'You sure you won't be upset at me for this, Wendy?'
'No. All souls will eventually go into their perspective Afterlives. It's the evading death and mockery of death that truly angers me, and even that often takes a lot to do. Voldemort and Orochimaru both apply, but only because they've mutilated their souls to such a degree that there isn't a soul left to guide, merely fragments that will grow cold and evaporate back into the cosmos of the universe at large, a soul removed from the Reincarnation Cycle and the Afterlives. A cruel fate, to be denying one's future and past selves the chance of existence, but not one they didn't bring unto themselves.'
"Impure World Resurrection." I murmured.
The five prisoners shook and screamed silently in agony as ashes grew to cover their bodies, their souls swiftly taken by the Wendigo who happily snatched them out of the air before swallowing them whole. The fate of the one's sacrificed by the Impure World Resurrection was a grisly one, but Wendy had already been waiting rather patiently to be fed, so she had first pick on what happened to them so to speak.
Shisui Uchiha. Hashirama Senju. Minato Namikaze. Kushina Uzumaki. Dan Kato.
The five undead opened their eyes, but their expressions were empty, their gaze filled with no emotion. This variation of the Impure World Resurrection was by far the weakest, being only capable of binding to the soul just enough to function. While they are capable of answering questions and basic movement, they were entirely incapable of using jutsu. Who knows how many sacrifices Orochimaru had to do in order to further bind the First and the Second Hokage to make them capable of using jutsu and some semblance of personality be present?
How many did Kabuto need to do to consider the technique mastered and perfected?
"Sign these pieces of paper." I ordered lowly, handing each one a contract.
They slowly signed it, each one barely cognizant of the world around them, but still, they were still considered physically present enough that-.
[Shisui Uchiha. Shisui of the Mirage. Signed and Sealed Capture. 30.
Hashirama Senju. The First Hokage. Signed and Sealed Capture. 60.
Minato Namikaze. The Fourth Hokage. Signed and Sealed Capture. 60.
Kushina Uzumaki. Red Hot-Blooded Habanero. 30.
Dan Kato. 12.]
Each were chosen for a variety of reasons. Admittedly, some more personal than others, but all were chosen to be the first brought back to life.
I swiftly activated Body Tune-Up for each of them, the ashes and cracked skin upon each of them beginning to steam and fuse together, the ashes melting away as each gaze became truly alive and aware. Shisui Uchiha shuddered as he came back to life.
"I hadn't realized how cold that water was when I landed in it." He muttered lowly.
Minato Namikaze's return to the living was celebrated by Kushina punching him in the stomach as he wheezed, her red hair flickering as she snarled. "We are through, Namikaze! Oh, the village will see Naruko as a Hero, my fucking ass." Kushina roared as her hands twitched angrily, the Contract she had signed not allowing her to really make Minato suffer.
Minato slowly got back up with a grimace, his eyes closed as tears fell down his face. "I know. I know Kushina. I was too optimistic about the village and the people in it. I've known for a long time that we were done, and I don't blame you. Or Naruko, if neither of you-."
"Shut the fuck up." I commanded, and Minato's mouth slammed shut, his eyes opening as I cut him off.
"You both fucked up." I said bluntly, pointing first at Kushina and Minato. "You," I pointed at Minato, "know you fucked up, and that's a good first step, but you're not allowed to have a pity party, when your daughter will no doubt want answers as to why you decided to pick her, and it better be for a better reason than 'you're my daughter, I knew you could handle it', because Naruko nearly fucking killed herself due to this shitty village. Suck it up, cry in private later. Apologize to Kakashi after the next Chunin Exams for being a dumbass if it makes you feel better. And if you mention a certain prophecy to Naruko, I swear to all the deities that I will feed you to Wendy myself." I snarled.
