CHAPTER 203: CHAPTER 203: ENEMY OF A LIFETIME! ILLUSION!

Orochimaru couldn’t help but feel a throbbing headache, and an uneasy sensation coursed through his entire body. Something was clearly wrong, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

At the same time, Uchiha Haru and Tsunade kept pressing him for answers, and fearing Haru’s displeasure, Orochimaru dared not delay any longer. He said, "When Nawaki died, something definitely wasn’t right."

As if recalling memories long buried, Orochimaru’s expression softened—no longer the cold, vicious visage he usually wore, but touched by a rare tenderness. After all, Nawaki was the student he had cared for the most, the one he mourned deeply when he died. That kind of vulnerability was rare for a man as cold and ruthless as Orochimaru.

"Something wasn’t right?" Tsunade frowned and took a few steps closer to Orochimaru, her voice sharp. "What exactly was wrong?"

Haru quietly observed from the side. Calm by nature, he was emotionally detached from this matter, allowing him to stay composed.

Orochimaru sighed heavily and shook his head. "I’m still a little confused. It just feels... off."

"That day, Nawaki and I received an urgent mission. We left immediately, traveling overnight to our destination."

"Along the way, Nawaki was in high spirits, as usual—full of enthusiasm. That was the part I admired most about him."

"We took the usual route, the one we often traveled. Generally, it was safe—and I believed it to be so that day."

Recalling the details, Orochimaru continued, "Nawaki was eager to prove himself, so he ran ahead. Although young, under my guidance, his skills were far from weak."

"In theory, the mission wasn’t difficult. I wanted Nawaki to gain experience and grow."

"But then, an accident happened."

"The area was rigged with exploding talismans. As soon as Nawaki stepped forward—"

Orochimaru sighed deeply again, overcome by emotion.

His turmoil came partly from the lingering effects of Uchiha Haru’s illusion, but also from the genuine importance Nawaki held in his heart.

Tsunade’s expression grew darker as she listened. It was as if she was transported back to that tragic night when she lost her brother.

"And... what else?" she pressed.

Orochimaru’s story didn’t differ much from the reports Tsunade had received that night—though it included some crucial details.

It was a step forward, but still far from the truth she desperately sought.

After a pause, Orochimaru added, "There is one more thing—something very strange."

"The mission report said there were enemy ninjas in that area, but after careful investigation..."

"There wasn’t a single one."

"What?!" Tsunade’s voice trembled.

"So, the intel was false?"

Was the enemy deliberately feeding false information to Konoha, or worse, was Konoha itself deceiving its own people?

Tsunade, now Fifth Hokage, was no fool. Both possibilities troubled her deeply.

If it was enemy deception, then it was just wartime misinformation.

But if it was internal sabotage—someone inside Konoha daring to attack the last male of the Senju clan, and in front of Orochimaru, one of Konoha’s legendary Sannin—the implications were dire.

That person would have to be someone powerful, someone who knew Orochimaru’s personality intimately, who could predict how he’d react in any situation.

Otherwise, this trap would never have been so perfectly laid out.

It just so happened Nawaki rushed forward into danger.

It just so happened Orochimaru, ever cautious, let him go.

The coincidences were too glaring to ignore.

Tsunade’s mind raced. Everything seemed to point to one culprit.

Orochimaru then said, "There’s something else I need to show you."

Once he finished, Haru stepped over to Tsunade and whispered quietly. He knew she was already struggling to keep her emotions in check, but some truths had to be faced.

"Alright," Tsunade exhaled deeply, steadying her breath and calming her thoughts.

"I’m ready."

Haru nodded solemnly.

Suddenly, his eyes flashed blood-red.

Sharingan.

Tsunade was pulled into the illusion that Haru created, the same one she’d encountered before.

Within that illusion, she saw and heard the conversation Kakashi had with Haru during the Chūnin Exams.

The death of Konoha’s White Fang.

The fall of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze.

The successive departures of the Sannin of Konoha.

And the recent Uchiha Clan massacre.

