As Kitazawa and the others were returning to Konoha, an emergency meeting was being held in the Mizukage's office in Kirigakure.
"Dismissed," Mei Terumi said, waving her hand after hearing the Anbu report in front of her.
"Yes, Mizukage-sama." The Anbu turned and left. He was the captain who had run into Kitazawa and Tsunade's group yesterday.
"Konoha's going too far!" Zabuza Momochi said, clearly irritated.
"This is outrageous," Suigetsu Hozuki agreed. "Konoha's completely forgotten we're their ally!"
"Treaties only matter to the winners," Mei said coolly. "What's done is done. There's no point arguing about it now."
The office fell into silence.
Zabuza and the others wore expressions of frustration—angry, but helpless.
"I'll leave for Konoha tomorrow," Ao said slowly.
"Try to make sure we pay as little as possible," Mei reminded him.
"I understand," Ao replied with a grim nod.
But both of them knew it would be difficult—because the one Konoha had captured was Utakata, the Six-Tails jinchūriki.
For any village, a jinchūriki was an ultimate weapon that could not be lost. No matter the price, Kirigakure would have to buy him back.
"Fortunately, we've reached a cooperation arrangement with Sunagakure," Mei changed the subject, sounding a bit more reassured. "Our financial pressure has eased quite a bit."
"Whoever's running the water business in Amegakure is genuinely talented," Ao nodded. "They actually thought of using war to drive up the price."
After Amegakure raised prices, Sunagakure caught on and followed suit. The "water business war" settled into a delicate balance.
"Even so, it's not a long-term solution," Mei said, fingers interlaced. "Amegakure still has the upper hand in the market. Suna won't accept that forever."
"Mizukage-sama," Zabuza suddenly asked, "why don't we join Suna, wipe out Amegakure, and then turn on Konoha?"
Mei's gaze sharpened.
For a split second, she was tempted—but the moment she thought about Konoha's strength, she pushed the idea away.
The gap between the Five Great Villages right now was enormous. Whether it was Sunagakure or Kirigakure, they were both near the bottom.
If they joined forces, they might have more shinobi in raw numbers. But a shinobi war wasn't decided by headcount alone—it was decided by how many top-tier monsters you had.
One truly overwhelming powerhouse could tilt an entire battlefield—like Namikaze Minato once did.
Suna and Kiri simply didn't have enough of those kinds of strong fighters. Not even close to Konoha.
Most importantly, Kiri couldn't afford another loss.
They'd already lost to Konoha once and paid a brutal price. A second time would be catastrophic.
"War is too risky," Mei said, rubbing her brow. "And even if we cooperate with Suna, we still can't be sure we can beat Konoha."
Zabuza hesitated, wanting to argue—wanting to say they shouldn't talk like that and give Konoha more swagger—but facts were facts, and he couldn't refute them.
"Cooperating to deal with Amegakure, though—that's possible," Mei added. "But we wait until Suna comes to us for help. That way, we maximize our gain."
In her view, Amegakure's biggest threat was Hanzō.
There was only one Hanzō. Other than him, Amegakure didn't have many truly frightening heavy hitters.
Amegakure wasn't as wealthy as Konoha, but it was still the strongest village beneath the Five Great ones. Even if it wasn't rich, controlling the entire water market would still be a very profitable prize.
And more importantly: if Suna and Kiri teamed up, defeating Amegakure wouldn't cost them much.
"Will Suna really ask us for help?" Zabuza frowned. "With their strength, dealing with Amegakure shouldn't be a problem."
"It's not a problem—until you factor in Hanzō," Mei said with a faint smile. "He won't be easy to remove. And if it drags on, other villages might decide to meddle."
"Fair point," Zabuza nodded.
The next day, Kitazawa and the others returned to Konoha.
Tsunade stopped not far from the village gate and turned to look at Kitazawa.
"I still have things to handle with Tsunade-sama," Kitazawa understood the hint and spoke up. "I'll have my shadow clone take you all to where you'll be staying."
"It's fine," the ascetic replied with a nod, unconcerned.
"About Hotaru enrolling—when the time comes, I'll take her to the academy," Kitazawa reminded him.
On the road, he'd already discussed having Hotaru join the prodigy class. The ascetic accepted immediately.
