Last Time ..... .
Obito and Kakashi quickly followed.
The three Susanoo appeared almost simultaneously in a lush, verdant forest surrounded by mountains.
Everyone stared at this world in shock.
"We've passed through? Why?" Tobirama, after his initial surprise, suddenly looked at Madara. "Madara, explain!"
"The invisible barrier really disappeared?" Minato also felt like he was dreaming, but ultimately, he was overjoyed. Just as everyone was about to ask Madara what had happened, suddenly, everyone except Kakashi felt a strange heat rising within them. Their senses and perceptions became incredibly active, a vividness and vitality completely absent in their Edo Tensei forms.
Kakashi watched as a white mist rose from everyone's bodies. After the mist cleared, his eyes widened in shock as he looked at everyone's faces.
"Obito, Minato-sensei, you...you've been resurrected? This is Rinne Rebirth?"
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Upon hearing this, everyone immediately sized each other up, and then, in each other's eyes, they saw shock and disbelief.
Minato touched his face with one hand. Unlike the stiffness and roughness of his reanimated body, his skin was now smooth and soft, and most importantly, it was warm. He could clearly feel the gentle breeze caressing his cheeks, smell the fresh forest air, and feel the comforting warmth throughout his body.
He died at only 24 years old. Although he didn't regret it at the moment of death, Minato did feel that his life was a little too short. If he could live again, he would gladly accept it.
Obito looked at his right side of his body, which, although still full of scars, was now the same color as his left side, feeling the various clear sensations emanating from it. His heart was also filled with mixed emotions of joy and sorrow.
After the battle at Kannabi Bridge, although he miraculously survived, half of his body was destroyed. He was barely kept alive by Hashirama cells and White Zetsu, but he was completely unable to function like a normal person. The half of his body composed of White Zetsu and Hashirama cells was utterly devoid of sensation; he couldn't feel hot, cold, pain, or itching. He also barely needed to eat or excrete; he lacked almost all human physiological functions, including normal male sexual urges.
While Obito didn't feel inferior because of this—after all, he wanted to destroy the world, so such worldly desires were naturally forgotten—it's undeniable that the romantic fantasies he occasionally had with Rin before the incident never resurfaced in his mind afterward. He didn't even have erotic dreams anymore. Obito's love for Rin for the past 18 years was entirely Platonic.
Itachi touched his chest. His lungs were completely pain-free, and his breathing was smooth and long. In the final moments of his life, he coughed up large amounts of blood daily, and the excruciating lung pain often kept him awake at night. Even if Sasuke hadn't killed him, Itachi's life was already nearing its end. Since contracting a mysterious terminal illness at 17, Itachi had spent every day in physical agony. But now, he felt better than ever before. This wasn't just a resurrection, but a complete rebirth!
Sasori looked at his right hand, made entirely of flesh and blood, with a complex expression. He hadn't just been resurrected, but had returned to the human body he was in before he became a puppet. He had died at 35. Sasori suddenly wondered how old he had been resurrected to—was it his actual age of 35, or the 15 or 16 he was before becoming a puppet?
He glanced at Kakashi. "White Fang's son, how old do I look?"
Kakashi replied helplessly with deadpan eyes. "Scorpion, you don't have to keep calling me 'Sakumo's son,' I have a name—Hatake Kakashi. You can call me Hatake or Kakashi, it's fine."
Seeing Sasori's impatient expression, as if he were about to turn around and ask someone else about his age, Kakashi finally spoke.
"Also, you look like you're 15 or 16, about the same age as when you were resurrected. Speaking of which, your age is strange. I remember you were older than me, so how come you've become younger after being resurrected? This resurrection is a bit messed up."
Kakashi couldn't help but complain at the end. A middle-aged man pretending to be a teenager was really annoying, it made him feel like his youth was gone.
