No one knew how much time had passed, yet Tsunade still hadn't moved.
During this time, Jiraiya had tried again to persuade her to give up using such an evil jutsu to desecrate Dan and Nawaki's bodies, but Tsunade remained unmoved.
In the end, Jiraiya also left.
Now, only Tsunade, Shizune, Tonton, and Naruto were here.
Naruto had planned to leave too, but he wasn't sure if reviving Dan and Nawaki might help Tsunade overcome her hemophobia, so he decided to stay and see.
"Naruto, do you think I should do this?" Tsunade suddenly asked him.
"Why not?" Naruto replied with a question.
Tsunade seemed a bit surprised by Naruto's answer being so different from Jiraiya's. She turned to look at him. "I don't want to desecrate Dan and Nawaki's bodies, but I really want to see them again..."
"Isn't the answer obvious?"
Naruto said, "If you can't stop yourself from wanting to see them, then you should follow your heart! Desecrating a body is just a moral issue, but if you give up this chance, you'll never be able to see the people you want to see again!"
Tsunade said nothing, but after a long silence, it seemed she had made up her mind.
She formed hand signs and then slammed her hands onto the ground.
The next moment—
Two coffins rose from the earth, standing upright on the ground.
Tsunade walked up to them herself, placed her hands on the coffins, hesitated for a second, and finally opened them, revealing Dan and Nawaki's long-dead bodies.
Seeing their bodies, Tsunade could no longer hold back her tears, which flowed freely.
She reached out to touch their cold faces, her heart aching deeply.
"Wait a bit longer... just a little longer, and I'll bring you both back."
After saying this, Tsunade turned away, walked a short distance, and quickly formed hand signs.
"Edo Tensei!"
Using the two death-row prisoners as sacrifices and Dan and Nawaki's bodies as the medium, the soil began to creep over the two living men.
Before long,
The two prisoners had taken on the appearance of Dan and Nawaki.
As the jutsu ended, the two of them opened their pitch-black eyes and saw Tsunade standing before them, already in tears.
"Tsunade?"
"Sister?"
The two were stunned for a moment, then looked at each other.
"Brother Dan?"
"Nawaki?"
"What's going on?"
The two were confused, and Shizune spoke up, "Uncle, Lady Tsunade used a forbidden jutsu to bring you back."
"You're... Shizune? You've grown up~" Dan smiled gently at her.
"What kind of forbidden jutsu is this? It can actually bring the dead back to life?" Nawaki asked curiously.
Right now, the two couldn't move and could only stand where they were speaking.
Tsunade moved her fingers and released Dan and Nawaki from the jutsu, letting them move freely again, and they began sharing how much they had missed each other.
But she didn't tell them the truth about the Reanimation Jutsu.
She knew if Dan and Nawaki found out she had used that jutsu to bring them back, they would definitely be upset.
After talking for a long time, Dan suddenly changed the topic to Naruto, who didn't seem to fit in here.
"This kid... is he your son?"
"Big sister, you have a kid now?"
Tsunade: "..."
Naruto: "..."
"He's not my son."
Tsunade pulled Naruto over, roughly rubbed his head, and said, "He's Uzumaki Naruto, the Fourth Hokage's son!"
The Fourth Hokage?
When Nawaki died, Minato Namikaze hadn't even graduated from the academy yet.
When Dan died, Minato still wasn't well-known in the village.
So they didn't know who the Fourth Hokage was.
Tsunade spent some time giving a brief introduction about the Fourth Hokage's great deeds.
"I see. I didn't expect that after we died, Konoha would have such an amazing genius ninja!"
Dan smiled slightly, genuinely happy that the village kept producing so many talented people. "If I ever get the chance, I really want to meet this incredible Fourth Hokage!"
Tsunade's expression darkened. "I'm afraid you won't get that chance. The Fourth Hokage gave his life to protect the village twelve years ago."
Those words instantly turned the cheerful mood heavy.
After a few seconds of silence, Dan asked, "Then who's the Hokage now?"
"It hasn't been decided yet... but the village wants me to take the role," Tsunade said.
"Hasn't been decided yet?"
Dan wasn't surprised that Tsunade could become Hokage. What shocked him was that twelve years after the Fourth died, the position still wasn't settled.
Luckily, Tsunade's next words cleared up his confusion.
"After the Fourth died, the Third took back the position. But not long ago, Orochimaru, who betrayed the village, killed the Third. After that, the village asked me to become the Fifth Hokage," Tsunade explained.
"Orochimaru... betrayed the village?"
Dan had a deep impression of Orochimaru. He never imagined someone like him would turn traitor.
"My teacher betrayed Konoha?"
Nawaki froze for a moment, also finding it hard to believe.
But he knew his sister wouldn't lie to him.
He was filled with questions about Orochimaru—questions that might never be answered.
Soon, he came back to his senses and smiled at Tsunade. "Big sister, you're going to be the Fifth Hokage? That's amazing! I'm proud you're my sister!"
Looking at Nawaki's familiar smiling face, Tsunade was moved to tears again. "Of course I am!"
Unlike Nawaki's innocence, Dan noticed something strange in Tsunade's words.
"If the village already chose you as the Fifth Hokage, why did you say it's not decided yet, Tsunade? Are you worried about something?" Dan asked.
Tsunade looked at Dan and Nawaki, hesitated for a moment, and then told them about her hemophobia.
After hearing it, Dan hugged her tightly. "You're one of the Legendary Sannin, the future Fifth Hokage of Konoha, and the best medical ninja ever. How could you let something like a fear of blood defeat you?"
Nawaki hugged her leg and laughed. "Yeah, big sister! You're the future Hokage and the best medical ninja! There's no way a little illness can beat you!"
Their reanimated bodies were cold, but being hugged by them filled Tsunade's heart with warmth.
Their encouragement gave her confidence to become the Fifth Hokage!
"I'll do it! Dan, Nawaki!"
...
"Take us to see Konoha, Tsunade. It's been so long. I really miss it," Dan suddenly said.
"Big sister, me too! I want to see the Hokage Building and the Hokage Rock!" Nawaki added.
Tsunade wiped her tears. "Alright, from now on, we can go see it together often!"
The three of them, plus a pig, wandered around Konoha, reminiscing about the past.
Except for Naruto, none of them were familiar with today's Konoha, so everything felt new and interesting.
Until the next evening, when the sun began to set, the four of them and the pig sat at the base of the Hokage Rock, looking at the sunset and the beautiful village beneath it.
"Tsunade, I wish we could just keep watching the village and the sunset like this." Dan suddenly spoke.
"We can come and watch it every day!" Tsunade smiled.
"Tomorrow? Tomorrow you'll be the Hokage, Tsunade."
Dan suddenly turned to look at her, his eyes full of encouragement. "It's time to take on the duty of protecting this village, Fifth Hokage-sama. You can't keep staying in this world of comfort with us."
Before Tsunade could speak, Nawaki added, "Yeah, sis, it's time for you to protect the village. Brother Dan and I will watch over you from the sky!"
"Dan, Nawaki… what do you mean?" Tsunade stared at them in confusion, tears welling up in her eyes.
"Tsunade, we're already dead. Staying in this world too long isn't a good thing."
Dan gently wiped away Tsunade's tears. "You have to be strong. You're one of the Legendary Sannin."
"Sis, Nawaki really wants to stay with you and see you become Hokage, but I'm already dead… In the next life, I'll be your little brother again!"
Then Nawaki added, "And next time, I'll become Hokage myself!"
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