Pure Land

"We shouldn't have trusted Orochimaru."

In a vast, snowy-white space, Rasa's body was translucent, tinged with a faint gray.

This was the Pure Land, the place people were said to go after death.

In front of Rasa's soul, Hashirama Senju was pacing anxiously—or rather... floating back and forth.

Rasa's voice reached Hashirama's ears, and the man known as the God of Shinobi, the First Hokage, immediately forgave him.

"Don't be too upset." Hashirama laughed and patted Rasa on the shoulder. "Your village has so many adorable and powerful youngsters. The Jinchuriki has also been given the Eight Trigrams Seal by Jingxin, so you'll have a peaceful stretch ahead. It'll help Sunagakure get through this difficult time."

Rasa's mood remained low, though Hashirama's words had affected him, and his face was no longer so gloomy. "Um... Lord First Hokage, do you think we'll have some peace for a while?"

"Of course!" Hashirama's expression turned serious, but his tone remained certain. "Konoha suffered significant losses this time too. Iwagakure has the Sealing Scroll. The techniques inside aren't especially powerful, but they'll need time to study them."

"I can tell Sarutobi is a Hokage who loves peace. He won't be too harsh on Sunagakure."

"Iwagakure will be busy studying the Sealing Scroll. They won't make any major moves in the short term."

"Your village has a geographic advantage, too. You're far from Kumogakure and Kirigakure. If they have any ideas, they'll have to overcome the long supply lines."

"My guess is... Sunagakure and Konoha will form an alliance again to face any possible threats from outside."

Hashirama might have seemed clueless, but he understood the situation perfectly.

That surprised Rasa.

He had never met Hashirama, but the stories described him as a powerful ninja who wielded Wood Release and usually won battles through sheer strength.

Later, however, Hashirama had convened the Five Kage Summit in pursuit of peace throughout the Ninja World, adopting a remarkably humble stance.

Because of that, people saw Hashirama as someone so powerful that he was impossible to defeat, yet so softhearted it was hard to believe.

Rasa hadn't expected him to have such a sharp and accurate political eye.

Could his younger brother have taught him?

Rasa didn't dare say that aloud. He was afraid he might die a second time.

"Thank you for your guidance, Lord Hokage," Rasa said respectfully.

The man across from him was an honest one. Rasa wasn't, but the man's name was Hashirama Senju.

"Just call me Hashirama," Hashirama said amiably.

Rasa felt uneasy and didn't dare address him that way.

As soon as Hashirama finished speaking, two figures appeared in the Pure Land.

"Tobirama? And that little fellow who flies around?" Hashirama hurried over and asked, "What's happening out there?"

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

Tobirama folded his arms, as stern and serious as ever. "That Uchiha brat, Kyoshin, has more potential than you, Big Brother."

"Oh?" Hashirama looked excited. "He's that amazing? The young people of today... That's wonderful! Konoha has a bright future ahead."

Tobirama narrowed his eyes and began forming Hand Seals. "Don't get too excited yet, Big Brother."

As Tobirama finished forming the seals, countless screens appeared in midair throughout the Pure Land. They showed scenes from all across the Ninja World.

"What's this...?" Hashirama looked around in surprise.

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

"This is a technique I developed," Tobirama explained. "It gathers information from the area using the chakra traces on Flying Thunder God Marks, then transmits it into the Pure Land."

"But the situation was urgent at the time. I didn't have a chance to prepare the necessary conditions before I was forced to stay behind and buy time, so I never managed to meet the requirements to use it."

In other words, every screen represented a Flying Thunder God Mark Tobirama had left behind in the Ninja World that hadn't been destroyed.

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

Tobirama's eyebrow twitched. "How could you possibly know?"

There was even a trace of resentment in his gaze.

His big brother was far too irresponsible.

Back when Tobirama invented techniques, he considered every one of them highly useful.

But whenever he told Hashirama about one, Hashirama would always ask, "Is it Water Release?"

Tobirama: "No."

Hashirama: "Oh, let me see. Nice! Put it in the Sealing Scroll."

Tobirama had never held it against Hashirama.

After all, one purpose of the Sealing Scroll was to stop youngsters in the village from recklessly learning techniques they were destined to fail at, and wasting the prime of their development.

And most of the techniques Tobirama invented were rather complicated.

So they qualified to be written into the Sealing Scroll.

Minato glanced at one of the screens. It showed Konoha as it was now. He exclaimed in amazement, "As expected of the Second."

"Wait! Lord Third!"

Hashirama, Tobirama, and Rasa all looked in that direction.

They happened to see Hiruzen Sarutobi close his eyes.

The four of them fell silent.

Rasa sighed. "It was my fault."

Tobirama fixed him with a piercing stare. "Of course it was. You didn't need to remind me."

Rasa: "..."

A little while later, an elderly figure appeared in the Pure Land.

It was Hiruzen Sarutobi's soul.

It was his first time in the Pure Land, and before he could react, Tobirama's sharp question reached his ears: "Hiruzen, explain what happened with the Uchiha."

Hiruzen was deeply saddened. He bowed his head. "I was too lenient with Danzo."

Tobirama was dissatisfied with Hiruzen in this state. He spoke sternly. "Even so, you should have kept the Uchiha Clan's genius. How could you wipe them all out?"

Like a child who had done something wrong, Hiruzen replied, "I did leave one. A boy named Sasuke Uchiha."

Tobirama had, of course, never heard of any Sasuke Uchiha. "I meant Kyoshin Uchiha."

Hiruzen let out a long sigh. "I'll start from the beginning."

After Hiruzen Sarutobi's sacrifice, the rooftop of the Chunin Ninja Exams venue was chaotic for a while before things settled down.

Asuma took the Third's body back. His burial was expected to take place the following day.

The council of elders and the advisors decided to first put the Iwagakure delegation up at the Foreign Guest Inn. They would discuss the payment after the Third's funeral.

The agitated Konoha Ninja drove the people from Sunagakure out. Later, the two sides would be forced to form another alliance due to the broader situation.

After learning Konoha's decision from the advisor Mitokado Homura, Ōnoki didn't rush to demand the Sealing Scroll. Instead, he took the other countries' side for once and said, "Indeed, letting the Third rest in peace should be the top priority."

Afterward, Ōnoki gathered Kyoshin, Deidara, Kurotsuchi, Karin, and Yeying and left the Chunin Ninja Exams venue.

When they returned to the inn, they met Goriki and Shifeng.

The two of them had originally been supposed to help Kyoshin kill Danzo.

But Orochimaru had unexpectedly used Impure World Reincarnation to summon two additional village leaders, Rasa and Minato.

As a result, Kyoshin had been forced to remain at the Chunin Ninja Exams venue and hadn't made it to them as planned.

They waited at the designated location for a while. When Kyoshin didn't show up, they returned to the inn as planned.