The image that lasted less than half a second for everyone else seemed frozen before Kakashi's eyes.
That face he had replayed in his memories countless times slowly overlapped with the man in the photograph…
O… bi… to…
"Kakashi!!"
"!!"
Sasuke's shout snapped Kakashi back to reality. But in that split second of hesitation, as he held Naruto's hand and pressed the lever down, Kakashi saw another photo flash past—
Minato-sensei.
He missed it.
The chance was gone.
Mission failed.
In his vision, his father, Obito, Rin, Minato-sensei, and Kushina-sensei all turned their backs on him and walked away. Everyone left. Only he was left behind.
He reached out to grab them, but they kept getting farther and farther away.
The chakra drain from using the Sharingan at high frequency, the physical exhaustion, and the mental blow all hit at once. It felt as if a genjutsu had stripped Kakashi of his senses. The world spun, and a metallic taste rose in his throat as nausea churned in his chest.
"Kakashi-sensei!!"
"Kakashi!"
"Senpai!"
Yamato, who had been hiding in the shadows, rushed out and caught the silver-haired jonin as he collapsed. With the Third Hokage's permission, he immediately took him to Konoha Hospital.
"Bang!"
The slot machine vanished in a cloud of smoke.
In its place, a wooden coffin rumbled as it burst up from the ground—
"Who is it?!"
Konoha, the other villages, the Third Hokage, and the advisory council all stared at the slowly rising coffin. Just moments ago, they had only seen the Fourth Hokage's image flash by for an instant before the slot machine disappeared.
Could Konoha really have resurrected the Yellow Flash, the hero who rose to fame during the Third Great Ninja War?!
To the other villages, that would be an enormous threat.
"No. It's not the Fourth."
Sasuke clutched his eyes, his view of the dead last beside him completely overturned.
—Just how insane is this guy's luck?!
But why?
Kakashi had said earlier that the Second Hokage's photo had a golden border. Then why was the one he saw just now red?
And before the Fourth Hokage appeared, who was that white-haired man with the strange Sharingan? How could his frame be even more dazzling than gold?
The coffin fully emerged from the ground, and unlike the ten coffins before it—
"It's Orochimaru again, isn't it?!"
It spoke!!
The lid hadn't even been opened yet. The person inside hadn't been revived!
The Third Hokage's eyes widened. "That voice is—!!!"
Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado gasped. "Sensei?!"
Danzo's eyes went wide. He grabbed his right arm, sealed under multiple layers of restraints, and quickly slipped away into the shadows.
With sensing abilities even stronger than the First Hokage's, Danzo had no confidence he could hide the secrets in his right eye and arm from that man.
Disguised as a Grass ninja through Living Corpse Reincarnation, Orochimaru stuck out a damp, snake-like tongue. "Oh my, oh my. To think it's Sarutobi-sensei's teacher… that great man."
He glanced at Naruto Uzumaki, who had been so frightened by the 'corpse revival' that he fell to the ground shaking, then let out a hoarse chuckle. "This blond brat really is an interesting gust of wind~"
Even more interesting was the fact that that legendary figure from the old era seemed to know Orochimaru—and even sounded rather displeased with him. Heh heh heh… Could it be that he found out about a few jutsu I stole and learned on my own?
"No matter what, if it's that man… Konoha will start 'moving' again~"
Several dirt-stained fingers reached out from inside the coffin and pushed the lid aside—
"Let this old man take a look. What's going on this time?"
Tobirama Senju spoke with clear interest. If he could be summoned with Edo Tensei again, then it meant that brat Naruto must have successfully stopped Sasuke Uchiha and freed the tailed beasts and the humans bound by the God Tree.
Heh. Just as expected of him.
He must have become the great hero who saved the world by now. Maybe he even surpassed his elder brother and became a ninja greater than all previous Hokage.
That was something to look forward to.
As Tobirama slowly pushed the lid away that blocked his view, he was just wondering why Naruto's chakra felt so weak when—
"Ahhhhhhh! A corpse!! A corpse came back to life!! Hokage Grandpa, save me, dattebayo!!"
"Dead last, are you trying to strangle me?!"
Tobirama: "..."
He flung the coffin lid completely aside. The scene before him made the Second Hokage freeze.
A still-living Hiruzen Sarutobi. A Naruto Uzumaki clinging on like a terrified little fox. And the boy being nearly strangled—who looked just like a young Izuna Uchiha—must be Sasuke Uchiha.
He turned his gaze to the Hokage Monument.
As expected, it only went up to the Fourth Hokage.
"Monkey. What year is it in Konoha now?"
"T-Tobirama-sensei…" Hiruzen Sarutobi could hardly believe that one day he would see this man again—the Second Hokage who founded the Ninja Academy, who alongside the First Hokage lit the flame of peace and established Konohagakure.
"It's Konoha Year 60. This year's Chunin Exams are currently underway."
"Oh? The Chunin Exams."
So this was his 'first time' being resurrected again.
He didn't sense his elder brother's chakra nearby. It seemed only he had been summoned this time. As for Orochimaru… oh? Disguised as a Grass ninja with some special method. A very interesting technique—no wonder even Monkey didn't notice.
Looks like history had changed somewhere along the way.
[Resurrection Confirmed — Edo Tensei: Tobirama Senju]