CHAPTER 177: CHAPTER 177

A drop of sweat slowly slid down Sarutobi Hiruzen’s cheek. If it were just Orochimaru alone, he wouldn’t have much trouble dealing with him.

But facing three Hokage plus Orochimaru—even if the Hokage brought back with Edo Tensei were weaker than in life—that lineup was still a serious threat.

Even with the Mizukage beside him, Sarutobi could already tell that working together with this Mizukage wasn’t going to be easy.

"All three are out, huh."

"Those two won’t be able to work together."

Orochimaru stepped out from the shadow behind the coffins, muttering softly to himself before showing a confident, almost certain smile.

Then the lids of the three coffins slowly opened. Through the cloud of white smoke that burst out, three figures with their heads hanging low could be seen.

The two men in the back coffins straightened up and walked out slowly.

Even though Hozuki Mangetsu hadn’t seen them in person before, he’d been in the Hokage building enough this past month to recognize the faces from the portraits on the wall.

Just as he suspected, the black-haired and silver-haired men stepping out of the coffins were the First and Second Hokage.

The two of them greeted Sarutobi Hiruzen like they already knew him well.

"Long time no see, Monkey."

"So it’s you. You’ve gotten old, Sarutobi."

Aside from their stiff movements and pale faces, they looked and spoke almost exactly like living people.

Hozuki Mangetsu couldn’t help but widen his eyes at the sight.

Even though he had mentally prepared himself, seeing the dead speak with the living—complete with their thoughts, speech, and souls—still shocked Hozuki Mangetsu.

This Edo Tensei technique was seriously pushing it.

No wonder it was a forbidden jutsu. The fact that Orochimaru had studied this and got banned made total sense. This was straight-up dark magic.

"I didn’t expect to see you two brothers again like this."

"It’s really a shame."

"Let’s cut the old-man talk. It’s about time we get started."

Orochimaru glanced at the front coffin, where the Fourth Hokage stood completely still, not reacting at all. His brow twitched ever so slightly.

No soul—just an empty shell?

Even so, just having the body, plus the other two Hokage, should be enough to deal with the two people in front of him.

Orochimaru pulled out two kunai wrapped with red talisman paper and inserted them into the backs of the First and Second Hokage’s heads.

"Do we have to fight no matter what time we’re in?"

Senju Hashirama let out a quiet sigh as he spoke.

Orochimaru laughed without a care.

"You enjoy it, don’t you?"

The dead, who should’ve been resting underground, had not only been disturbed but also forced back to life and made to fight against people they once knew.

No matter how you looked at it, this was something that should never happen.

"Playing with the dead and messing with time... people like you never end well."

Sarutobi Hiruzen glared hard at Orochimaru, who stood behind the three Hokage.

But Orochimaru clearly didn’t care about what he said. After placing the kunai into the heads of the two Hokage, a buzzing sound started to come from around them.

White steam-like mist began to rise from both the coffins and the Hokage’s bodies.

As it grew thicker, color slowly returned to their pale faces, and even their eyes began to look more alive.

The people brought back by Edo Tensei were almost no different from the living.

Sarutobi Hiruzen widened his eyes in disbelief. This really was like bringing the dead back to life.

"They’re starting to look more and more like they did when they were alive..."

Senju Hashirama and Senju Tobirama both rushed toward Hozuki Mangetsu and Sarutobi Hiruzen.

Hozuki Mangetsu glanced at the only one who hadn’t moved and didn’t even have a voice system—the Fourth Hokage.

He was actually the one Mangetsu had been most curious to see, since they were closer in age.

Even though they were all brought back by Edo Tensei, the Fourth seemed like a failed summon compared to the others.

Were there more conditions to this jutsu than people thought?

Hozuki Mangetsu quickly dodged the attacks coming his way, his mind still turning over that thought.

While the two Hokage were keeping Hiruzen and Mangetsu busy, Orochimaru stepped up to the Fourth Hokage.

Was it because he used the Reaper Death Seal to seal the Nine Tails that his soul couldn’t return from the Pure Land? Is that why he couldn’t be fully summoned?

Orochimaru looked thoughtful, but still pushed a kunai, with a tag attached, into the Fourth Hokage’s head.

Minato Namikaze’s eyes twitched slightly before they opened. His body began moving under control.

Whether he had a soul or not, the result was the same—he was still going to be used like a puppet.

Orochimaru gave a small smile, then quickly backed away.

That was enough.

"I don’t know what kind of relationship you had with those two Hokage,"

"But right now, they’re just puppets under someone’s control."

As a kunai came flying toward Hiruzen’s face, Mangetsu casually gave him a heads-up.

He then stepped aside to dodge Tobirama’s kick, which came flying down from a rooftop.

Mangetsu grabbed Tobirama’s ankle, trying to throw him away, but Tobirama quickly pulled out a kunai and stabbed it straight at Mangetsu’s head.

*Squelch.*

The sound was like water. The kunai sank into Mangetsu’s head as if it had gone into liquid. There was no resistance at all.

Tobirama’s pupils shrank slightly in surprise, but as a controlled puppet, he didn’t react beyond that.

Mangetsu didn’t hesitate—he threw Tobirama out with one strong motion.

On the side, Hashirama was also blocked by Hiruzen.

The Senju brothers stood facing them, bodies slightly lowered, staring blankly without emotion.

Minato also walked forward under control.

Two against three—it didn’t look good for them at all.

"Come on, you guys have way too many people! This is totally unfair."

Mangetsu reached behind his waist and pulled out a scroll, yanking it open in one quick motion.

He bit his finger, leaving a line of blood across the scroll.

With a loud *poof!*, a cloud of white smoke spread out from where Mangetsu stood.

His voice rang out loudly from inside the smoke.

"I’m still missing one... but since it’s come to this, I guess I’ll start getting serious!"

Everyone inside the barrier couldn’t help but focus their eyes on Mangetsu.

When the smoke cleared, several Mangetsus stood scattered around the field, each holding a different large sword.

Counting them, there were six identical Mangetsus, each holding a unique blade.

"These are the treasures of our village, you know!"

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