Orochimaru casually picked up a recording scroll and began writing.
"The Edo Tensei (Reanimation Jutsu) allows the summoning of a deceased soul from the Pure Land back to the living world. If the soul retains its sense of self, the reanimated individual can exhibit strength nearing the peak of their former life."
"However, if the soul retains autonomy, emotional triggers may eventually lead it to break free of its lingering obsessions. Once released, the soul can sever the Edo Tensei's binding and return to the afterlife."
"Once this happens, the soul can no longer be summoned again via Edo Tensei."
"To prevent this, the caster can erase the subject's personality and overwrite it with preset talisman commands, turning them into obedient puppets. Alternatively, the caster can manually control their actions."
"However, increasing control reduces the subject's combat effectiveness. Moreover, the caster can only manually control one Edo Tensei summon at a time."
"While current casting precision is high, reanimated individuals still struggle to exert full strength. Further improvements may lie in the quality of the sacrifices used. Edo Tensei still holds many secrets."
Land of Rain
At nightfall, Pain entered the cavern where the Gedo Statue was sealed. He approached the flickering torches before the massive statue and spoke:
"You might as well show yourself now. Konan has told you plenty of times—you're part of the organization. You could just walk in through the entrance."
Right on cue, two large pitcher plant leaves sprouted from the ground behind him. A familiar black-and-white face emerged.
"Ah~ I was just using Earth Style to save time. Oh, and by the way—Deidara and Sasori failed their mission again."
Pain looked up at the Gedo Statue.
"What happened this time?"
Zetsu, now fully above ground, split open the leaves on his shoulders.
"My Spore Technique didn't record anything. You'll have to ask them yourself. When I arrived, the battle was already over. Apparently, this mission was... unusual."
"Deidara stormed back ranting about needing to improve his 'art', and Sasori said he needs to replenish puppet materials. Both of them were in a terrible mood."
Pain turned and formed hand signs, activating the Illusionary Projection Technique.
Moments later, one by one, phantom projections of the Akatsuki members materialized in the cave. Everyone except Konan was present.
Kisame, eyes always wide and slightly comical, was first to speak.
"Another meeting, Leader? Itachi and I are in the middle of a mission."
Pain nodded.
"The attempt to eliminate Orochimaru failed. Deidara and Sasori will explain."
Sasori, who had used his true body for the projection, spoke coldly.
"That traitor never appeared. Instead, he used a forbidden jutsu to fight us—one that revives the dead. We were fighting corpses the entire time."
Deidara, still fuming, added:
"No matter how many times we killed them—even when I blew them to pieces—they kept regenerating!"
Kakuzu immediately turned toward Hidan.
Hidan, with his slicked-back hair, scowled.
"Oi, oi, don't look at me like that. Jashinism doesn't deal with that kind of freak!"
Pain looked to Itachi.
"Do you know anything?"
Itachi's crimson Sharingan spun slowly as he answered in his usual detached tone:
"It's the Edo Tensei, developed by the Second Hokage. It can resurrect the dead and control them at will. They're virtually unkillable—even killing the caster doesn't stop them. Only sealing techniques or sheer suppression can neutralize them."
"What?!"
Deidara clenched his fists, frustrated. First Itachi, now Orochimaru—his art kept getting overshadowed.
Pain fell into brief thought, then concluded:
"That's enough for now. Keep a close eye on Orochimaru. He's not one to stay quiet. He'll make his move soon enough."
At the same time – Forest of Death, Konoha
Inside a deep cave within the Forest of Death, a sharp, piercing sound of birds chirping echoed.
Sasuke's Sharingan were wide open as he stared in awe.
How much chakra does Naruto have?!
His real body was just standing still, but his countless lightning-cloaked shadow clones never showed signs of exhaustion. Even the ones working on water techniques seemed tireless.
From dawn till dusk, Naruto had been forcing his clones to repeatedly merge Lightning Style and Water Style jutsu. At first, Sasuke thought Naruto was just trying to create a powerful combo technique.
