"Minato, is this your parting advice to me as the former Hokage? In your case, sealing chakra isn't even that necessary, right?" Tsunade shot back with a half-smile.
"Minato, your current body must be one created through the Impure World Reincarnation technique."
"I may not know how to perform the Impure World Reincarnation myself, but I do understand its principles."
"This is an unconventional form of Summoning Jutsu. You're waiting for someone to perform the Impure World Reincarnation to bring you back, aren't you?"
Minato had no reply.
"To be used like a Puppet and yet accept it so willingly...you're nothing more than a tool. Don't you find that tragic, Minato?"
"Can someone who stole his own disciple's corpse still be called the Hero Fourth Hokage?"
"Who knows whether Rin ever imagined things would come to this after her death?"
Faced with Tsunade's biting sarcasm, Minato remained silent.
Tsunade, meanwhile, was thinking about how she should handle him.
Fundamentally, Minato was like an unusual "summoning beast." To prevent him from escaping, Izumi Uchiha would probably have to keep watch over him constantly.
Tsunade sighed—this was such a headache.
"Hokage-sama, what should we do with him?" After waiting for a while without hearing Tsunade speak, an Anbu ninja couldn't help asking.
"Temporarily hand him over to the Interrogation Unit for strict custody," Tsunade decided after some hesitation.
The Anbu members obeyed and escorted away Minato Namikaze, disappearing from Tsunade's sight.
Even at night, the Interrogation Unit kept shifts.
Seeing the familiar face brought by the Anbu, they hesitated slightly.
"This is the Fourth Hokage?"
"He is... but also not," the Anbu said, shaking his head.
The Interrogation Unit members were confused.
"He's a Puppet—his consciousness exists, but his body is lifeless and controlled by another. The Hokage wants you to extract full information from him—determine who controls him and what their ultimate goal is."
"We understand," the members replied solemnly.
Their feelings were complicated—they'd never imagined the techniques they learned would one day be used on a former Hokage.
At night, only junior personnel handled the duties. When morning came, more ninja showed up at the Interrogation Unit, including many familiar faces,
such as Morino Ibiki, Inoichi Yamanaka, and others...
Everyone who saw Minato Namikaze wore uneasy, conflicted expressions.
No matter what methods they tried, Minato remained expressionless.
"Sorry, Minato."
With that apology, Inoichi Yamanaka and his subordinates simultaneously activated [Mind-Reading Technique] to probe into Minato's memories.
Outwardly, Minato remained composed. But inwardly, he wondered when Orochimaru would make his move...
---
Inside a dark cave, several indistinct figures appeared—featureless except for their piercingly bright eyes—allowing them to recognize one another.
Except for Pain, Nagato, and Konan, the other Akatsuki members were somewhat impatient.
Since Zetsu left, they'd been holding meetings more frequently than before.
Often, these weren't even important meetings—mainly for exchanging intelligence.
This really rubbed the bunch the wrong way. For rogue ninja who despised authority and loathed being micromanaged, this was pure torture.
Even back when they were legitimate ninja, those superiors wouldn't constantly drag them into meetings!
These meetings were just pointless chatter. Such a pain.
This place is deteriorating fast, thought Kakuzu.
"Let's exchange intelligence," said Obito coldly.
No one responded.
"Nothing to report?" Konan asked.
"It's a time of peace; something doesn't happen every single day," Itachi replied indifferently.
Hoshigaki Kisame nodded in agreement. "Yeah, last time I raised an issue, you all dismissed it as insignificant. So now I've got nothing to report."
Pain remained silent.
He could sense the growing frustration—they'd clearly lost their drive.
"If that's the case, we'll adjourn," Pain said flatly.
"There have been some strange occurrences concerning konoha and Sunagakure, though I'm not sure if we should keep monitoring them," Sasori of the Red Sands spoke after exchanging glances with Kakuzu.
"Go ahead," Pain instructed.
"It appears Minato Namikaze has come back to life."
"Impossible." Obito hesitated, then quickly rejected the idea.
"It really was him. My spy within Sunagakure passed along this message—the Fourth Kazekage and Minato Namikaze met with Jiraiya."
"Afterward, Minato Namikaze deliberately lured out the One-Tail Jinchuriki, and a battle broke out between him, the Kazekage, and that Jinchuriki."
"Konoha also experienced some chaos—it seemed like Nine-Tails' chakra ran wild. Exactly what happened remains unclear."
"Some loose-tongued rumor-mongers are even spreading stories about seeing Kakashi Hatake and a mysterious man fighting over a woman."
"Huh?" After hearing Sasori's account, Obito was completely confused.
The reports from Sunagakure sounded reasonable enough.
But the events in konoha were fragmented and baffling—just idle gossip.
Even if someone wanted to fabricate such tales, the story lacked any coherence at all.
"Sasori, don't you have agents inside konoha?" Obito asked.
Sasori shook his head.
"What about the rest of you?"
Others shook their heads too.
Did he really need to investigate personally? Sighing helplessly, Obito pondered.
"Well actually, there is one. He's a Konoha shinobi," Sasori finally answered after pretending to think for a moment.
"Then leave the konoha matter to you," Obito ordered.
Nodding, Sasori inwardly smirked.
The person he mentioned was naturally Kabuto Yakushi.
However, he had no intention of contacting Kabuto himself.
He simply wanted an excuse to make his intelligence appear credible. He would wait one or two days before revealing what White Zetsu had told him later.
---
Clutching a Guren's Time in her hand, Kaguya carefully examined it.
"Can this item be produced infinitely?"
"No," answered White Zetsu accompanying her, shaking his head. "Those that can be retrieved have already been excavated by Haido's group. The true energy source lies sealed deep underground."
Following White Zetsu's steps, Kaguya proceeded into the deepest part of the palace.
As she looked around, row upon row of massive stone blocks stretched out before her.
"No wonder they were able to mine the ore. The seal here is growing weaker and weaker. I can sense the seeping energy. At this rate, this place won't stay hidden for long."
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"Never mind. Although I don't know Sealing Techniques, as long as there's energy leaking out, it's all the same to me—I can absorb it without any problem."
Without a single movement from her, the energy spilling out from the Grel Mine suddenly gained visible form and color. It converged toward her and was absorbed into her body.
Kaguya sat motionless on the ground.
---
"Did you find anything?"
"It might be related to Orochimaru," Inoichi Yamanaka answered Tsunade while glancing at the emotionless Minato Namikaze.
"I figured as much." Tsunade didn't seem surprised in the least as she turned her eyes toward Minato.
"Planning to turn Rin into another one of *you*, are you?"
---
"With Minato's skills, he should've returned already. Do you think something might've happened?" Hiruzen Sarutobi worried inside Orochimaru's base.
"It's possible. But since my connection with him remains intact, his physical form must still exist somewhere," Orochimaru replied.
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