The Missing-nin Inn—a den of hidden talents.
From the captain down to the members, each one more formidable than the last.
Naruto listened in stunned silence before asking Orochimaru, "Who exactly did Kabuto summon from the past using the Edo Tensei Reincarnation?!!"
Sasuke was equally curious, "How could they wipe out half the Allied Shinobi Forces?!!"
Orochimaru from the future chuckled. "Quite a few, actually. Like Edo Tensei Reincarnation of the Fourth Hokage, Rasa, to fight the Fifth Hokage, Gaara?"
Naruto shuddered. "You didn't make me fight my own dad, did you?!"
"No. Minato Namikaze and the other Hokage, due to their connection with the Nine-Tails and me, had their souls sacrificed to the Shinigami. Even if he obtained your bodies, he couldn't successfully bring them back using Edo Tensei."
Tobirama Senju stood with his hands in his pockets. "Don't make it sound like we should be thanking you."
"I never sought your gratitude. But it was precisely because I studied the Uzumaki Clan's Kinjutsu during the Fourth Shinobi World War that I retrieved your souls from the Shinigami and reincarnated you onto the battlefield. That's what swung the tide of victory back to the Allied Shinobi Forces."
Otherwise, the Ten-Tails' Tailed Beast Ball would have annihilated the entire Allied Shinobi Forces back then.
"Hmph."
Tobirama Senju said no more. Hashirama patted his shoulder to calm him down.
Naruto, trying to shift the focus, asked, "Besides Gaara's dad, who else did he summon?"
According to the post-war debriefing...
Orochimaru stated, "Itachi Uchiha, slain by Sasuke Uchiha, and Nagato, who placed his hopes in you and chose death willingly."
"!!!!" Hearing that Itachi had been killed by him in another world, only to be reincarnated as a puppet to attack the Allied Shinobi Forces, the young Sasuke Uchiha was both shocked and enraged.
Orochimaru continued, "Beyond that, minor figures aside, there were the Kirigakure Seven Ninja Swordsmen, Akatsuki's Deidara, Sasori, Kakuzu, the successive Tsuchikage and Mizukage, and all the Jinchūriki who perished because of Akatsuki..."
The group's emotions were unsettled. No wonder the Fourth Shinobi World War proved so difficult to overcome—hearing this lineup was simply...
"The most troublesome part is that he brought Madara Uchiha back via Edo Tensei Reincarnation. The soul of the reincarnated Madara carries the record of possessing the Rinnegan. So, in essence, it's as if Obito Uchiha now has one Rinnegan, and the reincarnated Madara has another."
"..."
This is... absolutely devastating....
"So you're saying that after the Fourth Shinobi World War, you, Yamato, and Kabuto Yakushi weren't executed as war criminals by the Ninja World?" Tobirama Senju felt something significant must have happened for that not to occur.
Orochimaru sighed, "While most war criminals hailed from the Land of Fire, the primary heroes who won the war also came from the Land of Fire. So it basically balanced out. At the time, I brought back the four Hokage through the Edo Tensei Reincarnation Technique, and Kabuto healed Sasuke Uchiha after he was almost killed by Madara Uchiha. That could be considered atoning for our sins through good deeds."
"Add to that the strong backing from the Sixth and future Seventh Hokage..."
"The Kazekage of Sunagakure, Gaara, practically obeyed Naruto Uzumaki unconditionally. The Mizukage of Kirigakure was more pragmatic and agreed. As for the Tsukikage Ōnoki, he didn't have many years left to live, so compromise was the better option. The Raikage was forced into it, really."
"All that is just fancy talk. The real reason is that you must understand the combat power of Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha back then—they were at a level where even the Five Kage combined couldn't defeat them."
Not only could they not defeat them, but if you took any one Kage individually, they'd probably be flattened and ground into the dirt.
"The future you speak of is indeed beyond our current comprehension."
Naruto grew visibly agitated upon hearing a certain piece of information. "Madara would kill Sasuke?! Doesn't he know Sasuke is his descendant?"
"You idiot! What descendant? He's an Edo Tensei Reincarnation!"
Orochimaru pondered, "He likely didn't know back then, but it's widely acknowledged that Sasuke Uchiha resembled Madara Uchiha's younger brother. Still, he showed no mercy when killing Sasuke."
Orochimaru added with a hint of schadenfreude, "Rumor has it that the First Hokage once said: 'To protect the village and our dreams, we must be willing to sacrifice anyone—spouses, children, brothers, friends—all must be sacrificed.'"
Bang--!
Unsurprisingly, Hashirama Senju sank into gloom.
He even felt deeply guilty.
"There's nothing to blame yourself for, you idiot big brother! Don't forget that when you and I died, that bastard was still alive!"
Tobirama Senju, after a long pause, said, "So this young man's mission scroll—about using Edo Tensei Reincarnation to benefit the Ninja World and hold a reunion festival—is all for atonement in the so-called 'main world'?"
The youth, Adult Obito, timidly raised his hand. "Besides atonement... perhaps there's also punishment."
Six hundred billion!! Six hundred billion red bean cakes!!!
This is harder than the Eye of the Moon Plan!
Tobirama Senju wasn't about to coddle him like Kakashi or the Fourth Hokage. He shot him a glance.
"Think about what you've done before you speak."
"...."
Alright, another one feeling down.
