By the end of the battle, of the hundreds of Konoha ninja left behind to cover their retreat, only seven remained besides Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Each of these seven was a Jonin, quite skilled, and working together, they managed to hold their own against Rasa and Pakura for several exchanges.
But by now, they were all at the end of their rope.
"Everyone, thank you for accompanying this old man to his death. Now, please cover me and create an opportunity!"
The hand Hiruzen Sarutobi held his Adamantine Staff with was trembling uncontrollably, yet his voice remained spirited.
"Yes, Third Hokage!"
The seven Konoha Jonin responded in unison and charged with Hiruzen Sarutobi for one last push.
Qingshui pulled his left hand back, controlling Big Ivan and four other Puppets to block in front of him.
Pakura and Rasa also, by unspoken agreement, increased the frequency of their attacks.
Serpent - Boar - Ram - Rabbit - Dog - Rat - Rooster - Horse - Serpent!
*Reaper Death Seal!*
"*CRACK!*"
As Hiruzen Sarutobi clasped his hands together, a phantom of the Shinigami, invisible to others, materialized behind the Third Hokage.
This was a Shinigami phantom that only those who had made a contract with the Shinigami could see.
Qingshui frowned slightly, a bad premonition rising in his heart. He formed a hand seal with his right hand, one taught by the Ancient One, originating from the Chinese magical world. Then he touched it to his brow, swept his eyes, and opened his Yin-Yang Eyes.
Kamar-Taj sometimes dealt with magical incidents the mundane world couldn't resolve, such as vengeful spirits or ghosts.
Most of the time, their presence could be sensed if one's spiritual power was strong enough. But in a few special cases, when encountering particularly unusual entities, specific spells were required.
After activating his Yin-Yang Eyes, Qingshui immediately saw the phantom Shinigami floating behind Hiruzen Sarutobi, a blade in its mouth and two horns on its head.
Holy crap!
Reaper Death Seal!
How did the Third Hokage learn this forbidden jutsu at this time?
In the entire Naruto World, besides the Six Paths: Chibaku Tensei performed by Naruto and Sasuke using Six Paths Power, there was no other Sealing Jutsu whose sealing capability was clearly superior to the Reaper Death Seal.
Even if it were him, if his soul were sealed, he probably couldn't break free—even a super-powerful individual like Senju Hashirama, practically the strongest beneath the Six Paths, would be sealed within the Shinigami's belly.
While Qingshui's soul strength was also very powerful, he didn't want to test it.
"Retreat quickly!"
So, the moment he saw the Shinigami phantom, Qingshui immediately used Blood Demon Art to teleport backward, giving the Third Hokage no opportunity, and at the same time, loudly called out to warn Rasa and Pakura.
The person this old geezer wants to kill most right now must be me!
However, the Third Hokage was incredibly decisive. Upon seeing Qingshui's unusually timely retreat, he immediately switched targets!
Because he knew that the Reaper Death Seal couldn't be maintained for too long.
Qingshui was too strong and knew Flying Thunder God. He might not be caught, which would waste this opportunity.
So the new target would be...
Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes quickly scanned the positions of Pakura and Rasa.
"Enma!"
The Third Hokage shouted. The Adamantine Staff in his hand quickly thickened and lengthened, and with a single strike, it shattered the large cubic obstacles and spikes made of gold dust that were positioned in front of Rasa, scattering them into a shower of sand.
Rasa still remembered Qingshui's earlier warning and tried to retreat.
However, the Adamantine Staff was then thrown by the Third Hokage, transforming back into Enma. Relying on its indestructible, impervious body, Enma engaged Rasa in close combat.
Even without transforming, the destructive power brought by Enma's strength was among the best of all Summoning Beasts!
This old monkey's Taijutsu skills were also very strong, and combined with its indestructible body, Rasa was momentarily unable to break free. He could only condense a long sword out of gold dust and use Wind Breathing, which he had learned from Qingshui, to fight Enma.
"Scorch Release: Incinerating Steam Mist!"
"Separation Release: Thunderclap!"
Pakura and Qingshui quickly launched long-range attacks, aiming for Hiruzen Sarutobi's back.
However, the Third Hokage's movements at this moment were more agile than Enma's, like a monkey. He leaped nimbly, flipping in mid-air, and from his mouth, he spewed a thick curtain of water.
"Water Style: Water Wall!"
The three Ninjutsu collided, evaporating into a large cloud of mist.
At this point, the Third Hokage, with Enma's assistance, also seized Rasa's hands, at the cost of being impaled by Rasa's gold dust longsword.
"Come with this old man to the Pure Land!"
