I have a bunch of relatives who want to become Hokage.

The thousand-armed and footed creatures that each person knows in life are different, but the thousand-armed and footed creatures they see after death are bottomless darkness, evil spirits in human skin.

Under the manipulation of the Thousand Hands and Feetless, they killed countless survivors, some of whom became their "comrades." Everyone eventually went from anger to numbness, hating themselves more than the Thousand Hands and Feetless.

They hate themselves for still retaining their humanity; what was once the best thing has become a weapon to torment them.

Uchiha Shingen looked at these once-familiar faces, and finally his gaze fell on the deceased who had spoken.

That was an Uchiha.

The deep red armor, covered in scratches, showed the past experiences of its owner.

Within the dark eye sockets were a pair of Sharingan eyes with three tomoe.

"Uchiha Kei, it's been a long time." Without denying the other party's words, Uchiha Shingen openly and frankly acknowledged his identity in this way.

After all, the two sides are so familiar with each other that they can recognize each other even if they were in different bodies.

There's no need to lie to the dead.

Each of these impure bodies is difficult to create and has a complicated origin.

The Impure World Reincarnation of Tobirama Senju is not the absurd version modified by Orochimaru and Kabuto in the original timeline.

In addition to requiring the DNA of the deceased, the requirements for the offerings are also extremely stringent, requiring them to possess chakra close to that of the person being reincarnated.

Normally, to reincarnate a ninja from a ninja clan, you need to kill two, the closer the blood relationship, the better.

The higher the synchronization rate between the two sides, the more strength they retain.

Senju Muzu was originally sacrificed by taking Uchiha Itachi's eldest son.

That was a messed-up era, an era that drove people to despair.

"With a thousand hands and no feet, who do you intend to kill?" Uchiha Itachi looked indifferently at Uchiha Shingen. "Are you the real you now, or a puppet like me?"

This is the body of a living person, which he, now deceased, can of course distinguish.

"My current name is Uchiha Shingen, and I've had this name since I was born." Uchiha Shingen activated his Sharingan. "You wouldn't believe me even if I told you, but now I'm thinking every day about how to protect the Uchiha clan."

“Sharingan…” Uchiha Kei’s expression changed from indifference to disbelief.

After a long while, he lowered his head, his armor clattering.

Suddenly, he raised his head sharply, his eyes bloodshot. "How many Uchiha did you kill? Do you even remember?"

“Born into a chaotic world, in order to survive, we can only stop killing with killing.” Uchiha Shingen looked at him, his emotions unmoved.

My daughter is only three years old.

“My brother was also three years old when you and the others chopped him into mincemeat,” Uchiha Shingen said. “He was crying then.”

Uchiha Kei didn't speak, but just stared coldly at Uchiha Shingen. Even though the other man also had Sharingan eyes, in his eyes, the one standing there was Senju Muzoku.

"Does anyone else have a question?" Uchiha Shingen asked, looking at the others.

No one spoke up. Not everyone is like Uchiha Itachi, who knew Senju Muzou from a young age and had a lot of unresolved issues.

"What do you want us to do?" a burly man with white hair asked.

"I'm giving you a chance to be free." Uchiha Shingen looked at the group of dead men. "Fight one last battle for me, and I will release this technique and never see you again."

The group of dead people were stunned.

Every time it's summoned, it's used to its death by this guy.

Is this for real? Has this person changed their ways?

"Who should we kill?" the white-haired, burly man asked.

“Cloud Ninja, this is a world decades after your deaths. There are no relatives or friends of yours on the other side,” said Uchiha Shingen.

"Cloud Ninja?" someone else asked.

Uchiha Shingen looked over upon hearing this.

He belongs to the Hagoromo clan, and he hasn't summoned anyone since the founding of Konoha.

"This is not the era of ninja clans, it is the era of ninja villages. The Cloud Ninja have nothing to do with your Hagoromo clan. Ask other people for details."

The dead began to whisper among themselves.

The numb expressions that had been on their faces were disappearing.

Uchiha Shingen waited patiently.

Although these dead people are not as strong as they were in life, as Senju Muzu's finest collection, they can still exert Jonin-level combat power. There's no way to go any higher. After all, the original Impure World Reincarnation was only for creating reusable bomb-like figures, so Senju Muzu didn't try to reincarnate Kage-level powerhouses, as that would be a thankless task.

Offerings are impossible to find, and any reborn individuals are of dubious quality.

After a long while, the dead stopped communicating.

Uchiha Kei, acting as the representative, looked at Uchiha Shingen.

"Why are you telling us this?" He still looked suspicious.

As the caster of the Impure World Reincarnation technique, Uchiha Shingen controlled everything about them and had no need to create this transactional atmosphere with them.

"Don't you want to rest in peace?" Uchiha Shingen retorted.

The dead also fell silent.

Who the hell wouldn't want to rest in peace?

"I hope you keep your word," Uchiha Itachi asked. "Where is the enemy?"

"Let's go outside and talk outside."

