Amemiya Kenichi remembered a joke: A hero's younger brother died, and the archer and mage both vowed to help the hero avenge him.
Then the team's necromancer chimed in, "And your dead brother too!"
It was a real dark humor moment.
Now, Amemiya Kenichi had essentially become a necromancer himself. Orochimaru had formally taught him the forbidden technique of Impure World Reincarnation, though he couldn't use it in the village just yet.
Teacher Orochimaru also mentioned that the technique was still being refined. Once perfected, it would become even more practical.
"Teacher, if souls and the Pure Land exist, what kind of energy sustains them?" Amemiya Kenichi asked, genuinely curious.
What kind of energy powered souls? It couldn't be antimatter, right?
"I don't know. The existence of souls is certain, but the specific energy behind them remains a mystery," Orochimaru replied, shaking his head. He truly had no knowledge in this area.
"Are you planning to research this?" Orochimaru glanced at his disciple. Had this little guy gotten so cocky that he wanted to study souls now?
"No, no, I was just curious. I can't research it yet," Amemiya Kenichi said quickly, waving his hands. "Are you kidding? Researching souls now? That's just asking for the Sage of the Six Paths to come after me."
Even though Amemiya Kenichi had skipped through many of the Hokage memories, he remembered that the Sage of the Six Paths seemed to reside in the Pure Land, which was also home to countless ninja souls.
But according to the Law of Conservation of Energy, the existence of souls must require energy. So what exactly were they consuming?
That was the intriguing part.
"Good to know. You can focus on what interests you for now, but stay prepared," Orochimaru nodded. Souls were too mysterious to study at this stage.
Amemiya Kenichi nodded in agreement. Orochimaru hadn't specified what he needed to be prepared for, but Kenichi could guess. His teacher was probably planning to defect from the village.
"Teacher, why is there another person in this photo?" Amemiya Kenichi finally asked, unable to contain his curiosity. He had been staring at the picture for a while now, wondering who the extra man was.
The photo showed four people. Amemiya Kenichi recognized three of them—the Three Great Sages. But he didn't know the fourth man.
Still, he was pretty handsome.
"Oh, that's Hidan," Orochimaru said, glancing at the photo with a cold smirk. "He was mercilessly abandoned by the village for breaking a taboo."
Amemiya Kenichi pondered. Hidan? The name rang a bell. He vaguely remembered something about him developing a ninjutsu that could fuse various Kekkei Genkai.
Too bad I don't know where he is, Amemiya thought. I could try to snatch it, or at least get some of his body tissue for research.
After leaving the lab, Amemiya Kenichi returned to his home. The surrounding forest was quiet, but he knew Root ninja were lurking nearby.
Danzo and Orochimaru's collaboration had always been like this. Danzo even sent people to "protect" him—though Amemiya saw it more as surveillance. Teacher Orochimaru didn't seem to mind.
As Amemiya Kenichi headed out to buy groceries, he ran into Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina.
"Oh, Little Amemiya, you're here to buy groceries too?" Uzumaki Kushina looked happier than ever, her smile even sweeter than usual.
"Yes, Sister Kushina. I'm planning to make sukiyaki at home," Amemiya Kenichi replied with a sweet smile. Kushina's hair had already been taken to his lab.
Extracting the abnormal gene chain was relatively simple. Teacher Orochimaru had done something similar with the First Hokage's cells before, so theoretically, the task could be completed in a few days.
Now that Kenichi was planning to leave the village with his teacher, he no longer felt the need to be overly affectionate with Kushina.
Of course, maintaining some contact was still necessary. Who knew what the future held? Orochimaru might change his mind about defecting due to the butterfly effect, or Kenichi himself might be recruited by the Third Hokage as a spy.
"Amemiya, you can cook? That's amazing!" Namikaze Minato chimed in with his usual sunny smile. Most people saw him as cheerful and optimistic.
I wonder if Namikaze Minato would still love Konoha so much if he knew his son wouldn't be treated like the son of a hero, but cursed daily as the Demon Fox and ostracized.
Perhaps he had his doubts. Otherwise, why would he have apologized so profusely to Naruto?
"Heh heh," Amemiya Kenichi chuckled shyly.
He'd originally planned to swipe a few things from Minato and Kushina to use as materials for Impure World Reincarnation later.
But after remembering Minato had used the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, he lost interest. He recalled that souls trapped in the Shinigami's belly couldn't be reincarnated.
As for Uzumaki Kushina, while her raw power wasn't exceptional, her mastery of Uzumaki Clan sealing techniques was formidable. Kenichi decided to gather some materials related to those techniques later.
Finally managing to see off the enthusiastic couple, Amemiya Kenichi went to buy some groceries. He carried his purchases home to cook.
The next day, a major event shook Konoha: the Fourth Hokage's inauguration was announced.
It felt a bit rushed, but it made sense. After all, the village elders had already decided who the Fourth Hokage would be. This was simply a public announcement to inform all the villagers.
The Fourth Hokage's inauguration filled the village with jubilation. Orochimaru, who had previously been the subject of intense debate, suddenly became a background figure.
Everyone was talking about Namikaze Minato's glorious achievements and his legendary war exploits.
"Kenichi, do you know what I see?" Orochimaru asked, folding his arms as he watched the cheering crowd, a faint smile playing on his lips.
Amemiya Kenichi shook his head.
"I see a rotting village, an ambition unwilling to step down, and ignorant people being manipulated without even realizing it," Orochimaru said, his eyes cold, his voice laced with bitterness.
Amemiya Kenichi watched silently. The death of Konoha's White Fang had been partly orchestrated by Danzo, but there were other factors at play as well.