Chapter 749 : Hiruzen's State

'Is this it, Orochimaru?' Jiraiya wondered as Fujin's Vacuum Bullets were merely inches away from Orochimaru's body. Even though Jiraiya wasn't sure that such an attack could kill Orochimaru, he could sense the massive chakra Fujin was building up. He did not doubt that Fujin was going for the kill.

However, just as the Vacuum Bullets were about to rip through him, Orochimaru disappeared! Fujin squinted his eyes and thought, 'As expected, he had already set up reverse summoning jutsu. However, he got very lucky with the timing. In his state, he couldn't have initiated it. If the person who used the jutsu had been a couple of seconds late, he'd be dead!'

In a base in the Land of Rice, Orochimaru appeared in front of Kimimaro and Jugo. Kimimaro's hand froze mid-air, the words caught in his throat, while Jugo's usually steady gaze flickered, both of them staring at Orochimaru as if they had just witnessed the impossible. Neither of them imagined that they'd ever see Orochimaru in such a terrible state!

Finally, Kimimaro gathered himself and asked, "Orochimaru-sama, what happened in Konoha?"

On the stadium rooftop, Jiraiya thought, 'I should have expected as much…'

Fujin appeared next to Jiraiya and asked, "How's the old man?"

Jiraiya's expression became grim. He replied, "I haven't taken a closer look yet, but he isn't good. His soul is almost completely shattered. It's a miracle that he's still alive…"

Fujin nodded. The sight of Hiruzen slashing his own soul was too shocking. After learning the Spirit Transformation jutsu, Fujin studied souls quite a bit. Even though he couldn't be compared to the likes of Orochimaru, Hiruzen or Danzo in this aspect, he still knew a lot.

A simple injury to the soul could end up destroying a person for good and put them in a vegetative state, if not kill them outright! In the rarest of cases where the person managed to live properly, they'd experience extreme pain until the soul was completely healed. The pain alone would exhaust the will to live of most people.

Hiruzen's case was far more extreme. Fujin thought, 'Even though I couldn't see the God of Death, I saw Hiruzen's soul being extracted from his body. Only around a fifth of his soul returned to his body. And, that too was cut hastily. To think that he is still alive…'

Fujin was feeling complicated. Initially, he was disturbed by the possibility of Fate controlling everything and pushing the world in the same direction as the story he read. It had made him feel helpless just like his clone. However, Hiruzen's unexpected move gave him some hope.

As long as Hiruzen lived, it proved that the future wasn't set in stone. It wouldn't disprove fate's existence, but it at least meant that Fujin didn't need to worry about a transcendent force forcefully keeping certain events the same irrespective of what he did. Fujin, who once wished for things to remain the same, now wanted to save Hiruzen to see some change.

Fujin immediately said, "I'll check up on him."

While Fujin examined Hiruzen, two individuals regained control of their bodies. Since Kimimaro reverse summoned Orochimaru back to the Land of Rice and his soul had been sliced and sealed by Hiruzen, he could no longer maintain his control over Rasa and Sakumo.

Rasa looked around. Even though he couldn't control his actions, he had witnessed everything. He knew that Sunagakure had lost the war horrendously. He had seen the dead bodies of his subordinates litter the arena. Never did he imagine that his war would leave his village in such a vulnerable position. He was filled with regret at having allied with Orochimaru. Unfortunately, he didn't have much time to introspect.

Moments after he gained clarity, Ryu's Wind Breath reached him. He instinctively used the gold dust around him to create a barrier while he got out of the way. Unfortunately, he had too little time to react and the amount of gold dust around him was too little.

Ryu's Wind Breath tore through the gold barrier. Rasa couldn't get out of its way entirely and nearly half of his body was decimated by the sharp wind blades! He couldn't help but wonder, 'First Fujin's ridiculous technique and now this… Why does Konoha have better Wind jutsus than us?'

Suddenly, he heard a chuckle and glanced behind. Fujin's clone placed his hand on Rasa's back and asked, "Are you satisfied by the result of the war you started, Fourth Kazekage?"

To the surprise of Fujin's clone, Rasa asked, "What war? What happened here? Why are there so many dead bodies of my ninjas in Konoha?"

For a moment, Fujin's clone was left speechless by Rasa's response. As he sealed Rasa, he thought, 'What a world! No matter whether someone is weak or strong, intelligent or dumb, old or young, everyone is fucking shameless!'

Had it been someone other than Fujin, they might have been fooled by Rasa's innocent reply. Perhaps they would assume that it was all Orochimaru's doing and he controlled Suna through their dead Fourth Kazekage.

