Inside the Main God Space, Minato's bandaged figure appeared in the Main God Plaza.
As a warm white light enveloped him, the injuries within his body rapidly healed under the Main God's treatment.
While Minato was receiving treatment, a pair of eyes silently watched everything.
After spending 500 points to fully recover from his injuries, Minato opened his eyes and found a handsome blue-haired boy waiting respectfully nearby.
His skin was as pale as snow, his eyes resembled a snake's, and his demeanor was aloof. He stepped in front of Minato and said respectfully, "Lord Minato Namikaze, I'm Mitsuki, a subordinate of Lord Orochimaru. Lord Orochimaru would like to meet with you."
Minato looked the boy up and down. He didn't recognize him and couldn't recall ever meeting him, but soon set the matter aside and replied,
"Orochimaru? So he came here too. Heh. Let's go."
Having learned the circumstances surrounding Orochimaru's defection, Minato had been certain he'd become a Reincarnator. Now that they'd met in the Main God Space, Minato could take the opportunity to sound him out.
Mitsuki led him to Orochimaru's private space. The moment Minato entered, he was stunned by what he saw.
The room looked like a high-tech laboratory, with all kinds of experimental equipment neatly sorted and arranged. Many of the containers held what were clearly various unidentified tissues and even bizarre organs.
Minato estimated the room was about 2,000 square meters. He guessed it was a custom room that had already been expanded once.
As Minato examined the place, Orochimaru, dressed in a white lab coat, stopped fiddling with the test tubes at a lab bench. He tidied up his equipment, walked straight over to Minato, and spoke.
"Minato, of all people, it's you! Hahaha, you really fooled everyone in the Ninja World."
"I never expected that Orochimaru, a senior I once respected, would defect from the village and become a Reincarnator like me." Minato's expression was unreadable. He wasn't surprised to see Orochimaru.
Orochimaru smiled without replying and led Minato to sit in a nearby lounge. Mitsuki served them two cups of hot tea, then stood by Orochimaru, awaiting orders.
Orochimaru gently pushed a cup toward him. "Please, enjoy. This tea was given to me by an interesting fellow traveler. It has some benefits for nourishing the soul."
Reincarnators could fight in the Main God Space, but killing was forbidden. They could also apply to the Main God to heal their injuries with a single thought, so Minato didn't suspect Orochimaru.
Minato took a small sip. His mind cleared, and a feeling of pleasure and satisfaction rose within his soul. The deep satisfaction made him exclaim, "This is excellent tea!"
Orochimaru smiled. "It's Spirit-Nourishing Tea. I got it from an interesting person in my previous mission world. Unfortunately, with my current methods, I can't cultivate it on a large scale."
At the mention of a mission world, Minato's thoughts stirred. Deciding to stop beating around the bush, he asked directly, "Mr. Orochimaru, let's speak plainly. I assume you didn't invite me here for no reason."
Orochimaru sat up slightly and took a small sip of tea. Rather than answering directly, he said, "Minato, you were the junior I admired most in Konoha. You know, you almost became my student."
Minato was Jiraiya's student, which made him Orochimaru's junior. And during his growth, Orochimaru had indeed given him guidance more than once.
Orochimaru and Jiraiya had both discovered Minato's talent, but Jiraiya had taken him as a student first. Orochimaru had thus lost the chance to become the teacher of a Hokage, though he hadn't cared much about it.
Although Orochimaru had defected from Konoha, Minato still respected him as a senior. They didn't have to become enemies on the spot. The world had never been simply black and white, and after serving as Hokage for several years, Minato understood that well.
"I heard about your defection from Lord Third Hokage, Mr. Orochimaru. The village doesn't have the means to pursue the matter right now, nor does it want to," Minato said gravely. "But I still can't condone experimenting on people from our own village!"
Orochimaru scoffed, his tone tinged with mockery.
"Minato, I admit you're talented, but your excessive kindness is your weakness. You treat everyone in the village as a comrade, but some people in the village don't think that way."
Orochimaru continued, "The village's High Command knew about the so-called human experiments long ago. They only pushed me out once they couldn't keep it hidden anymore."
"What?" Minato was startled by the news, but quickly calmed down and pressed him. "Was it the council of elders?"
"As the Fourth Hokage, it's only natural that you'd figure it out. My human experiments weren't entirely for my own sake, either. The little things on Shimura Danzo's arm are there thanks to the results of my experiments!"
Orochimaru told Minato that he had transplanted Sharingan from Shimura Danzo, one of the elders among Konoha's High Command, into Danzo's arm.
