It'll Cost You!

"I have something I'd like to ask you," Danzo said, looking at Shiraishi.

"Oh? Let's hear it!" Shiraishi leaned against the railing and turned to face Danzo.

"I don't want Hiruzen Sarutobi to die," Danzo said.

Hearing that request, Shiraishi smiled. Even if Danzo hadn't said a thing, he wouldn't have let Hiruzen Sarutobi actually die.

He would let Danzo take over Hiruzen Sarutobi's body, then watch as Danzo used it to do things Hiruzen disagreed with. What a fascinating sight that would be. How could Shiraishi possibly pass it up?

But for now, Shiraishi shook his head and said with a hint of reluctance, "You've given me quite a dilemma!"

"My Reincarnation Technique would put your soul inside Hiruzen Sarutobi's body, where, with my help, you'd defeat and devour his soul.

"Only then could you properly take control of his body.

"Otherwise, with the body's instincts resisting you, it'd be difficult to control Hiruzen Sarutobi's body perfectly after the reincarnation."

Danzo's brow furrowed, but he still asked, unwilling to give up, "Is there really no other way?"

Shiraishi deliberately looked hesitant. After thinking it over, he replied, "It's not that there's no way. It would just add a lot of risk, and make the Reincarnation Technique more costly for me to perform."

"Meaning?" Danzo had a vague idea of what Shiraishi was getting at.

Shiraishi smiled again. "It'll cost you!"

"What do you want?" Danzo knew the "cost" Shiraishi meant wasn't ordinary money.

"Once you become Hokage, use Konoha's resources to help me create a perfect body," Shiraishi said.

Danzo knitted his brows and eyed Shiraishi warily. "What do you want me to do?"

Shiraishi smiled but didn't answer directly. "I'll tell you once I'm ready."

"I won't betray the village's interests for your sake," Danzo stressed.

Hearing him, Shiraishi seemed to have heard the funniest joke in the world. He burst out laughing, and kept at it until Danzo was nearly furious. Only then did he manage to stop.

"Relax. I won't need you to betray Konoha's interests. I'm very interested in your cloning technology. Once you become Hokage, I want access to all of Konoha's cloning research, especially Orochimaru's research materials." Shiraishi patted Danzo on the shoulder, deliberately revealing some information.

"How could you know..." As Shiraishi expected, shock flashed across Danzo's face.

Cloning research was a Konoha secret, and the research he'd funded for Orochimaru was even more highly classified. There was no way Shiraishi, who had supposedly stayed in a sealed room the entire time, could have known about it.

Shiraishi gave him a knowing smile. "I never said I'd stay in that room forever."

"You!" Danzo stared at Shiraishi in anger and alarm.

If that was true, then during the entire year Shiraishi had spent at the Root Base in spirit form, just how much information had he spied on?

At the thought, Danzo felt a chill run down his back. He had already been wary of Shiraishi, but now this powerful being of mysterious origins and strange abilities made him feel even more on edge.

"Relax. I told you, I mean you no harm. On the contrary, I'll be your best partner. Because I'm like you. I want to see war. I love war." Shiraishi saw Danzo's furious expression and spoke to reassure him.

Danzo stared intently at Shiraishi, analyzing his intentions. He reviewed all the deals he'd made with him, and gradually found the key.

"Souls! You need a huge number of souls!"

"Hahaha!" Shiraishi laughed loudly and pointed at Danzo. "You really are a clever man."

"What exactly are you planning?" Danzo felt a deep unease stir within him.

"Didn't I tell you? I'm the spirit of a magical artifact left behind by the Sage of Six Paths. I was badly drained and damaged in a great battle a thousand years ago. I need a huge number of souls to replenish my strength and heal my spirit," Shiraishi said, mixing truth with falsehood.

If Shiraishi's earlier words had been meant to warn Danzo—to tell him that Shiraishi knew many of his secrets, so he wouldn't dare deceive him—then this answer was meant to put Danzo at ease.

A man like Danzo wasn't afraid of partnering with someone evil. He was only afraid of not knowing his partner's purpose.

The push and pull, first tightening the pressure and then easing it, was how Shiraishi kept Danzo in line while reassuring him.

After hearing Shiraishi's answer, most of Danzo's unease faded. He wasn't afraid of Shiraishi having an evil purpose; he was afraid of not knowing what that purpose was.

At least on the surface, it seemed they had the foundation for a partnership.