One major reason he was relocating the Tsuchigumo clan to Konoha was Hotaru. She would have far more room to grow here, and joining the shinobi academy's advanced program was a solid beginning—she'd learn a lot of foundational knowledge.
Kitazawa formed hand seals and created a shadow clone.
Led by the clone, the ascetic and Uchiha Sasuke's group entered Konoha.
"Do you think this whole 'sneaking into Konoha' act counts as sticking our heads in the sand?" Kitazawa asked with an amused tone.
"Why are you overthinking it?" Tsunade shot him a glare. "The urgent priority is the casino!"
"We're already in Konoha. No need to sprint," Kitazawa shook his head.
"Hurry up!" Tsunade grabbed his hand and dragged him toward Konoha's casino.
They arrived quickly.
Tsunade released his hand, sat down at a table in a few strides, and started betting without hesitation.
Kitazawa thought to himself: good thing it's our own casino.
Otherwise, give her a few days and she'd lose at least ten million ryō.
Kitazawa wasn't interested in gambling. He closed his eyes and opened his system interface.
He currently had nine unfinished system tasks—more than usual.
He stared at the list, thinking.
All things considered, the task "help Uzumaki Naruto achieve partial tailed-beast transformation" should be prioritized.
First: the reward was good.
Second: it had an advanced follow-up task—"Uzumaki Naruto becomes a perfect jinchūriki."
Third: it was also linked to another task—"help Uchiha Sasuke awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan."
And most importantly, in theory it wasn't that hard.
Partial tailed-beast transformation hinged on two key factors.
One was Naruto's relationship with Kurama.
The other was Naruto's own chakra control.
With Kitazawa's help, Naruto had already built a good relationship with Kurama ahead of time. He might not be able to fully transform, but reaching a partial transformation should be within reach.
The bigger problem was Naruto's chakra control.
For someone at his stage, Naruto was already far stronger than he'd been in the original timeline—but partial transformation was different. And Kurama's chakra was absurdly overwhelming, which meant Naruto would need even finer control.
Kitazawa started planning Naruto's new training regimen.
Time slipped by, and before they knew it, it was evening.
"Tsunade-sama," Kitazawa patted her thigh lightly. "It's already night. We should head back. We can come again tomorrow."
"Go back where? We can't exactly go home. Might as well sleep in the casino," Tsunade declared with full confidence. "I'm continuing. If I don't win back what I lost today, it doesn't end!"
"We walked into Konoha loud and proud. Shizune has definitely gotten word already," Kitazawa's mouth twitched.
If we wait until you "win it back," we'll be here until the day the Akatsuki attack Konoha.
"Fine," Tsunade agreed reluctantly.
"Don't worry," Kitazawa smiled when he saw how deflated she looked. "If Shizune doesn't let you come tomorrow, I can cover your shift."
"Really?" Tsunade instantly lit up.
"Have I ever lied to you?" Kitazawa countered.
Tsunade glanced around, then pulled him into a corner.
"What are you doing?" Kitazawa asked, confused.
"Your reward." After saying that, she rose on her toes and kissed him.
Kitazawa froze for a beat, then instinctively wrapped his arms around her.
Warmth and softness pressed against him, and they kissed for a long moment before finally parting.
Tsunade drew in fresh air, breathing a little hard, her chest rising and falling.
Kitazawa felt his head spin and leaned into her for a second, burying his face against her.
Tsunade lifted a hand and gave him a firm knock on the head, but she didn't shove him away. Instead, she lightly ran her fingers through his hair, feeling strangely calm and happy inside.
Only when Kitazawa started getting a little too bold did she push him back.
"Not today," Tsunade said, giving him a quick kick before turning to leave.
Kitazawa clenched his fist and hurried after her.
Since Tsunade had only gambled for the afternoon, Shizune didn't say much when she saw her.
Early the next morning, Kitazawa brought Hotaru to the shinobi academy.
Hotaru looked around, and her gaze eventually settled on the prodigy class trainees practicing on the field.
After watching for a bit, she was stunned.
So this is Konoha—one of the Five Great Villages. There are so many impressive people around my age.
"They'll be your classmates from now on," Kitazawa introduced.
Hotaru nodded, anticipation showing on her face.
She'd grown up within the Tsuchigumo clan and didn't have many friends. She'd barely met peers before—this was her first time attending an academy like this.