Minato knew Orochimaru had no reason to lie. A confrontation between the Third Hokage and Danzo would be enough to confirm whether it was true.
"Are you trying to turn me against Konoha?" Minato asked calmly.
"Hahahaha! I'm only telling you, a junior I once cared about, a little information out of respect for the past. There's one more piece of information I think you'll be interested in: the identity of the person who planned the incident that led to your and Kushina's deaths." Orochimaru licked his lips excitedly and revealed something that shocked Minato.
Minato fixed his gaze on Orochimaru, his mind racing through countless thoughts. He hated the mysterious person who had destroyed his family, but no matter how urgently he wanted revenge, he couldn't let it cloud his judgment. After steadying himself, Minato asked, "What do you want in return?"
Orochimaru nodded in satisfaction at Minato's response, then turned the conversation toward the boy beside him.
"This boy's name is Mitsuki. I created him as an artificial human using the Main God's character-creation privilege. His potential is no worse than that of Konoha's so-called elite. What's interesting is that in my previous mission world, I encountered a world with knowledge of artificial humans and soul modification. They're a group who call themselves the Soul Reapers. I've gleaned a little of their knowledge, and I need you to help me get their technical resources from their headquarters."
Minato looked Mitsuki over carefully. "He certainly has potential, but how do we get to your mission world?"
Orochimaru smiled. "The Main God regularly updates its selection of items, along with the corresponding announcements. You've only just returned from a mission world, so you probably haven't had time to look."
Orochimaru projected his Reincarnator Assistant panel and shared the viewing permissions with Minato. Pointing to an exchange option on the projected display, he said,
"[World Training Card]: After use, return to a previously visited mission world for 30 days. One D-rank side-story mission and 500 points per use. You can spend points to extend the duration."
Orochimaru's lips curled up slightly. "This item lets you travel to a designated world, and there's no limit on the number of people. Do you know what that means? There are no main missions during that time. You can do whatever you want—it's entirely up to you."
Seeing the item, Minato had to admit that Orochimaru might be better suited than he was to this mysterious Main God Space. "All right. I'll help you get the information, within my abilities, before the next mission."
At
Having recruited a Kage Level combatant, Orochimaru was very pleased. Once he had composed himself, he slowly shared the intelligence he and Kisame had recently exchanged.
"The person who released the Nine-Tails and killed you and Kushina called himself Madara Uchiha."
Orochimaru recalled how shocked Kisame had been when they exchanged information.
"The source of this intelligence is Kisame Hoshigaki. He's a Reincarnator from the same batch as me, and not long ago, he received a hidden mission—to join Akatsuki. This mysterious organization, Akatsuki, was founded by the mysterious man who calls himself Madara Uchiha. He told Kisame about the plan behind the Night of the Nine-Tails. As for his reason for founding Akatsuki, he claimed it was to bring peace to the Ninja World. Heh..."
"Madara Uchiha!" Minato repeated the name, famous throughout the Ninja World, one word at a time.
"He must be a false Madara Uchiha. I fought the man behind it all. He didn't deserve the title of Asura of the Ninja World, but he must be a member of the Uchiha Clan." Minato also told Orochimaru about his battle with the masked man that night.
Orochimaru considered this carefully. "In that case, this man calling himself Madara Uchiha must be an Uchiha who's been living away from the clan. The Mangekyo Sharingan evolved from the Sharingan really is powerful."
Orochimaru sighed, his eyes shining with excitement. Then he added, "Whoever he is, according to Kisame's information, the organization's headquarters is currently in Amegakure. He's very likely there!"
Minato silently committed the information to memory. The two of them then exchanged intelligence about their respective missions, and after discussing it for a while, Orochimaru proposed a theory.
"In your previous mission, the Main God's hint pointed to another possible course of events. Is it possible that this was the original history? Without you, the boy named Luffy would have regarded Shanks as his life mentor. Clearly, you took his place!"
"Do you think the purpose of the Reincarnation missions is to have us change the fates of the characters?" Minato thought of his teacher, Jiraiya, who was always talking about the child of prophecy who would change the fate of the Ninja World. Jiraiya had firmly believed Minato was the one who would change the Ninja World, which was why he had taken him as a student.
"Fate?" Orochimaru licked his lips excitedly. "I don't like that word. But if we look at the timeline on a sufficiently large scale and set aside the Main God, hasn't your death already become a part of history, Minato Namikaze? Yet now you're alive and well, and you've even gone to another world to interfere with someone else's fate. In a sense, your own fate has already been changed."
