"Orochimaru, the Reaper Death Seal has been undone. Your hands should be restored now."
Fugaku and Setsuna followed behind the four Hokages, rushing toward the battlefield. Now, Orochimaru was the only living person left on the grounds.
Ren shifted his gaze toward the cold man before him, his eyes landing on those amber, serpentine pupils as if trying to see through him completely.
Hearing the call, Orochimaru quickly lowered his head in respect. He stared at the ground, not daring to look directly at this mysterious and unfathomable Reaper.
"Yes, I have retrieved the soul of my hands."
As his raspy voice rang out, various conjectures surfaced in Orochimaru's mind.
Since Ren needed his hands, he clearly required him to perform a ninjutsu.
As of now, among all the techniques he mastered, only one could bridge the gap between a Reaper and concepts like the Pure Land.
"Does my Lord wish for me to perform the Reanimation Jutsu?"
"You are indeed clever, Orochimaru," Ren praised. "Fugaku and the others reviving a talent like you has truly helped me out."
Though Orochimaru would have eventually been resurrected even without Fugaku and the others' interference, his return to the ninja world was timely.
But looking at it now, Fugaku and his group had certainly done a great service.
Orochimaru immediately replied, "I do not deserve such high praise. May I ask who my Lord wishes to revive?"
Ren rubbed his chin, pondering for a moment.
"Logically, any soul would do, as long as I can use it to pinpoint the location of the Pure Land."
"But since we are making such a fuss, you might as well summon someone significant."
After considering his options, Ren confirmed, "Her then—Minato Namikaze's wife, Kushina Uzumaki."
"Kushina Uzumaki?"
Orochimaru frowned. Mustering his courage, he advised, "Minato Namikaze loved his wife dearly, and he was explicitly opposed to techniques like the Reanimation Jutsu that toy with the souls of the dead."
"If he finds out we have revived his wife, he may harbor resentment toward my Lord in the future."
Ren waved his hand dismissively.
"I only need you to summon her soul. There is no need for a full resurrection like what we did for Minato and the others."
After a pause, he asked again, "I recall that this summoning requires the body of the deceased. Are you confident you can obtain it?"
"I can."
Orochimaru nodded slightly, his eyes narrowing. A faint smile seemed to play on his face beneath the shadows.
"When the Minato couple died, I had not yet defected from the Leaf. I hold a certain status in the village and know the location of their graves."
"A great war is currently raging in the ninja world. Most of the village's power has been drawn away. The remaining guards cannot stop me."
"Go and return quickly. I will wait for you here," Ren instructed.
"As you command."
Orochimaru vanished from the shrine in a flash, heading toward the Hidden Leaf Village.
The village was not far, and with Orochimaru's speed, it shouldn't take long.
Ren turned to Shisui beside him and said, "Once Kushina Uzumaki is summoned, capture her soul."
"Understood."
"I will use that moment to locate the Pure Land. You will come with me."
After saying this, Ren looked at Shisui's current state.
"Step out of your Gigai. I do not know if the Sage is in the Pure Land, so it is best to be prepared for combat."
"Yes."
The two of them stepped out of their Gigai and stored them away.
After waiting a while, the sound of footsteps approached. Orochimaru arrived at the shrine carrying a white bundle.
Upon entering, Orochimaru suddenly became alert, his snake-like eyes scanning the seemingly empty surroundings of the shrine.
Just as he felt confused, a solemn and heavy voice suddenly rang out in his mind.
"Orochimaru, begin the summoning."
Startled, Orochimaru's eyes darted around the area once more.
He was certain it was the Reaper's voice, yet he could not find the source.
'Did he step out of that so-called Gigai and become invisible to the living?'
Moreover, the voice seemed to resonate directly within his brain.
'Could a Reaper speak directly into one's mind, similar to the secret techniques of the Yamanaka clan?'
"As you command."
Orochimaru did not hesitate. Suppressing his wandering thoughts, he walked to an open space.
