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Regrettably for Orochimaru, his hopes were destined to be dashed. Kazuki simply couldn't be bothered to indulge him; his attention was entirely fixated on Minato.
The statue-like Minato suddenly stirred. He raised his hand, his eyes brimming with bewilderment. Gazing at his own palm, Minato murmured in confusion, "Wasn't I dead?"
"Teacher." Kakashi, his eyes reddening, took several steps forward.
Minato lifted his head and looked at Kakashi, who had changed so drastically. A smile abruptly broke across his face. His right hand came up to scratch the back of his head – a gesture utterly identical to Jiraiya's and Naruto's. "Ahaha! You're Kakashi, right? I never imagined you'd change so much. You've grown up."
Minato had died when Kakashi was only fourteen. Now, Kakashi was already approaching thirty. Even if the contours of his face hadn't altered dramatically, the difference between fourteen and nearly thirty was still vast.
"Am I... in the village? Right – has that child, Naruto, grown up already?" Minato behaved like a complete goofball, grinning foolishly while scratching his head incessantly. He glanced around, looking this way and that. Upon catching sight of the Hokage Rock, he breathed a sigh of relief. Still in the Leaf Village. The Hokage after me... is it Lady Tsunade? Minato wasn't blind; he could naturally see Tsunade's carved visage and recognized it at a single glance.
"Teacher..." Kakashi's heart was an indescribable tangle of emotions. Several times he opened his mouth, yet he couldn't find the words to say.
Standing to the side, Kazuki couldn't help but shake his head. This guy was hopeless. He'd been given time to catch up, and he still couldn't seize it. Surveying his surroundings, Minato noted that they were encircled by Anbu operatives. He didn't dwell on it, instead curiously studying Kazuki and the others standing behind Kakashi. He was certain that none of these were faces he recognized.
During Minato's tenure, Shisui had already begun to make a name for himself. However, back then, the Uchiha couldn't even lift their heads, and all their merits were suppressed. Even though Shisui's reputation was considerable, Minato's knowledge of him was limited. To be precise, his understanding of the Uchiha as a whole was extremely sparse. Moreover, Shisui had been quite young at the time, so Minato naturally couldn't identify him now. He hadn't even been able to immediately confirm his own student, Kakashi – much less an unfamiliar Shisui. As for Kazuki and Itachi, it was even more impossible. And Hoshigaki Kisame... forget it. Let's just ignore him.
"And these few are..." Shisui, Kisame, and Itachi were clearly arrayed in a protective formation around Kazuki. Seeing this setup, Minato immediately understood that Kazuki was the one with the highest authority. As for Orochimaru, he selectively overlooked him entirely. After all, at this moment, Orochimaru had just switched into a new body – and it was, of all things, a woman's body. A female ninja just pulled from the prison, filthy, reeking, and with hair in a matted, chaotic mess. Recognizing him would have been a miracle.
"Long time no see, Minato," Orochimaru greeted with a smile.
"Uh..." What in the world was this damnably familiar voice?! Minato stared at Orochimaru in utter stupefaction. He looked once, then looked again. This person... is Orochimaru? The eyes were very similar, and the voice was exactly the same. But... wasn't this person a woman?! My god, what on earth happened in the Leaf Village after I died? How did Orochimaru end up in this ghastly state? Wasn't he supposed to have defected? How could a rogue ninja return to the village? And most absurd of all, this fellow had turned into a woman – a filthy, stinking woman at that!
"You're Orochimaru?!
"It is I." Smiling, Orochimaru swept his matted, disheveled hair back from his face, revealing it fully.
"WAAAH!!!" Minato recoiled as if he'd seen something utterly horrifying, stumbling backward several steps. His jaw hung open in stunned disbelief. "O-Orochimaru?! How did you turn into a woman?!"
"..." Truly worthy of being Jiraiya's disciple. That exaggerated, over-the-top reaction is absolutely classic. So this was the renowned Fourth Hokage, the Yellow Flash? Why did he look more like some kind of goofball? Shisui blinked.
Kisame began to wonder if he had mistaken the person.
Even the corner of Itachi's mouth twitched involuntarily. The discrepancy with the image in their memories was simply too vast. It was a little hard to accept.
"..." If you can't speak properly, then keep your mouth shut! Even Orochimaru, who was utterly indifferent to matters of gender, was thrown completely off balance by Minato's reaction.
Kakashi finally comes to his sense and hurriedly explained, "Teacher, he really is Orochimaru. He simply changed bodies. Because undoing the Dead Demon Consuming Seal requires the caster to become a sacrifice, the process involved certain... complications. Afterward, Orochimaru used the Impure World Reincarnation technique to resurrect you."
"Ahaha, is that so? No wonder I said he'd turned into a woman." Minato laughed, scratching his head. But as he scratched, the sunny smile on his face gradually faded, replaced by an icy coldness. The look he directed at Orochimaru became dangerously sharp. "If I recall correctly, both the Dead Demon Consuming Seal and the Impure World Reincarnation are classified as forbidden techniques of the village. Ordinary individuals are not permitted to learn them, let alone use them – and certainly not within the village itself. So, Orochimaru, you've undone the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, released my soul, and resurrected me with the Impure World Reincarnation... just what is your purpose?"
Minato had locked onto Orochimaru. This was the true Minato – not the goofball, but the Yellow Flash of the shinobi world, the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, in his normal state.
"Heh heh heh..." Faced with Minato's pointed questions and veiled threat, Orochimaru remained utterly unruffled. He spread his hands in a gesture of innocence and turned his gaze toward Kazuki. "Lord Advisor, it seems I must leave the Fourth Hokage for you to handle from here."
"Lord Advisor?" Minato's gaze shifted accordingly to Kazuki, though the corner of his eye remained fixed on Kisame, Shisui, Itachi, and the others. His powerful sensory abilities granted him an acute perceptive talent; he could sense that these individuals were exceedingly dangerous.
"It was I who authorized Orochimaru to undo the Dead Demon Consuming Seal and to use the Impure World Reincarnation to resurrect you. You may also interpret this as a necessity for the village," Kazuki stated.
Why would the village need to resurrect me? Minato glanced at Kakashi, seeking confirmation of whether Kazuki's words were true. An Uchiha... after I died, what exactly happened in the village? Have the Uchiha risen to prominence? Minato wasn't blind. He could clearly see the clan crests emblazoned on the clothing of Kazuki, Shisui, and Itachi. That alone was enough to ascertain their identities. For an Uchiha to become the Hokage's Advisor – that spoke volumes in itself.
Kakashi nodded, confirming Minato's unspoken question. Seeing his student's affirmation, Minato's taut nerves finally relaxed. "Ahaha! My apologies, my apologies. I was a bit too tense. After all, when I died, Orochimaru had already become a rogue ninja of the village. So..."