The ruins of the Uzumaki clan.
A flash of dazzling lightning tore across the air, and Kaito appeared in front of a dilapidated shrine.
Glancing around at the desolate surroundings, Kaito couldn't help but sigh.
"I never thought the Uzumaki clan would end up like this."
The Uzumaki were undeniably one of the most gifted clans in the entire shinobi world. They were born with massive reserves of chakra and mastered countless powerful sealing techniques.
And yet, even a clan like that could not escape the fate of annihilation.
Then again, it made sense. The stronger a clan was in the shinobi world, the worse its end tended to be.
The Uchiha massacre didn't even need to be mentioned. The Senju clan fared no better—if anything, they were worse off.
The Senju had essentially relied on a single pillar—Senju Hashirama. His younger brother Tobirama was strong, yes, but compared to Hashirama, the gap was vast.
And after Tobirama's death, Nawaki also perished prematurely. Apart from those Senju who had already merged into Konoha and whose bloodline had been diluted to an unknown degree, the clan had only Tsunade left as its last descendant.
Looked at that way, the Uchiha were actually the most fortunate among the three great clans. At least they still had Obito, Itachi, and Sasuke—and let's not forget Uchiha Madara, who was spectating from the other side of the spring.
The legend of the "Eyes that Shook the Five Villages"? Not just empty words.
And now, with the emergence of the most powerful Kaito, even if every shinobi were tied together, it still might not be enough to face him. If he so wished, he could revive the Uchiha at any moment.
At Kaito's waist, a small white snake poked out its head and spoke.
"Kaito-sama, the Shinigami's mask should be inside this shrine. Let's go in!"
Kaito nodded. Casually, he tossed the little snake off his waist and said flatly,
"Change into human form first. It'll save us trouble later."
The white snake writhed on the ground, twisting and shifting until, moments later, a drenched Orochimaru appeared before him, licking his lips with his long tongue.
Kaito frowned and muttered,
"Can't you try looking a little more human?"
Without another word, he strode toward the shrine. Orochimaru froze for a moment, then hastily slurped his tongue back in and followed.
Inside, Orochimaru immediately began searching the shrine and eventually uncovered a hidden door, revealing a secret chamber.
The moment they stepped inside, Kaito's eyes locked onto a mask hanging on the wall—the Shinigami's mask. He gave Orochimaru a look, and Orochimaru quickly moved forward, took the mask, and placed it on his face.
Once he put it on, Orochimaru broke into a bizarre, shaman-like dance.
As he moved, a hazy white figure began to manifest above him—the so-called Shinigami of the shinobi world.
Normally, when Orochimaru sliced open his own stomach, the Shinigami should have mirrored the action. But this time, the Shinigami did not move at all. He simply glared intently at Kaito, ignoring Orochimaru entirely.
Orochimaru was stunned. Blood poured from his split-open stomach, and for the first time in his life, he had no idea what to do.
After a lifetime of exploiting the Shinigami's loopholes, his trick had failed. Worse still, he didn't even understand why.
Kaito raised his gaze and met the Shinigami's stare. The cramped chamber was instantly filled with a suffocating, eerie pressure.
Orochimaru was already reaching his limit. He suddenly opened his mouth wide, and from within spilled a massive serpent with a human face. It slithered onto the floor beside Kaito.
Coiling there, Orochimaru's eyes flickered with unease as he spoke.
"My apologies, Kaito-sama. Something seems to have gone wrong. I can't release the Fourth Hokage's soul."
Kaito gave a small nod.
"It doesn't matter. You've done your part. The rest isn't your concern."
With that, he stepped forward, fixing his cold gaze on the hovering Shinigami.
"You really don't know your place."
Orochimaru blinked. Was Kaito… speaking to the Shinigami? Did the Shinigami actually have awareness?
The next moment shattered everything he thought he knew.
The Shinigami opened its mouth and let out a chilling laugh.
"Kekekeke… Human, your soul looks… delicious."
He had never seen a human with such immense spiritual power. This soul outshone every one he had ever devoured—combined.
Kaito's eyes narrowed, and then dark concentric ripples spread across his irises—the Rinnegan.
The unique oppressive force of the Rinnegan erupted, blasting against the Shinigami's figure. The specter grew increasingly unstable, its form flickering. Its expression twisted in shock.
"Impossible! How do you have those eyes!?"
The apparition began to waver violently, clearly trying to flee.
But Kaito would never allow that.
From his body surged a chilling aura of the underworld, condensing into a massive serpent that coiled around the Shinigami's form, freezing it instantly into an ice sculpture.
Terror was still etched on the Shinigami's frozen face. Orochimaru, equally terrified, didn't dare make a sound.
So this was what true power looked like. While he had spent years exploiting the Shinigami, Kaito had simply robbed it outright.
Kaito raised his hand, pulling the frozen Shinigami toward him. He then drove his fist into its abdomen and ripped out a glowing blue mass of energy.
Seeing this, Orochimaru hurriedly cried out,
"Kaito-sama, my hands are also inside the Shinigami's stomach! Could you…?"
His tone was pitifully pleading. Kaito gave him a sidelong glance, then relented and extracted Orochimaru's "hands" as well.
Overjoyed, Orochimaru immediately returned to human form and caught them.
Though he had been able to use his hands via Living Corpse Reincarnation, the damage to his soul had severely limited him, preventing him from casting many forbidden jutsu.
In the end, it was only after regaining his "hands" in the anime that he was able to use Edo Tensei to revive the past Hokage.
Once the souls were pulled free, Kaito's Rinnegan gleamed with violet light. The Shinigami's ice-bound body shattered into fragments, dissolving into the air.
Unable to hold back, Orochimaru asked,
"Kaito-sama… was the Shinigami just destroyed?"
Kaito shook his head.
"No. He's only been severely injured. It'll be difficult for him to manifest again."
Orochimaru blurted out, almost without thinking,
"Then my Edo Tensei will be unusable!?"
"Oh? And what exactly were you planning to do with Edo Tensei?"
"Uh, I just… think it's a pity…"
Kaito stared straight into his eyes. The crushing weight of the Rinnegan bore down on him, and Orochimaru collapsed to the floor, trembling uncontrollably.
But Kaito didn't press further. He closed his Rinnegan and said calmly,
"In the face of the Rinnegan, Edo Tensei is nothing."
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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