The Shinobi World.
Land of Fire, within Konohagakure.
After successfully repelling Aramaki, Senju Hashirama and Senju Tobirama returned to the village gates, where they were welcomed with great celebration by all the ninja and villagers of Konoha.
At last, they sat down for a quiet conversation inside the Hokage's office, now occupied by none other than the newly appointed Fourth Hokage—Orochimaru.
Also present was Jiraiya, as the student of Sarutobi Hiruzen and currently the most powerful living shinobi in Konoha. He had been given a seat at the table as well.
"You said you've already dispatched a peace delegation to Rōran?"
Senju Tobirama looked expressionlessly at Orochimaru, who sat behind the desk.
Tobirama wasn't particularly familiar with Orochimaru.
It was only after being summoned back through the Impure World Reincarnation and hearing Orochimaru's self-introduction that he had come to understand the man's identity—and then they had exchanged information on Aramaki.
But he hadn't expected that, in just a matter of days, Orochimaru would become the Fourth Hokage of Konoha.
For someone as naturally suspicious as Tobirama, this raised immediate doubts. Perhaps this man harbored some nefarious ambition.
Still, Tobirama gave no indication of his suspicions on the surface.
Seated beside him, Hashirama had said a few words with a smile at the beginning, but then left the conversation in Tobirama's hands—he knew his younger brother was far better at these kinds of matters.
"That's right," Orochimaru, clad in the Hokage robe, faced Tobirama's oppressive gaze with surprising calm.
"Though I regret having to make such a move while the two of you were still locked in battle with the enemy, as Hokage, I must prioritize the safety of all of Konoha."
He then spent about ten minutes explaining his analysis of the World Government's power, and why he believed that the entire shinobi world would be hard-pressed to stop it.
He delivered it all in an exceptionally calm tone.
"In short, since the World Government's goal is not extermination or destruction, but conquest and dominion, I believe Konoha should seek negotiations as soon as possible."
"Of course, it could be seen as submission or surrender. The name doesn't matter—only the outcome does."
Tobirama exchanged a glance with Hashirama.
"Have you considered that once the World Government accepts Konoha's submission, you—having only just become Hokage—might very well be stripped of the title or replaced?"
Tobirama asked, his expression softening just slightly.
"It doesn't matter~"
Orochimaru smiled faintly.
This made both Tobirama and Hashirama regard him with a touch of admiration—and even Jiraiya, seated nearby, felt a twinge of respect.
To them, it seemed Orochimaru was merely pretending to be indifferent.
After all, the position of Hokage wasn't something to take lightly. And Orochimaru had only just assumed it—how could he truly not care?
But none of the three realized the truth: Orochimaru genuinely didn't care.
Before attaining the title, he had indeed been curious to experience it. Now that he had it, he saw it only as the fulfillment of a minor personal goal.
He had no real thirst for power.
In comparison—
His ultimate dream now was immortality.
His secondary goal was to comprehend all truths of the universe.
That was why he sought to master every jutsu, even forbidden ones, and to study all kekkei genkai—even Senjutsu.
Now, with the emergence of the World Government, his vision of 'all truths' had expanded dramatically—encompassing all realms and worlds across the cosmos.
And compared to the vast truths of countless worlds...
What did the shinobi world amount to? The Land of Fire, Konohagakure, even the Hokage title—they were nothing but ants and dust.
At this point, the only value the Hokage title held for Orochimaru…
…was that it increased his worth in the eyes of the World Government.
"Seems like Hiruzen raised a fine student. Orochimaru, you're more than worthy of being the Fourth Hokage!"
A smile spread across Tobirama's face as he offered his praise.
"Hahahaha! Indeed! A Hokage should be someone like you—one who always puts the people of Konoha first!"
Hashirama laughed heartily and, quite pleased, added, "By the way… how's my granddaughter Tsunade doing?"
"Reporting to the First Hokage, Tsunade is currently in the Land of Snow."
The moment Tsunade was mentioned, Jiraiya became even more eager than Orochimaru to respond. He quickly said, "Back when Aramaki launched his attack, Sarutobi-sensei had already dispatched an Anbu carrying a Flying Thunder God kunai."
"When he reaches Tsunade, he'll send a message using a ninja hawk. After that, Minato will teleport them both back to the village."
