After the central city of the Land of Frost was established, all aspects of the shinobi world began to develop steadily.
Yahiko continued managing Amegakure, while Konan remained in the city with a group of Amegakure shinobi.
Orochimaru's Otogakure still existed, but its leadership had changed, Nawaki had taken over. Since he wasn't suited to appear in public, he remained in the village, guarding the country on Orochimaru's behalf.
Whenever Tsunade had free time, she would often visit him.
As for the smaller shinobi villages outside the Five Great Nations, Danzo had begun systematically taking them over.
Well, that sort of work was exactly the kind of thing Danzo enjoyed.
With Orochimaru's carefully planted influence over the daimyō, it was only a matter of time before those villages fell under their control.
Once everything was settled, Orochimaru naturally shifted his focus to researching Kaguya's resurrection.
Why did Orochimaru want to resurrect Kaguya?
It wasn't for the sake of uncovering the truth or clearing Kaguya's name.
It was simply because he understood his own situation too well.
If he couldn't even handle Kaguya, then without saviors like Naruto and Sasuke, how could he possibly deal with the Ōtsutsuki clan members who might appear in the future?
Not to mention, he sought an even more perfect method of immortality.
Thus, reviving Kaguya was imperative.
As for how to resurrect Kaguya?
Orochimaru had considered many possibilities.
Would it be possible to cut the moon using the Tenseigan?
Orochimaru wasn't sure, and even Black Zetsu didn't know.
After all, the Tenseigan was a dōjutsu developed by Hamura after he sealed Kaguya and went to the moon.
Neither Orochimaru nor Black Zetsu had ever seen it in action.
Since no one knew for certain what the Tenseigan could do, they couldn't take the risk of relying on it.
In other words, based on the current situation, the only viable method was the one Black Zetsu had proposed: the Ten-Tails combined with the Rinnegan.
The downside of this method was that the Rinnegan user had to die.
Resurrecting Kaguya required an enormous amount of power, so much that it would completely drain the life force of the person performing the jutsu. Without a sufficient sacrifice, the resurrection simply wouldn't succeed.
Because of this, Nagato was not a suitable candidate. He couldn't even fully unleash the power of his own Rinnegan.
He was barely capable of reviving Uchiha Madara, resurrecting Kaguya was far beyond his abilities.
Both his physical endurance and dōjutsu prowess were lacking.
Moreover, he had always been a loyal follower of Orochimaru. Naturally, Orochimaru wouldn't let him die.
That left only one choice—Uchiha Madara.
Madara was already dead, so using him as a sacrifice carried no psychological burden for Orochimaru.
Of course, before proceeding, Orochimaru needed to prepare for any possible complications…
Early the next morning, at the gates of the Land of Frost, the area was bustling with people.
In addition to the Five Kage, there were several familiar and unfamiliar faces.
These were some of the strongest individuals in the current shinobi world.
"Wow… This is amazing! They actually gathered all the elites from the entire city? Is this mission that dangerous?"
A young man in a green jumpsuit with a bowl-cut hairstyle looked around in awe.
"Hey, hey, Kakashi! Do you know what's going on?"
"No idea."
Kakashi responded coldly, hands stuffed in his pockets.
Even though the shinobi world had been unified, it hadn't healed the pain in his heart.
"Tch, you always look so lifeless. Young people should be full of energy! Look at me!"
Might Guy twisted his waist twice and struck a pose he believed to be incredibly stylish.
"This is the power of youth!"
"Alright, Guy. You should focus on preparing for the mission. If Lord Orochimaru is taking this seriously, it's definitely not something simple."
"That's true…"
As the two chatted, Namikaze Minato appeared, wearing his ceremonial robes.
"Kakashi, Guy—you're here."
"Sensei!"
"Lord City Leader!"
At the villa entrance, Tsunade and Mikoto stood behind Orochimaru.
Orochimaru gently lifted Kushina's chin.
"Kushina, I'll leave those brats in your care for the time being."
"Understood! Don't worry, I'll take good care of them!"
Kushina nodded obediently.
"But… are you sure about this?"
"You still don't trust my judgment?"
"Well… I trust you!"
Orochimaru smirked.
"Then that's all that matters. Tsunade, Mikoto—let's go."
"Hey, Orochimaru! What the hell are you up to?"
A familiar voice suddenly called out from behind.
Turning around, they saw a white-haired figure standing in the street.
"Jiraiya? You came at just the right time. Let's go."
"Go? Go where?"
"To watch a battle. A battle of this level isn't something just anyone gets to witness."
"A battle? Oi, oi, don't pull—"
Before Jiraiya could react, Orochimaru grabbed him and dragged him toward the city gate.
Jiraiya had been traveling the world, but he hadn't been completely out of the loop.
Two years ago, he had returned to Konohagakure.
After hearing about everything from the Third Hokage, his shock had been indescribable.
Orochimaru had unified the shinobi world… and his own student had become its first leader?
What kind of ridiculous development was that?
Still, he had rushed to the Land of Frost in a daze, only to find a city unlike anything else in the shinobi world.
And then… he fell in love with it.
Because this city not only had all sorts of advanced entertainment venues, but also the most luxurious bathhouse in the entire shinobi world.
Here, he could flirt with women as much as he wanted and even spy on them bathing in secret.
As for the "Child of Prophecy"? He had long since defaulted that role to Namikaze Minato.
At the city gates, elites from all factions had gathered.
Under Orochimaru's direction, everyone moved toward the designated battlefield.
To ensure the battle wouldn't destroy the city they had all worked hard to build, Orochimaru had chosen the battleground in the Land of Grass.
Several days later, in a dark underground chamber in the Land of Grass, masked Obito and Zetsu stood in the dimly lit chamber.
Zetsu slowly placed his hands on his own head, as if preparing to rip something apart.
Then, in a forceful motion—
White Zetsu and Black Zetsu were forcibly separated!
After the separation, Black Zetsu sank into the ground and disappeared from sight.
White Zetsu silently turned to face the withered corpse before him.
"Outer Path: Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique!"
As time passed, and with the activation of Nagato's jutsu, the lifeless body in front of White Zetsu began to change.
The wrinkles on its face gradually disappeared.
The white hair fell away, replaced by thick, dark strands.
The body grew younger, steadily regaining vitality.
First, the fingers twitched.
Then, the figure abruptly sat up.
"Madara, how do you feel?"
***
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