"I'll take you to register first," Kitazawa said, patting her head.
"Mm," Hotaru replied obediently. "Thank you, Kitazawa-sensei."
"Come with me." Kitazawa turned and headed for Iruka Umino's office.
"Kitazawa-senpai," Iruka immediately stood to greet him.
"This is Hotaru, a new student for the prodigy class," Kitazawa said directly.
"Hello, Hotaru. I'm Iruka Umino, one of the prodigy class instructors," Iruka said, turning to her and introducing himself.
He was already used to Kitazawa bringing talented newcomers back to Konoha from time to time, so he wasn't surprised.
"Iruka-sensei," Hotaru bowed slightly. "Please take care of me."
Iruka smiled and nodded. More polite than Kimimaro and the others were when they first joined.
"Have the Third Hokage and Kakashi returned yet?" Kitazawa asked.
He'd arrived early today and hadn't seen Sarutobi Hiruzen and the others on the field. Only some of the prodigy class trainees were present. He did know Kurenai Yuhi had already completed her mission and returned to Konoha.
"The Third Hokage and Kakashi-senpai haven't returned," Iruka answered.
"Let me know when they do," Kitazawa said with a nod.
"I understand," Iruka replied. He knew exactly what Kitazawa meant: once all instructors and trainees were back, they'd announce the rankings from the midterm exam.
"For the next final exam, we're temporarily canceling team battles and switching to individual matches," Kitazawa suddenly said, as if remembering something.
"Individual matches?" Iruka looked surprised.
"It's because the newly added Shion and Chino—and Hotaru too," Kitazawa paused briefly, then explained.
On the way back, he'd looked into Hotaru's abilities. To his surprise, her specialty wasn't Earth Style—it was Water Style.
In other words, after Hotaru joined, the prodigy class now had yet another Water Style specialist.
Add Sakura, Haku, and Chino, and that made four.
Who would've thought Konoha's prodigies would skew more toward Water Style than Fire Style?
As for the forbidden technique, Fury, it was inscribed on Hotaru's back—an unusual Tsuchigumo clan inheritance method.
In the original story, when Shiranami captured Hotaru, it was to strip that technique from her.
Kitazawa thought Fury was pretty useless—same category as Jūgo's sage-transformation constitution: pure downside.
Yes, it could absorb natural energy—but it couldn't control it. One was basically self-destruction in exchange for taking others with you; the other was losing control and going on violent rampages.
After examining the technique, Kitazawa realized it had nothing to do with Sage Mode at all. Jūgo's constitution was closer to a crude, weakened imitation of Sage Mode.
"Iruka, take Hotaru to meet the prodigy class trainees," Kitazawa said, then added, "and make sure you arrange tutoring for her theory lessons."
"Understood," Iruka replied, leading Hotaru out of the office.
Kitazawa didn't linger. After leaving the academy grounds, he headed straight for the Hokage Tower.
"You finally showed up!" Tsunade, slumped over the Hokage's desk, sprang to her feet when she saw him—like a fish hitting water and coming back to life.
"Isn't it still before work hours?" Kitazawa asked, glancing at the clock on the wall.
"Quit talking. Give me money—I'm going to the casino!" Tsunade marched up to him and held out her hand with shameless righteousness.
"Shouldn't we do a proper handover first?" Kitazawa asked, taking her hand.
"No need," Tsunade swatted his hand lightly. "Do you not know what Konoha's like by now?"
"Fair," Kitazawa said, handing her a passbook casually. "That's this week's money."
He was the Anbu head. Most important intelligence passed through him. In the entire village, aside from Tsunade, he was probably the person who knew the most.
"Wow. Generous," Tsunade said, staring at the passbook in surprise.
"If you think it's too much, you can give it back," Kitazawa said with a smile.
"No way!" Tsunade tucked it away immediately. "You do your job properly today. I'm off!"
And with that, she vanished in an instant.
Kitazawa shook his head and sat in the Hokage's chair, picking up the documents on the desk.
Anything delivered here was usually important.
And since Kitazawa had already reviewed most of the important material through Anbu channels, processing it was fast.
In less than an hour, he finished every document on the desk.
The most important one concerned Utakata, Kirigakure's Six-Tails jinchūriki.