"Flying Thunder God?"
Senju Tobirama raised an eyebrow. "Are you saying that this Minato has mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique I developed?"
He hadn't expected that so many geniuses had emerged in the current Konoha.
"Namikaze Minato is my student," Jiraiya replied, a proud smile forming on his face. "He's fully proficient in the Flying Thunder God Technique. He's also mastered Sage Mode. In terms of overall strength, he's not much weaker than me."
Yet as soon as he mentioned Minato, that pride gave way to gloom as he remembered Minato's crippled legs. But then he looked up at the two legends standing before him—both living legends of the shinobi world.
"First Hokage, Second Hokage—could I ask you both to examine Namikaze Minato?"
With a troubled expression, Jiraiya explained Minato's condition in detail.
"Please… help him. I beg you."
He stood up and bowed deeply to both Hashirama and Tobirama.
"Of course," Tobirama replied without hesitation. "Though I'm not very familiar with medical ninjutsu, so I'll leave that to my brother."
He turned to look at Hashirama.
After all, even Tsunade had learned her medical ninjutsu from him.
"Well then, what are we waiting for? Take me to him right away!" Hashirama stood up eagerly.
"I'd like to meet this young man who not only mastered the Flying Thunder God and Sage Mode, but also married the jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails."
[Knock! Knock! Knock!]
Suddenly, there was a sharp knock on the Hokage Office door.
The sound was rushed—clearly, the visitor was anxious.
Sure enough—
When Orochimaru called out for them to enter, Nara Shikaku stepped in holding a document. He walked straight to the desk, not even pausing to greet the other three men.
"Lord Fourth, we've just received word from the Anbu unit dispatched to the Land of Snow!"
"The entire country has been overtaken by personnel from the World Government—Lady Tsunade and Shizune have both been captured and taken aboard one of their airships!"
As Shikaku spoke, Orochimaru had already skimmed the report quickly.
He immediately passed it to Hashirama, whose expression changed drastically.
"How could this happen? Why would they skip over all the other nations along the way and go straight for the Land of Snow?"
Orochimaru muttered to himself, deep in thought.
"Could there be something or someone in the Land of Snow that's extremely important? Something even we locals aren't aware of? How did the World Government know?"
The mood in the room turned grim. Tsunade's status was no trivial matter.
Meanwhile…
Within the borders of the Land of Waterfalls—
Takigakure stood atop a massive cascade.
But now, it had fallen utterly silent.
The air was thick with the stench of blood.
"Hah! Even the heavens are on my side!"
In the center of the carnage stood a towering man with golden eyes. His wild, jet-black hair and dense beard made him look feral; his long mane flowed down nearly his entire back. His muscular chest was bare, smeared with blood from the fallen shinobi of the village.
Violent black-green flames of aura surged from his body, unleashing wave after wave of pressure outward in all directions.
"The fact that most of the Takigakure shinobi went to Rōran with Kumogakure's forces, yet left the Seven-Tails Jinchūriki behind to guard the village—what a perfect opportunity."
A strange figure wrapped entirely in a giant green pitcher plant, with a half-black, half-white face, hovered above the unconscious, battered middle-aged woman at his feet, echoing Shinnō's observation.
This was none other than Zetsu—
After Madara's death, Zetsu had wandered across the shinobi world, gathering intelligence on the World Government.
He possessed the ability to perfectly conceal his presence, allowing him to stealthily infiltrate Sunagakure, Kumogakure, Amegakure, and even Konohagakure without issue.
Out of caution, however, he had chosen not to enter the Kingdom of Rōran.
Still, Zetsu managed to uncover vital information: the World Government was in fact an invading force from another world.
This revelation had greatly shocked him.
He never imagined that, following the threat of the Ōtsutsuki clan, the shinobi world would once again face extraterrestrial invaders.
And clearly, these new arrivals came with hostile intent.
While no individual had yet appeared to rival 'Mother' in strength, the glimpses revealed so far—through figures like Crocodile, Aramaki, and the armed forces stationed in Rōran—already suggested a formidable power.
Zetsu began contemplating how the presence of the World Government might affect his goal of resurrecting 'Mother'.
His conclusion: a significant impact.
If the World Government were to conquer the shinobi world, gathering all nine tailed beasts would become exponentially more difficult.
