With One Blade, Overturning Konoha!

Forest of Death.

True to its name, a suffocating pressure slowly spread through the air.

In a dark corner of the forest, two figures faced each other beneath the trees.

Hakken Yoru and Orochimaru.

Naturally, this standoff was not what Orochimaru wanted.

From the moment this man appeared behind him until now, Orochimaru had been thinking of only one thing: how to escape.

There was just one thing he couldn’t understand.

Hakken had appeared behind him without making a sound. If he had attacked right away, Orochimaru should already be dead.

But clearly, Hakken Yoru hadn’t done that.

What was he planning?

“Hakken-kun.”

A bead of sweat slid down Orochimaru’s forehead, his scalp tingling with danger.

The instant he spoke the name, his body instinctively recoiled backward like a snake.

But the figure before him blurred, and in the next moment, his head was slammed straight into the ground.

Boom!

Crash!

A violent shockwave rippled outward, shaking the entire Forest of Death.

From the pit where Hakken drove Orochimaru into the earth, cracks spread rapidly from the point where his head struck, as if even the whole of Konoha trembled along with it.

More than ten seconds passed before the shaking finally eased.

Whether it was the genin inside the Forest of Death or the people in Konoha watching through surveillance feeds, all of them widened their eyes, desperately searching for the source of the quake.

From above, the explosion looked like a spiraling vortex expanding outward, an overwhelmingly destructive sight.

Unfortunately, this location had been chosen by Orochimaru himself. It lay in a blind spot of the monitoring network.

The epicenter.

Orochimaru stared at the surroundings in shock.

What stunned him wasn’t the destructive power.

It was the fact that he was still alive.

That level of precise control over strength left Orochimaru completely shaken.

After so many years, returning to Konoha…

That little brat from back then had become someone he could no longer contend with.

That constant feeling of being moments away from death, of being able to die at any second, was something Orochimaru hadn’t experienced in decades.

Growth at a pace beyond comprehension.

If this was truly his power, then the claim about cutting the moon in half was probably real.

“I believe you still haven’t answered my question,” Hakken said calmly.

Tossing Orochimaru aside, he leaned casually against a shattered tree trunk and continued drinking.

Killing Orochimaru?

For Hakken, that would have been effortless.

He was certain that no matter what hidden cards Orochimaru possessed, it wouldn’t amount to much.

With the three major templates fully activated, and after countless hours of relentless training, Hakken’s body had reached an absurd level.

Unnatural basic slashing power. A ridiculous Tenseigan.

In this world, anything Orochimaru could do, Hakken could also do.

And even what Orochimaru couldn’t do, Hakken could still do.

So he had nothing to fear.

He had already struck with killing intent just now, yet he chose not to finish it.

There was nothing left in the ninja world that truly excited him anymore.

When power reaches its peak, where does pleasure come from?

Just a little more. Just one step further, and his strength would break free from the limits of this world.

The goal he once spoke of, cutting this world down entirely, was no longer far away.

Hakken glanced at the blade in his hand.

A relaxed smile crossed his face.

“Cutting down” and “cutting down” carried two different meanings.

Just like Konoha now. The village had already undergone earth-shaking changes.

This was the second way to cut down the past and build the future. The first, the purely physical kind, was nothing more than blind destruction.

In the process of “cutting down” Konoha, Hakken had grown, and he had also reached understanding.

He realized that what he hated was not Konoha itself, but only a handful of individuals within the village, along with its rigid, outdated systems.

So when Minato appeared, Hakken understood that this village was not beyond saving.

With just a few actions on his part, even the ninja world had begun to change in ways never seen before.

After forming bonds with the people of this village, that sense of belonging, of truly standing among them, was what Hakken had been seeking all along.

Yes.

This was the Konoha of today. Google seaʀᴄh ⓝovelFire.net

His arrival made up for many regrets. Perhaps there were things he hadn’t handled perfectly, but from his own standpoint, he had already done enough.

Just like Orochimaru standing before him now.

Was he truly someone beyond saving?

That was precisely why Hakken had stood behind him earlier instead of killing him outright.

“I never expected you to possess such overwhelming power, Hakken-kun,” Orochimaru said.

He pushed himself up from the ground. Because Hakken’s strike had been directed at the earth rather than at him, he hadn’t suffered serious injuries.

But looking at the devastation around them was more than enough to prove just how terrifying this man’s combat strength was.

Orochimaru still had trump cards, but using them now wouldn’t mean much anymore.

“Naruto and Sasuke… they really are strong.”

After a long silence, Orochimaru finally answered the question Hakken had asked earlier.

