UTBW: Ch. 67

While the three of them were sighing heavily, a brown-furred ninja dog came running over, panting heavily, and stopped in front of Hiruzen.

"Pakkun?" Hiruzen was stunned for a moment, recognizing this as Kakashi's summoned beast. He immediately asked, "What's wrong? Did something happen with Kakashi?"

"It's not Kakashi. It's you guys." Pakkun shook his head vigorously, the fat on his face jiggling along with the motion.

Us? Hiruzen and his two companions looked at each other in confusion.

"Phew... Kakashi said..." Pakkun panted heavily as he relayed Kakashi's message word for word. As a ninja dog, not a human, he had no real concept of hierarchy.

Thus, he spoke extremely bluntly.

Without any lead-up, he directly and plainly explained how the Uchiha had seized the opportunity to infiltrate the Sarutobi clan grounds.

After listening, Hiruzen and the other two turned pale. The nearby Sarutobi clan ninja also widened their eyes in shock and fury.

Hiruzen's eyes seemed to blaze with fire as he roared, "I will never forgive you!!"

In an instant, he understood, this had to be the work of Junichi.

At this moment, he naturally ignored all the wrongs he had inflicted on the Uchiha clan before. In his mind, he was allowed to do such things, but others were not.

"We should hurry over," Koharu said sympathetically.

"Maybe we can still save a few people," Homura also added, his expression just as pitiful. They hadn't expected the Uchiha to be so ruthless either, to actually strike the Sarutobi clan while they were away.

Fortunately... The two exchanged glances and secretly sighed in relief. It was only the Sarutobi clan involved, not their own families.

"You're right!" Hiruzen took a deep breath, forcibly calming himself. In a deep voice, he said, "Let's go!"

"YES!!" The surrounding Sarutobi ninjas, already burning with anxiety, immediately responded.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Everyone used Body Flicker Techniques to rush ahead; the entire group vanished in an instant.

However, as Hiruzen led the way, a sharp pain pierced his head, as if a needle were stabbing into his brain.

Cold sweat poured down uncontrollably.

He even felt his limbs becoming sluggish, and his face slightly numb.

Am I too tightly wound? He frowned inwardly, but quickly shook his head.

The situation was urgent, there was no time to rest; he could only force himself to endure.

Before long, his group arrived at the Sarutobi clan grounds.

Fwoosh!

The first thing they saw were roaring flames, sweeping across the clan grounds like tidal waves. The terrifying heat surged so fiercely that even standing 50 meters away outside the grounds, one could feel the searing air.

Thick columns of smoke began to gather and rise into the sky.

It wouldn't be long before all of Konoha would see the giant blaze consuming this place.

"No..." Seeing his clan grounds engulfed in flames, he was consumed by fury, his blood rushing to his head as veins throbbed violently on his forehead.

Darkness closed in on his vision, and he collapsed uncontrollably.

"Hokage-sama!"

"Careful!"

Panicked shouts echoed around him.

Koharu caught the fainted Hiruzen immediately, pressing her fingers against his philtrum, urgently saying, "Calm down, Hiruzen! Breathe slowly! Don't let your breath get stuck!"

Everyone watched anxiously.

Huff... huff... huff...

Supported by others, he panted heavily for a long while before slowly recovering. He opened his eyes with difficulty, gritted his teeth in hatred, and snarled, "I swear... I'll kill him!!"

"Yes, yes, calm down." Koharu quickly comforted him.

Homura placed his hands gently on Hiruzen's head, massaging softly.

Meanwhile, other Sarutobi ninjas had entered the compound to search.

Hiruzen, supported by others, found a quiet spot outside to sit down and rest.

A few minutes later, he had somewhat recovered. Although his headache had worsened to the point it felt like his head might explode, he forced himself to stay conscious. Weakly, he asked, "What's the situation with the clan...?"

Koharu and Homura fell silent.

Hiruzen's heart immediately sank. This kind of reaction could only mean bad news!

He hurriedly turned to a nearby Sarutobi clan member and asked again, "Tell me, how is it?"

Under his intense gaze, the clan member's eyes reddened, his face twisted with grief as he answered, "They're all dead..."

Buzz!!

The news exploded inside Hiruzen's mind like a bomb. His eyes flew wide open, his pupils dilating.

All dead...

All dead...

All dead...

Those words echoed in his brain like a raging storm, swirling madly, until, at a certain moment, it was as if something inside his spirit cracked.

Pop—

A faint, almost inaudible sound of shattering rang in his mind.

He suddenly felt a strange surge of heat and cold in his head, as if something deep inside had snapped. Then, darkness rushed in.

His consciousness was swallowed up.

"Hiruzen!!"Before completely blacking out, he seemed to hear Koharu's desperate cry.

But he could no longer form a single coherent thought.

---

Homura and Koharu panicked as they watched Hiruzen collapse unconscious.

They, along with other Sarutobi ninjas, hurriedly rushed him to the hospital.

On the way, they saw bodies of Sarutobi clan members being carried out from the flames. Both of their faces were filled with fear.

"It's too tragic..." Koharu clutched her chest, feeling as if a giant stone was crushing her heart.

"Yeah... the Uchiha have truly gone insane," Homura said, his expression heavy.

Unease gnawed at both their hearts. If the Uchiha dared to slaughter the Sarutobi clan, would they come after them too? After all, back then, both of them had been involved in oppressing them.

The moment that thought crossed their minds, they felt like enemies were closing in; their hearts pounded wildly. Their temples throbbed painfully.

A sharp sting flickered through their brains.

"Hisss..." Koharu frowned and muttered helplessly, "Old age... just a little stress and I'm already getting a headache."

"Same here," Homura gave a bitter smile. "No more stamina left."

Neither of them thought much of it. After all, at their age, headaches from overwork weren't unusual. It had happened plenty of times before.

After sending Hiruzen in for examination, they finally exhaled a sigh of relief, when suddenly, several familiar ninja came rushing toward them, drenched in sweat and looking panicked.

"Utatane-sama! Mitokado-sama!"

The group shouted anxiously, "We have urgent news to report!"

"What is it?" Koharu and Homura's hearts skipped a beat as they looked at the group. These were civilian-born ninjas cultivated by their families.

Why were they here now? Why hadn't anyone from their direct families shown up yet?

In a flash, a terrible realization struck them, and their faces turned grim.

"Please... let's talk over there," one of the ninja said awkwardly.

"Alright." Koharu and Homura led them to the end of a hallway, where no one else was around.

There, the leading ninja hesitated, then painfully said, "Your clans have been wiped out."