Naruto, holding Gaara's hand, used his smaller size to run to a safe area away from crowds. The real fighting in Konoha was actually only taking place in the outer areas of the Konoha, and the panic of the Konoha was actually due to fear.
"Hey, what's your name? My name is Naruto Uzumaki, and I'm the strongest genius at the Ninja Academy!"
Without batting an eye, Naruto solemnly transferred Sasuke's honor to himself.
Gaara glanced at Naruto indifferently. Although it was their first meeting, he felt that Naruto was definitely not telling the truth.
"My name is... Gaara."
" Gaara 've never heard of that name before... Never mind, whatever, are you going home now?"
Gaara shook his head. Go home? To Sunagakure...?
Naruto seemed to understand something, patted Gaara's head, then thumped his chest and loudly promised:
"Don't worry, since you have nowhere else to go, you can just hang out with Naruto from now on!"
Just an inch behind Naruto, a clump of sand fell to the ground. If Naruto hadn't removed his hand in time, Naruto would now be a mangled corpse.
Just then, Naruto's stomach rumbled at the most inopportune moment, growling loudly with hunger. Only then did Naruto realize that he had been in such a rush that he hadn't even eaten breakfast.
"I wonder if Ichiraku Ramen Shop is still open..."
Naruto rubbed his empty stomach, then looked at Gaara standing there, his eyes vacant. Naruto's heart skipped a beat. Gaara now looked exactly like his former self...
" Gaara, right? I'm going to take you to eat the best Ichiraku Ramen in all of Konoha later, the kind you could eat Tenten and never get tired Ichiraku Ramen!"
Gaara remained unmoved as Naruto continued to rave about Ichiraku Ramen; the food made no difference to him. However, Naruto's cheerful and energetic demeanor made him unable to resist Naruto.
More importantly, Naruto possessed an aura he recognized—the aura of a 'monster'...
Having witnessed the death of the Third Hokage, the Anbu Ninja wanted to avenge Hokage, but the lineup of Orochimaru and the Impure World Reincarnation First Hokage and Second Hokage was a bit too outrageous.
Furthermore, with Naoki Senju using Wood Release to tear apart the barrier, they were willing but unable to do anything about it, so they decided to observe the battlefield from the sidelines first.
However, the area-of-effect damage from the phantom of Shinigami gave them no chance. With a piercing shriek, ninjas within a radius of hundreds of meters were wiped out.
Only a few ninjas from the Yamanaka Clan managed to escape this area, and Naoki Senju was the only ninja still conscious, naturally becoming the primary target of the Shinigami Reaper's phantom.
How do you fight an opponent who cannot be seen with the naked eye?
Despite the lack of any movement, Naoki Senju Naoki Senju a part of his body being torn apart, a pain he had never experienced before.
"Is this what it feels like to have your soul forcibly ripped out...?"
Instead of panicking and running away, Naoki Senju calmly put on the demon mask, and the next moment, the pain from his soul vanished instantly.
But not long after, the familiar pain returned.
This time, Naoki Senju chose to retreat without hesitation. It seems that this mask, as a key item for breaking the Reaper Death Seal, has some deterrent effect on the Shinigami phantom, but that's about it.
The current issue to consider is how to deal with the Shinigami in his spirit form.
" Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence ".
The towering trees lifted Naoki Senju to the sky, but the faint, lingering pain from his soul remained, and even the sky could not stop the Reaper Death Seal.
If you can't dodge it, then you'll have to fight it head-on!
" Sage Art!"
Natural Energy continuously flowed into Naoki Senju's body, achieving a wondrous balance with his physical and mental energy, and the unique marks of Sage Mode appeared on Naoki Senju's face.
This is the inspiration I got from Orochimaru's Cursed Seal. Since it is impossible to distribute the three types of energy in a balanced way, then let the body constantly adapt to the Natural Energy, and even store some of the Natural Energy in advance!
Although it can only be maintained for a short time, after activating true Sage Mode, the Shinigami Reaper phantom is no longer completely invisible to Naoki Senju; a blurry shadow can be seen.
Most importantly, after activating Sage Mode, you can use the strongest Wood Release Sealing Jutsu.
" Sage Art: Gate of the Great God!"
As Naoki Senju completed his Hand Seals, the torii-shaped wooden door crashed down from mid-air, suppressing the blurry black shadow beneath it.
Gate of the Great God lived up to its reputation as Sealing Jutsu capable of suppressing the Ten-Tails; the blurry phantom of the Shinigami struggled incessantly, but was unable to break free.
Naoki Senju breathed a sigh of relief. If even the Gate of the Great God was ineffective against the Shinigami, then it was a truly hopeless situation. Unless someone else tried to use the Reaper Death Seal to summon the Shinigami to another location, they would be completely on the defensive.
Looking at the suppressed phantom of the Shinigami, Naoki Senju's gaze burned even brighter. Now, it was time to claim the spoils!
" Orochimaru, stop pretending to be asleep and see how we can get that sword."
Naoki Senju slowly walked to the side of the Gate of the Great God to avoid having his soul pulled out by the Shinigami. Although he was suppressed, it did not mean that the Shinigami had lost the means to retaliate.
"Heh." Orochimaru chuckled dryly, got up from the ground. Although he often used the Living Corpse Reincarnation, the loss of soul power in the process was almost negligible.
He was only pretending to faint because he didn't want to deal with something as troublesome as the Reaper Death Seal.
Fun fact: Orochimaru, like Uchiha Itachi, is a Genkai 10 in the " Book of Sha ".
"That sword? It seems Naoki-kun knows a lot about the Reaper Death Seal. Could you explain it in more detail?"
Although Orochimaru did not accept the Cursed Seal, the power of the Cursed Seal of the Sound Four all originated from Orochimaru. Borrowing some of their Natural Energy would be a piece of cake for Orochimaru.
"Although Konoha has strict controls over the Reaper Death Seal, they don't seem to value the Uzumaki Clan's scriptures very much. I just discovered some interesting things in these scriptures."
"I'm all ears." Orochimaru glanced longingly at Naoki Senju in Sage Mode.
" The Shinigami was actually 'created' by the Uzumaki Clan." Naoki Senju couldn't hide his surprise at Orochimaru Naoki's conclusion. Could the Uzumaki Clan really create such a powerful force?
"The 'materials' used are, firstly, the evil spirit sealed by the Hiōgi, and secondly, the sword I mentioned, the Kusanagi Sword that specializes in cutting souls— Futsunomitama!"
The Ame-no-Totsuka Sword, also known as the Totsuka Blade, is the divine sword that Susanoo-no-Mikoto used to slay the Yamata no Orochi, a fact that corresponds to the storyline.
The Ame-no-Murakumo Sword is a divine sword from the end of the Yamata no Orochi's tail. Its sharpness is unmatched even by the Ame-no-Totsuka Sword, which corresponds to the plot, as Orochimaru is the ' Yamata no Orochi ' in Hokage.
Both of these are ' Kusanagi Sword ', which are extremely powerful. Sasuke's Kusanagi Sword, apart from being sturdy and having excellent electrical conductivity, is really not worthy of the name of Kusanagi Sword. At most, it can be considered a replica.
Therefore, the sword in the Shinigami's hand that is specifically used to sever souls is most likely the final Futsunomitama, and only this sword is worthy of the name Kusanagi Sword from Hokage.