Chapter 19: I Have Become a Necromancer
Kenichi Amamiya suddenly remembered a dark joke.
A hero's younger brother dies. The archer and the mage both pat his shoulder and say they will help avenge him.
Then the necromancer in the party steps forward and says,
"And your dead brother."
That was a truly awful joke.
Yet now, Kenichi had really become a necromancer. Orochimaru had officially taught him the forbidden technique, Impure World Reincarnation.
For the moment, he could not use it inside the village, but that did not change the fact that he now held it in his hands.
Orochimaru had also said that this forbidden technique was still being improved. Once the refinement was complete, it would become even more practical and easier to use.
"Teacher, if there are souls and a Pure Land in this world, then what kind of energy do souls and the Pure Land rely on to exist?" Kenichi asked, genuinely curious.
What energy sustained a soul?
It could not be antimatter or something ridiculous like that, right?
"I do not know. The existence of the soul itself is certain, but what it relies on is still unknown," Orochimaru answered with a shake of his head. He truly did not have an answer to that.
"You plan to research that?" His eyes slid to his disciple, as if wondering whether this kid had grown so arrogant he now wanted to study the soul itself.
"No, no, I am just curious. I cannot research it right now," Kenichi said quickly, waving his hands.
What a joke. If he started poking at souls right now, he would probably attract the attention of the Sage of Six Paths himself.
He had skipped a lot of the flashback scenes when he watched Naruto in his previous life, but he clearly remembered that the Sage of Six Paths existed in the Pure Land and had met many ninja souls there.
Yet according to the law of conservation of energy, the existence of a soul should still require some kind of energy.
So what was it consuming?
It was a fascinating question.
"It is good that you understand. For now, study what you are interested in and be ready at any time," Orochimaru said with a nod.
The soul was far too mysterious. At this stage, it was not time to touch it.
Kenichi nodded as well. Although Orochimaru had not said it directly, he could roughly guess what his teacher was preparing for.
Most likely, Orochimaru was getting ready to betray the village.
"Teacher, who is this person in the photo?" Kenichi finally asked the question that had been on his mind for a while.
He had seen that picture several times, and his curiosity about the extra person only grew.
It was a group photo of four people. He recognized three of them, the Sannin, but the fourth man he did not know.
He was quite handsome, though.
"Oh, him?" Orochimaru glanced at the frame and gave a cold smile. "That is Hiruko, someone the village ruthlessly cast aside for breaking a taboo."
Kenichi fell into thought. Hiruko.
He had heard that name before.
If he remembered correctly, Hiruko had developed a ninjutsu that could fuse multiple bloodline limits.
It was a pity he did not know where Hiruko was now. If he did, it would be worth ambushing him, or at least obtaining some tissue samples for research.
After leaving the laboratory, Kenichi returned to his own house.
The woods around the area were quiet, but he knew that many Root operatives were hiding there.
Cooperation between Danzo and Orochimaru had always been like this.
Danzo had even arranged for people to come and "protect" them. Of course, in Kenichi's eyes, it looked a lot more like surveillance, but Orochimaru had never objected to it.
Just as Kenichi was about to go buy some groceries so he could cook for himself, he ran into Minato and Kushina on the street.
"Oh my, Amamiya, are you here to buy groceries too?" Kushina called out cheerfully. She had been in a great mood lately, and her smile looked even sweeter than usual.
"Yes, Kushina neechan. I am planning to go home and cook sukiyaki," Kenichi replied with a sweet smile.
Kushina's hair had already been sent to the lab by him.
Extracting the abnormal gene chain from it was not especially difficult. Orochimaru had done similar work with the First Hokage's cells before, so in theory this task could be completed within a few days.
Because of that, Kenichi no longer felt as close to Kushina as he had at the beginning.
Since he was planning to leave the village with his teacher, there was no need to become too attached.
Of course, maintaining basic contact was still necessary. No one knew how the future would change.
For all he knew, the butterfly effect might cause Orochimaru to abandon his plan to defect, or the Third Hokage might recruit Kenichi as a hidden agent.
"Amamiya, you can cook? That is impressive," Minato said with his usual bright smile.
He was like that most of the time. Many people's impression of Minato was that he was sunny, cheerful, and full of optimism.
Kenichi could not help silently wondering.
If Minato found out that in the future his own son would not be treated as the child of a hero, but instead be cursed every day as the demon fox and shunned by everyone in the village, would Minato still love Konoha as deeply as he did now?
Perhaps Kushina had her doubts about the village even then. Otherwise, why would she apologize to Naruto so many times in the future?
"Hehe." Kenichi only gave a shy laugh.
He had originally planned to quietly collect some samples from Minato and Kushina that could be used as materials for Impure World Reincarnation in the future.
However, after remembering the Reaper Death Seal, he lost interest in Minato.
Anyone sealed by that technique could not be pulled back out by Impure World Reincarnation.
As for Kushina, her overall strength was not that overwhelming, but as a member of the Uzumaki clan she possessed extremely powerful sealing techniques.
So Kenichi decided she was still worth collecting some material from.
After finally escaping from the enthusiastic Minato and Kushina, Kenichi bought his ingredients and went home to cook.
The next day, a major event shook the village.
The Fourth Hokage was about to be officially appointed.
The timing felt a little fast, but it was also within expectations. The upper echelons of Konoha had already decided who would become the Fourth Hokage a long time ago.
Now they simply needed to announce it and let the whole village know.
With the inauguration of the Fourth Hokage, the entire village was filled with a festive atmosphere.
Orochimaru, who had been discussed so intensely just days before, suddenly seemed like nothing more than a passerby in everyone's eyes.
Everywhere, people were talking about Minato's great achievements and brilliant war record.
"Kenichi, do you know what I see?" Orochimaru asked.
He stood with arms folded, watching the cheering crowd, a faint smile on his face.
Kenichi shook his head.
"I see a decaying village and an ambition that refuses to step down," Orochimaru said quietly. "And I see ignorant people being manipulated without even realizing it."
His eyes were icy cold, his tone full of hatred.
Kenichi watched in silence.
The death of Konoha's White Fang had many causes. Danzo's schemes were part of it, but they were not the only reason.
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