After seeing Daisuke off, it wasn't long before a knock sounded at the door.
Mizuki opened it and found Sasuke standing outside.
"Sasuke, it's late. Why aren't you resting? What is it?"
The second young master looked unusually keyed up.
"Master… that red-haired woman — she really is Naruto's mother? Naruto said you revived his mom…"
Mizuki nodded, "That's right. Exactly as Naruto said."
With the answer confirmed, Sasuke couldn't hold back, "Master, can you… revive my father and mother too? As long as you help me, I'll do anything."
Mizuki sighed, "Not for now."
"Why not?" Sasuke couldn't understand.
Mizuki explained patiently, "You've studied Edo Tensei, right? To summon a dead person's soul from the Pure Land into the living world, you need a medium — some life material from the deceased. By the same logic, using the Outer Path's Samsara of Heavenly Life technique to revive the dead also requires life material as a medium."
"This time, when I went to Konoha, I did find your parents' graves in the cemetery… but they were empty. No bodies."
"What?!" Sasuke's expression warped, and then fury surged up like a flame, "Damn Konoha. Damn Danzō. Damn the Third… damn them all! They actually profaned my parents' bodies!"
"I'll kill Danzō with my own hands. I'll destroy Konoha. Then I'll use Edo Tensei to bring Danzō and the Third back and torture them in the cruelest ways until the day I die!"
"No… that's not enough. I'll Edo Tensei their parents and children too and make them wail in pain day and night!"
The boy's rage boiled over. The three tomoe in his eyes spun wildly, nearly slipping into madness.
On the night of the Uchiha massacre, Fugaku's eyes were either taken by Itachi — or destroyed. Itachi knew his father had Mangekyō as well; he would never leave those eyes to Danzō, and he would never hand them to Obito either.
As for Fugaku and Mikoto's bodies, they were most likely taken by Danzō as experimental material. And not just them — many of the Uchiha elite weren't in Konoha's cemetery at all.
"Don't rush." Mizuki said, "When your strength improves, you can return to Konoha, find your parents' remains, and then revive them."
Sasuke took a breath and forced himself to calm down.
"There's something else I should tell you." Mizuki added, "Back then, the one who carried out the Uchiha massacre wasn't only Itachi — there was another person as well."
At those words, Sasuke's barely-settled emotions flared again.
"Who?"
Mizuki didn't hide it, "Obito Uchiha."
Hearing the name, Sasuke frowned. He had no memory of it at all.
"Obito Uchiha… was he an Uchiha too? Why have I never heard of him?"
"You haven't heard of him because before you were born, Obito 'died'." Mizuki said, "No — everyone thought he died."
"So Obito faked his death?" Sasuke's anger deepened. Another name was carved onto his list of enemies, "Master Mizuki… tell me. What kind of person is Obito?"
Mizuki summarized calmly, "Obito Uchiha was the Fourth Hokage's disciple — and Kakashi's teammate. The Sharingan Kakashi carries was given to him by Obito before he 'died.' No one in Konoha knew he was still alive. Someone saved him."
"Besides Obito and Kakashi, the Fourth Hokage's team also had a girl named Rin. Obito liked her. But under a certain conspiracy, Rin died by Kakashi's hand. From that day on, Obito hated Konoha to the bone."
"The Nine-Tails incident twelve years ago was launched by him. And he also took part in the Uchiha massacre four years ago, killing everyone in the Police Force."
By then, Sasuke had a rough picture of Obito.
But it still wasn't enough.
"What are his identifying traits?" Sasuke asked. The killing intent in his eyes was barely concealed.
Mizuki said, "He wears the Akatsuki cloak, and he's always wearing an orange mask with a single eyehole."
Sasuke looked at him, voice low, almost pleading, "Can you… not tell Naruto that Obito caused the Nine-Tails incident?"
"Why?" Mizuki asked, intrigued.
"I don't want Naruto to kill him before I do." Sasuke answered.
Mizuki fell silent.
Was Obito really that easy to kill?
"Don't be reckless." Mizuki warned, "Obito has space-time ninjutsu. He's extremely hard to kill. What you need to do now is train — only when you're strong enough will you have a real chance at revenge."
Sasuke asked, "Once I learn Body Flicker and Substitution… can I kill him?"
"No." Mizuki said, shaking his head.
Sasuke's brows drew together, "Then what exactly is his space-time technique?"
Mizuki didn't spell it out, "You'll understand when you meet him. Knowing too much now won't help — if anything, it'll only make you despair."
Sasuke left with heavy thoughts. There was even a hint of defiance in his back as he walked away.
"Don't get cocky." Mizuki muttered, "If you want to kill Obito, it won't be that easy. Mm… though it's not like there's no chance."
Konan's six hundred billion explosive tags had nearly blown Obito to death.
Kamui had a weakness: Obito's intangibility could last at most five minutes. And whenever he absorbed something — or himself — into that other space, his body would become tangible.
Konan had prepared thoroughly. Those six hundred billion tags detonated for ten minutes straight. Just thinking about it was absurd — six hundred billion. If a billion exploded per second, the energy would overflow; honestly, it was less strategy and more incinerating money.
But the power was terrifying, striking from every direction. Obito had nowhere to run. If not for Izanagi, he would've gone to see Madara right then and there.
