"You said something about Reanimation. Don't tell me we're the sacrifices? I knew there was a reason you insisted on bringing us!"
"Suigetsu, shut up! You've been noisy the whole way. Say one more word and I'll kill you."
Under the moonlight, a group walked through the outskirts of the Hidden Leaf Village.
Orochimaru and Fugaku led the way, followed by Sasuke and his team. Suigetsu and Karin were at the rear, their constant bickering adding a bit of life to the night.
"We're here. Just ahead."
Orochimaru's raspy voice broke the silence as he looked forward.
Fugaku followed his gaze toward a dilapidated shrine standing in the distance.
With his Sharingan's superior vision, the darkness was no obstacle. The shrine was overgrown with weeds and partially collapsed, clearly neglected for a long time.
It made sense. The descendants of the Uzumaki clan had perished long ago during the Nine-Tails incident. The only survivor, Naruto Uzumaki, hadn't known his heritage for years, so the shrine had naturally fallen into ruin.
They stepped inside, where a fierce Hannya mask hung on the wall.
Fugaku inspected the area and turned to the man beside him.
"Orochimaru, which mask is it?"
"It should be this one."
Just as they were observing, Orochimaru found the mask.
A snake the size of an arm slid out of his sleeve, coiled around a mask high on the wall, and brought it down to his hand.
"The room is too cramped to perform the technique. Let's head outside."
Accompanied by the others, Orochimaru took the mask to an open clearing.
Scanning the group, Orochimaru said, "To release the Reaper Death Seal, someone must serve as a sacrifice and wear the mask so the Shinigami can possess them."
"Then, by controlling the Shinigami to slice open its own stomach, the seal will be undone, releasing the souls trapped within."
"Because of the nature of the technique, the injuries the Shinigami takes will be reflected onto the sacrifice wearing the mask. Who wants to volunteer?"
Seeing that no one stepped forward, Orochimaru spread his hands and sighed.
"I suppose I'll have to do it myself."
"However, you must prepare a spare body for me in advance."
Suigetsu immediately hid behind the hulking Jugo, turning almost liquid from fear at Orochimaru's words.
"See? I knew it would be like this. He really was aiming for our bodies!"
"Your bodies are decent, but I have a better option now."
Orochimaru looked at Sasuke. Sensing the gaze, Sasuke met it with his Mangekyo Sharingan.
As their eyes met, Sasuke gave a slight nod, understanding Orochimaru's meaning. "Jugo."
"Understood."
Jugo stepped up and placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder, funneling chakra into him.
Upon absorbing this special chakra, six pale figures emerged from Sasuke's body, rapidly growing to human size before collapsing onto the ground.
Depleted of chakra, Jugo's frame shrank down to the size of a child.
"White Zetsu!" Suigetsu exclaimed at the familiar sight. "It looks like that Madara guy had Sasuke under surveillance for a long time."
Karin adjusted her glasses, looking at the unconscious clones. "They're definitely White Zetsu, but why are they all asleep?"
Orochimaru chuckled, his snake-like eyes shifting toward Fugaku.
"That would be thanks to our mysterious friend here."
Fugaku nodded.
He had detected the faint souls within Sasuke the moment they met.
To avoid alerting the masked man, he hadn't eliminated them immediately. Instead, he had merely sealed their souls into a deep slumber.
Now that the war had begun and the masked man was occupied, these Zetsu were no longer useful. Handing them over to Orochimaru was no issue.
Fugaku urged, "You have your new bodies. Now, release the seal, Orochimaru."
"Of course."
Orochimaru gave a light laugh and turned to those around him. "Sasuke, Jugo, stand back."
Once they were at a safe distance, Orochimaru donned the mask, and his chakra erupted instantly.
"Ngh... ahhh..."
A pained groan escaped Orochimaru's throat as his body trembled uncontrollably, his black hair whipping around him.
As the cries faded, Orochimaru hunched over. A spectral image of the Shinigami, horned and dressed in a white kimono, materialized behind him.
From behind the mask, Orochimaru's slit pupils scanned the group. His eyes widened when he saw the figure standing next to Fugaku.
It hadn't been there before, but wearing the mask allowed him to see it. It was a soul!
