Chapter 43: Swallowing the Shinigami
After dealing with the mother and daughter pair, Kanae and Karin, Yumesaki scanned the surroundings but didn't see Namikaze Minato anywhere. He couldn't help but ask.
"Where is Namikaze Minato? Hasn't he been pulled out of the Shinigami's stomach yet?"
Tobirama nodded. "We just got back and have been preoccupied with Kanae's situation. We haven't had the chance to summon the Shinigami yet, but the preliminary preparations are complete. We can save him at any time."
Curiosity piqued, Yumesaki asked, "Do you mind if I watch?"
He was quite interested in seeing exactly how they would cut open a death god's stomach to rescue someone.
Tobirama nodded. "Of course, it's not a problem."
He had calculated this process many times; there would be no surprises, so he had no reason to object to Yumesaki witnessing it.
Thus, Tsunade and Shizune remained behind to look after Kanae.
Yumesaki, Senju Tobirama, Orochimaru, Senju Hashirama, Yakushi Kabuto, and Nico Robin moved to a different location.
They arrived at a vast underground training hall. On the floor of the hall, intricate characters were carved into the stone, forming what looked like a massive Barrier.
Tobirama spoke up: "Bring that person here."
Kabuto nodded, turned to leave, and returned shortly after carrying an unconscious man.
Who is this? I've never seen him before.
As Yumesaki wondered, Senju Tobirama explained: "This is a wandering ninja who has committed all sorts of crimes and murders. He will be the sacrificial lamb to summon the Shinigami."
Yumesaki realized the situation immediately.
To summon the Shinigami, one had to use the Ninjutsu known as Shiki Fujin—the Dead Demon Consuming Seal.
The user weaves signs to summon the Shinigami at the cost of their own life to swallow the target's soul and seal it away permanently. Once the sealing is complete, the Hakke no Fuin (Eight Trigrams Sealing Style) pattern appears on the user's body, and their soul is imprisoned within the Shinigami's stomach.
To put it simply, it was a Ninjutsu designed for a double suicide with the enemy.
The method to undo it, however, was incredibly bloody and cruel. One had to find a Shinigami mask from the Uzumaki clan's storage temple, put it on, and guide the Shinigami to possess one's own body.
At that moment, as long as the Shinigami's stomach was sliced open, the trapped souls would be liberated and the seal broken.
However, the user of this technique would become the sacrifice; their own stomach would be torn open along with the Shinigami's, and they would die from massive blood loss.
In the original timeline, Orochimaru had used Fushi Tensei (Living Corpse Reincarnation) to hop into a White Zetsu's body after the ritual, allowing him to survive.
But at this point in time, Orochimaru didn't have a White Zetsu body on hand.
It was only logical that Tobirama would seek out a sacrificial pawn.
After placing the Shinigami mask onto the wandering ninja's face, Tobirama began to weave hand signs by manipulating the ninja's hands.
This specific technique had appeared a few times in the original series.
Once when Uchiha Obito used Kakashi's hand to cast Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu (Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique), and another time when Uchiha Sasuke used Uzumaki Naruto's hand to trigger a Ninjutsu.
However, this time, it was more accurate to say Tobirama was lending his expertise to the wandering ninja, helping him complete the Shiki Fujin hand signs.
Of course, the wandering ninja certainly wouldn't be feeling grateful.
The moment the signs were finished, the Shinigami was summoned.
It was a gargantuan, terrifying phantom dressed in white robes, with several ghostly orbs of fire floating around it.
Because of the mask's effect, the moment the Shinigami was summoned, it possessed the body of the wandering ninja.
"Do it."
Along with Tobirama's shout, Orochimaru unsheathed a Kunai. He sliced open the wandering ninja's stomach and reached his hand inside the man's body as if searching for something.
A moment later, a soul was pulled out by Orochimaru from within the body... no, more accurately, from within the Shinigami.
It was Namikaze Minato.
However, as Minato emerged, his face was filled with utter confusion, as if he hadn't yet grasped what was happening.
Once he was out, Tobirama let out a sigh of relief and withdrew his hands.
The Shinigami exited the wandering ninja's body and drifted back into the air.
But since no one was controlling the Shinigami, it simply stood there motionlessly, looking quite vacant.
Once the wandering ninja died from the hemorrhage, the Shinigami would vanish.
Looking at this Shinigami, for some reason, a sudden desire welled up within Yumesaki's heart.
Want it... want it... want it... want it...
No, it wasn't just in his heart—it was his body.
His body hungered for that mindless-looking Shinigami. Yumesaki walked closer and reached out his hand to grab the edge of the Shinigami's robes.
In an instant, something miraculous happened.
Yumesaki's hand seemed to transform into a black hole. With a sharp "shloop" sound, he swallowed the Shinigami.
To be more precise, he absorbed the Shinigami directly into his own body.
This event was witnessed by everyone else, and they were instantly struck dumb.
Where was the Shinigami? Where did a death god that big go? Did Yumesaki just... swallow it?
Was this logical? Was this scientific? Was this even Ninjutsu?
"Lord Yumesaki, are you all right?" Robin asked immediately, fearing that Yumesaki had been possessed or injured.
"I'm fine." Yumesaki shook his head.
Tobirama approached, asking cautiously: "Lord Yumesaki, what exactly happened? Why would the Shinigami..."
Yumesaki gave a bitter smile and said: "To be honest, I'm not entirely sure myself. When I saw the Shinigami, I felt like my body desperately wanted it, so I just walked over and touched it."
"And then, as you all saw, I swallowed it."
Tobirama: "Ah... I see..."
Hashirama: "Ah... I see..."
Orochimaru: "Ah... I see..."
The newly rescued Minato: "Ah... I see..."
This was beyond extraordinary. A human had actually devoured a Shinigami. Was this still the Ninja World they knew?
How many years was I in that stomach? Is the way ninjas do things nowadays always this wild?
While Minato was busy questioning reality, Tobirama insisted on pulling Yumesaki aside for a thorough examination, terrified that something might be wrong.
Yumesaki agreed; he also wanted to know what had happened to his body.
However, after the check-up, Tobirama found that Yumesaki's body was normal in every aspect. There wasn't a single issue.
At that moment, Tsunade, having heard the commotion, rushed over.
"What's going on?"
"Lord Yumesaki swallowed the Shinigami," Hashirama said.
"Huh?" Tsunade froze, unable to process her grandfather's words for a moment.
What did he mean, "Yumesaki swallowed the Shinigami"?
"Is this Shinigami the same Shinigami I'm thinking of?"
Hashirama nodded. "Exactly. It's the Shinigami you know—the one summoned by the Dead Demon Consuming Seal."
Tsunade: "???"
— — —
Join my Patreon to get access to more chapters from Webnovel here:
patreon.com/FaaanzKun