Konohagakure.
Inside a dim, underground secret chamber.
In the center of the chamber stood a sealed Crystal Coffin.
The Crystal Coffin looked rather unusual, engraved with delicate patterns, yet it contained only half a corpse.
Looking through the Crystal Coffin, one could clearly see the human organs of the half-corpse inside, making it resemble an anatomical specimen for studying medicine.
This sight made the secret chamber feel exceptionally eerie.
The silver-haired man standing in the chamber was long accustomed to such an eerie environment. His gaze was fixed on the Crystal Coffin before him, his red pupils revealing a cold, decisive resolve.
"Lord Tobirama."
An ANBU Shinobi wearing a mask walked in, dragging a bound shinobi by the ropes, and reported in a low voice: "Lately, quite a few shinobi from enemy nations have infiltrated the village to gather intelligence. We searched the cells, and this Sunagakure shinobi, who infiltrated the village last night, has the strongest chakra in the entire prison..."
"My brother's condition..."
Senju Tobirama started to say, then realized he was speaking to a subordinate and changed his address: "How is the Hokage's condition right now?"
"He is still receiving treatment."
The ANBU Shinobi said with a trace of worry: "No one in the village has ever seen the Hokage sustain such heavy injuries. Lady Mito says it might endanger his life..."
"..."
Senju Tobirama's expression instantly turned grim. After remaining silent for a moment, he asked again: "Has there been any unusual movement from the Uchiha clan?"
"None at all, for now."
The ANBU Shinobi shook his head slightly and continued: "Ever since the news spread yesterday that Uchiha Madara was killed by the Hokage, apart from being somewhat fearful, the Uchiha clan has shown no other abnormalities..."
"Keep watching them closely."
With this order, Senju Tobirama looked down at the bound Sunagakure shinobi and said in a deep voice: "Have the other ANBU squads step up patrols in the village, and dispatch a squad to guard the outside. No one is allowed to approach this Forbidden Jutsu chamber."
"Understood, Lord Tobirama!"
The ANBU Shinobi hurried away.
"Mmph! Mmph!"
The tightly bound Sunagakure shinobi made muffled noises, looking up at the silver-haired man with an anxious expression, desperate to say something.
"I know what you want to say."
"But I have no interest in hearing your explanation."
Senju Tobirama cast a disdainful glance at him, as if looking at a dead man: "You people infiltrated merely to gather intelligence on my brother, or perhaps you just wanted to confirm the news that he and that fellow Madara perished together..."
"Hmph..."
"You can save such dreams for your sleep."
Senju Tobirama raised his head to look at the Crystal Coffin before him, as if using it to prove to all the petty figures in the Shinobi World who dared to challenge Konohagakure:
"This Crystal Coffin is the origin of medical ninjutsu throughout the Shinobi World."
"Emiya Shihara."
"You should have heard this name."
"..."
The Sunagakure shinobi looked at the Crystal Coffin with astonishment.
Emiya Shihara.
That name was truly thunderous to the ears.
The entire Shinobi World knew of this saint from a millennium ago—the saint who created the concept of medical ninjutsu and even established the system of medical ninjas.
Legend had it that he never cared about a patient's status when saving lives, that in his hands any severe illness could be cured, and that he had saved more people than populated an entire nation...
What commanded the greatest respect of all...
Was the greatness of Emiya Shihara's final moments.
To ensure that medical ninjutsu would be passed down in the Shinobi World, to make it easier for more people to learn medicine, and to break the Shinobi World's prejudices against surgical dissection and healing, Emiya Shihara had his own body divided and made into two Crystal Coffins to leave behind for the Shinobi World before his death.
Even through a millennium of turbulent times in the Warring States Period, with shinobi slaughtering and destroying one another, everyone shared a tacit understanding never to damage Emiya Shihara's two Crystal Coffins.
Even though most people in the Shinobi World had never laid eyes on them.
Gazing at the half-corpse inside that Crystal Coffin, the Sunagakure shinobi felt a mixture of awe and respect, alongside a lingering unease in his heart.
People of the past...
What could they possibly have to do with the present?
A medical ninja who died a millennium ago—no matter how brilliant his medical skills, he couldn't possibly be revived to help treat the First Hokage, could he? Could it be that the Crystal Coffin sealed the secrets of medical ninjutsu?
"Our Senju clan has always been renowned for our mastery of chakra control, and we have always been the most suited shinobi in the Shinobi World to practice medical ninjutsu."
"Legend has it that this Crystal Coffin containing Emiya Shihara's anatomical specimen was specifically designated by him before his death to be left to the ancestors of the Senju clan..."
"Even though most members of the clan do not deliberately practice medical ninjutsu due to combat, we have always regarded this Crystal Coffin as the pride of our clan..."
Senju Tobirama narrowed his eyes, his fingers tracing the delicate patterns on the Crystal Coffin as his voice grew lower: "I never imagined that one day I would destroy it with my own hands..."
"..."
The Sunagakure shinobi wore a look of terror.
"However..."
"For the sake of my brother..."
"Everything can be sacrificed!"
Gazing at the Crystal Coffin before him, Senju Tobirama summoned a glow of chakra to his palm and slammed it down hard upon the Crystal Coffin!
Crash!
The Crystal Coffin shattered instantly!
