At midnight, the lively Konoha village fell into a deep silence.
The villagers had all gone to bed early, preparing to greet the next day with better energy.
At this time, in a certain laboratory on the outskirts of the village, Orochimaru, the Third Hokage, the Fifth Hokage Jiraiya, Minato Namikaze, and others were preparing to use the Reanimation Jutsu to summon Danzo Shimura.
"Isn't this a bit too hasty?"
Originally, according to Jiraiya's plan, they were supposed to wait for Orochimaru to create a clone of Danzo before summoning him.
Once they summoned him, they could kill him to vent their anger.
Unexpectedly, the Third Hokage had a different opinion.
"The situation in the ninja world is constantly changing. We haven't hidden the fact that Minato and the others have been revived, and now the Cloud and Rock villages are almost ready to form an alliance. If they move against Konoha, are you sure the Akatsuki won't get involved?"
The Third Hokage's worries were understandable.
Konoha was aware of how terrifying the Akatsuki was, but the people in these two villages didn't know that.
They only knew that Akatsuki was an organization made up of rogue ninjas that could be hired for jobs.
With Konoha's intelligence network, the Third Hokage knew that Onoki, the Tsuchikage of the Stone Village, had hired the Akatsuki for tasks more than once.
If they were really preparing for war against Konoha, the Akatsuki would be a threat to consider.
"The sooner we learn more about the Akatsuki, especially the leader Nagato, the more we know, the better we can deal with any potential dangerous situations."
"Alright, old man, you're right."
Jiraiya was convinced by the Third Hokage and agreed to summon Danzo with Reanimation right away.
"Orochimaru, start the jutsu."
"No problem."
Orochimaru licked his lips and began forming hand seals.
Amidst the cries of the condemned criminals, the elderly version of Danzo Shimura in the Reanimated body appeared before them.
"Orochimaru, to prevent him from resisting, put a seal on him."
Orochimaru chuckled and replied, "No need. During my experiments with the clone bodies, I also improved the Reanimation Jutsu. Now, even without a seal, I can control the reanimated body."
Long before the Konoha Collapse Plan, Orochimaru had been secretly improving the Reanimation Jutsu.
However, being on his own, there were many factors to consider, and without a clear direction, his progress on improving the technique was slow.
Fortunately, there was still the light screen.
After learning that Kabuto had used the Reanimation Jutsu to summon many deceased ninjas and could control them without using seals, Orochimaru suddenly had an idea.
In less than a month, he successfully improved the Reanimation Jutsu.
However, due to the short time, he only improved the control over the Reanimated bodies.
The strength of the Reanimated bodies, however, wasn't as strong as those summoned by Kabuto during the Fourth Great Ninja War.
At best, they were only a bit stronger than the ones summoned during the Konoha Collapse Plan.
But that was enough, as it didn't delay his summoning of Danzo.
"...Is this the Pure Land?"
After receiving Orochimaru's answer, the Third Hokage didn't insist any longer. He nodded and allowed Orochimaru to awaken Danzo.
When Danzo opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was the already deceased Fourth Hokage couple.
Turning his head, he saw the also deceased Sakumo Hatake.
The Third Hokage had lived so long, so it was normal for him to have passed away.
However, he was a bit puzzled. If this was the Pure Land, why did everything look so familiar?
Also, why were Jiraiya and Orochimaru here in the Pure Land? Had they died as well?
"This isn't the Pure Land. You're dead, but we're still alive," Jiraiya, now the Fifth Hokage, felt a surge of anger at the disgusting things Danzo had done.
Influenced by this emotion, his attitude towards Danzo was clear.
"So... this is Konoha?"
"That's right, this is Konoha. Take a look around; doesn't it look familiar? This is the laboratory you sponsored me to use back then."
Hearing Orochimaru's words, Danzo nodded, now understanding why this place felt so familiar.
With a moment to process, Danzo realized he had been brought back using Reanimation Jutsu.
"You summoned me for something? Don't tell me you missed me or something. I might throw up if I hear that."
"That's right, Danzo. I really did miss you... the kind of missing where I want to kill you."
For the first time, Jiraiya gave Danzo a sinister smile, and his words were filled with malice.
Danzo wasn't afraid of this at all. With a cold snort, he said, "Many people want to kill me. Who do you think you are? Also, I'm already dead. What can you do to me now? I'm a Reanimated body, I have no feelings, and I'm immortal. What can you do?"
No feelings meant that ordinary punishments and torture no longer worked on him.
So, Danzo wasn't afraid of Jiraiya's threats at all.
"Old man, I don't think Danzo's attitude means he's going to cooperate with us. We might as well wait a month to try again."
The Third Hokage shook his head. "Let's try first."
Then, with a sigh as Jiraiya shook his head, the Third Hokage spoke to Danzo. "Old friend, we have some things we want to ask you."
"Old friend? Heh, hearing that from your mouth, it feels so ironic."
Danzo sneered, continuing, "I'm already dead, everything from my life has nothing to do with me anymore. No matter what you want to ask, I won't tell you."
Seeing Danzo's attitude, the Third Hokage could only patiently say, "Danzo, things aren't as simple as you think. If you don't cooperate with us, some bad things may happen."
After all, they had been long-time companions. Plus, at his age, the Third Hokage's heart was soft. He still didn't want to see Danzo's miserable end.
"Bad things? Hahaha, what a joke. Do you think I'm still afraid of these things?"
"Danzo."
"Danzo is already dead. You chose this, Third Hokage."
"Listen to my advice. It's better if you cooperate with us and tell us what we want to know. Otherwise, you'll regret it."
"Shut up, Hiruzen. Right now, I am the one in control."
Taking advantage of the fact that he couldn't feel anything due to his reanimated state, Danzo had become extremely arrogant.
He felt like there was nothing left for him to fear. Even if the Third Hokage and the others tortured him with methods like wax dripping, whips, or the wooden horse, he didn't care. After all, he couldn't feel anything—what was there to be afraid of?
A tree that doesn't care about its bark is doomed to die, and a person without shame is invincible.
If the situation had been different, Danzo would have wanted to throw his head back and laugh maniacally: "I am now invincible!!!"
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