'So that's how it is...'
With the power of the Shinigami mask, he could finally see the spirits.
That meant the invisible attack he had witnessed from Anko definitely originated from this source.
Reabsorbing his chakra from Kabuto had also granted him some of Kabuto's recent memories.
The theories he had formed based on those memories were now confirmed.
Suddenly, Orochimaru looked to his side. A face appeared out of nowhere, filling his entire field of vision.
A pair of Mangekyo Sharingan was inches away from his face, glowing with a terrifying red light.
The pinwheel pattern stared directly into him.
"You can see it, can't you?"
"Orochimaru, you can see me."
A soft voice whispered into his ear.
He could practically feel the speaker's breath—cold as a winter wind. A chill ran down his spine.
'Have I been watched this closely by someone ever since I was revived?'
"Continue releasing the seal."
The owner of those eyes gave a command and stepped back a few paces.
In the moonlight, Orochimaru finally saw the man's face.
Slightly curly short hair, delicate features, and a distinct nose—Orochimaru recognized him instantly.
'Shisui Uchiha!'
Shisui was long dead, so the figure before him was undoubtedly a ghost.
But why hadn't his soul returned to the Pure Land? Why was he still in the world of the living?
It wasn't just Shisui; the figure next to the mysterious man was also a soul. Why were they here?
Though some mysteries were solved, a flood of new questions filled Orochimaru's mind.
His gaze flickered to Sasuke's crimson eyes. He paused, suppressing his confusion, and regained his composure behind the mask.
Now wasn't the time for questions. Regaining his arms was the priority.
Under Orochimaru's control, the Shinigami drew a short blade from its robes and sliced its own stomach. Five souls drifted out.
Simultaneously, Orochimaru's own abdomen tore open, blood spilling out.
One of the souls flew back into Orochimaru's body.
"It's back! My hands are finally restored."
He saw Shisui walking toward the four Hokage souls, preparing to take something from his robes.
Orochimaru immediately shouted, "Sasuke!"
Hearing the signal, Sasuke moved like lightning. He drew the Kusanagi sword from his waist and pressed it against his own throat.
Before the others could process what was happening, Sasuke made a statement so absurd it was almost ridiculous.
"Don't move! Take another step and I'll kill myself!"
Karin and Jugo stared at him, stunned.
"Sasuke, what are you doing?"
"Why would you do that so suddenly!"
"It has nothing to do with you. Stay back."
Sasuke spoke coldly to Karin and Jugo, his eyes fixed on the mysterious man.
"Tell your invisible companions not to move!"
"Since you care about me so much, you'll follow my orders."
Fugaku was equally bewildered, wondering if his youngest son had suddenly lost his mind.
"Sasuke, what's come over you?"
"Are you being controlled?"
He tried to step forward, but Sasuke barked at him to stop.
"I said, don't move."
Sasuke applied pressure, and the blade bit into his neck, a trickle of blood running down the steel.
Seeing that Sasuke was serious, a terrified Fugaku quickly withdrew his foot.
"Fine, I won't move!"
"No! Even if you don't move, I'm still going to do it!"
Sasuke pressed harder, but suddenly his body felt bound. His sword hit an invisible resistance and wouldn't move an inch further.
A powerful impact hit him from behind, followed by a stinging pain. The force knocked him face-first onto the ground.
He felt his arms being pulled behind his back and pinned by something he couldn't see. He couldn't break free.
"If the sword won't work, I'll bite my tongue!"
Sasuke yelled, thrashing about.
As the mysterious man approached, Sasuke tried to bite down, but his jaw was forced open by invisible hands.
However, a hint of a cold smirk appeared in his Mangekyo.
Fugaku walked over and knelt beside his erratic son. "Sasuke, this behavior... are you really being controlled by someone?"
"Who is it?"
His voice simmered with suppressed rage.
Suddenly, Orochimaru's voice rang out.
"Reanimation Jutsu!"
Fugaku's eyes widened, and he snapped his head toward the sound.
Orochimaru's hands were slammed against the ground, and the familiar Reanimation formula spread across the earth.
The floating souls of the four Hokage vanished, pulled into the four White Zetsu clones. Amidst horrific screams, the clones were covered in ash and debris, reconstructing the forms of the former Hokage.
