As Hiruzen Sarutobi was en route, he pondered over where things had gone wrong.
When Orochimaru appeared during the Chunin Exam, he already had a bad premonition and had speculated about possible outcomes.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have visited the Hokage Rock to see his statue, nor would he have worn all his gear under his Hokage robe just to watch the match.
But everything that happened was beyond his expectations.
The most unexpected was that Orochimaru chose to launch a frontal assault instead of sneaking in.
This was neither in line with the typical ninja modus operandi nor the best strategy. It was as if, given the choice between an easy path and a hard one, Orochimaru deliberately chose the harder route.
This suggested only one possibility: Orochimaru’s goals were not as Hiruzen had guessed. Although Hiruzen couldn’t figure out what Orochimaru was planning, he acknowledged his own mistake.
On the battlefield, Alice watched Orochimaru for a long time before moving closer to A’jie and softly saying.
“He’s also an ‘awakened one’.”
A’jie turned to look at Alice.
Alice mistakenly thought A’jie wasn’t familiar with the term “awakened.”
“An ‘awakened one’ retains memories from multiple reincarnations despite the continual cycle of time. You can think of it as a bug in the world.
This explains why none of Tony’s analyses came true; the intelligence he had was outdated, only relevant to the current timeline, and filled with countless traps left by Orochimaru.”
With the discovery of this variable, Orochimaru was even more certain of the correctness of his actions.
In countless past reincarnations, Orochimaru had tried numerous strategies, including but not limited to helping Konoha unify the ninja world, using various schemes to eliminate Uchiha Obito and Zetsu early, interfering with Jiraiya’s travels, and protecting Nagato.
However, no matter what he did, the cycle of reincarnation never stopped. Eventually, Orochimaru realized the limitations of human power—he decided to stop being human!
In subsequent cycles, Orochimaru chose another path, such as massacring the ninja world or leading the Akatsuki to fulfill Uchiha Madara’s dream.
But ultimately, these plans were thwarted by two individuals: Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha.
Multiple cycles allowed Orochimaru to discern the world’s script.
He begins to attempt to kill Naruto outright, but no matter the conspiracy, it would be inadvertently thwarted, and instead, he empowers Naruto and Sasuke.
These two were like indestructible cockroaches, thriving in battle and rapidly increasing in power, even capable of reviving on the spot.
Thus, this time, Orochimaru chose to lie low, accumulate power, and finally strike directly at key figures.
He wanted to see how the world would change if he forced Naruto and Sasuke to become Indra and Ashura prematurely. That would thoroughly disrupt the timeline. In his view, the world changing the timeline might break the cycle.
For the implementation of this real “Konoha Collapse Plan,” Orochimaru emptied his resources, summoning all the powerful deceased ninjas he could with Reanimation and brought out supremely powerful ninja techniques that had been modified across multiple worlds.
The “Three Sannin”? A laughable title. If he didn’t want to deviate from the timeline too early, Hanzo of the Salamander would have been dealt with by him alone.
After laughing, Orochimaru saw a look of full sympathy on Alice’s face.
To Alice, Orochimaru seemed naively hopeful. She had undertaken similar actions in the past, but without variables, everything was futile—the biohazard always erupted, and the world always reached its final moment.
With sympathy, Alice also felt a bit of admiration for Orochimaru; resisting the world isn’t easy for anyone.
This expression seemed to provoke Orochimaru, who then had the three people standing behind him remove their cloaks and masks.
They were Uchiha Izuna, Sakumo Hatake, and Might Duy.
Indeed, Hiruzen’s sealing technique had not been effective enough. The improved Reanimation not only allowed the resurrected to wield greater power but also to ignore standard sealing techniques.
Only the Dead Demon Consuming Seal might still be effective.
Now, Konoha was truly in crisis. Uchiha Izuna, as Madara’s brother and a key figure alongside Hashirama Senju, was undeniably powerful in combat, especially now that he had the Sharingan with Orochimaru’s help.
Sakumo Hatake needed no introduction; as the strongest swordsman in the ninja world, his reputation as the “White Fang” of Konoha was not unwarranted, and now with Orochimaru.
’s Kusanagi sword, he was even more formidable.
The last one, Might Duy, might not be well-known, but he was the father of Might Guy and the founder of the Eight Gates technique.
If he survived to the end, Madara’s statement would have to change.
After the three appeared, Orochimaru formed hand signs, and two thin white snakes crawled out of his sleeves, biting onto either side of his neck.
Sage Mode, activate!
With this, the attackers’ lineup was extravagantly formidable.
Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage. Tobirama Senju, the Second Hokage, Madara’s brother Uchiha Izuna, Konoha’s White Fang Sakumo Hatake, Guy’s father, Might Duy, and the awakened Orochimaru.
And Konoha’s lineup, in comparison, was quite meager.
An elderly Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi, the fifty-plus-year-old Sannin Jiraiya, Might Guy who couldn’t open all Eight Gates, a Sharingan-less Kakashi Hatake, a crippled mechanic Tony Stark, the martial artist Qi Jie, and Alice, the perfected T-virus evolution.
The others weren’t worth mentioning; their combat effectiveness was negligible in this level of battle, with Kakashi and Guy only making the list due to their fathers.
The sudden upheaval completely disrupted the script of the world consciousness of the ninja world.
Orochimaru was truly a genius; despite numerous limitations, he still created such a scenario.
The world consciousness was left with only one path: a complete timeline reset, starting everything from scratch. This process also had to deal with Orochimaru, the awakened one. Otherwise, who knows what else he could cause.
But Qi Yun outside wouldn’t just stand by watching; a complete pre-emptive timeline reset would leave the world consciousness absolutely weak, and then it would be Qi Yun’s time to shine.
The world consciousness was momentarily at a loss, caught between flames, with a deep abyss on its left and a battlefield bristling with swords on its right.
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