Chapter 305: Hiruzen Sarutobi's Cross
To Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Rather than trembling in fear, waiting for death, he preferred an early release to join his old friends in the afterlife.
Danzo, Koharu, and Homura.
One by one, familiar faces floated before Hiruzen's eyes, making him smile warmly.
"Yo, smiling so calmly, it looks like you're ready to die," Dan noticed Hiruzen's expression, seeing through his thoughts.
Hiruzen stared intensely at Dan, speaking in a deep voice:
"Do it, Uchiha Dan. I have no regrets in my life."
"Why would I kill you?"
Dan laughed mockingly, leaning back in his chair and tapping the table with his fingers, "Your crimes aren't so easily erased by death. Killing you would be too merciful."
Dan could spare the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, out of respect for Tsunade, as their feud with the Uchiha was from a bygone era.
But Hiruzen Sarutobi? Sorry, no one could save this old man.
Hiruzen's face changed, frowning as he asked, "Then… what do you intend to do?"
Dan smiled slightly, revealing his Rinnegan, and spoke leisurely:
"How about I use these eyes to imprison your soul in a genjutsu world, where you will suffer for eternity? I guarantee, you'll wish for death but find none, repenting for your sins forever."
With that, Dan's eyes flashed, unleashing a surge of ocular power.
Not good.
Hiruzen's vision blurred, and when he regained clarity, he found himself in Dan's genjutsu space.
Above him was a blood-red sky; beneath him, countless white bones; in the distance, a river of blood flowed, emitting a pungent stench.
This place was… hell.
"Congratulations, your soul is now immortal."
Dan appeared before Hiruzen, spreading his arms in a mock greeting and explained, "Here, there's no passage of time, only you and this beautiful scenery, along with… endless pain, like this."
As he finished, Dan snapped his fingers.
With a crisp sound.
In Hiruzen's horrified expression, a cross appeared behind him. He floated in place, arms and legs spread, bound tightly to the cross.
Then.
Dan stretched out his hand, and several rusty, large iron nails and a hammer appeared in his palm.
He walked up to Hiruzen, picked up the hammer and nails, and began to drive the nails into Hiruzen's palms.
Bang! Bang!
"Ah!"
The sound of nails being hammered, mixed with Hiruzen's screams, echoed through the bloody world.
First, his palms, then his crossed feet. Nine nails in total were driven into Hiruzen, with blood dripping to the ground.
"Does it hurt? This is just the beginning."
Dan's voice, like a devil's whisper, sounded in Hiruzen's ears, making him break out in cold sweat, trembling in terror.
Swish, swish, swish.
Several of Dan's clones appeared around the cross, each holding kunai, ninja swords, saws, and other weapons, and began to stab into Hiruzen's body without expression.
Psh! Psh! Psh!
The sound of blades piercing flesh, accompanied by Hiruzen's wails, resounded endlessly in the genjutsu world.
"Not bad."
Dan muttered to himself, satisfied.
This kind of mental punishment was inspired by his nephew Uchiha Itachi's Mangekyo Sharingan technique—Tsukuyomi.
Itachi's Tsukuyomi could extend a moment in reality to 72 hours in the genjutsu world, where he would continuously stab his enemies, causing immense mental and physical torment.
Dan's Rinnegan ocular power far surpassed the Mangekyo Sharingan. Additionally, he could easily extend the duration tenfold with his control over time-stop abilities.
That's 720 hours.
Unfortunately, despite Hiruzen's iron will, he couldn't last that long.
Barely a third of the 720 hours had passed before the Third Hokage's spirit was on the brink of collapse.
No one could endure such torture.
"Please… please, if you give me a quick death, I'll do anything!"
Finally, Hiruzen broke down, abandoning his dignity, and begged Dan for mercy.
It was only then that he realised how naive he had been and understood that Uchiha Dan was not human—
He was a devil.
Danzo, driven mad by this demon, eventually ends up as a beggar on the streets of Konoha, dying like a stray dog in an alley.
