Chapter 489: Reincarnation
Senju Hashirama's expression grew somewhat peculiar.
It was a subtle tangle mixing "this method seems a bit..." with reluctant acknowledgment of "but... it does seem to work..." ultimately kneading into an indescribable expression somewhere between relief and complexity.
The method later generations used... He silently chewed over the words just heard. Intimidation. Demonstrating power. Instantly destroying countries. No killing. Other villages became obedient.
...I suppose that's acceptable. Not completely unacceptable.
As mentioned before, Hashirama understood better than anyone one fact—what he could accomplish was ultimately limited.
His generation, using their entire lives' strength, only achieved those four words: "pacifying the chaotic era." The Warring States period ended, the ninja village era arrived. Flashing blades and swords were contained within frameworks called "missions," rivers of blood became sporadic friction along border lines.
He couldn't guarantee later generations wouldn't see wars erupt again. He couldn't achieve "eternal peace." So he entrusted the right to choose, the future, all possibilities—to later generations.
Standing beside him, Senju Tobirama showed no excess expression changes from start to finish.
For him, this matter's logic was simple enough not to require thought. Naturally, Konoha ninja being stronger was better. As for "intimidation" versus "conversion," "demonstrating power" versus "forging treaties"...
Tobirama had zero interest in such things.
He was already dead. The living world's direction, rules, wars and peace—those were matters for the living to worry about.
Just like when he assisted his elder brother as Hokage, though he'd offered countless suggestions and proposals, the one making final decisions was always Senju Hashirama.
Now was the same. The living decide their own paths.
"Well then."
Uzumaki Naruto's voice rang out again, carrying barely perceptible relief suggesting "finally we can get to the main point."
He swept his gaze around the hall's occupants—the Senju brothers, Uchiha brothers, plus those Kages from different villages. Eyes calmly passing over each face showing different expressions, he slowly began:
"Everyone, as you can see, after the Sage of Six Paths entrusted the Pure Land to me, I created heaven and earth in this place that once held only void."
"All souls slumbering here have awakened—or are awakening."
"From today forward, death in the shinobi world no longer represents 'the end.'"
Subtle commotion rippled through the hall.
Gengetsu Hozuki's mustache twitched. A barely audible intake of breath came from beneath Mu's bandages. The Third Raikage's mountain-rock-like immovable form leaned forward slightly.
Naruto didn't pause, continuing: "The dead can live here."
"When all souls awaken, their bodies restore to their peak living moment—meaning the flesh's prime state."
"But their strength preserves all training results up until the moment of death."
...I see.
Uchiha Madara spoke these words quietly. Body restored to prime years, but strength retained until death's moment.
He moved his arm—that form condensed from soul indeed felt lighter, more powerful than the memory of that final moment before death. Hidden injuries left from the Valley of the End battle, exhaustion accumulated during years of lurking—all vanished without trace.
Mu likewise felt his body.
Indeed. Those old wounds left during life that throbbed faintly, hidden ailments accumulated through years of warfare—all disappeared now. Replacing them was a long-missed lightness and fullness belonging to one's prime years.
Naruto continued, voice steady and clear. "The dead can live here and also meet those who've already passed—people they couldn't see during life, people with whom they couldn't properly say goodbye due to various reasons."
His gaze swept across Uchiha Madara and Uchiha Izuna standing shoulder to shoulder, across Senju Hashirama's eyes unconsciously gazing into the distance.
"Continuously resolving regrets from life. Until the soul itself no longer holds any attachment to its 'identity.'"
He paused, letting these words' weight sink into everyone's consciousness. "Then—they can re-enter reincarnation."
"Forgetting everything. Undergoing transmigration."
The hall sank into silence.
Not the tense or guarded silence, but a deeper kind—everyone chewing on these words' meaning.
Reincarnation.
Transmigration.
Forgetting everything, starting anew.
Senju Hashirama's eyes became soft and distant. He thought of those who'd died in the Warring States era—parents, brothers, comrades, plus countless enemies who'd crossed blades yet equally yearned for tomorrow.
If such a place truly existed where they could rest properly, say proper goodbyes before setting out anew... that's good.
