Two Extremes Reverse

That evening, Danzo personally delivered all the documentation regarding the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu to Shiraishi's residence.

Danzo said nothing more; he simply set the documents down and left immediately.

Since becoming Hokage, Danzo had gained access to more information about the village, and he had discovered that the situation was even worse than he had imagined.

Despite this, Danzo did not entertain the thought of abandoning the war; instead, he began planning for the subsequent stages of the conflict with even greater caution.

After Danzo left, Shiraishi began studying the Impure World Reincarnation materials in his living room.

In essence, the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu was a type of summoning technique involving the spirits of the dead.

The reason it was classified as a forbidden jutsu was that manipulating the souls of the deceased did not align with mainstream moral values.

It took Shiraishi less than an hour to read through all the materials, giving him a fundamental understanding of the Impure World Reincarnation.

Danzo had told Shiraishi that the Impure World Reincarnation was incomplete, but that was actually a misconception.

From the perspective of Tobirama Senju, who created the Impure World Reincarnation, this forbidden jutsu was a perfected technique that fully met the creator's needs.

Tobirama Senju created the Impure World Reincarnation primarily to be used in conjunction with the Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags, turning the deceased into human bombs by covering them in tags to conduct precise, large-scale attacks.

In Shiraishi's memories, the way Orochimaru and Kabuto used the Impure World Reincarnation in the anime was an entirely different approach—one that pursued the individual strength of the summoned, treating them as combat entities similar to standard summons.

For Shiraishi, the basic version created by Tobirama Senju was sufficient; he had no need to summon the dead to fight for him.

Shiraishi's original intention in studying the Impure World Reincarnation was to summon the spirits existing in the rift between life and death, and thereby gain an understanding of that space.

Therefore, after gaining a preliminary grasp of the principles and the technique's formula, Shiraishi took immediate action.

Under the cover of night, Shiraishi first went to the Konoha Cemetery and silently removed the remains of several deceased individuals.

He then proceeded to the Root base, where he retrieved two prisoners of war from other villages—men who had already been drained of all intelligence and were being kept as expendable test subjects.

In a sense, death was a form of release for these two.

Shiraishi brought the two men to the outskirts of the village, into an uninhabited forest near the barrier.

Following the descriptions in the documents, Shiraishi inscribed runes on one of the men and on the ground surrounding him.

Next, Shiraishi arranged the remains he had dug up, stepped back a few paces, and began weaving hand seals.

The chakra in Shiraishi's current body was not originally abundant, but after his soul-possession, his powerful spirit had endowed this body with a massive reserve of chakra.

Normally, as a demonic cultivator practicing the True Scripture and circulating his true essence, he had no need for chakra.

Tonight, to test the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu, this was only the second time Shiraishi had refined chakra.

A massive surge of chakra erupted from his body, swirling around him and causing the ground beneath his feet to crack.

Shiraishi began the seals: Tiger-Snake-Dog-Dragon, and finally, he pressed his hands together, channeling the chakra into the summoning rune array in front of him.

Seizing the opportunity, Shiraishi projected his powerful divine sense to observe the reaction of the summoning array.

As the chakra poured in, the mysterious runes forming the array began to exert an indescribable, intangible influence.

Shiraishi's divine sense could perceive a rift emanating the aura of the dead appearing from the void. Guided by the remains, a mass of soul slowly drifted out, descended from the air, and merged into the prisoner acting as the vessel.

The dust in the surroundings was drawn by an invisible force, gradually enveloping the prisoner and reshaping him into the appearance the summoned soul had held in life.

A man with spiky white hair, wearing deep blue, Warring States-era armor, stood there with his eyes closed.

Shiraishi looked at the entity before him and revealed a satisfied smile; this first attempt was a complete success, having smoothly summoned the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju.

Without giving Tobirama Senju time to regain consciousness, the Ten Thousand Soul Banner flew out from Shiraishi's spirit. Two wisps of black energy emerged from the banner, transforming into chains that bound Tobirama Senju's soul and dragged him into the Ten Thousand Soul Banner.

The success of the first attempt provided Shiraishi with significant experience, and he walked over to the side, toward the other unconscious prisoner.

The next morning, in the Hokage's office within the Hokage Building, a classified high-level meeting was underway.

This meeting, initiated by Danzo, was attended by only four people, including himself.

Danzo, wearing the body of the Third Hokage, sat in the Hokage's seat, while the two advisors and Hiruzen Sarutobi—who had swapped bodies with him—stood before his desk.

The wonderful feeling of sitting in the Hokage's seat in front of Hiruzen Sarutobi gave Danzo an indescribable sense of satisfaction.

"Hiruzen, is there something the matter?" Mitokado Homura asked, taking the initiative.

Danzo sat up straight, placed his hands on the desk, and said, "Regarding the peace talks with the Hidden Stone the day after tomorrow, I have thought it over carefully and feel that our attitude has been too weak."

This statement left Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu quite astonished; neither had expected Hiruzen to suddenly change his stance at this juncture.

"Hiruzen, our initial negotiations with the Hidden Stone are already set. Changing our attitude now might cause the peace talks to collapse," Mitokado Homura advised.

"Hiruzen, the front line against the Hidden Cloud needs reinforcements. If we don't cease hostilities with the Hidden Stone, it will be difficult to spare the troops to support them," Utatane Koharu also hurriedly urged.

"I also disagree! The village can no longer afford this attrition. What we should do is reach a peace agreement with the Hidden Stone as quickly as possible, concentrate our forces to support the Hidden Cloud front, and end the war as fast as we can."

The sound of this voice made both advisors look over in surprise.

The two looked at the "Danzo" standing not far away, then back at the "Hiruzen Sarutobi" sitting in the chair, utterly shocked!

What was going on today?

Hiruzen, who usually insisted on peace talks, had suddenly changed his stance and wanted to adopt a tougher attitude toward the Hidden Stone.

And Danzo, the village's hawk who had always insisted on continuing the war with the Hidden Stone, was actually opposing Hiruzen's opinion and supporting the peace talks instead.

This is a complete reversal of roles!

"Hiruzen, Danzo, you two..." Mitokado Homura looked from Danzo to Hiruzen, his face filled with astonishment.

"Hmph!" Danzo slammed his hand onto the table and stood up, glaring at Hiruzen. "Danzo, I am the Hokage! Whether or not we pursue peace talks is for me to decide!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi did not back down; he strode forward, standing right in front of Danzo with a look of firm resolve in his eyes. "The peace talks with the Hidden Stone must not be sabotaged!"

The two advisors on the sidelines were left completely dumbfounded, watching Danzo and Hiruzen with a surreal sense of displacement.

In the end, the two withdrew their gazes and looked at each other, their eyes filled with confusion and surprise.

What on earth has gotten into these two?