Naruto: Starting as the Third Hokage with Tears in His Eyes

The battle ended in a very short time, with the investigation team suffering minor injuries to several ninjas.

The air was thick with the stench of blood and the sweet smell of decay.

Shuo Mao walked to the carcass of the giant wild boar that he had beheaded with a single stroke. He squatted down and used his short knife to part the thick bristles on the boar's body.

In his line of sight, a tattoo branded under the skin of a wild boar was clearly visible.

It was a black scorpion.

Shuo Mao's pupils suddenly contracted.

"team leader!"

Just then, a Konoha ninja on guard duty cried out in alarm, pointing deep into the forest, his voice trembling with fear.

"Look...look over there!"

Everyone looked in the direction he was pointing.

At the edge of the dense forest, through layers of sickly, overgrown branches, an ancient altar entwined by enormous vines revealed its ominous outline in the dim light.

The altar resembled a lurking beast, quietly awaiting their arrival.

The altar appeared even larger and more sinister than it did from a distance.

The altar was not made of ordinary rock, but of a dark reddish-black material, its surface covered with twisted veins like blood vessels. Huang Tu reached out and touched it, feeling a slippery sensation on his fingertips, as if he were touching congealed flesh.

His face instantly turned extremely ugly.

"Watch your step, everyone."

Huang Tu gave a low command, and the Iwagakure ninja behind him immediately formed a defensive formation and approached the altar step by step.

The closer you get, the stronger the rotten sweet smell becomes, mixed with a nauseating aura of madness and despair.

At the center of the altar was a huge, dried-up pool, its walls covered with blasphemous, twisted runes that could be vaguely discerned as sacrificial totems to some unknown being.

"These lunatics..."

A young Iwagakure ninja couldn't help but mutter a curse, his voice sounding particularly jarring in the deathly silence of the forest.

Sakumo Hatake remained silent, his gaze more focused than ever. Those eyes, which had meticulously distinguished dozens of different pests and diseases, were now scrutinizing every inch of the altar's structure with the same rigor.

His intuition was screaming a warning.

It's so quiet.

It was as quiet as a trap with its mouth wide open.

Just as one of the joint investigation team's ninjas stepped onto the outermost steps of the altar—

A sudden change has occurred!

"Splash—!"

Dozens of black chains, thicker than an adult's arm, burst forth from the ground without warning!

These chains are not physical entities, but are made of pure, highly concentrated, cold chakra, and their surfaces are also covered with evil runes consistent with those on the altar.

The chains danced wildly in the air like living things, emitting a piercing shriek, blocking all of the team's escape routes from all directions, forming a huge cage.

"Earth Release·Earth Style Wall!"

Almost at the same moment the trap was triggered, Huang Tu's roar echoed through the forest. He slammed his hands heavily on the ground, and a surge of powerful chakra instantly flowed into the earth.

Boom!

A massive, incredibly thick rock wall rose up from the ground, precisely blocking the path of several Iwagakure ninja who were nearly impaled by the chains.

The chains clattered against the rock face, producing a teeth-grinding hissing sound, and the solid rock was corroded into deep pits, emitting black smoke.

Cold sweat seeped from Huang Tu's forehead.

"Calm down! Form a defensive formation!"

Huang Tu demonstrated the responsibility and composure befitting the son of the Third Tsuchikage. Without the slightest panic, he immediately directed his Iwagakure ninja to stand back to back, forming a circular defensive formation.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh—"

Just then, dozens of dark figures shot out from the shadows around the altar and silently pounced on the trapped investigation team.

They wore tattered black robes, their hoods pulled low, obscuring their faces. They wielded various shapes of blood-red scythes, their movements eerie and swift, completely unlike humans.

"They're cultists!"

A Konoha ninja exclaimed in surprise.

"Earth Release: Rock Fist!"

A Hidden Stone Ninja roared, his arm instantly turning to stone, and with one punch, he smashed a cultist who rushed at him in two.

However, a chilling scene unfolded.

The cultist who had been smashed turned into a pool of writhing black energy, which reformed itself a few seconds later and pounced on the attack again, as if it had not been harmed at all.

"An immortal body?!"

Upon seeing this, the Iwagakure ninja's defensive line stirred slightly.

Their most proficient Earth Release ninjutsu emphasizes a heavy blow that kills instantly, putting them at a natural disadvantage against an enemy that is impossible to kill.

A fierce battle erupted in an instant.

The Iwagakure ninja used Earth Release techniques to create obstacles and launch attacks, but the Jashin cultists were fearless, repeatedly reconstructing their bodies from the shattered rocks and mud, relentlessly assaulting the defensive line. Their scythes were imbued with the same chakra as their chains, and with each swing, they left deep corrosive marks on the rocks.

