Chapter 597: The Konoha Restoration Plan

Just as Kushina had said, the Third Hokage of the Engraved Tsukuyomi world hadn't used the Reaper Death Seal at the cost of his soul.

Instead, Sarutobi Hiruzen had sacrificed his body to seal Orochimaru.

Hiruzen had deliberately lured Orochimaru into another one of their twisted teacher-student confrontations, then planted the Reverse Four Symbols Sealing Technique at the critical point and sealed away both of Orochimaru's arms along with the corresponding portions of his soul.

Orochimaru had been furious.

He had never imagined that when his teacher talked about "exploring a black hole," there would actually be a black hole waiting for him.

If Enma hadn't betrayed Hiruzen at the last moment, picked up the fallen Sword of Kusanagi, and severed Orochimaru's arms in time, Orochimaru's entire body might have been dragged into the seal.

To take revenge on his teacher—and to complete the work he had left unfinished—Orochimaru decided to restart the Konoha Restoration Plan.

Through extensive archaeological research, Orochimaru had discovered that the shinobi world had once been a place where humanity and all other creatures lived together in perfect harmony.

That, supposedly, was why so many shinobi surnames and given names contained references to animals.

In ancient times, those names had apparently served as declarations of what kind of furry creature each lineage favored.

The Sarutobi clan, naturally, had been devoted to apes.

But just as Inuzuka Kiba had betrayed dogs in favor of cats, Sarutobi Hiruzen had eventually betrayed his clan's ancient pact with Enma's people and turned his attention toward humans instead.

That was why Enma, despite serving as Hiruzen's summon for so many years, secretly resented him.

And at the decisive moment in Hiruzen's battle with Orochimaru, Enma finally stabbed his summoner in the back and saved Orochimaru.

He wanted Hiruzen to carry his regret forever in the world of the dead.

According to Orochimaru's research, the ancient era of harmony between humans and other creatures finally came to an end with the founding of the hidden villages.

Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara had brought the furry age to a close and ushered in the age of bond-type shinobi.

Hashirama had supposedly been so determined to erase the old influence that he captured all nine Tailed Beasts and sealed them inside humans.

That way, even people who had once admired Tailed Beasts would gradually become confused.

Did they actually care about the Tailed Beast?

Or the human jinchūriki containing it?

Over time, their preferences would be subtly redirected.

That was Orochimaru's interpretation of history—and the ideological foundation of his Konoha Restoration Plan.

To put this plan into motion, Orochimaru had pressured and bribed the people who had remained behind at Kakashi's house, forcing them to cooperate with him in putting on a performance for Kushina.

The information they planned to give her would be half true and half fabricated.

Kakashi started the recording.

The footage showed everyone desperately fighting Orochimaru.

Even with both arms sealed, Orochimaru was still far stronger than the others.

In the real shinobi world, Guy might not have been able to kill Orochimaru permanently, but he could at least have driven him away.

This world's Guy, however, practiced the Five Heavens Breathing Method, slacked off constantly, and even insisted on taking weekends off.

His strength was nowhere near the real version.

Still, the moment Guy saw Orochimaru, his newly awakened enthusiasm for the furry world reignited his fighting spirit.

Unfortunately, spirit alone could not erase the gap in power.

"Starting today, I am Konoha's Blue Beast!"

Guy shouted passionately as he charged at Orochimaru.

Everyone watching outside the illusion was stunned.

Even inside Engraved Tsukuyomi, had Might Guy somehow found his way back to becoming Konoha's Blue Beast?

Wait.

Something about that sounded wrong.

Had Guy actually shouted Blue Beast?

Or had he used some bizarre phrase involving old stories and questionable wordplay?

Meanwhile, Orochimaru fought without the use of his hands by cycling through increasingly absurd combinations of techniques.

Orochimaru emerged from a snake.

A snake produced a sword.

Orochimaru produced a sword.

A snake produced Orochimaru.

And every possible variation in between.

Kakashi truly lived up to his reputation as Konoha's finest "technician."

