Rewind to one day ago—
"Kakashi..."
"Became the Hokage?"
The words, sounding somewhat fragile and youthful, came from a young girl whose body was covered in cracks. Her once-pure black eyes were now stained with the dark hues representing death.
Having been forcibly dragged back to the world of the living from the Pure Land, Rin Nohara felt no joy upon learning that her beloved had become the Hokage; instead, her heart was filled with agony.
She had already learned from Orochimaru that she would be deployed to the battlefield as a weapon to be used against Kakashi. The goal was to destabilize Kakashi's mind, allowing Orochimaru to seize his body.
"Lord Orochimaru, why?"
"We... we were comrades from the same village, weren't we?"
Rin looked pained as she stared at the man before her, who wore a wicked, charming smile on his face.
In Rin's memory, Orochimaru was one of the village's Sannin, a core power of the Hidden Leaf, and a personal disciple of the Hokage. She could not understand why he would do something like this.
"Rin..."
Kushina, who had also been brought back via the Reanimation Jutsu, looked at her husband's student with a face full of heartache. She instinctively stepped in front of the girl, glaring at the man before them with pure hostility.
"Kushina-san..."
Rin looked painfully at the familiar red-haired woman. Kushina's body was covered in the same ugly, jagged cracks as her own.
Which meant that, just like her, Kushina was dead.
Rin didn't understand. She didn't understand why even Kushina-san was dead.
Why?
Not only herself, but even her master's wife was dead—so what had happened to her teacher, Minato?
After losing so many of those closest to him, just how much suffering must Kakashi have endured?
"You bastard..."
Tobirama Senju felt the stiffness of his body, his expression turning incredibly grim.
He had assumed that brat Kakashi had used the Reanimation Jutsu on him again, but he hadn't expected it to be someone else this time. Even more irritating was the fact that the Orochimaru standing before him was a rogue ninja of the Hidden Leaf.
Having spent time in the contemporary Hidden Leaf during his previous summoning, he was well aware of this fact.
"Orochimaru, are you not afraid of death?"
Cold, frost-like eyes fell upon Orochimaru. The white-haired man's voice was calm yet freezing.
The White Fang of the Leaf, Sakumo Hatake.
Looking at this man with the resolute face, Orochimaru flicked his tongue across his lips and let out a light chuckle.
"Of course I am. It is precisely because I fear death that I seek a powerful vessel."
"Sakumo, you have a truly exceptional son. It is because he is too exceptional that he was placed on my list. For that, you should feel proud."
In the face of Orochimaru's rhetoric, Sakumo Hatake wanted nothing more than to cut the man down where he stood.
As a ninja of the Leaf, he had sacrificed everything for the village. As a father, Kakashi was his only son. And now, Orochimaru was using him to deal with the current Hokage of the Leaf—who was also his own flesh and blood.
Sakumo's killing intent surged to its peak, nearly manifesting physically from his body.
A clash between father and son!
Even though a Reanimated soul has no heartbeat, Sakumo Hatake felt as though his desire to kill Orochimaru was enough to make his heart leap right out of his chest!
"It's always like this. Everyone is 'you kill me, I kill him, he kills you.'"
"When will the shinobi world ever know peace?"
Hashirama Senju sighed nearby, then turned his focus toward his younger brother, speaking in a blaming tone:
"It's all your fault, Tobirama. Couldn't you have just behaved and stuck to researching your Water Style?"
"Are these Forbidden Jutsu really that much fun to play with?"
From the tone of the Reanimated souls and their conversation with the young man before them, Hashirama had already figured out the gist of the situation.
An ambitious man seeking eternal life had betrayed the Leaf. He had discovered the powerful body of the current Hokage, but because the target was too strong, he had Reanimated them to serve as his thugs.
"What does this have to do with me?"
"A jutsu is neither good nor evil; it all depends on the person using it!"
Tobirama Senju felt not a shred of guilt regarding his brother's accusations, retorting with total confidence.
But...
Looking at the Hashirama Senju before him—who seemed to have no memory of that "troublesome brat" they had met before—Tobirama's mind raced.
He knew Hashirama had met Kakashi; he had even taught Kakashi his unique Sage Mode. Yet, his elder brother now seemed completely oblivious.
Was it because the original soul was in the Pure Land, and the chakra left behind in the world of the living dissipated into nature without feeding back to the main soul?
But... that wasn't important right now.
Tobirama could clearly sense that his power was close to what it had been when he was alive. He attempted to forcibly break the binding of the Reanimation Jutsu.
"Don't waste your effort, Second Hokage."
As if sensing Tobirama's subtle movements, Orochimaru pulled back his collar and let out a cold laugh.
"I didn't just add Hashirama's cells to the sacrifices used to reanimate you; I have even transplanted the First Hokage's power into myself."
"Otherwise, I wouldn't have dared to let you several possess power so close to your living prime."
On Orochimaru's exposed chest, the faint image of a human face could be seen.
Upon seeing that face, everyone turned to look at the frowning Hashirama Senju.
It was exactly Hashirama's face!
"You won't survive seven days after transplanting such a massive amount of my brother's cells."
As the leading expert on Hashirama's cells, Tobirama naturally knew exactly how terrifying his brother's power was. Even he couldn't fully master those cells, let alone anyone else.
"That is why I need to switch vessels."
Orochimaru's smile was an eyesore to Tobirama, yet he felt helpless. He had to admit, this Orochimaru had taken everything to the absolute extreme.
"Very well. I have given you all enough time to understand the current situation. Please wait patiently for the sun to rise tomorrow morning."
"When the time comes, I shall require your assistance."
Orochimaru laughed and departed. To be safe, he had no intention of putting them back into their coffins. Instead, he intended to have the five of them disguise themselves as Sound Ninja to infiltrate the unit, using the opportunity to ambush the Fifth Hokage.
As Orochimaru left, the girl who had died at the young age of thirteen felt a wave of conflicting emotions.
"Kushina-san, are we really going to be enemies with Kakashi?"
Hearing Rin's words, Kushina's heart felt heavy. They were already dead, yet they were being summoned from the Pure Land by Orochimaru to fight someone they had once been so close to.
"It's all his fault."
Kushina muttered, glancing at Tobirama Senju beside her.
"Right, exactly. It's all Tobirama's fault," Hashirama chimed in from the side.
A vein popped on Tobirama's forehead.
"I have already said: a jutsu is not defined by good or evil, but by the practitioner!"
"But if this jutsu didn't exist, Kakashi wouldn't be facing this situation."
"Summoning the dead is a taboo to begin with," Sakumo Hatake added coldly.
"Exactly, that's it! It's Tobirama's problem," Hashirama said, nodding with a face full of approval.
"It really is the Second Hokage's fault."
Rin held Kushina's hand, looking at Tobirama with deep dissatisfaction.
"Even a child sees it more clearly than you, Tobirama," Hashirama added, backing Rin up.
Tobirama looked at the group, feeling an immense sense of irritation.
His older brother was technically the teacher who had taught Kakashi Sage Mode; Sakumo Hatake was Kakashi's father; Uzumaki Kushina was Kakashi's master's wife; and Rin Nohara was the comrade who loved Kakashi.
It felt like he was the only outsider here.
Tobirama swallowed his anger.
Fine, fine!
It's all this old man's fault, alright!
————
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