Senju Tobirama felt like he had died all over again.
If not for his strong will—and the serious warnings he had received from Nemu and the others beforehand—he might have drowned in that empty yet magnificent world, lost in desire and illusion.
That world had everything he loved.
It was like a beautiful genjutsu, tempting him to indulge forever and never wake up.
But in the end, Tobirama broke free from Hōgyoku's influence.
He awakened from the illusion buried deep within his consciousness and slowly opened his eyes.
In that instant, a multicolored cloak of energy suddenly appeared around him.
A strange, unique power—mixed with chakra—rushed through every corner of his body.
"So this is the Hōgyoku Mode?"
Tobirama opened his hands and looked down, watching as the energy cloak shimmered around his arms and torso.
He could clearly feel the overwhelming force flowing through him—its quality far beyond that of normal chakra.
He had tried to estimate the Hōgyoku's power beforehand, preparing for the worst.
But now that he truly held it within his body, Tobirama realized that he had still underestimated it.
The potential of this power... exceeded his expectations.
As a shinobi, Tobirama had already reached the peak of what was possible.
But the Hōgyoku had shattered that so-called "ninja limit" with ease.
As for the true limits of its power—he couldn't yet reach them, let alone imagine them.
In fact, with the Hōgyoku Mode active and fully enveloping him, Tobirama began to feel a strange sense of contradiction.
It was as if his own body was now holding back the full potential of the Hōgyoku.
The vast amount of chakra inside him seemed to interfere with the true expression of the Hōgyoku's power.
To put it simply: the balance was off.
The massive amount of chakra in his body had become like a container—one that limited how much of the Hōgyoku's strength could actually be unleashed.
Was it because the Hōgyoku itself was designed to break through the limits of the soul?
"It seems it worked, huh? Want to try out your new power?" Orochimaru looked at Senju Tobirama, who was in Hogyoku Mode, with interest. He was curious about what kind of power Tobirama had awakened from the Hogyoku.
"Alright," Tobirama glanced at Orochimaru. He clearly understood Orochimaru's intentions but didn't refuse.
Although as a ninja, it's best to keep personal information secret, if someone is strong enough not to care or is a trusted partner, it's acceptable.
Tobirama wasn't strong enough to ignore the risk of information leaking, and he didn't fully trust Orochimaru either.
He only agreed because this power could only be obtained through Kagetsu and Orochimaru, and Orochimaru was also the Fourth Hokage of Konoha.
Even he was resurrected by them, so Tobirama didn't mind.
"Don't resist!"
Tobirama instantly teleported beside Orochimaru, placing a hand on his shoulder. Then, both of them disappeared from the underground base in an instant.
"Are you going with them?"
Tsunade looked at the two disappearing figures, pouted slightly, and then turned her gaze to Kagetsu standing nearby.
"Send the Hogyoku to Sage Katsuyu. It still needs to evolve," Kagetsu shook his head and pointed to the Hogyoku that still shone brightly inside.
The power of the Hogyoku attracted the interest of the three great Sage Grounds.
After some negotiation and exchange, each of the three paid a price to obtain the right to use the Hogyoku.
Information about ninjas, Otsutsuki, and the Sage of the Six Paths was part of the deal.
Also, when necessary, a portion of power would be shared as material to forge spiritual weapons for their respective contractors.
To decide who got the first right to use the Hogyoku, the three summoning Sage Grounds fought many times.
In the end, Sage Katsuyu was granted the first right to use the Hogyoku.
It wasn't that the Slug Sage was the strongest fighter, nor was it because of anything else.
It was simply because its personality was relatively gentle and peaceful. The other two Sages often clashed and were wary of each other.
No one trusted whether the other would cause trouble after using the Hogyoku to evolve again.
So after many battles without a clear winner, the Toad Sage and the White Snake Sage each stepped back and gave priority to the Slug Sage, who had been watching quietly.
They made the Slug Sage promise that if either side gained power from the Hogyoku and wanted to start a war, the Slug Sage must step up to stop it.
This was the agreement among the three Sages.
As for how long the Hogyoku would take to modify the body, the Sages didn't care.
Even the old Toad Sage, who seemed too old to move, still had enough life force inside to live for a very long time.
Their long lives gave them plenty of patience.
Tsunade summoned a small slug and handed the Hogyoku to it.
The slug's antennae twitched twice, then it moved its body and swallowed the Hogyoku whole.
Using a soft and gentle voice, it said goodbye to Tsunade and Kagetsu, then suddenly turned into a puff of smoke and disappeared.
"I'm going back now."
After finishing everything, Tsunade nodded at Kagetsu.
Lately, she had been busy "educating" the revived Nawaki and was deeply involved.
If she hadn't worried about the Second Hokage's awakening ceremony going wrong, she wouldn't have come to Orochimaru's secret underground lab at all.
But now that the Second Hokage had successfully awakened and the Hogyoku was returned to the Shikkotsu Forest, she didn't want to wait here for Orochimaru and the others.
Nawaki was still waiting for her at home.
"I'll wait for them to come back," Kagetsu chose to stay.
He didn't think those two would spar for long because it was the main consciousness of Orochimaru's which is used for research.
His combat body was still inside the village.
Orochimaru himself was definitely curious about Senju Tobirama's Hogyoku Mode, but after testing the other's abilities, he lost interest in fighting or sparring.
After all, main consciousness Orochimaru's desire for research was much stronger than that of the other two soul bodies. He was unwilling to waste time on meaningless battles.
In fact, Kagetsu guessed correctly. He didn't wait long before the two who had disappeared reappeared inside the underground base.
The two seemed as if they had just gone out for a casual walk.
There were no signs of battle on their bodies, clearly meaning they stopped before any serious fight.
"An amazing ability," Orochimaru praised, showing some envy and greed toward Tobirama's awakened power.
"But it's just an ability to counter ninjas and ninjutsu," Tobirama shook his head.
The fight with Orochimaru also helped him get familiar with his awakened power.
His talent and obsession mixed with the power of the Hogyoku, eventually awakening a power similar to the Rinnegan, one that counters ninjas and ninjutsu.
Of course, he hadn't deeply explored or refined this new power yet. Once he became familiar with it, he might undergo a transformation.
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