CHAPTER 169

The eerie silence that had enveloped the Hatake residence shattered as a sudden pulse of chakra radiated from within. It was unlike anything the gathered shinobi had ever felt—foreign yet eerily familiar, brimming with an unsettling, suffocating presence.

Danzo's single exposed eye narrowed as he recognized the subtle shift in the air. The energy signature was unmistakable—someone had interfered with Hatake Sakumo's passing.

"What is this…?"

The surrounding Anbu tensed, their instincts screaming at them to either flee or prepare for battle. The oppressive aura of an unknown force loomed, and within seconds, a black sigil inscribed with intricate, glowing kanji erupted around Sakumo's still body.

A soul-sealing jutsu.

Danzo's expression darkened. This wasn't just any binding technique—this was something advanced, something beyond the standard applications of fūinjutsu. Whoever had prepared this had done so meticulously, with foresight and unparalleled precision.

And then, it happened.

Hatake Sakumo's body twitched.

Kakashi, still paralyzed in shock, barely registered the minute movement before his father's chakra fluctuated violently, sending a shockwave through the room. The jōnin and Anbu braced themselves as objects were thrown into disarray, a few shinobi staggering back from the sheer force of the chakra outburst.

Danzo acted first, signaling his Root operatives to move forward, their kunai drawn and infused with chakra. He couldn't allow whatever was happening to fully unfold—it was too dangerous.

But it was already too late.

A deep, guttural whisper echoed through the air, carrying with it a weight that sent chills down the spines of even the most seasoned shinobi.

"I… still… breathe…?"

Hatake Sakumo's eyes shot open, no longer the kind, weary gaze of a man who had accepted his fate. No, this was something else. Something unnatural.

Kakashi gasped as his father's lifeless body—moments ago a corpse—slowly rose to a seated position. His chakra surged, erratic yet overwhelming, a force that had no business existing in a body that had already crossed into the realm of the dead.

From the shadows, Hui observed intently, his mind calculating the variables at play. He had expected the binding seal to merely stall Sakumo's passing—to delay his soul from being completely lost to the afterlife.

Yet, something unforeseen had occurred.

"Interesting…" Hui muttered, watching as the pulse of chakra around Sakumo's form fluctuated wildly. It was not just a delay in his soul's transition.

It was a resurrection.

But not one controlled by the caster of the seal.

Danzo wasted no time. "Eliminate him," he commanded coldly.

Two Root shinobi flashed forward, their strikes precise and lethal, aiming for Sakumo's vitals to prevent whatever unnatural force was at play from fully taking hold.

Sakumo moved.

Faster than any of them had anticipated.

A single sweep of his tanto deflected both kunai aimed at him, the force of his counter sending both assailants crashing into the walls. The motion had been so fluid, so instinctual, as though he had never ceased to be among the living.

Danzo's mind raced. This wasn't Edo Tensei—there was no sign of a summoning medium, no visible binding tags on the body. And yet, the Hatake patriarch, a man who had killed himself mere moments ago, was alive again.

His body, however, told a different story.

The wound from his self-inflicted tanto strike still bled. His movements were impossibly fast, yet slightly disjointed, as if his body wasn't fully his to command.

And then, the first sign of resistance appeared.

Sakumo clutched his head, his breathing ragged as an expression of conflict crossed his face. The lingering essence of his death, the weight of the betrayal he had endured, the emotional scars that had led him to this point—all of it clashed with the unnatural force keeping him tethered to the world.

Hui narrowed his eyes. He had theorized the technique would act as an anchor, a last resort to stall a soul's passage. But what he hadn't accounted for was Sakumo's own will.

Somehow, the soul-sealing technique had merged with the dying shinobi's willpower, twisting its intended purpose. Instead of merely binding his soul to the physical realm, it had created a phenomenon where Hatake Sakumo's own subconscious had forced him back.

And now, he was stuck in between.

The shinobi in the room remained frozen in uncertainty. The legendary White Fang of Konoha had risen from the dead—but what was he now?

Sakumo slowly turned his gaze toward his son.

"Kakashi…" his voice was raspy, layered with something deeper, something unsettling. His fingers twitched, his chakra fluctuating dangerously.

Then—

A blur.

A sudden movement that no one had anticipated.

Hatake Sakumo vanished from his seated position, reappearing directly in front of Danzo in an instant.

Danzo barely had time to react as the tanto slashed across his torso, cutting through his robe and drawing blood. The old war hawk leapt back, cursing under his breath as he activated Izanagi just in time to erase the wound.

It was then that the realization set in.

This wasn't simply a resurrection.

It was vengeance incarnate.

And the target of that vengeance?

Konoha.

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