*Chapter 240: The Resurrection of Kushina Uzumaki, Cursed Seal and Sage Art*

Although the people in front of her were likely not perverts, there was still a hint of unease for Kushina Uzumaki. Even with the Second Hokage present, which should have reassured her, she couldn't shake her worry. After all, she had never met the Second Hokage before and had no idea what his true personality was like. What if he teamed up with these other shady characters?

Sure, he was an Edo Tensei reanimation, but what if these people had a strange taste for things like that?

As Kushina Uzumaki's thoughts began to run wild, Raijin seemed to read her mind.

"Kushina Uzumaki, your thoughts are too dangerous," Raijin said calmly. "We have no intentions towards you. We're just testing whether this jutsu is successful. It also benefits you—you'll be able to walk among the living again like a normal person. Even as an Edo Tensei body, you can escape that fate and be just like you were in life."

Raijin's words were serious. If Kushina didn't want this opportunity, there were plenty of others in line to take her place.

Kushina’s expression darkened as she imagined the worst, but Raijin wasn’t interested in this reanimated form, even if she had retained much of her charm from when she was alive.

After all, wasn't the wife of the clan leader still considered graceful in her time?

“Resurrection?” Kushina’s eyes lit up. She hadn’t expected such a possibility. While she wasn’t particularly interested in coming back to life, she thought of Naruto. All the suffering Naruto endured in the village was because of her and Minato.

As for Minato Namikaze… Kushina didn’t want to think about him. His obsession with the village had resulted in their son’s misery. If only she had been the one to sacrifice herself, the village would have been fine, and their son could have led a normal life.

With Minato in the village, their son could have become someone respected, a person with a name and a reputation.

But that was all just wishful thinking.

“Can I see Naruto after I’m resurrected?” Kushina asked excitedly.

“We’ll talk about that later!” Raijin squinted but didn’t answer directly. Instead, he gestured to Trafalgar Law.

Naruto Uzumaki was doing just fine with the Whitebeard Pirates—there was no reason for her to see him. The best time for Kushina to make her appearance would be when the Navy finally made its move against Whitebeard.

“Room!” Trafalgar Law raised his hand, and in an instant, Kushina’s soul was pulled from her Edo Tensei body. Instead of returning to Raijin’s eyes, it entered the youthful body of the girl who resembled Kushina.

Everyone watched this scene with anticipation, even Orochimaru. Though he had conducted many experiments with pirates, he still worried about failure—it had gone too smoothly, which only made him more nervous.

Suddenly, the young girl gasped for air, her eyes wide as she scanned her surroundings. “I’m really alive? I actually came back to life?”

Kushina pinched the muscle on her arm, overwhelmed with joy. It was a miracle—there was no resurrection jutsu in the ninja world, yet here she was, truly alive again.

“Hehehe, I did it!” Orochimaru's pale face broke into a grin, and he couldn’t contain his laughter. After fusing so many bloodline limits and other genetic factors, the body hadn’t collapsed; it had perfectly integrated with Kushina.

The exhilaration Orochimaru felt was something he hadn’t experienced in a long time. From the moment he took over Tobirama’s experiments, he had been perfecting these incomplete techniques. Now, he had finally succeeded.

“They actually resurrected someone?” Judge stood among the crowd, his expression conflicted. He and his team had been labeled as criminals by the World Government for merely researching bloodline factors. But now, in Dressrosa, these people were conducting far more terrifying experiments. The resurrection of a person—if news of this spread, it would shock the entire world.

But Judge glanced around. These people were all insiders of Dressrosa. If this information leaked, he would likely be the first suspect.

“Boom!”

At that moment, Kushina Uzumaki's fist suddenly smashed into the wall.

A massive crack appeared on the wall, spreading rapidly.

Luckily, the underground structure they were in was built quite solidly!

Otherwise…

They all might have been wiped out.

"What are you doing?"

Immediately, everyone's eyes turned to Kushina Uzumaki.

Tobirama Senju glanced at Kushina's fist, his mouth twitching slightly.

Definitely superhuman strength.

Who would have thought that even the girl from the Uzumaki clan…

Even had such monstrous strength.

This terrifying strength seemed almost on par with his elder brother's.

As expected of the former Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.

Only a woman as strong as his sister-in-law could control the Nine-Tails.

With such potential and power, only she could seal the Nine-Tails.

"Hahaha, I was just testing if I still have my strength from when I was alive. Apart from the Nine-Tails, it seems like I can still use all the jutsu I had mastered."

"Now I can rest easy, no worries!"

Kushina Uzumaki scratched her head awkwardly.

Being stared at by so many people made her a little embarrassed.

"You better not cause any more trouble! Tobirama, take her for a walk around Dressrosa and help her get familiar with the situation on the seas."

"Hopefully, you’ll quickly adapt to this environment—this isn’t Konoha anymore!"

Raijin didn’t scold her, just directed Kushina to settle down first.

"Me?"

Tobirama was clearly reluctant!

But in the end, he said nothing more.

After all, even if he wanted to object, Raijin’s decision couldn’t be overturned.

Kushina obediently stood beside Tobirama.

"Orochimaru, next, I’ll need you and Judge to work hard and quickly finish creating the clones of the other Kage."

"The ninja academy still needs a lot of jutsu to fill the curriculum!"

"The jutsu from the other nations should be quite suitable!"

Raijin addressed Orochimaru.

"No problem, I've already begun preparations."

Orochimaru nodded!

He had been waiting for this experiment to succeed.

Once successful…

He could begin crafting his own body.