"Old geezer, who wants to die with a decrepit old hag like you?!"
Amidst the furious curses, the Shinigami's arm pierced through the Third Hokage's chest and reached into Rasa's body, pulling out his soul.
"No! What kind of Ninjutsu is this?!"
Pakura's face showed surprise, and at this moment, she felt both relief and guilt.
He felt fortunate that the Third Hokage's self-sacrificing Ninjutsu hadn't targeted him or Qingshui, but also guilty about his own thoughts.
Rasa was a comrade from the Sand Village, and Qingshui's valuable assistant in the future!
He couldn't just die here!
Qingshui thought the same.
"Although I'm not very proficient yet, let's see if it works."
Qingshui frowned and let out a tsk, his sleeves fluttered without wind, and with his right hand, using his finger as a brush and qi as ink, he drew a talisman in the air with swift, flowing strokes.
The head, core, and foot of the talisman were formed in a single, fluid motion.
"Soul Summoning Talisman!"
A talisman appeared, glowing with a faint blue light, and landed on Rasa.
This talisman was used for those suffering from soul loss or demonic possession, and could also be used against shamans or the ghost-raising evil arts of wild Maoshan practitioners.
Talismans for summoning, calling, gathering, seizing, and restricting souls were all of the same type, differing only in their grade.
The Soul Summoning Talisman Qingshui drew was a sixth-grade one.
After obtaining the Tongtian Lu and the Tai Shang San Wu Du Gong Jing Lu, Qingshui had tasked several Avatars with researching them. He also frequently messaged Tian Jinzhong from Longhu Mountain, sending pictures and asking for guidance. He had made rapid progress, having basically mastered all the seventh-grade talismans recorded, though he wasn't yet particularly proficient with the sixth-grade ones.
The Soul Summoning Talisman transformed into light particles, dispersing on Rasa's body and merging with his flesh.
That section of his soul, which had been pulled out of his body, was also pulled back a bit, but then the talisman's power dissipated, and it was dragged back by the Shinigami.
It worked!
But one talisman wasn't enough.
Then he would bombard him with more talismans simultaneously!
Qingshui's eyes shifted, he formed hand seals, his robes fluttered without wind, he clapped his hands together, then spread them out around his body, drawing a circle.
Countless hands, like those of a thousand-armed Guanyin, extended from behind Qingshui, then spread out, transforming into countless physical clones.
"Ekron's Form!"
The Third Hokage was stunned.
This was...
Multiple Shadow Clones?
That was an A-rank forbidden jutsu recorded in Konoha's Scroll of Seals. Other ninja villages could decipher the Shadow Clone, but deciphering the Multiple Shadow Clone was much harder than the Shadow Clone.
Had this, like the Flying Thunder God, been deciphered as well?
But Qingshui's hand seals were unlike anything he had ever seen, and the steps were completely different from the Multiple Shadow Clone. This indicated that the opponent was using a different method to achieve a similar effect to the Multiple Shadow Clone.
How did such a brilliant talent end up being born in the Sand Hidden Village?
And his technique, was that a new type of sealing jutsu that could directly manipulate souls from a distance?
Hundreds of blue-glowing Soul Summoning Talismans rained down on Rasa, rapidly pulling his soul, which had already been largely dragged out, back into his body.
Feeling the Shinigami's power diminishing, Hiruzen Sarutobi made a decisive choice.
The Shinigami's short sword sliced down, severing and sealing the small portion of Rasa's soul that remained outside.
"Old man, you... deserve to die!"
Rasa's eyes were wide, staring at his hands gradually turning to stone.
The part of his soul corresponding to his hands had been sealed!
This meant he could no longer form hand seals, and a large portion of his power, which relied on Magnet Release gold dust, was sealed away!
"Cough, cough! What a pity, I could only seal one of your hands. Originally, for this jutsu, I wasn't planning on leaving anything for you. What a waste."
Hiruzen Sarutobi coughed up blood, gave a tragic smile, then his head slumped, blood flowing from his seven orifices, and he lost his breath.
"Aaaahhhhhhh!!!!! Old man! I'll kill you, I'll kill your whole family! I'll slaughter Konoha!"
Rasa, like a madman, hammered Hiruzen Sarutobi's corpse with his elbows.
"Rasa, stop for a moment. Your hands might still have a chance to be healed."
Qingshui walked in front of Rasa, reaching out and steadying him, then examined the Third Hokage's body.
The corpse of such a powerful individual represented a lot of information, not to mention this was the Kage of a village; the information within his body was immeasurable.
However, it was a pity that the Third Hokage's body had a seal. The moment he died, the seal activated on its own, turning his brain into a pulp.