After Rasa was sealed, Fujin's clone thought, 'I guess Suna used this excuse in the original story too. It's too convenient not to use it. And, since Konoha was severely hurt and was wary of other villages, they accepted it to maintain their alliance and keep Kumo at bay.

I have a feeling that the council might accept this explanation once again, though they'll make Suna pay in some way. After all, Konoha had minimal losses. The only major loss is Hiruzen…'

Some distance away, the battle between Sakumo and Kakashi's group finally stopped. Renjiro glanced behind and said with a smile on his face, "They defeated Orochimaru."

Sakumo nodded and replied, "Yes, but he got away. I can sense that he still has some influence on me, though it's minuscule."

Renjiro said, "That's a shame. We'll have to seal you, Sakumo-sama."

Kakashi wanted to talk more with his father, but he knew that it was time. Guy glanced at his rival to see how he was doing. To their surprise, Sakumo smiled and said, "There's no need."

Sakumo's body started crumbling and his soul began leaving his body as he said, "I had several regrets when I died. However, I can finally move on. Thank you for forgiving me, Kakashi."

Kakashi saw as his father's soul left his body before disappearing. He muttered, "Rest in peace, father."

Unlike the Kages, who could still be reanimated like how Orochimaru reanimated the Hokages in the Fourth Great Ninja War, Sakumo could never be revived using the Edo Tensei jutsu!

Fujin examined Hiruzen's body thoroughly. Even though Hiruzen had taken a lot of injuries during his intense battle against Orochimaru and the reanimated Kages, the two main injuries were self-inflicted.

The flames that had surrounded his body had burnt his skin in several parts of his body. In particular, the skin on his fists was completely burnt. While bad, it wasn't extremely serious. Fujin wasted no time in healing the damage caused by the flames and the other external wounds Hiruzen had taken.

However, Hiruzen's main issue was his soul. Fujin muttered in surprise, "This is truly remarkable."

Jiraiya asked, "What is it?"

Fujin answered, "His soul… Even though it seemed like he cut it hastily, it doesn't seem to be the case. Despite having just a fifth of his soul, he has cut his soul in such a way that he can still live on…"

Jiraiya was surprised by Fujin's words. He thought, 'Sensei took Minato's death harder than I thought. He must have been working on the Reaper Death Seal. I never thought that this jutsu could be used without sacrificing the entire soul. Regardless…'

Relief appeared on Jiraiya's face. He smiled and said, "So, he'll make a recovery!"

Fujin shook his head and explained, "No, it's not that simple. Even though he has cut his soul in a way that wouldn't result in an instant death, his soul is too weak. He won't be able to wake up by himself."

Fujin glanced at Jiraiya and added, "However, if someone heals his soul, then he might be able to wake up. I don't know any medical ninja in Konoha who can heal souls. However, since he went to this extent, I'm guessing she can do so."

Jiraiya realized who Fujin was speaking of. He said, "Tsunade… Yes, she can do so."

He thought, 'Even though she can heal souls, it is extremely difficult, even for her. She has never healed anyone whose soul was injured to this extent. Regardless, she is our only hope.'

Jiraiya asked, "Is he in any danger of dying?"

Fujin replied in a sad tone, "I can't say for sure… He's stable for now, but I don't know what complications could arise. Perhaps the more experienced Medical ninjas could have a better idea."

Jiraiya nodded. Even though Fujin healed Hiruzen's external injuries very rapidly, Jiraiya knew that Fujin didn't have much experience in this field.

The other Konoha ninjas began rushing towards the three of them. However, there was one group who didn't. All of them looked at the same spot and muttered in surprise, "Where is Kabuto's body?"

[A/N: This is another change I'm making to the Edo Tensei jutsu. I actually had this headcannon and used to consider this to be canon, but apparently it isn't (or at least never stated to be, though feel free to correct me if I'm wrong). Anyway, this story will follow the following rules.

1. The reanimated ninjas who dispel the jutsu by fulfilling their wishes or reaching peace can't be reanimated again using the Edo Tensei jutsu. (Rinne-rebirth may still work).

2. The reanimated ninjas who are sealed cannot be released by the caster of the jutsu (unless the seal is very weak). Though the Edo Tensei will eventually run out, their souls will stay trapped in the seal, kinda like how souls are sealed within the God of Death. They can only be reanimated again if the seal is destroyed. (This point is directly against Canon information, as when Itachi made Kabuto release the jutsu, everyone was released (except Madara of course)).

3. I'll be adding time limits to how long a reanimated ninja can stay in the ninja world. Haven't finalized this yet, but the limits will generally be decided by the strength of the sacrifice made to reanimate the ninja.]

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