Chapter 23: It's Just Killing a Teacher — The Old Tradition of Hokage!
Konoha.
In a deserted mountain area.
After obtaining the Resurrection Coins, Su Li came here alone—to resurrect the sacrificed Minato Namikaze.
"Senior Minato, Brother Minato, you suffered because you appeared too early. You had the power to suppress the Nine Tails, yet you were killed off by the plot..."
"I'm resurrecting you this time, so don't die so easily."
Su Li stood in an open clearing. With a thought, a Resurrection Coin appeared in his hand.
Using a Resurrection Coin was simple: just hold it and think deeply about the person you wish to bring back.The coin would then recall the soul of the deceased and reshape their body.
"Resurrection Coin—bring back the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato."
Su Li clenched the coin tightly, closing his eyes to block out distractions and focusing on Minato's image.
[Resurrection Target: Namikaze Minato][Confirm resurrection?]
"Confirm."
The next moment—the coin in his hand turned into a searing white light.
Within that glow, a faint human silhouette began to reform, piece by piece—from the head, down the neck, to the torso and limbs.
"Tsk, tsk... as expected of the fastest man in the ninja world. The cost isn't small."
Su Li glanced at the glowing form with a mischievous smile and couldn't help but sigh.
Resurrection Coins could reshape a body—but they weren't generous enough to restore clothes as well.
That was exactly why Su Li didn't resurrect Uzumaki Kushina at the same time.He didn't want to arouse any suspicion.
He'd let Minato revive his wife himself later.
It wasn't that Su Li had never seen a woman before,nor was he interested in Kushina in that way.
After all—she was his "brother's wife," and an aunt close to forty.
Still, since she died in her twenties,her physical age after resurrection would be the same.
What did that make her then?
Others had legal lolis,but Uzumaki Kushina was a legal aunt?
Su Li chuckled to himself at the absurd thought.
Just then, Namikaze Minato's physical form was fully restored.
Su Li took out a prepared coat and draped it over him.
As the white light faded,Minato slowly opened his eyes—his gaze hazy and unfocused, like waking from a long dream.
"Am I... not dead? How can this be? Where is this place...? And who are you?"
Minato's soul had not been resting in the Pure Land,but sealed within the belly of the Shinigami.Yet the Resurrection Coin's power ignored all barriers—it forcibly summoned his soul back from the Shinigami's stomach.
As his eyes adjusted, he saw Su Li standing before him.
Still unaccustomed to his new body, Minato's movements were weak and sluggish.He wanted to assume a defensive stance, but couldn't.
"Don't be nervous, Fourth Hokage," Su Li said calmly. "I'm Konoha's current acting Hokage."
"Acting... Hokage?"
Minato blinked, slightly lowering his guard, though still wary.
He knew that Jiraiya-sensei had another disciple named Su Li,but since they'd never met, he didn't realize this was that same person—his junior brother.
"How is Lord Third? What's the state of Konoha now?"
Su Li answered simply, "Konoha held the Chūnin Exams not long ago. During the event, Orochimaru and the Sand Shinobi attacked the village. The Third Hokage... died at Orochimaru's hands."
"What?!"
Minato's eyes widened in shock.
"Lord Orochimaru... killed the Third Hokage? Why would he betray Konoha? Wasn't the Third his own master?!"
It was no wonder Minato was stunned.
Orochimaru's defection happened several years after the Nine Tails' attack.No one at that time would have believed he'd betray Konoha.
In the original timeline, Orochimaru—still wearing a Konoha vest—had once seen Itachi use his newly awakened Three-Tomoe Sharingan to dodge a rain of kunai. From then, he became obsessed with the Sharingan's power.
By that point, Itachi was eight years old—which meant Naruto was around two or three.In other words, Orochimaru had still been a Leaf ninja just a few years after the Nine Tails incident.
It wasn't until the Third discovered his human experiments that Orochimaru finally defected.
So to Minato, who died early, Orochimaru was still a respectable senior—someone on par with Jiraiya-sensei.
It was difficult for him to imagine Orochimaru doing such terrible things.
"Why so surprised?" Su Li chuckled.
Wasn't this sort of thing normal?It was practically a Hokage family tradition—students killing teachers, teachers killing students.
"If you think that's shocking," Su Li added casually,"wait till you hear this: the masked man who attacked you that night—the one who released the Nine Tails—was actually your disciple, Uchiha Obito."
"What?! Obito?!"
Minato's eyes widened even further in disbelief.