After sharing intelligence and returning to their respective rooms, Minato Namikaze finally remembered the evasive look in Naruto's eyes earlier.
For someone who had never experienced it, once the warmth of family was felt, it became impossible to let go.
Sixteen-year-old Naruto Uzumaki was already drowning in grief over Jiraiya-sensei's death. Minato didn't know how long he himself would remain in this ordinary world, but it surely wouldn't be more than a year. By then, Naruto would only be thirteen. He hoped that Naruto's longing for familial bonds could be placed, at least in part, on Jiraiya and Sasuke.
He had already begun laying the groundwork for that.
What he didn't realize was that plans often failed to keep up with reality.
...
The three-day deadline arrived.
Orochimaru was, as always, punctual. He arrived early and waited near Tanzaku Quarters for Tsunade.
Behind Tsunade was Shizune, holding Tonton in her arms. Two people and one pig reached the agreed location together.
Jiraiya, Minato's team, and Kakashi's team lay in ambush at three separate points.
"Tsunade, what's this?" Orochimaru said. "Did Jiraiya, Minato Namikaze, and those little brats not come?"
His voice sounded even hoarser than before.
To avoid being discovered too quickly, Jiraiya, Minato's team, and Kakashi's team had deliberately stayed farther away, effectively acting as hostages in name only. From that distance, they hadn't noticed anything unusual.
But Tsunade, standing only a few dozen meters from Orochimaru, immediately sensed something off.
Orochimaru was…
Deliberately hiding his right hand.
Both hands were tucked into his wide sleeves, but the subtle way his right arm was drawn slightly behind him gave it away.
Not only that, his emotions were far more restless than last time. When he mentioned Jiraiya and Minato, there was a trace of resentment buried deep in his tone. If Tsunade hadn't known him for so many years, most people would never have caught it.
"They're not here. This is a deal between you and me, isn't it, Orochimaru?" Tsunade stared straight at the sinister man across from her.
"That's right," Orochimaru replied calmly. "But due to certain special circumstances, it seems our deal has changed a little, Tsunade."
Veins bulged on Tsunade's forehead. "A last-minute change? Are you playing me?!"
"No."
Orochimaru extended what remained of his arm. Kimimaro immediately stepped forward, respectfully presenting the severed forearm he was holding.
"The new condition is this," Orochimaru said. "Heal my arm first."
Tsunade hadn't expected that Orochimaru's resentment toward Minato and the others came from losing the leverage he once had over them.
That leverage was the mission scroll.
Whether it was Tsunade herself or the others observing from afar, everyone was stunned when they saw Orochimaru's severed arm and the forearm that had been forcibly twisted off.
Minato reacted instantly. The one who inflicted this injury was almost certainly Obito Uchiha of this world.
He could easily picture it. Obito using his dōjutsu to tear off Orochimaru's arm along with the mission scroll in his hand, all to seize Naruto's scroll.
Tsunade glanced at the severed arm in Kimimaro's grasp. "Looks like even you can be caught off guard, Orochimaru."
"Well, accidents happen from time to time," Orochimaru said lightly. "Enough talk. I'll let you see Nawaki and Dan. Healing my arm shouldn't be difficult for you, Tsunade."
Orochimaru's body was abnormal to begin with. With his original arm intact, restoring it wouldn't be especially hard for Tsunade.
She slowly walked toward him.
A cold smile crept onto Orochimaru's lips.
At that critical moment, Minato Namikaze didn't forget Kabuto Yakushi's C-rank mission. In a flash of Flying Thunder God, he brought a completely bewildered Kabuto Yakushi straight onto the battlefield.
Seeing Orochimaru with his arm severed and Tsunade about to approach him, Kabuto—who had been dragged here by Minato—hurriedly threw out a kunai.
"Orochimaru-sama! Something's wrong! This is a trap!!"
Everyone leapt backward at once. Kimimaro instantly entered a combat-ready stance.
Shizune was no match for Kimimaro. She could only hold off Kabuto. If Tsunade dealt with Kimimaro, there would be no one left to keep Orochimaru in check.
Right on cue, following the plan they had agreed upon, Jiraiya jumped out to restrain Orochimaru.
"Minato Namikaze is here too!" Kabuto shouted. "The situation is extremely unfavorable for us, Orochimaru-sama!"
Orochimaru, however, showed none of Kabuto's panic. Instead, he smiled.
"You've disappointed me, Tsunade."
He gave Kimimaro a subtle look.
Kimimaro stomped his foot hard.
Two coffins that had already been hidden nearby suddenly rose upright.
"What?!"
"A coffin?!!"
From far away, Kakashi's team and Minato's team stared in shock as the battlefield shifted yet again.
"Why the hell did that bastard Orochimaru bring coffins here?!" Naruto grabbed Sasuke by the shoulder, panic written all over his face.
Sasuke was just as tense. "How would I know?!" A deep sense of unease rose in his chest as well.
