Chapter 26: The Resurrection of Miyahiko

Orochimaru gazed at Deva Path Pain—the body of Yahiko—with an even deeper smile on his face.

The one controlling Pain was named Nagato. At this moment, Nagato had resolved to nurture peace through the cycle of suffering, and he had been steadfastly pursuing this path.

In truth, this was somewhat similar to Orochimaru’s current ambition: both sought to unify the shinobi world under an absolute monarchy. Yet, there was a fundamental difference: Orochimaru always acted according to his own will, while Nagato was manipulated.

The depths of Akatsuki’s schemes were unfathomable, with one conspiracy nested within another. No matter how grand their stated goal appeared, in the end, everything served only the resurrection of Kaguya Otsutsuki.

Nagato was nothing but a puppet and a sacrificial pawn in this plot.

Of this, Nagato was entirely unaware.

Deva Path Pain extended his hand, fingers splayed—a gesture that prefaced the release of his ninjutsu. He had no desire to waste words with Orochimaru; his aims were clear: to warn Orochimaru and to retrieve the One-Tail and the Nine-Tails.

With Orochimaru before him, there was no reason not to strike.

As Deva Path Pain prepared to act, Orochimaru spoke unhurriedly, “Do you still remember Yahiko?”

Pain’s movements froze abruptly; the mention of Yahiko struck at his deepest vulnerability.

Though the puppet’s face remained expressionless, the real controller behind it—Nagato—could not help but widen his eyes.

Yahiko had been one of his two dearest friends.

Orochimaru continued, “I intend to resurrect Yahiko.”

This final statement made Nagato’s eyes widen even further.

...

With Pain’s assault, casualties in the Sound Village were inevitable. Kabuto felt a headache coming on; Orochimaru had said nothing, simply going off to confront Deva Path Pain on his own. But what about the other Pains?

Should he send Kimimaro, Guren, and the others to deal with them?

On second thought, perhaps not. Orochimaru likely did not care about Sound Village; to him, subordinates were always replaceable, and most would even volunteer as test subjects!

Whether Sound Village survived or not was of little consequence.

That was Orochimaru’s allure—his keen insight into the desires in people’s hearts, exploiting those cravings so that people would willingly die for him.

“Still, some of Orochimaru’s experiments are only halfway complete; those test subjects must not die.”

Considering this, Kabuto decided the Sound Village should avoid direct confrontation.

He began issuing orders in Orochimaru’s name, instructing everyone to steer clear of the invading Pains.

Now, with no one to oppose them, the Pains rampaged through the village unhindered. Except for Deva Path Pain, who was held off by Orochimaru, the other five soon converged on Gaara and Naruto.

...

One of Pain’s objectives was to capture the One-Tail and the Nine-Tails, and Kabuto, without hesitation, sold them out—proactively telling Pain where to find them.

Because Deva Path Pain was occupied with Orochimaru, the other five Pains abandoned the task of destroying the Sound Village and headed straight for the One-Tail and the Nine-Tails.

...

“Is everyone all right?”

When Jiraiya arrived at Naruto’s side, Gaara, Naruto, Guy, Kakashi, and Tsunade were all facing off against the five Pains.

Except for Naruto, who was still in the midst of training, the other four were in dire straits.

Seeing Jiraiya arrive, Tsunade pointed at the five Pains and said, “They’re very strong!”

The four of them—apart from Naruto—had just battled the five Pains and barely survived. If not for a sudden pause in the Pains’ actions, which gave them a chance, at least one of them would already be dead.

Tsunade said, “Naruto is practicing the Wood Dragon Technique. He’s nearly there. Once he masters it, we’ll have a turning point. All we need to do is hold them off!”

She spoke of stalling, not defeating them. For in that brief moment when the Pains faltered, all four had struck them down, seemingly killing them all. Yet, in the blink of an eye, the five Pains had returned to their original state.

They did not know how to kill Pain for good, so their only hope lay in Naruto’s Wood Dragon Technique.

This technique could absorb chakra; no matter what strange powers Pain possessed, once his chakra was drained, even a god of the shinobi world would have to fall.

Jiraiya narrowed his eyes at the five Pains. Some of them looked familiar—he had seen them before, but they should have been dead.

He remembered seeing Yahiko outside the tavern earlier—Yahiko, too, was supposed to be dead.

Understanding dawned on Jiraiya. “They’re puppets—some form of puppet technique!”

If this was a puppet technique, there must be strings controlling them. Upon hearing this, Tsunade and the others widened their eyes, searching for the strings—and then they saw the black rods embedded in the Pains’ bodies.

“It’s those black rods!”

...

Elsewhere, Orochimaru wore an amused expression. He had said he would resurrect Yahiko, and Deva Path Pain had abruptly stopped moving. Though he quickly regained composure, he did not attack Orochimaru, clearly hesitating and deep in thought.

Orochimaru chuckled. He had always harbored a puzzling question.

The Rinnegan possessed a jutsu called Outer Path: Samsara of Heavenly Life, which could resurrect the dead.

Though its use cost the user their life, Nagato was in such agony—why wouldn’t he use it?

If Nagato feared death, then why, according to the memories from before his reincarnation, had he been persuaded by Naruto to sacrifice his life and resurrect the entire Hidden Leaf Village?

If he could bring back so many strangers, why not revive his own friend?

Something was off—very off.

Orochimaru decided to let Yahiko ask Nagato himself. Forming hand seals, Orochimaru activated Self-Reincarnation, targeting Deva Path Pain directly!

...

All resurrection techniques—whether the Rinnegan’s innate Outer Path: Samsara of Heavenly Life, Chiyo’s forbidden Self-Reincarnation, or even Orochimaru’s own Impure World Reincarnation—drew souls from the Realm of the Dead.

But what kind of world was the afterlife? How did souls exist there?

Since his return, Orochimaru had been deeply interested in the afterlife, for the legendary Sage of Six Paths was said to reside there.

If the world unfolded as it had originally, the Sage of Six Paths would one day reappear, granting power to Naruto and Sasuke.

At that time, the Sage could enter and exit the afterlife at will, bestowing power as he pleased. Could that truly be called death?

What, in the end, was death?

Orochimaru was determined to find the answer—it was vital to him.

A humming sound filled the air as Orochimaru performed Self-Reincarnation; he could clearly sense his life and chakra fading, transferring into Deva Path Pain.

His chakra condensed into a glowing thread, piercing through space and plunging into another dimension.

Suddenly, bulging veins appeared around Orochimaru’s eyes, resembling the Byakugan’s activation—a result of his recent experiments.

He lacked the Byakugan’s distinctive appearance, but he had acquired its abilities.

Within his vision, he could trace the path of the chakra.

Orochimaru licked his lips. A bold idea occurred to him.

Thanks to his past experience with immortality jutsu, he was well-versed in spiritual transference techniques. He was confident he could follow the chakra thread into that other dimension with his own spirit.

Would this count as dying?

He did not know, but he plunged ahead without hesitation.

He believed that, even if it did mean death, he would not remain dead for long.

After all, he was Orochimaru.