Sarutobi Hiruzen met an even worse fate. In the hands of Danzou, even death became a luxury.
"This is getting a bit boring."
Facing the pleading Sarutobi Hiruzen, Danzou yawned, losing interest.
Snap.
He snapped his fingers again, and in a flash, they were back in the interrogation room, sitting across the table from each other.
Tick-tock, tick-tock.
The clear, crisp wall clock echoed in the quiet interrogation room.
"Huff...huff..."
Sarutobi Hiruzen panted heavily, his face as pale as a sheet, drenched in sweat.
He struggled to lift his head and glanced at the clock, his face instantly filled with horror as he realised only a minute had passed in reality.
"Now... do you confess?"
Danzou continued tapping his fingers on the table, asking with a faint smile.
"I confess."
Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded hastily and, without waiting for Danzou to press further, began listing his crimes.
He craved power, suppressed the Uchiha clan, caused the deaths of the Fourth Hokage and his wife, abused the Fourth's orphan... Oh, and he was a lecherous old man, often using the Telescope Jutsu to spy on the women's bathhouse in the village.
At that moment, Sarutobi Hiruzen wept bitterly, confessing all his life's sins without missing a single one.
"That's enough."
Danzou interrupted him, indifferent to whether Hiruzen's remorse was genuine or not.
Seeing Danzou's impatience, Hiruzen panicked, fearing another round of torture in the genjutsu world. He quickly said:
"I want to atone for my sins. To make up for what I did to the Uchiha clan, I'll do anything..."
Danzou sneered and asked:
"What do you think the Uchiha clan lacks now that needs your atonement? What do you have to offer?"
"Uh."
Sarutobi Hiruzen was at a loss for words, indeed.
Now, he was nothing but an old, frail body with nothing else left. Even if he offered to sweep the floors for the Uchiha, they might still disdain him.
Thinking this, Hiruzen smiled bitterly, slumping in his chair, awaiting Danzou's final judgment.
"However, speaking of atonement, there is someone who needs it."
Danzou suddenly changed the topic, stroking his chin before continuing, "I can give you a chance to atone, to make your death somewhat valuable."
"What chance?" Hiruzen asked eagerly.
At this point, Hiruzen's greatest fortune would be that Danzou would let him die, allowing his soul to pass peacefully.
"Come in."
Danzou glanced at the door.
The door creaked open as soon as he spoke, and an old woman slowly walked in.
"Kazekage, you..."
Hiruzen's pupils contracted in shock. He never expected the visitor to be Chiyo of the Sand Village.
Chiyo looked at Danzou, receiving his silent approval before saying to Hiruzen:
"In the Sand Village, there is a forbidden jutsu called Reanimation Jutsu, which transfers the user's life force to the deceased, reviving them.
Sarutobi Hiruzen, you are known as the Professor of Ninjutsu, having mastered over a thousand jutsu. Learning this Reanimation Jutsu shouldn't be a problem for you."
Hiruzen froze for a moment, quickly understanding what he needed to do. He looked at Danzou and cautiously asked:
"May I ask... who do I need to revive?"
"Uzumaki Naruto." Danzou stated a name.
Naruto?
Hiruzen was stunned.
"Is there a problem?" Danzou asked.
Hiruzen hesitated, unable to suppress his curiosity, and boldly asked Danzou:
"Why do you want to revive Naruto? Isn't he an enemy of both the Uchiha and Konoha?"
This question intrigued not only Hiruzen but also Chiyo, who was very interested.
As the Akatsuki leader, Naruto had caused so much trouble for Konoha, making him the Uchiha clan's greatest enemy. Why was Dan reviving him now?
Could it be that he didn't want Naruto to die so easily and instead planned to revive him, only to imprison him?
Thinking this, Hiruzen Sarutobi and Chiyo both felt a chill.
However.
Contrary to their expectations.
"I want to give that boy a second chance, to start his life anew. After all, he is still young and has atoned for his sins with his life, so he deserves a chance to reform, don't you think?"
