Hokage: I Confronted the Five Kage Before the System Arrived

Chapter 25: The Dilemma of Resurrection

"Reveal!"

With Hagoromo Gengetsu's command, the body that had been buried underground for decades, unnoticed by anyone, rose to the surface amidst the sound of shifting sands, finally coming into view before him.

There was an odd feeling in observing his own body as if from an outsider's perspective. After a while, however, he adjusted to the sight.

"I must say, from this angle, I do look quite handsome," Hagoromo Gengetsu thought, rubbing his chin after scrutinizing his form.

Though the true appearance of his body was obscured by the black sealing talismans, some impressions were clear just from the outline.

After a thorough inspection and ensuring that the body was in good condition with the effects of the forbidden jutsu holding strong, Hagoromo Gengetsu didn't immediately lift the seal. Instead, he began to contemplate the situation seriously.

Just as chakra consists of a blend of physical and spiritual energy, a person is composed of a body, which serves as a vessel, and a soul, which acts as the core. Each person's body and soul are unique and perfectly matched. If the vessel doesn't fit, it will inevitably break apart.

This was why Hagoromo Gengetsu didn't randomly choose another's body. The only exception in the shinobi world was Orochimaru, who could switch bodies but faced time limits and suffered a scrambled soul as a consequence, making him vulnerable even to a mere glance from Itachi Uchiha.

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Not wishing to ruin his potential or weaken his soul, Hagoromo Gengetsu adhered strictly to the orthodox and correct path. In the matter of resurrection, three major challenges had to be overcome.

Thanks to the forbidden jutsu "Eternal Breath," which maintained a trace of vital energy in his body for decades, the first challenge—preserving the body—was resolved. There was no need to find a new one, allowing him to skip over the first hurdle.

The next challenge involved the soul. Maintaining a body with life force and vigor might be possible at a great cost, but what about the soul? When a person dies, their soul returns to the afterlife. How does one retrieve it? It's not as though he could just walk into the afterlife and retrieve it unless he were someone like Hagoromo Otsutsuki, in which case he might never return.

Remarkably talented individuals had indeed emerged in the shinobi world. Tobirama Senju and his student Orochimaru developed and perfected the Reanimation Jutsu, enabling souls to be summoned back from the afterlife.

Thankfully, the afterlife didn't have a deity governing everything. Otherwise, they would have been punished severely for their actions, as the Reanimation Jutsu made it much easier for souls to return to the world of the living.

Just like Hagoromo Gengetsu, if not for the time limit of the Reanimation body, he would indeed be a bug in the shinobi world. With both the body and soul issues addressed, the final hurdle lay in the fusion.

Should his soul successfully reenter his body, Hagoromo Gengetsu would likely become the first person in the shinobi world to escape the clutches of death under extreme conditions. However, the prerequisite was that his soul must reenter his body.

Glancing at his Reanimated body, Hagoromo Gengetsu realized the dual nature of things. The Reanimation Jutsu, while summoning souls back from the afterlife, also deeply restricted them.

Although shinobi like Madara Uchiha, Hashirama Senju, and Itachi Uchiha managed to break free from the Reanimation Jutsu's control, they couldn't fully free their souls from the Reanimated bodies. In the Fourth Great Ninja War, those Reanimated shinobi who were either sealed or broke free ultimately had their souls reclaimed by the afterlife as soon as they left their Reanimated bodies.

According to Hagoromo Gengetsu's analysis, the Reanimation Jutsu's essence was akin to a contract with the afterlife. No matter how Tobirama Senju and Orochimaru might have exploited loopholes, the core tenet of the contract—returning what was borrowed—had to be honored.

If Hagoromo Gengetsu's soul attempted to escape the Reanimated body, it would certainly face resistance from both the Reanimation Jutsu and the afterlife, especially the latter, which would see it as a soul's rightful homecoming. Only the Rinne Rebirth Jutsu could fully solve this problem at the root.

However, he had to try. Cautiously, Hagoromo Gengetsu decided not to lift the "Eternal Rest's Breath" seal immediately. Instead, he chose to test the waters with an out-of-body experience. Success would be ideal, but failure would mean the body's life force would continue to wane until it was completely gone. In his current state, it would be impossible to perform the "Eternal Rest's Breath" jutsu again, as it required sacrificing one's life.

Looking around and finding no abnormalities, Hagoromo Gengetsu kept his true body sealed, while his Reanimated body formed seals and began the attempt.

"Soul, exit!"

His gaze became distant, and his soul easily broke free from the constraints of the Reanimation Jutsu. In the next moment, a white light emerged from the top of his Reanimated body's head. In a ghostly form, Hagoromo Gengetsu's soul slowly floated out.

Just as he was about to turn his attention to his original body, a powerful force suddenly enveloped his soul, pulling it. Hagoromo Gengetsu looked up in alarm.

From his soul's perspective, a dark rift opened above, emanating a lifeless aura from the afterlife, as if beckoning him back to his true home. Had Hagoromo Gengetsu not forcibly controlled himself, his soul would have flown straight into it.

But that wasn't enough. Seeing the soul resisting, the force from the afterlife intensified. The more of his soul left the Reanimated body, the weaker its resistance to the pull from the afterlife.

After several attempts with poor results, Hagoromo Gengetsu decisively retracted his soul back into the Reanimated body. With the soul's presence no longer detectable, the rift from the afterlife also vanished.

"This is more troublesome than I anticipated," Hagoromo Gengetsu murmured, frowning as he reoriented himself with his Reanimated body. The Reanimation Jutsu allowed a soul to remain in the world of the living as long as it stayed within the Reanimated body. In a way, the Reanimated body acted as a shield for the soul. However, if the soul tried to leave this shield, it would draw the attention of the afterlife, pulling it back to its rightful place.

Clearly, exploiting death's loopholes wasn't as simple as it seemed.