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Chapter 157: Hearing a Corpse Tell a Story of the Past!
🕑 Added 2025-08-28 15:24:58 +0000 UTCChapter 157: Hearing a Corpse Tell a Story of the Past!
"Uchiha Kagami?"
Minato's brow furrowed slightly. "There's no ninja with that name in the Uchiha clan now, but I feel like I've heard it somewhere before..."
"I know him," Keisuke said, creating a Shadow Creature and sending a doppelganger up to retrieve the others. "He's Shisui's ancestor."
Shisui, what in the world did you do to anger the heavens so much that your own ancestor clawed his way out of his coffin to come after you?! Keisuke lamented internally.
"Shisui's..." Minato looked at Uchiha Kagami in utter astonishment. If he was one of Shisui's elders, why would he attack them? And his skill was far too high. If the Uchiha clan had a ninja of such profound strength, it would be impossible to keep it a secret.
"Shisui... how is he now?" Kagami asked after a moment of silence, glancing at the white creature at Keisuke's feet.
"Apologies, Mr. 'Uchiha Kagami'," Keisuke said. Although he was almost certain of the man's identity, he maintained a cautious front. "It's not your turn to ask questions yet. My clone is bringing Shisui here now. Before he arrives, I have a few questions for you."
"If you have questions, you'd best ask them quickly," Kagami said with a calm expression, showing no intention of resisting. He could feel the emptiness of his chakra reserves. "I'm not sure how much longer I can remain in this world."
The meaning of that...
Minato's pupils contracted. 'He's not just an immortal ninja, he's actually a dead man?'
"Good. I like a cooperative prisoner," Keisuke nodded, cutting straight to the chase. "First, why did you attack us? What is your allegiance?"
"Regarding the first question, I'd like to wait until Shisui arrives to discuss it," Kagami said calmly. "But for now, at least, we are not enemies—oh, and before that, Nara Keisuke, could you use your shadow to probe the back of my head? I need you to confirm whether there is a special ninja tool or talisman there."
A very strange request... but Keisuke acted on it immediately, signaling a doppelganger. The clone used the Shadow Sewing Technique, piercing Kagami's head with a razor-sharp shadow tendril and stirring it around inside. The sight made Minato's scalp tingle, but Kagami, the one "experiencing" it, felt nothing at all. Keisuke's shadow was just playing with a corpse; what did that have to do with him?
After a moment, the doppelganger withdrew the tendril and shook its head at Keisuke.
"There is no ninja tool in your head as you described. As for a talisman, I cannot check for that in detail," Keisuke relayed.
"That's enough," Kagami said. "At least I don't have to worry about another person seizing control of my body at any moment. Though I'm not sure what they could even do now if they did..."
'Another person?' Minato silently committed Kagami's words to memory. 'Does this mean these mobile, conscious corpses aren't isolated incidents? Is there an organization behind them?'
"I'll tentatively believe your claim of 'not being an enemy'," Keisuke said, ignoring Minato's wild train of thought and guiding the conversation. "Second question: what is your current state? Why can't you be killed?"
"As much as I hate to bring it up, this jutsu that violates the laws of man and nature, 'Edo Tensei,' was also developed by Lord Second Hokage," Kagami answered freely. "Using a living sacrifice, a ninja's soul is summoned from the Pure Land and bound to an immortal body, allowing them to act in the mortal realm. However, the one controlling the ritual now is not Lord Second, but someone else. The moment he discovers my current state, he will surely release the jutsu and let my soul ascend."
Keisuke pressed immediately, "And his identity?"
"Apologies, I cannot answer that," Kagami refused for the first time.
Keisuke frowned. "You can't? Or you won't?"
"...I won't," Kagami answered with some difficulty. He already thought the young Nara was sharp, and that impression was only growing stronger.
"For a dead man to still care about leaking intelligence, it seems the identity of your master is quite extraordinary," Keisuke said flatly, deliberately misdirecting the conversation. "Not even the Hokage's Scroll of Seals contains a record of 'Edo Tensei.' It must be a top-secret forbidden jutsu. Within Konoha, the number of ninja who could access something of that level can be counted on one hand. Was it the Third Hokage who sent you? Or Shimura Danzō?"
"...Neither of them," Kagami said, his voice strained.
"Neither? Then was it one of the high council elders, Mitokado Homura or Utatane Koharu?" Keisuke continued to spout nonsense with a straight face. "It couldn't have been Orochimaru who sent you, could it? Actually, Orochimaru has the status, and he also happened to know the mission details for both my squad and Minato-san's."
