Naruto: Uchiha Youngjo's Konoha Spring

Chapter 308 Hokage Meeting
“Take all these actors away,” Uchiha Touko casually waved his hand, his gaze sweeping over the group of past Kage who exuded powerful and chilling chakra. “Make sure they are ‘arranged’ properly, and that Lord Madara has a good time. This grand feast that has been carefully prepared for him cannot be dull.”

"Yes! Mission accomplished!" The White Zetsu below were extremely excited, raising their hands in unison to salute, their voices booming, their faces radiating excitement and pride at being able to participate in this "major project." The way they looked at the Edo Tensei Kage wasn't as if they were looking at awe-inspiring powerhouses, but rather as if they were appraising a batch of precious props about to be presented on stage.

Uchiha Touko nodded slightly, said no more, and with a flicker of his figure, disappeared silently into the Kamui dimension.

……

When he reappeared, he had returned to Orochimaru's underground base. Orochimaru, as if he had anticipated his return, stood quietly in the shadows of the laboratory.

There seemed to be an unspoken understanding between the two. After only a brief exchange of glances, Orochimaru silently took a step and followed Uchiha Touko's footsteps.

The two left the base one after the other, quickly concealing their figures and chakra fluctuations, like two ghosts blending into the night, speeding towards the Land of Water.

Half a day later, under the complete cover of night, the two arrived at their destination—the former land of the Land of Whirlpools.

The former settlement of the Whirlpool Clan has long since faded into ruins, leaving only broken walls and rubble. Due to its special historical significance, this place has been designated as a protected area, and ordinary people are not allowed to enter. It awaits its return to the Whirlpool Clan as their territory in the future. The cold moonlight shines on the dilapidated buildings and overgrown weeds, permeating the air with an inescapable sense of loneliness and sorrow.

Without alerting any guards, the two used their superior stealth skills to silently enter the heart of this forgotten land—a relatively well-preserved ancient building, Namen Hall.

The hall was extremely dimly lit, filled with a thick smell of dust and the weight of time. Countless masks of ghosts and gods with different expressions and grotesque features hung densely on the walls, seemingly ready to come to life at any moment in the swaying shadows.

If it were just Uchiha Touko alone, he could have entered openly using his Hokage status. However, the reason this operation was so secretive was entirely because of Orochimaru, the former S-rank rogue ninja whose identity still cannot be exposed to the public. If possible, Uchiha Touko would not even want to appear with him in any situation where they might be noticed.

Unfortunately, the task of "exploding the Death God's bug" is something that, in the entire ninja world, perhaps only Orochimaru, with his unparalleled mastery of body-switching and soul-transfer techniques, can guarantee to complete flawlessly. Furthermore, it will require Uchiha Touko to provide crucial Sage Chakra support from the sidelines.

Inside the dimly lit Namen Hall, only the soft breathing of the two could be heard. Uchiha Touko's eyes flashed like lightning as he precisely identified and removed one mask from among the hundreds of dazzling masks. The mask was made of ancient material, dark in color, with an expression that was both crying and laughing, exuding a cold and deathly aura that was completely different from the other masks. It was the ultimate manifestation of the sealing technique, the mask corresponding to the Death God Mask that summons the Death God.

He handed the mask to Orochimaru, who was standing next to him.

Orochimaru smiled as he accepted the mask, his cool fingers tracing its ancient patterns. His golden snake eyes gleamed with a mixture of curiosity and amusement. He looked up into the deep darkness of the hall, then suddenly spoke, his voice hoarse and tinged with a philosophical感慨 (gǎnkǎi, a complex emotion encompassing reflection, contemplation, and a touch of philosophical reflection):
"Lord Douguang, you said... what is the point of developing ninjutsu to its ultimate limit? The ultimate forbidden technique that once required sacrificing one's life to seal the enemy can now be analyzed and utilized by us in such a way. Even the 'gods' who control death and harvest souls can be fooled and manipulated by the rules set by mortals."

His tone was ambiguous, neither praising nor mocking, perhaps a combination of both.

