Starting with Naruto, I'll become stronger through my own efforts.

Chapter 197 The Reanimated Fifth Hokage

The Fifth Hokage, who left the venue, did not head to the end of the exam.

He quickly arrived at a secret laboratory, moving through it with practiced ease until he found a special culture tank.

The Fifth Hokage took off his clothes, skillfully connected the breathing tube and feeding tube, and jumped into the incubation tank, his eyes gradually losing focus.

At this moment, Xia Zuo's eyes lit up slightly as he headed towards the end of the exam hall. He received the memories of his clone and then said with a smile, "The clone is really good; its reactions in all aspects are very realistic."

Orochimaru, who was beside him, also received the lab report and asked seriously, "Fifth Hokage, what other problems do you think there are?"

Xia Zuo thought for a moment and said, "The biggest problem is that the clones are still not strong enough."

Orochimaru sighed, "The Fifth Hokage's body was cloned in just two days; it's impossible for it to be stronger."

Xia Zuo continued, "After my clone was attached to the clone, it showed obvious signs of emotional loss and slower reactions."

Orochimaru carefully noted it down and said, "I will check the cause and see if any adjustments can be made."

Xia Zuo said, "Once the cause is identified, there's no need to make any special adjustments."

"After all, I'm just using this clone to fake an attempted death; there's no need for all this trouble."

"The key is still the strength of the clones. Improving their strength is the most important thing. This is prepared for the First Hokage, the Second Hokage, and the Third Hokage."

"Especially the sacrificial clone of the Third Hokage, it must be durable enough, and it cannot be destroyed by the Second Hokage in a short time like last time."

Orochimaru shrugged. "I'll try my best."

"By the way, Fifth Hokage, you said you could extract the Fourth Hokage's soul from the Shinigami. When will you be able to do that?"

Xia Zuo laughed and said, "It'll be soon, very soon."

As they spoke, they arrived at the end of the second exam.

Inside the terminal hall, Darui's team, Deidara's team, Naruto's team, Haku's team, Kimimaro's team, Gaara's team, and Tenten's team faced off in the center.

Deidara's team and Tenten's team were clearly targeted and were relatively isolated.

Meanwhile, Aburame Shiki's squad, Nara Shikamaru's squad, Hoshigakure's Subaru's squad, and Kusagakure's Ryuzetsu's squad hid in a corner of the hall, trembling with fear at the intimidating aura of the powerful teams.

As Xia Zuo entered the hall, the tense atmosphere between all the genin vanished, as if all their auras had disappeared.

The special Jonin responsible for security in the hall immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

Orochimaru's eyes gleamed with a strange light; he was the only ninja present who could clearly see what had happened.

The Fifth Hokage, Natsume, used his own aura to suppress the auras of all the genin back into their own bodies.

However, Xia Zuo's aura erupted too quickly and spread too far, far exceeding the perception range of the genin and special jonin.

He can also make corresponding fine-tuning for each genin without causing them any harm or excessive burden, and even protect each one at the same time.

This created the illusion that all the ninjas' aura had vanished instantly.

Orochimaru was able to discover the truth because his strength was far greater than that of a Jonin, and he had a keen and wide range of chakra perception. He deduced the truth after sensing the boundaries of Xia Sa's aura.

Even a Kage-level ninja like him, who knew what had happened, was deeply shocked. The other Genin and Special Jonin were naturally even more shocked and felt a deep sense of awe.

Tenten and Naruto were very familiar with Natsume and were used to their older brother's many amazing abilities, so they reacted quickly and took the lead in bowing and saying, "Fifth Hokage!"

Inspired by them, the genin of Konoha Village reacted quickly, lined up, bowed, and shouted in unison, "Hokage-sama!"

Aside from the Konoha ninjas, the ninjas from other villages also bowed their heads respectfully and bowed with heartfelt admiration.

Xia Zuo smiled and nodded in return: "The second assessment was specially designed as a large-scale battle in a real environment, which tests the combined strength of the genin, including their skills, teamwork, diplomacy, luck, charisma, and many other factors."

He looked at Deidara's team from Iwagakure and Darui's team from Kumogakure, and continued, "Even if the genin teams from the great ninja villages are very strong, they can still fall halfway if they are unlucky."

"On the contrary, those of you who are standing here may not be strong enough—"

The ninja squads from Hoshigakure and Kusagakure blushed and lowered their heads shyly.

