"Hu hu hu—"
The ground began to tremble as a monstrous head resembling the Shinigami emerged from below!
Moments later, the Shinigami's enormous mouth opened wide—stretched into an almost impossible arc.
"Swish swish swish..."
"Swish swish swish..."
Countless green souls came pouring out of its mouth!
As those souls returned to their bodies, every fallen shinobi of the Second Division on the Iron Country desert battlefield was resurrected!
Watching the once-dead ninja rise one by one, Shinju smiled in satisfaction.
"It's a pity the Rinnegan is only temporary, and this is just a clone of mine. Otherwise, the range of the Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique could be much greater... I could have brought back even more people."
The Tsuchikage blinked in disbelief. "Wait! You're only a clone?!ヽ( ຶ▮ ຶ)ﾉ!!!"
A clone could perform a jutsu like this?!
He suddenly realized just how shallow his own understanding was!
The Mizukage sighed. "I'm already tired of praising you, Shinju..."
Tsunade added, "To cast such a large-scale reincarnation jutsu... you must have paid quite a price for it."
Shinju nodded without denying it. "Yes. This technique exchanges my life for theirs."
"Now that they've returned to life, it's time for me to go."
As soon as his voice faded, Shinju's clone reverted into a block of wood and fell to the ground with a thunk.
On the battlefield, the revived shinobi of the Second Division woke as if from a dream, embracing each other and bursting into tears and cheers.
"I remember being pierced through by the Second Tsuchikage's Dust Release—how am I still alive?!"
"Yeah, I was split in half by the Third Raikage!"
"Who brought us back?"
"Was it the Kage?"
"I don't know... but even a Kage probably couldn't do something like this..."
Tsunade, having recovered her strength, stepped atop a boulder and addressed the cheering shinobi.
"Listen carefully!"
"The one who brought your souls back from the Netherworld and granted you a second life—was Shinju!"
"The Sixth Hokage of Konohagakure!"
The Raikage followed her up onto the boulder.
"Not only that! He's now also the Supreme Commander of the Allied Shinobi Forces!"
Tsunade turned her head sharply toward him.
"What do you mean by that? You're giving up your position as commander? (꒪⌓꒪)"
The Raikage grunted. "Shinju can't fight on the frontlines, so I'm still commander... but now I'm his acting commander. (๑ت๑)"
"Spreading word of what he did on the desert battlefield and officially naming him commander will stabilize morale."
...
At the same time, in the Allied Shinobi Forces headquarters—
Nara Shikaku received the Raikage's transmission and immediately ordered,
"Communications unit, follow the Raikage-sama's directive! Announce that Shinju is to serve as Supreme Commander of the Allied Shinobi Forces and the Sixth Hokage of Konohagakure! ( •̀∀•́ )"
...
On the Rain Country battlefield, where the Third Division was stationed—
Kakashi stared at the message that had just arrived, utterly stunned.
"A sixteen-year-old Hokage?!"
"And they made him commander of the Allied Forces too?! Σ( ° △ °|||)︴"
The other ninja who had heard the news turned to him, clasping their hands with admiration.
"Impressive, Kakashi!"
"I heard Shinju used to be your subordinate!"
"To have trained such a student—you're amazing! (⌯︎¤̴̶̷̀ω¤̴̶̷́)✧︎"
Kakashi lowered his head. In truth... he hadn't really helped Shinju's growth much at all.
He said humbly, "Shinju reached this level entirely through his own efforts. I'm just an ordinary ninja..."
The Edo Tensei shinobi fighting him couldn't take it anymore.
"Hey! Are you guys chatting right now?! (ꐦ ಠ皿ಠ)"
"This is a battlefield!"
"Can you take us seriously for once?!"
...
At the First Division's position—
Ino received the transmission and burst into tears of joy.
"Uuuh... as expected of Shinju..."
...
Meanwhile, the Fourth Division was still marching.
Gaara, Shikamaru, and Chōji were among this unit.
As Shinju's most devoted admirer, Gaara spread the news the instant he heard it.
"Shinju has defeated Uchiha Madara—the same man who once fought the God of Shinobi!"
"And with his own power alone, he resurrected every fallen shinobi of the Second Division!"
"He's our hero! Appointing him as commander of the Allied Shinobi Forces is more than deserved!"
Below, countless shinobi echoed in unison.
"Commander Shinju! It's well deserved!"
...
In Akatsuki's secret base—
Kabuto came back to his senses, gasping heavily.
"So strong... and that was just a clone..."
"Even the body I specially created for Uchiha Madara was destroyed by him..."
"It seems I'll need to bring out someone even stronger!"
A cold, determined light flashed in Kabuto's eyes as he turned toward the bound Mitarashi Anko not far away.
Anko struggled in panic. "What are you doing?! What do you want?!"
Kabuto sneered. "You might not know this... but in pursuit of true immortality, Orochimaru-sama left fragments of his soul within every Cursed Seal. That's why you're still useful to me.վ--0027ᴗ--0027 ի"
"I only need to extract the soul fragment sealed in your Cursed Mark, combine it with cells from his original body, and perform the secret ritual he had already prepared... then Orochimaru-sama can be revived! ୧⍢⃝୨"
Anko shouted, "Why bring him back?!"
Kabuto replied calmly, "Because there are things only Orochimaru-sama can do. For example..."
...
On the land near the Island Turtle—
After his clone dispersed, Shinju received all of its memories.
Sitting beside Naruto, he said, "It's done."
Naruto nodded, unsurprised by the result.
Even one-fifth of Shinju's chakra was monstrous!
A while later, Killer B arrived carrying a message from headquarters.
"Yo, Shinju! Word's out that you beat Uchiha Madara!"
"And now, Brother named you the official commander of the Allied Shinobi Forces. He's acting commander for now."
Shinju blinked. "What?! (꒪⌓꒪)"
Naruto's jaw dropped. "What?! ∑(✘Д✘๑)"
"So that means... Shinju's the official commander of the Allied Shinobi Forces now?!"
"This—this—this... whoa~~"
Naruto knew Shinju's strength; there was no question he was fit for command.
But the news had come far too suddenly!
Killer B continued, "Oh yeah, one more thing—Shinju, you've officially been made the Sixth Hokage of Konoha!"
"The higher-ups and the Fire Daimyo already approved it. Once the war's over, there'll be a succession ceremony!"
"Heh, not bad, man. You've been keeping busy, huh? ❛‿˂̵✧"
Naruto: (๑ʘ̅ д ʘ̅๑)!!!
Shinju: Σ(っ °Д °;)っ
"I told her I didn't want the position, but she insisted! Appointed me Hokage without even asking... T_T"
Naruto looked envious. "Man, you should be happy! I've wanted that title forever and still can't get it! (*꒦ິ⌓꒦ີ)"