The Shinigami signing a contract with the Uzumaki Clan, to some extent, could be seen as a local power being 'recruited' by an external one.
Considering that his true body hides in another dimension and doesn't come out, it's highly probable that he was coerced into this agreement.
If Ino could establish a good relationship with the Shinigami's true body, her gains would be even greater. She's very interested in the Sealing Techniques of the Uzumaki Clan's powerhouses and the Ninjutsu of their enemies.
Now it all depends on how devoted Yakushi Kabuto is to Orochimaru, and how many people he can trick into using this technique. The Dead Demon Consuming Seal is a high-level Ninjutsu, not something just anyone can use.
They don't have Orochimaru's ability to cut open the Shinigami's stomach, nor do they have White Zetsu. Anyone who uses it will surely die, and Orochimaru will definitely not be resurrected. Ino isn't worried at all.
"Bastard! Are you listening to me or not? I command you, resurrect Lord Orochimaru!" Kimimaro shouted loudly, but the Shinigami remained completely unmoved.
Kabuto was very curious, who was he talking to? He thought Kimimaro might have taken too much medicine and was hallucinating, but then he reconsidered. Kimimaro's willpower was so strong that even he couldn't compare; how could such a person hallucinate?
"I know you can understand me. Tell me, what will it take for you to resurrect Lord Orochimaru?" Kimimaro pointed at Orochimaru's corpse nearby, urgently pressing for an answer.
His life was about to end, and every second was precious now.
The Shinigami was initially unmoved, but at Kimimaro's repeated insistence, he extended a finger and pointed at Tayuya, who was not far away.
"You want her? Her life? Fine!" Kimimaro seized the moment. A bone blade emerged from his right palm, and with lightning speed, his right hand shot out, the white bone blade piercing Tayuya's heart.
His usual authority was immense. Kabuto shifted his feet, intentionally blocking Kidōmaru. Tayuya's fear of Kimimaro was ingrained to the bone, and at this sudden turn of events, she was completely stunned.
At the brink of death, she suddenly heard a woman's voice in her ear: "What are you standing there for? Dodge!"
The voice pulled her back to reality. Her survival instinct kicked in, and her body subconsciously rolled to the side, narrowly dodging the bone blade. Tayuya scrambled away, running over ten meters with a look of utter panic.
After launching that one attack, Kimimaro no longer had the stamina to attack again.
"Run! Hurry, run!" Ino didn't know why the Shinigami Old Iron took a liking to Tayuya, but a rare commodity was valuable. "My 'good friend' wants something, so I need to check it out. Tayuya can't just die here for no reason. If she's going to die, Ino needs to understand why first."
Under her strong mental suggestion, Tayuya's will to survive unleashed her full potential. She immediately entered her Cursed Seal Level 2 state, took off running, and vanished from Orochimaru's southern base in a flash.
Kabuto looked thoughtful, not knowing the reason for this sudden change. Kidōmaru was hesitant; was he the only one left of the Sound Four? His usually sharp mind was a complete mess, having entirely lost the ability to think.
Jugo only cared about his good friend Kimimaro and was indifferent to everyone and everything else.
Kimimaro grabbed his sleeve: "Friend, I'm sorry, I can't go on with you. Please, you must, cough cough cough cough, never mind. Go find your inner peace. You are free."
A dying man's words are kind. He truly didn't want to put another burden on Jugo. Then he looked at Kabuto: "You must resurrect Lord Orochimaru. Tayuya must be the key. She definitely has, cough cough, something very important."
The summoning time was up. The Shinigami, without a word, directly took Kimimaro's soul. His body went limp, devoid of any signs of life.
Ino used Yin Style Chakra to give her 'mentally challenged friend' a gift, then she pointed at Kimimaro's corpse.
The Shinigami pointed at the corpse, then at her, as if asking, "You want this?"
Ino nodded.
The Shinigami wanted souls, not bodies.
"Since you like it, then it's yours."
The next second, a gray vortex appeared out of nowhere. Before Kabuto and the others could react, Kimimaro's corpse was taken by the Shinigami and transferred to his 'mentally challenged friend.'
This summoning ended here.
The Shinigami gave a 'buy one get one free' deal, taking two souls, and Ino also got a very valuable corpse. She had almost worn out Jirobo's corpse from last time.
Kimimaro, with his Shikotsumyaku, was undoubtedly more valuable.
At the same time, she also became a little curious about Tayuya. How could such an ordinary Genjutsu-type Female Ninja have something on her that even the Shinigami valued?
The Shinigami gave no response to her inquiry, remaining as 'mentally challenged' as ever.
Ino's consciousness returned to her body. The first thing she did was seal Kimimaro's corpse. Then she sensed the mental marker she had left on Tayuya. The two were too far apart; she only knew the marker was still there, but finding her exact location would take some time.
There was no rush for this. Perhaps after 'gifting' a couple more times, the Shinigami would tell her the answer.
Tsunade returned to the Village with twenty million ryo, called Jiraiya, and then publicly performed Wood Release at the training ground, shocking everyone, both those with connections and those without.
Everyone found it very strange. "You're practically at death's door; isn't it a bit late to awaken a Bloodline Limit now?"
Although Tsunade didn't explicitly say it, she talked a lot about meridian theory and Chakra circulation. Those with keen minds began to speculate: "Could it be that you figured out this Wood Release yourself?"
Shikaku then asked Ino.
Ino used the pre-arranged story they had discussed, successfully misleading the great strategist.
She said she merely provided the Wood Release ideas that the First Hokage had once described, then explained these theories to Tsunade. After receiving remote guidance from the First, Tsunade's potential was fully unleashed. She went into seclusion for more than ten days straight and, in the end, managed to research Wood Release herself.
Shikaku's intelligence was entirely in strategy and tactics; his Ninjutsu talent was very ordinary. For a moment, he felt a sense of profound incomprehension.
When he saw the scroll with "Muscular Strength" written on it, he was completely astonished. "What is this?!" Ino explained the situation, and he suddenly understood. He realized he truly had no Ninja talent, his comprehension wasn't enough, and he excused himself!
Tsunade had known about Yamato's existence for a long time. No matter how one looked at it, the fault wasn't Yamato's. He was an infant when he underwent the experiment; the fault lay with the Village, with the Third Hokage and them.
However, she still called Yamato before her and demanded that he not waste the First Hokage's cells, and that he should dedicate himself to Konoha Village, and so on. This was her way, as a member of the Senju Clan, of acknowledging Yamato's existence.
From then on, Yamato could fully step into the light.
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