Listening to Keisuke's "analysis," Minato subconsciously wanted to nod along. Indeed, Orochimaru-san does seem highly suspicious...
"It wasn't Orochimaru either," Kagami said with a sigh. "Please stop your wild guessing."
"So, from what you're saying, it wasn't a ninja from the village?" Keisuke asked, feigning ignorance. "The number of Konoha ninja who could access 'Edo Tensei' and also use it in battle is minuscule. Don't tell me it was some high-ranking member of your Uchiha clan's history who defected from the village, taking a real copy of the Scroll of Seals with him when he left?"
Kagami wished he could turn back time. He should have just refused to answer from the start. It's not like they could do anything to him, a dead man.
Lord Madara, I truly did not wish to betray you... Kagami's thoughts were in turmoil, unsure how to respond.
But beside him, Minato was seriously considering Keisuke's bombshells. 'As much as I hate to admit it, the Uchiha clan has always been on the periphery of the village's center... that has been the case ever since Uchiha Madara left. As far as I know, no Uchiha should have access to the Scroll of Seals!'
'So... it really was Orochimaru-san?'
Minato wanted to trust every Konoha ninja from the bottom of his heart. But this Edo Tensei jutsu was simply too evil. To toy with the lives of the living and the souls of the dead... Minato was starting to doubt if Lord Second had even created such a thing.
"Shisui's here," Keisuke announced, sensing his clone's approach, and decisively stopped the questioning. Why should he do the asking when Shisui could? They were relatives, after all. Speaking of which, Keisuke never knew if Kagami was Shisui's father or grandfather. But judging by their identical dango noses, he probably wasn't the uncle from next door...
Given the gravity of the situation, Keisuke had only brought Shisui over, leaving the rest of the team behind.
"Captain, Minato-senpai," Shisui greeted his superiors before turning his attention to Kagami. He seemed unsure, asking cautiously, "Excuse me, Captain, but this is..."
Keisuke was blunt. "This ninja who attacked us is now a freely moving corpse. He claims to be Uchiha Kagami."
"Uchiha... Kagami?" As if struck by a massive emotional shock, Shisui subconsciously activated his Sharingan. The black tomoe spun wildly in his eyes, almost looking as if they were about to connect.
"Shisui," Kagami said, his expression complex. "It is me."
Shisui opened his mouth, but it felt as if his vocal cords had been dropped in the Naka River; he couldn't produce a single sound.
After a long while, he finally managed to choke out a single, difficult word.
"...Father?"
Father?!
Keisuke and Minato's eyes widened. So it wasn't his grandpa climbing out of the coffin... it was his own dad coming back to beat him up? Shisui, you must repent!
After saying the word aloud, Shisui found his voice again. "Father, why did you attack our squad?"
"Because of you, Shisui," Kagami finally answered the question. "I have already become this. I cannot stand by and watch you become like me. You need greater strength to protect yourself, and to protect the village."
"Like you?" Shisui suddenly remembered what his captain had said. "A corpse?"
"To be precise, the Edo Tensei," Keisuke prompted. "A jutsu that can summon the souls of the dead from the Pure Land. Shisui, ask your dad what's going on."
Three of the four people present turned to stare at Keisuke. Could you not be so shameless about ordering people around?
But Shisui was, after all, used to his captain's orders. Just as he was about to speak, Kagami, unable to watch any longer, decided to confess.
"Over a decade ago, just after the war ended, I received an urgent mission from the village to go to the Land of Waterfalls," Kagami began to recount his past. "Although the mission was a success, I was gravely injured and was unexpectedly saved by someone."
This story... this script... why does it sound so familiar? The Land of Waterfalls, the Land of Grass, they're both near the Land of Iron, aren't they?
Keisuke tried to predict Kagami's next line. 'Your next words are—I lost my left eye during the mission.'
"But because my injuries were so severe, I lost my right eye," Kagami said, unaware of Keisuke's inner monologue. "To repay my savior, I served at his command after I recovered. Then, during another mission, I was fatally wounded... When I woke up again, I was in this state."
You skipped over way too many details! Keisuke gestured to Shisui. "Shisui, hurry up and ask your dad if that savior was Orochimaru!"
"Oh? Oh..." Shisui instinctively began to repeat his captain's question.
'This foolish child...' Kagami looked at his son with a helpless expression, and finally revealed the identity of the mastermind.
"That man... was Uchiha Madara!"
