Pure Land

"We shouldn't have trusted Orochimaru."

In a vast, white expanse, the body of Rasa appeared translucent and tinged with a faint, grayish hue.

This was the Pure Land, the legendary place where people went after death.

Before Rasa's soul, Hashirama Senju was pacing back and forth anxiously—or rather, drifting back and forth.

As Rasa's voice reached his ears, the First Hokage, known as the God of Shinobi, immediately forgave him.

"Don't be so sad," Hashirama laughed heartily, patting Rasa on the shoulder. "Your village has so many cute and powerful little ones, and the Jinchuriki has been placed under the Eight Trigrams Seal by Jingxin. There will be a period of stability ahead to help Sunagakure overcome its difficulties."

Rasa's mood remained somber, but influenced by Hashirama, he no longer looked entirely distraught. "That... Lord First Hokage, do you truly believe we will have a period of stability?"

"Of course!" Hashirama's expression turned serious, yet his tone remained firm. "Konoha suffered significant losses this time as well, and while Iwagakure obtained the sealing scroll, the techniques within aren't particularly powerful, though they will certainly need time to study them."

"I can tell that Sarutobi is a Hokage who loves peace; he will never be overly harsh toward Sunagakure."

"Iwagakure is busy studying the sealing scroll, so they won't make any major moves in the short term."

"Your Sunagakure has a geographical advantage; it is far from Kumogakure and Kirigakure. If they have any designs, they would have to overcome long, arduous supply lines."

"I suspect... Sunagakure and Konoha will form an alliance again to deal with potential threats from the outside."

Hashirama appeared scatterbrained, but in reality, he was sharp as a tack.

This actually caught Rasa by surprise.

Although he had never met Hashirama, rumors held that he was a powerful ninja who possessed Wood Release and often relied on absolute strength to win battles.

Yet, later on, in his pursuit of peace for the entire ninja world, Hashirama had convened the Five Kage Summit with a very humble demeanor.

Because of this, the general impression of Hashirama was that of a man so powerful he was absolutely unbeatable, yet so soft-hearted it was unbelievable.

He hadn't expected the man to possess such sharp and precise political insight.

Could his brother have taught him that?

Rasa dared not voice this thought, for he feared dying a second time.

"Thank you for your guidance, Lord Hokage." Rasa's attitude was excellent.

The man opposite him was an honest soul—he himself was not, but the man's name was Hashirama Senju.

Hashirama said kindly, "Just call me Hashirama."

Rasa felt a bit uneasy and dared not address him so casually.

As the words fell, two figures appeared within the Pure Land.

"Tobirama? And that little one who flies around?" Hashirama drifted over quickly to ask, "What is the situation outside?"

"I only saw that Uchiha child master the Flying Thunder God, and then the Impure World Reincarnation was undone."

Tobirama crossed his arms, as serious and earnest as ever. "That brat Jingxin of the Uchiha has potential that surpasses Big Brother."

"Oh?" Hashirama was somewhat excited. "That impressive? The youth of today... that is truly wonderful. Konoha has hope for the future."

Tobirama narrowed his eyes and began to weave hand signs. "Don't be happy too soon, Big Brother."

As Tobirama finished his signs, dense light screens appeared in the air throughout the Pure Land, displaying scenes from various parts of the ninja world.

"This is..." Hashirama looked around in surprise.

Konoha, the Land of Fire, the surrounding areas...

Tobirama explained, "This is a jutsu I developed. It can collect intelligence from the vicinity of Flying Thunder God marks and transmit it into the Pure Land."

"It's just that the situation was urgent at the time, and I was forced to stay behind to cover the retreat before I could prepare the prerequisites, so I was never able to meet the conditions to cast it."

In other words, each light screen represented a Flying Thunder God mark that Tobirama had left in the ninja world and which had not yet been destroyed.

"How come I didn't know about this jutsu?" Hashirama stroked his chin. "This is truly interesting."

Tobirama's brow twitched. "How could you have known?"

His gaze even carried a hint of resentment.

This big brother was far too irresponsible.

Every jutsu Tobirama had invented seemed to him to have extremely high practical value.

Yet, whenever he informed Hashirama, the man would always ask: Is it Water Release?

Tobirama: No.

Hashirama: Oh~ let me see, not bad! Write it into the sealing scroll.

Regarding this, Tobirama had never argued with Hashirama.

After all, one of the purposes of the sealing scroll was to prevent the village's youth from recklessly learning jutsu they were destined to fail at, thereby wasting their golden growth period.

And most of the jutsu Tobirama invented were quite complex.

Thus, those techniques met the criteria for being written into the sealing scroll.

Minato looked at one of the light screens—the current Konoha—and exclaimed in awe, "As expected of the Second Hokage."

"Wait! The Third Hokage, he!"

Hashirama, Tobirama, and Rasa all turned their gazes toward that direction.

They happened to catch the moment Hiruzen Sarutobi closed his eyes.

The four of them fell into a brief silence.

Rasa sighed, "It is my fault."

Tobirama's sharp gaze locked onto the man: "Naturally, you do not need to remind me of that."

Rasa: "..."

After a while, an elderly figure appeared within the Pure Land.

It was the soul of Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Arriving in the Pure Land for the first time, before he could even react, Tobirama's interrogation rang in his ears: "Hiruzen, explain the matter regarding the Uchiha."

Hiruzen was deeply sorrowful at this moment, and he lowered his head deeply: "I was too indulgent toward Danzo."

Tobirama was very dissatisfied with this state of Hiruzen's, and he said in a stern tone: "Even so, you should have kept the geniuses of the Uchiha clan; how could you wipe them out completely?"

Hiruzen looked like a child who had made a mistake: "I did leave one behind, named Sasuke Uchiha."

Tobirama, of course, had never heard of any Sasuke Uchiha: "I am referring to Kyoshin Uchiha."

Hiruzen let out a long sigh: "Let me start from the beginning."

Following the sacrifice of Hiruzen Sarutobi, the rooftop of the Chunin Exams venue returned to calm after a period of chaos.

The body of the Third Hokage was retrieved by Asuma, with the funeral scheduled for the following day.

Following the decision of the Council of Elders and the advisors, the group from Iwagakure was temporarily housed at the Foreign Guest Inn, with discussions regarding the commission fee to be held after the Third Hokage's funeral.

The group from Sunagakure was driven out by emotionally agitated Konoha ninja, though both sides would eventually be forced to form an alliance again due to the broader geopolitical climate.

After Ōnoki learned of Konoha's decision from the advisor Mitokado Homura, he did not rush to demand the sealing scroll from them. Instead, he spoke from the perspective of another nation, a rare occurrence: "Indeed, letting the Third Hokage rest in peace is the top priority."

Subsequently, Ōnoki gathered Kyoshin, Deidara, Kurotsuchi, Karin, and Yeying to leave the Chunin Exams site.

Upon returning to the inn, the group met with Goriki and Shifeng.

These two were originally meant to coordinate with Kyoshin to kill Danzo.

However, because Orochimaru unexpectedly used Impure World Reincarnation to summon two additional village leaders, Rasa and Minato, Kyoshin's progress was forced to halt at the Chunin Exams site, preventing him from arriving as planned.

They had waited at the designated location for a while, and when Kyoshin did not appear, they returned to the inn according to the plan.