And even the bodies of the Second and Fourth Hokage.

"By the way, what was the surprise you mentioned?"

Raijin suddenly remembered that Orochimaru had said earlier there was some sort of surprise left in this body.

Raijin had found nothing out of the ordinary with Kushina's body.

Except that...

It seemed bigger than he remembered.

He had seen Kushina before.

Orochimaru must have been indulging his personal interests.

"Of course, it's another power, but it can't be guided out just yet!"

"I’ll help draw it out."

Orochimaru walked over to Kushina and slightly pulled down the back of her collar, revealing three tomoe.

They looked like the Uchiha clan’s Sharingan tomoe, but it was a tattoo.

"Is this... a curse mark?"

Raijin narrowed his eyes and asked.

"Looks like Lord Raijin is always keeping an eye on my experiments. Yes, this is a curse mark."

"After the Sages from Ryūchi Cave settled in Dressrosa, I visited them a few times."

"Using their cells, I integrated them into the bodies of these clones, allowing them to be naturally adept at utilizing Sage Chakra."

"So!"

Orochimaru’s fingers glowed briefly with Sage Chakra, which immediately sank into the curse mark on Kushina’s body.

Boom!

In the next moment, a fierce wind swept through the lab.

Documents were sent flying everywhere.

But no one cared about those insignificant details now.

All their attention was on the chakra flowing from the woman in front of them.

Her chakra slithered around her body like a spirit snake, and a strange bulge appeared on her forehead, looking incredibly odd.

"Is this Sage Chakra?"

Hearing Orochimaru’s explanation, Kushina now understood what was happening to her body.

Minato had once trained in Sage Mode with Jiraiya at Mount Myoboku!

Kushina wasn’t unfamiliar with Sage Chakra!

But she hadn’t expected…

That she could now use this power too.

"That's right! But it’s not very stable yet. You only have about ten minutes to use Sage Chakra."

"If you use large-scale jutsu, the time will shorten even further!"

Orochimaru saw the astonishment on everyone's faces and smiled in satisfaction.

He had spent so long on this research, after all, to leave everyone in awe.

Even the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, whom he admired most, looked shocked.

At this moment!

Orochimaru was enjoying it.

He lived for moments like this.

"Looks like Konoha really has no shortage of talent. I didn’t expect anyone to master Sage Techniques too."

Tobirama’s shock faded slightly, and he glanced seriously at Orochimaru.

He had thought Orochimaru was just working on research Tobirama had abandoned!

Who would have thought this guy had independently developed a Sage Technique?

"We've actually researched Shikkotsu Forest's Sage Techniques as well, but haven’t made much progress yet."

"Ryūchi Cave’s Sage Mode focuses on technique, while Shikkotsu Forest’s is more about physical strength."

"We plan to keep advancing and see if we can combine the two!"

Shizune chimed in at this moment to explain.

"By all means, go ahead and experiment!"

Raijin was very pleased with this.

With the addition of Sage Techniques…

It meant!

He had even more Kage-level warriors at his disposal.

Although Kage-level power was still a bit short compared to the Yonko, they could definitely serve as subordinates of the Yonko.

"Thank you, Lord Raijin, for your trust."

Orochimaru nodded. The reason he had demonstrated Sage Techniques was, of course, to secure more resources.

He would need more funds for his upcoming research.

Dressrosa’s funding was starting to run low.

"Now that we’ve seen this snake’s little show, let’s go watch mine!"

Sasori of the Red Sand spoke up.

Orochimaru’s display was indeed impressive.

But Sasori didn’t find any beauty in it.

He despised Orochimaru.

Now this filthy snake didn’t even talk about immortality anymore.

Ever since coming here, it seemed even his dreams had faded away.

He wasn’t fit to be compared to Sasori anymore.

Sasori planned to show off his own research results.

He led the group to his lab, and even the recently resurrected Kushina followed.

Though she was curious about the world outside, Kushina figured there was no rush in such a short time.

Since Raijin hadn’t dismissed her, she decided to stay for now.

"After coming to this sea, with your inspiration, Raijin!"

"I’ve gained a clearer understanding of immortality. I once turned myself into a human puppet."

"I abandoned my emotions, gave up sensations, but I still felt it wasn’t enough. My art wasn’t finished."

"Now, I’ve touched upon that other world. I’m about to achieve immortality, to create eternal beauty!"

Sasori, with his red hair, walked ahead, speaking quietly.

But his tone grew more fervent, as if he were a madman.

Yet everyone knew these were Sasori’s true feelings.

Many people knew of Sasori’s dream.

But they didn’t expect him to claim that he had now achieved immortality.

"Next! I’ll show you the ultimate secret of human puppetry!"

Sasori cast aside his black robe, revealing his core to everyone.

The core was the same as before!

But Sasori had improved it.

Now his core could interface and synchronize with electrical signals.

His goal was immortality.

Even if Uchiha Raijin were to die.

Sasori wouldn’t.

"This is your research focus? The Puppet Technique from the Hidden Sand trying to achieve immortality?"

"You’ve already turned your body into a human puppet, reaching the pinnacle of craftsmanship."

"No matter how much you tinker, you’re still just working within the realm of puppetry."

Tobirama crossed his arms and said.

He didn’t know much about Sasori’s research!

Tobirama had always been involved with Orochimaru’s work and had never interacted with Sasori.

All he knew was that Sasori was always tinkering with machinery and telecommunication bugs.

But in his view, reaching this point using the Puppet Technique was already incredibly difficult for Sasori.

To push further would be as hard as reaching for the heavens.