"Suigetsu!" Orochimaru barked.
Already prepared, Suigetsu pried open the mouth of one of the White Zetsu.
A white snake with Orochimaru's features lunged from Orochimaru's mouth and into the clone's throat.
The clone's features warped and shifted, rapidly taking on Orochimaru's appearance.
The possession was a success. The Reincarnation was complete.
"Whew... I finally made it."
Orochimaru stood up, looking at Fugaku with a triumphant smirk.
Fugaku's Mangekyo flared as he scanned the reanimated Hokage before settling on Orochimaru.
After a moment, he looked down at Sasuke.
A look of realization dawned behind his mask.
"I see. So that was your goal."
"Sasuke, you weren't being controlled at all."
He waved a hand, signaling Shisui and Elder Setsuna to release the boy.
"To think a man of my age would be played by a child. How embarrassing."
Setsuna let go of Sasuke's jaw with a sigh.
Shisui got off Sasuke's back and returned to Fugaku's side.
"It seems we've grown too complacent using our invisibility. We've lost our edge. This was a good lesson."
Sasuke felt the weight lift as the restraints vanished.
He scrambled up and leaped back to Orochimaru's side.
Karin and Jugo, still not entirely sure what had happened, followed him to maintain their distance from the masked man.
Sasuke glared at the mysterious figure and told Orochimaru, "Don't ever make me do that again, or I'll kill you myself."
Orochimaru gave a raspy laugh. "This was a special case. If you hadn't done it, we wouldn't have achieved this result."
"Thanks to you, the four Hokage are back. We finally have our strongest trump cards."
As he spoke, the four Hokage began to stir from their slumber.
The First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, blinked, looking confused by his surroundings.
The Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, narrowed his red eyes at Orochimaru. "You again? The shinobi named Orochimaru?"
"Hmm?" Hashirama looked at his brother. "What's going on?"
The shortest among them, the elderly Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi, guessed, "We were all sealed within the Reaper. Most likely, the seal was broken and the Reanimation Jutsu was used on us."
The Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, looked at Orochimaru. "I'm surprised that sealing technique could be undone... How did you do it?"
Orochimaru gave a proud, thin smile. "You underestimated me, Minato."
Ever since the Whirlpool Country was destroyed, he had been studying the lost sealing techniques of the Uzumaki clan.
Especially after his arms were sealed, he had spent his time either preparing Sasuke's new body or searching for a way to break the Reaper Death Seal.
It seemed his research had paid off.
Minato turned to Hashirama, who looked exactly like his statue on the Hokage Rock. "Lord First, it seems we've been brought back to the world of the living."
"And who are you?"
Hashirama tilted his head, a look of pure innocence and confusion on his face.
Minato blinked, then turned around to show the words written on his cloak: Fourth Hokage.
"Oh, you're the Fourth! That means the village is doing well if it's made it to a fourth generation."
Hashirama's eyes lit up with unshielded joy.
Minato scratched his head. "I'm not sure if the village is peaceful. I actually died before the Third did."
"Oh, I see. I thought you were sealed along with Monkey." Hashirama asked curiously, "So, who is the Hokage now?"
"It is your granddaughter, Tsunade."
Orochimaru's words caused Hashirama to slump instantly, his mood hitting rock bottom.
"So it's Tsuna... Is the village okay?"
"She was my first grandchild, and I spoiled her rotten. She even picked up my gambling habit. It's quite embarrassing, haha."
Hashirama gave a very awkward laugh.
Orochimaru's expression turned grim. "I'm not sure if the village is still there, but we have a much bigger problem on our hands."
Just as Orochimaru finished, a deep voice rang out from nearby.
"I didn't expect to meet the previous Hokage in such a manner."
"But it makes no difference."
The four Hokage turned in unison. A man in black, wearing a white fox mask, was walking toward them.
Fugaku stopped a short distance away, his crimson Sharingan fixed on Orochimaru and Sasuke.
He let out a soft sigh.
"Sasuke, did you go through that whole charade just to revive the Hokage?"
"You could have just told me. It's not like I would have forbidden it."
"You really are a handful..."
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]