In the world of the sea, atop the floating island where gods rest,
Hashirama Senju was originally busy repairing the damaged escape vessel. Unexpectedly, he discovered that the weather had taken a sudden turn for the worse. In just a single day, the vessel had already been refined to a gleaming state.
However, at that very moment, he suddenly felt a strange sensation. His eyes lit up, and simultaneously, Lin Xuan received a prompt from the system:
"Ding! Detected that the trial participant Hashirama Senju is being summoned by the original world's forces. Should we intervene?"
Lin Xuan immediately halted his cultivation, his expression turning serious as he sensed the anomaly. He looked toward Hashirama, who happened to be looking back at him.
"Ready?" Lin Xuan asked.
Hashirama nodded solemnly, then waved at Turtle Sage and Connie. "You two, I'll head back first. See you later!"
With that, he turned and prepared to leave.
However, there was still Connie, a young girl, present at the scene. The sight of Hashirama suddenly undressing was far from appropriate—it might scare her.
A moment later, a beam of white light shot into the sky from the divine island and vanished.
At the same time, in the world of Naruto...
Orochimaru had just released the souls sealed within the Shinigami, but upon counting, his expression turned puzzled.
"One, two, three? Why is one missing?"
To his knowledge, the Shinigami's stomach should have contained the souls of four Hokage: the First, Second, Third, and Fourth. But now, after slicing open the Shinigami's belly and reclaiming his own arms, only three souls had emerged.
"What's going on?" Sasuke Uchiha asked, equally confused.
"I'm not sure," Orochimaru replied, shaking his head. "Could someone have gotten here first and taken one of the souls?"
But even as he voiced this speculation, he doubted it himself. Logically, if someone had released the souls from the Shinigami's stomach, why would they only take one? Would they really send the others back?
Moreover, there was no way to determine which Hokage's soul was missing.
In the end, he could only proceed with the Edo Tensei to see exactly who was absent.
But then, something even stranger happened.
On the prepared sacrificial vessels, only three initially showed signs of activation as the Edo Tensei began. Yet, the moment the technique was initiated, a fourth soul suddenly materialized out of nowhere, appearing on the fourth vessel.
Witnessing this, not only Orochimaru but also Sasuke, Suigetsu, and Jugo were stunned.
In the next instant, all four Hokage were simultaneously reanimated.
However, Orochimaru, Sasuke, and the others all focused their attention on the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju. The soul that had been missing and then abruptly reappeared was none other than his.
Moreover, while the Second, Third, and Fourth Hokage all looked confused upon being reanimated, Hashirama's eyes were bright and alert, his expression sharp.
In fact, Hashirama even gave Orochimaru a nod of approval. "Not bad, young Orochimaru."
Orochimaru's face twisted in bewilderment. "Lord First, you don't seem surprised at all that I've reanimated you?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi, Tobirama Senju, and Minato Namikaze—who had been ready to question Orochimaru's actions—were now staring at Hashirama in astonishment.
Hashirama simply smiled faintly. "I'll explain later. For now, let me check on Madara first."
"Madara?!"
Tobirama's eyes widened. "Madara Uchiha? What? That chakra... it really is him! Has he also been reanimated?"
But Hashirama ignored him, instead using the "Dimensional Communication" feature to contact Madara Uchiha in the group chat.
"Madara, how's the situation on your end?"
Madara's reply came swiftly. "The Ten-Tails is about to revive. Hurry over!"
"Got it!" Hashirama responded immediately.
He had already devised a plan to reach Madara's location. Turning to Tobirama and Minato, he ordered, "Tobirama, Fourth, use the Flying Thunder God Technique to get us to the battlefield as quickly as possible!"
His sudden command left everyone bewildered.
Minato blinked in surprise. "Lord First, how do you know me? And that I know the Flying Thunder God Technique?"
Tobirama frowned. "Brother, what exactly are you doing? What battlefield?"
Hiruzen looked utterly lost. "Lord First, what's going on?"
Hashirama's expression turned grave. "There's no time to explain. The enemy is approaching!"
The three Hokage exchanged glances before nodding in agreement, deciding to follow Hashirama's lead.
But just as they were about to leave, someone objected.
"Wait!"
Sasuke Uchiha's voice was cold. "I had Orochimaru reanimate you so you could answer my questions, not join the battle!"
Hashirama paused, then turned to Sasuke. "I know what you want to ask. But the situation is urgent. There's no time to explain now. We'll talk after the battle!"
Sasuke's grip tightened. "No. I want answers now. If you don't explain, I won't let you go to the battlefield."
Orochimaru smirked darkly. "Apologies, Lord First. If Sasuke doesn't want you to leave, I'll have to use the Edo Tensei to keep you here."
"The summoning contract of Edo Tensei, huh?"
Hashirama pondered for a moment before suddenly forming hand seals.
"Edo Tensei: Release!"
"Bang!"
Orochimaru's eyes widened in shock.
In an instant, he had completely lost control over Hashirama!
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T/N:
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