Hokage: I Confronted the Five Kage Before the System Arrived

Chapter 109: The First, Second, Third, and Fourth Hokage Appear

In the ninja world, besides those who cultivate chakra, there are many strange and unusual beings.

When the Sage of the Six Paths sealed his mother and traveled the world for a long time, he dealt with many powerful spirits and demons, for which he created some Six Paths tools.

However, these spirits and demons were not completely eradicated.

For example, the demon sealed repeatedly by the priestess of the Land of Demons; the evil god worshipped by the immortal Hidan; and now, the Shinigami that appeared before Hagoromo Gengetsu.

These beings seemed to have some restrictions, preventing them from easily manifesting in the physical world.

The Shinigami was no exception.

Even though Hagoromo Gengetsu had managed to outwit it once, the Shinigami seemed unable to act directly when the contract was broken.

Hagoromo Gengetsu had a desire to swallow the Shinigami whole.

However, his previous success was largely due to being within the confines of his improved Reaper Death Seal.

Now that the Reaper Death Seal had ended, it was difficult for him to harm the Shinigami as he did before.

Hagoromo Gengetsu thought the matter had ended there, assuming the Shinigami’s anger would just result in a glare.

To his surprise, the Shinigami did not give up.

Frustrated like never before in a thousand years, the Shinigami grew increasingly enraged.

Finally, it raised its arm, opened its mouth wide, and four soul lights flew out from its belly.

In Hagoromo Gengetsu's astonished gaze, the four soul lights descended into the physical world.

After a burst of dazzling white light.

Four individuals very familiar to Hagoromo Gengetsu appeared before him.

"This is..." Hagoromo Gengetsu's pupils narrowed slightly.

The Shinigami was not done yet.

The prayer beads on its only intact hand quickly separated, transforming into four beams of light that entered the four souls.

Every use of the Reaper Death Seal not only allowed the Shinigami to take away the caster's soul but also extracted the remaining life force of the caster.

The prayer beads in the Shinigami's hand were the condensed life force.

Injecting it into the four souls allowed them to gain temporary life bodies; otherwise, as mere wandering souls, they could not exhibit much power.

The Shinigami's intention was now clear.

It was to let the souls originally belonging to this world fully return, so they could eliminate Hagoromo Gengetsu, the traitor, on its behalf, since it could not come to this world.

For this, even if these four delicious souls escaped its control later, it would be worth it.

Additionally, under normal circumstances, the Shinigami could not control the wills of souls that had left its belly.

However, the souls it chose this time were closely related to Hagoromo Gengetsu.

Recalling the scene at the Chunin Exam site last time, the Shinigami gave Hagoromo Gengetsu a cold smile. It had done all it could, and its time was up. It hoped to see Hagoromo Gengetsu in the afterlife next time.

The Shinigami then dissipated.

Hagoromo Gengetsu shifted his gaze from the departing Shinigami back to the four souls, now with tangible forms, still bewildered.

The First Hokage, Hashirama Senju! The Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju! The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi! The Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze!

Yes!

The Shinigami had released all four Hokages at once.

Hagoromo Gengetsu was shocked upon realizing this.

He hadn't paid much attention to this before.

Now, counting them, he found that all the Hokages of Konoha had ended up in the Shinigami's belly.

Were they inside sitting in a row, playing mahjong?

"Eh? What's going on?" At this moment, Hagoromo Gengetsu's old friend, Hashirama Senju, looked at his hands in confusion and spoke.

"Have we returned to the physical world again?"

Tobirama Senju, already somewhat familiar with the process, first sensed his current body, different from his real one yet not a soul body.

However, soon after opening his eyes and seeing Hagoromo Gengetsu in front of him again, his gaze sharpened.

"Did Hiruzen fail in the end?"

"First, Second, and even the Fourth Hokage."

Beside them, Hiruzen Sarutobi, unexpectedly back in the physical world after using the Reaper Death Seal, immediately noticed Hagoromo Gengetsu and greeted the other Hokages.

"Nice to see you again, Monkey!" Hashirama Senju responded enthusiastically, not understanding the situation.

"Uh... First Lord, Second Lord, Third Lord, hello," a somewhat shy voice sounded from behind Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Hashirama tilted his head and finally noticed a young man with bright blond hair, inadvertently blocked by Hiruzen Sarutobi, and asked in confusion, "Who are you?"

Upon hearing this, Minato Namikaze quickly turned around, showing the back of his Hokage robe with the prominent words "Fourth Hokage," and politely said, "First Lord, I am the Fourth Hokage of Konoha."

"Oh! The Fourth Hokage!" Hashirama clapped his hands in surprise, "I didn't recognize you at first, sorry about that. So, you also died?"

"Uh, yes," Minato Namikaze scratched his head in embarrassment, explaining, "Due to the Nine-Tails' rampage, I used the Reaper Death Seal and left before the Third Lord."

"The Nine-Tails required..." Hashirama's face was full of shock, almost speaking his mind.

Fortunately, he wasn't completely insensitive and quickly yawned, looking around, "The First, Second, Third, and Fourth Hokages are all here. So, who is the Fifth Hokage of Konoha?"

"Brother, shouldn't you ask your old friend?" Tobirama Senju, still staring at Hagoromo Gengetsu, replied without turning his head.

Hashirama followed his brother's gaze and finally became the last to notice Hagoromo Gengetsu.

"Gengetsu! We meet again so soon!"

Hashirama was very curious, not expecting to see an old acquaintance again after death.

Hagoromo Gengetsu was also surprised by the Shinigami's final decision.

He looked at Hashirama Senju with some sentiment, "For you, it may be just a blink, but for me, it's been over half a year. I even went to your grave to place some flowers and pay my respects."

"Is that so? Thank you," Hashirama, feeling something was off but not pinpointing it, habitually thanked him.

"By the way, to answer your question, the current Fifth Hokage is Tsunade," Hagoromo Gengetsu added.

"Little Tsuna???"

Hashirama's expression changed drastically, unable to imagine his gambling-obsessed granddaughter, who always lost everything, becoming Hokage one day!

Can she be trusted not to bankrupt Konoha?