Overdrafting the Future, Starting in Naruto

Mountain's Graveyard.

Madara Uchiha, who was resting with his eyes closed, was once again awakened by Aloe White Zetsu. He opened his eyes and looked coolly at the somewhat foolish, inferior replica of Hashirama before him.

Aloe White Zetsu waved his arms. "Lord Madara, this is a big one!"

"The Third Mizukage of the Village Hidden in the Mist has been assassinated!"

There was no flicker of emotion in Madara's eyes. "Oh? The Mizukage was assassinated? Who did it?"

"You'll never guess who did it, Lord Madara," Aloe White Zetsu smiled.

Madara just stared at him silently.

Aloe White Zetsu threw up his hands. "Alright, alright. According to the news, the Third Mizukage was assassinated by the Ice Release-wielding Yuki clan."

"Ice Release…" Madara said. "That little ability is probably not enough to kill a Mizukage, although the Mizukage wasn't much to begin with."

Just then, Spiral Zetsu popped up. "It was definitely that guy named Kinoshita Genichi who did it! Besides the Mist Village, he's the only one in the ninja world who has mastered Ice Release."

"Hey, you stole my line," Aloe White Zetsu said, a little annoyed. "But, Kirigakure doesn't suspect him right now, since they don't know he has Ice Release. I have to say, that guy is really serious about his intel. Anyone who's seen his Ice Release, besides the people from Konoha, is either dead or captured."

"Lord Madara," Spiral Zetsu said, "speaking of which, should we give Kirigakure a little help?"

Aloe White Zetsu also grinned. "It would definitely be interesting if we exposed him. Isn't that guy only 11 or 12? Speaking of which, Lord Madara probably wasn't that strong at 12, right?"

Madara felt his fists clench. He glanced at the two of them. "And how do you plan to help Kirigakure?"

"Of course, we'll tell them that Konoha has an Ice Release user," Aloe White Zetsu said. "And Konoha has the motive! That Genichi guy infiltrated their village before and even killed one of their Seven Ninja Swordsmen."

Madara slowly lowered his eyelids. "Now is not the time. Wait. And don't forget your missions."

"Don't worry, Lord Madara," Aloe White Zetsu said quickly. "We're keeping an eye on both Nagato and Obito Uchiha. There will be absolutely no problem. After all, we don't need to eat or poop."

"And now, neither does Lord Madara," Spiral Zetsu added from the side.

"Just like the Flying Thunder God Technique, the Summoning Jutsu also serves as one of the foundations for the Impure World Reincarnation," Genichi mused while studying the scroll. "And there's also the Soul Restraint Jutsu, huh? This is… a conversion between flesh and energy?"

The Impure World Reincarnation used a living person as a sacrifice to summon a soul from the Pure Land and reshape a body for it out of impure soil, allowing it to possess all the abilities it had in life. However, the strength of the sacrifice also affected the strength of the reanimated person. The stronger the sacrifice, the closer the reanimated person's strength would be to their original. For example, in the original timeline, the First and Second Hokage reanimated using ordinary Sound-nin were nothing compared to the ones reanimated using White Zetsu who possessed Hashirama's cells. The second version of Hashirama, in particular, was close to his original strength.

Of course, there was another prerequisite for the jutsu: one had to possess the biological information, such as cells, of the person to be reanimated. This was the medium used to summon the soul from the Pure Land. Unless one's summoning ability reached the level of the Sage of Six Paths.

A reanimated person possessed an immortal and infinitely regenerating body, and their chakra recovered so quickly it was considered limitless. They didn't actually have a body of flesh and blood, but one made of impure soil, which was the reason for their immortality and regeneration.

So where did their chakra come from? And the living sacrifice, who vanished without a trace after the jutsu succeeded, would reappear when the jutsu was released.

First, the essence of chakra is a combination of spiritual and physical energy. From Genichi's current research on this jutsu, part of the reanimated person's chakra came from the sacrifice. In other words, the purpose of the sacrifice was to provide physical energy, while the spiritual energy naturally came from the one being reanimated.

