"Hahaha! Allen-kun, wherever did you learn the secrets regarding the Curse Mark?"
Orochimaru glanced at Anko, who had collapsed into a coma due to the excessive drain on her chakra and physical stamina, and instantly grasped what had transpired.
As the developer of the Curse Mark, he had originally intended for it to be a mere substitute for his inability to master Sage Mode. However, as his research deepened, he soon discovered that the Curse Mark and Natural Energy were far more complex than any ninjutsu he had ever known, complex enough to allow him to be reborn even after death.
The Heaven's Curse Mark was specifically engineered to facilitate this very contingency.
Yet, Orochimaru had never expected that the one to pull him back from the realm of the dead would be Allen. By his calculations, that person should have been Kabuto or Kimimaro.
"What, do you find it strange?" Allen countered with a cryptic smile.
Orochimaru nodded, his grin widening. "Indeed! You have always been a man of clear intent and definite goals. Unless there is a necessity, you would never trouble yourself with matters unrelated to your interests. Let me guess, you've run into a bit of trouble and want me to help you resolve it, don't you?"
"Correct. I need you to use the Reanimation Jutsu to bring several people back," Allen replied without a moment's hesitation.
"Reanimation Jutsu?"
A peculiar expression flitted across Orochimaru's face upon hearing those words. If anyone else had made such a request, he might not have found it odd. But coming from Allen, who was himself a master of the Reanimation Jutsu, any person with half a brain would realize something was amiss.
"Yes. I need you to resurrect the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju; the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju; and the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, whose soul is currently sealed within the stomach of the Grim Reaper. For you, this shouldn't be too difficult, should it?" Allen stated his demands bluntly.
"Why must it be me? Surely you and Kabuto are capable of this?" Orochimaru narrowed his eyes, questioning the motive.
Allen answered nonchalantly, "Because Kabuto has already joined the Akatsuki. He has transplanted the cells of the perfect vessel you prepared for yourself and even mastered the Sage Mode of Ryūchi Cave. He is no longer the trembling assistant who followed in your wake; he is a formidable and dangerous player. In fact, he recently assisted in the reanimation of Madara Uchiha."
"So, after my death, even Kabuto turned traitor? No wonder..."
Orochimaru stroked his chin, lost in thought. But a moment later, he pressed further: "What exactly is the Akatsuki aiming for? Surely they aren't resurrecting Madara Uchiha just to start a Great Ninja War, are they?"
"How should I put this... the leaders and members of the Akatsuki are merely pawns moved by a much greater mastermind. This entire ordeal involves the Sage of the Six Paths, his mother, and a grudge that has spanned over a thousand years. If you're interested, come with me. But consider this a warning: once you hear the truth, it means you have tacitly agreed to join my faction. I will permit no betrayals or mid-way desertions, you know the consequences." Allen issued the warning, blending truth with calculated pressure.
When dealing with someone as insatiably curious as Orochimaru, the more you shroud the truth in mystery, the more likely he is to jump into the pit himself.
"Fine! I agree!"
Orochimaru didn't even stop to think before accepting. Setting everything else aside, the mere mention of a mastermind using the Akatsuki as pawns was enough to pique his interest, let alone the involvement of the founder of the Shinobi Creed, the Sage of the Six Paths.
"This is no place for a conversation. We should leave Konoha first." Allen casually tossed Anko back into her courtyard and grabbed Orochimaru, activating his space-time ninjutsu.
Before any of the observers lurking in the shadows could react, the two vanished without a trace, leaving several masked Konoha Anbu standing there in utter bewilderment.
…
A few minutes later, everyone involved, including the unconscious Anko, was brought to the Hokage Residence.
An already overwhelmed Tsunade used medical ninjutsu to rouse Orochimaru's only disciple, asking urgently, "Tell me! What happened? Why were Allen and Orochimaru seen near your residence?"
"Hokage-sama?!"
Anko scrambled up from the floor, instinctively touching her neck. Upon finding that the Curse Mark had completely vanished, she explained in a trembling voice, "It was... a resurrection! He used the Curse Mark on my body to bring Orochimaru back to life!"
"What?!!!"
Tsunade's voice jumped an entire octave at the news. Beside her, the other high-ranking officials in the office were equally dumbfounded. Even in a shinobi world where the impossible often happened, returning from the dead was a shocking revelation.
"Orochimaru is back! I saw it with my own eyes! There is no mistake," Anko repeated, her fists clenched tight.
"Damn it! As if we didn't have enough dangerous enemies to deal with already," Tsunade cursed under her breath, rubbing her temples.
While she didn't know why Allen had resurrected Orochimaru, her instincts told her this was terrible news for a Konoha that was already teetering on the brink of collapse. Like Sasuke, Orochimaru harbored nothing but hatred and resentment toward the village.
Furthermore, Konoha had only recently endured a "Nine-Tails Rampage plus Uchiha Rebellion 2.0" combo. The dark secrets exposed during the chaos had caused many shinobi to lose faith in the village.
Most notably, the Hyūga clan had already sent away all their young members. In the past, this would have been classified as a clear act of desertion, punishable by execution or being branded as rogue ninjas.
But now?
As the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade couldn't pursue the matter. Instead, she had to reward the middle-aged and elderly members who were willing to stay and die with the village. It could be said that the current Konoha was only one step away from total dissolution.
Watching the village her grandfathers built fall into such a state felt like having her heart gnawed at by ten thousand ants. But what could she do?
She couldn't win the fight. And even Naruto, the Jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails, was gone.
Just as she was at her wits' end, Shizune burst in, shouting with joy: "Tsunade-sama! Jiraiya... Jiraiya-sama has woken up!"
"Jiraiya is awake?!"
The news injected a sudden burst of vitality into the gloomy office. Without hesitation, everyone rushed to the hospital to see the wounded Toad Sage and find out the truth behind the intelligence he had gathered.
None of them noticed a pair of crimson Sharingan eyes looking down from the top of the Hokage Rock, specifically from the head of Hashirama Senju, silently watching their every move.
The owner of those eyes was none other than the recently reanimated Madara Uchiha.