"Father, you are already dead. I am the Kazekage now." Gaara's voice was firm, with a hint of pride. "And I'll do a better job than you."
Jiraiya watched the conversation with a strange expression.
He had heard that Rasa never treated Gaara well… he even tried to kill him on more than one occasion.
Perhaps that explained his defiant attitude.
Rasa was silent for a long moment before speaking in a hoarse voice, "Gaara..."
"Do you still have anything else to tell me, Father?"
"Just… can you let me finish a sentence without interrupting me?"
For a moment, the atmosphere became awkward.
Rasa looked at his son, who was rejecting him with obvious hostility, and felt a bitter regret in his heart.
What can he say?
His son, only thirteen years old, had been elevated to the position of Kazekage thanks to the support of Uchiha Fūnan.
How could he feel calm about that?
The other party is a ruthless man who can control him by force, a Kage at his peak state.
But what could he do if he didn't feel calm?
Rasa sighed and said, "Gaara, you…"
He swallowed the rest of the words back.
Rasa's eyes were red.
Bullying!
Too bullying!
"Good!" This time, it was Orochimaru who broke the silence with a smirk. "Time for catching up is up. Now, Kazekage, I want to see who is stronger: the son or the father?"
As Orochimaru made a seal, Rasa's body stiffened.
The next moment a large wave of golden sand rushed fiercely towards Gaara.
Gaara, on the other hand, was unfazed. With a wave of his hand, an even larger amount of sand roared out like a tsunami and engulfed the golden sand completely.
"Gaara!" Rasa's voice rang out earnestly. "Did you forget what I taught you? Golden sand is heavier and denser than ordinary sand!"
Gaara's sand tore apart, leaving a large hole through which the golden sand seeped, advancing unstoppably towards him.
But Gaara showed no sign of panic. From behind, another, even larger wave of sand rushed forward.
Two Kazekage.
Two Magnet Release users.
The battle had begun.
At that moment, Guy and Kakashi approached Jiraiya and whispered, "Jiraiya-sama, do you want me to…?"
"Kakashi!" Orochimaru's laughter interrupted his words. "Do you really think you have the advantage here?"
[Bang!]
Another coffin emerged from the ground in front of everyone.
There was a word 'two' written on the coffin.
"Jiraiya…" Orochimaru smiled casually. "Want to guess who's inside?"
Jiraiya's face darkened. With a cold voice, he ordered, "We retreat!"
"Jiraiya-sama?"
"Now!"
Jiraiya took Kakashi and others and retreated first.
After Jiraiya left, Gaara took a deep look at Rasa and also chose to leave.
Rasa, on the other hand, remained in place as a coffin closed over him.
"With this, there will be no one to stop us from welcoming the Kumo shinobi." Orochimaru smiled maliciously.
"Hmph!" Onoki snorted, wanting to say something, but ultimately opting for silence.
Orochimaru didn't need to ask to understand what was going through his mind.
It was evident that Onoki did not want him to summon the former Tsuchikage.
However, at the critical moment, who would care about that?
Onoki knew this, that's why he kept silent.
…
"Send a message to Fūnan immediately!" Jiraiya ordered in a deep voice. "Orochimaru has summoned a Kage, but we have no way of knowing how many more he has under his control."
Kakashi widened his eyes in surprise. "Are you saying that there's a possibility that Orochimaru will summon multiple Kage?"
"That's a fact!" Jiraiya sighed. "During Orochimaru's invasion of Konoha, he already brought back the First and Second Hokage. It is said that he tried to do the same with the Fourth, but failed… If he could do that with Konoha, what's stopping him from doing the same with the other Kage from other villages?"
"Also..." Jiraiya paused for a moment.
Kakashi sighed in resignation. "Tell me everything at once… Is there anything worse than facing several resurrected Kage?"
"Yes!"
"Is it?"
"Uchiha Madara!"
Kakashi was completely speechless.
This world is so scary, I want to go home!
"Ugh!" Kakashi hesitated for a moment before asking, "If Uchiha Madara really is summoned, what will we do?"
"What are we going to do? What do I know? I can't even beat him!" Jiraiya snorted in annoyance. "If they really revive Madara, that's not my problem anymore. You better ask Fūnan. The two strongest Uchihas in history will surely have a lot to talk about!"
...
Meanwhile, Fūnan, upon receiving the news, only gave the order to intensify the hunt for the escaped Kumo shinobi. After that, he took Yako back to Konoha.
Funan doesn't know if Orochimaru's research on the Impure World Reincarnation has reached the point where he can resurrect Madara with his full power, but, Funan wanted to be sure.
