Hiruzen Sarutobi held a cup of steaming tea and watched the dense crowd in the distance. His brow slowly relaxed, nostalgia surfacing on his face alongside a carefully concealed trace of sorrow.
"Teacher Hashirama hasn't changed... Orochimaru, how are the improvements you and Tsunade have been making to [Impure World Reincarnation] coming along?"
Orochimaru stood beside him, his slit pupils widening slightly, giving his eyes a rare softness devoid of aggression. His long black hair hung loose down his back, stirring gently in the breeze.
"We've reduced the drain on the soul as much as possible, but we still can't eliminate it. Life and death are difficult to reverse. Once a soul loses the vessel it was born with, maintaining it afterward becomes truly difficult."
"Even my current form relies on the power of nature to transform my physical body, taking me beyond the bounds of humanity. If my soul can no longer hold firmly to the belief that I am human and preserve my true self, then even if my body doesn't die, the person called [Orochimaru] will."
He rambled about abstruse concepts that Hiruzen Sarutobi struggled to understand.
Seeing his expression, Orochimaru knew he hadn't understood and sighed softly.
"Simply put, people die when they're killed. Physically, that's the death of the body; spiritually, it's the death of the mind, which is also complete death. Impure World Reincarnation consumes the soul, so we can't let Lord Hashirama remain in the living world for long. It would harm him." (Author's own setting.)
"As for what specific harm comes from the soul dissipating, or what benefits come from retaining one, that field of research is still completely unexplored..."
"Ah... I know you don't understand, Teacher Hiruzen. Just look as though you've suddenly grasped it, then say something agreeable."
Orochimaru stared