Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi was already contemplating whether to use the Sealing Technique: Reaper Death Seal. Even Minato Namikaze couldn't come up with a countermeasure...
Meanwhile, Naruto, furious, had donned his tailed beast cloak, and Obito was devising a plan to place the Edo Tensei resurrected people into Kamui's dimension...
The situation grew even more complex when a certain parent, concerned about their child, suddenly made an unexpected visit!
"My child has been well cared for by all of you." The visitor's voice was flat, yet its striking similarity caused Jiraiya to turn around and shout!
"Orochimaru—"
Jiraiya was about to curse when he turned and saw a beautiful woman...
His demeanor softened instantly.
"My apologies, my apologies! I mistook the voice!" Dodging the Second Hokage's Water Severing Wave, Jiraiya scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "How about grabbing a drink later?"
The stunning Orochimaru curved "her" lips. "It's not impossible."
Jiraiya should've been thrilled that his flirtation had been accepted.
However, as he savored the beauty's voice, Jiraiya froze...
That voice... It sounded so much like Orochimaru's!
And though she was beautiful, her style of dress...
Before he could think further, Mitsuki walked over, smiling, and addressed him:
"Orochimaru."
Jiraiya: "....."
Even this carefree man was completely flustered.
The future Orochimaru, whose beauty rivaled Tsunade's, didn't respond to Jiraiya. Instead, he surveyed the Chūnin Exams arena, where he saw the First Hokage, resurrected via Edo Tensei, the Second Hokage, and himself still alive. He quickly deduced that he was currently in the Chūnin Exams period of Konoha, twenty years ago.
However, the sight of the successfully Edo Tensei Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, who had just activated the Four Violet Flames Formation, caused this researcher from Konoha's 80th year to feel a momentary flicker of confusion.
"It seems events unfold differently in each parallel world," he chuckled with interest. "Truly a fascinating subject worthy of study."
Obito and young Kakashi eyed the newly appeared Orochimaru. This person, whose beauty seemed to meet every aesthetic standard, was Orochimaru?! Wasn't this even more astonishing than the Edo Tensei summoning of multiple Hokage?!
Naruto, in his fox-mode, was stunned.
Even Tsunade and Hiruzen, trapped in the barrier, couldn't help but break into a cold sweat at the sight of this new Orochimaru.
"Is this..." Sakura hesitated, trying to find the right words, "...Mitsuki's family?!"
Rin replied, "Beyond Tsunade-sama's Yin Seal, current medical science struggles to explain this." She was just as shocked.
Jiraiya practically collapsed onto the Four Violet Flames Formation. "Orochimaru?! You're telling me she's Orochimaru?!"
"She?" The Boruto version of Orochimaru seemed displeased. "Jiraiya, you're still as foolish as ever."
Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Hiruzen Sarutobi froze momentarily at his words. This version of Orochimaru reminded them of the emotionless, handsome young man from their childhood, the one who had always struggled to understand emotions.
The same boy Jiraiya remembered, who had once tricked him into helping spy on the women's bathhouse...
Minato Namikaze remained calm. He hadn't sensed any chakra fluctuations nearby that would suggest a mission scroll had been completed. Why had the future Orochimaru suddenly appeared here?
Could it be that Itachi, Kabuto Yakushi, and Obito had completed a C-rank mission?
"How did you get here?" Mitsuki asked on Minato's behalf.
Orochimaru raised a small frog, no bigger than the palm of his hand. "This little guy brought me."
A frog?!
Minato was shocked!
"This frog has incredibly powerful space-time fluctuations!!"
The little green frog, wearing a small straw hat, looked oddly cute.
"It has something written on its hat—seems to be its name." Orochimaru read aloud, "Frog Travel? The handwriting on this little guy's owner's name... it's awful."
The frog croaked twice, hopping happily over to Naruto Uzumaki.
Sasuke, standing beside Naruto, immediately noticed, "The writing on its hat... that's your handwriting! The one at the bottom of the class!"
Naruto blinked as he exited his fox-mode. "It really is my handwriting!!"
Minato speculated, "It's possible that this is you from another parallel world. Maybe, by chance, you came across it and named it."
Naruto found the frog intriguing. "Me from a parallel world?!"
Just as he was stunned, the little frog handed him a photograph.
It was something it had pulled from the large hat on its back.
The scene in the photograph...