With the First Hokage's permission, the Second Hokage's objections were generally invalid. Obtaining the First Hokage's cells, Orochimaru said:
"In that case, I'll take my leave. After all, it's rare for me to visit this world, and I have many experiments that require recording data."
"Wait, Orochimaru-sama."
"Hold on."
Kabuto Yakushi and Sasuke Uchiha spoke at the same time.
Exchanging a glance, Sasuke spoke first.
"In another world, do I master Senjutsu?"
"No, but later on, you'll possess a Rinnegan even more unique than Pain's."
Young Sasuke Uchiha, thinking about how Naruto would inevitably acquire Senjutsu, replied defiantly:
"Teach me the Senjutsu of the Ryūchi Cave."
After a moment of thought, he added,
"I know you don't master Senjutsu either. Just show us the way, and we'll handle the rest ourselves."
"Us…"
Young Kakashi immediately realized that Sasuke was referring to him and himself.
He was slightly surprised that Sasuke was still thinking of him at this moment.
Naruto, young Obito, Sakura, and Rin also found this approach to be feasible. Though the Orochimaru before them still gave off an inscrutable vibe, at least it was clear that his loyalty lay with Konoha.
Minato Namikaze shared this view. Ever since Naruto and Obito signed contracts with Mount Myōboku, young Kakashi and Sasuke with the Ryūchi Cave, and Sakura and Rin with Shikkotsu Forest, the fates of these two groups seemed to have become intertwined.
Naruto and Obito could be trained by either himself or Jiraiya-sensei, while Sakura and Rin were best suited to be taught by Tsunade-sama.
However, Sasuke and young Kakashi have always lacked a suitable mentor. The old Orochimaru was definitely out of the question, but the current Orochimaru, who can use technology to cultivate bodies, is different. He has no interest in Sasuke's or young Kakashi's bodies. One of them, he had already studied Obito from another world back then, and the other has only swordsmanship, but not Obito's Sharingan—both seem perfectly safe.
"Not entirely impossible," Orochimaru mused, intrigued by Sasuke's potential as a Ryūchi Cave contract candidate. He left a small snake as a token.
"Come find me after the Chūnin Exams."
Sasuke accepted the small snake, and it immediately slithered into his sleeve.
Orochimaru tossed the prepared manual for the Edo Tensei technique to Kabuto. When it came to patience, he couldn't match Kabuto, so leaving the task of resurrecting others to him was more fitting.
Naruto watched the Pervy Sage preparing to leave with Orochimaru, wondering whether he should have his father teach them Senjutsu or let the Pervy Sage handle it.
As if reading his thoughts, Minato Namikaze spoke up:
"You can choose to train with Sasuke. He and Kakashi will be taught by Orochimaru, while you and Obito will be trained by Jiraiya-sensei."
"?"
Naruto tilted his head.
"Then what about you, Dad?"
Minato smiled helplessly.
"Because I've been revived, the Third Hokage, who had been planning to retire, just sent word asking me to continue serving as Hokage until the Chūnin Exams are over."
"Huh?!"
So that's how it is...
Minato from the Kannabi Bridge Timeline chuckled.
"I was just thinking about who besides Tsunade-sama and Jiraiya-sensei would be suitable for Hokage. Plans really can't keep up with changes."
Yeah, even now it still feels a bit unreal.
Whether it was being brought back through Edo Tensei during the Chūnin Exams or being resurrected when we time-traveled into the parallel world where Pain attacked Konoha...
A loud rumble from their stomachs snapped the Hokage—who had been in Edo Tensei form these past few days—back to reality. Now revived and with their physical bodies restored, they still needed to eat.
Tobirama Senju reached for his military rations pill to make do.
Hashirama Senju disagreed. "We've finally regained living bodies," he said. "Shouldn't we experience the culinary delights of modern Konoha?"
"Decades have passed—who knows what great new places have opened?"
"Ichiraku! Ichiraku's ramen is the best!" Naruto excitedly began explaining to the two Hokage just how amazing Ichiraku Ramen was.
The Fourth Hokage dutifully listed other notable places to eat in Konoha for his senior Hokage companions.
Since Ichiraku Ramen was fast food and could only accommodate three people at a time, the group ultimately decided to head to Yakiniku Q to celebrate.
Minato Namikaze: "To make sure we're comfortable, I think we should try using the Transformation Technique."
And so...
Hashirama Senju, wearing a mohawk and sunglasses.
Tobirama Senju, with long hair tied in a ponytail, dressed in samurai attire.
Minato Namikaze, dressed as a wealthy merchant.
Along with members of Minato's and Kakashi Hatake's teams, they arrived at Yakiniku Q.
"Why are these people here?!!" Sasuke Uchiha pointed at the Missing-nin, who had transformed using the Transformation Technique.
Kabuto Yakushi adjusted his glasses. "We didn't want to come either. Captain Yamato wore us down."
"Forget it, forget it. This round's on me," Yamato said. "After all, with new members joining recently, I haven't had time to introduce everyone properly. I actually planned to take you all to a hot spring to get to know each other, but given our special circumstances, it's not convenient to go too far."
Obito Uchiha: "...."
Itachi Uchiha: "....."
Kisame Hoshigaki nearly burst out laughing at Konoha's style—well, he was already grinning with his shark-like teeth showing.
"Get to know each other? How many of us here don't already know each other?"
Obito Uchiha: "...."
Itachi Uchiha: "....."
Zabuza Momochi: "....."