Yugito Nii led Kumogakure's elite forces on a forced march along the Land of Fire's border, heading straight for Konoha to attack.
The Land of Fire covered a vast territory, but compared to the entire planet, even the whole Shinobi World amounted to no more than a palm-sized patch.
This world's technology tree was absurdly skewed, and its nature was just as unfathomable.
The legendary Sage of Six Paths could casually conjure up a moon.
Of course, neither the size nor the mass of the moon hanging in the sky could compare to the Moon in Xuanye's memories of his previous life.
But even so, looking down from the moon, the area of the planet below extended far beyond what the Five Great Shinobi Villages knew.
The known shinobi continent was merely one small corner of this planet.
Countless secrets still waited to be uncovered in the unknown seas and continents beyond.
Xuanye had long since made his plans. Once he grew tired of grinding the long-term mission as captain of the Konoha Military Police Force, he would simply resign, collect the grand prize, and take the women at home to explore the world beyond the Shinobi World.
For now, though, he still had to assemble the core personnel of the Konoha Military Police Force.
After half a day of travel, Xuanye had arrived with Uzuki Yugao in the Land of Fire's busiest money pit-Tanzaku Town.
Gambling dens were a dime a dozen along this street. Finding out about a sucker who lost every bet here could hardly have been easier.
Inside a private room at an izakaya on the street corner.
Uzuki Yugao gave Tsunade, who was hugging a wine jar and gulping from it across the table, a peculiar look, then turned to Xuanye beside her with a complicated gaze.
So you came all this way out of the village to recruit a medical ninja, and you set your sights straight on Lady Tsunade, one of the Sannin?
She truly could not keep up with the way her almost-boyfriend's mind worked.
"Buuurp!"
Tsunade set down the empty wine jar and let out a satisfied, drunken belch.
As far as she was concerned, drinking only had a kick when she held the jar and drank straight from it.
She shot Xuanye a sidelong glance from across the table. Seeing him holding a little wine gourd, leisurely pouring into a small cup and sipping at it, she wore a look of utter disdain.
Shizune, on the other hand, was sitting beside Tsunade, blushing as she stole glances at Xuanye, stars practically sparkling in her eyes. Clearly, she was smitten with his outrageously handsome face.
"Just say what you have to say. You came all this way to buy me drinks, so what exactly are you after?"
Tsunade wiped the wine from the corner of her mouth and got straight to the point.
The prominent Uchiha Gunbai clan crest was emblazoned on Xuanye's clothes, and Tsunade had never looked kindly on the Uchiha Clan.
Still, one did not strike a smiling face, especially when she had just enjoyed a whole table of his fine food and wine for free.
Lately, she had lost even the clothes off her back at the gambling tables. Being able to drink her fill of good wine today was entirely thanks to the young man before her footing the bill.
Xuanye did not answer immediately. He slowly set down his cup and leaned lazily against the back of his chair.
Uzuki Yugao was quick on the uptake. She immediately took a cigarette pack from her bag, pulled out a cigarette, and offered it to Xuanye's lips with both hands, then took out a lighter and lit it for him.
As a clever, considerate woman, she knew perfectly well that she had to give her man all due standing when they were out.
Xuanye took a deep drag, exhaled a thick cloud of smoke, then crossed his legs, assuming the air of a wealthy patron with money to burn.
"Money must be rather tight for you lately, Lady Tsunade?"
Since Tsunade spoke bluntly, Xuanye could not be bothered to beat around the bush either and went straight to the point.
He knew perfectly well that ordinary methods would never get this difficult woman back to the Konoha Military Police Force as his personal team medic. He had to put his finger precisely on her weak spot.
There had been more than one reason behind Tsunade's departure from Konoha.
On the surface, it was because her younger brother Nawaki and her lover Dan Katō had died in battle one after the other, leaving her the sole surviving direct descendant of the entire Senju Clan.
In reality, however, Tsunade had long harbored doubts about the Third Hokage's claim that the Senju clansmen had voluntarily abandoned their surname and fully integrated into Konoha.
She had definitely uncovered plenty of dirty secrets in private. Otherwise, her attitude toward Hiruzen Sarutobi would not have taken a complete reversal, going from respectfully calling him Teacher Sarutobi to calling him a rotten old man.
Having made her name as one of the legendary Sannin, Tsunade was no gullible innocent.
"If you want to hire me, I don't come cheap."
Tsunade narrowed her eyes, entirely unimpressed by Xuanye's wealthy-patron act.
She really was flat broke lately.
Ever since leaving Konoha, she had lost her source of mission commissions. Combined with her lavish spending and losing nine bets out of ten, her savings had long since been drained.
Over the past two days, she had been considering borrowing a huge sum from a few underground moneylenders. If she won, she would pay them back; if she lost, she would simply run.
With her Kage Level strength, all she needed was a Transformation Technique to change her appearance, and her creditors would never catch so much as a glimpse of her.
So merely throwing money at her would hardly sway her, unless Xuanye could offer something she could not refuse.
Listening to their conversation, Shizune was so embarrassed that her toes curled.
