"So—how much did you find out?"
Naruto opened his eyes as he sat beside Sakura and asked calmly.
"There are people inside the village colluding with Orochimaru. They plan to launch an attack on Konoha during the final stage of the Chūnin Exams one month from now," Sasuke said, glancing down at the bandage-wrapped ninja at his feet.
"The curse mark Orochimaru left on me is a means for him to activate a forbidden technique at the right moment and seize another person's body. These people were sent by him to test how strong I'd become after enduring the curse mark."
"Besides that, I also learned something interesting about Orochimaru. Before becoming the leader of Otogakure, he was actually one of Konoha's so-called Three Legendary Sannin—and his teacher was the Third Hokage."
"Then why were you still asking?"
Naruto switched places with his Shadow Clone and grabbed the backs of the two captives' necks, lifting them off the ground. "Isn't that already pretty clear?"
"All of that information came from this guy—Dosu," Sasuke replied, raising an eyebrow as he looked at the man in Naruto's left hand. "And what Dosu knows was leaked to him by Yakushi Kabuto—the same guy who greeted us earlier."
"That's what bothers me. In Dosu's memories, Kabuto is Orochimaru's assistant, spending most of his time in Otogakure. So how did he manage to participate in the Chūnin Exams seven times as a Konoha genin?"
"If you've got something to say, just say it," Naruto replied coldly. His left hand tightened.
Crack.
Dosu's bandaged head snapped sideways instantly.
"I've got experiments to run."
Sasuke's expression sharpened. "I want to know who's colluding with Orochimaru."
"Hm?"
Naruto studied Sasuke seriously for a moment, then smiled. "Not bad. You're getting more and more calculating."
Whoosh.
With that, Naruto vanished along with the two "test subjects."
"Does the person colluding with Orochimaru have anything to do with the Uchiha massacre?"
Sasuke's gaze hardened as he turned toward the Naruto still sitting beside Sakura.
"Yes," Naruto replied with a smile. "Just as you suspect—he's one of the key figures behind the truth of the Uchiha massacre."
"Good."
Sasuke smiled faintly, but his eyes were overflowing with killing intent.
Snow Country – Laboratory
At the same time, in a spacious laboratory in the Land of Snow, Naruto stood at a workbench holding an ink brush. With intense focus, he rapidly inscribed dense, intricate sealing formulas across a blank scroll.
Beside the scroll lay a kunai, its ring tied with a talisman covered in pitch-black sealing marks.
After a while, Naruto set the brush down, picked up the unrolled scroll and the tagged kunai, and turned toward the two bodies lying on the floor.
"First step—use a certain amount of the deceased's personal biological material to establish a contract."
Thud.
Naruto placed the scroll on the ground and stabbed the kunai into the back of Dosu's corpse. Chakra threads shot from his fingertips, dragging the body aside. He pulled out the kunai and let several drops of blood fall onto the completed sealing array on the scroll.
"Next—summon the soul of the deceased from the Pure Land and bind it to the prepared sacrifice."
As Naruto spoke, the blood on the scroll seemed to move of its own accord, merging together. The black markings spread across the floor, surrounding the unconscious female ninja in the blink of an eye, forming a massive sealing formation.
"Summoning Jutsu: Impure World Reincarnation!"
Naruto rapidly completed four hand seals and slammed his palms together.
"AAAAAAHHH—!!"
The sealing formation beneath the woman flared with light. Paper-like fragments rose from the ground, wrapping around her body layer by layer. As she was completely engulfed, her consciousness abruptly returned and she screamed in agony.
When the screams stopped, both the woman and the formation vanished.
In their place stood Dosu—identical to the corpse on the ground.
"Heh… so this is—"
"This jutsu really is impressive," Naruto muttered.
Aside from his inhuman eyes, the resurrected Dosu's face bore no cracks at all.
Years ago, when Orochimaru had been discovered in the Forest of Death by the Third Hokage, he had used an incomplete version of Edo Tensei in haste. Hashirama Senju's body collapsed the moment the talisman was inserted. Later, after witnessing the Third Kazekage partially breaking free, Orochimaru devoted himself to perfecting the technique—ultimately refining it beyond even the version Kabuto later demonstrated in canon.
Naruto stepped behind Dosu and drove the talisman-tagged kunai into the back of his head.
The instant Naruto's hand touched the back of Dosu's skull, a notification echoed inside his mind.
Detected a restrained soul. Initiate harvesting?
Detected a restrained soul. Initiate harvesting?
"…?"
Naruto paused. When the kunai fully pierced Dosu's head, he pulled his hand back—and the prompt vanished. He immediately pressed his palm against Dosu's neck again.
Detected a restrained soul. Initiate harvesting?
The mechanical voice resumed.
Inside the Mirror World, Isobu slapped Chiyo away with one tail and turned to the others.
"Is Naruto experimenting again?"
Chōmei folded his wings and lay motionless. Son Gokū blinked at Isobu with a strangely sympathetic look. Kurama, meanwhile, was grinning openly.
"You got Reanimation Through One's Own Life?" Kurama asked.
"No."
"Then keep going. Everyone's hopes are riding on you."
"…Kurama, getting Edo Tensei from Orochimaru last time was pure luck."
"Nonsense! Look at your results. You got the Reaper Death Seal and the Eight Gates almost immediately. Then Orochimaru's data puppet appeared and you instantly acquired Edo Tensei. Even if it was luck—heh—we all believe you'll pull off something just as shocking with Chiyo."
"…."
"Hurry up. We won't interfere with the joint battle so we don't distract you."
"…."
Back in the laboratory, Naruto selected Harvest Soul.
The prompt stopped.
