Nine-Tails

In Episode 32, Orochimaru unfurled a scroll inscribed with the Edo Tensei seal and took out a lump of corpse scraps.

At this moment, Kabuto also tossed a sacrifice beside him in front of Orochimaru.

With everything prepared, Orochimaru gave a low shout, and the Edo Tensei technique spread into shape as a reincarnation formation.

Amid the sacrifice's screams, a red-haired man appeared in the secret chamber.

Orochimaru inserted two control talismans in succession.

This man had once been an elder of the Uzumaki Clan. Using him to make a contract with the Death God should give them a better chance of success.

When dealing with an unknown and dangerous existence like this, we had to remain sufficiently cautious.

Feiyun-kun, you still had much to learn!

Hearing Orochimaru's words, Fei Yun understood. He could not help raising a thumbs-up and squeezing out a few words from his throat. "Awesome!"

There were several key points to undoing the Reaper Death Seal: the connection medium, the Death God's Mask, a soul sacrifice—that was, the person who wore the mask—and, of course, a thorough understanding of the principles of sealing techniques.

Then there was the question of how to survive the Death God's transaction.

These conditions appeared to be something only Orochimaru could fulfill, because only his soul was sufficient to meet the Death God's standards for a transaction, and only he could use Living Corpse Reincarnation to evade the Death God's soul exchange.

Moreover, all this information had been given to Orochimaru by Uchiha Feiyun not long ago.

Fei Yun had thought Orochimaru was already absurdly overpowered for achieving this much, but he had never expected Orochimaru to devise an even sneakier operation from such limited information: using the soul from Edo Tensei to trade with the Death God.

Using the Edo Tensei bug to exploit the Death God's bug—this was so underhanded it was beyond ridiculous!

When it came to exploiting bugs, Orochimaru-kun was truly the best. A puny Death God was a joke, a complete joke.

Come to think of it, that made sense. In the original story, Orochimaru's hands had been sealed, leaving him unable to use Edo Tensei. That was why he had no choice but to risk becoming the sacrifice for a transaction with the Death God himself.

Under Orochimaru's control, the red-haired man directly put on the Death God's Mask.

In an instant, it was as though some mysterious force had taken hold of the red-haired man, eventually forcing him into a pose like someone nailed to a wooden rack.

Fei Yun, Orochimaru, and Kabuto could not see anything, yet they sensed an extremely sinister presence appear in the secret chamber, hovering directly behind the red-haired man. Cold sweat covered Kabuto's forehead.

Where was the Death God?

Where was he?

Why could they not see him?

Fei Yun spoke softly.

"Perhaps only those who make a contract with the Death God or receive the seal can see him."

Suddenly, Orochimaru's expression changed. He quickly formed hand seals and mobilized chakra to control the red-haired man. Kabuto immediately asked anxiously.

"Lord Orochimaru, what is wrong?"

Orochimaru's hands trembled slightly as he formed seals.

"Interesting."

"He is fighting for control of Edo Tensei. Fortunately, I came prepared. That is what it means to be prepared for anything!"

The Death God's power was so tyrannical that if an ordinary ninja wore the mask, his soul might be taken away immediately, leaving him unable to do anything.

Orochimaru turned and ordered, "Bring up the other sacrifice."

As he spoke, Orochimaru changed his hand seals, manipulating the Uzumaki Clan man to control the Death God and cut open his stomach, releasing a soul.

At the same time, the Uzumaki Clan man's stomach also split apart.

This was the moment. At the site of the Edo Tensei, Orochimaru directly slammed the Fourth Hokage's corpse scraps onto the Edo Tensei formation. Accompanied by a heart-rending scream, a handsome blond man in a stylish Hokage robe appeared.

Orochimaru smiled coldly. "This way, the Death God should no longer be able to reclaim Minato's soul, correct?"

Sure enough, after the red-haired man's soul was taken away, that sinister and oppressive presence also vanished.

