Starting with Naruto, I'll become stronger through my own efforts.

Chapter 225 All Traitors Want to Kill the Fifth Hokage

At this moment, in the Chunin Exams venue of Konoha Village, 55 Konoha Jonin were moving among the audience seats.

Before Gaara of Sunagakure and Haku of Kirigakure fought, people felt that the patrols and protection by these Jonin were excessive and very abnormal.

But now, after being battered by blizzards and sandstorms, everyone is praising this thoughtful arrangement.

Without the protection of these Jonin, countless ordinary viewers would have suffered frostbite from the blizzard or been riddled with bullets of sand.

The successful protection earned people's recognition of the existence of these Jonin, and even the three Kage thought it was a good arrangement.

It wasn't until Orochimaru appeared in the private room that the Fourth Kazekage, who was already aware of the situation, noticed that the movement of these Konoha Jonin had changed. Their positions were no longer to protect the audience, but to separate them.

Orochimaru handed the stack of white paper to the Fifth Hokage. The instant the paper was handed over, it suddenly exploded into countless pieces of paper.

Instead of flying around, the scraps of paper surrounded the Fifth Hokage, obscuring his view.

Even worse, there were more than a dozen explosive tags mixed in with this stack of white paper, all of which flew toward the Fifth Hokage and were about to stick to his body.

[Ninja Art: Exploding Flame Formation]

Orochimaru's actions didn't stop there; his hands suddenly transformed into countless venomous snake heads, swarming towards the Fifth Hokage's feet in an attempt to restrict his movements.

【Orochi Style: Hidden Shadow Multi-Snake Hand】

Orochimaru opened his mouth, and a huge venomous snake spat out, from which emerged a double-edged straight sword—his divine weapon, the Kusanagi Sword.

Summoning Jutsu: Kusanagi Sword

The blade of this divine weapon suddenly extended, stabbing towards the Fifth Hokage's heart, clearly intending to take his life with a single strike.

In an instant, Orochimaru's attack erupted in full force, causing the three Kage beside him to tremble with fear.

Even the Fourth Raikage, who was most confident in his defensive abilities, felt a chill run down his spine.

He knew that if he were attacked so suddenly, he would not have time to dodge or use his Lightning Armor, and would ultimately be killed by this piercing sword.

Even the Fourth Raikage, who was most skilled in taijutsu, felt he was going to die, while the Fourth Kazekage and the Third Tsuchikage directly experienced the fear of death.

The same thought simultaneously crossed the minds of all three of them: [We must never let Orochimaru get close to us again!]

The Fourth Raikage and the Third Tsuchikage also left their seats and stood up. They moved to the corner of the private room as quickly as possible, protecting themselves with Lightning Release Armor and Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall respectively, waiting for the explosive tags to detonate.

The Fourth Kazekage also left his seat, but turned and rushed towards the Fifth Hokage.

He finally made up his mind to join forces with Orochimaru to assassinate the Fifth Hokage, as agreed with Orochimaru.

The characteristic of Sand Village ninjas is that once they decide to do something, they leave no room for retreat and do their best to achieve it.

To coordinate with Orochimaru's attack, the Fourth Kazekage even disregarded the imminent explosion of the tags, wrapping himself in a layer of golden armor to withstand the force of the tags' wrappings.

Faced with the sudden assassination attempt, the Fifth Hokage only failed to react when initially surrounded by white paper scraps, after which he displayed the strongest power in the ninja world.

His hands suddenly became ethereal, as if they instantly transformed into eight hands, which pinched the explosive tags that were about to stick to his body one by one, and then gently rubbed them together with his index finger and thumb to shatter them.

The torn explosive tags exploded, but the order in which the Fifth Hokage tore the tags apart caused the detonations to be slightly off-time. In addition, the tags were three fist-widths away from his body, which greatly reduced their destructive power.

The Fifth Hokage's legs suddenly glowed and heated up, turning into rolling, writhing lava that burned the venomous snakes that coiled around him, causing them to hiss and scream in agony. Their skin and scales were instantly charred black, emitting the aroma of roasted meat.

[Lava Release: Lava Body]

However, in such a hurry, the Fifth Hokage could only do this much. Faced with the Kusanagi sword that shot towards him like lightning, he could only dodge to the left, trying his best to avoid his vital points.

He couldn't pay any attention to the Fourth Kazekage attacking from his left rear.

Since the Fourth Kazekage didn't have any decent single-target ninjutsu, and the Fifth Hokage was confident he could withstand it with his body, there was no need for him to dodge.

