The room was a web of countless sealing formulas, etched across every surface. From the ground, tendrils of soil and what looked like compressed leaves began to rise, wrapping around White Zetsu's body layer by layer.
This jutsu demanded a sacrifice, and the more compatible the vessel, the more potent its effect. Possessing the cells of Hashirama Senju, White Zetsu was the perfect offering.
Naruto moved through a sequence of hand seals, 'Tiger... Snake... Dog... Dragon.', before pressing his palms together, then slammed one onto the floor.
"Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation!"
The infamous technique, one of Orochimaru's trump cards, dragged the dead back from the Pure Land to serve the living. Naruto had taken it from Orochimaru in Danzo's name, and because it wasn't tied to elemental release, he had learnt it quickly.
The ground trembled as Zetsu's body sank. From the earth, a coffin of dark wood slowly pushed its way up.
"I know this jutsu..." Nagato's eyes widened, as he watched with baited breath. He could feel an immense and overwhelming chakra signature emanating from within the sealed casket.
With a low groan, the coffin lid creaked open. A single hand reached out, followed by the rest of a body assembling itself from dust and debris.
The figure was a rugged, dark-skinned man in a high-collared trench coat, his nose marked with gold paint and his hair tied in a topknot.
"The Second Raikage..."
To perform the Impure World Reincarnation, three conditions had to be met. First: a fragment of the deceased's flesh or blood, without it, summoning was impossible. Second: a living vessel for the soul. Third: the soul itself must still rest in the Pure Land. If it had been sealed away, the jutsu would fail.
White Zetsu fulfilled the vessel requirement perfectly. As for the flesh, Naruto had scraped together barely enough after digging through Kumogakure's ancestral tombs. The remains were so worn he could only summon the Raikage once.
But once summoned, the body would last indefinitely, unless the caster released it. And if the caster is killed without releasing jutsu then only solution is sealing them.
"This jutsu is called Impure World Reincarnation," Naruto explained to Nagato and Konan. "Created by Tobirama Senju of Konoha. It allows the dead to be summoned back to the world of living from Pure Land."
Nagato frowned, his gaze fixed on the reanimated shinobi. He had seen Orochimaru use this jutsu before and felt a deep revulsion for any technique that disturbed the dead. What confused him more was choice of target. Why summon the Second Raikage?
Naruto seemed to read his thoughts. "Your body is constantly strained by the Demonic Statue and your Rinnegan. The Gedo Mazo in particular requires an immense amount of chakra, far more than you can naturally produce. You've been substituting your own life force to make up the difference."
He gestured toward the vacant-eyed Raikage. "The simplest solution is a new source of chakra. A tailed beast would be ideal, but you refused to become a Jinchuriki. The great sage lands are another option, but I cannot sense their locations. That leaves this."
He paused, letting the implication sink in. "The defining feature of an Impure World Reincarnation is its infinite chakra."
The plan clicked into place for Nagato, and the sheer absurdity of it left him speechless. When a tailed beast is sealed within a person, they become a Jinchuriki, a living vessel with access to a vast reservoir of power.
Naruto was proposing the same principle, but with a reanimated corpse. He intended to turn the Second Raikage into a self-recharging power source for Nagato, a way to sustain the Gedo Mazo without consuming a tailed beast or draining Nagato's life away.
An Edo Tensei power bank.
"You mean... you want to seal him inside me?" Nagato stared at the Raikage's blank face. The thought unsettled him. The idea of housing another person inside his body felt... wrong.
"He is merely a vessel now. I've erased his consciousness," Naruto explained, nodding toward the Raikage's blank stare.
"This is the best option," Naruto said firmly. "Unless you're willing to accept one of the other two methods."
Nagato lowered his gaze. 'He's gone to such lengths for me. How could I refuse?'
The Eight Trigrams Seal would be the key. By layering two Four Symbols Seals, it could bind the Raikage within Nagato's body. It was the same seal once used on the Nine-Tails itself.
Under Minato's tutelage, Naruto had learned sealing arts, barrier techniques, and summoning. While elemental jutsu remained his weakness, he had learnt enough to attempt this.
"Eight Trigrams Seal!"
Black, tadpole-like sealing formulas swirled into existence, converging on the Second Raikage. The reanimated body distorted and shrank until it was pulled into a vortex of energy that slammed into Nagato's abdomen, leaving a black spiral pattern in its wake.
"Nagato, how do you feel?" Konan asked, rushing to his side.
He touched the seal on his stomach. "It's strange. There's a heavy feeling, almost like I've eaten too much." He clenched his fists, a look of wonder spreading across his face. "But the drain on my chakra... it's gone."
For the first time in years, he felt whole. A steady stream of potent chakra was flowing from the seal, suffusing his entire body and pushing back the gnawing exhaustion that had become his constant companion.
He looked at Naruto, his expression full of gratitude. "This is all thanks to you."
"Thank you, Elder," Konan added, her voice filled with sincere relief.
With this, there was almost no one alive who could rival Nagato, aside from Naruto himself. Even Obito would fall short, unless he reclaimed his other Mangekyo from Kakashi.
A tailed beast sealed into someone made them a Jinchuriki. But Nagato? What did that make him now? An Edo Tensei Jinchuriki?
"I heard you created an organization, Nagato," he said, changing the subject.
Nagato straightened, his attitude respectful. "Yes, Grandpa. It is called Akatsuki. I have gathered S-rank missing-nin from across the nations. Kakuzu, the man you saw from Takigakure, is one of our members. We are currently in the process of building our resources." He went on to explain the group's structure and goals in detail.
"Make the arrangements for me to join," Naruto said once Nagato had finished. "I'll be a trainee. I want to see how far you can take this."
The idea of the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki walking among Akatsuki's ranks was both absurd and thrilling. Naruto was especially excited to meet Obito.
Nagato bowed his head. "I won't disappoint you, Grandpa."
"I'll see to it right away," Konan added. She had been the one to bring Sasori into the fold, after all.
Naruto held up a hand. A wave of exhaustion washed over him, his voice dropping slightly. "There's no rush. I need to return and recuperate for a while."
The reminder of the effort he'd expended sent a pang of guilt through both Nagato and Konan.
"Let's set it for one month from now," Naruto decided.
'That should be enough time,' he thought. 'In two months, the Chunin Exams will begin.'
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