Ao and his team were already en route and would probably arrive tomorrow.
Kitazawa rubbed his chin.
Negotiations like this should go to Shikaku Nara. Kitazawa had no interest in arguing back and forth with Kiri's delegation.
Besides, Konoha held the advantage here—no matter how they negotiated, they wouldn't come out worse.
Kitazawa had already asked Shizune to draft Konoha's terms. Now it just needed Shikaku to negotiate based on those conditions.
"Haru," Kitazawa called.
"Ho—Kitazawa-sama." Haru pushed the door open, froze for a beat, then hurriedly answered.
Kitazawa taking Tsunade's shift hadn't been announced, so seeing him in the Hokage's chair caught her off guard.
"Tell Shikaku-senpai to meet with Shizune. Let him know he's in charge of the negotiations with Kirigakure," Kitazawa said casually.
"Yes, Kitazawa-sama," Haru replied with a small bow and left.
Normally, that kind of order should've come from Tsunade—but if Kitazawa was sitting in the Hokage's chair, there wasn't much to question.
After organizing the documents, Kitazawa formed hand seals and created a shadow clone.
The work was done; there was no need to stay and wait. The clone could watch things here.
Kitazawa went to a nearby training ground and practiced the Flying Thunder God Technique.
He was highly interested in Tsunade's "special rewards." The sooner he mastered Flying Thunder God, the sooner he could start collecting.
And it could also conveniently complete another system task with an unknown reward. It was a win-win—he won twice.
As the sun set, another day of training slipped away.
The next afternoon, Ao's Kirigakure delegation arrived in Konoha.
Kitazawa didn't attend. Tsunade didn't either.
Two more days passed, and the prodigy class final exam came to an end.
After announcing the rankings, Kitazawa brought Uzumaki Naruto to the Forest of Death.
He avoided training at the academy because partial tailed-beast transformation would cause too much commotion. If other shinobi mistook it for a Kurama rampage, it would spark unnecessary panic.
"Naruto," Kitazawa stopped and asked, "how are things between you and Kurama now?"
"We're friends now!" Naruto said, giving a thumbs-up. "He really respects my Youthful Way!"
"…?" Kitazawa slowly made a question mark with his face.
Did I miss some plot development?
How did things get to this point?
"It's just that Kurama keeps saying it's boring being stuck in the seal space," Naruto scratched his head. "Is there any way to let him come out and have some fun?"
"Not for now," Kitazawa said after a brief thought. "But I can teach you a game. When you've got time, you can play with him."
"That's awesome!" Naruto asked excitedly. "What game?"
"It's called Yu-Gi-Oh!, a card game," Kitazawa said casually. "In the seal space, Kurama can use chakra to create special cards."
"Got it!" Naruto nodded hard.
"Go find him now," Kitazawa instructed. "Tell him if he wants to play, he should lend you his chakra."
Naruto closed his eyes.
His awareness quickly sank into the seal space—something Kitazawa had taught him so he could reach Kurama anytime.
"Big fox!" Naruto shouted.
"I heard you. Stop yelling," Kurama said, lying down as he opened one eye.
"Kitazawa-sensei told me to come talk to you!" Naruto hurried closer.
"Oh?" Kurama's interest sparked. "Is he telling you more scandalous 'secret history' about Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama?"
"Nope," Naruto said, and relayed Kitazawa's message.
"Yu-Gi-Oh?" Kurama tilted his head. "Is it actually fun?"
"I don't know," Naruto laughed sheepishly. "I didn't ask."
"The name sounds arrogant," Kurama snorted. "Fine—I'll lend you chakra first. If it's boring, I'm taking it back!"
"Thanks, Kurama!" Naruto said quickly.
Kurama opened his mouth and exhaled.
A rushing wind roared as dark red chakra surged into Naruto.
Naruto's awareness was kicked back out. The moment he steadied himself, a wave of chakra erupted inside him.
Nearby trees were affected, and countless leaves whipped up into the air.
Kitazawa looked at Naruto, his aura flaring like a superpowered fighter, and fell silent.
Having absurd amounts of chakra really did mean you could do whatever you wanted.
And it was obvious Kurama had only casually lent a tiny portion—he wasn't even serious.
What a shame Sasuke wasn't here.
If he saw this, he might awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan on the spot.