Even though he was no match for Orochimaru in raw combat strength, he quickly identified a weakness in the pattern.

The problem was that exploiting it required extremely precise prediction.

And none of them had enough battle experience to reliably predict Orochimaru's next sequence.

So if they wanted to defeat him—

They would have to gamble.

Kakashi's plan was simple.

The moment Orochimaru completed one of his Orochimaru–Snake–Sword combinations, someone would rush forward and block his mouth before the next sequence could begin.

If they succeeded, Orochimaru's entire technique chain would be temporarily sealed.

The risk, however, was enormous.

To keep up with Orochimaru's speed, whoever attacked had to move before knowing what the next sequence would produce.

In other words, they had no way of knowing whether Orochimaru himself, a snake, or a sword would emerge next.

If the attacker guessed wrong, not only would they miss the opportunity—

They could get badly injured.

And because Orochimaru's technique wasn't simply hiding something inside his body, even the Byakugan couldn't see ahead and predict what would come out next.

In the end, Neji stepped forward.

He wanted to regain the Hokage's trust.

He wanted to prove himself.

So Neji chose to shoulder the entire risk.

Forcing a smile, he said,

"When I was young, the main family already took away my QQ. I'm basically a ruined man anyway. If I lose something else, what difference does it make?"

And no, using his hands or feet wasn't an option.

Stopping Orochimaru's technique was only the first step.

Afterward, the attacker still needed to hold Orochimaru firmly in place so the others could pile on and finish the job.

Neji's luck was difficult to describe as either good or bad.

Orochimaru's next sequence was—

Snake produces Orochimaru, plus sword.

A saying flashed through Neji's mind:

Truth exists only at the edge of the sword!

Gritting his teeth, Neji endured the incoming blade and successfully jammed Orochimaru's technique before the next transformation could continue.

Everyone else rushed in at once.

Together, they overwhelmed him.

Orochimaru immediately shed his body, transformed into a small white snake, and fled in panic.

The recording ended.

"Neji."

Kushina slowly looked over everyone present.

"So this is what actually happened?"

The people involved exchanged guilty looks.

Then nodded.

"Yes, Lady Hokage."

Kushina studied them for several seconds.

"In that case, let me tell you a story."

"It concerns the previous Nine-Tails jinchūriki—Grandmother Mito."

"Grandmother Mito was actually a perfect Nine-Tails jinchūriki as well."

"And perfect Nine-Tails jinchūriki awaken a special ability."

Naruto's eyes lit up immediately.

"Negative Emotion Sensing?"

He raised his hand excitedly.

He knew that one.

In the real shinobi world, Naruto had already mastered it.

"Similar, but not the same."

Kushina glanced at him.

"It was the ability to sense affection."

"To directly see how much goodwill someone held toward her."

Naruto blinked.

"You can't awaken it, because you're not technically a jinchūriki. You're the demon fox itself in human form."

"But Grandmother Mito was different."

"She was a genuine human jinchūriki."

"When she gained that ability, the first person she instinctively used it on was the First Hokage."

Kushina paused.

"And the answer she saw was cruel."

The room went quiet.

"Grandmother Mito didn't want to destroy her family."

"So she pretended she had never fully mastered the Nine-Tails and never gained that ability."

"She kept the truth hidden for the rest of her life."

"And before she died…"

"She told only me."

"…"

Silence filled the Hokage's office.

Several seconds passed.

Then Neji dropped to his knees first.

"I'm sorry, Lady Hokage!"

"I just wanted to advance so badly!"

"I wanted to serve the village more than anything!"

The others immediately followed.

"Lady Hokage, please forgive us!"

"Orochimaru forced us into it!"

"We had no choice!"

The lies collapsed almost instantly.

If Kushina could actually see their affection levels, then they had been exposed the moment they walked through the door.

No wonder Lady Hokage always seemed able to identify exactly who inside the village disliked her and interrogate them with frightening accuracy.

So that was the absurd ability she had been using all along.