Orochimaru's words struck Minato. He instinctively objected. "Or perhaps my death and resurrection were part of fate all along?"
Then he shook his head. "The idea of fate is hard to prove. But I think the Reincarnation missions are the Main God guiding us to interfere with the fates of people in other worlds!"
Minato recalled the hint he had spent points to obtain from the Main God during Main Mission Two. He remembered the scene in the hint, the story of Red-Haired Shanks and Luffy. Shanks had lost an arm, and Minato's own severing of Red-Haired Shanks's arm had also been influenced by that hint.
Could the Main God really control fate? Minato felt an ever-deepening awe toward the mystery of the Main God Space.
Meanwhile, in One Piece World,
Red-Haired Shanks was getting used to the arm provided by the Main God when he suddenly sneezed. "Why do I feel like someone's thinking about me?" he muttered, then shook his head and continued testing his newly regrown arm.
The scene returned to the Main God Space.
Orochimaru said with a smile, "Although becoming a Reincarnator means we're controlled by the Main God to a large extent, in a sense, we've also gained control over our own fates, haven't we? It's exhilarating!"
Orochimaru thought it over carefully. The more he considered it, the more he felt the Main God Space possessed unfathomable power. His determination to make a name for himself as a Reincarnator strengthened, and an idea began to take shape in his mind.
"It seems that anyone who appears in a Reincarnation mission is no ordinary person. At the very least, in the Main God's eyes, they're worth interfering with."
Orochimaru then tried to invite Minato to join his temporary team. As expected, Minato refused. Orochimaru didn't mind and made an agreement with him to complete their arrangement together with the temporary team before the next mission.
Speaking of which, a word about Orochimaru's temporary team: it currently had three members—Orochimaru, Kisame, and Pakura.
All three were missing-nin. After the previous mission in Dressrosa, Kisame had killed Suikazan Fuguki, a former member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, and deserted Kirigakure. He later triggered a hidden mission by chance and joined Akatsuki, so he joined the team as well.
Pakura had defected after fighting back against the joint scheme of Kirigakure and Sunagakure. The three had happened to meet again during their last Reincarnation mission, so they decided to exchange for the Main God's new mission item and form a small team.
[Small Team Contract]: When used, up to five people may form a small team, provided that everyone agrees. The next three Reincarnation World missions will be team missions. Members will share missions, and mission rewards will increase by 10%. While the contract remains in effect, team members cannot act with malice toward one another. The contract will automatically end after three Reincarnation World missions. Price: one D-rank side-story mission, 500 points.
Therefore, excluding the second Reincarnation mission for Orochimaru and the others, their next three Reincarnation missions would all be completed as a team. Besides the Small Team Contract, there were also medium and large team contracts, all of which could increase rewards to some extent. It was clear that the Main God encouraged people to form teams for their missions.
Although Minato did want to earn points, Orochimaru was a Konoha defector, and they were on opposing sides, so he let the offer go.
Besides, missions weren't the only way to earn points. Minato had also tried asking the system about the Gum-Gum Fruit in the previous world and learned that uploading Devil Fruits could indeed earn a large number of points. So he would definitely return to One Piece World!
After exchanging information with Orochimaru, Minato left the Main God Space and returned to Konoha.
Inside Minato Namikaze's residence in Konoha,
Minato returned home, changed out of his combat clothes, and went to the balcony. He happened to see little Naruto in Haruna's arms.
The two were quietly enjoying the sunshine in the yard while Haruna hummed a little tune:
"Rain doesn't scare me,
Snow doesn't scare me either,
Even if the cold snowstorm comes,
I'll get to see him,
Even if there's a snowstorm, I'm not afraid,
I want, I want to find my daddy,
Wherever he is, I'll find my daddy,
..."
Hearing Haruna's song, little Naruto broke into a happy smile. His little mouth moved as he tried to imitate her, and without realizing it, he spoke the first word of his life:
"Daddy!"
Minato suddenly appeared beside little Naruto, his face alight with excitement.
"Right here! Daddy's right here!"
Minato took Naruto from Haruna's arms. Looking at the adorable, cat-faced angel, he felt happiness and excitement surge through him, along with a touch of indescribable heartache. They swept over him like a tide, and before he knew it, tears of joy had welled in his eyes...
Haruna Sarutobi quietly withdrew, leaving Minato to savor the joyful moment in peace.
After a long while, Minato held Naruto and said with firm resolve, "Naruto, give Daddy a little more time. Mommy will be back soon!"
Minato then quietly enjoyed some time with his son. He shared some of the intelligence with the Third Hokage, then hurried toward Amegakure.
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