Slash… slash… slash…

Orochimaru flails the Kusanagi blade at Hiruzen. Hiruzen blocks the blade with his staff. ​​

Argh…

Enma grunts in pain as the Kusanagi blade damages him.

"Hiruzen, anymore of these strikes, and I would be forced out of my transformation." He warns Hiruzen.

Bang…

Hiruzen slams down the staff as he makes some hand signs.

"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Jutsu"

He spits out a small volley of fireballs at Orochimaru.

Whoosh… whoosh…

Orochimaru swings the blade and slices the fireball in half.

"Looks like the old age caught up to you. Your attacks can't even faze me anymore."

Haah…

Hiruzen claps his hand together.

BOOM…

The remains of the fireballs explode on top of Orochimaru.

Bang…

Orochimaru is sent flying out of the explosion as he slams into a nearby tree. He faceplants on the ground.

"I might be old, but I can still deal with the likes of you."

Hiruzen takes a deep breath.

Stab…

"Are you sure, sensei?"

Orochimaru stabs the Kusanagi blade through Hiruzen's chest.

"How could this be?"

Hiruzen turns towards Orochimaru's body.

Crumble… crumble…

Orochimaru's body turns into a paste of flesh and blood.

"This technique?"

Hiruzen's eyes widen.

"Haha… Sensei! You are old and frail and you will soon die by my hands. But I have achieved immortality, I am longer restricted by the limits of my body. I am no longer restricted by the limitations of my talent; I just have to find a suitable vessel as a new host for my body and I can live for as long as I want. Haha…"

Cough… cough…

Hiruzen coughs out a mouthful of blood as he turns behind. He notices the snake-like appearance of Orochimaru.

"Orochimaru! You lost your humanity. You are not a human. You have become a monster."

"Haha… Sensei! If this is what it takes in my pursuit of knowledge, then I am ready to become a monster."

Stab…

Orochimaru continues to push the sword through Hiruzen's chest.

Swoosh…

Enma turns into his monkey form as he grabs the other end of the sword and stops Orochimaru from further shoving the sword.

"Since when!… since when you fall prey to this obsession. Since when... since when you found the necessary means to pursue this foolish conquest of yours?"

Hiruzen struggles to breathe as he questions Orochimaru.

Slick…

Orochimaru licks his lips as he replies.

"Since you are going to die, anyway; I will satisfy your curiosity.

It all started during the Second Ninja War. Tsunade, Jiraiya, and I fought against the forces of Hanzo and Salamander and barely survived the battle against him.

It was during that time, Jiraiya stayed in Amegakure, Tsunade returned to the village to mourn the death of her lover. While I on my way back to Konoha came across the remains of a particular ruin near the Land of Ancestor.

Those were quite old ruins, probably even older than the history of Shinobi itself."

Orochimaru has a frantic expression on his face as he describes the ruins.

"Out of my curiosity, I explored the ruins, and what I found inside the ruins changed my outlook on life."

He turns towards Hiruzen and remarks.

"You must be curious what was inside those ruins, Sensei?"

Argh…

Hiruzen grunts in pain.

"Inside those ruins was the secret of the immortality. There were various statues and murals of god-like horned beings.

I spent three months inside those ruins while trying to decipher them and guess what, sensei?… I figured their secret of Immortality."

Orochimaru opens his mouth and spits out a tattered scroll from it.

"This is the result of my research."

He unfolds the scroll in front of Hiruzen.

There is a pyramid-shaped figure carved on the scroll. Beside the pyramid shape barb, there is a diamond-shaped seal on the scroll.

"Sensei! This is the technique used by those beings. By inscribing the very essence of their being on a well-crafted seal; those horned-beings can preserve the entire information of their body as a backup.

Later, they implant this seal in a suitable host. This seal contains a part of their soul; so when their body dies, they will just reincarnate in the body of host as they slowly take over their consciousness and reform their old body."

Hiruzen's eyes widen in surprise.

"Orochimaru don't tell me… you?"

"Haha… yes, Sensei! I can't create a perfect replica of this technique. Also, the host requirements for this seal are quite high and almost impossible to meet.

But I improvised this technique and created my own seal. Though my seal isn't as efficient as this technique, my technique has fewer harsher requirements. Slick…"

Orochimaru licks his lips as he reveals the information to Hiruzen.

"I see… you haven't changed at all. Even in your youth, you were always overconfident of your abilities. It's the part of the reason Jiraiya surpassed you."

HAAH…

Hiruzen claps his hands together.

