"These two are…!"
"The First Hokage! And the Second Hokage!"
Minato Namikaze was stunned. He never imagined that the souls Orochimaru had summoned with his Reanimation Jutsu would be these two legendary figures.
"It has been a long time, Monkey…"
"It's you, Sarutobi. You've gotten old."
Hearing the voices of the two former Hokage, Hiruzen lowered his head, his own voice trembling. "I never thought I would have to face the two of you in this way. What a disgrace."
Tobirama Senju mechanically turned his head, his gaze falling on Orochimaru. "Reanimation. Was it you who summoned my brother and me with this forbidden technique? . You are a remarkable fellow."
"In that case," Hashirama Senju added, his voice heavy with resignation, "it seems we have no choice but to fight against the younger generation."
Orochimaru's eyes had been scanning the chaos below. He saw something, and his brow furrowed as he urged them on. "Old men, stop wasting time and begin!" With that, he thrust two kunai, each with a cursed talisman attached, into the backs of the two Hokages' necks.
"Ngh!"
With a pained groan, the auras of Hashirama and Tobirama began to feel more and more like those of living people.
"They're… becoming more lifelike," Hiruzen sighed.
Minato could no longer contain his anger. "How dare you toy with the dead!" he shouted. "To play with the dead and their bodies like this is an abomination!"
"He can actually resurrect the dead," an Anbu behind him murmured quietly. "What kind of jutsu is that?"
The Anbu captain responded in a deep voice. "Reanimation Jutsu. It is a forbidden technique that allows one to summon the dead from the Pure Land."
"A regular summoning requires the user's blood, but this forbidden technique is said to require a living sacrifice in order to summon the soul of the deceased back to this world, using the sacrifice's body as a vessel."
Hearing this, the other Anbu were stunned. "So, the bodies of the two Hokage are… the sacrifices?"
"Yes," the captain sighed. "The body belongs to the sacrifice, but the soul is that of the deceased. The dust and debris that coat them are meant to make them more closely resemble their appearance in life."
"And… because a seal has been placed in their brains, their personalities and emotions have been erased, turning them into mere puppets of destruction. They are extremely dangerous."
"This will not be an easy battle."
"…"
"Hehehe." After everything was in place, Orochimaru grinned. "You can choose your own opponents. Two former Hokage versus two current Hokage. Well, that seems fair."
Hiruzen raised an eyebrow. "And what about you? You won't be joining the fight?"
"Me? Hehe, I'm not a Hokage. I won't play with you," Orochimaru said, stroking his hair and raising his chin proudly. "Besides… I have more important things to do." As he spoke, his gaze drifted down to Shiro, who was currently engaged in a fierce battle with several Konoha Jonin in the stands.
"My original goal was to destroy Konoha, but I never expected to find such a treasure. This trip has truly been worthwhile."
"Sakon, Tayuya, Kidomaru, Jirobo, let's go!"
"Yes!"
As soon as he spoke, the five of them flickered out of sight, heading for the stands.
"No! His real target is Shiro Uchiha!"
"Stop them!"
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