What if they took the tailed beasts to other worlds?
That alone would make the mission nearly impossible.
And so, Zetsu resolved to find a way to halt—or at least delay—the World Government's conquest.
During that window, he could work to gather the nine tailed beasts ahead of schedule and use Impure World Reincarnation to bring back Uchiha Madara.
But how should he go about this?
Whether by fate or coincidence, that was when he encountered Shinnō.
What attracted Zetsu to him was not just his ambition, which could be exploited, but also the advanced medical techniques Shinnō had developed and mastered.
At their first meeting, Zetsu had gotten straight to the point.
He told Shinnō that he knew the location of the Zero-Tails, could help him obtain it, and could even assist him in conquering the shinobi world—on one condition: that Shinnō do everything in his power to resist the World Government's invasion.
He then selectively shared classified information on the World Government.
Naturally, Shinnō was skeptical at first.
But when Zetsu took advantage of the moment when Konoha had dispatched tens of thousands of shinobi to intercept Aramaki…
…and infiltrated the archives to retrieve the scroll detailing the resurrection and control method for the Zero-Tails…
…and handed it over to Shinnō—
Shinnō was overjoyed and agreed to the plan without hesitation.
After all, from his perspective, the World Government's attempt to conquer the shinobi world was a direct challenge to his own ambitions.
In that case—
Even for his own sake, he had to drive them out of his shinobi world!
In addition to that—
Zetsu also retrieved the scroll containing the Eight Gates Technique and gave it to Shinnō, believing that with the Body Revival Technique, the damage caused by using the Eight Gates could be fully mitigated.
And indeed—
Just as expected, Shinnō mastered the technique quickly—and in the process, also made himself the Jinchūriki of the Zero-Tails.
After that, Shinnō and Zetsu unleashed a brutal massacre within Takigakure.
Everyone—man or woman, young or old, shinobi or civilian—was slaughtered without exception. Only the current Seven-Tails Jinchūriki was spared, left barely clinging to life.
"Hold on. I'm going to extract the Seven-Tails now," Zetsu crouched and lifted the unconscious woman's shirt, revealing her abdomen.
"Be careful. The Seven-Tails can fly and release scale powder that causes paralysis and obstructs vision—it's extremely adept at escaping."
"Once we suppress it together, I'll seal it into one of my White Zetsu bodies."
As he spoke, a thick, slimy white substance began oozing from Zetsu's body.
Moments later, right before Shinnō's eyes, it reshaped itself into a humanoid figure with limbs—pale-skinned and grotesque.
"Why not seal it inside me?" Shinnō asked curiously.
"Why don't you ask your tenant if it's open to having a roommate? And keep in mind—this might not be the only one."
Zetsu didn't even turn his head as he replied.
"Uh—"
Shinnō was momentarily speechless. Knowing the Zero-Tails, there was no way it would willingly share a host with the Seven-Tails.
But it didn't really matter.
In his mind, the Zero-Tails was a tailed beast—surely not inferior to any of the others.
And its immortality, its capacity for instant regeneration, and its ability to absorb chakra from others made it even more suitable for him.
"What's the plan after this?" Shinnō asked as he watched Zetsu begin unsealing the symbols on the Jinchūriki's abdomen.
"Next is the Land of Grass, then the Land of Demons. There—"
Before Zetsu could finish, he suddenly slammed his palm down hard on the Jinchūriki's belly with a loud thump.
Immediately—
Waves of ominous red chakra burst forth from her body like a flood.
"Let's finish this job first!"
Moments later, a massive insect appeared in the heart of Takigakure—a monstrous fusion of dragonfly and beetle.
Without hesitation, it opened its jaws and released a dense cloud of yellow scale powder. At the same time, its six massive translucent wings began to vibrate at high frequency.
But before the Seven-Tails could take flight—
A dark green streak, slicing through the air with a piercing whistle, came crashing down from above.
From the surrounding ground, thick wooden vines erupted like giant serpents, quickly wrapping around the beast.
In an instant—
The furious roars of the Seven-Tails and the thunderous shockwaves of battle shook the village.
But it didn't last long.
Soon, Takigakure fell silent again. Shinnō and Zetsu had vanished without a trace.
They had also taken the gourd-shaped glass bottle that contained the Hero Water with them on their way out.
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