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Some were requests for him to return to the Land of Fire.

Others invited him to attend the ceremony for Hatake Kakashi\'s inauguration as the Fifth Hokage.

There were also some miscellaneous matters.

Naruto declined most of these requests.

The only exception was when Kakashi succeeded as the Fifth Hokage; Naruto sent a shadow clone to offer his congratulations, but his true body remained in the Land of Whirlpools, studying the inscriptions.

Most of the valuable items had already been taken by other ninja villages.

What remained were mostly "myths" and "history."

The inscriptions recorded that the "Uzumaki Clan" were descendants of the "Sage of Six Paths." After experiencing some events during the Warring States period, they were led by the clan head "Uzumaki Ashina" to establish a ninja village on this island and signed a friendship agreement with the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, becoming part of Konoha.

The "Shinigami" recorded on the inscriptions was independent of the Uzumaki Clan\'s history.

It was an ancient deity discovered by the Uzumaki Clan during the Warring States period. They signed a contract that allowed them to summon it through a technique to reap the souls of their enemies. However, the cost was that the user\'s soul would also be offered as a sacrifice.

It is truly ancient.

The inscriptions did not specify the era it belonged to, but one passage clearly stated that it was older than the "Sage of Six Paths."

Staring at this line, Naruto frowned, "The Sage of Six Paths... I seem to have heard of his legend."

"He was the first user of chakra."

"And the one who brought chakra into this world."

Karin nodded.

The myths she had heard about the "Sage of Six Paths" were the same.

"If we follow this myth," Naruto continued, "then everything related to chakra should have come after the Sage of Six Paths."

"So, the existence of the Shinigami..."

"Shouldn\'t predate the Sage of Six Paths."

Could it be that the Uzumaki Clan\'s record is incorrect?

But the inscriptions clearly stated that the Sage of Six Paths was the ancestor of the Uzumaki Clan.

It doesn\'t make sense for there to be errors in matters related to their ancestors.

It\'s truly unfortunate that the Land of Whirlpools was destroyed twenty years ago.

Otherwise, they could have directly asked the elders of the clan for clearer, more certain information.

"The textual materials here don\'t record any knowledge related to the Reaper Death Seal technique." Karin flipped through the rubbings, discarding the relatively unimportant content. "The only potentially useful information is this."

She pointed to a line of text.

"Sacrifices offered to the Shinigami are absorbed into its stomach, rather than heading to the Pure Land like normal souls after death."

This brief line of text carried an immense amount of information.

"Pure Land," Naruto repeated the words.

Is this world\'s term for the place where the souls of the dead reside?

It seems that ninjas are not as ignorant about souls as he thought.

They had knowledge of this for a long time, but it must be fairly obscure information that he had never heard of before.

And more importantly...

This sentence means...

The souls of those who have used this technique are stored in that demon\'s stomach.

This means that even if he finds the "Pure Land," he might not be able to find the souls of his parents.

They are sealed inside the Shinigami\'s stomach.

"Where should we go next?" Karin organized the scrolls, arranging them one by one according to their importance, labeling and sealing them.

Naruto thought for a moment, "First, let\'s figure out what these gods really are."

"Once we understand what they are, we can go find that so-called Shinigami."

Karin paused, "Now that you mention it, shrines dedicated to gods are not uncommon."

"I saw some when I was in the Land of Grass."

"There also seem to be many shrines and temples dedicated to gods in the Land of Fire?"

Naruto nodded.

This reminded him of something; back when he was carrying out "D" rank missions in Konoha, he had seen some "priestesses" and "monks" who had come from the capital of the Land of Fire to Konoha.

Their status was much higher than that of ninjas.

They could interact on equal footing with, or even hold higher positions than, nobles and wealthy merchants.

"Then let\'s start by visiting those places." Naruto finalized the plan.

They packed up their things and left the Land of Whirlpools.

On the way, they stopped by the small village that Naruto had saved earlier.

Their lives hadn\'t improved much.

Although the little boy hadn\'t yet refined chakra, his body had visibly grown stronger.

While Naruto and Karin were on the road...

In the Land of Rice Fields, at Sound Village...

Inside a secret underground base...

Yakushi Kabuto stood in front of a white-haired youth.

"You didn\'t bring Sasuke back?" The white-haired youth noticed that Kabuto returned alone and spoke calmly, "How incompetent, Kabuto."

"Don\'t speak of me like that, Kimimaro." Even though he was being scolded, Kabuto smiled, showing no sign of anger, "Sasuke was not swayed by Orochimaru-sama\'s power."

"I tried persuading him many times."

