Chapter 244 : Resurrecting Namikaze Minato
Hearing Uchiha Taiga's words, Nagato bit his finger, drawing a line of blood across his palm, and formed the hand signs for the Summoning Jutsu.
With a poof, white smoke erupted across the laboratory.
As the smoke cleared, a white figure appeared on the ground.
It was a White Zetsu clone, but different from the ordinary ones.
Its skin was paler, revealing faint blue veins beneath the surface. Its facial features were blurred, resembling a lump of unformed clay, though a human silhouette was discernible.
This White Zetsu was a special model Nagato had improved upon from the standard version.
It had been injected with the ordinary Otsutsuki bloodline created by Uchiha Taiga, making its body far more resilient than a normal White Zetsu and granting it better chakra adaptability.
Nagato lowered his hands, looking at the White Zetsu clone on the ground, then at the cluster of silver-white chakra in Uchiha Taiga's hand.
He already guessed what Uchiha Taiga was about to do.
It was a soul.
And not just any soul, but a soul from within the Reaper.
As the manifestation of the ninja world's rules of death, the Reaper stored the souls of countless deceased individuals within its body. Those souls were swallowed into its stomach, forever trapped on the boundary between life and death, unable to reincarnate or find peace.
The cluster of chakra Uchiha Taiga had pulled from the Reaper's stomach was one of those souls.
Nagato watched the silver-white light faintly pulsing in Taiga's palm like a beating heart.
He didn't ask any questions, merely taking two steps back to make room.
Uchiha Taiga crouched down and laid the White Zetsu clone flat on the ground.
He checked the White Zetsu's physical condition and nodded in satisfaction.
Then, he held the silver-white chakra over the White Zetsu's chest.
He wasn't using the Reanimation Jutsu.
That jutsu was developed by the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama, and later improved by Orochimaru to summon the souls of the dead into sacrificial bodies, thereby resurrecting them.
But the Reanimation Jutsu had too many drawbacks.
The reincarnated individuals would have cracks on their faces, and their bodies would be covered in a dust-like substance, making them look unlike the living. Moreover, they couldn't truly be reborn; they were merely the dead forcibly dragged back to the living world, lacking complete life, full senses, and the ability to live like normal people.
Uchiha Taiga didn't need such a flawed technique, so he developed another jutsu.
Curse marks surfaced on the ground, spreading from beneath the White Zetsu's body and expanding outward like a spiderweb.
The dense black runes arranged themselves into a circular pattern, enclosing the White Zetsu in the center.
A cold wind whipped up in the laboratory, swirling around, blowing papers off the desks and rattling the jars and bottles on the shelves.
The Reaper's body began to tremble.
Hovering in mid-air, its white robes fluttered without wind, and the prayer beads between its fingers shook violently, emitting a clattering sound. Its mouth opened wider, its tongue retracting as a low, deep sound echoed from the depths of its throat.
The sound resembled something crying, or perhaps sighing.
Wisps of silver-white chakra flowed from the Reaper and descended into the White Zetsu's body on the ground.
Life Substitution Reincarnation Jutsu!
This was the name Uchiha Taiga had given the jutsu.
In terms of resurrection, this jutsu far surpassed the Reanimation Jutsu.
It could achieve true rebirth, allowing the deceased to regain a body of flesh and blood, reclaim their life, and live under the sun once more.
The principle of this jutsu was to use the life of a sacrifice as the price to pull the deceased's soul back from Yomotsukuni, then stuff it into the sacrifice's body.
The sacrifice's body would be reshaped by the soul, transforming into the deceased's original appearance.
The sacrifice's life force would be inherited by the soul, becoming the deceased's new lifespan.
In other words, the reincarnated person's lifespan was entirely bound to the original lifespan of the sacrifice. However many years the sacrifice had left to live, the reincarnated person would live for that long.
This was the jutsu's greatest characteristic—a strength, but also a weakness.
The reincarnated person couldn't exist forever like those brought back by the Reanimation Jutsu. They had their own lifespan limit and would die again when their time was up.
Another drawback was chakra.
Those resurrected by the Reanimation Jutsu possessed nearly infinite chakra because their bodies weren't true flesh and blood; they wouldn't fatigue or run dry.
But those resurrected by the Life Substitution Reincarnation Jutsu were truly alive. Their bodies were flesh and blood, meaning their chakra was limited.
They would get tired, hungry, and thirsty. They needed to eat and rest.
But the benefits were equally obvious.
Because it was a true rebirth, the reincarnated person possessed a complete life, complete senses, and complete emotions.
They could taste food, feel the cool breeze on their skin, smell the fragrance of flowers, and hear the chirping of birds.
They could do everything a normal living being could do.
Except reproduce.
This jutsu had an insurmountable limitation—the reincarnated person could not bear offspring.
