Tianti turned his gaze toward the silent Shinobi in the distance, his eyes sweeping over every face.
“And then you believed it, because it was said by the glorious Hokage-sama himself.”
“Because it was the great Sandaime Hokage, and he would never lie.”
“Without this Susanoo, what would you know? Hmm, answer me?”
“You would know nothing. You would only lay a bouquet of flowers before the memorial stone and tell yourselves that the Village had done its best.”
Many Shinobi in the shadows had solemn gazes, wondering what they were thinking.
Not everyone was a fool.
At the very least, the Jōnin and high-ranking members of the various clans understood what Tianti meant.
The Uchiha Clan was not the only clan oppressed within the Land of Fire.
The Hokage faction had been deeply entrenched in Konoha for nearly forty years, and all interests and strategic distributions had long since been claimed…
Where in the major cities and prosperous areas of the Land of Fire were their family forces not in control?
The Sarutobi Clan had even grown so fat that they had cultivated thousands of clan Shinobi!
The borders and dangerous missions were always the responsibility of other Shinobi clans and civilian Shinobi…
Even surveillance, suppression, and exploitation fell upon the other Shinobi clans.
Any talent in those clans would be taken away under various pretexts; the high-ranking members of each clan knew this well, but they dared not speak out despite their anger.
Who dared to act out?
Was the Shinobi Hero’s method of “pacifying the outside and suppressing the inside” a joke to you?
The Senju Clan had too much potential?
Experiment on them until they are wiped out!
The Hyūga Clan was the strongest?
For the sake of Konoha, the clan head must die!
Even the Uchiha Clan, which had shaken the Shinobi World for hundreds of years—dare to bare their fangs?
Wipe them out!
There were too many, too many clans had been wiped out; of the nearly sixty Shinobi clans present when Konoha was founded, few remained…
Clans as powerful as the Senju, the Uzumaki, and even the Uchiha could not escape this fate; who wouldn’t be trembling in fear?
Except for the Four Great Clans of the Hokage faction, who didn’t have to swallow their bitterness?
Why, after the battle had been raging for so long, had none of those powerful Shinobi clans taken any elite action?
Where were the Hyūga Clan’s absolute defense and heaven-shaking Air Palms, or the Aburame Clan’s sky-covering clouds of insects?
It could be said that even if Shinobi from other countries attacked Konoha, they would just go through the motions and be happy to watch the Hokage be killed!
In fact, if someone came to kill the Hokage, there might be quite a few people in Konoha willing to cooperate…
“Leave it to the Sandaime Hokage-sama; we must trust the Hokage. He is the strongest Hokage of all generations!”
Tianti turned his head and looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi again.
“And those 1,300 lives just became a number in the archives.”
“This is your Will of Fire. It shines upon everything, except for the Uchiha Clan Grounds.”
“Start over, ha… Why don’t you ask my little sister? She’s only three years old; does she still have a chance to start over?”
Rumble!
“You didn’t have a change of heart or compromise; you only put on that disgusting face because of the Susanoo, because of my power!”
Hiruzen Sarutobi was silent, the expression on his face becoming very complex.
It was not guilt, nor anger, but something more subtle…
It was as if he felt troubled.
This person wouldn’t take the out offered to him.
This person did not play by the rules; this person had to be dealt with.
Hiruzen Sarutobi’s voice finally turned cold:
“Konoha is not something you can destroy just because you want to. You are strong, but you are only one person. Konoha has tens of thousands of Shinobi, the elites of various clans, and the legacy left behind by Hashirama-sama.”
Tianti twitched his lips, not falling for it:
“Who said I have to defeat everyone in Konoha?”
The Susanoo raised its hands again, golden Chakra condensing around the giant, layer upon layer, like a massive wave building up before a tsunami.
“I only want to kill you!”
Before the words had even faded, several beams of golden light erupted simultaneously!
The Susanoo’s hands gripped two burning giant swords, slashing crosswise toward the spot where Hiruzen Sarutobi was standing!
Hiruzen Sarutobi swung the Adamantine Staff to block, but this time the force was stronger and fiercer than before.
The Adamantine Staff let out a piercing wail the moment it touched the giant swords, and Hiruzen Sarutobi was sent flying like a kite with a broken string, crashing through three buildings before stopping!
“Hokage-sama!”
The Anbu Shinobi attacked one after another, pouring dozens of Ninjutsu onto the Susanoo once again.
Tianti sneered.
“Keep it coming! All of you!”
Tianti’s wild laughter echoed across the battlefield.
“I am going to slaughter my way through Konoha today! Come on!!!”
His sensory perception was still focused on the direction of the clan grounds.
The Chakra light there was intense; having lost the support of absolute power, it was no longer possible for Root alone to completely take down the Uchiha Clan.
There was still hope!
Tianti gritted his teeth and pushed the Sage Body again, and a vast amount of Chakra surged into the Susanoo like a river.
The form of the Susanoo began to change further.
The golden Tengu armor became heavier, its size expanded again, and it was nearing the edge of its complete form.
Rumble!
With one strike, a large area of the ground was overturned, and waves of destructive energy rolled out.
Hiruzen Sarutobi struggled to climb out of the ruins.
He looked up at the golden giant that was already sixty or seventy meters tall, and looking at his elite subordinates being crushed by it, a glimmer of shock finally appeared in his pupils.
This was the power of the Uchiha, power that should have been used for Konoha.
Now, it was destroying Konoha! This chapter is updated first at g.com.
“Tianti… do you really want to make everyone be buried with you? Stop committing these sins!”
Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke hoarsely.
Tianti looked down at him.
“No, old man, this is not a burial.”
“This is a judgment, a judgment from the Uchiha Clan!”
The Susanoo raised its giant Chakra sword, aiming at Hiruzen Sarutobi.
It smashed down!
Boom!
The ground collapsed.
The Hokage Rock shook in the distance, and the faces of the past Hokage silently watched it all under the moonlight.
And above the burning ruins, the golden light was still spreading, and the screams continued.
Night of the clan’s extermination?
No!
This was the night of Konoha’s destruction!
At this moment, Tianti’s rage and hot blood had reached their peak.
Bang!
The sword light swept past, and the nearby Hokage Building was instantly destroyed into fragments.
“What?!”
“How can he be this strong?”
Countless Shinobi stared blankly at this heart-stopping scene, looking at the Hokage Building that no longer existed.
That building, the symbol of Konoha’s power, which had stood in the Shinobi World for nearly sixty years…
Had actually… been destroyed!?
The dust gradually cleared, revealing the shattered ground below.
Sizzle…
On the ground, a lump of yellow mud surged and condensed into the figure of Hiruzen Sarutobi.
“A secret Doton technique?”
Tianti’s eyes narrowed:
“As expected of the Professor of Ninjutsu; you have certainly played the five elements of Ninjutsu to a new height…”
Whoosh!
The Adamantine Staff spun and flew, and the powerful Chakra air wave blew away all the dust.
Hiruzen Sarutobi held the Adamantine Staff on his back, pointing it diagonally at the sky and earth:
“Is this the only way? There is no other choice…”
“For Konoha, attack!”
“The Will of Fire lives on forever!”
Hiruzen Sarutobi roared.