Hiruzen persuaded me to die

Unlike the despair and broken spirit that consumed Sarutobi Hiruzen...

Sarutobi Asuma felt a twisted sense of relief.

No matter the cost...

He had killed Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu.

At the very least…

He had earned a sliver of hope to survive.

"I can live… right?"Asuma asked, his eyes filled with desperation and the faintest flicker of hope.

"…What are you talking about?"

Hyuga Naraku's voice was calm—but cold, slicing through the silence like a blade.

"Didn't you refuse my condition earlier?"

Asuma froze.

His face drained of all color, like he'd been struck by lightning. A hollow silence fell.

"Refuse? Why would I refuse? I—I killed them, didn't I?"His voice cracked, his words stumbling out in disbelief.

Then it hit him.

What Naraku meant.

He had rejected the deal before killing them. To get close. For the ambush.

"No—! I was only pretending to refuse! It was all part of the plan—to lower their guard! I killed them for you!"

Asuma shouted, like a man drowning who suddenly saw the surface—only for it to vanish.

Naraku tilted his head, almost mockingly."Hmm… is that so?"

Then, as if considering something new:"Well, I suppose we didn't make that clear before."

"I'll give you another chance," Naraku said, his voice like velvet stretched over steel.

"This time, your target—"He raised his hand and pointed behind Asuma.

"—is him."

Asuma's body stiffened.

Behind him…

There was only one person.

His father.

Sarutobi Hiruzen.

A chill colder than death ran down Asuma's spine.

Hyuga Naraku was telling him: kill your father—and I'll let you live.

"No… you're toying with me again, aren't you?! Just like with Homura and Koharu!"

Asuma snarled, desperation turning to anger.

This man—this demon—never planned to let him live.

"No," Naraku said plainly. "I'm serious this time."

"If you do this, I swear on behalf of everyone here: you will be free."

"Leave Konoha, change your name, disappear into the world. I won't pursue you. Not now, not ever."

He wasn't lying.

Asuma's life or death no longer mattered to Naraku. It was no longer about power—it was about something deeper.

Cruel symmetry.

A poetic reversal of what Sarutobi Hiruzen had once allowed to happen to Uchiha Itachi.

And now, it was his turn to feel the sting of betrayal.

Asuma's fists trembled.

Could he really do it?

Killing Homura and Koharu was one thing. They were old. They were guilty. They weren't family.

But this was…

His father.

"If it's your reputation you're worried about, don't bother," Naraku said coldly.

"There's no shortage of monsters in this world. You wouldn't be the first son to kill his own father."

"Start a new life. Be forgotten."

Asuma's silence stretched.

And Sarutobi Hiruzen… watched it all with horror."Asuma…"

His voice broke.

His son hesitated.

He actually hesitated.

Asuma… was considering it.

Just then, the Konoha ninja who had pursued the rebel clans returned.

"All insurgents have been eliminated,"Uchiha Shisui reported calmly.

Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Itachi followed shortly after.

Hiruzen's heart sank.

All gone.His allies, his people—annihilated.

Not even one survivor.

"All right," Naraku said. "Asuma… choose."

"Or don't say a word. Just act. Kill him—and walk free."

Uchiha Itachi, silent in the crowd, observed.

He'd pieced together what had happened.

Asuma had killed both elders, but that hadn't fulfilled Naraku's original request.

The final task was now clear:

Patricide.

Itachi looked at Sarutobi Hiruzen, and his own memories flickered.

Father and son.An echo of himself and Fugaku.A tragedy reversed.

Asuma's hands gripped his kunai tighter.

He turned.

Faced his father.

"I'm sorry, Father…"

His voice barely a whisper in the wind.

He had to survive.

They were the last of the Sarutobi clan.

If he did nothing, they would both die.

If he acted…

The clan would survive. Even if it meant sacrificing everything else.

Hiruzen looked up at his son, who slowly stepped closer.

There was no resistance in the Third Hokage's eyes.

His chakra had long been sealed.

Even if he had the strength…

Would he fight?

Could he fight?

Fugaku and Itachi stood in silence.

They weren't going to intervene.

This was no longer a battle.

It was a performance.

A bitter, grotesque play.

Then—

Naraku's eyes narrowed.

A shift in the air. A ripple.

Spatial fluctuation!

It was coming from behind Hiruzen.

Without thinking, Naraku moved.

He drew the Kusanagi Sword in one fluid motion, lightning chakra crackling along its edge.

A portal swirled open behind Hiruzen, distorting space—

Kamui.

And emerging from the void—draped in a black robe—Uchiha Obito.

Naraku's blade lashed forward.

SLASH!

Blood and thunder filled the air.

Obito's body was split across the waist, a spray of red trailing behind him.

But—

A hand.

His hand—

Had already touched Sarutobi Hiruzen.

In a blink, both vanished—ripped into the Kamui dimension.

Only the lower half of Sarutobi Hiruzen's body remained, severed and twitching on the ground.

Naraku stood silent.

He didn't chase. The space-time chakra fluctuations faded.

Five minutes passed.

And finally…

The half-corpse slowly flickered—then vanished completely.

Erased.

Naraku's hand lowered.

He had been robbed of his finale.

But even so…

He had already won.