"And you," I pointed at Kushina, who looked ready to argue. "You should've bound your husband and the Kyuubi, letting the Third in so he could've sacrificed his life to the Shinigami. You fucked up not just because you followed your husband's stupid fucking idea, but also because you didn't even fight for Naruko. You fought for her as a Jinchuriki, but you didn't fight for her as a parent. You let Minato do as he wanted that night because you were too much of a coward to live without Minato, so don't you go on your high horse when you also fucked up."
Kushina's face turned red and she looked down, ashamed. "I, I know." She admitted quietly.
"Now, I brought all of you back for a variety of reasons. Some of them far more personal than others. None of you will be allowed to show yourselves to the living, but you'll all be playing important roles, as a part of my forces. Until I can bring in Orochimaru into the fold, where I can handwave you all off as just more horrifying crimes against nature caused by him as a way for him to science his way out of Death, all of you will be donning masks and fake identities. None of you will look like yourselves, and all of you will be doing missions or jobs for me in order to drag this shinobi world into a utopia, kicking and screaming if I have to."
"Hashirama, Minato, and Dan, you're all going to be working with a masked ninja named Tobi, the same man who caused the Kyuubi to break free. He's under my command and he's no longer possessing any free will of his own. You four will be my outreach force to be deployed where I need you to be in order to force signatures on my contracts or to scare the shit out of the shinobi world as needed. You will be bringing the Akatsuki and Amegakure firmly into my fold using the Contracts as the first major mission."
"One of them possesses the Rinnegan, and has six bodies, the real body isn't among them, they're corpses being manipulated. Once you meet the real body, call for me and I will appear there to negotiate on how to achieve Peace. The man will listen."
"Kushina, you'll be staying here to reinforce and add defenses to Konoha's barrier and the seals along the walls of the village, while wearing a mask with dyed hair to ensure none can recognize you. At night, you'll be training myself and my retinue Fuinjutsu, as well as explaining how the Uzumaki Chakra Chains operates."
"Dan, you'll be replacing Fu Yamanaka in keeping an eye on Tsunade and Shizune. If you're caught, well, I'm sure you can think of a way to have Tsunade and Shizune get on board with Contracts. The cover story is that after over a couple decades, you learned how to use your Spirit Transformation to bypass the barrier between the Pure Lands and this one, but it was a one-time deal."
"Shisui, you personally will be using your Mangekyo to bring Itsuki Uchiha into the fold. If you need incentive: Itsuki is dying from some unknown illness. If Tsunade can't heal her, I can."
"All of you will be working together with the Third Hokage and Yakumo Kurama in order to raise the knowledge and skill of my retinue, as well as myself. You'll still be doing the previous missions I've assigned, but I have a certain method to the madness, as you'll find out."
"Together, we will ensure none of the children in Konoha, in any nation, will ever see the Fourth Shinobi War. All of you may refer to me as the Honored One in public or Gojo Satoru if others insist on a name of the man in charge of the operation. We will be known as the Immortals. Our goal: to end all wars in the Elemental Nations."
Hashirama frowned. "I had much the same ambitions, young man. How are you certain you can succeed?" Hashirama asked me carefully.
"You created a village of Clans and shinobi. The others created villages of Clans and shinobi to counter you. The underlying mechanics has not changed. I aim to usurp the control of all the Daimyo and nobles. With all the governments and wealth, shinobi can not fund their wars nor their equipment/training, and I will increase trade between Nations and the civilians to make wars seem both unprofitable and stupid to the masses. Over time, I will make the shinobi and samurai obsolete." I answered truthfully.
"Madara had similar ideas, minus the trade deals. He wanted to expand Konoha across all the nations, force the other Clans to bow or die. Yours seems less war-like, but equally outlandish. We will see if your plan fares any better." Hashirama commented quietly.
They dispersed, and Wendy looked at me dryly.
'The Immortals. Really? That's the best you could come up with?'
I shrugged. "I didn't get picked by the Company for my naming sense."
Wendy sighed.
'The things I do for entertainment.'