Chapter 344: The Edo Tensei Return of Konoha's Legends

"How could this be..." The Second Tsuchikage's body, though already cut apart, remained stuck together without splitting completely.

The Second Tsuchikage was confused. Clearly, he had activated his Dust Release first—so why, in just an instant, had his Dust Release been sliced through, and his body as well?

Moreover, his vision through his still-connected eyes was now strangely distorted. It was as if a transparent glass pane had appeared where the two halves met, altering the appearance of everything he saw on the other side.

It was as if the entire space had been cut apart.

"So this is the Sixth Hokage, who defeated both the Second Mizukage and the Third Raikage?"The Second Tsuchikage no longer doubted anything. Instead, he wondered... how did those two last so long?

Facing this technique, they surely would have been instantly killed as well.

With that confusion, the Second Tsuchikage fell from the sky, crashing into the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust.

"This is..."Ōnoki also looked at his master. The corpse, resurrected by Edo Tensei, seemed to want to rejoin, but no matter how the two halves tried to come together, they couldn't fully reconnect, as if some unseen force was preventing it.

Natsuro wasn't surprised at all. Normally, such clean cuts posed little threat to an Edo Tensei body, since it could heal quickly. However, the Second Tsuchikage couldn't regenerate because the Dimensional Blade left spatial distortions at the edges of the wound, and that spatial-temporal energy lingering on the cut surface prevented the halves from merging.

Only once Natsuro's spatial-temporal energy dissipated could the body properly heal. But that would take time, enough time to seal him dozens of times over.

Natsuro walked up to the Second Tsuchikage and sealed him away.Just before the seal completed, the Second Tsuchikage tried to say, "Be careful, I—", but he was fully sealed before he could finish.

"Finally... it's over," Ōnoki sighed, landing on the ground while supporting his aching lower back.

"Over? Not quite," Natsuro said.

"Huh?"Ōnoki looked puzzled. Suddenly, lightning flickered around Natsuro's body, and in the next moment, a Railgun blast shot toward a certain direction.

Boom!

The explosion came from a pile of rocks.

"As expected of the Sixth Hokage, truly impressive," a voice said, and from the supposedly empty ground, the Second Tsuchikage appeared.

"That's... Master's split body? When did he..." Ōnoki stared wide-eyed at the scene, then at the sealed corpse, and back again at the standing Second Tsuchikage.

"Ōnoki, you're too naive. As my student, you didn't even realize that was my clone," the Second Tsuchikage taunted.

"Tch..." Ōnoki scrunched his nose in frustration. After all, it had been so long since anyone had mastered that splitting technique, he hadn't thought of it at all.

"I'm curious though, how did you spot me, Sixth Hokage?" The Second Tsuchikage asked Natsuro.

"I didn't know what technique you used," Natsuro answered calmly." But the moment you saw me, you already split and hid a part of yourself. I originally thought it was just a regular clone... Turns out, it was a rather interesting jutsu."

"As for how I detected you? That's simple, I'm also a sensory-type ninja."

"It was sensing, after all..."The Second Tsuchikage nodded. It was as he guessed. Although he believed his concealment wasn't something any random sensor could pick up, it was clear that Natsuro wasn't an ordinary sensor.

After all, what kind of regular sensor could unleash that terrifying jutsu?

"Well then, Sixth Hokage, go ahead and seal me..."

Suddenly, mid-sentence, the Second Tsuchikage's eyes widened, his body went limp, and the light disappeared from his pupils.

Natsuro narrowed his eyes at the sight."Orochimaru?" he said.

"Hehe, it's me. As expected of Natsuro," came a sinister voice from the Second Tsuchikage's mouth." Using Lightning Release to defeat the Third Raikage, Water Release to beat the Second Mizukage, and now almost instantly defeating the Second Tsuchikage."

"So it really is you," Natsuro said, wary. Orochimaru's full control over the Second Tsuchikage's body could only mean trouble.

"Hehehe, Natsuro-kun, I've prepared a little gift for you. I hope you'll like it."Orochimaru, through the Second Tsuchikage, formed hand seals and pressed his palms to the ground.