Lady Tsunade, why does this conversation sound like some illicit flesh trade?!
Xuanye remained perfectly unhurried.
With the vast number of god-tier skills awarded by the Daily Check-in System, winning Tsunade over was child's play for him.
It was only because he did not want to brainwash Tsunade with genjutsu into an emotionless puppet that he patiently sat down to negotiate with her.
Xuanye tapped his fingers lightly on the tabletop, flicked off a length of ash, and spoke leisurely:
"Konoha's largest gambling den now belongs to me."
"As long as you take a nominal post in the police force, I'll give you eight million ryō in free chips every day. Anything you win is yours, and any losses are mine."
At that figure, Tsunade's breathing noticeably grew heavier!
Eight million ryō in gambling money, free every day!
Those terms struck right at her heart!
But Tsunade quickly calmed down and bit her lip without agreeing.
Tempting as the chips were, the gambling den was in Konoha. She truly did not want to return to that place of heartbreak.
"Don't rush. That's just a little extra perk."
Seeing through her concerns, Xuanye calmly played his real trump card:
"The second offer concerns your Senju Clan."
"Your younger brother Senju Nawaki died under mysterious circumstances on the battlefield back then. Don't you want to uncover the truth behind it at all?"
Boom!
The moment those words left his mouth, a terrifying surge of killing intent erupted from Tsunade!
Her face was livid and her eyes bloodshot as she stared fixedly at Xuanye, smashing the solid wooden dining table before her to pieces with a single slap!
"What did you just say?!"
Nawaki was the one sore spot in her heart that no one could ever touch. If anyone dared make light of her dead brother, she would fight them to the death!
"Don't get worked up. As for exactly what happened back then, asking him face-to-face will give you the clearest answer."
Xuanye remained entirely composed. The aura Tsunade released could not even stir the loose hair over his forehead.
What a joke. Every one of his base stats was now more than two hundred times Kakashi Hatake's. Tsunade's pressure was little more than a tickle to him.
"Ask him face-to-face? What exactly are you playing at?!"
He wanted her to question someone who had been dead for over a decade?
Tsunade clenched her fists tightly, her gaze locked firmly on Xuanye.
Xuanye casually stubbed out his cigarette in the wine cup and rose from his chair.
Since he had come specifically to recruit talent, as the head of the police force, he naturally had to show some real ability.
Dragging a dead person back from the Pure Land to breathe again was no more than a matter of lifting a finger for Xuanye now.
When he had revived Kushina Uzumaki during the Night of the Nine-Tails three years ago, he had used One's Own Life Reincarnation, developed by Granny Chiyo of Sunagakure. At the time, it had only consumed physical vitality equivalent to half a Kakashi, and a night's sleep had replenished it all by the next day.
Today, however, he intended to try something more advanced.
"Summoning Technique: Impure World Reincarnation!"
Xuanye pressed his palms together, and a ring of pitch-black technique formulas instantly appeared beneath his feet.
Crash!
The floor broke open, and a wooden coffin emanating cold air slowly rose from underground. Inside lay a living White Zetsu sacrifice prepared in advance.
The core principle of the forbidden technique Impure World Reincarnation was to use flesh from the deceased's lifetime as a locating medium, forcibly drag their departed soul from the Pure Land into the living world, and stuff it into the body of a living sacrifice.
"You bastard! How dare you desecrate my brother's soul?!"
At the sight of the rising coffin, Tsunade's eyes instantly reddened!
This forbidden technique had been developed by her second grandfather, Tobirama Senju, himself!
During the First Shinobi World War, after Hashirama Senju's death, it was precisely the Second Hokage's army of Impure World Reincarnation that had allowed Konoha to hold its ground and defeat the other great shinobi villages!
Tsunade recognized the technique at a glance and flew into a rage, thinking Xuanye intended to turn Nawaki into a controlled reanimated puppet!
"Shut your mouth and watch."
Xuanye turned his head and gave her an icy glance.
That single sweep of his gaze made Tsunade feel as though an ancient savage beast had set its sights on her. Every hair on her body stood on end, and she involuntarily staggered back three steps!
The next second, the three tomoe in Xuanye's eyes spun rapidly, instantly merging into a pair of Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan interwoven with dark gold and blood red!
A dazzling beam of dark-golden ocular power shot from Xuanye's eyes, enveloping the wooden coffin before him!
"Mangekyō Eye Technique: Reincarnation Unsealing!"
With Xuanye's low shout, the space behind him twisted violently, and a towering, illusory manifestation of a deity appeared out of thin air!
The deity extended a huge hand, tore straight through the boundary between life and death, seized the pure soul hovering above the coffin in its palm, and completely erased the binding formulas of Impure World Reincarnation!
Flesh was reshaped, life and death reversed!
"In the name of Uchiha Genya, I grant you another life!"
Golden light exploded, and a living body of flesh and blood formed out of thin air within the radiance!
This was the exclusive Mangekyō Eye Technique Xuanye had awakened-a truly divine resurrection skill with no cost!
Before you continue