There was one question that had been nagging at Ito Hirobumi for a long time.
How exactly were the "spirits of the Leaf Village" defined in his summoning system?
Did it only include shinobi who became part of the Leaf Village after its founding and died as members?
Or did it count anyone buried in the Leaf Village as one of its spirits?
He'd asked the system about it before, but it only told him to figure it out himself.
If the latter was true—if anyone buried in the Leaf counted—then could he possibly summon Uchiha Izuna this time?
Or even the Kage-level powerhouses from the Warring States period buried in the village…
With 1.4 billion in hand, he figured he had enough to test this theory.
"Uncle Minato, Uncle Fugaku, you two should release the summoning contract and head back to the summoning space for now. I'll join you soon to perform the summon!"
Namikaze Minato and Uchiha Fugaku nodded, dispelling their contracts with a poof. Two clouds of smoke later, they vanished from Ito's room, returning to the summoning space.
Their departure stirred the others in the summoning space. Everyone gathered, eager to see who Ito would summon next!
Even Uchiha Madara felt a flicker of excitement. The Leaf Village only had so many Kage-level shinobi. If his brother, Uchiha Izuna, counted as a Leaf spirit, then this could be the moment he'd be summoned!
Back in his room, Ito didn't hesitate. He placed his hand on the massive sack of money.
"System! I want to recharge!"
[Detected 1.413 billion ryo! Would you like to recharge the full amount?]
After some thought, Ito decided to recharge only 1.4 billion, keeping the extra 13 million for emergencies or pocket money.
1.4 billion should be enough to cover even the Warring States-era powerhouses…
"System! Recharge 1.4 billion!"
[Recharge successful! Congratulations, host, you have gained 1.4 billion wealth points!]
"System, open the data panel!"
[Summoning System
Host: Ito Hirobumi
Wealth Points: 1,400,000,000
White Summons: 0
Green Summons: 0
Blue Summons: 0
Purple Summons: 0
Golden Summons: 0]
This time, Ito didn't convert all his wealth points into golden summon attempts like he had before.
He wasn't sure if the Leaf Village still had enough Kage-level spirits left to justify spending everything.
If there weren't enough, he'd end up with summon attempts he couldn't even use!
So, Ito decided to play it safe: one summon at a time to minimize losses.
With that in mind, he channeled his chakra within the summoning space.
As he entered, the group inside stared at him with eager, burning eyes…
Ito knew they were all dying to see who he'd summon this time, so he didn't keep them waiting.
"System, exchange for one golden summon!"
[Congratulations, host! You have spent 100 million wealth points and gained one golden summon attempt!]
"System, activate the golden summon!"
With the golden summon triggered, Ito began forming the hand signs for the summoning jutsu right in front of everyone.
Poof!
A golden summoning array appeared on the ground…
Those in the summoning space already knew how incredible Ito's summoning jutsu was, so they weren't shocked by the display. But they were all curious—who would be summoned this time?
A flame of soul flickered within the array.
Finally, the flame took shape, forming a ninja with white hair, wearing a Leaf Village flak jacket!
The moment Ito saw him, he knew exactly who it was: the legendary Konoha's White Fang, Sakumo Hatake, former Anbu captain and father of Kakashi "Copy Ninja" Hatake!
But the older generation—Senju Hashirama, Senju Tobirama, and the others—didn't recognize Sakumo. Namikaze Minato, however, lit up with surprise.
"That's… Senior Sakumo Hatake?!"
When Sakumo opened his eyes, he was momentarily dazed. Seeing the group in front of him only deepened his confusion…
Wasn't he dead?!
What was going on here?!
These people… they looked familiar…
Wait a second! The Hokage Rock!
Holy—! That's the First Hokage and the Second Hokage!
And that spiky blond kid—he knew him all too well! That was Namikaze Minato, his son Kakashi's jonin sensei!
What in the world was happening?!
When Sakumo died, Minato had only recently become Kakashi's sensei and hadn't yet become the Fourth Hokage, so Sakumo was unaware of that development.
Sensing Sakumo's confusion, Minato stepped forward to explain the situation, giving him a rundown of the current state of the Leaf Village…
After all, Minato was the one who knew Sakumo best among those present.
Once he understood the full story, Sakumo's mind was reeling. This was just too unbelievable…
But he quickly suppressed his shock. In the shinobi world, weird stuff happened all the time.
Heck, even if the Sage of the Six Paths popped up one day, it wouldn't be that surprising…
Composing himself, Sakumo first greeted Senju Hashirama, Senju Tobirama, Uchiha Madara, and Uzumaki Mito. They were his seniors, after all.
Then he turned to Minato.
"I never would've guessed you'd become the Fourth Hokage, Minato! That's impressive! Oh, by the way… how's my son Kakashi doing?"
"Haha, Kakashi's grown into an outstanding ninja! He's one of the Leaf Village's elite jonin now!"
Sakumo gave a satisfied smile at Minato's words.
"That kid's doing alright, huh…"
After saying that, Sakumo's gaze shifted to Ito Hirobumi.
"You must be Ito Hirobumi, right? Quite the remarkable ninja! Minato just filled me in on what you've been up to. That's some incredible ability you've got! I never thought I'd be brought back to life one day…"
"Uncle Sakumo, I've heard all about you!" Ito replied. "The name of Konoha's White Fang echoed across the shinobi world back in the day. That White Fang blade of yours took down countless enemies! I've always admired you, senior…"
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