War (2)

Somewhere in the Ninja World, a valley.

Orochimaru sat beside a stream, his gaze fixed on his reflection in the water.

His long black hair, snake-like golden vertical pupils, purple eyeshadow extending to the sides of his nose, and pale skin gave him a chillingly sinister air.

Splash!

A fish suddenly leaped from the water, scattering droplets and shattering the reflection, pulling Orochimaru back from his thoughts.

He weighed a pebble in his hand and muttered to himself, "There are still many secrets to Impure World Reincarnation. The strength of the resurrected ninja varies, and so does the amount of Chakra needed to control them.

"With my current Chakra, I simply can't strip everyone of their consciousness. I can only control their bodies."

"Three Uchiha who awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, along with specially made bodies. They may not be able to display the peak strength they had in life, but they won't be far off.

"They should be enough to hold back the Allied Forces' Fourth Division for a while."

A white pebble slipped from his palm and landed with a faint tap.

Orochimaru looked at the stone on the ground and said thoughtfully, "My old idea of using Impure World Reincarnation to achieve immortality can be set aside for now. This jutsu isn't suitable for use on oneself."

The main issue was that Orochimaru had yet to find a way to truly revive the dead. Those summoned through Impure World Reincarnation retained their original consciousness and thoughts, but they did not possess the bodies of living people.

That kind of immortality did not even qualify as being a living corpse.

"Orochimaru!!"

At that moment, a half-black, half-white Pitcher Plant suddenly emerged from the ground.

It stared intently at the man sitting by the river, then pulled out several masks