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Chapter 240: The Five Kage
Tsunade and Orochimaru were born in the early days of Konoha's founding. They were both in their fifties. normally, Tsunade had the Strength of a Hundred Seal to maintain her youth, while Orochimaru constantly switched vessels to reincarnate.
But now, their chakra had been completely reclaimed by the God Tree. The "youth" built upon chakra was invalid, and they had reverted to their true forms.
Tsunade lost her seal. As for Orochimaru... after his battle with Itachi Uchiha, part of his soul had been sealed by the Totsuka Blade, trapped forever.
Fortunately, Anko's Curse Mark contained another fragment of his soul. Tonight, Sasuke had used the Curse Mark to resurrect him. To reanimate the four Hokage, Orochimaru had sacrificed his newly resurrected body to break the Reaper Death Seal and release the souls of the four Hokage from the Reaper's stomach.
As for himself, he used the Living Corpse Reincarnation to possess a White Zetsu body. At the time, he had been quite surprised and delighted. He hadn't expected White Zetsu to be such an excellent vessel. The rejection reaction was minimal, and the White Zetsu cells had far stronger vitality than previous vessels. With some in-depth research, perhaps he could fix the flaw of needing to switch bodies every three years.
Unfortunately, his happiness didn't last long.
Just after rushing to the battlefield and reattaching Tsunade's bisected body, everyone was hung on the tree. Upon waking, the chakra in this White Zetsu body had completely vanished. The vitality that should have been powerful returned to normal levels.
As for aging... Orochimaru could only guess that perhaps this White Zetsu was already very old. Losing chakra simply restored it to its original appearance.
Sigh...
He sighed internally, shaking his head. Without chakra, he could no longer use Living Corpse Reincarnation. His soul would likely be trapped in this White Zetsu forever, withering away along with it...
Eternal life... had become a luxury...
His lifelong dream brutally interrupted, Orochimaru was actually quite calm. He felt more regret than madness. During his time inside Anko's body, he had silently observed the state of the ninja world. Seeing his own shadow in the confused and obsessed Kabuto Yakushi, his mindset had changed.
"The old me wanted to become the wind that turns the windmill," Orochimaru said, his voice raspy and low, gazing at the towering tree at the end of his vision. "After resurrecting from Anko, I knew I wasn't qualified to be that wind. Sasuke had the potential to be that wind, and I looked forward to the new changes he could bring to this ninja world... However..."
He shook his head. "It seems now that Sasuke wasn't qualified to be that wind either..."
Orochimaru murmured, "Those who fail don't have that qualification..."
Before being hung on the tree, he had sensed that the wind representing Sasuke had stopped blowing... Sasuke was dead.
Learning the truth from the four reanimated Hokage, then rushing to the battlefield... no one could have predicted that Sasuke, having unlocked the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, would be defeated so quickly.
The price of defeat was death. The dead were not qualified to become the new wind of change for the ninja world.
Even now, Orochimaru didn't know who the real enemy was. Was it that Akatsuki member named Tobi who always wore a mask... or someone else? But undoubtedly, this war... the Fourth Great Ninja War... they had lost.
The lost chakra was proof.
"Tsunade..." Orochimaru's expression was calm, devoid of joy or sorrow. "We lost..."
"Lost..." Tsunade murmured softly.
She was extremely weak right now. Without Orochimaru's support, she wouldn't even have the strength to stand. In the battle with Madara Uchiha, her body had been snapped in two. Although she received treatment from Katsuyu and Orochimaru, a full recovery in such a short time was impossible.
The remaining injuries should have healed automatically under the Creation Rebirth technique; it wouldn't have been a big deal. But now, without chakra in her body, she naturally couldn't activate the jutsu.
Even Katsuyu... couldn't be summoned.
She looked around, her expression bitter and confused. " Is Katsuyu gone too..."
"Chakra has truly disappeared completely, I can't even mold it normally..."
Even as one of the legendary Sannin, even as the Fifth Hokage of Konoha, with a will tempered to be incredibly tough, she felt a heavy blow, and a trace of despair rose within her.
Losing chakra, losing all ninjutsu, and reverting to this aged, ordinary state—how could they continue to fight?
The consequence of losing the war was becoming prisoners of the enemy, to be dealt with at will, unable to resist.
"Orochimaru..." Tsunade instinctively asked her companion, who possessed extreme talent. "Do you... have a way? Can we recover our chakra, recover our former power?"
This guy always liked to research forbidden jutsu and had very high scientific talent. If anyone could solve the chakra problem, it would be him.
Orochimaru was silent for a moment, his golden vertical pupils dim as he shook his head. "Tsunade, I have no way either... This is stripping the chakra from our bodies at the source and revoking the qualification to continue molding chakra."
"It feels like..." He said in a low voice, "The Sage of Six Paths has appeared again, taking back the qualification to cultivate chakra that he granted to ordinary people a thousand years ago..."
Chakra connects people's hearts. Legend has it that to allow people to understand each other, the Sage of Six Paths traveled the ninja world spreading chakra. Eventually, he created Ninshu and passed down ninjutsu.
After multiple verifications and the news obtained tonight, Orochimaru believed this legend was likely true.
He continued, "Only a powerhouse on the level of the Sage of Six Paths might be able to help us reclaim our chakra, but..."
Orochimaru's voice trailed off. Given the current situation, the possibility was microscopic, practically non-existent.
As for reclaiming chakra through scientific research... He looked at his aged arms and shook his head internally.
Time waits for no one...
Moreover, his biological experiments also required chakra. Dissection, cultivating biological bodies, observing cells, etc. If he were to engage in pure science... it wasn't impossible. But the efficiency would be ten or a hundred times lower...
This body of his didn't have that much lifespan left for research. Furthermore, would the enemy give him that chance?
"Is there really no way..." Tsunade was thoroughly disheartened. "Konoha... the village... is going to be completely buried in my hands, the Fifth Hokage..."
"Hokage." Mei Terumi walked over with staggering steps. Looking at the aged Tsunade, pity surfaced in her eyes. "Your body..."
"I won't die for now." Tsunade forced herself to gather a shred of spirit, taking a deep breath. "Where are the Raikage, Tsuchikage, and Kazekage?"
Mei fell silent, finally whispering, "The Katsuyu healing them suddenly disappeared. Before being wrapped by the branches, I sensed that they, being on the verge of death, lost their life signs. They are already... dead..."
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