Chapter 435: The Fifth Hokage (Part 3)

"I'll do my best." Orochimaru wanted his hands healed, and Daniel Davis had always been intrigued by the Reaper Death Seal. Both of them had aligned goals, as the Reaper Death Seal was a rare technique that directly attacked and sealed a soul. It also represented an opportunity to free the soul of Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage.

If Orochimaru's hands hadn't been sealed, he wouldn't have entertained the idea of studying how to break the Reaper Death Seal. 

"They're completely dead... This is like a conceptual death, the result of a soul seal." Daniel first attempted to restore Orochimaru's hands at the physical level, but as expected, nothing worked. Even the powers of the Op-Op Fruit failed to help. Attempting a transplant had no effect either.

"Not even the Philosopher's Stone works… This must be the Shinigami's domain. Too bad most of the Uzumaki sealing techniques have been lost."

"The underworld and hell of this world are quite interesting... It seems I have no choice but to try the last method." After exhausting all technological and mystical methods without success, Daniel decided to resort to a final approach.

"Don't resist." Daniel instructed Orochimaru to relax, then slapped his hand on Orochimaru's chest, forcefully ejecting his soul from his body.

"This is..." Orochimaru floated in the air, astonished as he looked down at his body and at Daniel. He knew of only two techniques that could extract souls: Kato Dan's Spirit Transformation Technique and the Human Path of Pain.

Kamar-Taj's magic, which could separate a person's soul from their body, was a powerful tool. Most people had no way of defending themselves once their soul was ejected. Without their soul, they became helpless.

However, this technique had its limits for Daniel. It didn't work on stronger opponents, as the more powerful someone was, the more tightly their soul was bound to their body. Even Pain's Human Path required the target to be weakened for soul extraction.

But when facing someone like Orochimaru, who had already weakened his soul through his Living Corpse Reincarnation, Daniel was at a clear advantage.

"Don't be alarmed. This is your soul state. As expected, your soul is in terrible shape—completely impure." Daniel noted the fragments of other souls clinging to Orochimaru's spirit—remnants of the bodies Orochimaru had inhabited. Orochimaru lacked Kamar-Taj's magic to cleanse his soul, so he couldn't eliminate those impurities.

"So this is the soul…" Orochimaru, ever the curious researcher, immediately began examining his soul state. However, no matter how closely he looked, he couldn't see the impurities himself.

"Sorry, it looks like I can't do anything for you right now. My understanding of ninja techniques is still lacking. Maybe Tsunade, the other Sannin, could help. Her medical ninjutsu is said to be the best in the ninja world."

"I just killed our teacher, and you expect me to go ask her for help?" Orochimaru sneered, clearly amused by the irony.

"Then there's only one other option: find a way to undo the Reaper Death Seal. Since it's a sealing technique, there should be a way to break it."

"That cursed old man."

"These are your only two options for now. Think it over. I've got other things to take care of."

Daniel left Orochimaru to mull over his choices. After all, having his hands sealed gave him every right to be angry. Of the two options Daniel presented, only the second was feasible. No matter how skilled Tsunade was in medical ninjutsu, she couldn't undo a soul seal. Orochimaru's only real option was to find a way to break the Reaper Death Seal.

In the original timeline, it had taken Orochimaru around three years to figure out how to break the seal. With Daniel's guidance, it might take less time, but it was still a long-term project. For now, Orochimaru needed a quicker solution, and Tsunade was his best bet.

"This is Wood Style, huh?" Returning to his own residence, Daniel began copying the techniques from the scroll of sealing. While the scroll had its own protective seals that prevented just anyone from accessing its contents, Orochimaru had easily bypassed them, and now Daniel was doing the same.

Once the seal was broken, Daniel quickly made a copy, as did Orochimaru. The scroll contained numerous high-level techniques, all at least A-rank, including secret techniques like Sai's Super Beast Scroll.

During his time spent treating Orochimaru, Daniel had already started practicing some of the techniques in the scroll. To speed up his learning, he used the ultimate ninja hack: the Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu.

Shadow Clones weren't particularly helpful for training chakra control, but they were incredibly useful for learning techniques and building muscle memory. Naruto had mastered the Wind Style: Rasenshuriken in just two weeks thanks to this method, a process that would have normally taken years.

The Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu reduced the time needed to train any technique. For Daniel, it allowed him to dramatically reduce the time he spent mastering swordsmanship, taijutsu, and other physical skills. While it wasn't a perfect substitute for real training, the sheer number of clones made up for any deficiencies.

"Wood Style: Four-Pillar House Jutsu!" With a quick series of hand seals, four interconnected two-story villas appeared in front of Daniel. If he had enough chakra, this technique could create an entire neighborhood in an instant.

Yamato had once worn himself out using this jutsu to construct a single street of houses. But if Daniel were to use it at full power, he could easily build an entire town in a matter of days.

Compared to other Wood Style techniques, this one was Daniel's first choice.

"Yamato may be good at landscaping, but he'll never compare to the First Hokage," Daniel mused. While Yamato could beautify parks, the First Hokage could create entire forests.

"Sand Village should've paid a fortune to hire the First Hokage to create forests in their desert." It was possible to hire a Kage for a specific mission if the price was right. Of course, the fee would be astronomical, beyond the means of most people.

