While Tobirama was helping Hashirama's resurrection, the Third Hokage was also preparing to resurrect the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze.
Because Minato had died after using the Reaper Death Seal, his soul had already been consumed by the Shinigami (Death God).
To bring him back to life, his soul had to be freed from the Shinigami's stomach first.
Orochimaru already had a plan for this.
Just like in the original story, Orochimaru and his team arrived at the Uzumaki Clan's forbidden area—the Nameless Hall.
Wearing a mask representing the Shinigami, Orochimaru successfully had the Shinigami cut open its stomach and release Minato's soul after sacrificing the soul of a death-row prisoner.
Orochimaru, using the Snake Shed Skin Technique and the Large Snake Substitution Jutsu, tricked the Shinigami, avoiding the fate of having his own soul taken.
The Shinigami, enraged by Orochimaru's shameless actions, could hardly contain its fury.
But what could it do?
The Shinigami couldn't harm Orochimaru and, full of rage, retreated back to the Pure Land.
"Now it's possible. With Minato's soul as the medium for the Reanimation Jutsu, we can begin the resurrection," Orochimaru said.
After speaking, Orochimaru formed hand seals and used the Reanimation Jutsu to bring Minato back to life.
"Hm?"
Minato opened his eyes and found himself facing the Third Hokage, Orochimaru, Kakashi, and others.
Jiraiya, the Fifth Hokage, hadn't come to the Nameless Hall this time as he had to handle Hokage duties and oversee the Hidden Leaf Village.
"Minato, welcome back," said the Third Hokage, puffing on his cigarette, his expression quite complicated.
Originally, Orochimaru had planned to resurrect both Minato and his wife, Kushina, in one go.
The Third Hokage was somewhat afraid to face Kushina and wanted to revive Minato first. After telling him everything that had happened over the years, especially regarding Naruto, he planned to revive Kushina afterward.
That way, with Minato acting as a buffer, Kushina probably wouldn't go so far as to kill him, right?
"Lord Third, what's going on?"
"Kakashi, go explain the situation to Minato."
"Yes, Lord Third."
Watching Kakashi take Minato aside to explain, Orochimaru, with a grin on his face, asked the Third Hokage, "Old man, do you think Minato will blame you for treating Naruto like that?"
From the way the Third Hokage was smoking faster, it was clear how uneasy he felt.
"I trust Minato. He's the Hokage of Konoha; he should understand my position."
"Yeah, he's the Hokage—the one who sacrificed himself for his wife and entrusted his only son to your care."
Orochimaru didn't mind that his teacher's face was turning darker and continued, "Come to think of it, it's your fault, old man. You promised Minato that you'd take good care of Naruto, but look at the result. I'm almost too embarrassed to say."
"Orochimaru, do you think that just because I'm old, I can't discipline you anymore?"
"Heh, what else can you do other than complain to the Second Hokage?"
Orochimaru sneered and said, "Rather than thinking about how to discipline me, you should be thinking about how not to get killed by Kushina."
Minato's temperament was gentle, so he might forgive the Third Hokage.
But Kushina's temper was extremely volatile.
Even when she was in the Ninja Academy, her fiery temper earned her the nickname "Blood Red Pepper."
When she lost her temper, even Minato couldn't hold her back.
If she found out how the Third Hokage had treated her precious son, breaking a few ribs would be considered light punishment.
"So, Orochimaru, do you have any good suggestions?"
"I think you'd better not resist. You're probably no match for Kushina now."
When thinking about his age, even the Third Hokage had to admit that he was truly getting old.
His physical abilities had significantly declined, and his chakra was only two-thirds of what it had been at his peak. Even his recovery speed had dropped to a painfully slow rate.
At his current state, even though he could hold his ground against Kushina in the short term, over time, he definitely wouldn't be able to keep up with her.
"Since that's the case, how about we try the pity route?"
"Pity route? What do you mean?"
"It's simple. With your age, if you curse in front of Kushina and don't fight back, just crying and complaining, she'll only hit you a few times to vent. After all, beating up an old man isn't something to be proud of."
"Only you, Orochimaru, could come up with such a shady yet clever plan."
Orochimaru rolled his eyes and didn't continue talking to the Third Hokage. Instead, he walked over to Kakashi and Minato.
Just in time, Kakashi had briefly explained the events of the past few years.
When Kakashi mentioned Naruto's past situation, Minato's fist unconsciously tightened.
"Minato, if it were me, I wouldn't stand for it. You gave your life for the village, but the village treated your son like this. Is that right? It's not right."
"Orochimaru-sama, what are you doing?"
Faced with Orochimaru's instigating, Minato was left both angry and helpless.
"Don't mind me. Pretend I'm not here. Old man, you can hit him however you want. I won't interfere."
"Sigh~ I think the Third Hokage must have his own reasons for doing this."
With Orochimaru's interruption, Minato felt awkward and didn't want to act against the Third Hokage anymore.
First, he was the previous Hokage, Jiraiya's teacher, and also his own grandteacher.
Second, he was an elder, a senior.
He couldn't bring himself to hit an elder.
However, just because he couldn't do it didn't mean others couldn't.
The smart Minato had already figured out why he was the first to be brought back with the Reanimation Jutsu.
It was to get him to convince Kushina, wasn't it?
As a junior, of course, he would try to convince Kushina to avoid having the Third Hokage's blood spill on the spot.
But everyone knew how terrifying Kushina was when she was in a state of rage, and Minato loved his wife dearly. There was no way he would harm her.
So, it was reasonable that he wouldn't be able to convince Kushina, right?
The group quickly returned to the village.
According to the plan, Minato was supposed to follow Orochimaru back to the laboratory.
There, he would be resurrected along with Kushina and Kakashi's father, Sakumo Hatake.
However, after entering the village, Minato suddenly said he wanted to meet Naruto first.
To leave a good impression on Naruto, his appearance had to be impressive.
Orochimaru, not minding Minato's somewhat delusional request, didn't care either way.
It wouldn't delay things much, so why not let him meet Naruto?
As for how to make the appearance impressive, Orochimaru patted his chest and said, "Leave it to me!"
Orochimaru's plan was simple and direct.
He pretended to be a ninja from an enemy village, who was unintentionally discovered by Naruto, who was training.
After giving Naruto a beating, Minato would make a grand entrance.
"Damn, who the hell are you?"
"Hehehe, I'm the one who's going to kill you."
Deep in the Konoha Forest, Naruto was practicing how to perform the Rasengan with one hand.
At that moment, Orochimaru, disguised as an enemy ninja, appeared and quickly beat up Naruto.
Just as Naruto was thinking of using the Nine-Tails' power, a special kunai flew through the air and landed between him and the enemy.
Before Naruto could react, a ninja dressed in a ceremonial cloak and with yellow hair, just like his, appeared in front of him with incredible style.
When he looked closely, he saw the words "Fourth Hokage" written on the cloak.
"Naruto, I'm not late, am I?"
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