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OPI Chapter 369: A War Not of This Earth
🕑 Added 2025-05-02 22:59:00 +0000 UTC[BANG!]
While Hiruzen was lost in his thoughts, suddenly, the office door was abruptly opened.
This caused the Third Hokage to scowl with irritation.
“Danzo, when will you ever learn to knock? Or at least open the door gently?”
Danzo strode in briskly, his urgency completely unhidden—but he paid no mind to Hiruzen’s displeasure.
With a loud bang, he slammed a file down onto the desk.
“Hiruzen, read this first!”
Hiruzen frowned, noting the unusually grave look in Shimura Danzo’s eyes. His pupils were even trembling faintly.
In all the decades they'd known each other, it was the first time he’d seen Danzo like this.
“…Alright.”
Without wasting words, Hiruzen picked up the document and glanced at it—
Only to immediately raise his head with a jolt. He slapped the desk and shot to his feet, shouting in fury: “You authorized a memory probe on Queen Sāra without my permission?!”
“Danzo! I remember warning you not to overstep! Don’t forget—I’m the Hokage!”
His voice was so loud it carried outside, startling two Konoha shinobi passing by, who quickly hurried away.
Danzo, however, was unfazed by the oppressive force radiating from Hiruzen. He simply snorted and countered, his tone equally forceful: “And what good is your authority when the enemy is already at our doorstep, and you’re still hesitating like this?”
“We need more intel on Aramaki. Whether it’s him or Crocodile from before—they both came out of that place, Rōran!”
“As Rōran’s queen, Sāra must know more than she’s letting on.”
“And don’t forget—I did try to question her properly. But she kept dodging key questions and then refused to cooperate entirely. Even remained completely silent.”
“So tell me—what other choice did I have but to have a member of the Yamanaka Clan extract her memories?”
Hiruzen’s anger slowly subsided in the face of Danzo’s barrage of retorts.
Because deep down, he knew Danzo was right.
“…Fine. Enough back and forth. Hurry up and read it. What’s in that report will keep you stunned for half a day.”
Danzo snorted again and motioned toward the document.
“Alright…”
Hiruzen let out a long sigh, then picked it up once more and began reading carefully.
“This…”
As he continued, his eyes widened more and more. His mouth fell open and remained that way, his expression shifting from disbelief to doubt, and then to shock.
Danzo, for once, didn’t mock him. After all, his own emotions hadn’t completely settled either.
“An interdimensional invader who arrived in our world through a space-time method called a ‘Dimensional Gate’—and one who has already conquered multiple worlds…”
“Whether it’s Aramaki, whom we’re about to face, or Crocodile, who previously captured the Third Raikage—the truth is, both are military officers from this ‘World Government,’ a cross-world force!”
Hiruzen clutched his forehead, overwhelmed by the flood of information.
“No wonder… no wonder Aramaki has no chakra in his body. His abilities—they’re neither kekkei genkai nor ninjutsu…”
“What now, Hiruzen?” Danzo asked.
Because despite racking his brain on the way over, he hadn’t come up with any good solutions. In the end, he figured he’d leave it to Hiruzen—wasn’t he the Hokage?
“Immediately classify this intel as top-secret and send it to Jiraiya. And… to Orochimaru and Minato as well.”
As he spoke, Hiruzen lifted his head and looked across the desk at Danzo, his gaze resolute.
“And one more thing, old friend—”
“We need to put on our battle gear again. We have to defeat or drive off Aramaki first. Only then will Konoha have more time to prepare.”
Danzo remained silent for a long while.
Because he could hear the weight behind Hiruzen’s words.
At last, he gave a small nod.
“Indeed… It’s time we inherited our sensei’s Will of Fire. But I’ll need to make a few preparations first.”
After all, this Danzo was not yet the man he would become twenty years later.
His blood had not yet cooled completely.
...
Konoha was filled with a tense and oppressive atmosphere.
Just as Shimura Danzō appeared in the Hokage’s office, Orochimaru, on the other side of the village, was paying a visit to the hospitalized Namikaze Minato.
This was a relatively luxurious private hospital room.
Originally, Kushina had also been here.
But when she saw that Orochimaru had come for a serious conversation with Minato, she took the initiative to step outside and wait on the bench in the hallway.
Even so, she kept her senses attuned to everything going on inside.
Kushina always felt uneasy around Orochimaru. Now, with Minato’s legs crippled, she was even more on guard.
Inside the room, however, Orochimaru truly bore no ill intent.
As soon as he arrived, he began examining Minato’s injured legs.
While his medical skills couldn’t quite compare to Tsunade’s, they still far surpassed most of the doctors in Konoha Hospital.
Moreover, his approach to treatment wasn’t limited to medical knowledge—he also drew on his expertise in biotechnology and various secret ninja techniques.
“Minato-kun, while I can’t say what Tsunade might be able to do, if you let me handle your treatment, I currently have two options in mind.”
Orochimaru shared his thoughts with a smile on his face.
“One is to amputate the damaged parts and use the immature cloning technology I’ve been researching to grow two new legs, then stitch them on.”
“The benefit is that it’s fast. The downside, however, is that it’s risky. So, what do you think? Want to give it a try?”
Leaning against the bed, Minato’s face froze at those words. He awkwardly scratched the back of his golden head and politely declined: “Uh… Orochimaru-sama, can I hear the second option? I’d really prefer not to cut off my legs…”
Orochimaru didn’t seem particularly surprised.