"Perhaps I'm not smart enough—"

Xiao Li felt as if an arrow had struck his chest, and felt very stuffy.

"Perhaps there are also many flaws that I don't understand either —"

Xia Zuo raised his voice considerably, and said loudly and proudly, "But the fact that you were able to fight your way out of the examination hall and stand here unscathed proves that your overall strength has met the standard!"

"According to the rules I set for this joint Chunin Exams, the genin who have made it this far have passed the Chunin Exams, which means that you have all become true Chunin."

"Even if it's just luck, it's enough for me to be the captain of a squad."

"As for the third assessment, it is essentially an exhibition match, used to showcase your individual abilities and make a name for yourselves and your village."

"Therefore, you are free to choose whether or not to participate."

The genin from the smaller ninja villages, including Hai from Kirigakure, Nara Shikamaru from Konoha, and Akimichi Choji, breathed a sigh of relief and decided to give up on the third assessment.

To everyone's surprise, Xia Zuo glanced around and whispered, "Konoha ninjas!"

The Konoha genin instinctively stood at attention: "Present!"

Xia Zuo said, "In the name of the Fifth Hokage, I order that Konoha ninjas are not allowed to retreat before the battle begins; they must fight to the very end!"

Regardless of their original thoughts, the Konoha genin responded loudly, "Yes! Konoha ninja, ready to fight!"

Xia Zuo nodded in satisfaction, then looked at the other genin from various ninja villages and asked, "What's your decision?"

Facing the Fifth Hokage, the strongest ninja in the ninja world, the ninjas from other villages were extremely nervous, but they were also mature ninjas and quickly made a decision.

All the genin from the five great ninja villages participated, while only Ang and Ryuzetsu from Hoshigakure and Kusagakure decided to participate.

Xia Zuo clapped his hands, and a sapling grew out of the wooden floor. It blossomed at an extremely fast speed and produced 29 bright red fruits.

He said with a smile, "Each of you choose a fruit. Eating it will give you a good healing effect. The number on the fruit pit corresponds to your competition number three days from now."

"By the way, number 29 is a lucky bye number, and it will be skipped twice."

The Flame Ninjas all turned their gazes to Tenten, and everyone felt that she had already secured the lucky number 29.

Tian Tian smiled and waved her hand, saying, "I used up a lot of my luck today. I'm not lucky anymore. Let's compete fairly."

Naruto was overjoyed. He walked to the fruit tree, picked a fruit, and said, "Great! I finally have a chance to draw a lucky number!"

Sasuke Uchiha's rigid expression thawed, and he also picked a fruit, saying arrogantly, "Naruto, luck isn't always yours."

Yamanaka Ino walked forward with a grin, picked the fruit on the far left, and said, "Maybe this is number 29."

The genin picked the fruit and ate it in large bites.

The next second, he couldn't help but praise the deliciousness of the fruit and its miraculous healing effects.

To the female ninjas' surprise, the fruit's healing effects also included removing blemishes and whitening the skin, which made the Star Ninja Genin who had chosen to give up regretful.

In the end, number 29 fell into Sakura Haruno's hands. Sakura was overjoyed and laughed heartily while holding the fruit pit, which aroused the jealousy of Naruto and Sasuke.

Looking at the match schedule, Xia Zuo was surprised to find that Lee and Gaara were number 1 and number 2, respectively, in the first match of the first round.

He murmured, "The order of the matches has almost completely changed, except for those two. Is this fate?"

"If it's destiny, then what is destined?"

"Will the Eight Gates Formation regain its fame? Will Gaara's hatred be reignited? Or... will Rock Lee temporarily withdraw from the scene?"

"interesting----"

Will fate reveal some of its true nature to me in this battle?

"I'm really looking forward to the match in three days."

The next day, in the secret laboratory of Konoha Village, Orochimaru prepared four modified clones as offerings and cast the Impure World Reincarnation Technique.

The sealing runes opened the boundary between life and death, and the impure earth gushed out from the cracks, devouring the offerings. The flesh and blood guided their souls into the impure earth, taking form according to the soul's self-awareness.

The First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, and the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, are all in armed poses, while the last one is Danzo Shimura dressed in the uniform of the Fifth Hokage.

It must be said that when the real Fifth Hokage of this timeline, Natsume, was present and saw Shimura Danzo dressed in the same attire, his expression was quite interesting.