A ten-minute continuous detonation was something Sasuke could also replicate — if he learned Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags and prepared enough paper bombs. The technique used explosive tags to spawn more explosive tags — like falling dominoes. As long as there were enough tags, it could keep multiplying and keep detonating.
With enough stockpiled, forget ten minutes — ten days would be possible.
"Later…" Mizuki murmured.
With the house quiet again, he attempted to revive Minato.
The result: the Samsara of Heavenly Life technique failed again.
But there was something Mizuki didn't expect. This time, reviving Minato consumed neither chakra nor life force at all. It was completely different from what happened when he tried to revive Dan.
With that comparison, Mizuki immediately sensed something was wrong.
"Where's the problem? Is someone interfering?" His eyes narrowed.
Dan's revival had felt like someone intercepted the technique midway.
"Whether someone is meddling or not… I'll know once I go to Konoha and verify it myself."
❊❊❊❊❊
At that moment, in the Land of Fire — Konoha Village, the Hokage's office.
Orochimaru, Danzō, and Dan were all there.
"Orochimaru." Dan asked, "can you tell me about Tsunade now? Is she alive or dead?"
Orochimaru answered, "Tsunade… is still alive."
Dan let out a slow breath, "Good. I never thought that after being dead for more than twenty years, I'd have a chance to reunite with her."
Danzō gave a cold laugh, "You may be revived, but unfortunately, you probably won't end up with Tsunade."
Dan frowned, "Why do you say that?"
Danzō said, "Tsunade has defected from Konoha and joined another village — Fushigakure — built by another Konoha missing-nin."
"Tsunade defected? Fushigakure? Impossible." Dan rejected it outright.
"There's nothing impossible about it. That's the truth." Danzō said, "Fushigakure is in the Land of Birds. It was founded by Konoha missing-nin Mizuki, who even crowned himself the First Fushikage."
"Not only Tsunade, but also your niece Shizune has joined Fushigakure. The Nine-Tails' Jinchūriki and the Uchiha survivor are both there as well. Konoha's foundation is being hollowed out by Mizuki."
Dan still shook his head, refusing to believe it.
"I know Tsunade's love for Konoha better than anyone. This village was founded by her grandfather — it's her spiritual anchor. She would never betray Konoha."
By now, Dan had begun to suspect Orochimaru and Danzō instead.
He knew Danzō's dark methods — he'd known them long before he died. And Orochimaru wasn't the person from his memories anymore. Summoning him out of the Pure Land with an evil technique like Edo Tensei was itself a warning: Orochimaru had changed.
Dan couldn't help suspecting that Tsunade had been forced to defect by them.
Danzō and Orochimaru exchanged a glance.
Then Danzō continued, "Tsunade does love Konoha. Her betrayal wasn't of her own will."
"Not of her own will? What do you mean?" Dan was even more confused.
Danzō said, "This starts with the Uchiha prodigy… Shisui Uchiha."
In his story, Shisui awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan and obtained the strongest genjutsu, Kotoamatsukami — only for Mizuki to ambush and kill him, stealing his eyes.
Then he claimed that on the eve of this year's Chūnin Exams, Mizuki's plot was discovered by Hiruzen.
So Hiruzen staged the Konoha Crush plan, acting together with the Fourth Kazekage — setting a trap to kill Mizuki. But Mizuki was too strong, and the Third Hokage and the Fourth Kazekage were killed instead.
In short, Danzō dumped everything onto Mizuki.
"So you're saying this ninja, Mizuki, used Kotoamatsukami to tamper with Tsunade and Shizune's wills and force them to join Fushigakure?" Dan asked.
Danzō and Orochimaru nodded in unison.
"That's right." Danzō said, "And even your revival is part of his scheme. He wanted to revive you in Fushigakure, then use Kotoamatsukami to control you and make you serve him."
"We noticed his plot, which is why we used Edo Tensei to summon you. And sure enough, he used a revival technique on you. Because your soul was in Konoha, you revived in Konoha — shattering his scheme."
The argument sounded coherent and well-supported. Even though Dan still had doubts, he gradually began to believe them.
Dan asked, "Where in the Land of Birds is Fushigakure?"
"Don't be reckless." Danzō warned, "Mizuki is extremely powerful. Even three Kage-level fighters together weren't a match for him — you'd only be throwing your life away."
Dan said coldly, "I won't go in person. I'll use the Spirit Transformation Technique to go over and possess him… then kill him."
Danzō and Orochimaru both laughed inwardly. That was exactly what they wanted to hear.
"If it's the Spirit Transformation Technique, then it's doable." Danzō said.
He took out a map and marked Fushigakure's location.
"Even if Mizuki dies, Kotoamatsukami won't be undone. The altered will won't be restored. But as long as he's dead, with the bond between you and Tsunade, a little guidance will be enough. Tsunade and Shizune will naturally return to Konoha."
"Remember: don't go see Tsunade first, or you'll expose yourself. If Mizuki becomes wary, something unexpected may happen."
"After Mizuki dies, when you meet Tsunade, don't believe what she says either — because her will has been altered by Kotoamatsukami."
Dan…" Danzō's voice lowered, "Konoha's future rests on you."
❊❊❊❊❊
T/N: Comment, give me Power Stones, like and favorite, it all supports me and makes me go foward with this. Appreciate my other stories as well, I guarantee the good work!
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