Chapter 120: Choosing the Casters for the Four Red Yang Formation
"So what do you want to do? Be a Senju old man who thinks everything is his birthright?"
Hearing the Second Hokage mention her, Uchiha Hikari curled her lips in displeasure.
"…Of course, make thorough preparations."
Tobirama took a deep breath, comforting himself not to argue with children, and continued with the matter at hand.
"I agree."
Orochimaru voiced his support for the Second, grinning as he did so.
"If the Second Hokage I respected most had thought like this back when he negotiated with Kumogakure, maybe he wouldn't have died."
"Orochimaru, you…!!"
Tobirama was both furious and depressed.
You shouldn't expose someone's sore spots.
Why did everyone feel the need to provoke him now?
Could it be that they thought his big brother was too simple and blessed, so bullying him wasn't fun anymore?
"Alright, Orochimaru. The Second Hokage means well. Let him explain, under the current environment and conditions, how we can further improve our preparations."
Shiromo waved his hand, signaling for the Second to continue.
"Mm."
Tobirama glanced at Shiromo, then at Nagato.
He thought to himself that Shiromo had just called Nagato the leader earlier.
But looking at the situation now, Shiromo seemed to be the one with actual authority.
So who exactly was in charge of this organization, you, or him?
Tobirama didn't understand, but this wasn't the time to think about that. There was work to do.
"This thing contains an enormous amount of chakra. If it goes berserk due to the slightest mistake, the power will absolutely be enough to destroy everything around it."
"Fortunately, this is the desert of the Land of Wind, so we don't need to worry about nearby villages."
"But we won't be able to avoid it ourselves."
"So we must make proper defensive preparations."
"Even if there's only a one percent chance something could go wrong, we can't gamble."
Tobirama laid out his thoughts.
That last sentence, "can't gamble", seemed to subtly allude to a certain gambling-addicted grandfather and granddaughter.
"We really can't gamble."
Hashirama nodded seriously in agreement with his younger brother. "Tobirama, use that."
"Exactly, big brother. That's what I was thinking too."
"But we don't have enough people. Uchiha Hikari and Nagato need to absorb chakra, so they can't take part. Orochimaru can, but as for the remaining one…"
Tobirama looked at Shiromo. "You probably can't, right?"
Shiromo didn't even have chakra, so naturally he couldn't perform ninjutsu.
But how could a man say he couldn't?
Shiromo suspected the Second was deliberately returning kindness with hostility by saying that.
It seemed that in 'Buff Man Paradise', he had still been too merciful, he hadn't given that birthright-obsessed Senju old man enough screen time.
Without waiting for Shiromo's reply, Tobirama seemed to have already gotten his answer and turned to the two White Zetsu behind Orochimaru.
"Orochimaru, call out Sarutobi again. And then one more…"
"The Four Red Yang Formation?"
Orochimaru understood what kind of preparation the Second had in mind.
The Four Red Yang Formation, the superior version of the Four Violet Flames Formation he had used during the Konoha Crush.
It required four Kage to cast, and the barrier's strength was dozens of times greater than that of the Four Violet Flames Formation.
Of course, when they said "four Kage," what they really meant was chakra reserves at what was generally recognized as Kage level.
After all, "Kage" was just a position.
For example, the Eighth Hokage, Nara Shikamaru, if you let him try, he definitely wouldn't be able to use it.
"That's right. And we just happen to have two more sacrifices. Orochimaru, do you still have materials for other Impure World Reincarnation? Like the Fourth Hokage."
Tobirama nodded.
Since Tsunade was the Fifth Hokage, that meant the Fourth was already dead.
"The Fourth? His strength qualifies, but it can't be done."
Orochimaru shook his head slightly. "The Fourth used the Reaper Death Seal. His soul was devoured and sealed in the Shinigami's stomach. Unless the seal is undone, there's no way to use Impure World Reincarnation on him."
"So you 'do' have Impure World Reincarnation materials with you? Then what about others?"
"I don't have them on hand, but I can summon snakes from Ryūchi Cave at any time to help bring them over. As for others… to be honest, the materials I've collected so far aren't that many."
Orochimaru was telling the truth.
His current research philosophy valued quality over quantity.
Yakushi Kabuto's Impure World Reincarnation during the Fourth Great Ninja War, which was large-scale.
At that time, Kabuto had gone completely crazy as a tomb raider. Because he looted so many graves, he practically turned Impure World Reincarnation into a gacha pool.
A bunch of useless background characters could be resurrected just to fulfill their dreams.
Like the guy who found out after death that his wife had remarried. Or the one who died during a C-rank mission, missions where the enemy didn't even include ninja, while secretly crushing on Temari.
People like that didn't exist in Orochimaru's lineup.
Even if they were just experimental materials or lab rats, he wouldn't use trash like that.
"That's really a shame. If only I had taken a piece of Izuna's flesh when I killed him back then."
Tobirama sounded slightly disappointed.
At the time, he hadn't developed Impure World Reincarnation yet, so he naturally hadn't thought about such things.
If he had obtained Izuna's body material, and resurrected Izuna now, Izuna would definitely choose to resist and refuse to help.
Then, with Shiromo's personality, he would absolutely have Orochimaru control Izuna and send him to sell himself in the red-light district…
Just thinking about it was enough to delight both body and mind.
What a pity.
"Then let's go with this."
While Tobirama was lost in his imagination, Orochimaru had already notified a summoned snake to bring over a set of materials.
He took the scroll, pulled out the materials, and together with what remained of the Third's "sacred jewel" from earlier, continued using Impure World Reincarnation.
"Ahhh, Orochimaru, you rebellious disciple, are you never done with this?!"
After the scream, Sarutobi Hiruzen realized he had been resurrected with Impure World Reincarnation yet again, and felt somewhat speechless.
In the afterlife, unless one had lingering obsessions that allowed them to stay conscious for a while, there was otherwise no concept of time or space.
Just like in the original story, when the First, Second, Third, and Fourth Hokage had all stayed together in the Shinigami's stomach for so long, they still didn't recognize the Fourth when they were resurrected.
Meanwhile, the Fourth had reconciled with the Nine-Tails.
Who knew whether the Third had reconciled with Orochimaru's arms, or whether, in moments of loneliness, he had done certain things with Orochimaru's hands.
"Sensei, don't be anxious. This time we brought you out because we need your help. And it wasn't my decision, it was your sensei, the Second Hokage, who requested it."
Orochimaru explained.
"Is that so?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen glanced at his sensei, the Second Hokage. Seeing that Tobirama didn't refute Orochimaru's words, he understood that Orochimaru wasn't lying.
"This is… Orochimaru, don't tell me this is also something the Second Hokage requested?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen's gaze shifted to the other Impure World Reincarnation beside him. His pupils shrank as he glared angrily at Orochimaru.
"You could say that. The Second Hokage needs someone capable of using the Four Red Yang Formation. Since the Fourth can't be summoned from the Shinigami's stomach, I thought of this person."
Orochimaru gave Sarutobi a sinister smile.
"Impure World Reincarnation? Third Hokage? Orochimaru? What's going on here, dattebane?"
Kushina blinked, looking around in confusion.
"Another of Mito's clansmen? The Uzumaki clan does have naturally massive chakra; she really can serve as one corner of the Four Red Yang Formation."
Seeing the familiar red hair, Hashirama remained extremely calm.
Seeing someone like Madara, ecstatic excitement.
Seeing someone like Mito, complete indifference.
(End of this chapter)