*Several Days Later - Konoha Underground Facility*
Yuto sat in the dim glow of his lab, fingers dancing across the keyboard of a device that looked suspiciously like a laptop—if laptops were cobbled together from scrap metal and sheer audacity.
This was his "Network Terminal", a fusion of Bleach's pseudo-science and shinobi ingenuity. Once operational, it would allow long-range communication—something the Shinobi Nations had never seen before. Forget carrier pigeons or messenger hawks; this was real progress.
Beyond the lab doors lay a cavernous hall, its walls lined with flickering monitors displaying every corner of Konoha in eerie clarity. Further back stood two massive steel doors, behind which rows of cylindrical pods hummed ominously. Some were empty. Others... were occupied.
Uzumaki Kushina and Uchiha Mikoto—both recently freed from the Spirit Pearl—stood before two such pods, their expressions a mix of nostalgia and melancholy as they gazed at the familiar faces inside.
In front of Kushina was Obito's beloved, Rin Nohara, one of the students of the forth hokage, resurrected via the Impure World Reincarnation.
Next to her, Mikoto stood before another pod, her gaze fixed on the hollow-eyed figure inside.Konoha's former genius, Uchiha Shisui aka "Shisui of the body Flicker".
"Shisui," she said softly.
Finding his remains had been a challenge. Yuto had scoured the banks of the Naka River, nearly crossing into Grass Country, before stumbling upon the sad remnants—a rusted headband and scraps of cloth clinging to bone.
Unlike Kushina, Mikoto, Rin and Shisui who existed as pure spirit forms, the others inside the pods had been revived via true Edo Tensei. Their bodies were clad in tattered versions of their old clothes, faces partially obscured by creeping white bone—Hollowfication in progress.
They were literally in the process of turning into Hollows.
But as Yuto had warned, the tech wasn't fully stable yet. So these "Hollowfied Edo Tensei zombies" spent most of their time snoozing in their pods, waiting for the transformation to complete.
But Shisui?
Shisui was awake.
Through sheer willpower, he'd resisted the pull of unconsciousness, spending the last few days absorbing the brutal truth of what had happened after his death.
"I... apologize, Lady Mikoto," he said, voice echoing slightly inside the pod. "I never imagined Itachi would go so far."
Mikoto waved a hand dismissively. *"No need. You tried. That's more than most."
"But the massacre—"
"—was inevitable," she finished, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "But inevitable doesn't mean the children deserved it. Or the shopkeepers. Or the damn dango vendor."
*"So… you plan to take revenge on Konoha's elders and Itachi?" Shisui's face twisted in conflict.
If that was the case, he'd rather just die again.
He wouldn't stop Mikoto, but he also couldn't bring himself to help her attack Konoha—or his best friend.
Faced with that dilemma, suicide seemed like the only honorable option.
If it was, he'd rather dissolve back into the earth.
"Revenge?."
Suddenly, a certain redhead materialized beside Mikoto, slinging an arm around her shoulders.
"What we're doing now isn't about revenge, silly," Kushina chirped, grinning. "We're just making sure the Uchiha tragedy never happens again. That's all"
"Lady Kushina…" Shisui took a deep breath. "When you say 'never happens again,' how far are you willing to go? If the Fourth were still alive… would he support this?"
"Shisui," Kushina said, ignoring his question, "do you know how many workers it takes to smelt five kilograms of steel using bellows?"
Shisui blinked. "…No?"
"Twenty-four!" She held up both hands, fingers splayed. "Twenty-four workers, slaving nonstop for two hours, just to make five lousy kilos of steel. But you know how long it'd take if you replaced them with one fire-style user?"
Shisui stayed silent.
"Forty-seven seconds!" Kushina smirked. "Now imagine if every blacksmith knew fire jutsu, every farmer knew earth and water jutsu… Would wars over resources even exist?"
Shisui's eyes widened.
A beat of silence.
Then—
"Oh."
It hit him like a kunai to the gut. This wasn't just idealism. This was possible.
For the first time in years, Shisui felt something dangerously close to hope.
"Yuto's the future of this world," Kushina said, smirking at his stunned expression. "Now you get it."
Shisui nodded numbly. 'A kid with that kind of vision? Yeah. Future was an understatement.'
"Welcome aboard, Shisui!" Kushina beamed. "But first, you've got some studying to do. Gotta lay those bricks for the new world, y'know?"
"I won't let you down," Shisui said, his voice firmer than it had been in years.
"Of course, we'll start you off slow," Kushina mused, stroking her chin. "No advanced theories yet. Baby steps."
"Any recommendations?" Shisui asked eagerly.
"Since you're just starting, we gotta break your old mindset first." Kushina's grin turned dangerously innocent. "Luckily, I've got the
perfect beginner-friendly material for you."
With a tap on the pod's control panel whether ghost or not, her newly formed spirit particles let her interact with physical objects, a small rectangular screen flickered to life in front of Shisui.
[Now Playing: Magical Girl Uchiha Madara]
THE TRAP WAS SPRUNG.
Everything up until now?
Pure setup.
Kushina had fully embraced the dark side.
Shisui stared at the screen, his face frozen in utter bewilderment.
"Ganbatte, Shisui!" Kushina cheered, already dragging Mikoto away. "Finish this, and the gates to the new world will open for you!"
"Pay attention to episode four—Madara-chan's Susano'o transformation sequence is fabulous."
As the opening credits rolled—complete with Madara twirling in a frilly dress—Shisui made a noise like a deflating balloon.