Isn't Interesting Enough?

The hospital was unusually quiet tonight.

The Anbu Ninja on guard outside kept a careful watch, but none of them noticed the commotion in the ward.

Of course, that wasn't because the Anbu Ninja were incompetent. Shiraishi had cast a minor illusion much like the Ghost Wall Technique, temporarily disrupting their senses and souls.

Inside the ward, Danzo sprang to his feet. Wearing Hiruzen Sarutobi's old face, his features twisted into a hideous snarl of rage.

"Do you know what you're doing? Why did you put Hiruzen's soul in my body? Why did you reveal your existence?"

Faced with the accusation, Shiraishi remained perfectly calm. He sat on the edge of the bed, an apple having appeared in his hand at some point, and tossed it into the air again and again.

Shiraishi's demeanor made Danzo even angrier. He demanded, his voice heated, "What are you trying to do?"

"Calm down, Lord Hokage," Shiraishi said with a smile. He gripped the apple in both hands and snapped it in half with a sharp twist.

Shiraishi bit down on one half of the apple and tossed the other half to Danzo.

Danzo caught it, then squeezed hard with his fingers, crushing the half apple in his hand into pulp. Juice dripped between his fingers.

Shiraishi took a bite of the fruit and shook his head. "Tsk, tsk, what a waste! I brought it especially to celebrate your new life."

Danzo stalked up to Shiraishi and leaned in threateningly. "Don't think your strange abilities let you do whatever you want. If you dare betray our arrangement, I'll make your information public throughout the Shinobi World."

"When that happens, all of Konoha—and even the entire Shinobi World—will hunt you down."

Shiraishi shook his head with an amused laugh. Then he raised his empty left hand and lightly wagged his index finger at Danzo.

"See? You're getting worked up again."

"Stop acting and tell me what you're really after!" Danzo glared at Shiraishi.

Shiraishi took the last bite of apple, casually tossed the core to the floor, and dusted off his hands before looking up at Danzo.

"I told you, I'm helping you."

"This is how you help me? By reincarnating Hiruzen's soul into my body? Do you know how many secrets I've hidden in Root?" Danzo snapped.

Shiraishi smiled, unconcerned. "You were the one who asked me to keep Hiruzen Sarutobi alive. After the reincarnation, your body would lose the control of its soul and become like a living corpse. It would soon waste away and die."

"So you see, your body was missing a soul, while Hiruzen Sarutobi's soul needed a body to sustain it. Putting the two together was a perfect fit, wasn't it?"

Shiraishi finished speaking and looked at Danzo with a smile.

Danzo's mouth hung open, then stiffened. A few seconds later, he recovered and said with displeasure, "That doesn't give you the right to act on your own. Hiruzen's soul and my body should have been left alone until I woke up, then I could have made arrangements. I don't believe either of them would fail to last three days."

Shiraishi admitted without hesitation, "Of course they'd last."

"Then why did you—" Danzo began, his temper flaring.

"But I didn't want to wait!" Shiraishi cut in, entirely unapologetic.

"You!" Danzo was furious, but he had to rein in his emotions, repeatedly reminding himself to calm down.

"Just imagine it: Hiruzen Sarutobi waking up in your body. What a fascinating sight! And then think about his reaction when he realizes he's become you." Shiraishi grew excited as he spoke.

Danzo stared at Shiraishi in disbelief. "You did all this for that? Just because it would be interesting?"

Shiraishi nodded. "Isn't interesting enough?"

As he spoke, Shiraishi rose and moved to Danzo's side, drawing closer until he whispered in his ear, "Just picture it. The sun rises, he hears that you've awakened, and comes to see you—only to be greeted by that look of utter disbelief and shock on his face."

"Then you say to him, 'Hiruzen, I'm the Hokage!' What a fascinating sight that would be."

Danzo shivered. Just imagining the scene Shiraishi had described filled him with excitement.

Danzo turned to look at Shiraishi, his eyes clouded with complicated emotions. This mysterious being was like a demon who could bewitch the heart; every word he spoke struck right to Danzo's core.

Shiraishi could already tell from Danzo's expression that he was tempted. He patted Danzo on the shoulder and smiled without a word.

Danzo abruptly stepped back, putting distance between himself and Shiraishi. He forced himself to calm down, then continued, "Then why did you tell Hiruzen and Minato Namikaze about the Soul Banner and the forbidden grounds? Aren't you worried you'll be exposed?"

"I told you, I need a great many souls to recover from my injuries. If war breaks out again, the front lines will inevitably stretch a long way.

"When that happens, I can't exactly run around the battlefield by myself, going from place to place to absorb souls, can I?"

The best lies were made of nothing but truths, each one leading people to the wrong conclusions and assumptions. That was exactly what Shiraishi was doing now.

Shinobi rarely fought in large-scale, army-sized battles. Instead, they were more often divided into small units, fighting one another along lengthy fronts.

Under such circumstances, Shiraishi's efficiency at collecting souls would drop considerably.

So Shiraishi had prepared a way to deal with it. That was one of the reasons he had revealed the existence of the Soul Banners.

"So, over the past two days or so, I took the time to make five Soul Banners and imbue them with a portion of my power." As Shiraishi spoke, he held out his right hand. A smaller, more crudely made Soul Banner appeared in his palm.

"You're using this opportunity to reveal the Soul Banners while keeping your true situation hidden," Danzo said, quickly grasping Shiraishi's meaning. He was no fool.

Shiraishi smiled and nodded, then tossed the Soul Banner to Danzo. "These Soul Banners contain only a tiny fraction of my power. Their sole purpose is to instinctively absorb the souls of the dead nearby, within a radius of about three thousand meters."

A trace of disappointment flickered in Danzo's eyes. He had experienced the might of Shiraishi's true form firsthand, and had hoped these replicas would inherit some of his abilities and strengthen Konoha's shinobi.

"Besides absorbing souls, can they do anything else?" Danzo asked, still unwilling to give up.

"No," Shiraishi replied. Then, after a brief pause, he added with a smile, "The souls absorbed by these Soul Banners can be used to perform the Reincarnation Technique, as long as they're returned to me within a week."

Danzo's body jolted. His expression instantly brightened with delight.

"Really?"

"Really!"

After hearing the confirmation once more, Danzo broke into an excited smile.

With these Soul Banners and the Reincarnation Technique, wouldn't some of the village's most important shinobi get a second life—or even a third?

The thought thrilled Danzo even more. He felt far more confident about winning the war and achieving Konoha's dominance.

After all, war came down to the consumption of resources and manpower. If their elite shinobi could be revived after dying in battle, even if they had to change bodies and lost some strength, they would at least retain their combat experience and still be able to contribute plenty on the battlefield.

If the fighting continued this way, the other villages would only grow weaker, while Konoha grew stronger and produced a large crop of elite shinobi.

"Don't get too excited, Danzo." Shiraishi knew what Danzo was thinking and deliberately poured cold water on his enthusiasm. "The Reincarnation Technique isn't easy to perform. Each use will consume a considerable amount of my power."

"What do you want?" Danzo asked at once.

Shiraishi smiled meaningfully. "No rush. We have plenty of time. First, make sure you hold on to the Hokage's seat."

With that, Shiraishi headed for the windowsill. Black mist welled up, wrapped around him, and carried him out the window in a streak of light.