After saying that, Uchiha Shingen strode towards the exit.

The dead first made way for him, then followed in his footsteps.

Just like before.

This time, they are not numb.

Under the sunlight outside, Ye Cang remained in the same spot, staring at the dark entrance, a series of questions swirling in his mind.

The next moment, she forgot all her questions.

The emotion turned into horror.

Uchiha Shingen stepped forward first.

Following closely behind was a group of dead people. Their movements were not stiff at all, just like those of the living, but their appearance clearly told others - I am not human!

One by one, the dead emerged from the passage, the clattering sound of their armor scraping against each other filling the air.

Even though it was broad daylight, Yecang felt a chill in her heart.

In the end, more than three hundred former ninjas resurrected through Edo Tensei stood in the sunlight.

Even when they are in the human world, their impure bodies feel nothing, so they cannot feel the warmth of the sun, and even when they look at the sun, they do not feel the glare.

They are weapons; none of the weaknesses of human beings exist in them.

"Is everyone here?" Uchiha Shingen asked. "Is anyone still missing?"

The dead men began counting heads with practiced ease.

"I've finished counting, not one is missing." It was unclear which dead person said this.

Yekura watched from the side and thought it was utterly absurd.

"Alright, let's begin discussing the battle plan." Uchiha Shingen nodded in satisfaction and began making arrangements.

Chapter Twenty-One: The Impure Land Knocks on the Gate

The coastal region of the Frost Country was formed by the southward shift of the sea, but since the domesticable species in the Frost Country are all distributed in the mountains, the coastal region was not valued by the original inhabitants in the early days.

The indigenous people also lacked a strong enough organization to support the development of the coastal area.

Its development can be attributed to the start of the Warring States period, when the desire of various states for territorial expansion brought together the previously fragmented regions.

The location of the Frost Kingdom happens to separate the Thunder Kingdom from the continental plains. Whether the continental forces want to extend northeastward or the Thunder Kingdom wants to enter the continental plains, they must pass through here.

This coastal passage is the fastest route. If the army were to march through the mountain pass, the Land of Lightning would face supply problems due to the excessively long battle lines.

By advancing through the coastal passage, the Land of Lightning could use the shortest time to cross into the mainland, not only avoiding an excessively long battle line but also directly threatening the plains nations of the mainland.

However, the Frost Kingdom is mostly mountainous terrain, making it no easy task to build a passage through it.

During the Warring States period, ninjas were the dominant force on the battlefield. Faced with these humanoid artillery emplacements that could walk without turning, the city-building techniques of various states developed rapidly.

In order to develop this fast route connecting the continent, the Land of Thunder simply spent resources to support the Land of Frost in building a city and settling its people there. With the support of a large population, this narrow passage developed at a rocket-like speed.

At the end of the Warring States period, facing the immense pressure of the Senju clan of the Forest allying with the Uchiha clan, the Land of Lightning once again funded and assisted the Land of Frost in building three fortified castles at both ends and in the middle of this passage as military strongholds. The fortified castles were integrated with the bay and mountains, effectively sealing off the passage.

Although the Senju clan and the Uchiha clan did not join forces to attack later, the coastal passage became a complete military defense system thanks to these three strongholds. Until the outbreak of the First Shinobi World War, the Konoha Ninja Army became the first military force to directly attack this defense system.

The original plan of the Thousand-Handed and Footless was to use 371 tireless and infinitely regenerating impure bodies as vanguards to break through barriers, completely destroy the coastal area, and disable its transportation capabilities.

However, Senju Muzoku only managed to summon sixty-three Edo Tensei before being surrounded by the entire Hidden Cloud Village's Jonin under the walls of Nanguan Castle.

Faced with the Lightning Release Chakra Mode pioneered by the Second Raikage, Senju Muzoku, unable to escape, chose to fight to the death. Before dying, he sent sixty-three reanimated bodies northward, killing any Cloud Ninja they encountered and burning any cities they came across.

Two and a half of the three fortresses collapsed, and flames soared into the sky over the coastal passage. In this battle, more than forty Jonin from Kumogakure died, and not a single Jonin directly under the Raikage survived.

The rebuilt South Gate City is exactly the same as the one in Uchiha Shingen's memory.

Under the cover of night, the South Gate City is brightly lit, with its tall city walls leaning against the mountains and connecting to the sea, forming a unified city and gate.

This type of wall was designed to defend against explosive tags. This weapon, which is widely used by genin and chunin as a primary means of destruction, actually has limited explosive power, with diameters ranging from one to three meters, depending on the manufacturer's quality.

Therefore, it was a fortified castle used to block genin and chunin.

The designers never even dreamed of stopping Jonin.

While both are explosive tags, the Second Hokage's Multiplicative Explosive Tags were a map-wide attack.

There's no way to stop this.

It is a consensus that only a Jonin can stop a Jonin.

As night fell, a group of "people" arrived in the woods west of the pass.

Uchiha Shingen and Pakura walked at the front.