Throughout this period, Naruto sporadically received letters from Jiraiya.
Some urged him to return to the Land of Fire for a visit.
Others requested his presence at Kakashi Hatake's succession ceremony as the Fifth Hokage.
There were also various miscellaneous topics.
Naruto declined most of these requests.
When Kakashi officially succeeded as the Fifth Hokage, Naruto sent a Shadow Clone to congratulate him.
However, his true self remained in the Land of Whirlpools, continuing to study the inscriptions there.
Most of the valuable artifacts had already been taken by other ninja villages.
What remained were mainly myths and history.
According to the inscriptions, the "Uzumaki Clan" were descendants of the Sage of the Six Paths. After enduring various events during the Warring States period, the clan leader, Uzumaki Ashina, established a ninja village on this island and forged a peace agreement with the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, becoming a part of Konoha.
The "Death God" mentioned in the inscriptions stands apart from the history of the Uzumaki Clan.
It was an ancient deity discovered by the clan during the Warring States period.
Through a contract, it could be summoned via a ritual to harvest the souls of enemies. The cost of invoking it, however, was the user's soul as a sacrifice.
It was truly ancient.
The inscriptions did not specify the exact era of this deity, but a passage noted that it predated even the Sage of the Six Paths.
Staring at this passage, Naruto frowned: "The Sage of the Six Paths. I think I've heard legends of him."
"He was the first to wield chakra,"
"and also the one who introduced chakra to this world."
Karin nodded.
The myths she had heard about the Sage were similar.
"If we follow this myth," Naruto continued, "then everything related to chakra should have come after the Sage of the Six Paths."
"So the existence of the Death God—"
"shouldn't be older than the Sage of the Six Paths."
Was there a mistake in the Uzumaki Clan's records?
Yet the inscriptions clearly stated that the Sage of the Six Paths was an ancestor of the Uzumaki Clan.
It made no sense for there to be errors regarding their own ancestor.
"What a pity.
The Land of Whirlpools was destroyed twenty years ago.
Otherwise, asking the elders of the clan would have directly provided clearer and more certain information."
"There's nothing in these texts that pertains to the Reaper Death Seal." Karin flipped through the transcribed texts, setting aside the irrelevant details. "The only potentially useful information is this line."
She pointed to a line.
"Those sacrificed to the God of Death are consumed and stored in its belly, rather than journeying to the Pure Land like normal souls after death."
This short line contained an immense amount of information.
"The Pure Land," Naruto recited the term.
Is this what they call the place where the souls of the departed dwell?
It seems that the ninja are not as ignorant about souls as I thought.
They have understood this for some time, but it must be rather esoteric knowledge, having never reached my ears before.
More importantly,
the implication of this line:
The souls that have used this jutsu are trapped inside that demon's belly.
So even if I find the "Pure Land," I might not find my parents' souls there.
They are sealed inside the belly of the Shinigami.
"Where do we go next?" Karin organized the scrolls, sorted them by importance, labeled them, and carefully sealed each away.
Naruto considered for a moment, "First, let's find out exactly what these gods are."
"Once we understand them, we can locate this so-called God of Death."
Karin paused in her work, "Now that you mention it, shrines devoted to deities aren't uncommon."
"I remember seeing some back when I was in the Land of Grass."
"And the Land of Fire seems to have quite a few shrines and temples dedicated to the worship of gods as well?"
Naruto nodded, recalling his own experiences. When executing "D"-rank missions in Konoha, he had encountered some "priestesses" and "monks" from the capital of the Land of Fire.
Their status was much higher than that of a ninja.
Naruto and Karin set their sights on those places where they can converse as equals with the "nobility" and "merchant elite," and perhaps even hold a certain authority.
"Let's go check those places out first," Naruto decides on their itinerary.
They pack their belongings and leave the Land of Whirlpools.
On their way, they pay a brief visit to the small village Naruto had once saved, observing that the villagers' lives have not improved much yet.
The young boy there, although still unable to refine chakra, has visibly grown stronger physically.
As Naruto and Karin travel, the scene shifts to the Land of Fields, specifically to Orochimaru's hidden base.
Inside this underground secret lair, Kabuto Yakushi stands before a white-haired youth.
"You didn't bring Sasuke back?" asks the youth with white hair, noting the emptiness around Kabuto, speaking with a calm yet piercing tone, "How inept, Kabuto."
"Don't put it like that, Kimimaro," Kabuto responds with a congenial smile, retaining his composure despite the scolding, "Sasuke wasn't swayed by Lord Orochimaru's power."
"I tried persuading him countless times."
