"Then what do you want to do, you naturally righteous Old Man Senju?"
Hearing the Second Generation mention him, Uchiha Hikari pouted in dissatisfaction.
"...Of course, we must make thorough preparations."
Tobirama took a deep breath, comforting himself internally not to argue with a child, and continued with the main task.
"I agree."
Orochimaru voiced his support for the Second Generation, grinning. "If my most respected Nidaime-sama had thought this way when negotiating with the Hidden Cloud Village back then, perhaps he wouldn't have had to die."
"Orochimaru, you!!"
Tobirama was furious and depressed.
Don't bring up a person's shortcomings.
Why does everyone try to provoke him now?
Could it be that they see Big Brother as too blessed and foolish, and find bullying him boring?
"Alright, Orochimaru, the Second Hokage means well, let him speak. Under the current circumstances and conditions, how should we further refine our preparations?"
Bai Mo waved his hand, signaling the Second Generation to continue.
"Mm."
Tobirama looked strangely at Bai Mo, then at Nagato.
He thought, didn't Bai Mo just call Nagato the Leader?
Yet, judging by the situation, Bai Mo was the one with the real authority.
In your organization, who is truly in charge, you or him?
Tobirama was puzzled, but now was not the time to dwell on it; he needed to handle the main task.
"This thing contains a massive amount of Chakra. If even a slight mistake causes an outburst, the resulting power is definitely enough to destroy everything nearby.
Fortunately, this is the desert in the Land of Wind, so we don't have to worry about nearby villages.
But we cannot escape it.
Therefore, we must prepare our defenses well.
Even if there is only a one percent chance of a problem occurring, we cannot gamble."
Tobirama began to elaborate on his idea.
The final phrase, "cannot gamble," seemed to subtly hint at a certain gambling grandparent and grandchild pair.
"Indeed, we cannot gamble."
Hashirama seriously agreed with his younger brother. "Tobirama, use that."
"That's right, Big Brother, that's exactly what I was thinking."
"However, we don't have enough people. Uchiha Hikari and Nagato need to absorb Chakra, so they can't participate. Orochimaru can, but the last person..."
Tobirama looked at Bai Mo. "You probably can't do it, right?"
Bai Mo doesn't even have Chakra, so naturally, he can't use Ninjutsu.
But how can a man say he can't?
Bai Mo suspected the Second Generation was deliberately saying this as an act of repaying kindness with enmity.
It seems he was too merciful in Icha Icha Paradise; he didn't give the naturally righteous Old Man Senju enough screen time.
Without waiting for Bai Mo's reply, Tobirama seemed to have already found his answer and looked at the two White Zetsu behind Orochimaru. "Orochimaru, call Sarutobi out again, and then one more..."
"The Four Red Yang Formation?"
Orochimaru understood the preparations the Second Generation wanted to make.
The Four Red Yang Formation is the superior alternative to the Four Violet Flames Formation he used during the Konoha Crush Plan.
It requires four Kage to use, and the barrier's strength is dozens of times greater than the Four Violet Flames Formation.
Of course, while it says four Kage, the condition actually refers to the generally accepted Kage-level amount of Chakra.
After all, Kage is just a title.
For instance, if you asked the Eighth Hokage Shikamaru to use it, he definitely wouldn't be able to.
"Exactly. We happen to have two sacrifices available. Orochimaru, do you have Edo Tensei materials for anyone else? Like the Fourth Hokage, for example."
Tobirama nodded.
—Since Tsunade is the Fifth Hokage, it means the Fourth must already be dead.
"The Fourth? His strength is certainly qualified, but it can't be done."
Orochimaru shook his head slightly. "The Fourth used the Reaper Death Seal; his soul was sealed away, swallowed by the Shinigami. Unless that seal is undone, there is no way to perform Edo Tensei on him."
"So, you did bring Edo Tensei materials? What about other people?"