Only a handsome blond young man, comparable to Fei Yun in looks, remained in the chamber.

Although he was still in an Edo Tensei body, Minato Namikaze still radiated a sunny yet steadfast aura.

Fei Yun said with a chuckle, "Orochimaru-kun, it seems there was a reason you lost to him."

Orochimaru turned his head slightly and asked in confusion, "What do you mean, Feiyun-kun?"

Fei Yun looked Orochimaru up and down before saying mockingly, "A gloomy, grim uncle versus a sunny, cheerful handsome young man. How was that old man supposed to choose?"

"Did that even need consideration?"

Naturally, he was referring to Orochimaru losing to Minato Namikaze in the selection for the position of Hokage.

"Hmph!"

Orochimaru snorted and haughtily turned his head away.

Orochimaru installed the control talismans, carefully examined them, and sensed them out. A moment later, he spoke excitedly.

"Sure enough, Minato's soul contains a great amount of the Nine-Tails' Yin-nature chakra. It seems Minato split the Nine-Tails into Yin and Yang halves back then."

"The one inside Naruto is the Yang half of the Nine-Tails."

At that moment, Minato also opened his eyes and stared blankly at his surroundings.

"This is... you are Mr. Orochimaru!"

Orochimaru smiled.

"It has been a long time, Minato. This is Edo Tensei. I undid the Death God's seal and revived you!"

Minato extended his hands and spoke in shock.

"That sealing technique could actually be undone!"

"Mr. Orochimaru, how exactly did you accomplish this?"

Orochimaru once again wore a smug expression.

"Do not underestimate me, Minato!"

Minato calmed down and swept his gaze around the chamber.

"Who are you people?"

"What are you trying to accomplish by doing this?"

Seeing Minato look his way, Fei Yun stepped forward. "I am Uchiha Feiyun. We are preparing to eliminate all of Konoha's current upper leadership."

Minato's gaze turned cold.

"I see. A traitor from the Uchiha Clan?"

Fei Yun chuckled and could not be bothered to explain.

People like Minato Namikaze were the same as Hashirama Senju. Their minds contained only the village and the Will of Fire. They would only kill all dangerous elements and would never care about the reasons behind anything.

"I have some interesting things to show you."

"I wonder what Minato Namikaze will think after seeing them?"

"Oh?"

"What is it?"

Fei Yun incorporated every detail of Naruto's life into a genjutsu, showing it to Minato Namikaze through the Mangekyo Sharingan.

The sunset over Konoha Village dyed the sky red. Crowds filled the streets, and laughter rang out without end.

Yet within that bustling village, a lonely figure seemed forgotten by the entire world.

Naruto Uzumaki lived in a cramped, rundown apartment, its walls mottled and its furnishings sparse.

Yet every time he returned to that shabby home, Naruto would put on a sunny smile and shout, "Auntie, I'm home!" pretending that someone was waiting for him.

The refrigerator was often completely empty. Occasionally, he could dig out a few cartons of expired milk and some shriveled bread.

Every night, he could only curl up on his bed, listening to the laughter of other families outside his window as he silently hugged himself.

"Why does everyone hate me?"

The young Naruto stood beside a swing, watching other children leave with their parents. His eyes glimmered with confusion and grievance.

Whenever he tried to approach them, he was met only with cold looks from adults and ridicule from children.

"Stay away from him, freak! Do not play with him! He is the demon fox! Your parents were killed because of him!"

He did not know what the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox was, nor did he know why he was hated so deeply. He could only pull pranks again and again.

He graffitied Hokage Rock, caused trouble in class, and shouted in the streets, all just to earn even a moment of attention from others. Even angry scolding was better than being completely ignored.

Whenever the village shops saw him coming, they would chase him away or sell daily necessities and food to him at several times the normal price.

Every fast-food meal was mixed with sand on purpose. His tiny figure could often be seen crouching in a corner, picking out the grains.

