Giving Impure World Reincarnation to Chiyo

Senju Tojian could understand Chiyo's anger. Someone had killed the heir she had painstakingly raised and the hope she had protected. She would surely retaliate by any means necessary.

It was just like when Senju Nawaki had been killed in a Konoha ambush.

Perhaps Chiyo felt a trace of guilt. If she hadn't pushed Hatake Sakumo so hard, he might not have shown her such ruthless mercy.

But she hated Sarutobi Hiruzen even more. The two sides had already reached an understanding, yet Hatake Sakumo had appeared as an unexpected variable.

Senju Tojian had his reservations. The Senju Clan had only just found its footing, and recklessly interfering in a battle between two great shinobi villages could make them a target for everyone.

"My body was incomplete here. It will become whole here, too."

Senju Nawaki rose and walked toward the mouth of the cave. Looking at the familiar yet unfamiliar scene before him, he murmured to himself.

A light rain fell from the sky, leaving puddles on the ground. That was the norm in the Land of Rain.

This place was only a few thousand meters from where he had arrived in this world and lost his legs. He had chosen it by chance.

"I'll follow the clan leader's orders. Even if it costs the entire Senju Clan, I'll help restore your body."

Senju Tojian paused. So this was where Senju Nawaki had lost his legs. He had been so careless. He made up his mind at once.

He had sensed a strange power in Senju Nawaki ever since he helped him awaken Wood Release. The price for it was the bloodline and corpses of other shinobi.

Senju Nawaki represented the Senju Clan. Only he could bring the clan hope.

Even if it cost the entire Senju Clan, they would help Senju Nawaki regain a complete body.

He was ready for his clansmen to make sacrifices!

"Don't worry. We won't have to get involved ourselves. Someone will help me get everything I want.

"This is all a mess Sarutobi Hiruzen caused. We'll make him pay for it, little by little."

Senju Nawaki's eyes flickered as he explained.

The shinobi way in his heart—the self-righteous idea of fairness—had begun to stir.

Sarutobi Hiruzen and the people of Konoha wanted his life. He would make them pay with theirs.

Konoha and Sunagakure waging war against each other was also a kind of fairness in his eyes. It had nothing to do with right or wrong.

He only needed to profit from it, restore his body, and weaken Sarutobi Hiruzen's power. That would accomplish his goals.

Seeing the resolute look on Senju Tojian's face, he realized the man understood what he meant.

Senju Nawaki was somewhat moved by his words.

There were things he didn't need to do himself. Someone would do them for him—for example, Chiyo, who had lost her son and daughter-in-law.

Revenge. From the moment it was conceived, the word had represented a warped kind of fairness.

Even in the seemingly enlightened world of Senju Nawaki's previous life, debts had to be repaid and murderers punished. That, too, was a self-righteous kind of fairness—one that people were discouraged from pursuing.

Everything had to be handled through the system. Everything had to serve the greater good.

But he also knew that interests arose as soon as a system came into being. If you weren't among the beneficiaries, you were the one who suffered losses. When they told you to put the greater good first, you were the one being sacrificed.

In that world, the powerful people who controlled and made the rules weren't afraid of you taking up the law as a weapon. They were afraid of you putting the law down and taking up arms.

That kind of warped fairness was something the masses didn't accept.

Senju Nawaki had once been exploited by his graduate advisor. He had wanted to fight back countless times, but the civilized system had kept him down. In the end, he had given in and died.

That was what had given rise to the self-righteous fairness he believed in now, a shinobi way that would run through his entire life.

That was why his actions always sought to destroy the rules that governed the Ninja World.

"Sunagakure. Chiyo!"

Senju Tojian gave an awkward smile as the answer came to him.

When he and Ebizo had signed a grain trade agreement in the City of Wood, they had suggested exchanging Konoha corpses for resources.

But would Sunagakure, driven nearly mad, really cooperate?

From what he knew of them, Sunagakure were extreme opportunists. They wouldn't serve the Senju Clan without keeping something for themselves.

They might even take their anger out on the Senju Clan and use that as an excuse to demand greater benefits.

This world was full of unknowns.

"I want to give Chiyo Impure World Reincarnation in exchange for a few things."

Senju Nawaki dropped the riddles and revealed the temptation Chiyo couldn't possibly refuse.

There were plenty of unstable people in the Ninja World, most of them because they had lost friends or family.

But many had been warped from within, or manipulated by the Sage of Six Paths, or by Uchiha Madara.

Chakra itself frightened Senju Nawaki. It controlled this world the way the law had controlled his previous one.

Take Uzumaki Nagato and Uchiha Obito, for example. They could have brought back the people they loved, yet someone had twisted their wills until they wanted revenge on the world.

As things stood, Chiyo hadn't been warped. She was still researching a technique called One's Own Life Reincarnation!

Her original idea had been to awaken the dead. She had gone further and developed Human Puppet techniques, hoping to bring her son and daughter-in-law back to life.

Unfortunately, the story had killed her off in the end. She sacrificed herself to heal Sakura Haruno.

All these changes left Senju Nawaki with some doubts, but they didn't stop him from making this decision.

He wanted to see what Chiyo would choose now.

If he gave Chiyo a chance to bring her son and daughter-in-law back to life, at the cost of killing her enemy, what would she do?

It shouldn't be a difficult choice.

"I'll support you. You can use anything the Senju Clan has. Better for the clan to benefit than for Sarutobi Hiruzen's faction to get it all for free."

A sharp gleam flashed in Senju Tojian's eyes.

He didn't think less of Senju Nawaki for scheming. On the contrary, he admired him.

His shinobi way was to protect the Senju Clan and Senju Nawaki at any cost.

What Senju Nawaki was doing now was remarkably similar to how he operated.

Drawing on everything he had experienced, he began to work out how things might unfold.

Especially Chiyo's character.

A genius who studied poison techniques, she had devoted her life to Sunagakure and felt she had failed her family.

Senju Nawaki's proposal happened to serve both their interests, making an agreement possible.

Chiyo would likely accept his plan.

That would be best for both sides.

"An unwelcome guest is here!"

Senju Nawaki narrowed his eyes and fixed his gaze on the pond in the rain. He warned Senju Tojian.

On a shallow bank not far away, a blue-green toad had poked its entire head above the water, as if taking a breath.