Dan said with a faint smile.
Unexpectedly, even Uchiha Dan had such a compassionate side; it was truly incredible.
Chiyo had this thought but immediately dismissed it. Was Dan planning to revive Naruto out of kindness, or did he have other intentions?
Only he himself probably knew.
But Hiruzen Sarutobi seemed to believe Dan's words. He nodded solemnly and said earnestly:
"Dan, thank you for giving me this chance to atone. I will use my own life to revive Naruto."
He had guessed that the cost of this forbidden technique would be his own life, but this was just as well; he could escape Dan's grasp through death.
Moreover, Hiruzen's desire to atone was genuine.
At least, in death, if his soul encountered the Fourth Hokage and his wife in the Pure Land, he wouldn't feel utterly ashamed, as he would have given his life to revive their son.
"Then I leave this to you."
Dan said, standing up to leave, adding, "Remember to be quick. If Naruto stays dead for too long, he might not be revivable."
Swoosh.
Chiyo reached out, stopping Dan with a serious expression as she said:
"Sixth Hokage, I hope you will honor our agreement."
"Of course."
Dan smiled, then vanished from the interrogation room in a flash.
He had asked Chiyo to teach Hiruzen the forbidden technique in exchange for a simple promise—to bring Gaara back from the Akatsuki and return him to Sunagakure.
Chiyo was old on the brink of death.
Suna needed a young, strong Kazekage, but they had been unable to find a suitable candidate until Chiyo saw Gaara fighting Deidara in the Chunin Exams.
Temari and Kankuro had repeatedly pleaded with Chiyo to bring Gaara back to Sunagakure, promising to help him return to normalcy and become a ninja of Suna again.
So, Chiyo made a deal with Dan.
Agreement?
Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes flashed, knowing it wasn't his place to ask. He bowed to Chiyo and said, "Thank you, Kazekage."
This was his chance to atone, a grace from Dan that he had to cherish.
On the streets of Konoha.
The road was pitch black with the moon gone and the streetlights damaged. Only a slim figure with hands in his pockets walked slowly, head down.
It was Sasuke Uchiha.
He didn't go home with his brother and father but wanted to be alone because—
For some reason, after Naruto Uzumaki's death, Sasuke felt a void inside, as if he had lost something important in his life.
Realising his strange feelings, Sasuke was shocked.
He and Naruto weren't close, even enemies; why would he feel this way?
Sasuke couldn't understand.
Of course, he didn't know that the Indra Chakra within him and the Asura Chakra within Naruto had been intertwined for thousands of years through reincarnations.
However.
If Naruto couldn't be revived, Sasuke's dilemma might soon disappear.
Because then, the Indra Chakra within him would leave, continuing the cycle of reincarnation, seeking its next host alongside the Asura Chakra.
Due to the darkness and his distraction, suddenly—
He stumbled over a piece of debris, nearly falling.
"Are you okay, Sasuke?"
A gentle voice sounded in his ear as a hand steadied him, preventing his fall.
"You are... Kabuto?"
Sasuke looked up at the smiling man with glasses, recognising him.
Kabuto was a young Jonin who graduated from the Ninja Academy and later chose to stay as a teacher. He was also the homeroom teacher of Sasuke's cousin, Marisa.
"To think Konoha's number one prodigy would remember a nobody like me is an honor." Kabuto's smile was warm.
"Heh, number one prodigy? That's just a joke."
Sasuke shook his head with a self-deprecating smile, intending to continue past Kabuto.
Hearing this, Kabuto pushed his glasses up and said meaningfully:
"Sasuke, don't give up. If you weren't Konoha's number one prodigy, that great person wouldn't have taken an interest in you."
Hearing Kabuto's encouragement, Sasuke paused, then frowned and asked instinctively:
"That great person? Who do you mean?"
"Of course... Lord Orochimaru."
Kabuto's eyes flashed coldly, and before his words finished, he attacked Sasuke!
(End of the chapter)