Death God's Mask

If it were only this one ninjutsu scroll, probably no one would be able to fully comprehend the technique. Even if most people obtained all the scrolls, they still would not be able to learn it, because the contents were far too profound and unfathomable. The principles and details within were not something ordinary people could understand.

The research genius Orochimaru had possessed this forbidden technique scroll for many years. After countless experiments and the sacrifice of a large number of test subjects and resources, he had only recently achieved a little progress, though there were still enormous flaws.

Strictly speaking, Orochimaru had not truly succeeded in completing this technique. The other scrolls, densely covered in writing, were notes from Orochimaru's research and analysis, rewritten in plain language.

"Fei Yun, the key to this technique is a portion of the revived person's body, as well as the requirements for the vessel that we discovered yesterday. But in truth, those are not the most crucial parts. The most important thing is the inscription of the profound formation patterns. These patterns are extraordinary—they are heaven-defying formations capable of connecting to the Pure Land. The ink must be made from special minerals closest to imperial authority, and the formation gate must be inscribed with an error of no more than 2.5%. Otherwise, it will be impossible to open a spacetime passage to the Pure Land, and the dead person's soul cannot be summoned back."

"First, you need to understand the principles behind the raw materials. After that, you must familiarize yourself with the inscription process."

Orochimaru rattled off a lengthy explanation, then picked up his own notes and continued elaborating. The more Fei Yun listened, the more confused he became. Still, it was not too bad—he roughly understood the principles and seals behind this forbidden technique.

Perhaps because of his powerful Spiritual Power, Fei Yun possessed comprehension far beyond ordinary people in whatever he learned. Back in his old life, he definitely would have become the national top scorer. Forget Tsinghua University—prestigious universities all over the world would have fought to recruit him.

Although Fei Yun's comprehension was heaven-defying, this was not something he could learn overnight. Even a genius like Orochimaru had spent many years painstakingly studying it. Even standing on Orochimaru's shoulders, Fei Yun still needed time to polish his skills before he could master it.

After explaining everything, Orochimaru let out a long breath. "Take it slowly. With my guidance and several years of diligent study, you should be able to learn it."

Orochimaru put away the forbidden technique scroll, turned around, and smiled. "So, can we go lift that sealing technique now? Let me see the Fourth Hokage and that half of the Nine-Tails?"

Fei Yun shrugged.

"I can't do it."

The smile on Orochimaru's face froze.

"You?" Fei Yun nodded. "I can't undo that sealing technique."

Damn it, give me my money back!

Orochimaru wailed inwardly. He had schemed his entire life, only to be schemed against today. But he had already explained the forbidden technique to Fei Yun in full—he could not take it back now!

Orochimaru could not help lunging at Fei Yun, his face twisted with ferocity.

Fei Yun quickly dodged, avoiding the snake-like pounce and appearing on the other side of the secret chamber.

Fei Yun hurriedly spoke up to stop Orochimaru, who was about to pounce again.

"Alright, alright. Look, I can't lift it, but you can."

Orochimaru halted, his expression filled with surprise.

"I can lift that seal?"

"What do you mean?"

Fei Yun nodded.

"Whether taking a soul from the Death God or sealing one away, as long as it involves the Death God, you must sacrifice your own soul. That is the price of dealing with the Death God, and it is also the necessary condition for obtaining the Fourth Hokage's soul and the Nine-Tails."

Orochimaru understood. This brat did not lack the ability—he was afraid of being taken away by the Death God.

"What do you mean?"

"You want me to sacrifice my soul?"

What a cunning Fei Yun!

Fei Yun explained seriously, "Your ability allows you to escape the Death God's punishment. In the ninja world, only you can avoid the Death God's rules of trade. After releasing the Fourth Hokage's soul, you can immediately perform Living Corpse Reincarnation. By then, your body will have changed, and you will have become a completely different person. Even the Death God will be dumbfounded."

Orochimaru was slightly stunned. "You really dare to think of anything!"

