Chapter 422: Revive First, Revive Later
Kurotsuchi's mind was in complete chaos.
Plop.
She ran to the side and dunked her head straight into a water jar.
The information she had just received was far too overwhelming, so she needed to cool her brain down and clear her thoughts.
"You're saying that Uchiha Madara and my grandpa have become love rivals, fighting over Granny Chiyo?"
Kurotsuchi lifted her head, water still dripping from her face, and asked in disbelief.
"That's right. My condolences… ah, no, just go with the flow."
Senju Hashirama nodded seriously.
"How did it come to this…"
Kurotsuchi held her head in both hands.
Hashirama was about to say a few words of comfort when he heard her muttering to herself, "How could Madara possibly fall for Granny Chiyo? Could it be just because her name also has the character 'Chiyo' in it?"
"…?"
Hashirama was completely baffled.
He could only watch as Kurotsuchi muttered to herself, walking away while deep in thought.
----
The Land of Wind, Sunagakure Village.
After arriving in Sunagakure, Ōnoki didn't waste a second. Using his status as a former Tsuchikage, he quickly found Gaara and urgently asked for Granny Chiyo's location.
Once he got the answer, he immediately flew out through the window.
This action left Gaara completely confused.
Ōnoki soon found Chiyo. To his surprise, she was alone, which struck him as strange after hearing Hashirama's story.
Shouldn't Madara be sticking to her constantly?
"Ōnoki? What are you doing here, you old geezer?"
Chiyo looked at the short figure hovering in the air, puzzled.
"Chiyo!"
Ōnoki suddenly shouted, "Get a grip! Don't let lust cloud your judgment! Madara must be plotting something!"
"…."
Chiyo was speechless.
Did this old fool really come all the way from Iwagakure just to scold her?
And what did he mean by "lust clouding your judgment"?
She was just lying here quietly sunbathing, where exactly did that accusation come from?
Was this old man so obsessed with her beauty that his mind had become dirty, seeing everything through that lens?
"Ōnoki, do you really think you're the only one who's seen through it? You're still as arrogant and foolish as ever."
Chiyo snorted coldly, not even bothering to turn over.
Ōnoki froze for a moment, then slowly descended from the air.
"You mean… everything you've been doing was just an act for Madara? To test his true intentions?"
Before Chiyo could answer, he urgently continued, "Then what exactly is Madara's scheme? What does he want?"
"So impatient? Looks like the rumors are true, that Uchiha Madara has been your lifelong shadow."
Chiyo opened her eyes slightly, a faint smile appearing on her face.
"I'm doing this for the safety of the ninja world!" Ōnoki insisted stubbornly.
"Fine. For the safety of the ninja world."
Chiyo went on, "Madara proposed this to me: I use 'One's Own Life Reincarnation' to revive him. After he regains his strength and retrieves the Rinnegan, he'll use it to revive me in return."
"He also made it clear that the Rinnegan's 'Rinne-Rebirth Technique' can revive multiple people at once. While bringing me back, he could also revive my son and daughter-in-law."
Chiyo no longer hid anything and revealed everything Madara had proposed over the past few days.
After all, the Five Great Ninja Villages were now united.
Their enemy was the Ōtsutsuki clan, along with any threat to the ninja world.
There was no harm in telling Ōnoki.
He wasn't someone who would spread secrets carelessly.
"One's Own Life Reincarnation?"
Ōnoki frowned. "Aren't you a puppeteer? What kind of technique is that?"
"That's the ultimate medical ninjutsu I developed to revive my son and daughter-in-law", Chiyo explained, "It transfers one's own life force into another person, achieving 'revival.'"
"Unfortunately, even though I completed this forbidden technique, my own life force and chakra aren't enough to fully perform it, nor can I revive two people. It's strictly one-for-one. And since I hadn't found Sasori before, I never used it. I don't know how Madara found out, but he came to me because of it."
"What? Revival? Wait! You're not seriously considering this, are you?"
Ōnoki was startled.
He had only learned about the Rinnegan's revival ability from Kurotsuchi, who herself had heard it from others.
As for this technique…
He had never heard of it before.
Who would have thought that this old puppeteer had secretly developed such an outrageous forbidden jutsu?
No wonder Madara had set his sights on her.
If it was just One's Own Life Reincarnation, Ōnoki wouldn't be worried.
From the looks of it, Chiyo clearly understood that Madara had ulterior motives, she wasn't being manipulated.
And she wasn't foolish enough to sacrifice her life for no reason.
But what he hadn't expected was that Madara would be so cunning, offering the Rinnegan's ability to revive multiple people as a bargaining chip.
This move of "revive first to enable later revivals" truly made Ōnoki worry that Chiyo might not be able to resist the temptation.
Honestly, if it was him, if Kurotsuchi had died and there was such a chance to bring her back, he wouldn't be able to resist agreeing to Madara's terms either.
"…Sigh."
Chiyo didn't answer directly. She simply let out a sigh.
That sigh made Ōnoki anxious, and suddenly, a thought flashed through his mind.
"Wait! The Rinnegan's Rinne-Rebirth, I remember Kurotsuchi mentioning that it also requires the user's life, right?"
"Once you revive Madara, there's no way he'd sacrifice himself again to revive you! He hid that from you, he's deceiving you!"
"That's right."
Chiyo glanced at him.
In truth, her sigh had been about Sasori.
Even if her son and daughter-in-law were revived, seeing Sasori's current state, even through Impure World Reincarnation, might not be a good thing.
Otherwise, she would have already gone to Amegakure to apply for it.
Simply put, Sasori didn't need his parents to return right now, and she had already come to terms with things.
If not, why would she bother cooperating with Madara? She would have just gone straight to Akatsuki's leader.
Still, seeing Ōnoki like this, Chiyo decided to tease him a little.
"Madara didn't hide it. He said that while the Rinne-Rebirth consumes a massive amount of life force and chakra, even members of the Senju or Uzumaki clans would die from it, if he becomes the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki, he could survive it and wouldn't have to trade one life for another."
"What?!"
Ōnoki was stunned.
This was getting more and more absurd.
At first, it was just about reviving Madara. Now it had escalated to helping him become the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki?
Another Sage of Six Paths? Another Ōtsutsuki Kaguya?
Just as Ōnoki was reeling in shock, he suddenly sensed someone approaching.
The presence was faint.
But upon closer inspection, it was Madara.
This is bad. He's going to find out. We'll alert him!
Ōnoki glanced around, then gritted his teeth. In a split-second decision, he lunged forward and pressed himself toward Chiyo's face.
"?!"
Chiyo, who had been lying there sunbathing, never expected Ōnoki to pull something like this. Her eyes widened in shock.
(End of this chapter)