Several coffins emerged from the earth.

When the lids fell open, Natsuro's pupils contracted sharply.The individuals summoned through Edo Tensei were ones who hadn't appeared in the original canon at all...

They were: Sakumo Hatake - Kakashi's father, Might Duy - Might Guy's father, Mito Uzumaki - wife of the First Hokage, Fugaku Uchiha - the last head of the Uchiha clan, and Itachi Uchiha - the "prodigal son" of the Uchiha clan.

Natsuro wasn't too surprised by four of them, but Might Duy caught him off guard. After using the Eight Gates and basically burning himself out, Duy could still be Edo Tensei'd? Seriously?

But thinking further, it made sense. Orochimaru knew things Kabuto didn't, and remembered people Kabuto might have overlooked.

And wasn't Itachi's body supposed to be in Sasuke's possession? Natsuro paused, then recalled... After deciding to transplant Itachi's eyes, Sasuke must have given his brother's body a proper burial.

Orochimaru must have secretly dug it up later from the Uchiha clan's cemetery.

Natsuro now weighed his options, could just one of his spiritual-shadow clones handle five formidable opponents at once?It might be too difficult...

Meanwhile, Orochimaru chuckled darkly, his eyes lingering on Itachi. That man, Itachi, was the reason for Orochimaru's obsession with the Sharingan.

How ironic that now, Itachi was resurrected through his own Edo Tensei.

While Orochimaru was lost in thought, the five newly resurrected individuals opened their eyes, and were momentarily stunned.

Soon, they realized they had been summoned back via Edo Tensei.

"To think we would be brought back this way..." Sakumo Hatake was the first to speak after exchanging glances with the others.

"Orochimaru?" Mito Uzumaki frowned, seeing the Second Tsuchikage's body speaking in an eerie voice.Back when she passed away, Orochimaru had not yet defected, so she didn't know what had happened afterward.

"Yes, Lady Mito, it's me," Orochimaru replied, using the Second Tsuchikage's mouth.

"I see... after my death, you strayed down the wrong path," Mito said sternly.

"Hehehe, I don't consider my path wrong at all. As long as it leads to the final destination, any road is acceptable," Orochimaru said, licking his lips, though the Second Tsuchikage's bandages made it awkward.

Mito sighed and said, "Tobirama really shouldn't have created this kind of jutsu."

"Edo Tensei? What kind of jutsu is that?" Might Duy asked innocently, eyes wide.

Sakumo glanced at him helplessly and explained. He knew Duy, Konoha's eternal genin. Still, if Duy was resurrected in such a high-profile way, it meant his strength had finally been recognized. How powerful had he become?

Sakumo didn't know Duy had used the Eight Gates and wasn't famous in other villages. But within Konoha, people like Orochimaru, who had clashed many times with Kirigakure's Seven Ninja Swordsmen, were well aware of Duy's strength. Orochimaru had even specifically visited the battlefield afterward to painstakingly collect enough material to resurrect Might Duy.

"Father..." Itachi now turned to look at Fugaku Uchiha. Memories of the illusion Sasuke cast during the fight, where Fugaku had forgiven him, flooded back to Itachi.

"Itachi..." Fugaku, also in Edo Tensei form, looked at Itachi with complicated eyes... "It seems you, too, couldn't escape the Uchiha clan's fate."

"Tch, I didn't summon you all here to catch up on old times," Orochimaru said at that moment.He then turned his gaze to Itachi, and suddenly, Itachi's body froze, the color draining completely from his pupils.

"Hmm? Why did you erase Itachi's consciousness?" Natsuro asked, a little surprised.

"Though doing so will weaken him somewhat, it's still Itachi we're talking about. From what I know of him, even in an Edo Tensei state, he might still find a way to break free. To be absolutely sure, I had no choice but to erase his consciousness," Orochimaru answered with a smile.

"That makes sense... In that case, I suppose you also have Shisui's body?" Natsuro raised an eyebrow and asked.