Orochimaru finally realized that this brat had intended from the beginning to make him free the Fourth Hokage and half the Nine-Tails. In other words, whether or not Orochimaru taught him Edo Tensei, Fei Yun still intended to rely on Orochimaru's power to accomplish this.

How insidious. And he went on about righteousness and principles, making me feel touched for a moment.

However, Orochimaru did not dwell on it. After a brief silence, he continued, "Then how do we summon the Death God?"

"Does anyone know the hand seals for that sealing technique?"

Fei Yun smiled. "Minato Namikaze's sealing techniques were naturally taught to him by the Third Hokage."

"You also know that Minato Namikaze was chosen as Hokage by that old man because he was obedient. So if Minato Namikaze had it, could the Third Hokage possibly not?"

Orochimaru sneered. "You mean Minato Namikaze taught this technique to the Third Hokage?"

"But how are we supposed to make that old man honestly hand over the technique?"

Fei Yun shook his head.

"To summon the Death God, you do not necessarily need to know the Reaper Death Seal."

Orochimaru asked in confusion, "What do you mean?"

"Is there another way?"

"There is."

Fei Yun began putting on airs again, pinching his fingers as though a divine fortune-teller had possessed him.

"The Uzumaki Clan collected the Death God's Mask. As long as one wears the Death God's Mask, one can summon the Death God."

"But the moment it is put on, the transaction with the Death God begins."

"The sacrifice must die. And then, Orochimaru, it will be time for your performance."

"To toy with a god—is there anything more interesting than that?"

"Hahaha! This is what people like us, who pursue eternity, should be doing, Orochimaru!"

The more Fei Yun spoke, the more excited he became, spreading his arms wide.

"Alas, if heaven had not given birth to you and me, the path to immortality would remain dark for all eternity!"

Orochimaru mercilessly interrupted Fei Yun's performance.

"Enough, enough. Then let us go find the Death God's Mask now."

"The Land of Whirlpools has already been destroyed. Can we still find it?"

Fei Yun was interrupted mid-speech, but he was not embarrassed in the slightest.

He slowly lowered his hands and said, "We should be able to."

"That sort of mask is inconspicuous. No one would pay attention to it."

Orochimaru asked tentatively, "You actually know the Death God's Mask?"

"Does that mean you know the Death God as well?"

It could not be helped. Fei Yun was simply too uncanny, like a prophet.

Orochimaru had always felt that Fei Yun's claim that his Spiritual Power could deduce the past and future was somewhat wrong, yet he could not tell what exactly was wrong with it.

Fei Yun pinched his fingers. "What do you think?"

"There are very few things in this world that I do not know."

"A Spiritual Power cultivator."

A long, long time later, seeing that his probing had yielded nothing, Orochimaru stopped dwelling on it and said, "Then I will leave this matter to you, Fei Yun."

"Just thinking about half of the Nine-Tails makes me look forward to it."

"Half of the Nine-Tails, indeed... Wait, I'm going alone?"

Fei Yun stopped halfway through his words and realized something was wrong. "The Land of Whirlpools is so vast, and Nest Village is not small either. How long would it take for me to search alone?"

"Besides, I still need to cultivate. There are plenty of ninjas from the four great clans outside waiting for me to harvest."

"Didn't you say small matters should be left to your subordinates?"

Orochimaru smiled. "Fei Yun, first of all, only you know about the Death God's Mask."

"Secondly, this is no small matter. This concerns the Death God, the Nine-Tails, and the Fourth Hokage."

Fei Yun blinked his large eyes. "What you said makes some sense, but I still feel like something is off."

"Nothing is off, Fei Yun. Only you can accomplish this."

Orochimaru wore a sincere expression. "I will wait at home for your good news."

"Hm?"

Why did those words sound so familiar?

Forget it. Orochimaru was not wrong. Fei Yun truly cared about this matter.