"I didn't bring them with me, but I can use the Summoning Technique at any time to have the snakes from Ryūchi Cave bring them over. As for others, truthfully, the materials I've collected right now aren't very extensive."
Orochimaru was speaking the truth.
His current research prioritizes quality over quantity.
The Edo Tensei used by Yakushi Kabuto during the Fourth Great Ninja War was the large-scale version.
At that time, Yakushi Kabuto went crazy acting as a Mojin Xiaowei grave robber. Because he stole so much, he even turned Edo Tensei into a lottery card pool.
A bunch of useless cannon fodder could be brought back via Edo Tensei to fulfill their dreams.
For example, someone who died and found out his wife remarried, or someone who secretly loved Temari but died while performing a C-rank mission—a mission where the enemy didn't include Ninja.
Such people do not exist in Orochimaru's collection.
Even if they were just experimental materials or lab rats, he wouldn't want such trash.
"That truly is a shame. If I had known, I would have taken a piece of Izuna's flesh when I killed him back then."
Tobirama looked slightly disappointed.
At the time, he hadn't developed Edo Tensei yet, so naturally, he hadn't thought about that.
If he had gotten Izuna's body materials and performed Edo Tensei now, Izuna would certainly choose to resist and refuse to help.
Given Bai Mo's personality, he would definitely make Orochimaru control Izuna and send him to the Red Light District to sell himself... The thought alone was physically and mentally pleasing.
What a pity.
"Then let's proceed."
While Tobirama was daydreaming, Orochimaru had already notified a Summoning Snake to bring a set of materials over.
He took the scroll and retrieved the materials from inside.
Adding the remaining Demon Orb material from the Third Generation that was just used, he continued with Edo Tensei.
"Ahhh—Orochimaru, you ungrateful disciple, are you never going to stop?"
After the scream subsided, Hiruzen Sarutobi found himself brought back by Edo Tensei again, leaving him speechless.
In the afterlife, unless one has a strong obsession that keeps them lucid for a while, there is no concept of time or space otherwise.
Just like in the original work, the First, Second, Third, and Fourth Generations stayed together in the Shinigami's stomach for so long, yet when they were brought back by Edo Tensei, they still didn't recognize the Fourth Generation.
However, the Fourth Generation did reconcile with the Nine-Tails.
It's also unknown whether the Third Generation reconciled with Orochimaru's hand, or if he used Orochimaru's hand for certain activities when he was lonely.
"Don't worry, Sensei. This time you're out because we need your strength to help, and it wasn't my request, but the requirement of your teacher, Nidaime-sama."
Orochimaru explained.
"Is that so?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi glanced at his teacher, the Second Generation, and seeing that the Second Generation did not refute Orochimaru's words, he knew Orochimaru hadn't lied to him.
"This is... Orochimaru, don't tell me this was also Nidaime-sama's requirement?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi's gaze fell upon the other person brought back by Edo Tensei beside him, and his pupils immediately contracted as he glared angrily at Orochimaru.
"You could say that. Nidaime-sama needs someone capable of using the Four Red Yang Formation. Since the Fourth Generation cannot be summoned from the Shinigami's stomach, I thought of this person."
Orochimaru gave Hiruzen Sarutobi an evil smile.
"Edo Tensei? Sandaime-sama? Orochimaru? What's going on here, believe it or not?"
Kushina blinked her eyes, looking around in confusion.
"Another relative of Mito? But the Uzumaki Clan naturally possesses vast Chakra, so she can indeed serve as one corner of the Four Red Yang Formation."
Hashirama saw the familiar red hair, but his reaction was quite calm.
Seeing Hikari, who resembles Madara—he was extremely excited.
Seeing Kushina, who resembles Mito—he was indifferent.
....
The journey continues right now for our Jade Dragons! 🐉
For just $6/month, you can step into the advanced chapters and never face a cliffhanger again. Gain instant access to 50+ chapters immediately, support the story you love, and help decide its course.
🔗 Become a Jade Dragon:
patreon.com/J_Dragon