The reason the sacrifice disappeared was that the moment the jutsu succeeded, the sacrifice, enveloped in impure soil, was completely converted into energy. The reason they inevitably died was that their physical energy was completely drained at that moment. That was why the dead sacrifices were often emaciated.

"The body is converted to energy, so there is no physical body, only a form shaped by impure soil. When the jutsu is released, the energy conversion is reversed, and the body returns to its original state."

Holy cow! I've found what I was looking for without even trying! Looking at the contents of the scroll, Genichi wanted to laugh out loud. He had been stuck on the most crucial part of the Hydrification Technique, which had hindered his development of the similar Ice Body technique. But now, it was all suddenly clear.

However, as he carefully studied the notes left by Tobirama Senju, he suddenly realized that the soul and body were like yin and yang, complementary. As the body grew, the soul also grew stronger. And the soul could, in turn, feed back into the body.

There was another extremely important reason why the reanimated could recover their chakra so quickly. The jutsu didn't just drain the sacrifice's physical strength; it also continuously converted the sacrifice's spiritual and soul energy into physical energy.

"Second Hokage, you really… don't waste anything, do you?" Genichi marveled. The sacrifice was going to die anyway, so might as well contribute their soul too.

"I wonder if Auntie Snake has studied the Impure World Reincarnation yet. Probably not… otherwise, he would have cracked the secret of the Hydrification Technique long ago. Unless he concealed some information from me, but that's unlikely. Auntie Snake's vision isn't that narrow."

Thinking of this, Genichi couldn't help but smile. In the original timeline, the future Orochimaru certainly knew the secret of the Hydrification Technique. The reason he never used it was because he didn't need to. Orochimaru had always been one to absorb the secrets of others' powers and make them his own. His "shedding skin"—or rather, his Living Corpse Reincarnation—had already perfected the application of converting flesh to energy and energy back to flesh. For example, shedding his skin to avoid damage, or taking all the power of his original body with him during his reincarnation, leaving only an empty shell. And his revival from Anko's curse mark using Sasuke's senjutsu chakra. All of these involved the conversion of flesh to energy and back. In fact, this was one of the key technologies of his immortality jutsu.

"The technical level of the white phosphorus snake Auntie Snake turned into is higher than I imagined!" Genichi increasingly felt that the late-stage Orochimaru from the original timeline had a life essence that was extremely close to that of a Tailed Beast. Perhaps the only difference was that he couldn't feed on natural energy? He wasn't sure for now.

"I've already mastered the Soul Restraint Jutsu, not to mention sealing and summoning arts. The only two difficulties left for me in the Impure World Reincarnation are the mutual conversion between flesh and energy, and the soul feeding back into the body. Thankfully, I don't need to research and develop these myself; I just need to learn and understand them step by step."

After carefully studying the entire jutsu, Genichi felt the same way Orochimaru had about Tobirama's work: It's not that hard. And by mastering this jutsu, the development of his Ice Release ninjutsu would also come naturally. And the secret between the soul and the body…

"The Spirit Transformation Technique, plus the secrets of the soul and body hidden in this jutsu, and Sage Mode… perhaps in the future, I can live on as a soul, just like the Sage of Six Paths. No, it would be more like a life form similar to a Tailed Beast. Soul, body, and chakra as one…"

Genichi's eyes gleamed as he thought of the Nine-Tails. During the Nine-Tails attack, half of Kurama was sealed by the Reaper Death Seal, yet it was split into two separate Yin and Yang entities. That was true immortality.

So, the question was, did that old fox, the Sage of Six Paths, really die of old age? The nine Tailed Beasts were created by him from the Ten-Tails' chakra using Yin-Yang Release. Either the Sage himself could master such an ability, or it was a special property of the Ten-Tails' chakra. But considering that the past Kage summoned by him could help cast a summoning jutsu in their soul state, and that the Sage himself could still give chakra to Naruto and Sasuke… Hiss! The implications were staggering.

Genichi suddenly felt a chill, as if someone was staring at the back of his head. After some mental preparation, he refocused on his research. He didn't necessarily have to use this jutsu, but the knowledge hidden within it was extremely useful.