"Flying Thunder God Technique…" More than Wood Style, Daniel was interested in mastering the Flying Thunder God Technique. For most, this space-time jutsu was extremely difficult, but for Daniel, it was surprisingly easy due to his extensive knowledge of space-time principles.

The Flying Thunder God Technique filled the gaps in Daniel's other teleportation abilities like Free Passage and Apparition. It was faster than either of those techniques and could be combined with the Op-Op Fruit's spatial displacement to create even more devastating combos.

"Minato Namikaze was truly remarkable. How did he manage to keep his Flying Thunder God marks hidden from Obito for over ten years? And how did he engrave them using the Rasengan? I definitely need to revive him."

The more Daniel learned about the Flying Thunder God Technique, the more impressed he was by Minato. His famous "Flying Thunder God Level Two," used against Obito, was just one example of his brilliance. But what truly amazed Daniel was Minato's ability to hide his marks using the Rasengan, a swirling ball of chakra.

The engraved kunai that Minato carried were just a ruse to cover up his true ability—to leave his marks anywhere, anytime.

The battle between the Fourth Raikage and Minato had been the clearest indication of this.

"Mutual Multiplying Explosive Tags, Water Severing Wave… Tobirama was a mad scientist in the modern world." While Daniel immersed himself in learning the techniques from the scroll of sealing, the ninja world was growing increasingly turbulent in the wake of Orochimaru's Leaf Destruction Plan.

The first to make moves were the militaristic villages of Cloud and Stone. The Stone Village was the quickest to act, mobilizing a large number of ninjas under the pretext of a training exercise. These forces were already skirmishing with Leaf ninjas along the border of the Fire Country.

Thanks to Orochimaru's intelligence network, which was built by Kabuto, Daniel was always well-informed. Kabuto had been a spy not just in the five major ninja villages, but also within the Akatsuki organization itself. Officially, Kabuto had been Sasori's spy, which had allowed the Akatsuki to track Orochimaru several times.

But in reality, that had all been part of a scheme by Orochimaru and Kabuto to mislead the Akatsuki.

The Stone Village was probing the Leaf's defenses, while the Fourth Raikage of the Cloud Village was far more direct, sending a delegation to demand an explanation for the deaths of their elders and ninjas who had attended the Chunin Exams. They were killed by the Gentle Fist technique, which clearly pointed to the Hyuga clan.

Meanwhile, the Leaf Village's accusations that the Cloud had attempted to kidnap Hinata were flatly denied. The Cloud delegation claimed it was a baseless accusation and warned that if the Leaf didn't offer a satisfactory explanation, war would follow.

While the Stone and Cloud Villages were making aggressive moves, the Mist Village remained quiet. The Sand Village, on the other hand, quickly reached a peace agreement with the Leaf. With the deaths of both the Third Hokage and the Fourth Kazekage, and the looming threat of war with the Stone and Cloud Villages, the Leaf couldn't afford to antagonize the Sand Village further.

Although the Leaf wanted reparations from the Sand, the Sand

 Village refused, citing that their own Kazekage had also been killed by Orochimaru. The Sand Village's confidence stemmed from the fact that the Leaf was now in a precarious situation.

"So they're heading to Tanzaku Town? It looks like Orochimaru is going after Tsunade after all. With most of my goals already achieved, I might as well go meet her."

Orochimaru had made up his mind to seek out Tsunade, hoping she could heal his hands. His offer to her would be the revival of her two most cherished people.

Having nothing better to do, Daniel decided to tag along. Sasuke, meanwhile, was busy training under Zabuza, honing his skills by hunting down rogue ninjas. Karin had accompanied him, using her keen sensing abilities to track their targets.

---

In a small tavern in Tanzaku Town, Shizune sat across from Tsunade, speaking quietly.

"Lady Tsunade, are you really not going back? The Third Hokage…"

"Why should I?" Tsunade replied flatly, swirling the sake in her cup without looking up.

Despite her detachment from the ninja world, Tsunade had quickly received word of the Third Hokage's death and the attack on the Leaf. Such a major event had spread fast, and it was the hottest topic in the tavern. Many wealthy patrons were even considering halting business activities, fearing the outbreak of another war.

In times of peace, merchants only had to worry about bandits, rogue ninjas, and outlaws. Major ninja villages typically refrained from attacking traders, as doing so could lead to a loss of valuable clients. But during war, all bets were off, and only the bravest or wealthiest merchants dared to continue business.

"But…" Shizune trailed off, unsure of what else to say. The Leaf had kept quiet about the stolen scroll of sealing, so all the public knew was that the village had been attacked and the Third Hokage had died.

"Tsunade, long time no see." A low voice interrupted their conversation, and both Tsunade and Shizune looked up to see the source. Their expressions darkened immediately.

"Orochimaru…" Shizune whispered, quickly moving to a defensive stance.

"Orochimaru, you dare show your face in front of me?" Tsunade slammed her sake bottle on the table and stood abruptly.

"Why shouldn't I? Or are you planning to fight me here?" Orochimaru asked softly, unfazed by Tsunade's anger.

"You…" Tsunade glanced around the tavern, noticing the curious stares of the other patrons. With a swift motion, she crushed the sake bottle in her hand.

"Let's take this outside."

[Check out my Patreon for +200 additional chapters in all my fanfics! Only $5 per novel or $15 for all!!] [www.p@treon.com/Mutter]

[+50 Power Stones = +1 Extra Chapter]

[+5 Reviews = +1 Extra Chapter]