There was no disputing it.

Even now, he was still shaken by the fact that the Sound Trio had been instantly wiped out.

“After all, one is my younger brother, and the other is my disciple,” Hakken said.

He nodded with a cheerful smile, looking exactly like someone pleased to hear praise for the juniors he had raised.

“Hakken-kun, may I ask you something?” Orochimaru said.

His eyes were filled with deep resentment and confusion.

Why?

Why did this man ultimately choose to stand on Konoha’s side?

Wasn’t it you who told me that if I cared too much about this village, then being a missing-nin would lose its meaning?

“Many years ago, on Konoha’s training grounds,” Orochimaru continued.

“I told you I had the perfect plan to defect from Konoha, that from that day on I would become a missing-nin.”

“But you said that the very fact I took pride in such a plan meant I still cared about this village.”

His breathing grew rapid, emotion creeping into his voice.

“After hearing that, I even reflected on myself.”

“Especially that one line of yours. ‘If you truly don’t care, then destroy it.’”

“Well, now I’m here,” Orochimaru said, his voice rising. “So why is it you standing in my way?!”

His eyes burned with unwillingness as he clenched his fists.

Why?!

Coming back to Konoha, this was likely the answer he had been searching for.

The Hakken Yoru of so many years ago had been so much like his former self.

The same indifference toward life, the same cruelty, no complicated feelings toward the village at all.

So why did their fates end up so completely different?

One became Konoha’s most dazzling hero.

The other was still a missing-nin.

That promise made on the training grounds at night. Orochimaru still remembered the young man saying he would come looking for him one day. He had even believed that Hakken had seen through Konoha’s true nature, that he had lost interest in petty power struggles.

And in truth, that was correct.

Hakken had seen through it all, but instead of escaping, he chose to change everything he saw.

While I chose to run.

“Why?” Hakken repeated softly.

After a long moment of thought, he smiled faintly and lifted his gourd, taking a deep swig.

As the strong liquor burned its way down his throat, memories surfaced in his mind.

If, back then, when he stood behind Anko at the ANBU entrance, protecting her, Minato hadn’t stepped forward and said those words—

“I believe in you.”

Yes.

If he hadn’t said them.

What path would I have chosen?

At that time, the progress on the template behind him was pitifully low. But a Shinigami was still a Shinigami. With his spiritual pressure fully unleashed, surrendering his body to the demon within, he could still have taken Anko and left Konoha.

That was the power of a Shinigami.

But that wasn’t the point.

The point was that if Minato hadn’t stepped forward, he probably wouldn’t have formed bonds with anyone in this village besides Itachi.

Even if that incident had been forcibly suppressed, after the night of the clan’s destruction or the Nine-Tails incident, he would likely have left Konoha with Itachi and become a missing-nin.

Only then might he have truly understood Orochimaru.

But that kind of “if” never existed.

No matter how many choices there were, Minato would always step forward.

That was fate, and it was the wisest decision Minato ever made in his life.

Without that figure standing in front of Hakken back then, Konoha? The so-called number one ninja village?

It would have been nothing more than a joke.

Tch.

Bonds, my ass.

Shaking his head, Hakken turned his gaze toward Orochimaru’s eyes.

“Why… is that it…?”

“Probably because I had one more good teacher than you did.

One more good teacher.”

Orochimaru’s body trembled, and he collapsed weakly onto the ground.

“Yeah… that must be it.”

“My teacher, in the same situation, wouldn’t stand in front of me when I wanted to stop others from dangerous training. He wouldn’t block my path, watch me warily, or say things like my eyes were full of ambition.”

“He trusted me.”

A gentle smile appeared on Orochimaru’s face as he lowered his head.

No one is born with all their emotions erased.

And no one starts out experimenting on human bodies while calmly watching life struggle inside a container.

He was Orochimaru, after all.

One of Konoha’s legendary Sannin.

Born in Konoha, honored to become the Third Hokage’s disciple. The bonds he shared with Tsunade and Jiraiya were known only to the three of them.

He rose to prominence in the Second Shinobi World War and earned the title of Konoha’s Sannin. During the Third Shinobi World War, when Konoha was fighting on multiple fronts, it was he who held Kikyō Pass with a force far smaller than Sunagakure’s thousand-strong army.

With the bodies of his comrades laid out before him one by one, perhaps that was the moment he lost his way.

He infiltrated the archives and studied forbidden techniques, including the Yamata no Orochi technique.

But even then, he hadn’t abandoned Konoha.

He still had his own thoughts about the position of Fourth Hokage.