Because their life was essentially a continuation of the sacrifice's life, not an entirely new existence.
This was a problem Uchiha Taiga currently couldn't solve.
But he didn't care, because for him, this was already enough.
The curse marks continued to spread across the floor.
The black runes extended from beneath the White Zetsu's body onto the laboratory walls, and from the walls to the ceiling. The entire laboratory was covered in curse marks, like a giant cage.
The cold wind grew stronger.
The White Zetsu's body began to change. Its nearly transparent white skin shifted to a normal skin tone, carrying a faint rosiness that revealed the blood flowing beneath.
Its facial features became distinct—first the outline, then the brow bone, the bridge of the nose, the chin, and finally the eyes, nose, and mouth.
Every detail was transforming. The original short green hair began to grow, its color shifting from green to golden yellow.
It was the color of sunlight, bright and warm.
Its face also grew youthful, shifting from a blurred silhouette into a specific visage.
The face was very young, looking to be only in his early twenties. His features were handsome, carrying a gentle aura around his brows and eyes. The corners of his mouth were slightly upturned, as if he were always smiling.
If anyone from Konoha were present, they would definitely recognize this face.
The Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, the man who sacrificed himself during the Nine-Tails incident twelve years ago.
He lay on the ground, eyes closed, breathing steadily, like a man deep in sleep.
He had come back to life.
Nagato's eyes widened slightly as he looked at the face on the ground, then nodded.
"So it's him."
His voice was calm, but his tone carried a hint of realization.
Namikaze Minato.
He had heard this name before. In the ninja world ten years ago, almost everyone knew this name.
The Fourth Hokage of Konoha, the hero who single-handedly turned the tide of the Third Great Ninja War.
His speed was unmatched in the ninja world, and his Flying Thunder God Technique struck fear into the hearts of all his enemies.
Uchiha Taiga stood up and clapped the dust off his hands.
"This guy is quite the talent, and the other half of the Nine-Tails is sealed within him. By resurrecting him, you've gained another helper."
His gaze shifted from Minato to Nagato's face.
"The ninja world is bound to descend into chaos soon. When that time comes, he'll be able to do a lot."
Nagato looked at Namikaze Minato on the ground and fell silent.
"But, will he be willing?"
Uchiha Taiga chuckled.
"This is my jutsu. Since he was resurrected by me, and considering I can now control the Reaper, he is naturally under my control."
He paused, as if giving Nagato time to process this.
"What is there to be unwilling about?"
Nagato remained silent for a few seconds, then nodded.
"That works too."
He didn't press further, nor did he object.
For him, this was enough.
In this soon-to-be chaotic ninja world, having one more helper was always better than having one more enemy.
The curse marks began to recede, the cold wind stopped, and the air in the laboratory returned to normal.
Everything settled into silence.
Uchiha Taiga raised his hand and waved it toward the Reaper.
The Reaper's body shuddered slightly, then began to fade, ultimately disappearing as if it had never been there.
Only Uchiha Taiga, Nagato, and the slumbering man on the ground remained in the laboratory.
A few seconds later, Namikaze Minato's eyelids twitched.
His eyelashes fluttered slightly, his eyeballs rolling beneath his eyelids before he finally opened his eyes.
They were a pair of blue eyes, staring blankly at the ceiling, looking like someone who had just woken up and wasn't fully conscious yet.
Namikaze Minato blinked, then sat up, lowering his head to look at his hands.
They were young hands, with smooth skin, slender fingers, and neatly trimmed nails.
He turned his hands over, looking at the backs, then the palms.
Then he raised his head, his gaze sweeping across the laboratory.
He saw Nagato, a red-haired, white-eyed man standing by the desk, wearing a white robe and glasses, his expression calm.
He also saw Uchiha Taiga, a black-haired, white-eyed man standing not far away, hands in his pockets, the corners of his mouth slightly upturned in a smile.
Namikaze Minato looked at Uchiha Taiga, and his memories flooded back. He remembered his name and identity, he remembered what he had done, and he remembered his death.
His eyes instantly grew composed. He took a deep breath and stood up from the ground.
His body was whole, without any traces of the Reanimation Jutsu. He looked exactly like a living person.
Nagato took a white robe from a nearby shelf and tossed it over.
Namikaze Minato reached out to catch it, unfolded it, and draped it over his shoulders.
He tied the belt, adjusted the collar, and stood there, feeling the changes in his body.
He frowned, because he could feel his heartbeat, the blood flowing through his veins, and the air entering his lungs before being exhaled from his mouth.
Everything was real, but he was supposed to be dead.
Namikaze Minato flexed his fingers and wrists. His joints emitted faint popping sounds, the sound of bone rubbing against bone.
His frown deepened as he looked up at Uchiha Taiga.
"Where is this?"
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