Root, so it was better for Lofou to take it away.
Seeing the huge lump of flesh disappear out of thin air, Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes suddenly narrowed and he blurted out: "Space-Time Ninjutsu?"
In Hiruzen Sarutobi's heart, the pressure increased even more.
Lofou's abilities were too difficult to deal with.
Space-Time Ninjutsu that allowed him to come and go freely, coupled with the Sharingan that was as powerful as the second Uchiha Madara, if Lofou really went crazy, it was still unknown whether Konoha could survive.
At the thought of this possibility, Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly panicked.
He hurriedly said: "Lofou, calm down, don't forget, you still have a younger sister in the village. Do you want to watch Izumi be ostracized by the village because of your recklessness?"
With a sneer, Lofou said disdainfully: "Are you planning to use Izumi Uchiha to threaten me?"
"No, you misunderstood." At this time, Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't care about the thoughts of these Anbu ninja directly under the Hokage.
Although he was now wearing a suit of armor and carrying the Adamantine Staff transformed from Enma in his hand, no one knew better than Hiruzen Sarutobi himself how much actual combat power he could exert at this age.
On the night of the Nine-Tailed Fox attack, he had only knocked the Nine-Tails out of the village with one staff, and he had already lost the ability to continue fighting.
And fighting against a strong person like Lofou was really likely to lead to death.
Now that he finally had the opportunity to regain the position of Hokage, before he had planned a long-term future for the Sarutobi clan, he didn't want to die with the reputation of a hero.
Do Konoha's heroes have a good ending?
Whether it was the Sannin, or Konoha's White Fang, or even Naruto Uzumaki, who was still just an infant, they were all connected to the title of Konoha's hero.
Originally, Hiruzen Sarutobi only wanted to further consolidate his image as Hokage by finding Orochimaru. Because he knew that Orochimaru, as his disciple, could not really bet his life against him.
But Lofou was different.
"Lofou, you are also a ninja of the village. You and the Fourth Hokage and Kushina were classmates back then. Do you really have the heart to destroy the village that they protected with their lives? I'm just reminding you not to disappoint those who care about you. I promise you, I will definitely restore your innocence!"
Lofou's eyes flashed, and a strange force instantly hit Hiruzen Sarutobi's body.
Caught off guard, the Third Hokage was immediately sent flying out in a mess, his body slammed into several Anbu ninja before crashing heavily into the wall.