"Dead Demon Consuming Seal"

Whoosh…

A swirl of smoke rises from Hiruzen's body. The smoke turns into a Shinigami as it floats behind Hiruzen.

Swoosh…

Ethereal blue energy separates from Hiruzen's body as the Shinigami extends his hairs and wraps them around the ethereal energy.

The ethereal energy turns into a spiritual image of Hiruzen as the Shinigami holds his soul.

Swish…

A blue spiritual arm pierces through Hiruzen's naval and grabs Orochimaru and draws his soul.

Aah…

Orochimaru screams in pain as the Shinigami rips apart his soul from his body.

"Orochimaru! My time is already near. I would die sooner or later; but before I die, I while get rid of my biggest regret."

The Shinigami continues to pull Orochimaru's soul.

"NOO!... I won't allow you. After how far I have come... after all the things I have achieved in my life... I won't fall here. Just die already."

Orochimaru pushes the Kusanagi sword through Hiruzen's chest.

"Hiruzen, you won't be able to make it. My summoning time is already running out." Enma remarks as he struggles to hold the sword.

"Then, at least, I will seal a portion of his soul."

Swish…

The reaper draws its blade and rips a portion of Orochimaru's soul and seals it.

Aah…

Orochimaru screams in pain as his snake body wreathes on the ground.

"Too bad, I won't be able to clear my regret."

Hiruzen silently closes his eyes.

BOOM…

A giant Orange chakra blade cleaves the purple barrier in half.

Guffaw…

The Sound Four spits out a mouthful of blood as a result of the backlash of the barrier.

Hiruzen slowly lifts his head and notices a giant Orange humanoid heading his way.

"Lord Third… are you alright?"

Itachi jumps in front of Hiruzen with his Susanoo. He holds Hiruzen's body in his arms.

"Itachi! You did an outstanding job. You are a worthy candidate for the position of Hokage."

"Please don't push yourself too much." Itachi takes out a sealing tag from his pocket and places it near Hiruzen's chest.

The sealing tag releases a bright green glow as it slowly heals Hiruzen's wound.

"It's no use. My death is certain, Itachi. I made a pact with the Shinigami with my soul as the sacrifice. You can't save me."

Hiruzen shakes his head.

He weakly points towards the snake Orochimaru.

"Yes, Hokage-sama!" Itachi nods his head.

Stab…

The Susanoo stabs its blade through Orochimaru's snake body.

"Totsuka Blade of Sealing"

Swoosh…

A gourd appears at the hilt of the blade as it seals Orochimaru.

Aah...

Orochimaru's wails of resistance die down as Itachi turn to Hiruzen.

"I got rid of him, Lord third!" Itachi nods his head.

"Finally, I can rest in peace."

Hiruzen closes his eyes and falls in eternal slumber.

Rumble… rumble…

The enemy sensor barrier around Konoha collapses as Konoha shinobis get rids of enemies.

"Sarutobi! We will meet in the afterlife."

Tobirama regains control of his edo-body as it dissipates slowly.

Drip…

A single teardrop flows from Hiruzen's eyes as he peacefully rests in his sleep.

Whoosh… whoosh…

The rest of the anbu gathers near Itachi, who slowly raises his head.

Yugao steps forward and reports.

"Captain Itachi! we have neutralized all the enemy forces with zero causalities on our side… No… Lord third lost his life in this battle." She slowly closes her eyes.

The rest of the Anbu closes their eyes as they surround Hiruzen.

Whoosh… whoosh…

Two anbus pushes the crowd and approaches Hiruzen's dead body.

One of them gently grabs Hiruzen's body as tears flow from his eyes.

"Father!"

Itachi silently stands up and leaves the father and son duo.

"Give me the detailed report."

Itachi orders his Anbu team.

"Ca… captain! We got a fresh report. Captain Izuna, Lord Mizukage-sama, and princess Ayaka are in a serious state."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN?" Itachi's eyes turn into Mangekyo as he stares at his subordinate.

Gulp…

The Anbu gulps his saliva and reports everything to Itachi.

"… Captain Shisui left for Sunagakure."

Crack… crack…

Itachi tightly clenches his fists.

"Suna will pay for this. No matter where the culprit is hidden; I will drag him out."

Whoosh…

Itachi flickers out of Konoha and disappears from their vision.

"I have never seen Captain Itachi lose his cool before."

One of the Anbu members remarks.

"I can't even imagine the hell they will unleash on Sunagakure."

------------

A/N:- Orochimaru's curse seal of Heaven and Earth reminds me of Kama. Well atleast, both of them have same function. So, what are your thoughts? Is this matter debatable?