Almost all of these tragedies pointed to one person.

After hearing everything, Tsunade appeared calm—rarely was she so composed without anger. She lowered her head, silent for a long moment. Logically, she shouldn’t have been this subdued, but now she was so quiet it was almost unsettling.

Even now, there was still no concrete evidence.

But maybe she no longer needed any.

One coincidence can be accidental. Two might still be coincidence. But what about three, four? It was impossible for all of this to be random. This couldn’t just be chance.

Uchiha Haru stood silently to the side, watching without pressing.

Orochimaru glanced between Haru and Tsunade, his patience wearing thin. Finally, he couldn’t hold back any longer.

"Um... Mr. Haru, may I—"

Of course he wanted to escape. He didn’t want to be in the same space with Haru even for another second. Yet Haru said firmly, "Wait. There is one last thing I need you to do."

"One more thing?" Orochimaru froze. How could this never end? But before Haru, even if beaten to death, he wouldn’t dare refuse. He nodded reluctantly. "Alright."

"I just don’t know what you want me to do this time," Orochimaru muttered.

Haru’s voice was cold and sharp. "Don’t you know the Impure World Reincarnation Technique?"

The mention of the Impure World Reincarnation caused Orochimaru’s heart to stir—he knew exactly what Haru was about to ask.

"No... no... that’s impossible..." he protested, waving his hands.

"Impossible?" Haru repeated with icy disdain. Those three words cut deeper than any insult.

"I mean... the Impure World Reincarnation requires something from the deceased—a part of their body or essence before death—to summon their soul," Orochimaru explained hurriedly. "But Nawaki Senju has been dead for so many years. Everything about him is lost. Even if I know the technique, how could I possibly resurrect him?"

His fears rushed out in one breath, afraid that if Haru grew angry, no one else could intervene.

Haru understood perfectly. As a time traveler, he remembered the catastrophic scale of the Impure World Reincarnation, a technique that nearly shook the entire world.

"How could I not know what is required to perform it?" Haru said calmly. "But don’t worry. I’ve prepared everything."

He turned to Tsunade.

She had been lost in grief, but now, at the mention of Impure World Reincarnation, her attention sharpened.

Of course, she knew the technique—it was a powerful jutsu created by the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju. It summoned the souls of the dead and resurrected them in corporeal form. But early on, the technique was flawed and difficult to master.

Now, listening to Haru and Orochimaru, was it perfected? Could this really be possible?

Summoning the dead... wasn’t that playing with forbidden forces? Tsunade’s eyes hardened, and she flatly refused.

"No. Absolutely not! We cannot toy with the souls of the dead," she said fiercely. "Even if it’s my brother, Nawaki Senju, or someone else, it’s the same. These are beliefs engraved in my bones. I will never allow it."

But Haru’s words caused a flicker of hesitation.

"Don’t you want to see your brother Nawaki and Dan Katō?" Haru pressed. "When they died, they didn’t even say goodbye. After all these years, don’t you want to see them once more?"

Tsunade was speechless.

Of course she missed them. They were the people she loved most, the ones who haunted her dreams, the ones lost but never forgotten. To say she didn’t want to see them was a lie.

Yet the barrier of forbidden jutsu remained.

Seeing her hesitation, Haru added fuel to the fire.

"Don’t you want to uncover the conspiracy behind your brother and Dan Katō’s deaths? They are dead, but if something went wrong, they would have evidence—they witnessed it firsthand."

"If you resurrect them through the Impure World Reincarnation, you won’t just see them—you’ll learn from them. The mysteries that have haunted you for years will finally be solved."

Tsunade’s face twisted with conflicting emotions. It took her a long time to decide.

Of course, she wanted to do as Haru said. But she still resisted the idea of the Impure World Reincarnation.

Orochimaru quietly watched on.

Listening to Haru and Tsunade’s conversation, he seemed to understand why Haru was with Tsunade—and why she hadn’t returned to Konoha or joined the Hidden Mist Village.

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