"Whoa!" Naruto stared at the chakra around him. "That's so much!"
"Having a lot of chakra isn't the point," Kitazawa said, shaking his head. "What matters is how you use it."
Once the novelty faded, Naruto calmed down.
"Start chakra control training—the same as before: tree climbing," Kitazawa said while forming hand seals. "But this time you won't use your own chakra. You'll use Kurama's chakra."
A wooden dragon appeared out of nowhere and stretched upward into the sky.
"Kurama—actually, all tailed beasts—their chakra is far more violent than ours," Kitazawa continued. "Violent chakra hits harder, but it's much harder to control."
"Kitazawa-sensei, am I climbing that wood dragon?" Naruto's eyes lit up.
"Yeah," Kitazawa nodded. "If you can reach the top, you've completed the chakra control training."
There was also another reason: Kitazawa was wary of Kurama going berserk.
With the wood dragon present, if Kurama tried anything, it could be suppressed.
That would maximize safety for both Naruto and the village.
Kitazawa remembered that in the original timeline, Jiraiya's training on Kurama's chakra nearly got him killed when Naruto lost control.
"I get it!" Naruto yelled. "The training of youth starts now!"
Kitazawa nodded slightly.
He didn't leave—he continued practicing Flying Thunder God nearby, occasionally taking time to correct Naruto.
A whole day passed with no major progress.
Naruto was stuck at the very first hurdle: he couldn't even attach Kurama's chakra to the soles of his feet.
But it wasn't his fault.
Kitazawa's expectation was that by the next exam cycle, Naruto could at least borrow Kurama's chakra in a controlled way.
As for partial transformation, there was no need to rush.
With Naruto's strength, even limited access to Kurama's chakra would let him dominate the prodigy class.
Then it'd just be a question of how long Sasuke could endure watching.
If Sasuke still couldn't awaken the Mangekyō after that, Kitazawa would have to resort to… less orthodox methods to help him.
Time continued to pass. Another month went by.
After prolonged negotiations, Konoha and Kirigakure finally reached a deal both sides could accept regarding Utakata, the Six-Tails jinchūriki.
Of course, Kirigakure wasn't "satisfied"—they were forced to accept it with clenched teeth.
At nine in the morning, Kitazawa took a quick walk around the academy and then went to the Hokage Tower.
"You're right on time," Tsunade said, glancing at the wall clock.
"Showing up early doesn't change anything," Kitazawa replied.
"How does it not?" Tsunade pointed at the documents on the Hokage's desk. "You can help me process files."
"Tsunade-sama, you're the Hokage," Kitazawa emphasized.
"If there's a chance to slack off and you don't take it, you'll regret it," Tsunade said shamelessly.
"…." Kitazawa tugged the corner of his mouth.
Truly, people without shame are invincible.
"Time's about right. Let's go to the meeting room," Tsunade said, standing and walking up to him.
Kitazawa stayed put and held out his arms.
Tsunade paused, rolled her eyes, but stepped forward and hugged him anyway.
Kitazawa held her soft, fragrant body, lowered his head, and kissed her forehead.
After a moment, he released her.
"I seriously don't know what to do with you," Tsunade muttered, the corners of her lips lifting as she headed toward the meeting room.
The room was already full.
Everyone from both Konoha and Kirigakure involved in the talks was present, waiting for Tsunade.
As for Kitazawa, he was mostly there as "extra attendance."
"Hokage-dono," Ao stood and greeted.
"Enough small talk. We sign," Tsunade said crisply.
"Hokage-sama," Shikaku Nara quickly handed her two documents. "These are the drafted terms."
"Mm." Tsunade scanned them, picked up a pen, and signed her name.
Mei hadn't come, so Kirigakure's signature was Ao's.
Once the signatures were done, the negotiations were officially concluded. Next came the actual exchange of terms.
Konoha would continue holding Utakata until every condition was fulfilled.
Ao led Kirigakure's delegation away quickly.
They were more anxious than Konoha—because the one being held was their jinchūriki. If anything happened, it would be a devastating loss.
"How's Naruto doing?" Tsunade asked as they walked.
"Very smoothly," Kitazawa chuckled. "You know his personality. Even Kurama can end up as his friend."
"That's a good thing for a jinchūriki," Tsunade nodded, then added a warning. "But Kurama can still go berserk."
