Naruto: Saving the Uchiha

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"Mm." Onoki and the Third Hokage could indeed be considered old friends. With no one left to restrain him, the Third Hokage’s opportunities to confront Onoki directly were bound to increase. However, Kazuki couldn’t care less about these trifling matters.

"Orochimaru, I trust you are no stranger to the Dead Demon Consuming Seal technique."

"..." The Dead Demon Consuming Seal? This bizarre yet terrifyingly powerful sealing technique – Orochimaru was naturally far more than just familiar with it. He was intimately acquainted. The smile on his face momentarily froze before quickly recovering. A glint of light flashed through his golden, vertically slit pupils, and his long tongue darted out to lick his lips. "Is the Advisor’s intention to..."

"Bring the items in," Kazuki said simply, snapping his fingers. Upon receiving the order, an Anbu operative entered the Hokage’s office, placed the items he had brought onto the floor, rose to bow, and then withdrew. A mask... There could be no doubt. Orochimaru’s internal guess was already confirmed.

Kazuki looked directly into Orochimaru’s eyes. "I need you to release the soul of the Fourth Hokage. I require certain things that were sealed away alongside him. Can you do it?"

"It can be done. However, I will require a sacrifice, and additionally..."

"You will receive double the reward. As for sacrifices, there are plenty to be found in the prison."

Sacrifices? The Leaf Village prison was teeming with such materials. Weren’t those death-row inmates the most perfect sacrifices imaginable? This was growing more and more interesting. Kazuki had set his sights on the Nine-Tails! The other half of the Nine-Tails.

"Let’s go." Kazuki tossed the documents aside and stood, taking the lead as he walked out of the Hokage’s office. The four bodyguards fell in step immediately. Among them, Kakashi’s gaze was particularly complex, even carrying a hint of shock. Because Kazuki intended to release Minato’s sealed soul!!!

If it were anyone else dabbling in such perilous matters, Kakashi would have been the first to object. Unfortunately, the one setting his sights on Minato’s soul was Kazuki. Kakashi felt utterly powerless. He wanted to stop it but lacked the ability. The only consolation was that Kazuki hadn’t kept it hidden from him and had chosen to bring him along.

A white snake-like tail coiled around the mask on the floor. Orochimaru chuckled softly, following close behind. Trailing them was a contingent of Anbu operatives. Their task was to secure the perimeter and prevent anyone from disturbing Kazuki’s undertaking. Any other person performing the Dead Demon Consuming Seal would die, but Orochimaru was different. He could slip away from the grasp of the Shinigami itself.

That was precisely what made him the ideal candidate to undo the Dead Demon Consuming Seal! Moreover, Kazuki hadn’t treated him unfairly. Double the reward – that was exactly what Orochimaru wanted. However, escaping from the Shinigami also demanded a considerable price. Orochimaru would need to switch bodies, and the cost of switching bodies was a weakening of his soul’s integrity. The more frequently he switched bodies, the weaker Orochimaru’s power would become.

"Escort him to the prison to select his subjects. Then proceed directly to the rendezvous point to regroup."

"Yes, my lord." The captain of an Anbu squad stepped forward and addressed Orochimaru.

"Lord Orochimaru, please follow me." Orochimaru needed to choose a new body. To extract the Yin half of the Nine-Tails, the Impure World Reincarnation technique would have to be employed. Using this technique also required a sacrifice. Kazuki couldn’t be bothered to detour to the prison personally with his entourage, so an Anbu squad was tasked with escorting Orochimaru there to make his selection.

After Orochimaru had departed, Kakashi couldn’t hold back any longer. "Lord Advisor, Orochimaru is an exceedingly dangerous individual. Furthermore, to release my teacher’s sealed soul, you would still need to..."

Kazuki raised a hand, cutting Kakashi off mid-sentence. "Kakashi, what I want is the result. The process is irrelevant. Besides, the sacrifices will be chosen from among the death-row inmates in the prison. This will bring no detrimental effects whatsoever to the village. Once the Fourth Hokage’s soul is released, it can return to the Pure Land. For his soul to return to the Pure Land is far better than being eternally sealed within the Shinigami’s stomach. Can you understand that?"

"..." Kakashi hesitated, wanting to speak but holding back. "So the thing the Advisor desires... is the Nine-Tails that was sealed away together with my teacher’s soul?"

"Correct. Is there a problem?" Kazuki stared directly into Kakashi’s eyes. Damn it, this is starting to become a strain. Although looking down on others from a height felt immensely satisfying, constantly lowering his head for extended periods was beginning to make his neck uncomfortable. Kazuki himself hadn’t anticipated that his height would shoot up so wildly.

Now, even Kakashi, who stood at a respectable 1.8 meters, had to tilt his head back to meet Kazuki’s downward gaze. Fortunately, his height had finally stabilized and showed no signs of expanding horizontally. Kazuki had no desire to become a massive hulk like the Raikage. Although he already exceeded 1.9 meters, at least his physique remained lean and slender.

"No," Kakashi hurriedly lowered his head. Only then did Kazuki lift his head again, clasping his hands behind his back. He spoke calmly, "On the night of the Nine-Tails attack, due to the Fourth Hokage’s personal, selfish decision, the village’s Nine-Tails was split into two halves. The Nine-Tails currently sealed within Naruto is merely one half. I require the power of the other half."

"Uh... selfish?" Kakashi was somewhat taken aback. His teacher, selfish? It didn’t seem that way. Not just Kakashi – everyone present was startled by Kazuki’s assessment, including the recently defected Hoshigaki Kisame. Whether from the Leaf Village or from outside, records and accounts of Minato overwhelmingly leaned toward praise and commendation. Yet from Kazuki’s mouth, the word "selfish" had emerged.

Kazuki regarded Kakashi with a faint, ambiguous smile. "Surely you don’t believe the night of the Nine-Tails attack was an inescapable dead end?" Was the Nine-Tails attack a dead end? It appeared so on the surface, but in reality, there had been room for maneuvering. Minato himself included. It was only a pity that he had no intention of being completely selfless and, at the final critical moment, had acted selfishly.

"Th-this..." Kakashi found himself utterly at a loss for words. Kazuki shook his head, deciding not to elaborate further, lest he shatter Kakashi completely. Kakashi had only just barely managed to crawl out of his inner shadows. If he were plunged back into them over that bit of romantic, self-sacrificial folly of Minato’s, wouldn’t all of Kazuki’s prior efforts have been in vain?

At the most remote corner of the village, the Anbu swiftly dispersed to sweep and secure the surrounding area, preventing anyone from accidentally stumbling in. Orochimaru, already somewhat impatient, had also arrived at the Leaf Village Prison. He selected two individuals from the prison – one to serve as a temporary vessel for his own body, and the other to serve as the sacrifice. Having chosen his two prisoners, Orochimaru departed with them contentedly, following the Anbu squad’s lead toward the designated rendezvous point.

Orochimaru’s trip to the prison to select his subjects hadn’t taken much time at all – less than twenty minutes in total. But when Kazuki’s gaze fell upon the individuals Orochimaru had chosen, his expression turned rather peculiar. Orochimaru, have you developed a genuine addiction to being a woman? How is it that you’ve chosen two females again? One was to be the sacrifice – male or female, it mattered not, as long as they could serve the purpose for the Impure World Reincarnation. The other, however, was to be your own temporary body. And you still chose a woman?! Noticing the strange look Kazuki was directing at him, Orochimaru smiled and inquired, "Lord Advisor, are the individuals I’ve selected not to your satisfaction?"

"Whatever suits your taste," Kazuki replied.

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