"Six Paths-sama, Six Paths-sama!"
Shan still wanted to keep asking, but didn't realize the Sage of Six Paths had already run far away.
No matter how much of a chatterbox the Sage of Six Paths was, he couldn't stand the relentless questioning from reporter friends.
He was questioned until he was filled with guilt. Clearly, this was a heroic act to save the world, yet all they cared about was ethics and morality.
Moreover, the Sage of Six Paths had a time limit on this trip to the ninja world and couldn't waste too much time on Kairen's shadow clones.
He wanted to observe Kairen more, to see whether the other party was a savior—or merely a pure demon god.
...
The war between Kairen and Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Minato was about to erupt.
Jiraiya had injuries and needed to borrow the power of Mount Myōboku.
"Summoning Technique!"
A small puff of white smoke flashed by. Jiraiya originally wanted to summon Gamaken, but what appeared instead were the two toad sages, Fukasaku and Shima.
"Fukasaku-sama, Shima-sama, you—"
The green-skinned toad with white hair smiled at Jiraiya. "Little Jiraiya! The Great Elder sent us to help you!"
"The Great Toad Sage?!"
"That's right. The Great Elder told us to assist you in using Sage Mode and help you defeat the heretic of the ninja world."
Jiraiya pointed at himself. "But my Sage Mode isn't fully mastered yet!"
His talent in Sage Mode was very ordinary—worse than Minato, who learned it later.
Sage Fukasaku shook his head.
"It doesn't matter, Jiraiya. The Great Elder asked us to bring Sage Talismans. They can let you enter perfect Sage Mode."
Sage Fukasaku then glanced at Minato.
"Minato, we also brought a Sage Talisman for you. The Great Elder is watching from above! You must defeat the heretic."
Jiraiya and Minato nodded solemnly. "Rest assured! Sage, we'll definitely give it our all."
Sage Fukasaku and Sage Shima took out the Sage Talismans. They were just two ordinary-looking talisman papers, but Kairen could clearly sense the natural energy on them.
He frowned slightly, thinking that the Great Toad Sage was really sticking his nose into everything. Was it easy for him, a transmigrator, to stir things up a bit?
One jumps out to stop him, another jumps out saying it's not allowed!
But he didn't take it to heart. Even if ninjas put on a layer of level-three armor, they were still fragile. How could they possibly kill someone whom even Ōtsutsuki Kaguya wanted to take from behind?
Jiraiya and Minato quickly used the Sage Talismans. In an instant, it was as if they had topped up money and switched skins.
Their eyes turned into toad eyes, and their whole bodies became much more robust.
Minato clenched his fist, as if the power of mountains and seas had gathered within it.
"So this is perfect Sage Mode? It's amazing!"
Minato had also entered Sage Mode before, but that had been an imperfect form.
Jiraiya felt his own power—more than ten times stronger than before.
Moreover, because of the power of the sages, the injuries inside his body had already recovered. He could now output normally.
Shima reminded them, "The Sage Talismans have a time limit. They'll expire in five minutes. You need to pay attention."
"Understood, Shima-sama." The master and disciple nodded.
Immediately after, Fukasaku and Shima jumped onto Jiraiya's and Minato's shoulders respectively, completing the toad-human combined form—Toad-Human Mode.
Seeing Jiraiya and Minato showing off right in front of him, Orochimaru, who was standing nearby, couldn't take it anymore!
No matter what, I, Orochimaru, have to show something too!
"Summoning!"
Orochimaru formed hand seals, and a puff of white smoke rose on the spot.
Everyone stared without blinking, all wanting to know what kind of monster, demon, or freak Orochimaru would summon this time.
Only Toadzo, who had been lying on the ground the whole time, let out a cold laugh.
The Great Elder didn't just have it fan the flames beside Sarutobi Hiruzen—he also had it give Orochimaru the Edo Tensei ninjutsu.
That was a forbidden technique that communicated between yin and yang and broke the boundary between life and death.
The smoke slowly dispersed, and two coffins appeared out of thin air on the spot.
Someone who didn't understand mocked Orochimaru.
"What? Are you planning to give Lord Kairen a coffin?"