He opened the bundle, laid out a section of the corpse before him, and his fingers became a blur as he formed hand seals.
"Reanimation Jutsu!"
He slammed his palms onto the ground, and the formula manifested on the earth with a circle at its center.
In a vision invisible to the living, a dazed soul emerged from the circle.
Shisui, holding a orb, quickly gathered the soul inside.
Nearby, Ren slowly opened his eyes. In his sight, a faint thread was connected to the circle.
The moment Orochimaru completed the summoning, Ren attached his own thread, successfully locating the Pure Land.
"Shisui, let us go."
Ren placed his hand on the hilt of his sword. With a flash of light, he carved out a spatial tunnel to the Pure Land.
Orochimaru only saw a flash before the space was torn asunder, revealing a massive rift.
The edges of the rift were jagged, and inside was pitch black, filled with chaotic and mysterious forces.
An inexplicable chill rushed toward him, making Orochimaru's pale face even more bloodless.
Unknowingly, a layer of fine cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
Staring at this rift, the character for 'Death' suddenly loomed large in Orochimaru's mind.
He hurriedly looked away, fearing that his gaze might pull him inside.
He could feel the advent of death from that spatial rift.
It was a sensation of danger that one only experienced when facing a life-or-death crisis.
'Run!'
'I must get away from here!'
Every cell in his body screamed a warning, urging him to flee the area as fast as possible.
At the same time, he instantly understood exactly where this spatial rift led.
"The... Pure... Land..."
Orochimaru's hands and feet went cold. His throat bobbed as he forced the raspy words out.
Merely uttering the name made his entire body go limp.
A tremor from his very soul surged through him, nearly reversing his blood flow and turning him into a dead snake on the spot.
In his mind, the Reaper's voice rang out abruptly.
"Orochimaru, do you want to come along too?"
Orochimaru shook his head violently in terror.
Was this a joke? The other was a Reaper, so going to the Pure Land was natural for him.
But Orochimaru was still among the living. If he truly went to the Pure Land, he would likely be stuck there forever.
"If you are unwilling, then forget it."
Seeing Orochimaru's intense resistance, Ren shook his head and jumped in with Shisui.
Hearing the Reaper's words again felt like divine music to Orochimaru's ears, no longer as soul-shaking as before.
'I wasn't taken... I wasn't taken...'
'This is truly... wonderful!'
Orochimaru felt a surge of relief, thanking the Reaper's generous nature for the first time.
Catching his breath, Orochimaru propped up his weak body and stood, looking at the spatial rift.
Without power to sustain it, the rift was rapidly self-repairing, vanishing in the blink of an eye.
Orochimaru quickly backed away. He never wanted to face death like that again.
Just as he took two or three steps back, intending to leave the area, he froze.
The Reaper had not given him any orders. If there were no orders, it might mean he was expected to wait.
If he left now, would the other be displeased? Would he be angry?
What if the Reaper, in a fit of rage, decided to take his soul after all?
After weighing his options, Orochimaru decided to stay right there in front of the shrine, going nowhere.
On the other side, after passing through the shallow spatial tunnel, Ren and Shisui had arrived in the Pure Land.
Shisui's Mangekyō Sharingan was active. Pink scales covered his body, horns sprouted from his head, and whiskers grew from his lip.
His stature doubled to over three meters. His hands were covered in scales, and his black nails glinted with a cold light.
This form was the hybrid beast state most suitable for combat after obtaining his Devil Fruit ability.
Shisui guarded Ren's back, his expression full of vigilance, watching for any movement.
Ren surveyed his surroundings.
Before him was a vast expanse of blue, ethereal light. It felt strangely hollow rather than cold and lonely.
In the Pure Land, there was no sense of direction, no ground to stand on, and no buildings—only endless souls.
The two of them stood upon auspicious clouds created by Shisui, drifting into the distance.
Souls drifted aimlessly. Ren realized the blue background was actually a visual illusion caused by countless souls stacked together.
"So this is the ninja world's Pure Land."