He thought quietly.
Naruto's voice rang out again, adding the final note to this statement: "I have the ability to do this. So I created this afterlife world, created reincarnation's order."
"First, to let people resolve regrets from life after death—reuniting with important people, finishing words left unsaid."
"Second..."
He paused. "Also to let evildoers here truly... face judgment."
The instant these words fell, the hall's atmosphere subtly shifted.
Not from fear—everyone present had witnessed enough bloodshed and darkness during life.
Rather because of the logic implicit behind these words. This wasn't simply a "resting place."
Here existed rules, judgment, "prices" corresponding to evil deeds.
"Therefore..."
Uzumaki Naruto's voice rang out again, interrupting everyone's musings about "the afterlife" and "reincarnation." Those azure eyes suddenly carried undeniable solemnity.
"Everything mentioned above—living here, reuniting with the deceased, resolving regrets, ultimately re-entering reincarnation—not all souls qualify to enjoy these things."
"Rather, there's a prerequisite. That being..."
"Sin points not exceeding 2.0."
"...!"
Senju Hashirama's expression that moments ago brimmed with enthusiasm and anticipation for the future instantly froze on his face.
He instinctively raised his head, looking at that clean number above himself—0.00
Then his gaze moved to his brother beside him.
Senju Tobirama's head: 3.8
He looked toward the distance.
Uchiha Madara's head: 8.2
Uchiha Izuna's head: 0.05
Second Mizukage Gengetsu Hozuki: 3.2
Second Tsuchikage Mu: 3.0
Third Raikage: 2.4
Hashirama's expression shifted from frozen to deathly pale. "Um, that..." His voice trembled slightly. "Souls exceeding 2.0... what, what happens to them?" He asked cautiously, as if afraid to hear some terrible answer.
The others in the hall also didn't look well.
Gengetsu Hozuki's mustache stopped twitching, his entire form like someone hit by a paralysis jutsu. Beneath Mu's bandages, those eyes narrowed slightly, pupils showing fleeting darkness. The Third Raikage remained silent, but his crossed-arm knuckles silently tightened.
2.0.
This number was a dividing line, placing these "Kages" who during life more or less all wielded life-and-death authority over countless people on "the other side."
Wars between great nations.
Campaigns launched from wariness.
Conflicts ignited from unwillingness.
"Necessary sacrifices" made to protect the village...
Behind every decision connected specific, living lives. Those lives disappeared on battlefields, and those making decisions—even with ten thousand "legitimate" reasons—the numbers above their heads would never again be 0.
Naruto looked at Hashirama's face tense enough to cry, mouth corners lifting slightly, revealing a... smiling, utterly harmless expression.
"If they don't obtain forgiveness from those harmed during life within the prescribed time—"
"Thus reducing their sin value—then naturally that soul cannot continue staying in the Pure Land."
"Instead, they'll be forcibly thrown into—the Animal Realm."
"...Animal Realm?" Hashirama repeated these words. "Wh-what is that...?"
"The reincarnation place for sinners."
Naruto's answer came as calmly as stating the weather. "They have no qualification to return to this world once more with 'human' identity."
He tilted his head slightly, azure eyes reflecting Hashirama's gradually paling face. "Instead they'll—randomly reincarnate in the world, into random animals."
"...!!!"
Hashirama's mouth opened and closed, opened and closed. Images already surfaced uncontrollably in his mind.
Tobirama becoming a porcupine, covered in spines, stabbing everyone he met.
Madara becoming a fox, still arrogant but only able to catch rabbits in the mountains.
No no no no no—!
He vigorously shook his head, flinging those terrible images from his mind, but his face had already paled white as paper.
However, Naruto's words weren't finished. He maintained that smiling expression, continuing:
"Naturally, if the sin is truly excessive—"
"Then sinners will be thrown into the Asura Realm."
"Asura Realm...?" Hashirama's voice had already grown dry and hoarse.
"There, they will personally experience—everything they inflicted on others during life... all suffering."
"Experience everything."
"Then—be thrown into the Animal Realm for reincarnation."