Karin was still timidly hiding behind Kanae, sneaking the occasional glance at Rowan.
As for Kanae herself, after yesterday's treatment, her condition had already improved. Her complexion had regained a little color, and even the bite marks all over her body had faded quite a bit. A few more treatments, and she should recover fully.
"Thank you for helping us, Lord Rowan."
Kanae knew very well that the only reason she and Karin had been properly taken in—and even treated at all—was because of Rowan.
Without him, would the people of Konoha have cared whether they lived or died?
Of course not.
If Konoha had truly cared about the Uzumaki clan's survival, then the Land of Whirlpools would never have been destroyed in the first place.
Tobirama had clearly realized that as well. He said nothing, but inwardly, his opinion of Hiruzen sank even lower.
Looks like my judgment really was terrible.
Back then, when Hiruzen had stepped forward of his own accord to stay behind, Tobirama had thought the man had the makings of a Hokage and decisively handed the position to him.
What he had forgotten was that being Hokage required training too.
Just because he had the ability didn't mean Hiruzen did.
Having ideas without the ability to carry them out—that was the real tragedy.
Since being summoned back, Tobirama had already learned from Tsunade about the desperate plight the Uzumaki clan had faced when the Land of Whirlpools was destroyed.
If it had been him, he could have come up with nine different ways to help the Uzumaki without spending Konoha's strength.
Nine.
He could even think of several ways to persuade the Uzumaki to join Konoha and make the village stronger.
And Hiruzen?
What had he done?
Nothing.
He had just watched as the Land of Whirlpools fell and the Uzumaki were left to wander the ninja world.
Well… not quite nothing.
At the very least, he had brought Kushina Uzumaki back and turned her into the next jinchūriki.
That move really was… Tobirama didn't even know where to start.
Incompetent. Truly incompetent.
The more he thought about it now, the more Tobirama wanted to slap himself twice. He had been far too naive back then. Why had he chosen Hiruzen to be Hokage? He would have been better off choosing even Koharu or Homura.
And if all else failed, he could have let Kagami Uchiha take the position. With the support of the Uchiha clan and Kagami's own ability, he absolutely could have held the Hokage seat securely.
Then again, the Uchiha clan's flaws were too obvious. They were too extreme in love and hate, and that clan produced more than its fair share of lunatics.
So maybe not choosing an Uchiha back then had been the right move after all. If Kagami had really become Hokage, maybe Konoha would have ended up gone for good.
At this point, Rowan had no idea what kind of thoughts were running through Tobirama's mind. After exchanging a few polite words with Kanae, he dropped onto the sofa and looked around.
Everyone was here.
Rowan spoke up.
"I know all of you are curious why I was able to swallow the Shinigami, and whether swallowing it caused any harm or burden to my body."
"I can tell you clearly—it didn't."
"In fact, swallowing the Shinigami not only didn't harm me, it gave me a huge benefit."
"But before I tell you what that benefit is, I want to ask you something."
"What exactly do you think the Shinigami is?"
"In your eyes, what is the Shinigami, really?"
Hearing that question, everyone fell into thought.
Minato was the first to answer.
"I think the Shinigami is actually a god."
He had spent years inside the Shinigami's stomach, so he had more than enough standing to speak on the matter.
"After the Shinigami devoured me and the Yin Nine-Tails, I discovered that its body was incredibly vast, almost like some enormous extra-dimensional space. In that space, the Yin Nine-Tails and I hated each other, fought each other, and eventually came to understand each other."
"In that dimension, we worked together more than once and tried to break out."
"But it was like the strongest prison imaginable. Even after I became a perfect Nine-Tails jinchūriki, I still couldn't break through."
"Only a god could possess a prison that solid."
Tobirama nodded.
"I agree with the Fourth. The Dead Demon Consuming Seal is less a high-level sealing technique and more a summoning technique."
"It summons the Shinigami, then drives it to attack the enemy and seal the target within its body."
"As payment, the user's own soul is also devoured by the Shinigami."
The others nodded as well, all agreeing with Minato's and Tobirama's explanation.
Rowan asked another question.
"Then have you ever thought about this—if the Shinigami really is a god, why can it be summoned out and even driven by humans? Does a god have no pride at all?"
"Or do you think the Shinigami actually cares about gaining a few extra souls?"
"Let me put it another way. If an ant came to you and said, 'I'll give you my soul if you kill my enemy for me,' would you agree to that trade?"
Tsunade, Orochimaru, Tobirama, and the others all shook their heads.
Only an idiot would agree to something that ridiculous.
Did they need an ant's soul?
No.
Because an ant's soul meant absolutely nothing to them.
But that brought them back to the real question.
If the Shinigami really was a god, then how could humans possibly control it?
Thinking back on the Shinigami's behavior, Tobirama's eyes sharpened.
"Could it be that something happened to the Shinigami itself?"
Rowan looked at him approvingly.
"You hit the key point. The Shinigami was damaged."
"A thousand years ago, the Ōtsutsuki descended from the heavens, planted the Divine Tree, drew out the planet's energy, and produced the chakra fruit."
"The entire planet was affected."
"And naturally, the Shinigami was affected too."
"Because the Shinigami was also a part of this planet."
"Later, Kaguya Ōtsutsuki cast the Infinite Tsukuyomi and turned a massive number of humans into White Zetsu, dealing the Shinigami another huge blow."
"The Shinigami tried to resist, but it was no match for Kaguya, and she killed it."
"But the Shinigami is the god of death. It cannot truly die."
"So although it was killed, what died was the Shinigami's soul, its reason, its sense of self."
"What remained was only its body."
"It became an existence with nothing but an empty shell."
"Then, much later, the Uzumaki discovered it and developed the Dead Demon Consuming Seal—a life for a life."
"Because the Shinigami had no mind left, only a shell, it could be driven by humans."
When they heard that, everyone finally understood.
Orochimaru flicked out his tongue and asked, "Then how did you come to know all this, Rowan?"
Rowan pointed at himself.
"Because I swallowed the Shinigami. I've already fully digested it, so I learned its past."
"As for why I could swallow it… that was probably because of my ability."
"To be honest, even now I still don't understand why my ability wanted to swallow the Shinigami."
"But the benefit is obvious."
"I…"
He paused, then smiled.
"I became the Shinigami."
~~~
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