The instant noodles and milk he finally managed to buy were always expired.

Only later did he finally find a ramen shop where the couple running it did not reject him.

Everyone thought Naruto loved ramen, but they did not know it was simply the most normal food he had eaten since birth.

There was no filth, no sand, no expiration date, and no inflated prices.

It could be said that whatever the couple sold was Naruto's favorite food. They simply happened to sell ramen.

Naruto did not know his own birthday, so he treated the first day of every year as his birthday.

He would order a bowl of ramen and bring it home, smiling at the empty air as he said, "Let's eat," as though that could let him pretend someone was there with him.

Naruto walked alone through the streets at night, his shadow stretched long by the streetlights.

An Edo Tensei body could not shed tears, but a father could.

Two crystalline tears fell from Minato Namikaze's eyes and slid down his cracked face.

"This is impossible."

"Although a jinchuriki would not have an easy life, with the Third Hokage around, Naruto could not possibly have lived like a stray dog."

"I clearly entrusted him to the old man."

Minato Namikaze's expression turned icy as he stared at Uchiha Feiyun and continued, "Is this true?"

"Has the Third Hokage already died?"

"Who is the current Hokage?"

Fei Yun chuckled. "This is only one small part of Naruto's miserable life. The village has always been under the Third Hokage's rule. There has been no other Hokage."

"This is impossible!"

Minato Namikaze let out a low roar.

"Perhaps Lord Third had some difficulties or reasons of his own?"

Fei Yun's expression was cold, and he did not answer.

Minato Namikaze's disbelief had been expected. Fei Yun had never hoped to turn someone so thoroughly brainwashed by the Will of Fire merely by discussing Naruto's experiences and exposing the Third Hokage's dark deeds.

Seeing that no one paid him any more attention, Minato Namikaze continued, "I will go verify it."

Fei Yun crossed his arms and tilted his head slightly. "And after verifying it?"

Minato Namikaze gritted his teeth. "I will demand that the Third Hokage and the others take this issue seriously."

Fei Yun could not help laughing.

Orochimaru waved his hand and said impatiently, "Feiyun-kun, what is there to discuss with him?"

"He is not qualified. I have already made a rough observation. This Edo Tensei is still inadequate. His strength is only a fraction of what it was in life."

Fei Yun nodded and signaled to Orochimaru with his eyes.

Orochimaru summoned a coffin and sealed Minato Namikaze inside.

Fei Yun rolled his neck and said, "I am a little tired today. I am going to rest. Another day, we will pull out the Nine-Tails."

Orochimaru, however, was filled with excitement. He extended his long tongue and licked his face. "This is the Nine-Tails!"

That evil and incomparably powerful chakra made Orochimaru's blood boil, his eyes filled with intoxicated fascination.

He truly wanted to slice the Nine-Tails apart and place it in a laboratory for a proper study. It was far too interesting.

Orochimaru paused, then turned to stare at Kabuto.

"No one can be allowed to learn of this. Otherwise, we may find ourselves in an extremely passive situation. After all, the little one's target is the tailed beasts."

"Yes."

Orochimaru thought about it and decided that was still not safe enough, so he continued, "Forget it. I will place a forbidden memory-erasure seal on you. This is for your own good as well."

"Yes, Lord Orochimaru."

Fei Yun spoke at that moment. "That is unnecessary. Not to mention the little one, no one in this world knows there is another half of the Nine-Tails. And when we attack Konoha, it will not only be our mount, but also our vanguard general."

As he spoke, scorching killing intent surged in Fei Yun's eyes. "At last, we will soon kill our way back to Konoha!"

Back then, he had been slaughtered like livestock and thrown into a mass grave like a stray dog. Fei Yun had never forgotten that hatred.

Perhaps because he had inherited the original owner's memories, the slaughter of so many familiar friends and relatives had also filled his heart with deep hatred.