Sasori got his answer. Although he wasn't entirely satisfied with his age—after all, he didn't like looking like an immature child. He had acted impulsively, turning himself into a puppet so early—Scorpion didn't really want to see himself become a greasy 35-year-old middle-aged man. Of course, with his looks, he wouldn't be greasy, but he couldn't escape being a middle-aged man; that was anything but artistic!
Hashirama moved his arms and legs. He could feel that the infinite chakra within his body was gone, replaced by the vast, long-absent chakra unique to the Senju clan, vibrant and full of life. Unlike the weakness and fatigue he felt in his final moments before death, he was now energetic and vigorous, as if he had returned to his strongest, most peak period.
He couldn't help but pat Tobirama's shoulder, pointing at himself blankly and asking... "Tobirama, how old do you think I look now?"
Tobirama wasn't young when he died. Hashirama died around forty, almost fifty, while Tobirama was attacked and killed in his early fifties, past his peak. But judging from his current appearance, his physical condition has definitely returned to its prime, possibly between 27 and 32.
Hearing his older brother ask this, he looked up at Hashirama. Sure enough, his brother, like him, had maintained his peak physical condition and age.
"Around thirty, maybe 29, 30, or 31. I can't really tell," Tobirama replied. Hashirama looked about the same age as when the ninja village was founded.
"Oh, really? I knew it! Haha, although I don't understand why I was resurrected, looking younger is pretty good." Hashirama smiled broadly and carefree, looking at Tobirama, his smile widening.
"Tobirama looks about the same age as when the ninja village was founded, around 27 or 28. Hehe, thankfully Tobirama is still younger than me after his resurrection, otherwise it would feel weird. The age chosen for his resurrection is quite thoughtful, very good!"
Tobirama's lips twitched. His older brother was indeed oblivious, caring about such trivial matters. However, his brother's age was indeed close to his estimation, just at the lower limit, not the upper limit. Could it really be that the younger brother had to be younger than the older brother for some absurd reason? Well, he didn't really mind. Tobirama had never had the thought of surpassing his brother, not even something as trivial as age.
Izuna was also astonished. He'd been dead for almost a hundred years; his remains would have almost completely decomposed. How could he be alive and back in the world? He looked at Madara. Even after his resurrection, Madara was still slightly older than he remembered, around thirty years old, just like in his Edo Tensei form, the same age as Hashirama Senju.
Madara's mind was a complete mess. He and Hashirama had been resurrected—that was shocking—but they had truly crossed the invisible barrier and arrived in a new world. That was even more unbelievable to Madara, because it meant that everything he saw in Sakura Haruno's mental world was real! Sakura Haruno—or perhaps it wasn't even her—truly broke the seal covering thirty worlds and spaces with a single finger.
Was it because of that flowering tree? Could this be the transformation Kaguya spoke of? Thinking of the girl he'd seen, whose beauty surpassed all imagination, and her utterly inhuman power, Madara felt another surge of excitement and heat. With his resurrection, his senses had fully awakened, and the restraint and composure he'd maintained in his Edo Tensei state due to dulled senses were now almost entirely gone.
This was the first time Madara had seen a woman so unparalleled in beauty and strength. Both physically and psychologically, the girl perfectly fulfilled all of Madara's desires. He wanted her!
Madara looked down at Sakura Haruno in his arms. Although she didn't yet possess even a fraction of the beauty and power he imagined, this was indeed her. Would she one day transform into that?
With his senses awakened, Madara could clearly feel the soft, undulating body of the girl in his arms. A faint, sweet fragrance wafted past his nose. As if seduced, Madara reached out and gently stroked Sakura's cheek, lingering intimately on her lips. Unfortunately, the black gloves he wore prevented him from truly experiencing the exquisite feel of her skin.
He was somewhat dissatisfied and was about to remove his gloves when a hand suddenly gripped his wrist tightly. Kakashi's eyes were fixed sharply on Madara.
"Madara, what are you doing to Sakura?"
Slightly annoyed at being interrupted, Madara shook off Kakashi's hand and looked at him with displeasure.