After all, he had seen Naruto fuse Lightning and Water to create a charged Water Dragon Bullet.
But now… this was different.
Naruto was pushing a Water Clone to forcibly combine its jutsu with a Chidori-wielding Lightning Clone.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Each time the two clone teams touched, they exploded into smoke.
"What are you staring at?"
The real Naruto, leaning against the rock wall, casually formed hand signs and created dozens more clones.
Sasuke frowned.
"Your clones exploded just now due to chakra backlash. If that had been your real body, your arm would be gone."
"How can you take this kind of risk so casually?"
Naruto responded calmly.
"I've got a strong body. And a lot of chakra. A few clones won't kill me. But you? Even with the Sharingan, you've still barely grasped chakra infusion. You're falling behind."
Sasuke's eyebrow twitched. He picked up a sword from the ground.
"Just give me a few more days."
Naruto shrugged, saying nothing. Instead, he withdrew into the Mirror World, accompanied by Kurama and Muō.
As soon as they entered, Kurama impatiently challenged Kakashi to a fight.
Naruto turned to Muō.
"So… what happened?"
Muō's eyes twinkled with amusement.
"That spiky-haired shinobi is devious. Last time, I got careless, and he cut off two of my tails. Kurama mocked me for days. So, I told him to fight Kakashi himself."
Naruto chuckled and pulled up the combat replay. But Muō immediately raised a paw to stop him.
"Better not. Kurama doesn't like people watching his fight footage."
Naruto laughed.
"Oh right, I forgot."
He then asked seriously:
"Muō, are you sure Roshi's Lava Release is relevant to my research on chakra nature fusion and kekkei genkai?"
Muō nodded.
"Roshi fused Fire and Earth to create Lava Release. Unlike Han, whose case is different. But the most exceptional example is Onoki—his Dust Release is a kekkei tōta, which surpasses kekkei genkai altogether."
Naruto nodded in understanding. He had originally planned to leave the village to contact Roshi, but Muō had warned him that Iwagakure had separated and hidden Roshi and Han in secret locations.
Even if he used the Flying Thunder God seal on Han to teleport there, it would be pointless.
Inside the Mirror World, Naruto had been refining his mastery of five chakra natures by fighting puppets endlessly. So far, he was most proficient with Wind, Fire, and Lightning Release.
A few days ago, he had even obtained the Thunder Water Dragon Bullet from the Third Hokage—though that technique simply combined two nature types, rather than fusing them on a deeper level.
He paused for thought… then noticed Muō was gone.
He casually selected the Third Hokage's icon—and opened up a new battle simulation.
Time passed quickly
Before long, a new year arrived.
Konoha Year 58. On the second day of the new school term—
"Next pair—Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto!"
Iruka called out, staring directly at Naruto.
Noticing the expectation in his teacher's eyes, Naruto—standing in a far corner—simply raised his hand.
"I forfeit~"
After so many years of school, his classmates didn't even bother booing anymore.
Iruka showed no surprise and immediately called the next group—Chōji stepped up.
Shikamaru quietly moved closer to Naruto, whispering seriously:
"That's a shadow clone, isn't it?"
Naruto smirked.
"Took you long enough to ask. I admire your patience."
Shikamaru sighed.
"That's because I wasn't sure if I should ask—or if I could. But lately… I've learned some things about you. Don't you want to know?"
Naruto's smile didn't fade.
"Not interested."
Shikamaru blinked.
"Why not?"
Naruto walked past him, waving toward Hinata in the distance.
"No reason."
Shikamaru's expression hardened, then as if making a decision, he asked:
"Don't you want to know about your past?"
Naruto turned, meeting Shikamaru's gaze.
"No."
"But that's because—"
"Don't ask why."
Naruto cut him off, then returned to his side and added:
"You read the Konoha Yearbook, didn't you?"
"Back when we first shook hands… you said we were friends who could trust each other."
"Aren't we?"
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