Chapter 217 — Resurrection Card
Although the Rinnegan is a far more advanced dōjutsu than the Sharingan, it does not originally belong to Nagato.
Strictly speaking, Nagato is merely its wielder, not its owner.
Moreover, since Nagato does not possess Uchiha blood, wielding the Rinnegan places an enormous burden on him.
It's only because he hails from the Uzumaki Clan—blessed with powerful life force and immense chakra reserves—that he can endure its consumption at all.
Had it been anyone else, they would have been drained dry during the transplantation process.
Last time, Nagato managed to escape.
But Fugaku was not in a hurry. He knew Nagato's base was in the Hidden Rain Village. He could strike whenever he wished, eliminate Nagato, and claim the Rinnegan for himself.
That had been his plan at first.
However, after fusing Shisui's Mangekyō Sharingan and obtaining the ocular technique Kotoamatsukami, he changed his approach.
He decided to wait three years and test whether Kotoamatsukami could affect Nagato's will.
If it worked—then he would, in essence, gain a revival card.
After all, through the power of the Rinnegan, Nagato could perform the Outer Path: Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique, a jutsu capable of resurrecting the dead.
That technique recalls the souls of the deceased from the Pure Land, recreates their bodies, and brings them back to life—restoring even shattered bones.
If Fugaku could manipulate Nagato's mind with Kotoamatsukami, he would effectively control a living resurrection tool. If anything ever happened to him or his family, Nagato could simply bring them back.
In the world of shinobi, ninjutsu capable of resurrection are exceedingly rare—and Fugaku happens to know nearly all of them.
For example, the Hidden Grass Village possesses the Ryumyaku Reincarnation Technique.
In the Naruto: Blood Prison incident, when Naruto was gravely injured fighting the monster Satori, he was saved by Ryuzetsu of the Grass Village, who used that very technique to bring him back to life.
The essence of Ryumyaku Reincarnation lies in sharing the caster's life force with another. It can heal even the fatally wounded—or resurrect the dead—at the cost of the user's own life.
Similarly, Chiyo of the Hidden Sand developed her clan's forbidden technique, Reanimation, which also transfers the caster's life to another.
In the Kazekage Rescue Mission, Chiyo used this jutsu to revive Gaara, who had died after having his Tailed Beast extracted.
Among all such resurrection techniques, however, Nagato's Outer Path: Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique remains the most advanced.
While the other two require the user's death—essentially a one-for-one exchange—the Outer Path technique differs.
When invoked, the King of Hell manifests, opens its mouth, and releases countless souls, returning them to their bodies and reviving the dead.
It can restore life to everyone within a certain radius, though the more people revived, the greater the chakra cost. The technique can even kill the user from chakra exhaustion.
And if the revived person had been under Edo Tensei, that state would be automatically dispelled.
Therefore, as long as Fugaku could control Nagato, he wouldn't need to bother with lesser jutsu like Ryumyaku Reincarnation or Reanimation.
Those one-for-one techniques were simply too low-tier.
Still, there remained uncertainty—he couldn't be sure whether Kotoamatsukami would truly work on Nagato.
Given that, it might be wise to collect the other two resurrection techniques as a backup plan.
After all, he didn't need to perform them himself. He could simply capture enemy ninja, use his Sharingan to control them, and have them cast the self-sacrificing jutsu in his place.
The thought made Fugaku's eyes gleam.
He had nearly forgotten that option.
By controlling enemy shinobi and forcing them to use Ryumyaku Reincarnation or Reanimation, he could revive his own allies without losing a single Konoha soldier.
In the future, there would be no need to fear casualties on the battlefield—every fallen comrade could be brought back.
Still, both techniques required specific knowledge and chakra control. They weren't something just anyone could learn, so they would serve only as a contingency.
He decided to obtain both jutsu anyway.
The Ryumyaku Reincarnation was in the Hidden Grass Village. As for Chiyo's Reanimation, Fugaku couldn't quite recall if she had developed it yet.
He wasn't too concerned; he would simply send someone to the Grass Village to retrieve information on Ryumyaku Reincarnation first. One example would suffice.
Then, another thought crossed his mind—the Outer Path's revival.
If Nagato could truly resurrect the dead, why hadn't he revived his friend Yahiko?
Fugaku found the question puzzling.
By all logic, Yahiko was Nagato's dearest companion—someone closer than family.
After pondering it for a while, Fugaku came to a conclusion: perhaps Yahiko's death had changed Nagato fundamentally.
It made him realize that achieving world peace through the original Akatsuki was impossible. Reviving Yahiko wouldn't alter that truth. The same cycle of hatred would continue, and Yahiko would only die again.
Instead, Nagato inherited Yahiko's ideals and sought peace in his stead—continuing his dream as a form of atonement.
Maybe, Fugaku thought, Nagato planned to revive Yahiko only after achieving true peace.
He chuckled softly, feeling that he had probably understood Nagato's heart.
Still, there was another possibility—perhaps he had remembered the Outer Path's function incorrectly.
It could recall souls from the Pure Land, yes, but could it truly create bodies out of thin air?
Did the physical body need to exist for the technique to work?
Fugaku shook his head; he couldn't be sure. There was no use overthinking it.
He picked up the remote and switched on the television.
After flipping through several channels, he found an interesting program and watched for a while.
Before long, the familiar aroma of dinner drifted through the house.
Mikoto, as always, had impeccable timing—dinner would be ready roughly ten minutes after the children returned from the Academy.
That way, even if they were slightly delayed, the food would still be hot when they arrived.
After dinner, Itachi—as usual—took Sasuke and Naruto to the training grounds. They wouldn't be back for a while.
Fugaku glanced at Mikoto, her expression serene yet elegant.
His thoughts grew mischievous.
He quietly carried her upstairs.
Soon, lively sounds echoed through the second floor.
Afterward, Fugaku leaned back, lighting a cigarette amidst the drifting smoke.
Mikoto, resting against his chest, asked softly,
"Husband… why did you capture Orochimaru?"
She didn't know about the peculiar ocular power of Kotoamatsukami.
Although Orochimaru hadn't retaliated against the Uchiha after their last encounter, his existence still unsettled the clan.
Did Fugaku capture him… simply to vent his anger?
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