Root Organization Base.

Dark and lightless.

The basement lights pushed back the shadows, illuminating the old man's face and exposing his hesitation.

"Speak up, Hiruzen!"

Koharu Utatane urged anxiously.

Seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi remain silent, her expression darkened, clearly distressed.

After all, the Hokage of Konoha was still Hiruzen Sarutobi. Now that he had returned, the decision to use forbidden jutsu naturally lay in his hands.

Homura Mitokado and Koharu exchanged a look, both wearing helpless expressions.

"Hokage-sama, I... I want to leave here! I'm willing to head to the front lines!"

The Konoha shinobi who had been designated as a sacrifice for the Edo Tensei ritual sensed the heavy atmosphere and quickly voiced his thoughts, trying to grasp at a sliver of hope.

At first, he didn't know that being a subject for Edo Tensei required the sacrifice of one's life.

The risk of the ritual failing was high, and if it failed, his sacrifice would be meaningless.

"Sigh..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed as he walked up to the Konoha ninja whose body was covered in sealing tags. He reached out and gently removed the Leaf headband from the man's forehead, consoling him:

"The front lines are now just outside the village gates. As long as you uphold the Will of Fire, you'll be a hero of Konoha!"

With that, he turned to leave. As he passed Koharu and Homura, he said in a low voice:

"Do it."

"Yes, sir."

A smile appeared on Koharu's aged face. With Sarutobi's command, even as the one performing the jutsu, she no longer had to fear being criticized afterward.

Homura also let out a sigh of relief and said to Hiruzen, "Let's give Koharu some time to prepare."

"We have no other choice."

Hiruzen's face looked pale. He raised a hand to rub his temples and quickly left the basement.

"Hokage-sama!"

"Please spare me, save me!"

"Third Lord!"

The shinobi's wails echoed through the room, but they were soon silenced.

Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't look back. He and Homura headed toward the Hokage office.

---

The moon had set. Night gave way to the faint light of dawn on the horizon, but the sun did not appear. Instead, a thick layer of clouds blanketed the sky.

The air was humid.

The temperature was low.

Outside Konoha, in the forest training field, Orochimaru stood atop a giant snake with Kushina Uzumaki and Rin Nohara by his side.

At first, he had intended to go straight to the Uzumaki clan's, but after receiving intel that Uchiha Yu was heading for Konoha, he decided to wait here.

"Orochimaru-sama, the person you're waiting for... hasn't arrived yet?" Rin asked curiously.

She had already confirmed they were near the shinobi village's training grounds, but they'd been waiting for several hours.

Orochimaru didn't intend to answer her. Suddenly, he sensed something unusual from the east and turned his head in that direction.

"Hehehe... they're here."

He smiled.

From the eastern forest, at the edge of the horizon, a small black dot approached.

In a matter of moments...

The three could clearly see a massive crimson serpent rushing toward them.

---

On the other side—

Uchiha Yu stood atop the head of the serpent, gazing at Orochimaru and his companions who also stood atop a snake.

"Captain, that's Orochimaru-sama... and two kunoichi with unusual chakra signatures," said Nonoyu, activating her Byakugan to observe them.

To her eyes, the Edo Tensei-revived Kushina and Rin had odd traits, standing out sharply from normal humans.

Behind the serpent, Tamao sighed, "Kunoichi? Looks like I'll have to work harder too. When we get back to Konoha, I'm definitely catching a few beautiful kunoichi for my big bro. Let's see... who's still around in Konoha…"

As he spoke, Tamao began seriously pondering.

Uchiha Minami twitched at those words. He too suddenly had the urge to catch some female shinobi from Konoha—but on second thought, he immediately shook his head.

Returning to Konoha meant constant combat. There'd be no time for that kind of nonsense.

---

Five minutes later.

Garaga and the giant snake summoned by Orochimaru met face to face. The pupils of Orochimaru's brown serpent contracted sharply.

It seemed to harbor a fear of Garaga embedded deep in its instincts.

Uchiha Yu looked at the women beside Orochimaru and his expression changed subtly. He guessed what Orochimaru had done.

His brows furrowed. His face turned grim. He sighed inwardly—his reputation had clearly been tainted again.

"They've arrived. From now on, you two will follow Uchiha Yu. Whatever he asks you to do—just do it."

Orochimaru explained with a smile.

"Eh?" Kushina looked confused, feeling that Orochimaru's words were strange.

"You're… Uchiha Yu, right?!"

Rin, upon seeing the one-eyed, crimson-scaled head of the giant serpent, quickly called out to Uchiha Yu.

In her mind, Orochimaru probably intended for her and Lady Kushina to accompany Uchiha Yu on some special mission.

Before Yu could respond—

"Mikoto!!"

Kushina spotted a familiar face across the way. Overjoyed, she leaped onto the serpent's head and hugged Mikoto from the Uchiha squad tightly.

"Kushina!"

"Ah—!"

Mikoto let out a startled cry as a sharp ache shot through her waist and hips. Caught off guard, she was knocked to the ground by Kushina's enthusiastic tackle.

Two best friends reunited.

The atmosphere was instantly warm and lively.

Uchiha Yu glanced at the two women sprawled on the ground.

He recalled a few details.

Mikoto and Kushina, during their pregnancies, had daily checkups at the Konoha Hospital.

Their political standing in the village had been similar, and they likely became close friends around that time.

In Konoha, because of their respective identities, they usually exchanged only brief pleasantries when passing by each other in public.

But now, with their official roles set aside, Kushina fully displayed the joy and excitement of seeing her best friend again after so long.

"Mikoto, it's been ages! But why are you so fragile now?!"

After a tight hug, Kushina smiled and promptly pulled Mikoto up from the ground.

"Forget me—are you really… Kushina?"

Mikoto's face turned red, though the joy of reunion was unmistakable. One hand pressed gently against her still-aching waist as she tried to ease the soreness.

"It's really me! Orochimaru-senpai used a forbidden technique to summon me back!"

Kushina quickly explained, her eyes wide.

"I see…"

Mikoto was shocked, glancing at Orochimaru who was now chatting with Uchiha Yu.

To bring the dead back to life—such a forbidden jutsu existed? Then could… Fugaku…

She shook her head fiercely.

She didn't dare think further.

She could only comfort herself—such a jutsu must be extremely difficult to succeed with.

Like Mikoto, Tsunade standing behind the group was equally shocked.

"To think… the dead can truly be revived…"

Tsunade's expression was heavy. Only upon seeing Kushina and Rin did she start to believe that Uchiha Yu really could bring back the people she cherished most.

While chatting with Mikoto, Kushina looked around at the people atop Shinya's serpent head.

Her gaze lingered on Uchiha Yu.

This Uchiha…

She couldn't quite recall him.

Perhaps she had seen his ninja file on Minato's desk back in the day, but it had been too long—the details were all a blur.

When Kushina noticed Tsunade and Shizune, she instantly lit up and called out, "Lady Tsunade!"

Tsunade's eyes shifted—only then did she realize she shouldn't be revealing her identity so easily.

Luckily, Kushina only waved at her and offered a casual greeting.

"I didn't expect everyone here to be from Konoha!"

Kushina glanced around. Seeing only Konoha ninjas and Uchiha, her face beamed with delight.

Even though they were still in the training grounds—

Both Kushina and Rin could sense the distant battle in Konoha as enemy forces attacked.

Since Orochimaru summoned them through Edo Tensei, it was surely because of Kushina's Uzumaki sealing techniques and Rin's medical ninjutsu.

Now that everyone had arrived—

Kushina figured Orochimaru would soon lead them to support Konoha, flank the enemy from the rear, and help break the siege.

°°°

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