In the desert, Tsunade looked at the people lying on the ground. Except for Mei Terumi, the Water Shadow, and Nagato, everyone else was severely injured. The Raikage and the Tsuchikage were the most seriously hurt. Jiraiya was the least injured, and the two frogs on his shoulders had not been spared.
"Jiraiya, do you regret giving Rixing to me?" Tsunade walked up to Jiraiya and said in a low voice.
Jiraiya, clutching his chest, slowly sat up. "No, even if I had to do it again, I would still bring that kid Rixing to your side. Without you, we would probably all be dead by now. Perhaps the world would have become as the masked man described."
"After the war ends, I will abdicate and no longer be the Fifth Hokage. The rest will be up to you."
"Summoning Jutsu!"
After stating her thoughts, Tsunade summoned a giant slug and wrapped the injured people in it, healing them.
Tsunade then walked to Mei Terumi's side and quietly looked at the ring on Mei's hand. "You too!"
...
Land of Frost.
Rixing came to Kabuto's side and examined him carefully. Kabuto was only immersed in his own consciousness. If a different choice were made, Kabuto would awaken.
Rixing used the Transformation Jutsu to become Yakushi Nonō and sat quietly beside Kabuto.
...
At this time, Kabuto was still repeating the same scene with Itachi. The ground was already littered with the horns Itachi had cut off.
"Kabuto, you've always sought acknowledgment from others, but you haven't seen yourself clearly. You've already lost."
"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Itachi! What right do you have to lecture me, you who have lied your whole life? If I kill you all here, this genjutsu will definitely be broken! Lord Rixing is waiting for me! I absolutely cannot lose to you!" Kabuto was shouting frantically, his mental state showing signs of strain. If this continued, even breaking Izanami would turn him into a madman.
"Kabuto, I have always acknowledged your existence, but have you ever thought about yourself? Who are you, really? Why is your name Kabuto? What do you exist for?" Rixing's voice suddenly echoed in the genjutsu. Kabuto, as if seeing his mother, yelled at the air, "Lord Rixing! I haven't lost! Watch me closely, I will bring you victory!"
"Kabuto, think carefully about what I just said. Only by acknowledging yourself can you truly see yourself." After saying this, Rixing left Kabuto to his own devices. Whether he could break Izanami depended on Kabuto himself.
"Who am I? What do I exist for? Who am I? What am I worth?" Kabuto lowered his head, pondering this question. Then he thought of his past. He became an orphan due to the war, not knowing his parents' names or his own.
He was taken in by the director of an orphanage, who gave him the name Kabuto. He should have lived a happy life in the orphanage, but that was shattered when Danzo arrived. To prevent the director from undertaking spy missions, he chose to become a Konoha spy, stealing information from various villages, all so the director could care for other orphaned children. But in the end, the director, in order to bring him back sooner, accepted a mission to assassinate him. He killed the director with his own hands. All these years, everything he had done was for the director, yet the director didn't know his appearance, all because Danzo had gradually replaced his photo with someone else's. This led him to question his own existence. It wasn't until Lord Orochimaru found him and acknowledged his existence that he felt seen again. Yet, all of that was eventually destroyed. He finally met Lord Rixing and was once again acknowledged by someone, only to be trapped in this genjutsu now.
"When Itachi comes to find you, you will find your true self!" Kabuto suddenly remembered what Rixing had told him before the war began, and then Kabuto suddenly had an epiphany.
"Who am I? I am Kabuto! Yakushi Kabuto! Does my existence require others' acknowledgment? No, I don't need anyone else's acknowledgment. I only need my own. I am no one else. I am just the Yakushi Kabuto from the orphanage! Yakushi Nonō's child!"
"I understand, thank you, Lord Rixing. To gain the acknowledgment of others, one must first acknowledge oneself. I do not exist for Lord Orochimaru, nor do I exist for Lord Rixing. I exist for myself!"
As Kabuto understood everything, Itachi and Sasuke before him began to distort. Kabuto in the real world slowly opened his eyes.
Through the moonlight, Kabuto saw Rixing, who had transformed into Yakushi Nonō. Kabuto quickly ran to Rixing and kept calling out, "Director!"
"Kabuto, it's nine o'clock now, time to sleep. Take off your glasses, you're not nearsighted anymore, right? Go to sleep now!" Rixing coaxed Kabuto to sleep in a very gentle voice, patting his back softly. Kabuto slowly fell asleep in Rixing's gentleness. Seeing that Kabuto was asleep, Rixing carried him to an inn to rest well.
"As a leader, you must take good care of your subordinates! Ubuyashiki Kagaya, I think I'm starting to understand how you felt," Rixing muttered to himself as he walked outside, looking at the moon. He thought that tonight, he should be able to see the Goddess of the Moon.
"Oh, I forgot one thing."
Immediately, Rixing performed the Reaper Death Seal on the spot, summoning the Shinigami. When Rixing saw the Shinigami, he flashed forward, grabbed its neck, and produced a dagger in his hand. With a swift cut, he sliced open the Shinigami's belly.
"Raking Cherry Blossoms!"
Then Rixing plunged his hand into the Shinigami's stomach and rummaged around. "This has the aura of the God Tree. It should be Hashirama Senju. This one seems rather stern; his soul is too cold, it should be Tobirama Senju. This one is kind and gentle, it should be Hiruzen Sarutobi. This one feels warm and sunny, with the aura of the Nine-Tails. It's you, Minato Namikaze!"
Ignoring the other three Hokage, Rixing directly pulled out Minato Namikaze's soul, and then with another Raking Cherry Blossoms, he made the Shinigami disappear.
Afterward, an energy gathered in Rixing's hand, slowly forming a Chakra Fruit.
"Yin-Yang Release, Chakra Fruit, Extraterrestrial Meteorite."
"Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu!"
Rixing had only thought of the God Tree after touching Hashirama's Wood Style. Since the God Tree bears fruit, Rixing decided to try it. He used the Heavenly Path to fuse the Chakra Fruit with the Extraterrestrial Meteorite, then used Yin-Yang Release to imbue the fused Chakra Fruit with a trace of life essence, to be used as a sacrifice for the Impure World Reincarnation. This time, there was no sacrifice; Minato Namikaze's remains were used. The bones on the ground slowly grew veins and flesh, just like the evolution of Susanoo. A complete Minato Namikaze appeared before Rixing.
"It worked! It worked! Li Yun, did you see! This is the effect I wanted." Rixing was wildly dancing, as happy as a child.
"Xingxing is indeed the best! Your Yunyun loves you so much. Come, kiss, mua!"
"Where, where, Yunyun is also the best! Xingxing loves you too, mua!"
"Xingxing, you're playing word games, right!"
"Holy crap, didn't you start it?"