He unconsciously felt a sense of disgust towards the Fifth Hokage's clothes, a feeling of being defiled, like the feeling of Mount Tai being defiled by Emperor Zhenzong of Song.

It's particularly disgusting.

The First Hokage, the strongest among them, was the first to regain consciousness. He opened his eyes, looked around, then at Orochimaru and Natsume, and asked with a smile, "Fifth Hokage, what is the purpose of waking us up this time?"

Xia Zuo replied, "I held a grand event in Konoha Village, and the purpose of waking you and the Second Hokage was to allow you to enjoy the most exciting activities of the event together."

Hashirama Senju was overjoyed and said repeatedly, "Oh dear, oh dear, I'm so sorry, haha."

Taking the opportunity, Xia Zuo asked, "First Hokage, after you were awakened this time, you didn't seem surprised at all by Orochimaru's existence. Could it be that you were able to communicate with the Second Hokage in the Pure Land?"

Hashirama Senju nodded: "Yes."

Xia Zuo and Orochimaru's ears perked up, listening intently to the First Hokage's next answer.

The First Hokage recalled, "In the Pure Land, it seemed that only I could remain conscious for a long time. After Tobirama returned, he could only be conscious for a very short time before falling into eternal slumber."

"Not only Tobirama, but also the First Tsuchikage Ishigawa, the First Raikage A, the First Kazekage Retsuto, and the First Mizukage Byakuren are all sleeping in the Pure Land."

"Actually, there are some other ninjas, but I don't know them and can't confirm their identities."

Xia Zuo nodded: "A wondrous pure land."

He and Orochimaru exchanged a glance, both seeing the shock in each other's eyes, their conviction that the Pure Land was problematic, and their determination never to go there.

The Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, had definitely discovered the problem, but he was already dead and had no choice in the matter.

Just then, the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, regained his senses and asked, "Fifth Hokage, how long has it been since I last returned to the Pure Land?"

Xia Zuo scratched his head sheepishly: "Actually, it's been less than two months."

"You really know how to exploit people." Tobirama Senju stretched his body, felt his own power, and said, "Orochimaru's improvements to the Impure World Reincarnation Technique are quite good; my power has increased significantly."

He turned to look at Hiruzen Sarutobi beside him and smiled with satisfaction, "Very good, this monkey should be more durable, right?"

Orochimaru raised an eyebrow: "At least it lasts longer than last time."

97

"However, I have another person prepared. You can take turns fighting the Second Hokage, and you can last longer."

Hashirama Senju asked curiously, "There's a fourth person? Who is it?"

He and Tobirama Senju curiously peeked at the fourth Edo Tensei body on the far side, and then they both froze in surprise.

The First Hokage exclaimed in surprise, "Another Hokage? The Fifth Hokage? But isn't the Fifth Hokage still alive?"

Tobirama Senju frowned and thought for a moment before speaking, "Brother, the appearance of someone resurrected through Edo Tensei is everyone's most fundamental perception of themselves, but it may not be the truth."

Hashirama Senju exclaimed in surprise, "You can do that?"

He looked at Shimura Danzo again, realizing he didn't recognize him at all, and asked curiously, "Who is this ninja who thinks he's the Fifth Hokage?"

Tobirama Senju had some guesses, but he dared not confirm them, as their appearances and demeanors were far too different.

Xia Zuo replied, "He is Shimura Danzo, the main force behind Konoha's decline."

"Second Hokage, you can ask him about the destruction of the Land of Whirlpools, the death of Nawaki, the death of Kato Dan, the rumors about Hatake Sakumo, and the Uchiha clan's conspiracy to exterminate them."

Upon hearing these words, Tobirama Senju and Hashirama Senju's expressions and demeanor completely changed. They were no longer the gentle First and Second Hokage, but ninjas who had fought their way out of the most brutal Warring States period.

The kind of ninja who maintains the highest level of vigilance even while eating, using the toilet, or shivering, and is ready to strike and kill at any moment.

The Thousand Hands Brothers possessed a sharp yet cold demeanor, devoid of excessive anger or sorrow, only unwavering dedication to their goals.

Just then, the Third Hokage regained consciousness and sensed the extremely dangerous aura. He was so frightened that he immediately assumed a fighting stance, only to realize that it was the First Hokage and his teacher, the Second Hokage.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was instantly filled with guilt and fear.

He knew how dissatisfied Tobirama Senju was with him, and he also remembered the pain he suffered when he was resurrected using the Impure World Reincarnation technique.