“Hehehe… what a pity. The second option is to try infusing your legs with a large amount of life energy to reactivate the withered muscle cells.”
“As for the fragmented bones in your lower legs, we’ll just have to wait for Tsunade to handle those.”
At that, Minato let out a breath of relief and flashed a bright, sunny smile.
“This approach sounds much more reassuring, Orochimaru-sama.”
“But the issue is how to infuse you with life energy.” Orochimaru’s tone remained calm as he continued, “I have two ideas regarding that as well.”
“Mm… please go ahead.”
Minato responded hesitantly, worried that Orochimaru was about to suggest something absurd again.
“One method is to find a way to learn the Akimichi clan’s Expansion Jutsu.”
“According to my hypothesis, their Expansion Jutsu likely transforms internal fat into Yang Release chakra when needed, which they then use to control their bodies. And Yang Release chakra, as you know, is life energy.”
I knew it!
Black lines formed across Minato’s forehead.
Never mind how Orochimaru even managed to research the Akimichi clan’s secret technique—how was he supposed to convince them to teach it to him in the first place?
It was called a secret technique for a reason!
“Um… Orochimaru-sama, maybe you could just tell me the second idea instead,” Minato said, clearly unconvinced.
He simply couldn’t imagine this ever working.
What ninja clan wouldn’t treat their secret techniques as top-level confidential information?
“I could actually get my hands on the Akimichi secret technique for you. Want to reconsider?”
Orochimaru offered temptingly, his tone full of hidden meaning.
But Minato firmly shook his head. “No. I would never learn another clan’s secret technique without permission.”
This left Orochimaru feeling a bit disappointed.
He had been hoping to use this as leverage—something he could hold over Minato in the future, if necessary.
Just then, however, Minato asked a pointed question: “Orochimaru-sama, you’ve gone to great lengths on my behalf. I’m guessing you came here because you need something from me?”
“Hehehehe… I’ll tell you my second idea first, and then I’ll share what I need.”
Orochimaru spoke unhurriedly, keeping the conversation at his own pace. Seeing this, Minato could only nod and say: “Very well, go ahead.”
“I happen to have a few samples of First Hokage-sama’s cells that still retain some vitality. Through my experiments, I’ve discovered that these cells contain an incredibly potent life force. I believe they could be of some help to your legs.”
“Huh?”
Namikaze Minato’s face filled with disbelief. “But hasn’t the First Hokage passed away decades ago?”
“You don’t need to know the details. Just the general idea will do. So—what do you say? Want to make a deal with me?” Orochimaru asked with a smile.
“Wait a minute.”
Minato frowned. “Regardless of whether the First Hokage’s cells are still preserved or not, shouldn’t this kind of thing be off-limits for private deals?”
“Relax, Minato-kun. I am authorized to give them to you—and you’re certainly qualified to receive them. There won’t be any issue from Sarutobi-sensei’s side.”
Orochimaru had clearly put effort into persuading him.
The truth was, the life force within the First Hokage’s cells was far too powerful. Whether adult, adolescent, or infant—no one had been able to properly adapt to them so far.
Now, seeing that Minato’s legs had been drained of their life force, Orochimaru figured it was a good opportunity to experiment.
As for the possible side effects? That wasn’t his concern. He had never promised guaranteed success in the first place.
“No, I’d still prefer to consult with the Third Hokage.”
Minato stood his ground. After a pause, he added, “However, if there’s anything you need my help with, Orochimaru-sama, please don’t hesitate to ask. If it’s something I can do, I’ll give it my all. There’s no need to make it a trade.”
Orochimaru fell silent for a long while before finally speaking his mind.
“In your analysis of that Aramaki fellow, you mentioned that he seemed to intentionally avoid your Sage Art, correct?”
“Yes!”
Minato’s expression grew serious as he recalled the details. “Though the moment was brief, when I used Sage Art to attack, his eyes and movements clearly showed a strange reaction.”
“After that, he no longer took our attacks head-on like before. Instead, he held back and deliberately avoided them.”
Orochimaru nodded. “So, it’s possible that Senjutsu chakra is one of the things he fears.”
“One of them?”
Minato quickly caught the implication and asked curiously, “Have you discovered something else?”
“A few things.”
“I’ve read the reports from Nara Shikaku and Yamanaka Inoichi.”
Orochimaru stroked his chin thoughtfully as he slowly laid out his analysis.
“In Shikaku’s report, he mentioned that although his Shadow Imitation Technique was eventually broken by Aramaki through some unknown ability, when the shadow first touched the opponent, Shikaku was certain that Aramaki’s body experienced a clear moment of stiffness.”
“This indicates that the jutsu wasn’t completely ineffective—it’s just that he was able to break free.”
“And in Inoichi’s report, when he used his Mind Transfer Technique, he distinctly saw a solid wall within Aramaki’s mental landscape.”
“So, could it be that if the impact is strong enough, it might be possible to break through that mental barrier?”
“Furthermore, I visited the Yamanaka clan yesterday to ask about some details. Inoichi said that the mental wall wasn’t completely sealed—there were some visible gaps and hollows in the structure.”
“So if someone has strong enough control over mental power—that is, Yin Release—it might be possible to penetrate that barrier and affect the consciousness inside.”
“Putting all of this together—whether it’s Shadow Imitation, Mind Transfer, or Genjutsu—it’s essentially confirmed that Yin Release chakra can, at least in theory, counter that Aramaki.”
