Chapter 32: Kushina Revived, Kakashi's Fantastical Cemetery Adventure
"Alright~
Naruto's mom is back to life~
I wonder what kind of storm this fiery red pepper is going to kick up in the village now~"
Looking at Uzumaki Kushina lying on the ground, Byakuya couldn't help but smile.
Then he quickly formed hand seals.
In the next moment, an Earth Release technique was unleashed by him.
The soil rolled and surged, forming a small mound that neatly covered Kushina up.
"Done~"
Byakuya clapped his hands and turned to leave.
He had no intention of pulling Kushina into the organization.
After all, she was different from the others.
Her heart was entirely focused on her son and her husband.
Letting her move freely would actually make things easier to stir up.
"Time to go home and draw some lottery rewards."
...
Time passed slowly. Dawn quietly arrived.
The Konoha cemetery was extremely quiet at the moment.
But not long after, a very soft set of footsteps sounded.
The visitor was Kakashi, who couldn't sleep.
Lately Kakashi had been very restless.
First came the unexpected news that Obito might still be alive.
Then he racked his brains analyzing it,
yet couldn't find any useful information at all.
So he had to temporarily set it aside and wait for more intel before thinking further.
After that, he suddenly noticed Hinata's strength exploding upward.
Her chakra reserves had skyrocketed too.
This made him extremely envious.
So he went to find Byakuya, hoping to pry some information out of him.
In the end, Byakuya didn't even bother entertaining him.
Later, he received the news that the Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen was about to die.
This left him feeling deeply saddened.
Although the Third had made many decisions that seemed weak for the sake of his "Konoha peace" dream,
he was still a Hokage deeply loved by the shinobi of the village.
Kakashi had never forgotten how the Third often came to check on him after his father's death,
nor had he forgotten his teacher, the Fourth.
That was why today he suddenly had the whim to come to the cemetery.
He wanted to see his teacher.
"Sensei.
The Third is about to leave us too.
Just like you, it's all for Konoha.
Really… such a regrettable thing~
Also…
This might sound hard to believe,
but I suddenly have a feeling that Obito might not be dead.
Of course.
It's just a guess.
It's also possible he really is gone,
and I'm just overthinking things~"
"Pffft!"
Right as Kakashi was muttering to himself, a strange sound of breaking soil suddenly came from nearby.
Startled, Kakashi immediately turned his head to look.
In the distance, from inside a small dirt mound, a hand suddenly stretched out!
The sight was as horrifying as a corpse coming back to life!
"What the hell?!"
Kakashi was genuinely shocked.
When he arrived, he hadn't carefully inspected this part of the cemetery.
And that little mound was quite far from where he stood.
So he really had no idea there was actually someone buried inside.
"Pffft!"
While Kakashi was still stunned, another hand suddenly emerged from the ground.
"Naruto!!!"
Immediately after, a loud shout burst up from beneath the soil.
What astonished Kakashi was…
this voice sounded extremely familiar to him.
But for the life of him, he couldn't remember who it belonged to right now.
"Naruto?
Who is she?
Why is she calling Naruto's name?"
Just as Kakashi was puzzled and cautiously approaching with a kunai in hand,
a head with bright red hair suddenly popped out of the dirt.
"Ptooey!"
The red-haired head spat out a mouthful of mud.
Then shook her head vigorously,
flinging the soil off her hair.
Finally, she subconsciously looked toward Kakashi who was running over.
Their eyes met.
Both of them froze.
"Sen… Sensei's wife?!"
"Kakashi?!"
Kakashi was so shocked that the kunai in his hand slipped and fell to the ground.
But right after, he quickly drew another one.
Without saying a word, he hurled it straight at Kushina.
"Clang!"
After being revived by the Ho-Oh skill, Kushina's strength had improved considerably.
So she simply flicked her finger,
and the kunai Kakashi threw was instantly deflected.
"Kakashi, what are you doing?!"
"Who are you?"
Kakashi didn't answer Kushina's question. Instead, he stayed fully on guard, staring intently at her.
"What's your purpose in taking on the appearance of Kushina-sama?"
"Kakashi!"
A big "#" mark popped on Kushina's forehead.
"You have a mole at the corner of your mouth!
You love eating fish!
And that little rascal Obito once stole your fish and blamed it on you!"
"Uh…"
Kakashi was stunned.
Then he blinked. "You…
You…"
"Though I have no idea what's going on,"
Kushina said, looking at the dumbfounded Kakashi. For some reason, she suddenly burst out laughing.
"But it seems I've come back to life~
And aside from being buried in the dirt, I don't feel anything wrong at all~"
With that,
she jumped straight out of the soil.
"Phew~
I never thought the first person I'd see after coming back…
would be you, Kakashi.
How have you been all these years?
And Naruto…?
Is he…"
Kushina spoke while patting the dirt off her body.
But halfway through her sentence,
she suddenly realized a very awkward problem—
these clothes weren't the ones she died in!
"Could it be…
after I died, someone changed my clothes?
No…
That doesn't seem right…
Could it be…
someone revived me and then changed my clothes!?"
The moment that thought crossed her mind, Kushina's face turned bright red.
Then her fists clenched tightly, and another huge "#" mark appeared on her forehead.
"Sen… Sensei's wife…"
Seeing this, Kakashi had a face full of black lines.
At this moment, he was completely certain.
This really was Kushina.
"Ah~
Kakashi~
Sorry about that~
I just thought of something really infuriating~"
Kushina tilted her head with a grin. "I really didn't expect…
I've been dead for so long,
and you've already grown up this much~"
"..."
Kakashi was honestly tempted to retort.
Because right now, he was actually older than Kushina!
"Right, Kakashi~
Where's Naruto?"
"Uh…
Shouldn't we go see the Third Hokage first?
And the fact that you've come back to life is pretty unbelievable…"
"I don't care about any of that!
Where's Naruto?
Right now I just want to see Naruto!
Take me to him!
Don't tell me you don't know where he is!"