In the end, Kurama had lost his freedom.
Even the best friendship couldn't replace freedom.
But letting Kurama go was something Konoha simply couldn't do—unless Konoha produced another "god of the shinobi world" who could pin all nine tailed beasts down and beat them senseless, at which point whether they had Kurama or not wouldn't matter.
"I know," Kitazawa said, pushing open the Hokage office door. "Don't worry. With me here, even if Kurama goes berserk, it won't cause harm."
"Mm." Tsunade believed that. She had seen Kitazawa's Wood Release.
"Tsunade-sama," Kitazawa stopped. "When Ao and the others return again, let me know."
Tsunade nodded. She knew he wanted the method that would allow a jinchūriki to survive after a tailed beast was extracted, and she was interested too.
"Then I'll go train. See you next time," Kitazawa said, leaving the Hokage office and closing the door behind him.
A week later, in the Hokage office—
"Here," Tsunade said, handing Kitazawa a scroll.
"How does it look?" Kitazawa asked casually.
"Seems feasible," Tsunade thought for a moment, then commented.
Kitazawa opened the scroll and read.
It came from Kirigakure, and it recorded a method for letting a jinchūriki survive after tailed beast extraction.
Once a tailed beast was sealed into a host, the two parties' chakra would seep into each other and merge over time.
If the tailed beast was removed, the host's body would begin collapsing, leading to death.
The scroll's method was simple: leave a portion of the tailed beast's chakra inside the host.
Over time, the host's body would recover, stop relying on the tailed beast's chakra, and return to being a normal shinobi.
Kitazawa rolled the scroll back up, thinking of Killer B.
In the original story, after the Eight-Tails was extracted, he survived because Gyūki left behind a tentacle.
By that logic, Utakata's teacher really had found the correct approach—he was just… uniquely eccentric.
He didn't even warn his student before attempting extraction.
Kitazawa had noticed there were quite a few shinobi like that in this world.
Like Rasa, for instance—he had pushed Gaara into becoming a killer. Later on, once Gaara lost Shukaku, he became far more stable and normal.
"This method shouldn't have major issues," Kitazawa said after a pause. "It can even be improved."
"How?" Tsunade asked, curious.
"In theory, you don't have to leave tailed-beast chakra," Kitazawa replied. "If you inject enough Yang Release chakra, it can work too."
"It's extremely rare for anyone to have Yang Release chakra that terrifying," Tsunade shook her head.
Even a "small portion" of a tailed beast's chakra could dwarf most shinobi.
Still, Kitazawa wasn't wrong.
Yang Release was the power of life. If it reached a high enough level, you could bring someone back as long as they hadn't been dead for too long—not just revive them, but regenerate limbs and heal almost anything.
"You might be able to do it," Tsunade said, looking at him.
"Then I'll have to keep working," Kitazawa said. He knew his own chakra pool was large, but still far from a tailed beast's.
Still, he had the dragon-vein power, and with an improved version of the One's Own Life Reincarnation, if a jinchūriki ever had their beast extracted, he could potentially stabilize them quickly.
"Put it away," Tsunade stretched. "Hopefully we never need to use it."
"I have another idea," Kitazawa said, storing the scroll. "Release the other half of Kurama that's inside the Shinigami."
"You think the old man never considered that?" Tsunade leaned back. "It's not doable because it involves the Reaper Death Seal."
"I know," Kitazawa smiled. "Summoning the Shinigami with the Reaper Death Seal means the caster pays with their life."
The Reaper Death Seal was a mutual-destruction sealing technique: summon the Shinigami, have it take the target's soul, and then it takes the caster's soul too.
That was why the other half of Kurama—Yin Kurama—had remained in the Shinigami's belly all this time.
"If you know that, why bring it up?" Tsunade asked, rolling her eyes.
"Orochimaru-sama has researched a special forbidden technique," Kitazawa said calmly. "It's called Living Corpse Reincarnation."
"Living Corpse Reincarnation?" Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "How come I've never heard of it?"
"It's one of his deepest secrets. He didn't tell us," Kitazawa lied smoothly. "I only found out by accident."
"What does it do?" Tsunade asked. "That name already sounds evil."
"It lets the user's soul seize another person's body—achieving immortality," Kitazawa replied.