Of course, it was true that his views differed from his teacher’s…

At times, he leaned more toward Danzō’s decisiveness. But was that really his fault?

After all, it was his own teacher who sent him to Root and worked together with Danzō.

The human experiments were carried out with tacit approval.

Perhaps, just as Hakken Yoru had said, the moment his teacher stood in front of him and stopped him from saving Itachi, that last trace of goodwill truly died.

Well then.

Being a good person was too hard.

So what if he became a bad one?

Immortality. Immortality!

Only by living forever could he master every ninjutsu in the world.

He was a genius.

He believed he had already grasped the secret of longevity.

Yet the thorn buried in his heart could never be pulled out.

Konoha. His teacher.

It was time to make a decision.

This would be his first goal after achieving immortality.

He wanted to see what choice his teacher would make when facing death.

And he wanted to ask him personally whether he regretted not letting him become the Fourth Hokage.

He was right.

“Hakken-kun, you really did have a teacher far more outstanding than Sarutobi-sensei.”

After the silence, only Orochimaru’s hoarse voice remained.

Perhaps the most painful thing of all was never receiving one’s teacher’s recognition.

“But, Hakken-kun.”

“I am Orochimaru.”

“I don’t need to be nailed to a pillar of shame like Danzō, nor do I need to desperately climb a wall of merit like the Third Hokage.”

“I am Orochimaru. I don’t need you to judge me. I am who I am!”

His hands flew through seals as Orochimaru howled like a madman.

“Watch, Hakken-kun! Watch Konoha be destroyed before your eyes!”

“Ten Thousand Snakes Formation!”

“Triple Rashōmon!”

“Orochimaru-style Body Replacement Technique!”

A writhing mass of serpents surged outward, a chaotic tide of fangs and scales.

Yet not a single snake dared approach Hakken. This chain of techniques was nothing more than a rapid retreat.

When everything settled, Hakken was still standing there, unmoving.

The familiar smile lingered on his face as he slowly straightened up and brushed the leaves from his shoulder.

“Then do your best to entertain me.”

He stepped down on the body of a nearby giant snake. With a dull thud, flesh and blood burst apart.

Standing tall, he faced the sunlight, savoring its warmth amid the oppressive atmosphere.

He didn’t chase after Orochimaru.

From Orochimaru’s final words, beyond the madness, Hakken heard a faint trace of something like a plea.

Give him a chance.

Just once.

A chance to reach a conclusion.

He wanted to prove the value of his own existence.

Hm?

Hakken’s ears twitched slightly as he glanced to the side.

“Ahhh! Where did all these snakes come from?!”

“Run! This Forest of Death is such a pain. First an earthquake, now a snake nest!”

“Wait for me!”

In the distance, three figures were sprinting toward Hakken.

At the front was a bulky silhouette.

Bulky, or perhaps “chubby” was more accurate. But in Chōji Akimichi’s eyes, that was just being well-built.

The man who had mastered the Expansion Technique.

In Boruto, he even married that dark-skinned kunoichi from Kumogakure who once beat up Naruto.

What was interesting was that Chōji Akimichi’s daughter once asked her why she married someone as unremarkable as Chōji.

And the even more interesting part was her answer. She said Chōji did have a strong point, but she couldn’t say what it was.

Damn.

Pretty easy to guess.

Parts of the Expansion Technique really could be used anywhere.

Against her, it was the most effective weapon.

An enviable ability, though unfortunately useless to Hakken.

At this moment, among the Ino–Shika–Chō trio, Chōji was clearly running the fastest.

Shikamaru was in the middle, while Ino at the back was being chased by a white snake.

It was Orochimaru’s Ten Thousand Snakes Formation, used to cover his retreat.

The technique had only been used defensively, so the snakes hadn’t been detonated. They were merely pursuing.

As for why the Ino–Shika–Chō trio ran this way, they were probably trying to investigate the cause of the earlier earthquake. In the original Chūnin Exams, this group also rushed toward any disturbance they heard.

“We’re done for!”

Something caught her foot. Ino stumbled forward, while the white snake behind her opened its blood-red maw.

Slash!

At moments like this, when a damsel needed saving, you could always trust Hakken.

A flash of blade light, and the white snake was split cleanly in two.

The Ino who was about to hit the ground instead fell straight into the man’s arms.

Sunlight. Long hair. Blood. A long blade.

The scent of a man.

And that face, so close.

Ino’s heart skipped violently, and then she passed out on the spot.

Hakken rubbed his chin, then suddenly smiled and leaned closer to that delicate face.

“Looks like artificial respiration is needed.”