Shi Xiu followed the system's directions to a cave. He walked in through the entrance.
"This place... looks so familiar."
Shi Xiu cautiously made his way through the dim, deep cave. Faint light spilled in from the entrance, barely illuminating the path ahead.
As he ventured deeper, the sight before him made his eyes widen in surprise.
Thousands upon thousands of White Zetsu stood packed together below, perfectly still like lifelike white statues arranged in neat rows. The scene was magnificent.
In the very center of the White Zetsu army, a conspicuous arrow pointed straight toward the depths, seemingly guiding him to somewhere important.
"Looks like this is where the White Zetsu army is stored," Shi Xiu murmured to himself. He took a deep breath, bent his knees, and sprang forward, landing lightly among the White Zetsu like a nimble bird.
He deftly weaved between them, following the arrow's directions. Before long, he reached an open area.
The arrow still pointed steadily at the ground. Full of confusion, Shi Xiu lowered his head and asked softly, "System? What exactly is hidden beneath here?" But the only answer was silence.
Faced with the system's complete lack of response, Shi Xiu shook his head helplessly and sighed. Then he swiftly brought his hands together, his fingers blurring as he formed Hand Seals.
"Earth Release: Flowing Earth!"
At Shi Xiu's low shout, the hard ground began to soften, as if turning into a pool of flowing mud.
Without hesitation, Shi Xiu dove into the earth, moving freely through the loose soil.
Before long, he found a skeleton buried beneath the ground. He reached out, enveloped it in chakra, and carefully carried it to the surface.
Examining the bones in his hands, Shi Xiu drew on years of accumulated experience and knowledge to estimate the owner's age from their bone structure. The deceased had been no more than a teenager.
Shi Xiu furrowed his brow and raised it in surprise, wondering to himself, Could these really be Rin's bones? This was an unexpected bonus.
The discovery made Shi Xiu even more curious about the mysterious system. After all, nothing like this had happened before. Still, whatever the reason, this unexpected find was a pleasant surprise.
Shi Xiu didn't waste any more time. He bent down and picked up Rin's bones.
At the same time, he also took a few White Zetsu, just in case.
Even after that, Shi Xiu didn't leave right away. He raised a hand and slapped the ground, leaving a Flying Thunder God mark there.
Shi Xiu looked at the mark he had left and nodded in satisfaction. Then he used the Flying Thunder God Technique and vanished from the area in an instant.
In the blink of an eye, Shi Xiu was back at the Mask Storage Temple of the Uzumaki Clan.
Shi Xiu hurried over to a tall rack and took down the Death God Mask resting on top. After getting it, he looked around for a quiet, secluded corner where he could begin undoing the Dead Demon Consuming Seal.
Aside from the Living Corpse Reincarnation Jutsu Orochimaru had used earlier, Shi Xiu had another way to avoid having the Death God claim his soul.
With that in mind, Shi Xiu gently set the White Zetsu he had brought back on the ground. He took Kushina's hair and Rin's bones from his robes and carefully placed them on the White Zetsu's body. Once everything was ready, Shi Xiu took a deep breath and rapidly formed Hand Seals.
"Summoning Technique: Impure World Reincarnation!"
As Shi Xiu slapped the ground with one hand, a powerful wave of chakra erupted.
In an instant, countless fragments glimmering with a strange light surged out like a tide, quickly enveloping the White Zetsu.
A moment later, the light gradually faded, and two figures, one large and one small, slowly appeared before Shi Xiu.
Kushina felt as if her consciousness had sunk into the depths of the sea, lost in a murky haze. After an unknown length of time, the oppressive heaviness gradually faded, and her awareness slowly returned. When she could finally sense her surroundings, the first thing she saw was her own body. She blinked, her face full of confusion and bewilderment, with a hint of shock. She couldn't make sense of what was happening.
"Th-this... What's going on? Wasn't I dead?" Kushina murmured in disbelief. She held out her hands and examined them again and again, as if trying to confirm that this body was real.
At that moment, Rin, who had just regained consciousness herself, turned to Kushina. Surprise crossed her face, and she blurted out, "Master Kushina!"
Hearing that, Kushina turned around sharply. When she saw that the person beside her was indeed Rin, a surge of excitement welled up inside her, and her voice trembled. "Rin! It really is you! Does that mean... were we both brought back to life?"
But Rin was just as confused. She looked at Kushina and asked hesitantly, "Master Kushina, you... you passed away too?" Before she could finish, a sudden voice interrupted her.
"Hello, you two. I'm sorry to interrupt your reunion, but I do have a few important questions to ask Kushina." As the voice fell, Shi Xiu appeared before them.
Kushina and Rin were caught off guard. The sudden voice made them flinch. Instinctively, Kushina pulled Rin close behind her and stared at the figure before them, eyes wide and wary.
But when she took a closer look at the newcomer, the wariness in her eyes instantly turned to surprise and delight. She cried out, "Y-you're Lord Shi Xiu?"
Shi Xiu smiled and nodded gently. "Long time no see, Kushina."
Rin's eyes widened as she stared at the unfamiliar man before her, who was chatting amiably with her master as if they knew each other well. She couldn't help wondering who he was and why she had never seen him before.
Kushina turned to Shi Xiu, her face full of confusion. "So, Lord Shi Xiu, were you the one who brought Rin and me back?"
Shi Xiu nodded, then gently shook his head and explained, "In a sense, this isn't true resurrection. This jutsu is called Impure World Reincarnation. It requires the deceased's bones or hair as a medium and a living person as a sacrifice to summon their soul into the world of the living. Its advantage is that those summoned have immortal bodies. However, it also has a clear weakness: it's vulnerable to Sealing Jutsu and techniques like Yin-Yang Release."
Hearing that a living person had to be used as a sacrifice was difficult for Rin to accept. Kushina had clearly noticed, too, and held Rin close, gently comforting her.
"Don't worry. I have a substitute. I'm not using a ninja as the sacrifice," Shi Xiu explained.
As he spoke, Shi Xiu pointed toward the White Zetsu nearby. Kushina and Rin stared blankly at the strange creature on the ground. It looked human, but wasn't, and was completely white.
"So you're alive in a different way now. I'll take you back to Konoha, but you can't appear in front of anyone else."
After hearing this, Kushina and Rin nodded slowly, their expressions suggesting they only partly understood. Just then, Kushina began looking around, eagerly searching for the person she longed to see—Minato Namikaze. But to her disappointment, he was nowhere to be seen.
Anxious, Kushina looked back at Shi Xiu and urgently asked, "Lord Shi Xiu, where is Minato? Didn't you bring him back with the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu too?"