Naruto: I Confronted the Five Kage Before the System Arrived

Chapter 277: Fear

The return of the dead to the living world and the lack of fear of death among the living could lead to endless consequences once the boundary between life and death is broken.

Although using the Reanimation Jutsu to deal with Hagoromo Gengetsu, Jiraiya still considered the dangers of this technique. Imagine if someone close to you died, and you had the Reanimation Jutsu; naturally, you would often summon them back to the living world to be together. If one person does this, what about thousands or millions of people in similar situations? Living with the dead in defiance of natural order—Jiraiya, though unsure of what this would mean for the world, knew from his decades of experience that such a situation should never occur, especially considering that each use of the Reanimation Jutsu requires a living person as a sacrifice.

"The Reanimation Jutsu must never be leaked!" Jiraiya looked at Orochimaru. Originally cautious of him, Jiraiya now felt a bit relieved. Fortunately, it was Orochimaru. With his abilities, if he didn't want to, no one could obtain the Reanimation Jutsu from him. As for passing it on? The Reanimation Jutsu was Orochimaru's current foundation. Someone as smart as him would never do something against his own interests. At least not before dealing with Hagoromo Gengetsu.

The sound of heavy footsteps approached. Just after Jiraiya and Orochimaru left the secret room, Tsunade, who had just finished a meeting, walked in. As soon as they met, Tsunade looked at the two of them, arms crossed, and said, "It seems you've already made an agreement."

"Long time no see, Tsunade," Orochimaru greeted with a smile.

"I'm in a bad mood right now, so, Orochimaru, drop that annoying fake smile," Tsunade snapped at him. Her gaze, sharp as a blade, bore into the cold man before her. "Orochimaru, Konoha can bring you back, and it can kill you again. Don't do anything you shouldn't. You know my temper; when I get going, my fists don't care about the big picture."

Orochimaru quickly dropped his smile, replying seriously, "Of course."

Tsunade was not joking. Unlike Jiraiya, she had no lingering camaraderie for Orochimaru and would not hesitate to strike if necessary. Orochimaru, not wanting to risk it, especially with Tsunade in a bad mood, chose to behave.

Jiraiya, observing everything, then asked Tsunade, "How did the meeting go?"

Tsunade's expression softened a bit as she nodded, "It's settled."

In the recent Five Kage Summit, she had laid out the reality before everyone. Even the hardline A couldn't claim that the combined forces of the Five Great Shinobi Villages were enough to contend with Hagoromo Gengetsu. This had decided the outcome of the discussion.

"Now, the various villages will send their preserved DNA samples of past strong warriors to Konoha," Tsunade said, then turned to Orochimaru, "I won't force you to hand over the Reanimation Jutsu, but I have a question. Orochimaru, can you reanimate so many people at once?"

Orochimaru casually replied, "As long as there are enough DNA samples and sacrifices, I can do it."

"But there's one thing," he added.

"Speak."

"The quality of the sacrifices affects the strength of those reanimated. I have some high-quality biological sacrifices, but they're limited in number. If we want all the reanimated to exhibit the majority of their strength, I'll need a fully equipped lab to clone more biological bodies. Additionally, I need a batch of Hashirama cells; these cells can enhance the quality of the sacrifices."

Orochimaru referred to White Zetsu when he mentioned high-quality biological sacrifices. During his time in the Akatsuki, out of curiosity and a desire to study White Zetsu, he had secretly captured several. Even after being hunted by the Akatsuki, he managed to catch a few careless ones. Through extensive research, he had almost fully understood the nature of White Zetsu and could potentially create a batch of clone bodies similar to White Zetsu with enough resources. By then, injecting Hashirama cells could indeed allow the reanimated to display eighty to ninety percent of their original strength.

Orochimaru was being very candid at the moment. If someone like Hashirama could exhibit the majority of his power, even Orochimaru, as the summoner, would have difficulty controlling him. The reason he still chose to do so was simple: fear.

Orochimaru feared Hagoromo Gengetsu so much that he couldn't sleep or eat peacefully. To solve this problem, he was willing to go all out. Tsunade approved Orochimaru's request without much thought. Having already laid out the terms, there was no point in holding back now. Later, under the astonished and disbelieving gazes of the Konoha staff—who couldn't believe their eyes—the reunited Three Sannin made their way to the Hokage's office.

As soon as they entered, Orochimaru glanced around the office and remarked, "Nothing much has changed here."

Tsunade quickly sat down in the Hokage's chair and issued commands. Shortly after, Shizune entered the office with several sealed scrolls. Although she had been informed in advance, she couldn't help but glance warily at Orochimaru, her body instinctively tensing up. Nonetheless, she didn't forget her task.

"Tsunade-sama, all the materials are prepared," Shizune handed the scrolls to Tsunade.

Tsunade pushed the scrolls towards Orochimaru, saying, "The DNA samples of the First, Second, Third, and Fourth Hokages are here, along with Hashirama cells. Orochimaru, go ahead and reanimate the four previous Hokages."

Tsunade intended not only to test the results but also hoped that the four experienced Hokages could provide guidance during this critical time. Orochimaru took the scrolls without objection.

"Wait," Jiraiya suddenly recalled something and hurriedly said, "I remember that those sealed by the Reaper Death Seal cannot be reanimated, right?"

Jiraiya hadn't known about the Reaper Death Seal's conflict with the Reanimation Jutsu until the Chunin Exams, when Hiruzen Sarutobi had used the technique to seal Orochimaru's arms. He figured that since the souls of the First to Fourth Hokages were in the Reaper's stomach, they couldn't be reanimated.

Orochimaru didn't explain much. He simply showed Jiraiya his fully restored hands. At first, Jiraiya thought Orochimaru had found a temporary way to restore his hands. But upon closer inspection, they felt completely normal.

He suddenly understood.

"Let's begin," Tsunade urged.

As a medical master, she had noticed at first glance that Orochimaru's hands were fully restored. Since Orochimaru could retrieve his hands from the Reaper's stomach, reanimating the First to Fourth Hokages would be no problem. With no doubts, she instructed Orochimaru to proceed with the reanimation. Without further explanation, Orochimaru opened the scrolls, took out the materials inside, and began the ritual.