"You're really keeping a close eye on your student, aren't you? A bit too controlling, aren't you?"
Kakashi didn't back down, meeting his gaze with almost icy indifference. "I only have this one student now, so naturally I need to keep a close eye on her, to prevent her from being hurt or deceived by some unrelated people."
Madara scrutinized Kakashi. He wasn't slow-witted; on the contrary, he was extremely perceptive. He simply hadn't felt anything special about Sakura before, so his reaction was naturally slow. But now that he had feelings for her, he paid more attention to analyzing this potential rival. Various clues flashed through Madara's mind, and he suddenly understood, letting out a mocking laugh.
"Hmph, is this concern for your student, or is it just using this as an excuse for personal gain?"
Kakashi's expression remained unchanged. Even if Madara had noticed, so what? He didn't care what others thought. Perhaps he didn't want his feelings for Sakura to be discovered by Minato-sensei or Obito, because of Rin; perhaps he didn't want Itachi to find out, because of Sasuke; and of course, he didn't want the Second Hokage to find out, fearing that the rule-abiding Tobirama Senju would punish him, forcing him to commit seppuku.
But this had nothing to do with Madara. He wasn't afraid of Madara.
When Kakashi first saw Madara Uchiha caress Sakura's lips, he initially thought he was mistaken. After all, he was quite certain that Madara had previously shown absolutely no interest in Sakura in that regard, always calling her "little girl." But after he left Sakura's mental world, his attitude suddenly changed. What exactly happened?
This was not only Kakashi's question, but also Tobirama's and the others'.
Tobirama had ruled out the possibility of them being resurrected by the Rinne Rebirth technique. The Rinne Rebirth technique requires the Rinnegan, which Madara seemed to possess, but don't forget that this technique comes at a price: it requires the sacrifice of a living person to resurrect the dead. Madara wasn't living. If even the dead with the Rinnegan could activate the Rinne Rebirth technique, they could simply wait until the Infinite Tsukuyomi had killed everyone, then have Madara resurrect everyone using the Rinne Rebirth technique. After all, he had unlimited chakra and could resurrect people without restriction. But Tobirama didn't think such a large-scale disruption of life and death and the balance of yin and yang was feasible.
Since it wasn't the Rinne Rebirth technique, and the invisible barrier between worlds had inexplicably disappeared, Tobirama had no choice but to ask Madara, the only one who seemed to know something. He didn't notice the undercurrent between Madara and Kakashi, and walked over, directly asking Madara.
"Madara, what do you know? Explain."
The confrontation between Kakashi and Madara was interrupted by Tobirama's intervention. Madara suddenly remembered what he needed to do, and he raised a hand to interrupt Tobirama.
"Wait, I need to enter Sakura's mental world again to confirm. I'll explain after that."
Kakashi frowned. Tobirama, Hashirama, and Minato were also baffled. What did this have to do with Haruno Sakura?
Madara activated his Rinnegan and formed hand seals again. "Rinnegan: Resurrection Technique."
Reappearing in Sakura's dark mental world, Madara even felt a hint of anticipation and excitement. He hoped to see that girl again, but this time he was disappointed. He searched Sakura's mental world for a long time but didn't see the girl, nor the flowering tree that covered the entire universe. It was as if it were just a dream, but Madara knew it wasn't an illusion.
He didn't see Haruno Sakura either, but this world was stable, which meant that his master's mind was also stable and there was no danger. Madara sighed in disappointment and dispelled the Resurrection Technique.
"Madara, why do you keep entering Sakura-chan's mental space? What happened?"
"Madara, can you stop stalling and keeping us in suspense?!"
Opening his eyes again, facing Hashirama's inquisitive look, Tobirama's undisguised impatience and anger, and the others' overt and covert doubts and confusion, Madara hesitated for a moment, a rare occurrence. It wasn't that he didn't want them to see what had happened, but he really didn't want them to see that girl. He had no doubt they would be captivated by her; no one could escape her irresistible charm.
To Be Continued ... ...