The half-corpse that had lain inside tumbled out!
Sitting on the ground, the Sunagakure shinobi watched the half-corpse spill onto the floor. The sight was so horrifying that his eyes instantly filled with terror!
"Only my brother can ensure the peace of Konohagakure..."
Senju Tobirama's hands moved swiftly through hand seals, his voice as calm as still water: "Even if the hope is one in ten thousand, even if it means desecrating the soul of the dead, I must do this..."
With those final words, Senju Tobirama slammed his palm onto the ground, his voice turning abruptly chilling!
"Ninja Art: Reanimation Technique!"
Jet-black incantations appeared beneath Senju Tobirama's palm!
Streams of incantations rapidly slithered across the ground, circling around the Sunagakure shinobi and Emiya Shihara's half-corpse to form two distinct barriers.
Amidst the Sunagakure shinobi's terrified gaze, Emiya Shihara's half-corpse disintegrated into dust and ashes that drifted into the air, slowly settling onto the living man's body!
The Sunagakure shinobi felt an unprecedented sensation of suffocation. The despair of impending death gradually filled his eyes with dread as the dust and ashes slowly obscured his vision...
Until finally...
The Sunagakure shinobi's body was completely engulfed.
Senju Tobirama's gaze locked intently on the figure slowly emerging from the ashes. The stone in his heart finally settled; at least for now, it seemed his jutsu had succeeded.
Reanimation Technique.
This was a forbidden summoning jutsu.
By using the life of a living person and a sufficient quantity of the deceased's physical remains as ritual materials, this jutsu could summon the souls of the dead from the Underworld back to the mortal realm.
Under normal circumstances...
Senju Tobirama would never have had the chance to resurrect someone who died a millennium ago.
For no corpse could be preserved for over a thousand years, especially during the chaotic Warring States Period, where countless bodies ultimately became wandering, unclaimed ghosts in mass graves.
Yet Emiya Shihara, the pioneer of medical ninjutsu, was an exception.
Because his body had been preserved exceptionally well as a medical anatomical specimen, Senju Tobirama was granted the opportunity to summon and resurrect him.
Dust swirled inside the secret chamber.
The Reanimated Body slowly shifted its appearance.
The summoned soul of the dead would mold the body back to its living appearance.
The corners of the reanimated mouth hooked into an eerie smile, only to vanish as quickly as it had formed, like the distorted appearance of the reanimated body before its completion.
At last...
The reanimated body was fully formed.
The deceased who had returned from the Underworld looked rather youthful, bearing an expression of universal compassion unbefitting his age—fitting the world's impression of him precisely.
The deceased slowly opened his eyes, looking down at his own body. A growing confusion crept onto his face, as if he could not quite comprehend why he was still alive, nor understand why he had appeared in this place.
The jutsu had succeeded!
The resurrected dead retained their consciousness!
A wave of relief washed over Senju Tobirama!
After all, this was his first time using the forbidden Reanimation Technique, undertaken as a one-in-ten-thousand gamble for his brother's sake. To think the execution of the forbidden jutsu had truly succeeded!
"Lord Emiya Shihara?"
With a solemn and serious expression, Senju Tobirama introduced himself in a deep voice: "I am Senju Tobirama, the caster who summoned you from the Underworld back to the mortal realm..."
"I am sorry to have disturbed your peace."
"However, we need you to treat someone of vital importance to the Shinobi World, leaving me no choice but to desecrate your soul. I hope you will not blame my transgression..."
"Is your surname Senju?"
Hearing this, Emiya Shihara seemed to relax.
"If it is to save lives, then it is not entirely unforgivable."
Renowned for his noble character, this medical ninja showed no displeasure at having the peace of his soul disturbed, habitually shifting his focus to the patient's condition.
"Where is the patient?"
"In the village... I shall lead the way."
Senju Tobirama's mood also relaxed somewhat, and he discreetly withdrew the fingers he had prepared to control the other's actions.
If this Lord Emiya Shihara proved to be as utterly good-natured as the legends of a millennium claimed, there would be no need to waste effort negotiating with him.
Naturally.
Senju Tobirama failed to notice another detail.
Because Senju Tobirama had not controlled the other's movements, nor sensed the other's emotions, Emiya Shihara's eyes bore the deathly stillness inherent to a reanimated body. When the patient was mentioned, his gaze actually contained no particular warmth.
Perhaps...
Saving lives had long since become a habit.
Perhaps...
Where the patient was didn't matter at all.
To him, what mattered far more was whether his own power remained intact.
[Ninja System Reconnecting...]
[Welcome back, Ninja Emiya Shihara.]
[Uncompleted mission commissions remain; unable to leave this world...]
[Uncompleted Ninja Commission (2/3)]
[SSSSS-Rank Commission: Defeat the ultimate villain of this world—the immortal and indestructible progenitor of chakra, Otsutsuki Kaguya]
[SSSSS-Rank Commission: Defeat the ultimate protagonists of this world—Uzumaki Naruto (Six Paths Mode) and Uchiha Sasuke (Rinne-Sharingan)]
The system was indeed still here.
The powers once acquired still existed.
A flash of crimson gleamed in Emiya Shihara's eyes. This layout spanning across time had fortunately made its way into this era at last.