"The ultimate meaning of ninjutsu?" Uchiha Touko chuckled upon hearing this, shaking his head. His tone was calm yet carried a profound understanding of the essence of things. "Orochimaru, you're overcomplicating things. From the moment ninjutsu was created, its core and most original purpose has been to kill enemies and protect oneself more efficiently. It's not fundamentally different from shuriken, kunai, or explosive tags; they're just more powerful and sophisticated tools. Would you ever consider the 'meaning' of a shuriken that's been forged to perfection and thrown with unparalleled precision?"

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the grotesque masks before finally settling on the Grim Reaper mask in Orochimaru's hand, his tone carrying a barely perceptible hint of contempt:

"As for the so-called 'gods'... Ha, what is there to praise or revere about an existence whose operating mechanism can be thoroughly studied by mortals, and which can even be fooled by exploiting loopholes in the rules? It may be powerful, but it is by no means incomprehensible, much less invincible. In our eyes, it is less a 'god' and more a higher-level, rule-based... energy body or phenomenon."

Orochimaru listened quietly, his smile seeming to deepen. He nodded slightly: "Lord Touko is right. It seems... I was too naive for a moment. A tool is just a tool, no matter how miraculous it may appear." Orochimaru seemed quite satisfied with this answer, which aligned with his consistent belief in pursuing truth and deconstructing everything.

After finishing his reflections, Orochimaru composed himself and carefully examined the Shinigami mask in his hand.

Then, he began to slowly and steadily form complex and obscure hand seals, while simultaneously drawing the unique summoning incantation of the Corpse Demon Seal on the ground.

As the last seal was completed, Orochimaru gently pressed the mask onto his face.

In an instant, the temperature inside the hall plummeted! An indescribable, bone-chilling, eerie aura suddenly appeared, as if it could freeze one's soul. A huge, semi-transparent phantom slowly emerged from behind Orochimaru—it wore a white hunting robe, had long purple hair flowing, held a short sword in its mouth, and had a ferocious and terrifying face, especially its eyes, which were devoid of emotion and filled only with emptiness and death.

Death has arrived!
After the phantom of the Grim Reaper appeared, it mechanically lowered its terrifying head and glanced at Orochimaru, who had summoned it, with its sinister and unwavering gaze. Then, as if attracted by something more, its gaze suddenly turned to Uchiha Touko beside it!
That gaze seemed to carry an instinctive covetousness for powerful vitality and a cold scrutiny.

Uchiha Touko let out a cold laugh without any hesitation, raising his head to meet the gaze of the legendary Grim Reaper. There was no fear in his eyes, only an extremely calm observation and a condescending scrutiny, as if he were assessing the performance of a tool.

A vast amount of chakra flowed slowly within him, like a volcano poised to erupt, subtly challenging the chilling aura of death.

However, before this strange standoff could continue, Orochimaru had already made his move.

His face remained expressionless, as if what he was about to do was as ordinary as eating and drinking. He slowly drew the short sword from the mouth of the phantom of death—a magical weapon radiating an ominous, cold light. Then, without the slightest hesitation, he gripped the sword tightly in his other hand and, with precise and swift strokes, cleaved open the abdomen of his current body!

Almost simultaneously, the phantom of the Grim Reaper hovering above Orochimaru's head, as if forcibly controlled by an invisible force of rules, let out a silent roar. Extremely unwilling yet unable to resist, it raised its enormous scythe, a symbol of harvest, and mimicking Orochimaru's action, viciously slashed open its own illusory belly! "Buzz—!"

A dark light burst forth from the Grim Reaper's ripped-open abdomen! The next instant, two blurry, struggling orbs of soul light, mixed with a large number of wailing, fragmented souls that were released at the same time, shot out violently from the Grim Reaper's ruptured abdomen, as if they had found an outlet!

At that very moment, Uchiha Touko moved!
He had been preparing for some time, and in an instant, he summoned a pale humanoid body from the sealing scroll at his waist—a White Zetsu body that had never been activated, like a blank canvas. At the same time, he clapped his hands together, and natural energy gathered wildly. An immense amount of Sage Chakra, like a golden torrent, was precisely injected into the core of this White Zetsu body!

"Ho-!"