Orochimaru sneered and didn't care about others' opinions. Instead, he looked at Kairen in the sky and sneered.
"Kairen-kun, do you know Edo Tensei?!"
Kairen looked down calmly. Seeing the [One] and [Two] on the coffins, they must be the Senju brothers.
Orochimaru really knows how to play—he even pulled out moves from more than ten years later in advance. Skilled!
Seeing that Kairen didn't react, Orochimaru continued talking to himself instead.
"Actually, I really admire the Second Hokage. With his own power, he developed this epoch-making ninjutsu."
"Breaking the boundary between life and death, allowing the dead to return from the Pure Land, and even granting them an immortal body."
"Kairen-kun, isn't this precisely your special trait?"
The master and disciple standing nearby were puzzled to see Orochimaru performing a one-man show.
They just felt that the coffins Orochimaru summoned looked extremely powerful.
Jiraiya immediately asked, "Orochimaru, what are you trying to do?"
Orochimaru laughed softly. "I want to invite two Hokage to help me."
"Two Hokage?!"
The confusion on Jiraiya's and Minato's faces deepened.
The two Hokage were already dead—how could they come out?!
Even if they could come out, how would they end up opposing Kairen, who was on their granddaughter's side?!
Seeing the ignorant expressions on their faces, Orochimaru felt delighted inside.
This kind of shocking thrill was exciting no matter when.
Simply put, one sentence: Step back—I, Orochimaru, am about to start showing off!
"Come out! The two previous Hokage!"
Orochimaru called out to the two Hokage as if throwing Master Ball.
"Clack!"
The sound of metal coffins opening rang out, and two men wearing armor walked out from inside the coffins.
One wore red armor, had black hair, and gentle features, like a grandmaster of a generation.
The other wore blue battle armor, had white hair, phoenix eyes, raised eyebrows, and a face full of coldness.
They were the First and Second Hokage of Konoha.
It was as if they had stepped out from the Warring States era, carrying with them a thick aura of war.
Everyone was shocked—the two legendary ninjas had returned from the Pure Land!
"Hashirama!!"
Uchiha Madara was so excited that his blood boiled, as if he wanted to devour the man in red armor!
Hashirama's appearance made the DNA in Uchiha Madara's blood seem to awaken, recalling those glorious years of the past!
...
Jiraiya stared at Orochimaru in shock.
"Orochimaru, you're actually playing with the dead!"
Orochimaru frowned, always feeling that Jiraiya's words had some ambiguity, but it should mean the same thing.
He replied with disdain, "So what? This is my true self. To achieve my goals, I can even cross-dress. What does this bit of bottom line count for!"
Orochimaru wasn't just about cross-dressing—he even castrated himself. Truly the fiercest man in the ninja world!
Jiraiya couldn't help but lecture again. "But you still can't toy with the corpses of the predecessors like this! You're disturbing their peace!"
"So what if I play with them? I just can't stand this side of you, Jiraiya. You love lecturing people so much—why don't you go teach students? Why come here to lecture me!"
"Besides, they're not my dad or my mom. What's wrong with me playing with them? As for ordinary corpses, I wouldn't even look at them!"
"Orochimaru, you—"
The two immediately looked like they were about to start arguing.
Fukasaku watched with his face twitching.
"The power of the sages only lasts five minutes. Can you stop wasting time like this?"
The two good buddies stopped arguing, turned their faces away, and refused to look at each other.
Jiraiya declared again, "I'm truly ashamed to associate with you!"
Orochimaru cursed with an ugly expression.
"You're noble, you're amazing. If you've got the ability, you master and disciple go fight yourselves—I'm leaving!"
Fukasaku hurriedly persuaded him. "Orochimaru, don't! Don't! Don't! You two, don't act on impulse. You should consider the bigger picture."
The two calmed down. After all, toads and snakes couldn't stay together for too long.
After a long while, Orochimaru snorted coldly.
"How can you say I'm playing with the dead? I revived them—maybe they should thank me!"
"Thank you!" A resonant voice rang out.
Orochimaru smiled at Jiraiya.
"See? They said thank you to me!"
Orochimaru suddenly stiffened.
Damn it—he'd been so busy arguing that he forgot to insert the control talismans into the two Hokage!