Danzo would stir up war and lead Konoha back to its peak, while Shiraishi reaped souls and healed his injuries. Both sides would benefit.

"I hope you won't deceive me!" Danzo warned.

"Relax. A Konoha High Command member as devoted to war as you is hard to find," Shiraishi replied with a beaming smile.

"Hmph! I do it all for the village!" Danzo snorted, correcting him.

"Hahaha! Then I look forward to seeing what heights you'll lead Konoha to," Shiraishi said at last.

With that, Shiraishi left the railing and headed for the stairs.

"Where are you going?" Danzo hurriedly called after him.

"Konoha's so big. I want to look around." Shiraishi took a paper bag from the inner pocket of his clothes.

"There's something important happening tonight," Danzo reminded him.

"Relax. I'll come find you at the Root Base before sunset."

Before his words had even finished, Shiraishi had already disappeared at the stairwell.

After Shiraishi left, two Root shinobi appeared in front of Danzo as if they had teleported there.

"Follow him." Danzo turned to look out over Konoha from the Observation Deck and spoke without expression.

"Yes!" the two Root shinobi replied, then vanished with the Body Flicker Technique.

Shiraishi walked down the streets of Konoha, his powerful spiritual sense sweeping through the entire village. Every scene and scrap of information entered his soul.

The most important part of the Nine Nether Sect's teachings was the tempering and cultivation of the soul. Its core cultivation method was called the Nine Nether Reincarnation Sutra.

It was said that the founder of the sutra, the founding Great Ancestor of the Nine Nether Sect, had once entered the Underworld beneath the Nine Nether while still alive. No one had found that place for tens of thousands of years.

There, the Great Ancestor had seen the fallen gods of the Underworld and the shattered path of reincarnation. He learned why reincarnation had vanished from the cultivation world tens of thousands of years ago.

After this experience, the Great Ancestor, who had obtained part of the Underworld's legacy, returned to the world of the living and created the Nine Nether Reincarnation Sutra. He swore to reopen the Underworld and restore reincarnation.

This method focused on cultivating the soul. First, one formed a Yin Spirit, then condensed a Ghost God Dharma Manifestation from it. Next, one absorbed yin energy to refine the body, turning the Ghost God Dharma Manifestation from illusion into reality and achieving the Dharmic body of one of the Ten Kings of Hell.

The Ten Kings of Hell were the ten rulers who governed the countless souls of the dead in the Underworld. If a Nine Nether Sect cultivator could cultivate the Dharmic body of even one of them, their cultivation would be considered successful. They would become an Earthly Immortal and live for ages.

To advance further, they would have to cultivate all ten Dharmic bodies, combine them into one, and achieve the Dharmic body of the Yama Emperor. Then their souls would be undying, rivaling a Heavenly Immortal.

Anyone who reached this stage was a peerless prodigy, one who appeared only once in a thousand years.

Beyond that, one had to use the Yama Emperor's Dharmic body to wield the Ten Thousand Soul Banner, which had to be refined into a supreme treasure. By opening up a small Underworld within the void, they would achieve the feat of creation.

As long as this small world endured, the cultivator's soul would remain undying and indestructible. This was a half-step beyond transcendence.

This was the level the Great Ancestor of the Nine Nether Sect had reached. In the tens of thousands of years since the sect was founded, he alone had attained it.

There was no other reason: opening a realm by force was unimaginably difficult. It required not only extraordinary talent, but also profound reserves built up over a long period of time.

The Great Ancestor of the Nine Nether Sect had succeeded thanks to the remnants of the Underworld's power. How could anyone who came after him find such an incredible opportunity?

After receiving the legacy, Shiraishi had yearned for that undying, indestructible state of transcendence. He had even dreamed of advancing further and reaching the supreme realm of creating reincarnation. But he also understood that the path of cultivation was full of obstacles and harder than reaching the heavens. If he could cultivate the Dharmic body of one of the Ten Kings of Hell, become an Earthly Immortal, and live for ages, that would already be an achievement.

But now that the Jade Bead had been activated, giving him the chance to travel through countless worlds, Shiraishi could once again see hope of reaching the supreme realm.

If one world's resources weren't enough, Shiraishi could use the countless souls across the myriad worlds to nourish himself and help him reach that supreme state—the true state of being undying and indestructible.

That was Shiraishi's goal, and the reason he had set his sights on Danzo and was helping him become Hokage.

Only war could reap souls faster.