While he was studying and training, forgetting to eat and sleep, time moved to May 8th. On this day, Konoha and Amegakure joined forces and attacked Iwagakure's troops in the Land of Rain, officially declaring war on Iwa.

With this, Konoha was now at war with Kirigakure, Kumogakure, and Iwagakure simultaneously. But Kiri was in internal turmoil, and although they hadn't withdrawn their troops, their war with Konoha was currently at a low intensity. And the war with Kumo had not yet escalated to a large scale. Iwagakure, on the other hand, was now at war with four villages at the same time: Suna, Konoha, Ame, and Kumo.

In his office in the Tsuchikage's tower, Onoki's face turned ugly when he received the news of Konoha and Hanzō's alliance.

"Hanzō, I really underestimated you," he snorted. He had never taken the disheartened Hanzō seriously before. In fact, none of the other major villages had, otherwise the Land of Rain wouldn't have become such a quagmire, stirred up by ninja from all sides.

Staring at the map on his desk, Onoki took a few deep breaths and didn't let anger cloud his judgment. He had to first deal with the Cloud-nin who had invaded his country from the sea. As for the Land of Rain, he could only pull back to the border and temporarily go on the defensive. He would counter-attack after dealing with Kumo.

"Besides, the alliance between Konoha and Amegakure won't be that strong forever, will it?" Onoki sneered, then immediately sent an order to the Land of Rain.

Early June, Konoha Year 47.

Faced with the fierce attack of the Konoha-Ame allied forces, the Iwa army fought as it retreated, finally pulling back into the Land of Earth and establishing a defensive line on the border. After receiving some reinforcements, they completely blocked the allied forces' assault. The war entered a stalemate. At the same time, within the Land of Wind, the Iwa army, relying on the oases, also entered a defensive phase.

Hokage's Tower, conference room.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, Koharu Utatane, Homura Mitokado, and a triumphant Danzō, who had returned from the Land of Rain, were gathered together.

"Although we don't know what conditions Suna and Kiri exchanged, the possibility of peace talks is extremely high," Hiruzen said first. The other three had already been briefed on this intelligence before they arrived.

"If Kirigakure makes peace with Sunagakure, then they will be able to gather more forces to attack us, which is very disadvantageous for us," Koharu said as soon as he finished. "We should try to sabotage their talks."

"I object," Danzō immediately countered. "Kirigakure is in internal chaos. The newly appointed Fourth Mizukage, for the sake of his power and his own safety, will certainly strengthen the Third's 'Bloody Mist' policy. They don't have more forces to use against us. On the contrary, if the peace talks succeed, Sunagakure can concentrate its forces to counter-attack and tie down more of Iwagakure's strength, which is beneficial to our situation in the Land of Rain."

Homura said, "The secret of the Third Mizukage's death will be difficult to hide forever. After all, the Yuki clan's strength is not enough to kill him. Kirigakure will sooner or later suspect us, especially since it's impossible for Genichi's Ice Release not to be exposed eventually. At that time, they will definitely retaliate with full force. Keeping them at war with Sunagakure is indeed beneficial to the current situation. As for the Land of Rain, we've allied with Amegakure, so there shouldn't be a problem, right?"

Danzō frowned, then looked at Hiruzen. "Hiruzen, what do you think? The peace talks between Suna and Kiri will definitely be conducted in secret. Sabotaging them will be nearly impossible. And if our actions are discovered, Sunagakure will likely see us as an enemy as well."

"Sunagakure has suffered heavy losses and should not have the ability to attack us now," Koharu said. "Driving Iwagakure's forces out of the Land of Wind is their first priority. This is what the newly appointed Fourth Kazekage must do."

After hearing the opinions of the three, Hiruzen made his decision. "I will send someone to obtain the content of the peace talks between Suna and Kiri. Whether we sabotage them or not will depend on that."

Danzō's face darkened, and he snorted internally. Short-sighted fools.

However, Hiruzen saw through him like a hawk. A large part of what Danzō had said represented his own interests. And Konoha could not decide Kirigakure's future policy. What if this Fourth Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi, made the same decision as the Third?

(End of Chapter)

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