This significantly weakened the effect of Mind Control Sand, leaving it up to Sasori's unique Ninjutsu to see if any information could be extracted from the residual Chakra in the Third Hokage's corpse.
But no matter what, the corpse of a Kage-level individual who hadn't yet declined from his peak, even if made into a Human Puppet, held great value.
Qingshui couldn't help but smile at the thought of Sand Hidden's Puppet Masters eventually controlling the Third Hokage's Human Puppet to fight Konoha ninjas.
But this was not the time to smile.
Qingshui put on a serious expression and used Medical Ninjutsu to cover Rasa's hands.
The latter didn't dare to breathe, afraid of disturbing Qingshui's diagnosis.
"Do you feel anything?"
"No."
"Most of the cells in your hands are petrified, and the remaining active cells have decreased. How about a little higher up, here?"
Qingshui poked Rasa's forearm, just above his wrist.
"I feel it."
"The nerve connections are fine, but I haven't extensively researched the relationship between the physical body and the soul. I only have some understanding, so I can't determine the precise impact."
Qingshui shook his head.
Rasa's current situation was likely similar to Orochimaru's in the original timeline after the Konoha Crush.
At that time, the Third Hokage, after sealing the souls of the First and Second Hokage, was too exhausted to do anything but seal Orochimaru's hands.
Today, if he hadn't happened to learn the talismans of the Heavenly Master Talismans, learned the Soul Summoning Talisman that could treat the ailment, and also mastered Ekron's Form and Tongtian Lu, he wouldn't have been able to unleash hundreds of these talismans—each taking hours, or even over a day, to draw—all at once. It was purely through sheer quantity that Rasa's life was saved.
Otherwise, Rasa would have been completely sealed by now.
"The best method would definitely be to unseal it, to retrieve the soul portions of your hands from the seal. That would allow them to return to normal directly."
"Does Konoha have a way to unseal it?"
"If they do, it would only be in Konoha, or perhaps we could send someone to investigate the old site of Uzushio Village in the Land of Whirlpools."
Qingshui replied to Rasa.
However, in his opinion, breaking the Reaper Death Seal in the short term was almost impossible. Even if they extended the timeframe, the difficulty would still be very high.
First, the Death God Mask is required. Only by wearing the Death God Mask can one perform the Reaper Death Seal, allowing the Death God to possess them. Then, cutting open the Death God's belly is necessary to break the seal.
However, that mask is currently in the Uzumaki Clan's Mask Temple, which is located somewhere in Konoha Village.
Perhaps Mito Uzumaki knew the relationship between the Death God Mask and the Reaper Death Seal, which is why she moved the Mask Temple to Konoha after the Uzumaki Clan was destroyed.
Unfortunately, this then brings up the next problem—whoever performs this seal must act as a substitute sacrifice.
Orochimaru had a whole bunch of ways to cheat death and exploit glitches, but others don't.
Moreover, one would need to learn this seal, and the learning difficulty of such a high-level seal must not be low. At the very least, it would require someone highly proficient in Sealing Jutsu to even have a chance of learning it.
On top of that, they would also need to find a way to learn the Reaper Death Seal.
Currently, the only person who likely possesses this technique is Kushina Uzumaki. Minato Namikaze's knowledge is uncertain, but the possibility isn't small.
Other than that, it would just be a matter of luck, to see if they could, like Orochimaru in the original timeline, archaeologically uncover relevant leftover information in a ruin.
Overall, this method is feasible and offers some room for maneuver, but its implementation is highly difficult, and the time cost is also very long.
It's better to first try if there are other methods. At worst, he could also check other Avatars, or see if other worlds could be opened in the future to obtain methods for recovery and strengthening of the soul.
Rasa was not aware of the details regarding the Reaper Death Seal, but he knew that Konoha would certainly not hand over the method to break such a high-level seal.
At the very least, they would have to wait until their Sand Village defeated Konoha before they could try to demand this method at the negotiating table.
Even more extremely, would they have to destroy Konoha to obtain it?
What if Konoha refused to give it up, even if they were destroyed?
That possibility exists.
So Rasa also wanted to try other methods.
"Can we use the Creation Rebirth Technique from last time to re-create a pair of hands?"
"We can try, but you shouldn't have too high expectations. The problem lies with your soul, not your physical body. The fact that only your hands are immobile is already a relatively good outcome. If you had lost your brain, the lightest consequence would be becoming a fool or a vegetable."
Rasa lowered his head slightly, glaring resentfully at the Third Hokage's corpse.
That old monkey!
"When we get back, I'll make you a pair of puppet arms."
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