The situation was extremely unfavorable for the investigation team.

"This won't do, we'll run out of chakra!"

Huang Tu was anxious. Although his earth-遁 (earth-遁 is a powerful technique in Chinese martial arts), he felt helpless in the face of such a strange enemy.

He subconsciously looked at the figure that hadn't moved.

Hatake Sakumo.

From the start of the battle, this White Fang of Konoha simply stood quietly in place, his short sword hanging down, like a detached bystander.

Did he give up? Huang Tu's heart sank.

But the next second, Huang Tu's eyes widened.

Because Sakumo has moved, he has completed his intelligence gathering.

One second ago, he was in the center of the Iwagakure ninja's defensive perimeter.

The next second, his figure appeared behind a cultist.

A flash of white light.

There were no unnecessary movements.

The cultist who had been attacking frantically just moments before froze in place. Then, his body silently split open from head to toe, turning into countless uniformly sized fragments that scattered across the ground.

The black aura attempted to coalesce again, but because it had been cut into too many fragments, it was like a magnet that had lost its core, drifting aimlessly and difficult to piece back together in a short time.

Sold out instantly.

A true instant kill.

Shuo Mao's figure did not pause for a moment, transforming into streaks of white light on the battlefield.

Every strike he makes is precise and efficient, without wasting a single ounce of energy.

In swordsmanship, there is only a simple, pure, and ultimate killing technique.

He didn't even look at the enemies; his eyes seemed to be looking at something in a higher dimension—the unseen chakra pathways that maintained the immortality of the believers.

A knife cuts through more than just flesh and blood.

A Hidden Stone Ninja stared in disbelief at the scene before him.

He saw Sakumo Hatake's figure pass through the encirclement of the three cultists like a ghost. He didn't even see how the other party drew his sword before the three cultists were simultaneously turned into thousands of pieces, clattering and falling to the ground.

He saw a blood-red scythe attacking Shuo Mao from behind, but Shuo Mao didn't even turn his head. He simply swung his blade backhand, the light of the blade precisely slicing along the connection between the scythe and the cultist's arm, cutting the cultist's spine into eighteen pieces.

This is not a battle.

It is art.

Huang Tu's throat felt a little dry.

He finally understood why his father had shown such a complex expression of both fear and admiration when he mentioned this man's name.

This is... Konoha's White Fang!

In less than a minute.

Dozens of undead monsters that were once so arrogant have now turned into scattered pieces on the ground.

Sakumo slowly sheathed his sword, his movements as steady as ever.

He stood with his knife in hand, his back to the crowd. Moonlight shone on his white hair, as if gilding it with a sacred glow. The pure, breathtaking sharpness gradually dissipated, replaced by a simple tranquility.

"Gulp."

A young Iwagakure ninja swallowed hard, breaking the deathly silence.

He looked at Sakumo's retreating figure, his eyes filled with awe and fervor.

Huang Tu also recovered from his shock. He glanced at his subordinates, who were equally stunned and speechless, and gave a wry smile.

He stepped forward and bowed solemnly to Shuo Mao's retreating figure.

"Thank you, Sakumo-senpai."

That address of "senior" was delivered with heartfelt respect.

"No need."

Shuo Mao turned around, his face devoid of any smugness, still displaying his usual calm and composed expression. "These are just grunts."

His gaze swept past the crowd and landed on the black-robed figure standing alone at the deepest part of the altar.

The man in black robes was the leader of this group of cultists. He did not participate in the attack from beginning to end, but stood like a statue by the blood pool.

At that moment, he lifted his hood, revealing a pair of eyes distorted by fanaticism.

Looking at the remains of his companions scattered on the ground, he felt no fear, but instead burst into a maniacal laugh.

"Hahahaha... As expected of Konoha's White Fang! As expected... as expected of a perfect sacrifice! Your power, your carnage, will all become sustenance for the arrival of the Evil God!"

He roared wildly, opening his arms as if embracing some great being.

"You have blasphemed the Father's glory! You damned heretic!"

"The glory of the evil god will surely engulf the earth!"

As soon as he finished speaking, his body swelled up like a punctured balloon, an ominous blackish-red light emanating from beneath his skin. A destructive chakra surged wildly within him.

"Oh no! He's going to self-destruct!" Huang Tu's expression changed drastically, and he instinctively tried to use Earth Escape to defend himself.

But Sakumo was faster than him.

A flash of light, striking first despite being struck later.

puff.

The energy from the self-destruction abruptly stopped.

The leader's head flew high into the air, his face still bearing a fanatical smile. His headless body swayed and then collapsed to the ground.