"Immortality?" Tsunade's heart jolted. She looked stunned.
Shinobi didn't live long. Reaching fifty could already be considered old.
As for immortality, she'd never heard of it—though thinking back, Orochimaru had indeed said things like that before. She'd just never taken it seriously, assuming it was fantasy.
"This really is a forbidden technique," Tsunade said, regaining her composure.
That kind of "immortality" clearly violated natural order, and it required abandoning one's own body. After swapping bodies repeatedly… were you even still you?
"Even if it's forbidden, it can help us retrieve the other half of Kurama's chakra," Kitazawa said.
Tsunade made a quiet sound of realization.
She was an exceptionally sharp shinobi. She hadn't connected it at first, but with that prompt, she could see the outline.
If—before the Shinigami seized the caster's soul—you used Living Corpse Reincarnation to move your soul into another body, you could avoid dying.
The price would be one body.
"Orochimaru probably won't give up his original body easily," Tsunade said uncertainly.
"If there's a better body, I doubt he'll pass it up," Kitazawa said. "I suspect Otogakure collecting so many 'geniuses' is really him choosing the perfect vessel."
Tsunade felt a sudden clarity.
She'd always wondered why Orochimaru was gathering so many talented people—if it was for bodies, then it made sense.
"But I'm not giving Orochimaru vessels," Tsunade said firmly.
"He already has a solution," Kitazawa said, unsurprised. "Let him use cloning."
Tsunade paused, then frowned.
It was a good solution—except she'd previously ordered that cloning be limited to organs for disabled shinobi.
"We can monitor him and allow only a single clone body," Kitazawa said, anticipating her concern. "And the Shinigami doesn't just contain Kurama's other half."
"Do it the way you said," Tsunade agreed immediately after hearing that.
Because the Shinigami also held Namikaze Minato's soul.
Normally, souls would go to the afterlife—but souls inside the Shinigami were the exception.
And if you thought about it, it was tragic: Kushina's soul was in the afterlife, while Minato's was trapped in the Shinigami's belly. Even in death, they couldn't reunite.
"I'll have Itachi monitor him," Kitazawa said after a brief thought.
Orochimaru had been obedient since returning, but if this involved Living Corpse Reincarnation and cloning, he might get ideas.
"Mm," Tsunade nodded.
"Then I'll go see Orochimaru now," Kitazawa said, turning to leave.
Cloning—or artificial humans—couldn't be finished overnight. Let Orochimaru work on it first; once it was done, they could extract the other half of Kurama.
In fact, doing it right away wouldn't be ideal.
Naruto still couldn't fully handle even this half of Kurama's chakra. Adding another half on top of that would be too much.
Kitazawa soon met Orochimaru and Kabuto Yakushi.
"Kitazawa-sensei," Kabuto greeted quickly.
"Kabuto, step outside. Orochimaru-sama and I need to talk," Kitazawa said, nodding.
"Understood." Kabuto turned and left.
"What do you want?" Orochimaru asked, his tone cool.
"Orochimaru-sama, do you want a perfect vessel?" Kitazawa asked with a smile.
Orochimaru's eyes narrowed, like a snake—dangerous.
He didn't remember ever telling Kitazawa about Living Corpse Reincarnation.
"Isn't it obvious?" Kitazawa said lightly. "Otogakure has collected far too many geniuses."
"I'm a prisoner now," Orochimaru said after two seconds of silence. "Why are you helping me all of a sudden?"
"This is a transaction," Kitazawa replied.
"Oh?" Orochimaru's interest rose. "What do you need me to do?"
"Do you know the Reaper Death Seal?" Kitazawa asked.
"Of course," Orochimaru smiled faintly.
"I need you to use the Reaper Death Seal and release the Fourth Hokage's soul," Kitazawa explained.
"An excellent idea," Orochimaru blinked, then quickly understood.
"My payment is the Chimera Technique," Kitazawa said casually.
"The Chimera Technique? Hiruko's forbidden jutsu?" Orochimaru said with disdain. "That technique can't succeed."
"You've misjudged it. He was already close," Kitazawa shook his head.
Orochimaru frowned instinctively.
"Konoha will also permit you to clone a single artificial body," Kitazawa added.
"Deal!" Orochimaru agreed without hesitation.
~~~
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