It Really Was Orochimaru!

Hokage's Office.

The Third Hokage listened continuously to Hinata's account, his expression gradually turning grave.

The reason was simple. According to Hinata Hyuga's account, aside from lacking a name, the invaders of Konoha were thoroughly Orochimaru-like, whether in their style of dress or their personal characteristics.

Moreover, according to Hinata Hyuga, the person who had created the large-scale Water Release... had been summoned from a coffin marked with the number two.

Coffin Number Two!

Could that have been the coffin containing Tobirama Senju?

Could it be that Orochimaru, his former disciple, had truly laid hands on the corpse of his own grandmaster, Lord Tobirama Senju?

Was betraying the village and conducting those forbidden human experiments not enough for him? Did he also have to dig up Lord Second Hokage Tobirama Senju's corpse and desecrate it?!

Had I taken in a disciple who betrayed his master and dishonored his ancestors?!

At the thought of this, the Third Hokage felt waves of turmoil rising within him. The weariness and age on his face deepened, and his brows knit tightly together.

In the end, he raised his head and glanced at Roman, recalling the private suggestion Danzō had quietly given him not long ago:

Call Inoichi Yamanaka, who was waiting outside, in and have him use Ninja Art: Mind Reading Technique to read Roman's memories.

Although this method would damage the target's soul.

But Roman was a citizen of Konoha, a newly sprouted leaf dancing in Konoha's wind. At the proper time, he ought to burn himself for Konoha as well...

But the problem was that he had just said in front of everyone that Roman would be rewarded.

And Hinata of the Hyuga Clan clearly thought highly of Roman... Better to forget it...

After pondering for a long time, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, rejected Danzō's earlier proposal and allowed Roman and Hinata to leave.

He then chose another method to confirm whether the person who had kidnapped Hinata was truly Orochimaru, and whether the one who had used Water Release Ninjutsu was Tobirama Senju.

Tap. Tap.

Hiruzen Sarutobi opened the door and dismissed the gathered Konoha Jonin waiting outside, sending each of them home.

Only Danzō remained.

After exchanging a glance, Hiruzen Sarutobi took Danzō to the burial site of the Second Hokage.

Using Earth Release Ninjutsu, they shook the Second Hokage's coffin out from beneath the ground. The moment they opened it, they discovered something horrifying:

The coffin did not contain the body of the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju.

"It's gone? How could that be?!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression turned ugly. The reason was simple... Back when his teacher had sacrificed himself as the rear guard during the Second Shinobi World War, and Hiruzen had ascended to the position of Konoha's Third Hokage—

He had spent a great sum to ransom his teacher's body back from Cloud Village and bury it in the cemetery.

Yet now, the body had vanished. This made Hiruzen Sarutobi realize that his earlier suspicion was very likely true:

His teacher, Tobirama Senju, had truly been dug up, and someone had used Impure World Reincarnation on him, controlling him to act!

At that thought, Hiruzen Sarutobi's face turned livid. He turned to Shimura Danzō and said:

"Teacher's body is gone. The person who used Water Release Ninjutsu in the Forest of Death was very likely our teacher, reanimated through Impure World Reincarnation and controlled by the caster!!

"Impure World Reincarnation is recorded only in the Scroll of Seals. In the entire village, aside from you and me, no one else has ever seen that technique!"

Upon hearing this and looking at the empty coffin, Shimura Danzō's expression became equally grim. At last, he said:

"Are you saying that you, the Third Hokage who devoted his entire life to Konoha, and I, the Root Commander who fought for Konoha's rise, are traitors?"

"I didn't say that. But according to the intelligence I've received from the Anbu, you collaborated with Orochimaru before he betrayed the village."

"..."

After hearing that, Shimura Danzō remained silent for a long while before saying:

"We did collaborate. In the past, for the sake of researching a certain project, I agreed to distract you so he could study the Scroll of Seals in the village. Perhaps that was when he learned the forbidden technique, Impure World Reincarnation, from the Scroll of Seals."

