Konoha: Starting the Game as Yoriichi

Soon, a figure in red shot up into the sky, and with a single leap, landed on the rooftop. That one terrifying slash had directly broken the barrier. The Four Violet Flames Formation was gone, and they could now enter and exit freely.

At this very moment, Orochimaru's long, golden, vertical pupils were fixed on Hatake Kusuo. His expression was changing wildly. This brat's aura... it's even stronger!

Just last month, he had witnessed Kusuo's battle and had been secretly amazed at the terrifying slashes he could unleash so casually. At that time, Orochimaru had decided to make preparations in secret. The reason was simple: this kid's swordsmanship was simply too divine. It was comparable to a Kage-level combatant, and the impact it could have on his plans was profound. To be on the safe side, he had even specifically found Danzo and obtained Hatake Sakumo's body.

But... why? In just one month of not seeing him, this kid felt like a completely different person. His growth was just too fast. He was simply a monster.

Kusuo walked leisurely across the roof tiles. There weren't many intact places left on the ground. One could imagine how fierce the previous battle had been. After the experience of slaughtering the Sound and Sand ninja, Kusuo had long since grown accustomed to this feeling of killing. Not only could he perfectly conceal his murderous aura within himself, preventing it from controlling him, but he could also release and retract it at will. Add to that the achievement of single-handedly beating the One-Tailed Shukaku into a pathetic retreat... the current Kusuo was incomparably confident.

So confident that if any powerful enemy dared to offend him, he would slay them with a single strike.

"Hoh hoh~, I never thought Konoha would have declined to this state, actually sending a half-grown child onto the battlefield to fight. Has your Konoha run out of people?"

Hearing Orochimaru's mockery, the faces of the surrounding Hokage's ANBU guard squad flushed with shame. Immediately, they stepped forward, preparing to stand in front of Kusuo and fight Orochimaru first.

SWISH!

A sword aura slashed out, landing horizontally in front of the guard squad, directly blocking their path. Kusuo, with his back to them, held up his sword and said faintly, "I am enough for this place. You all go and settle the villagers and help drive out the enemies from the other villages."

His calm words held not a trace of emotion. At least, the members of the guard squad did not hear any contempt or arrogance in his tone. Looking at the red figure in front of them, his otherworldly temperament combined with a black ponytail fluttering in the wind, it was as if these words were simply a matter of course.

They looked at each other, knowing they were no match for Orochimaru, and made a decisive choice. "Alright! We'll leave this to you!"

"We'll deal with the other enemies in the village as quickly as possible. The jonin will come to support you together then."

After saying this in a rush, they vanished from the spot in a puff of white smoke.

Orochimaru didn't move. He stood on the spot and let them leave. His gaze remained fixed on Kusuo. In his eyes, aside from Kusuo, no one else could pose a threat to him. As long as he dealt with the boy before him, the entire village of Konoha would be his to do with as he pleased.

He raised his fingers, and a jutsu suddenly activated. Then, the previously still reanimated bodies of the First, Second, and Hatake Sakumo began to move stiffly again. In the blink of an eye, they had recovered their mobility.

"Water Style! Water Dragon Bullet Jutsu!" The Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, in his deep blue Warring States period armor, formed hand seals, and a tsunami-like volume of water spewed from his mouth. As expected of the man known for his mastery of Water Style. The scene was utterly shocking. A majestic, giant water dragon formed in the air, soaring through the sky, lifelike, exceptionally savage and fierce, roaring as it charged towards Kusuo.

"My opponent is the Second Hokage. He's strong, as expected," Kusuo praised.

SWISH!

He slashed with his sword. An incomparably powerful sword aura cut out. The massive water dragon was instantly split in two. The giant dragon's head turned into a large amount of water that splashed onto the ground, flowing down the eaves with a rushing sound.

At the same time, on the other side, the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, didn't stay idle either, once again using his grand-scale Wood Style jutsu.

Deep Forest Emergence.

RUMBLE!

The heavens collapsed and the earth split. One after another, great trees that would take several people to encircle broke free from the hard ground and shot up, quickly occupying the entire space.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

An inescapable net. Faced with a massive amount of tree branches as thick as an adult's body shooting towards him from all directions, trying to trap him, Kusuo calmly drew his sword.

One slash.

Sparks of fire flew. The dense cluster of branches was entirely turned into flying wood chips that scattered in the air. Then, a fire dragon flashed and was gone, incinerating all the trees, turning them into starlight that gradually faded.

Watching this scene, Orochimaru's eyes narrowed slightly. He had placed too many restrictions on the personalities of the First and Second Hokage, so they couldn't display their full strength. Even so, every swing of Kusuo's sword still made his heart tremble slightly.

Such terrifying destructive power. Even the Third Hokage from before, relying on the Adamantine Staff transformed from Enma, could only smash one tree at a time and barely hold off the attacks of the two reanimated Hokage with his Earth Style wall.

But this brat was different. No matter how tricky the ninjutsu, no matter what type of elemental transformation, he cut it all down with a single slash. It was as if, in his eyes, there was nothing that couldn't be cut by a sword. He was strong beyond imagination. It was completely impossible to gauge his true strength.

"It seems the greatly weakened First and Second Hokage are no match for him. In that case, I can only rely on the White Fang." Orochimaru didn't dare to completely remove the restrictions on Hashirama and Tobirama. If he restored their consciousness, who knows if they would break free from the Impure World Reincarnation's control. To be on the safe side, it was better to send out the White Fang.

At that moment, from the abdomen of the girl Orochimaru had transformed into, an arm suddenly stretched out. This arm was completely white, seemingly formed from some kind of cells.

"Impure World Reincarnation, Rise!" The pure white arm raised its fingers, and a large amount of chakra gathered on them.

