That night, it was Mikoto's turn to keep watch, and Uchiha Gen slept soundly in her arms.
The sudden knocking startled the Uchiha clan patrol outside. Several guards hurried over, whispering among themselves before their squad leader finally gathered enough courage to report the disturbance.
Having his sleep interrupted, Gen was naturally irritated, but remembering Tsunade's situation, he forced down his annoyance and climbed reluctantly out of the warm bed.
"Tsunade-senpai came looking for you this early?" Mikoto murmured, still half-asleep, her soft voice carrying a lazy sweetness.
"It's about that matter she hasn't resolved yet," Gen said, pulling on his robe.
"Hehe… I see." Mikoto smiled faintly. "Once that's settled, she'll become your woman too, won't she, husband?"
"Tsunade-senpai really is exceptional, beautiful, poised, strong, noble, and famous. If she became your official wife, your position as Hokage would be unshakable."
Propped up on one slender arm, Mikoto gazed at him with sleepy affection, her bare shoulder glowing in the lamplight.
"What are you saying?" Gen turned to her with a helpless smile. "Am I the kind of man who needs women to secure his place?"
"As for a 'legitimate wife', we don't make such distinctions in our home. Besides, she might not even live here."
He fastened his belt and leaned down, brushing a kiss across Mikoto's smooth forehead. "Alright, it's still early. Go back to sleep. Explain things at breakfast for me, will you?"
"Mmm… be careful, husband," Mikoto whispered as she closed her eyes again.
Gen smiled and left quietly.
In the living room, Tsunade sat beneath the lamplight, sipping tea. She wore a tea-green coat trimmed in black over a sleeveless blouse, a dark belt cinched at her waist, and cropped navy pants. Her long, honey-blonde hair shimmered softly, and the light caught the pale line of her jaw and the curve of her lips.
Under lamplight, beauty always deepened and Tsunade's presence seemed to fill the quiet room.
"Tsunade-senpai, you're too impatient. Do you realize what time it is?" Gen sighed.
Tsunade set down her cup and rose without a word, only offering him a faint smile.
"There's no helping you," he said, shaking his head. "Let's go."
He lifted his hand slightly. Tsunade stepped closer and looped her arm through his. In the next instant, their figures vanished from the Uchiha residence.
Five minutes later, they appeared in Orochimaru's hidden base in the Land of Whirlpools.
Whether Orochimaru had woken early or hadn't slept at all was unclear, but they found him in the laboratory again still immersed in his research. For all his eccentricities, his dedication was unmatched.
"You two are certainly early," he drawled without turning around. "Shall we begin after breakfast… or right now?"
Tsunade's first instinct was to say "now," but she hesitated, glancing at Gen. They'd traveled far before dawn, she didn't want to seem inconsiderate.
"Let's start," Gen said casually, waving a hand. "Tsunade-senpai probably can't wait any longer."
Tsunade shot him a grateful look, then steadied her breathing. "Now."
Orochimaru's thin lips curved. "Alright. Gen, bring the sacrifices to the main hall."
"Understood."
Gen left the lab and soon found the two ronin still trapped within his Sharingan genjutsu, their eyes vacant, their souls trembling. After confirming that the soul imprints he had placed on them were intact, he carried them to the main hall.
The soul imprint was one of Gen's new inventions—a sealing technique that allowed him to track and anchor a soul's position.
When he entered the hall, the air was dim and heavy. Orochimaru and Tsunade were already waiting. The entire base, apart from the laboratory, was perpetually shadowed; Orochimaru preferred it that way.
"It's my turn," Orochimaru murmured, crouching before the two sacrifices. He laid out two scrolls, their surfaces covered in data and personal materials.
Standing beside Tsunade, Gen gently placed a hand on her shoulder. She managed a stiff smile and turned her full attention to Orochimaru's movements.
Orochimaru unrolled the scrolls, his chakra seeping into them. Dark, intricate characters spread across the floor like ripples in ink, encircling the two ronin.
He formed a series of seals—Tiger, Snake, Dog—and the ground erupted with pale light.
The Impure World Reincarnation had begun.
Grayish-white fragments swirled upward, like paper ashes or dust. The ronin screamed as the fragments consumed them, reshaping flesh from decay. Their cries echoed through the dim chamber, raw and piercing.
Moments later, the fragments settled, revealing two familiar figures, expressionless, lifeless, but unmistakable.
Nawaki.
Kato Dan.
Gen noted the flicker of his soul imprint now residing within Nawaki's new vessel. Satisfied, he quietly stepped back, leaving Tsunade and Orochimaru the space to face what followed.
He had no reason to interfere. He didn't know Nawaki or Dan personally, and standing there would only make things awkward. Besides, there was a practical reason for what he'd done—the imprint was left on Nawaki, not Dan, since Dan's mastery of the Spirit Transformation Technique made his perception too sharp for comfort.
Outside the base, Gen found a secluded spot, sat cross-legged, and closed his eyes. His breathing steadied, and the world fell silent.
Two hours passed.
Then, faintly, two translucent souls rose from the laboratory, invisible to mortal eyes. They drifted higher and higher toward the sky.
Gen's forehead pulsed with white light. A wave of mental energy erupted from him, spreading outward like invisible thunder. Within a hundred meters, every creature collapsed lifelessly, their bodies unmarked but drained of all vitality. Beyond that radius, animals fled in terror, blood seeping from their eyes and ears.
The two souls ascended until the world itself seemed to bend around them. Suddenly, they vanished.
When they reappeared, they floated in a colorless realm, a vast, gray expanse shrouded in drifting mist. Everything, the sky, the earth, the distant mountains was painted in tones of ash and shadow. The faint murmur of flowing water echoed from somewhere unseen.
Below, countless faint white lights shimmered, scattered like stars across the ground. Each light, upon closer look, was a coffin-shaped construct of radiant energy. Within each rested a soul—some tranquil, some serene—all sleeping peacefully.
So this is the Pure Land.
From one of the glowing tombs, a soul surrounded in white light rose—its features taking shape until they mirrored Uchiha Gen's own, though blurred and ethereal.
So the entrance to the Pure Land isn't beneath the earth, he murmured, but within a special spatial node floating above the mortal world. A place that even those with space-time ninjutsu cannot enter, only souls can pass through.
He drifted lower, descending to hover just above the gray soil. His eyes scanned the horizon, analyzing the strange dimension.
Every coffin below was uniform in size, yet the brightness of their light differed. Some flickered weakly, like fireflies on the verge of fading. Others glowed intensely, steady as sunlamps. The stronger the soul, the brighter the coffin's light.
Gen studied them for a long moment, then chose a direction and flew onward, vanishing into the mist.