Why did it feel completely different from what he had imagined?
He expected it to at least have a continent large enough to carry everything, like the Underworld in the Pirate world.
But here, there was nothing.
Only countless souls.
Coming here from the ninja world, they would eventually dissipate into nothingness under the erosion of time.
Ren released his perception, exploring the state of the Pure Land.
Being in this empty Pure Land was like entering a void.
"That old man, the Sage, has been slacking off."
It was clear that this Pure Land was a space completely devoid of development or construction.
As the administrator, the Sage of the Six Paths' approach was one of total neglect.
Ren scanned the area but found no souls that were significantly powerful.
And the Sage of the Six Paths had yet to appear, even after Ren had been there for a long time.
"Could it be that he hasn't noticed my entry?"
"Or perhaps he isn't in the Pure Land at all right now!"
Since the Sage hadn't shown himself, Ren wasn't going to be polite.
"Shisui, stay alert."
Shisui nodded. Yellow clouds appeared, pushing aside souls to form a massive plane.
He exhaled a stream of air that turned into a sweeping wind, instantly spreading out.
Under the influence of this breeze, the surrounding souls drifted to the side, forming an open space.
"Connect, Kiritsugu."
Ren drew his Zanpakutō. The blade emitted a clear light that condensed into a thick line extending upward.
When the line reached the edge of the space, it burst into fine threads stretching in all directions.
"Since the Pure Land has no physical anchors, I will simply connect to the space itself."
These nearly invisible threads pierced into the space, merging with it as if they were one.
As the threads merged, the dense web began to fade into invisibility.
As the light from the blade fell, Ren felt a tangible connection to the space.
It was as if he were the space itself, feeling every soul and every tiny movement within his 'body'.
Souls entered from the ninja world, while decaying ones dissipated, filling the 'body' of this space.
He could even feel himself and Shisui, who had just entered the space.
The entire Pure Land was now a part of his body.
This grand sensation of merging with heaven and earth was far beyond words.
Ren pulled himself out of this emotion, his eyes sparkling with a smile on his face.
"Truly a marvelous feeling."
Seeing Ren like this, Shisui looked delighted. "My Lord, was it a success?"
"Yes, it was."
The Pure Land of the ninja world now belonged to him!
Ren suppressed his excitement, trying to keep his composure.
Excluding the Underworld, he now possessed a second complete afterworld.
He wondered what kind of sight it would be when he eventually acquired enough of these worlds.
"Shisui, it seems the old Sage isn't hiding in the Pure Land."
"He's probably in the living world, watching that great war."
While merging with the space, Ren scanned it and felt no exceptionally powerful energy signatures within 'himself'.
Perhaps there were a few souls stronger than average, but nothing close to what he expected.
To manifest in the ninja world, the Sage's soul mass would be far beyond a normal soul.
To think he could steal the home base so easily; the Sage was truly careless.
While he was out secretly watching his two sons, Ren had seized his home.
He could only blame himself for meddling in the excitement for no reason.
Though logically, most people wouldn't expect a traveler from outside the world to appear.
Especially one whose goal was the afterlife, which ordinary people avoid.
"Shisui, let us head back as well."
Before leaving, Ren looked at the Pure Land, a thoughtful expression on his face.
Shisui asked, "My Lord, do you have some concerns?"
Ren said, "I was thinking that a city must be built here, but there is no ground. Building it might be difficult."
"It should be possible using my auspicious clouds."
Ren shook his head. "No, a large city would consume too much of your stamina. You need to be ready to fight."
Shisui's words gave him an idea. "We could look for specific Devil Fruits to create a foothold."
Like the Float-Float Fruit of the Golden Lion Shiki.
Unfortunately, when he explored the Pirate world, the Golden Lion was already dead.
His body's location was also unknown; otherwise, he could have summoned him.
"Shisui, keep this in mind. We will discuss it later."
"For now, we are heading straight to the battlefield in the ninja world."
"Understood."
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]