Probably a family portrait?! In that photo, he and his parents, along with Sasuke and Sasuke's parents, were all there?!
But there was no time to dwell on it now. After all, inside the barrier, Jiraiya, Tsunade, and the Third Hokage were locked in a fierce battle against the First, Second, and Fourth Hokage.
Mitsuki turned to his family and said, "The First Hokage, the Second Hokage, and the Fourth Hokage have all been controlled by your counterpart in this world."
"How nostalgic," Orochimaru-sama murmured. "This isn't the first time I've performed Edo Tensei on Lord First and my esteemed Second Hokage."
He then turned to Minato Namikaze and asked, "Answer me first—why are there two Fourth Hokages?"
Minato got straight to the point: "I came from another world."
"Oh, I see." Orochimaru glanced at the barrier, where young Obito Uchiha was struggling to control the three Hokage with his Dōjutsu.
He flashed a knowing smile. "No wonder I have the honor of meeting… the chief war criminal who ignited the Fourth Ninja World War—Obito Uchiha."
"What?!"
The Konoha jōnin, who had gathered outside the barrier, including Shiranui Genma, who had just evacuated the audience to safety, couldn't believe their ears.
The prime instigator of the Fourth Shinobi World War…
Obito—
Uchiha?!!
Everyone froze, their expressions utterly priceless.
The unseen Konoha genin, Mitsuki; the absurdly handsome Orochimaru; even Obito, who'd been sacrificed for over a decade, was now a war criminal? Had these people materialized from some bizarre parallel universe?!
They glanced at the snake... er, at Orochimaru.
Then they looked back at Obito Uchiha within the barrier, their minds overflowing with complaints, unsure where to begin.
"This isn't the time for a public execution!!" the young Obito roared, glaring at Orochimaru outside the barrier.
"Can you fix this Edo Tensei problem or not?!"
Orochimaru shot him a glance. "Still as rude as ever. Is this some kind of Uchiha Clan family disease?"
The Snake meant no offense—just a little jab at a certain ungrateful disciple.
"Do you want me to undo the Edo Tensei technique, or just remove the cursed seal symbols controlling them?"
The choice Orochimaru presented left Naruto Uzumaki, Minato Namikaze, Obito Uchiha, and the others stunned.
Naruto gazed at the Fourth Hokage within the barrier, his eyes flickering with a hint of longing.
Tsunade also yearned to speak with her beloved grandfather once more.
Most crucially, if the Jutsu users were to be sent away, what about Nawaki and Dan…
She had so much more she wanted to say to them, so much more time she wanted to spend with them.
The battle inside the barrier could not pause for even a moment. The slightest misstep would result in suffering from the First Hokage's Wood Release, the Second Hokage's Water Release, the Fourth Hokage's Rasengan, or the Flying Thunder God Technique used by both the Second and Fourth Hokage.
Naruto yearned to assist, but his rank was insufficient. Moreover, entering to fight the Fourth Hokage would lead to an outcome unbearable for the barrier's sustainer, Minato Namikaze.
This couldn't be delayed any longer.
Fortunately, the quick-thinking Minato declared—
Adults don't do multiple-choice questions.
Ask and you shall receive!
"Could you please extract the cursed seal talismans controlling the three Hokage from their bodies, then teach me the method to reverse the Edo Tensei?"
Exactly! Once he learned how to reverse the technique, even if Orochimaru and Mitsuki returned to the future, Minato Namikaze could always summon the Hokage back.
"What an audacious request," the future Orochimaru remarked.
Though he said this, he didn't refuse.
Such an agreeable Orochimaru made the Konoha ninja here suspicious.
"Be careful, he might be tricking us!" Sasuke was the first to speak up.
No matter which Orochimaru it was, his trustworthiness was negative.
Sakura, Rin, Young Kakashi, and Adult Kakashi all remained wary.
"But at this point, there's no other solution." Naruto was unusually calm, and then…
He paused, his voice trailing off as he looked at Mitsuki and the future Orochimaru. After a few seconds of silence, he said, "I believe they can be trusted."
The future Orochimaru raised an eyebrow. "As expected of you, the Child of the Prophecy who can turn enemies into allies across the entire ninja world."
Minato Namikaze: "Obito, bring him in."
Driven by trust in Mitsuki and the future, and faith in Naruto's instincts, Minato ordered Obito Uchiha to use his Intangibility ability to transport the future Orochimaru into the Four Violet Flames Formation.