Namikaze Mirai's heart thundered in his chest.
His azure-blue eyes, usually calm and calculating, now brimmed with uncontainable shock and hope.
Ever since his return to Konohagakure and learning the truth of his brother Minato and sister-in-law Kushina's tragic deaths, he had harbored a single, desperate desire — to bring them back.
To resurrect them.
As Hokage, he'd scoured the village's deepest archives and secrets. He'd personally retrieved and pored over the sealed scrolls, even the Scroll of Seal once hidden in the Hokage Residence's most secure vault.
But nothing sufficed.
The only jutsu that came remotely close was Impure World Reincarnation— the Reanimation Jutsu. But it was a cruel mockery of life, a grotesque imitation that bound souls to rotting vessels and denied them peace. It was not true resurrection. It was a desecration.
Life and death were said to be immutable laws. Even in a world of chakra and miracles, some lines were not meant to be crossed.
Eventually, even someone like Mirai, whose willpower could crack mountains, had begun to let go of that hope.
But now — Orochimaru had just spoken of something that reignited that dormant flame.
Something... impossible.
How could he not be stirred?
"Orochimaru..." Mirai's voice was deceptively calm, but his eyes gleamed with terrifying focus. "Tell me everything. Specifically."
Seeing the steely glint in the Hokage's eyes, Orochimaru was neither startled nor offended. He expected no less from someone who held Konoha in his palm.
He nodded, his golden, serpentine pupils narrowing.
"The one who possesses the Rinnegan — the so-called Eye of Samsara — is the leader of the Akatsuki. His name is Pain." Orochimaru said, his voice serious.
"I fought him once. It was... humbling."
Orochimaru's words carried a rare gravity. To hear such respect from him — a man who had once considered himself above even the legendary Sannin — said volumes.
"The Rinnegan is unlike anything I've seen. Its wielder can control life and death... and not in the half-measure way of Impure World Reincarnation."
Namikaze Mirai's gaze sharpened.
"So you're saying that the Rinnegan... truly has the power to revive the dead?"
Orochimaru licked his lips, a gleam of obsessive curiosity returning to his eyes.
"I wouldn't make such a claim lightly. But from everything I've seen and deduced while within Akatsuki, yes — this power is real."
Silence fell.
Mirai absorbed every word, his mind spinning. If this "Pain" truly had such power... then that changed everything.
If he could seize that power…
'Minato.'
'Kushina.'
He clenched his fists, blood surging hot in his veins.
"Orochimaru." he said slowly, deliberately. "You've given me an incredible gift."
The Akatsuki — and especially their mysterious leader — would now become his next focal point.
No matter how deep they hid. No matter how powerful their forces.
He would find this Pain. And take the Rinnegan.
"Orochimaru." Mirai asked sharply, "Do you know what Pain's real name is?"
"Pain. That is the only name he uses. No one in Akatsuki questions him — they fear him."
Mirai frowned.
"Pain..."
The name rang oddly familiar.
Suddenly, a memory sparked — something trivial and ridiculous, but vivid.
Before transmigrating into this world, during his Earth life, he'd seen an internet meme that was always spammed in random comment sections. Something about... "How many floors must a bag of rice be carried up?" or "Can you add water?"
(T.L Note: These are Chinese memes of Pain's Super Shinra Tensei)
He remembered a gif. A man with an orange-haired, twisted expression, clasping his hands together and roaring like he was about to split the heavens.
...Wasn't that also named "Pain"?
Could it be... the same one?
Was this Pain... a rice porter in another life?
The thought derailed his seriousness for a moment.
He stared into space, eyebrows twitching.
Orochimaru raised an eyebrow.
"Mirai-kun... is something wrong?"
Mirai cleared his throat, shaking off the stray memory.
"Nothing. Just... thinking about rice."
Orochimaru blinked.
Mirai's gaze sharpened again.
"First things first. Orochimaru, return with me to Konoha. I'll handle the public."
…
The news exploded across Konohagakure like wildfire.
"Orochimaru-sama has returned to the village?!"
"Yes! The Fifth Hokage himself made the declaration!"
"Wasn't he a traitor?! I heard he did horrifying experiments on civilians!"
"No! That was all Danzo's doing! Orochimaru-sama was framed!"
"Damn that Danzo! How could the Third not see through him?! Orochimaru-sama was his disciple!"
Public sentiment flipped like a switch.
Within days, the villagers went from fearful suspicion to fervent support.
Danzo's name was dragged through the mud. People spat in front of the now-defunct Shimura clan compound. Some even vandalized the gates.
The Shimura clan, already reeling from Danzo's death and Namikaze Mirai's ascension, was now a shadow of its former self — reduced to a flickering candle, fighting against the wind of popular outrage.
Meanwhile, in the Sarutobi clan residence...
Sarutobi Hiruzen's hand trembled as he read the bulletin scroll.
"Orochimaru... returned?"
He sat frozen.
"Danzo... blamed? I — forced him to leave?"
His jaw tightened.
"Absurd! Absolutely absurd!"
He slammed the table, the impact sending hot tea splashing onto the tatami.
Koharu and Homura, both sitting nearby, looked on helplessly.
"Hiruzen, calm down." Koharu urged. "Your health..."
"Health?!" Hiruzen roared. "Do you know what this means?! Danzo is dead, and now he's being blamed for everything!"
There was a raw, frustrated sorrow in his voice.
"Even after death... he bears the burden alone..."
Danzo had been his old friend, his comrade through war and shadow.
And now, he had not only failed to save him, but couldn't even protect his name.
Hiruzen clenched his fists. Could it be that Shimura Danzo had been born to take the blame? Even after death?
Koharu fell silent.
If this was how Danzo ended...
What fate awaited them?
She looked out the window toward the Hokage Monument.
The world no longer belonged to them.
"Hiruzen…" she said slowly, clinging to the last strand of political hope, "What about the Daimyō? Couldn't he still support us?"
Hiruzen closed his eyes and sighed.
"I've used every favor, every ounce of political leverage I had left. The Daimyō... won't move. He's fully aligned with Mirai now."
He still couldn't understand it.
What had changed?
What kind of "gift" had Mirai sent to the Daimyō that earned such unwavering favor?
Hiruzen had assumed it was some powerful scroll, or ancient weapon.
He never realized — that "gift" had been nothing but a blank piece of paper.
A paper the Daimyō had personally signed… making him a puppet under Mirai's control.
And that truth...
He would never know.
*****
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