In that instant, the Fifth Hokage was pierced through the right chest by the Kusanagi Sword and through the left side of the waist by the Fourth Kazekage's Golden Sand Spear.

The violent explosion of the detonation tag swept across the Fifth Hokage's body. Although it did not cause direct injury, it made his appearance disheveled and rather unkempt.

This sight was so alluring to the Fourth Raikage and the Third Tsuchikage that it made their hearts itch.

Meanwhile, the storm from the explosion also destroyed the windows, ceiling, and walls of the VIP box, exposing the situation inside to the public.

At the same time as the explosion, the more than fifty Konoha Jonin in the stands quickly formed hand seals and unleashed a combination sealing technique.

【Combined Seal - Four Purple Flame Array - Guang】

Crimson light curtains rose up, completely dividing and sealing off the entire stands, blocking the massive debris thrown up by the explosion and also preventing the Konoha ninjas who angrily rose up to aid the Fifth Hokage.

At this moment, the Fifth Hokage and the Konoha ninja were separated and left helpless.

Moreover, he was pierced through the body by the Kusanagi Sword and the Golden Spear, which at least damaged his lungs and kidneys—both serious injuries.

The Fifth Hokage's tragic condition seemed to foreshadow his death.

Seeing this, the Fourth Kazekage's confidence soared, and without hesitation, he once again condensed more than a dozen golden sand spears, preparing to personally end the Fifth Hokage's life.

Seeing this, the Fourth Raikage couldn't help but swallow hard, and had to use his left hand to grab his right hand in order to suppress his urge to attack immediately.

However, the Third Tsuchikage, upon seeing this, quickened his pace to move away from the scene. The wise and experienced Tsuchikage seemed to have seen through the trap.

The retreat of the Third Tsuchikage completely alarmed the Fourth Raikage, whose body crackled with electricity as he fled the scene at top speed.

The Fourth Kazekage was startled by the actions of the Tsuchikage and Raikage. Although he couldn't understand why, he could vaguely sense danger through his intuition.

But having already attacked the Fifth Hokage, there was no room for retreat. He could only grit his teeth and see things through to the end, exchanging his life for the greatest benefit.

[Magnetic Escape·Golden Spear]

[Magnetic Escape·Golden Spear]

[Magnetic Escape·Golden Spear]

The Fourth Kazekage unleashed a frenzy of ninjutsu, recklessly squandering his chakra to maximize his destructive power.

The golden sand spears stabbed wildly at the Fifth Hokage. Although most of them were knocked away by the Fifth Hokage, more than a thousand golden sand spears still pierced through the Fifth Hokage's body, firmly pinning him to the floor.

Even so, the Fifth Hokage did not die. He even crushed the spears that were piercing his body one by one and pulled them out one by one.

The horrifying-looking wound writhed, expelling the gold dust remaining inside, before visibly healing itself.

The Fourth Kazekage, seeing the Fifth Hokage injured for the first time, was dumbfounded, looking helplessly at Orochimaru: "What happened?"

Orochimaru shouted, "Like the First Hokage, the Fifth Hokage awakened the Wood Release Kekkei Genkai, possessing an incredibly powerful self-healing ability!"

"He himself once said that his self-healing ability could be described as 'a ninja who doesn't die on the battlefield,' meaning he's definitely not someone that can be killed by ordinary attacks!"

The Fourth Kazekage's face turned deathly pale. He asked in a trembling voice, "Then how are we supposed to kill the Fifth Hokage?"

Orochimaru roared, "Attack! Keep attacking! Don't let him heal! Keep him injured and bleeding!"

"Even if he bleeds all his blood, the Fifth Hokage will still die!"

Upon hearing this, the Fourth Kazekage's spirits lifted, and he excitedly exclaimed, "Excellent! My Magnet Release: Gold Sand is best at extracting blood!"

He formed hand seals at top speed and unleashed the [Magnet Release: Gold Sand Burial], enveloping the Fifth Hokage in gold sand.

The Fourth Kazekage didn't even have time to drag the Fifth Hokage underground before immediately activating the final step of Magnet Release: Gold Sand Burial—Gold Sand Implosion.

The heavy gold sand pressed inward, instantly crushing the bones of the human body inside, and blood gushed out like a fountain.

Before the Fourth Kazekage could even rejoice, he noticed that the Fifth Hokage, who was inside the golden sand, was putting up a strong resistance. It seemed that the loss of all his blood could not affect his self-healing, let alone take his life.

Orochimaru drew his Kusanagi sword and shouted a warning, "Keep attacking! Ninjas don't die on the battlefield! This isn't so easily broken!"