VMM!

A heart-pounding fluctuation was transmitted.

On the other side, Hatake Sakumo's originally gray body suddenly became vivid. His hollow eyes gradually brightened, as if he had regained his own personality. He opened his hand and looked at his surroundings.

"Am I not dead?"

"This place is..."

Before Hatake Sakumo could fully react, Orochimaru let out a sinister laugh. "Brat, don't you like using a sword? This time, I'll switch your opponent. How about you try this one?"

Swoosh!

The next second, Hatake Sakumo found his body moving uncontrollably, charging towards a boy in red. He focused his eyes. The boy was also holding a sword.

CLANG!

A huge metallic sound rang out. Kusuo blocked the slash from the White Fang.

After his strike failed, Hatake Sakumo followed up with a powerful kick. The White Fang of Konoha, who excelled at sword techniques, was also excellent at taijutsu.

Grabbing the White Fang's incoming knee with one hand, Kusuo grinned. "Speaking of which, you're still my elder in this world. I never thought we would fight in this way."

With that, BOOM!

The blade of Kusuo's sword suddenly turned red. The Crimson Blade was activated. The scorching high temperature instantly cut through the sharp blade in the White Fang's hand and, following the momentum, cut through his entire body. The grayish-brown reanimated earth slowly gathered in the air, and the White Fang's body appeared once more.

"I say, Orochimaru, to deal with a mere genin like me, is it really necessary to send so many people after me?" Kusuo said with a light laugh, yet his face was brimming with incomparable confidence. That expression clearly told Orochimaru: even if you send the First and Second Hokage, as well as the White Fang of Konoha—such a terrifyingly powerful lineup—he still had no fear.

"Hmph!" Orochimaru let out a heavy snort.

Instantly, the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju's, entire body erupted with chakra. An astonishing aura burst forth, an incredibly abundant amount of chakra released, shattering the tiles beneath his feet.

BOOM!

An invisible wave gathered within Tobirama's body. Then...

"Water Style! Water Shockwave!"

A blade of water condensed to its extreme was spat out from Tobirama's mouth. The powerful water pressure turned the originally soft water into the sharpest sword in the world. It shot forward recklessly. Only an afterimage flashed past. Just a single water ripple grazing the building below was enough to cause a mess, shattering tiles.

At the same time... "Ninjutsu: Bringer-of-Darkness Technique!"

After a ripple, the entire space was shrouded in darkness, so dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. A sharp and ice-cold sword glint also appeared on Hatake Sakumo's blade. With a flash, he teleported and appeared, his target Kusuo's head.

"Summoning Jutsu: Great Scroll!" The First Hokage also bit his finger and slammed his hand on the ground. Instantly, a scroll a dozen meters in size appeared in the air with a poof and shot out a storm of ninja tools.

A three-pronged pincer attack arrived simultaneously. If it were any other Kage, they probably wouldn't have come out well. And with the vision completely stripped away by the Bringer-of-Darkness Technique, no one but the caster could see anything.

"Well now, Kusuo," Orochimaru said, clasping his hands together and unable to resist licking the corner of his mouth. "Did you think I didn't gather information on you properly? That old fool Danzo told me quite a bit about you. A mysterious breathing technique, and sword slashes comparable to a Kage's at will... truly surprising."

"So then, how will you perceive your location in the midst of darkness? The reanimated bodies have no breath. Having lost your vision, your death in this battle is certain! The genius of Konoha... will finally fall!"

A glint of excitement even flashed in Orochimaru's golden, vertical pupils. To kill two of Konoha's top-tier powerhouses in one day, one of whom was a monster-level genius... the feeling made him tremble.

"Not good! Kusuo is in danger!" Below the Hokage Tower, Kakashi, Asuma, Kurenai, and the others had rushed to the scene. They looked up and saw this extremely perilous scene.

"Why is Kusuo just standing there? It's like he can't see the enemy!" Kurenai asked with alarm. On the way here, the Hokage's guard squad had already explained the cause and effect clearly. Therefore, Kakashi and the others knew that the girl was actually Orochimaru, and the former Hokage had been brought back by the Impure World Reincarnation.

"I've heard Lord Third mention this jutsu before. It's a super high-level genjutsu of Lord First and Lord Second, the Bringer-of-Darkness Technique!" Kakashi said, his expression grave. "It can create an illusion that affects the vision and steals all light within the jutsu's range. In the dark domain, only the caster and their allies can see and attack. In a world of darkness like a falling black silk cloth, even a Kage-level person would be forced to reveal their position."

Hearing Kakashi's explanation, everyone's faces turned grim. Their hearts were filled with anxiety. This... what do we do? This was the common thought in their hearts.

"Tch."

In the darkness, there was no extra sound, only a faint sound of disdain.

Kusuo smiled. He smiled freely. His mind was at ease. Right now, he just wanted to say, Who told you I can only sense the breath of living things?

At some unknown point in the past, with the help of the system, he had already become able to sense the breath of all things. The Yoriichi Tsugikuni in the world of Demon Slayer was already invincible. How could his template be so weak? In the past, he had sensed the breath of a giant boulder dozens of meters in size and had cut it down with a single slash.

So now, he could naturally also sense the breath of all the incoming ninjutsu, and even the ninja tools. They were so clear in his mind, as dazzling as a great sun in the darkness.

And so, Kusuo softly spoke.

"Sun Breathing, Tenth Form."

"Beneficent! Radiance!"

Sizzle—Clang—

A sword technique that cut through the sky. A flame as scorching as the sun incinerated all the incoming attacks. The sword aura, as brilliant as a solar flare, howled forth. Wherever it passed, all was turned to ash.

This one slash... was so strong that even Orochimaru trembled.