"I even risked being discovered by Konoha when I sneaked into the hospital after he was injured by that man, Uchiha Itachi."

"And still, I couldn\'t convince him."

"It seems he doesn\'t trust Orochimaru-sama very much."

The boy known as "Kimimaro" narrowed his eyes as chakra surged through him. In an instant, he appeared in front of Kabuto, slashing with his hand as if it were a blade, his nails extending like sharp knives, leaving a bloody line on Kabuto\'s neck. "Don\'t blame Orochimaru-sama for your incompetence."

Kabuto smiled and gently grasped Kimimaro\'s hand. "Then forgive my incompetence."

"Do you need me to try again?" Kimimaro asked.

"The security in Konoha has been very strong recently. If I try to infiltrate again, I might need to wait a while until they let their guard down," Kabuto responded.

Kimimaro withdrew his hand and snorted coldly. "Orochimaru-sama can\'t wait that long."

He paused, glancing down at his own body. "And neither can I."

Kabuto narrowed his eyes, his glasses reflecting light, concealing his expression. "Shall we call Orochimaru-sama back now?"

Kimimaro shot him a cold look but said nothing.

"Do you need my help?" Kabuto offered, "I am also an excellent medical ninja, you know."

Kimimaro declined, "No need."

"I can handle this alone."

He stood up and walked into a room.

Kabuto squinted, staring at the door, trying to recall something.

That room seemed to contain the experimental subjects Orochimaru had collected from various places.

Of course, Orochimaru\'s "experiments" were not merely "natural materials"; they also included children with special Kekkei Genkai who had been "picked up" from different places.

Could the method to summon Orochimaru back be a technique similar to "Living Corpse Reincarnation"? I\'d love to see it.

Inside the room, Kimimaro\'s gaze swept over the "experimental subjects" and selected one of the children with a "curse mark" placed on them.

He took out a piece of flesh cultivated in a "nutrient chamber" and applied it to the "curse mark."

Forming hand seals, he activated the technique.

"Evil Sealing Method!"

Chakra surged, the flesh twisted, and in the blink of an eye, it grew into a snake\'s head.

The snake opened its bloody mouth wide.

A man crawled out of it.

"Kimimaro, give me a hand," the man said, lifting his head, revealing himself to be Orochimaru.

Kimimaro carefully extended his hand.

This was one of Orochimaru\'s life-saving techniques.

Each "curse mark" contained a fragment of his will.

As long as the "curse mark" was undone, Orochimaru could resurrect from it.

The only flaw in this technique was that the will within the "curse mark" could not activate the technique on its own; it required someone else to do so.

A loyal subordinate like Kimimaro, or perhaps a clever person who recognized the true nature of the "curse mark."

"Orochimaru-sama," Kimimaro began as Orochimaru landed, ready to report.

Orochimaru shook his head. "I heard everything from within your curse mark."

"No need to repeat it."

"It\'s a pity we didn\'t capture Sasuke."

"And I can no longer wait."

Kimimaro nodded.

He supported Orochimaru as they walked out.

"Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto greeted them immediately.

Orochimaru stuck out his tongue, licking his lips, his tone light and teasing. "Kabuto, your performance really surprised me. I didn\'t think you were such a loyal person."

"You\'ve moved me."

Kabuto forced a fake smile. "My loyalty to Orochimaru-sama is no less than Kimimaro\'s."

Orochimaru sneered. "Spare me the words. Go prepare a new body for me."

"This one... is no longer usable."

There were quite a few suitable bodies stored at this base.

The next day, after completing the physical modifications, Orochimaru sat in a wheelchair, being pushed to a mirror.

His face was covered in bandages, making it impossible to read his expression, but his eyes were filled with rage and hatred. "The Third Hokage... What a formidable technique."

Even after reincarnation, his hands remained unusable.

The "Reaper Death Seal"—a technique he had never heard of before Sarutobi Hiruzen used it—had sealed the soul of his hands, a "curse" imprinted on his very soul, which couldn\'t be lifted by simply changing bodies.

To fully recover, he needed to find a way to break the curse and release the soul of his hands.

Kabuto stood behind him, his face calm, lowering his presence as if he were air.

"Orochimaru-sama," Kimimaro said, pushing the door open as he entered.

Orochimaru turned to look at him. "You should be resting at this time."

"My body doesn\'t have much time left," Kimimaro replied calmly. "Kabuto examined me. Even if I do nothing, I only have a few months left."

"Rather than dying in bed, I want to do more for you, Orochimaru-sama."

"Please allow me to go to Konoha and bring back Uchiha Sasuke for you."

~~~

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