White Zetsu's body trembled violently, and an extremely complex and profound curse mark that Orochimaru had planted on his neck suddenly lit up, emitting a ghostly purple light! The curse mark, like black tadpoles that had come to life, instantly crawled all over White Zetsu's body, constructing a channel for soul transfer.

Orochimaru's original body, however, lost its life force rapidly the moment its abdomen was cut open and its soul left its body. Its eyes dimmed, and it collapsed limply, completely losing all signs of life.

According to the absolute rules of the Reaper Death Seal, the caster exhausts all their life force to perform this technique, and the Grim Reaper should mercilessly reap the caster's soul at the moment of death, swallowing it along with the caster's soul as an eternal prisoner and the price to pay.

However, at this moment, the situation became extremely strange!
Orochimaru's soul did indeed leave his original body, but it did not drift toward the Grim Reaper waiting to be harvested. Instead, it was precisely injected into and activated the new White Zetsu body filled with Sage Chakra through the glowing cursed seal channel, just like a data stream!

The massive phantom of Death visibly froze. For the first time, a sense of confusion and bewilderment seemed to appear on its expressionless face. It brandished its scythe, attempting to reap the harvest, only to find that its target had not remained in the dead body, but had vanished and appeared in a vibrant, masculine new vessel.

The rules were exploited.

The Grim Reaper's simple operating logic, based on the "one life for one life" rule, encountered an unprecedented bug.

It couldn't comprehend this operation, much less carry out the subsequent harvesting. It futilely swung its scythe, letting out a silent roar in place, its phantom began to flicker violently and erratically, and the energy that constituted its body became extremely unstable.

Ultimately, in an extreme "logical error" and "rule conflict," the enormous phantom of Death, like a program crashing, carrying intense resentment and incomprehensible emotions, could no longer maintain its form and completely dissipated into the air. Only the still-chilling atmosphere of the Namen Hall and the Death mask, now fallen and dimmed, remained on the ground.

A moment later, the white Zetsu body lying on the ground opened its eyes. They were familiar eyes, gleaming with golden snake pupils. It moved its new limbs, feeling the abundant, vibrant power mixed with Sage Chakra within its body, and a satisfied smile appeared on its lips.

He stood up, looked at Uchiha Touko, and gave a slight, elegant bow: "Then, Lord Touko, I'll leave the rest to you. This new body needs a little time to fully adapt, so I'll head back to the base now."

"Yes, thank you for your help this time." Uchiha Touko nodded to Orochimaru, his tone carrying a hint of approval. "The new research materials will be delivered to your base soon."

Orochimaru's smile widened. Without saying anything more, he formed a hand seal, and with a "poof," his body transformed into a wisp of white smoke, using the Body Flicker Technique to leave the ancient hall filled with the secrets of death and rebirth.

Silence returned to the Namen Hall. Only Uchiha Touko remained, along with the two slightly bewildered orbs of soul light floating before him, having just been freed from the belly of the Shinigami.

Uchiha Touko took out another White Zetsu, then took out the DNA left by the Fourth Hokage, placed it on it, and formed the hand seals for the Impure World Reincarnation.

Before long, the Fourth Hokage returned to the world in the form of the Impure World Reincarnation.

After being resurrected, Minato Namikaze looked at his own body, somewhat bewildered, before raising his head to look at Touko Uchiha.

"You are? Uchiha... Touko?" Because Uchiha Touko was only a little over ten years old when he died, it took Minato Namikaze a while to recognize the super genius in front of him who had once single-handedly suppressed an entire village of Uchiha clans on the Kirigakure front.

"Long time no see, Fourth Hokage," Uchiha Touko said with a smile.

"Am I... Impure World Reincarnation?" Minato Namikaze asked.

“Yes, Impure World Reincarnation.” Uchiha Touko nodded. “We’ll talk about the specifics later. Now, please come back to the village with me. The village is facing a huge crisis, which is why I want to gather the power of the past Hokage. I’ve put in a lot of effort to free you from the clutches of the Grim Reaper.”

"The power of the Hokage of all generations?" Minato Namikaze asked, somewhat surprised.

"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. I am now the Fifth Hokage of Konoha, Uchiha Tokkou," Uchiha Tokkou said.

(End of this chapter)