After saying that, Shimura Danzō asked, "Should we intensify the manhunt?"

At those words, the Third Hokage's face seemed to age even further. He sighed and said, "Absolutely not. Doing so would allow many clever Konoha Jonin, like Shikaku, to guess the truth behind Hinata's kidnapping!"

After a pause, the Third Hokage continued:

"You should still have a way to contact him. Tell him to stop researching Impure World Reincarnation... Return Lord Second Hokage Tobirama Senju's body. As long as he still remembers the bonds of the past, he will return it..."

"..."

Shimura Danzō was silent for a moment before nodding solemnly.

Not long afterward, Shimura Danzō left the cemetery and activated Root's secret communication channel. He summoned a white snake, stuffed a scroll into its mouth, and sent a message:

"Orochimaru, your theft of the Second Hokage's body and your attempt to control the reanimated Second Hokage to seize the Byakugan in Konoha have been exposed.

"Now, give your teacher Hiruzen Sarutobi and me, Shimura Danzō, some face and return Lord Second Hokage's body.

"After all, he is your grandmaster!!"

Underground in Otogakure, Land of Rice Fields.

After receiving the message from the White Snake Summoning, Orochimaru licked his lips. He glanced at the revived Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, whom he had already brought under his control with Impure World Reincarnation, and revealed a look of surprise:

Danzō—and even my teacher—already knew that I had stolen the Second Hokage Tobirama Senju's grave? That I had taken his corpse and completed the Second Hokage's Impure World Reincarnation?!

Since when had Konoha's intelligence network become so efficient?!

After his initial surprise, Orochimaru continued reading, only to become even more astonished. The letter claimed that he had his sights set on the Byakugan.

The Byakugan?

What was there to covet about that thing? At most, it offered somewhat stronger perception. It could neither grant Orochimaru great power nor allow him to live forever.

In this world, the only eyes worth Orochimaru's coveting were the Rinnegan possessed by Deva Path, the leader of Akatsuki—the legendary eyes of the Sage of Six Paths!

Other than the Rinnegan, he had no desire for any other eyes!

He did not even care about the Sharingan!

Much less the mere Byakugan!

After thinking for a moment, Orochimaru performed a technique and said:

"Release."

In an instant, the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, reverted to a corpse and collapsed onto the ground.

Orochimaru then cut a chunk of flesh from the corpse, a sinister smile appearing on his face:

After my modifications, Impure World Reincarnation no longer requires a complete corpse. As long as I have a portion of flesh, cells, blood, and a sacrifice, I can summon the Second Hokage Tobirama Senju's Impure World Reincarnation body again.

In that case, the complete corpse is useless to me. I might as well return it to Konoha!

With that thought, Orochimaru used the Summoning Technique to summon a giant snake. He had it swallow the corpse, then stuffed a sheet of paper into its mouth.

Bang!

The next moment, the giant snake dispersed into white smoke, only to reappear in Root. Opening its jaws wide, it spat out Tobirama Senju's slime-covered corpse.

Seeing this, veins bulged on Shimura Danzō's forehead. Then, he quickly noticed a sheet of paper that had fallen alongside the corpse:

I have indeed researched Impure World Reincarnation, and I have indeed successfully summoned the Second Hokage!

However, the Byakugan is not my target. I have far greater ambitions!

After reading the message, Danzō snorted coldly:

Everything in the Forest of Death was indeed Orochimaru's doing!!

He even wrote that the Byakugan was not what he intended to seize... Did he give up on taking Hinata's Byakugan because he had set his sights on even better eyes?

The Sharingan? The Sharingan could evolve into the Mangekyo. It truly was more powerful and more worth taking than the Byakugan! In my hands, it would definitely allow Konoha to become great once more!

—And Orochimaru had truly perfected the Impure World Reincarnation ninjutsu. He could summon the dead from the Pure Land into the living world. This was an extremely crucial piece of intelligence... It might prove useful in the future!!