Adult Kakashi lifted the forehead protector covering his left eye. With that Sharingan taken from Obito, he could clearly read the movements of the people on the battlefield. Through lip-reading, he pieced together what was happening.
"You've disappointed me, Tsunade. I even prepared the bargaining chips for you in advance." Orochimaru let out a cold, eerie laugh, then smeared his own blood across the coffins.
"Edo Tensei!"
The two Edo Tensei bodies he had prepared beforehand continued their summoning process, responding to the caster's blood.
Under Tsunade's horrified gaze, the coffins began to creak…
The lids slowly loosened, then slammed to the ground right before everyone's eyes.
Standing inside one coffin was a young male ninja with silver-blue long hair. He wore a Konoha jōnin uniform and stood there with his eyes closed.
In the other coffin was a boy about Naruto's age, wearing a Konoha forehead protector. Lacking the vitality of the living, his closed eyes and still posture radiated a chilling, eerie presence that made one's skin crawl.
"This is…"
Jiraiya's eyes turned bloodshot.
Furious beyond restraint, he roared at Orochimaru, "Do you even know what you're doing?! Orochimaru!!"
Orochimaru ignored him.
His gaze shifted to Tsunade. Her pupils had shrunk, her hands clenched tightly against her chest, her body trembling uncontrollably.
"Well? Even though you failed to keep your promise, I upheld mine." Orochimaru's smile was twisted and sinister as he looked at the helpless Tsunade. "This is the forbidden technique developed by the Second Hokage-sama. Edo Tensei."
"Orochimaru, you bastard! How much further are you going to defile the dead?!"
Jiraiya was so enraged he wanted to rush in and beat him down, but Kimimaro, who had already entered Cursed Seal Mode, was no easy opponent.
"Don't think this is just a cheap trick to restore corpses," Orochimaru said calmly to Tsunade.
As his words fell, the two bodies standing inside the coffins took a step forward at the same time.
"Edo Tensei truly summons the souls of the dead from the Pure Land back into the human world, imprisoning them within these Edo Tensei bodies. It's a magnificent ninjutsu that forces the dead to fight for the living!"
At the very instant he finished speaking—
The eyes of the two corpses, one tall and one small, snapped open.
"Nawaki! Dan!!"
Tsunade could no longer hold back. She cried out their names in anguish.
The sound tore at the heart, as if it could be heard even from a great distance.
"Damn it!"
Listening to Kakashi-sensei's relay, Naruto slammed his fist hard into the rock beneath him.
"That bastard Orochimaru!"
Obito clenched his teeth. "That's despicable beyond words!!"
"How could he…"
After hearing Shizune and Jiraiya-sama's explanations, Rin Nohara and Sakura Haruno both had a good idea who the two figures in the coffins were. As women, they could empathize more deeply with Tsunade's pain, feeling sorrow for her and burning anger toward Orochimaru's actions.
Hearing Tsunade's voice, the silver-blue-haired Konoha ninja opened his eyes.
His dull skin lacked the vitality of the living, carrying a heavy air of death. His gaze held none of the spirit a living person should have.
At first glance, he looked no different from a clay puppet.
But when the unfocused eyes of the ninja known as Dan Katō finally gained a hint of clarity and he recognized the figure before him, his lips parted.
"Tsunade…?"
"…!"
The corpse spoke.
Immediately after, the boy in the other coffin opened his eyes as well.
He looked around in confusion before finally fixing his gaze on Tsunade and calling out softly—
"Big sister?"
Nawaki, who had died in the war at the age of twelve, didn't recognize Dan Katō. Aside from his sister, the only people he knew here were—
"Jiraiya-brother?! And…"
"…Orochimaru-sensei!!"
The words "Orochimaru-sensei" rang out clear and bright, revealing how highly this man was regarded in Nawaki's heart. At the very least, he was someone Nawaki admired and trusted deeply, no less than his own sister.
He could never have imagined that the very teacher he trusted was the one who had disturbed his long rest, the one who had dragged his soul back into the world of the living.
"What's going on right now? Jiraiya-brother and Orochimaru-sensei have both gotten so old, but you look exactly the same, sis. Hmm… if I really had to say, your figure seems even more… impressive."
Dan Katō lowered his gaze to his hands. These were clearly not the hands of a living person.
And the boy beside him… that was Nawaki, no doubt about it.
Back then, it was precisely because of his death and Nawaki's that he and Tsunade had come to know each other…
"What's going on, Tsunade?" Dan asked in confusion. "I should already be dead, shouldn't I?"
The word "dead" was like a switch, flipping open Nawaki's memories.
After receiving Grandfather's Hokage necklace, the very next day, while carrying out a mission with Orochimaru-sensei, he tried to steal the spotlight…
He walked straight into the enemy's trap, and then…
Right. He was already dead.
Before he could fulfill his promise to protect everyone, he had left the world of the living far too soon.