Setting everything else aside, he had to obtain the power of the Nine-Tails. It was the strongest auxiliary power. Going to Konoha for Naruto Uzumaki was too risky, and besides, Fei Yun rather sympathized with—or perhaps pitied—Naruto Uzumaki. Unless absolutely necessary, he did not want to kill Naruto Uzumaki. The Uzumaki Clan was full of pitiful people.

Thinking of the Uzumaki Clan, Fei Yun could not help thinking of the red-haired little girl Karin, whom Orochimaru had brought back not long ago.

Fei Yun immediately said, "Then I'll make the trip. Let me take Karin with me. She is a surviving member of the Uzumaki Clan, so she might be of some use."

Orochimaru's expression changed as he said in astonishment, "Why are you really like some fortune-telling fraud?"

"I never told anyone about Karin's background, yet you figured it out just by pinching your fingers?"

Fei Yun smiled. "Well, isn't that head of red hair obvious enough?"

"Along with how much you value her—Orochimaru, do not underestimate my intelligence!"

"Obvious, yes, but while red hair is a symbol of the Uzumaki Clan, it is not exclusive to them."

Orochimaru flicked his tongue. "You can take her, but take good care of her. There are not many Uzumaki left. If she dies too, they will truly go extinct. Where would I find such excellent research material afterward?"

Early the next morning, the handsome young man standing nearly six feet tall left Shadow Village with the red-haired girl, heading toward the ruins of the Land of Whirlpools.

"Karin, do you know about your own clan?"

"I-I don't know. Before my mother died, she only told me that my name was Karin." The girl had never seen such a handsome young man before. His tousled black hair fluttered in the wind, neither too long nor too short. His features were refined but resolute, and he was simply devastatingly handsome. This made her stutter a little when she spoke.

"Then do you want to know?"

"I-I don't want to know. My father never cared about us anyway."

"I mean your mother's clan."

The ruins of the Land of Whirlpools should perhaps now have been called Whirlpool Ridge. After the nation was destroyed, its wealth and resources had been thoroughly looted. It was later taken over by the Land of Fire, renamed Whirlpool Ridge, and became territory of the Land of Fire.

Along the coastal region of the Land of Whirlpools lay a dilapidated, abandoned place—Nest Village.

One tall and one short figure stood atop the ruins at the edge of the village. The sea breeze lifted their coats and hair as Fei Yun softly said, "Karin, this is your homeland. No—it is your mother's homeland."

"After all, by the time you were born, this place had already been destroyed long ago."

The setting sun dyed the broken walls and ruins blood-red. Waves crashed against the shattered docks, producing hollow echoes.

This had once been the flourishing homeland of the Uzumaki Clan. Now, only weathered stone pillars and clan emblems half-buried in the sand remained. The vivid red whirlpool pattern had been gnawed into a blur by time.

Fei Yun's shoe crushed a piece of pottery, its sharp crack especially piercing amid the silence.

Karin unconsciously gripped the corner of her clothes tighter. The salty sea breeze lifted her red hair, revealing her slightly trembling eyes.

The collapsed torii gate of a shrine leaned diagonally from the ground like the pierced skeleton of a giant.

Faded prayer ropes lay scattered everywhere, like daylight fleeing after a seal had failed.

"My mother said wind chimes hung beneath the eaves of our hometown."

Karin suddenly spoke, her voice so faint it was nearly swallowed by the tide.

She picked up a rusted fragment of metal.

"Have even the nails for hanging wind chimes rusted away now?"

Fei Yun did not respond.

Among the ruins, the whirlpool emblems had been stained brown by old blood.

In the distance, a rotten fishing boat lay stranded in the middle of a cracked street. Beneath its hull were piled children's broken teeth and blackened kunai. Because of rumors that the destruction of the Uzumaki Clan had been cursed, ordinary people did not dare settle here or even approach this terrifying ruin.

No one knew who had spread the rumor. Was it the Four-Nation Allied Forces concealing their atrocities? Was it the Land of Fire calming public sentiment? Or was it Konoha consoling itself?

In any case, no one dared set foot in what had once been the glorious Nest Village. Even pirates were unwilling to approach.