"Of course. But I've heard about Kotoamatsukami, Shisui's genjutsu, so I don't dare carelessly bring him back with Edo Tensei," Orochimaru admitted.

"Hmph. As expected, you're far more cautious than Kabuto," Natsuro said with some admiration.No wonder Orochimaru was one of the most tenacious survivors in the Naruto world.

Although Orochimaru didn't quite understand why Natsuro would say that, he kept his eyes fixed on him, eager to see his true power.

After all, up until now, Orochimaru had been somewhat disappointed. Other than the technique that sliced the Second Tsuchikage clean in half, Natsuro's other jutsu seemed fairly ordinary.

At another battlefield, Orochimaru also had Edo Tensei bodies in play, so he had seen Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha's battles firsthand.

Had this been before, Natsuro's displayed strength would have amazed him. But after witnessing Naruto and Sasuke's level of combat, Orochimaru's standards had risen considerably.

If this was all Natsuro had to show, then it would mean he had ultimately been surpassed by those with Kekkei Genkai...

Perhaps, after all, Kekkei Genkai were necessary for true greatness?

"Let me see your true strength, Natsuro Shindōkawa!" Orochimaru declared with a laugh.

"And you are...?" Mito Uzumaki now turned to Natsuro. Since she clearly couldn't reason with Orochimaru, she decided to ask him instead.

Besides, judging from Orochimaru's behavior, he seemed to care quite a bit about this boy.

"Lady Mito, hello. I'm Natsuro of the Shindōkawa clan, the Sixth Hokage of Konoha," Natsuro replied politely.

"Sixth Hokage?" Mito was visibly surprised.

Sakumo Hatake and Fugaku Uchiha also gave Natsuro a closer look, realizing how young he appeared.

Though they recognized Ōnoki standing nearby, and had some guesses about Natsuro's status, hearing the confirmation still surprised them.

"To think the Hokage title has already passed to the sixth generation..." Mito sighed.

It felt a bit too fast.

Natsuro nodded quietly.

Most of the blame, he thought, fell on the Fourth Hokage, Minato only served for a single year before dying.

As a result, Konoha went through one more Hokage than other villages might have.

"What should we do now, Hokage-sama?" Ōnoki asked, sweat beading on his forehead.

Among the five resurrected figures, he was most familiar with Sakumo Hatake, the "White Fang of Konoha"...

Sakumo's fearsome reputation was well earned. And if the others summoned alongside him were anything like him, they were definitely no small matter either.

"Indeed, Sixth Hokage. We won't be easy to deal with," Mito added. "Have you decided how you're going to face all five of us?"

"Of course I have." Natsuro smiled.

"Lord Tsuchikage, please take the Fourth Division and retreat.

There should be no more White Zetsu army left here, only these few opponents remain," Natsuro said.

"But Hokage-sama, they—", Ōnoki protested, frowning deeply.

"I'm from Konoha. I know their strength even better than you," Natsuro said firmly... "And as the Supreme Commander of the Allied Shinobi Forces, I guarantee—I won't lose."

"Since the day I first stepped onto the path of a ninja, I have never lost. I won't lose now, and I won't lose in the future."

Ōnoki paused, looking at Natsuro's determined figure.

Finally, he sighed.

Since Natsuro had given a direct order as Supreme Commander, he had no choice but to obey.

"Then... I wish you victory, Hokage-sama," Ōnoki said, flying off toward the Allied Forces' main group.

Orochimaru smiled at the scene. This was exactly the outcome he had been hoping for, so of course he didn't intervene.

"Sixth Hokage, are you really planning to face all five of us alone?" Mito asked, frowning.

"Of course. You're all from Konoha and as the Sixth Hokage of Konoha, it's my duty to seal you all back again," Natsuro replied, still smiling.

A pure white ceremonial robe, embroidered with flame patterns, appeared on him.The fabric rippled gently in the breeze, and on the back, five large characters were written clearly, Sixth Hokage (六代目火影).

"In the name of the Sixth Hokage!"

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