"Even after he was injured by that Uchiha Itachi, I risked sneaking into the hospital despite the threat of being discovered by Konoha."
"It seems he's quite distrustful of Lord Orochimaru."
The boy known as Kimimaro narrows his eyes, his chakra surges, and he appears right before Kabuto, attacking with a hand that sharpens nails to blades, leaving a red line on Kabuto's neck.
"Don't put your incompetence on Lord Orochimaru."
Kabuto, still smiling, grasps Kimimaro's hand, "Then forgive my incompetence."
"Shall I make another attempt?"
"Konoha's defenses are strong right now. If I break in again, it'd be best to wait until they drop their guard."
Kimimaro withdraws his hand with a cold snort, "Lord Orochimaru can't wait that long."
He pauses, looking down at his own body, "Neither can I."
Kabuto's eyes narrow behind glasses that reflect light, masking his expression, "Shall we call Lord Orochimaru back now?"
Kimimaro gives him a chilling glance, choosing silence.
"Do you need my help?" Kabuto offers willingly, "I am quite the capable medical ninja."
Kimimaro declines, "No need."
"My presence is enough."
He stood up and walked into a room.
Kabuto Yakushi narrowed his eyes, staring at the door, trying hard to recall.
That room seemed to house Orochimaru's collection of experimental subjects gathered from all over.
Of course, Orochimaru's "experiments" were not simply "natural materials" but also included some children with special hereditary abilities, picked up from various places.
The method to call back Orochimaru, was it a technique similar to "Living Corpse Reincarnation"?
I really want to see it.
Inside the room, Kimimaro's gaze swept over these "experimental subjects," selecting one child upon whom a "Cursed Seal" had been placed.
He took out a piece of flesh nurtured in a "nutrient pod," and plastered it onto the "Cursed Seal."
His hands formed seals.
"Release of the Binding Seal!"
Chakra surged, the flesh twisted, and in the blink of an eye, grew into a snake head.
The python opened its bloody maw.
A man crawled out from it.
"Kimimaro, give me a hand," the man raised his head. It was none other than Orochimaru himself.
Kimimaro extended his hand cautiously.
This was one of Orochimaru's methods of preserving his life.
In every "Cursed Seal," a trace of his will was sealed.
As long as the "Cursed Seal" was released, Orochimaru could be resurrected from within.
The only downside of this technique
was that
the will of Orochimaru inside the "Cursed Seal" could not act on its own, and could only wait for someone else to activate it.
Like the ever-loyal subordinate Kimimaro.
Or perhaps someone
clever enough to notice the true nature of the "Cursed Seal."
"Lord Orochimaru," Kimimaro spoke as soon as Orochimaru landed, ready to report the intelligence.
Orochimaru shook his head: "I've heard everything through the cursed seal I placed on you."
"No need to say more."
"It's a pity Sasuke wasn't captured."
"I can't wait any longer."
Kimimaro responded promptly.
He supported Orochimaru as they walked out.
"Lord Orochimaru." Kabuto Yakushi immediately approached to greet them.
Orochimaru stuck out his tongue, licking his lips with a flippant tone: "Kabuto, your performance truly surprised me. I thought you weren't someone who would be so loyal."
"Truly touching."
Kabuto forced a smile: "My loyalty to Lord Orochimaru is in no way weaker than Lord Kimimaro's."
Orochimaru sneered: "Don't say such things. Go prepare a new body for me."
"The current one... is no longer usable."
Suitable "bodies" for the transmigration were abundantly stored in this base.
One day later.
Having finished modifying his body, Orochimaru sat in a wheelchair and was pushed to a mirror.
His face was wrapped in bandages, concealing his expression, but his eyes brimmed with hatred and anger: "The Third Hokage, what a skillful move."
Even after the rebirth, his hands were still unusable.
The "Reaper Death Seal," a technique he had never heard of before Sarutobi Hiruzen used it, sealed the souls of his hands. It was a "curse" imprinted on the soul, unbreakable by mere body replacement.
To fully recover, he had to find a way to break this technique and free the souls of his hands.
Kabuto stood behind him, maintaining a low presence, as silent as air.
"Lord Orochimaru." Kimimaro came in through the door.
Orochimaru turned, glancing at him: "You should be resting at this time."
"My body doesn't have much time left." Kimimaro remained calm, "Kabuto examined me; even if I do nothing, I have only a few months left to live."
"Rather than dying sick in bed..."
"I wish to do more for Lord Orochimaru."
"Please grant me permission to go to Konoha and bring back Uchiha Sasuke for you."
(End of Chapter)