Therefore, he needed a helper. One with enough weight. Facing Uchiha Madara alone was too great a burden.
He didn't have the Rinnegan yet.
Although he was close to it.
"How is everything going?" Fūnan walked straight into Senju Tobirama's laboratory. "It's likely that Orochimaru has summoned Uchiha Madara. Do you have any results? Can you bring Senju Hashirama back in his best state?"
Tobirama sighed in frustration. "Time has been too short. I haven't..."
"Waste!" Funan blurted out.
Tobirama was annoyed and gritted his teeth and said, "I'm telling you, there hasn't been enough time!"
"But Orochimaru may have succeeded," Fūnan replied without any consideration. "To think that you are his predecessor… What a shame. Not only has he surpassed you, you can't even see his shadow!"
Tobirama glared at him. "What about you? Have you discovered anything? Don't tell me you haven't investigated anything."
Fūnan smiled calmly. "Indeed, I do have something."
Tobirama frowned and said: "I have also thought of your method, but have you ever thought about how many people will be sacrificed?"
"It won't be necessary." Fūnan took out a scroll and opened it, revealing a White Zetsu inside.
"Use him?" Tobirama immediately understood. "Well, he has unusual stamina. It might work. But even so, I doubt we can summon the full version of my brother."
"Still, he will be much better than any ordinary shinobi." Fūnan smiled coldly. "Besides, don't I have you? With the Flying Thunder God, you are also a valuable resource in this fight."
"I don't think Madara is powerful enough to defeat Hashirama resurrected with the White Zetsu body and along with my help..." Tobirama nodded slightly. "If we count you in the equation, then yes, we could defeat him."
"Is it really necessary to fight?" Hashirama interjected in a low voice. "If I regain my full power, perhaps we can…"
"Shut up already!" Fūnan glared at him. "This is all your fault, dammit! If you had joined forces with Madara and conquered the shinobi world, we wouldn't have had so many wars. Look how many great shinobi wars there have been since then!"
"Are you worried about sacrifice?"
"The death toll from all those wars is incomparable to what it would have cost to unify the shinobi world under a single banner!"
"Damn it! The more I talk about this, the more I want to hit you!"
Fūnan clenched his fists, knuckles cracking as he glared at Hashirama.
Hashirama shrank his neck and said nothing.
Looking at Hashirama like that, Tobirama's eyes twitched.
...
Three hours later.
The three of them, along with Yako, headed to another laboratory.
"Alright, preparations are ready. Let's begin."
Fūnan placed two modified White Zetsu bodies on the ground.
To one side, Hashirama and Tobirama stood ready.
"Release!"
Fūnan undid the Impure World Reincarnation and at the same time, Yako injected large amounts of Hashirama's cells into the White Zetsu bodies.
The two White Zetsu were still alive. As soon as the cells were injected into them, they began to writhe violently.
Their bodies deformed and swelled uncontrollably, as if they were going to explode.
Fūnan used his Mangekyō Sharingan and analyzed the White Zetsu.
When he noticed that they had reached their limit, he finally began to act.
"Impure World Reincarnation!"
A swirl of dust rose from the ground, enveloping the dying bodies of the White Zetsu.
The Senju brothers are back again.
Tobirama moved his body and said, "I feel like I've returned to my peak period, no, maybe a little stronger!"
Hashirama said dissatisfiedly, "I'm not at my peak yet."
"Even though these two White Zetsu were modified before being injected with your cells, this is the limit they can withstand before exploding," Fūnan explained. "If you want more power, it can't be achieved in a short time."
"It doesn't matter." Hashirama shrugged. "I'm already strong enough with this body. I can fight Madara!"
He turned to Fūnan with a strange look.
"What's wrong?" Fūnan smiled defiantly. "You want to test my strength again? I won't be as gentle this time as I was last time."
Senju Hashirama smiled awkwardly.
If that was being kind, he doesn't want to imagine what the opposite would be like...
"Well, enough talk," Tobirama interrupted impatiently. "I'll stay here to try to improve the process further. I'll see if I can make my brother even stronger."
"Alright. We'll divide up the work." Fūnan looked at Tobirama and warned, "Be careful. This is still a Reincarnation body. Just because you can reach your peak is already quite a lot."
"What you said about overcoming your peak period is just wishful thinking."
"I know…" Tobirama felt a small twitch in his eyebrow.
He just wanted to regain some of his pride after the beating earlier. Was it necessary to emphasize it so much?
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