Chapter 176: Orochimaru's Death
Ino couldn't personally use the Reaper Death Seal, but to maintain her connection with the Shinigami, she needed to summon it occasionally with offerings to build favor. The mask and the scroll of the Reaper Death Seal were essential for this purpose.
She stored them away, planning to find some unlucky soul to summon the Shinigami for her in the future.
For now, the immediate matter was dealing with the Third Hokage.
The Shinigami usually didn't involve itself in the specifics of the sacrifice. Whether you could pull the enemy's soul over was irrelevant; the summoner's soul was on its side as a guarantee. Regardless of your success, the Shinigami would never lose out.
At this moment, the Third Hokage had exhausted too much of his chakra and was visibly on the verge of collapse.
The Shinigami was in a good mood today. This somewhat "dim-witted" new friend, Ino, emanated an aura of Yin, which was much more pleasing to it than those Uzumaki with their Yang-filled auras.
The First Hokage, Second Hokage, Third Hokage, and Fourth Kazekage – these were all high-quality souls. Adding Zaku and Kin Tsuchi as a "small gift," the Shinigami felt this outing was a complete windfall. It didn't mind lending a hand personally. After all, pulling Orochimaru over would mean another high-quality soul for it – a win-win situation.
The Third Hokage felt his vision darkening, his stamina about to give out. He had already begun to consider the worst-case scenario.
If absolutely necessary, he would seal Orochimaru's arms, and his own old life wouldn't have been wasted.
But just as he was about to give up, he saw the Shinigami's right hand, which was grabbing Orochimaru, suddenly become solid. Black markings covered its arm, and with a flick of its wrist, a string of prayer beads appeared. The pulling force instantly increased tenfold.
The Third Hokage was dumbfounded, watching as Orochimaru's soul was extracted from his body. The fear, bewilderment, and hatred in his beloved student's eyes vanished along with his departing soul.
Without a soul, Orochimaru's body fell limply to the ground, like an empty shell.
The Sound Village ninjas in the distance cried out in alarm. These sounds seemed far away to the Third Hokage, as if they were coming from the horizon, blurry and indistinct. He couldn't quite articulate his current thoughts, only mechanically forming hand seals.
"Seal!" A seal appeared on the Third Hokage's stomach. It seemed to be sealing Orochimaru's soul into his body, but in reality, all these souls were with the Shinigami. He was merely a conduit.
According to the agreement between the Shinigami and Ino for delayed payment, three-quarters of the Third Hokage's soul was also taken. The old man, completely exhausted, fainted on the spot.
Led by Kidomaru, the Sound Village ninjas desperately snatched Orochimaru's corpse and hastily fled the Leaf Village.
The Sand Village ninjas looked utterly bewildered. What exactly were they here for?
Being ninjas from a major village, they remained composed despite the setback. The Leaf Village didn't press the attack. They allowed Gaara to step forward and explain what had happened today. They were skeptical but ultimately retreated from the Leaf Village en masse. They had no choice; the pollen was pervasive here. The Sand Village ninjas had goggles and scarves, accustomed to harsh environments, but even they felt somewhat uncomfortable at this point. They decided to withdraw first and discuss things slowly.
After the enemy forces retreated, Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado immediately stepped forward to take charge of the aftermath. They didn't even glance at the Third Hokage lying in the dust.
"Asuma, take the Barrier Team and set up a barrier at the village entrance. The Leaf is at its weakest right now, hurry!"
"Kurenai, bring out all the women and children from the safe houses and have them help with the rescue efforts."
"Shikaku! I order you to gather all the Jonin. If the Sand and Sound Villages don't give the Leaf a proper explanation, they will face war!"
"Inoichi, the intelligence division has failed once again! Your work is utterly disappointing! Look at the damage to the village, it's all a result of your incompetence!"
The two advisors frantically passed the buck. The Nara, Akimichi, and Yamanaka clans, along with many other ninja clans, were long accustomed to their petty wielding of authority.
First, they'd shift the blame to you, then in a couple of days, they'd offer some appeasement, talk about personal friendships, and the whole thing would be glossed over. They had been doing this for over thirty years.
Shikaku and Inoichi remained silent. Neither of them mentioned that the Third Hokage was still alive. They wanted to see the two advisors' brilliant performance.
The more imposing you are now, the more embarrassing it will be later.
The two advisors were busy giving orders.
The heads of the ninja clans were busy assessing their losses.
We mobilized hundreds of ninjas from our entire clan for the village, men fighting, women providing support. After fierce battles, arduous struggles, and desperate fights, the clan heads bravely led their members, charging into the fray numerous times. Now, after counting, we found we lost a total of two shuriken. It's only reasonable for the village to compensate us with those two plots of land in front of the Leaf Village Hospital, right?
Ino put away the Shinigami mask and the scroll of the Reaper Death Seal, and she dismantled the earth walls surrounding the Yamanaka Flower Shop.
Due to her active involvement, the damage to the Leaf Village this time was significantly greater than in the original timeline.
Especially the ninjutsu used by the First Hokage, Second Hokage, and Fourth Kazekage, which flattened countless houses, almost changing the village's topography.
She didn't participate in the power struggles of the big figures. Instead, she opened the doors of the Yamanaka Flower Shop and started selling medicine!
A special medicine to treat pollen allergies.
The First Hokage's Wood Release could create the Forest of Death. Decades after his death, the Leaf still used the Forest of Death as a training ground.
The First's chakra had a certain characteristic that resonated with the natural environment and would never disappear. Therefore, the Flower World Descent that Ino created using his chakra also couldn't disappear. Pollen was a tricky thing to deal with. Using Wind Release to blow it away? That would spread it all over the world, and then her medicine could be sold worldwide.
Relatively speaking, the moral bottom line of the Leaf Village ninjas was still quite high. They chose to deal with the pollen by burying it and other methods. This made the disposal process much slower.
Many villagers who had inhaled large amounts of pollen needed treatment, and Ino appeared at the opportune moment.
Look, our family is the only flower shop in the Leaf Village. Now, it's only reasonable for us to sell some medicine to treat pollen allergies, right?
What? You suspect that I created this pollen? How can you slander someone's reputation out of thin air like that?
Guards, take this guy to the Leaf Village Interrogation Department! Ask him if he's a spy from the Sand or Sound Village! Show him the branding iron, the finger rack, the hammer, the heated pillar, and the bamboo skewers! Let him see how civilized the Leaf Village Interrogation Department is in enforcing the law! Ask him if he dares to talk nonsense again!
Ino called out Shikamaru and Sakura to help. The villagers they had rescued earlier also actively helped spread the word.
While Kidomaru, Tayuya, and the others were still carrying Orochimaru's warm corpse out of the village, her stalls selling medicine and masks were already set up.
Ino's main body was selling medicine. After taking a look, she felt she still had spare chakra, so she summoned a super-sized Katsuyu Sage. Then, she created fifty shadow clones, which, along with Katsuyu Sage's clones, went around the village rescuing people.
She couldn't let go of the profits she had in hand, and she wanted the good reputation as well.