"Congratulations! You have successfully harvested an otherworldly soul: Dosu Kinuta. Data analysis initiated."
"…Huh?"
Naruto froze. Harvesting souls had never triggered data analysis before. More strangely, even after the soul was harvested, Dosu's body remained in its Edo Tensei state.
"Edo Tensei bodies should revert to the sacrifice once the soul is gone… and the prompt said restrained soul. That's different from previous harvests…"
Data analysis complete.
This soul possesses a special vessel capable of carrying consciousness.
Note: After unlocking 'Soul Incarnation,' the Puppet Reanimation function can convert it into a World Subordinate.
Current data insufficient. Please complete data as soon as possible.
"What…?"
Naruto was stunned.
Boom.
The moment the system message faded, Dosu collapsed. Paper fragments scattered across the floor, and the body reverted to the sacrificed female ninja.
"Insufficient data, huh…"
As he pondered, Naruto dragged Dosu's original corpse over beside the woman with chakra threads. A surge of cold flooded the laboratory, and in an instant both bodies were frozen into a single block of ice.
Poof.
A Shadow Clone appeared, pressed a hand against the ice, and activated Flying Thunder God.
Elsewhere, Karin—now in clean clothes—followed the red-haired woman into another bustling office building.
"Aunt Kushina, you said you locked onto my chakra as soon as the Chūnin Exams began. Then why couldn't I sense you?"
"Did you notice the barrier over the Forest of Death?"
"Yeah… when I spread my senses, it felt like something was watching me."
"When I use sensory techniques in Konoha, I merge my chakra fluctuations into the village's barrier network. That's why neither you nor the others can detect me here. But this only works in Konoha—outside, other sensors like you would notice."
"But how do you know the barrier formulas? Didn't you say you're not from Konoha?"
"I got them from Konoha shinobi. They just weren't exactly willing."
Kushina glanced at Karin. "Didn't your mother ever tell you about Konoha or the Land of Whirlpools?"
"No… Mom never talked about our homeland. Before she left me, she only told me to live—no matter what."
"Then why insist on coming to the lab to find me?" Kushina asked sternly. "Your fundamentals are a mess. Aside from using your massive chakra to sense others, you can't do anything. I gave you so many Uzumaki sealing techniques—if you don't rest and train properly, how do you expect to survive in this world?"
"I just want to learn more about my homeland first…"
"That can wait," Kushina replied gently. "And I'm only a Shadow Clone anyway—I still have tasks assigned by the original."
"I can help, Aunt Kushina!"
Karin looked up earnestly. "Mom said I'm useful!"
"…Fine."
Kushina waved over a busy staff member, exchanged a few words, and a fist-sized scroll appeared in the person's hand.
Karin's eyes lit up with curiosity.
"If you don't want to learn sealing techniques yet, start with this."
She handed the scroll to Karin.
"It's not that I don't want to learn fuinjutsu…" Karin muttered awkwardly. "What is it?"
Kushina smiled. "Open it and see."
Karin nodded, adjusted her glasses, and slowly unrolled the scroll. Her expression instantly turned stunned.
"Aunt Kushina… do I really need to learn medical ninjutsu too?"
Nightfall – Ninja Academy
Anko Mitarashi met the Third Hokage in an office at the Academy and reported everything she had discovered while tracking Orochimaru.
When she mentioned that Orochimaru's target was Sasuke, realization flickered in the Third Hokage's eyes. He didn't ask for details—as long as Orochimaru wasn't after Naruto, that was enough.
The moment he learned Orochimaru had infiltrated the Forest of Death disguised as an examinee, he had prepared to dispatch Kakashi and Yamato. He had suspected Orochimaru was after Naruto.
But the Barrier Team soon reported that Orochimaru's chakra had appeared far from Naruto's squad. The Nine-Tails' chakra hadn't surfaced, and Naruto's team's chakra signatures remained stable.
As for Orochimaru's threat—delivered through Anko—not to interrupt the Chūnin Exams, the Third Hokage ignored it. At this stage, invitations had already been sent to the daimyō of various nations to attend the finals. Canceling the exams now would make Konoha a laughingstock.
Acting rashly was unwise.
If Orochimaru had come for Sasuke, why hadn't he taken him after making contact? Combined with the constant border harassment from Kumogakure and Iwagakure since the exams were announced, the Third Hokage sensed a deeper conspiracy.
Had Orochimaru allied with other villages?
Just as that thought formed—
The door burst open.
"Hokage-sama! Jiraiya-sama has returned!"
"Jiraiya?!"
The Third Hokage's eyes lit up. "Where is he?"
Minutes later, the Third Hokage climbed onto the Hokage Rock behind the tower.
"How long have you been back?"
"Just arrived," said a broad figure turning around—it was Jiraiya. "From here, you can really see how much the village has changed."
The Third Hokage glanced at Jiraiya's forehead protector. "Orochimaru is back too."
"He is?" Jiraiya murmured, nostalgia flickering across his face. "Then all that's missing now is Tsunade."
The Third Hokage shook his head lightly. "The other advisors are tied up at the borders. You came back at the right time. In a few days—"
"Old man," Jiraiya interrupted, his expression turning grave. "There's something I need to ask."
"My three students from the Land of Rain… how did they die?"
Almost at the same moment, inside the Forest of Death, Naruto's Shadow Clone stepped out of the team's cave, greeted Sasuke and the awakened Sakura, and returned minutes later.
As soon as he sat down, Son Gokū's voice echoed from within the seal.
"Naruto—Jiraiya has returned to Konoha."
Author's note: Early manga and anime depictions of Edo Tensei had no facial cracks. For later plot purposes, this version of Orochimaru's perfected Edo Tensei also lacks cracks.
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