Abandoning His Duties — Is This Really the Third Hokage?!
Staring at the figure cloaked in silver before him, the adamantine staff trembled slightly in the hands of Enma, the Monkey King. His eyes narrowed.
"Hatake Sakumo...?" Enma muttered, disbelief flooding his voice. "Why is the White Fang here? I saw him fall long ago."
He turned sharply toward his long-time partner. "Sarutobi Hiruzen, you'd better start talking. What the hell is going on?"
Hiruzen's expression darkened. Just like the last time—when Minato Namikaze appeared alive during that strange battle, summoning toads from Mount Myōboku—the impossible seemed to be happening again. Hiruzen had promised answers, but had offered none. And now, the White Fang stood before them—alive, and clearly not an illusion.
"Ape King, now's not the time. Just stall Sakumo. I'll take care of the rest," Hiruzen said, avoiding the question once more.
Enma grunted, clearly annoyed. "Stall? And just where are we? This isn't Konoha."
Looking around at the war-torn terrain and unfamiliar shadows, the Monkey King frowned deeply. "This feels... wrong."
"Heh," Sakumo scoffed coldly. "That's because you're not in Konoha anymore, old monkey. Hiruzen was exiled. Kicked out by the very village he once ruled."
"...What?" Enma's eyes widened. He turned back toward Hiruzen in disbelief. "Tell me this isn't true. You, the Third Hokage—exiled from the Hidden Leaf?"
"Ape King," Hiruzen said, his tone strained, "you're seriously believing him? After all the battles we've fought together, the lives we've saved? You think I'd be cast aside so easily?"
Enma narrowed his eyes, unwilling to let the subject drop. "Then explain it. Why are you outside the village with your son, Asuma, and your wife, Biwako? Why is Sakumo fighting you, not alongside you? Why are all these dead shinobi suddenly walking again?!"
Hiruzen opened his mouth to answer, but no words came. His silence said more than any lie ever could.
"You..." Enma's voice faltered. "You were really convicted?"
"I already told you—I wasn't banished!" Hiruzen shouted, visibly agitated. "Why won't anyone believe me?!"
"I want to believe you," Enma snapped, "but how can I when you won't give me a straight answer?! You've changed, Hiruzen."
A long silence followed, the air between them tense.
Finally, Enma gave a heavy sigh and turned his back to the former Hokage. "This will be the last battle I fight by your side. After this... you're on your own."
In the end, Enma, the Monkey King, did not abandon Sarutobi Hiruzen. Loyal to the very end, the summon chose to fight once more alongside his aging comrade.
"White Fang!" Enma bellowed, baring his fangs. "I won't let you touch the Third Hokage!"
With a furious roar, Enma lunged at the legendary shinobi, Hatake Sakumo—the man known across the nations as the White Fang of Konoha. The air tensed as two powerhouses prepared to clash once more.
Sakumo's eyes narrowed. He sighed quietly and slowly slid his White Chakra Sabre into its scabbard. "Why do you fight for him, Enma?" he muttered. "Still... I won't hold back."
His stance shifted.
"Hatake Kenjutsu—White Fang: Flash Fang!"
With a sharp shing!, Sakumo vanished for a breathless instant.
A gleaming arc of light cut across the battlefield. Enma's eyes widened as the strike hit—swift, precise, and impossible to counter.
"RRAAAGH!!"
The Monkey King let out a thunderous roar before his form dispersed into a burst of white smoke—vanishing back to the Summoning Realm. All that remained was a splatter of blood and the rustle of leaves.
Sakumo exhaled, blade in hand, and turned slowly toward Hiruzen.
But instead of fleeing, the Third Hokage stood his ground.
"You should have run, Hiruzen..." Sakumo said quietly, and with a flash, his blade slashed once more.
Shunk.
Sarutobi's body split cleanly—too cleanly.
Something was wrong.
No blood spilled. Instead, the "corpse" crumbled into chunks of earth.
Sakumo's brow furrowed. "A Doton clone?"
He instantly knelt, placing two fingers to the ground. "Sensory Technique—activate."
But the battlefield was silent. The real Hiruzen's chakra signature was nowhere in range.
"…Gone?" Sakumo muttered, surprised. "He actually ran?"
A flicker of disbelief crossed his face as he checked his map—a specialized scroll tool used during high-level ANBU missions.
The red dot that represented Sarutobi Hiruzen was already far from the battlefield—fleeing.
Sakumo stared in stunned silence.
"The Hokage… left his people behind? His own family?" His hand trembled slightly on the hilt. "How far has he fallen…"