While shouting, Orochimaru fiercely attacked the human body wrapped in gold dust with the Kusanagi sword, and every time he pulled out the sword, a spray of blood came out.

Inside the locked room, Xia Zuo saw this scene through the monitor, and his eyes turned very unfriendly.

He muttered, "I have a feeling Orochimaru is taking this opportunity to cause trouble. He deliberately let me see this to vent his frustration."

The Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, laughed so hard he almost rolled on the ground: "Hahaha, I'm dying of laughter! Orochimaru's acting is so awkward. Luckily, the atmosphere was set up well, otherwise the Fourth Kazekage would have realized something was wrong long ago."

The First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, smiled and said, "Ninjas never die on the battlefield. Hmm, that's a nice name. It's quite interesting."

Tsunade rubbed her chin, nudged Xia Zuo in the lower back with her elbow, and asked, "That thing is the clone you and Orochimaru created?"

"That's great! Get one for me sometime too."

Xia Zuo asked, "Tsunade, are you also researching cloning?"

Tsunade replied matter-of-factly, "Yes, I'm the strongest medical ninja. Isn't it only natural for me to research cloning and organ transplantation?"

"Besides, this is something you can use in everyday life too—"

"It can warm your hands, your body, and your bed, and even provide a hot meal anytime—"

The Fifth Hokage felt increasingly uneasy as he listened; he even felt a rut appear on his face, burning with pain.

But when he glanced at the First Hokage and the Second Hokage beside him, he pursed his lips and didn't dare to say anything.

[Tsunade, you pervert! I'll let you have your fun tonight!]

The Fifth Hokage, Natsume, felt that Orochimaru was seeking personal revenge, while the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, thought that Orochimaru's acting was exaggerated and seemed a bit fake.

But they knew the truth before they realized there was a problem.

Those ninjas, merchants, and nobles who were unaware of the truth were all stunned. Some screamed loudly, some cried out in fear, and some huddled together, trembling.

The Fourth Raikage and the Third Tsuchikage, who had fled to a distant place, also began to have doubts and wondered if they had made the wrong judgment.

However, the Fourth Raikage's caution and the Third Tsuchikage's experience played a significant role in leading them to make a conservative judgment.

So what if we make a wrong judgment? Anyway, the Fifth Hokage is really dead, and the two of them are the biggest beneficiaries.

Could Orochimaru possibly inherit the position of the Sixth Hokage? Could Orochimaru possibly be as powerful as the Fifth Hokage?

If the Fifth Hokage dies, Konoha will inevitably fall into chaos, and the Fourth Raikage might even dare to launch another attack on Konoha with the army of Kumogakure ninja.

But if their judgment is correct, and this was a trap set by the Fifth Hokage, then they truly avoided a catastrophic disaster.

If doing nothing would either yield the greatest benefit or allow one to avoid the most fatal danger, then why actively attack the Fifth Hokage?

But not every bystander is so cautious and experienced.

At least Obito Uchiha wasn't that powerful. He witnessed Orochimaru and the Fourth Kazekage teaming up to assassinate Natsume, and after a few minutes of observation and thought, he determined that it was a real assassination attempt.

Then he remembered five years ago when he was beaten by Xia Zuo in the Uchiha clan's territory and ambushed on the way back. He remembered the pain he felt after being seriously injured.

Especially the verbal attacks from Xia Zuo caused her heart-wrenching pain.

Obito Uchiha's rage burned fiercely. He could no longer restrain himself and decided to join the attack to ensure that the Fifth Hokage, Natsume, was killed cleanly and thoroughly.

In the audience, a ninja wearing a straw hat and a black robe with red cloud patterns stood up.

He removed his straw hat, revealing a handsome face and a pair of intricately patterned Mangekyou Sharingan eyes.

Uchiha Itachi infiltrated the audience seats at some point and used his genjutsu to make everyone ignore his presence.

At this moment, he glanced at the purple flame protection of the Four Purple Flame Array and activated his Kaleidoscope-exclusive eye technique.

【Kaleidoscope·Amaterasu】

Black flames burned on the crimson wall of flames, quickly burning through a hole large enough for a person to pass through.

Uchiha Itachi crawled through and looked at the private room that had been turned into an open-air space.

He had only one thought in his mind: to kill the Fifth Hokage, Natsume.

Only by killing Xia Zuo could everything be reversed back to when the Third Hokage was alive. Only then could he get rid of the label of a rogue ninja, and his killing of the Uchiha clan would be seen as an "understandable" and "unavoidable" act of desperation.

Even the Fourth Kazekage and Obito Uchiha didn't want to kill the Fifth Hokage as much as Itachi Uchiha did.