Handling the matter of souls was easy. The Yamanaka Clan had never been saints to begin with. With the battlefield still ongoing in the village, they could simply capture an enemy ninja and offer them to the Shinigami. They had no moral qualms about doing such a thing.
However, when it came to the Third Hokage's situation, Inoichi hesitated at the last moment.
If they had a year or two, the Yamanaka Clan could fully support Danzo's rise to power. By then, Danzo would take over the Anbu, with some of his Root ninjas transitioning to the open while the Yamanaka Clan absorbed the rest. Everyone would get what they wanted, and all would be happy.
But now, time was too short. Danzo's reputation was too tarnished, and a month wasn't enough. Should the Yamanaka Clan consider switching to a different candidate at the last minute?
The selection of the new Hokage, the Yamanaka Clan's interests, and the Ino-Shika-Cho Formation's collective demands were all tangled together. Inoichi knew his limits—he was just an intelligence chief, lacking the broader perspective and decisiveness needed for such matters. Right now, he needed Shikaku's wisdom.
At the very least, the Ino-Shika-Cho Formation had to reach a unified decision on this.
"Wait a moment. I need to discuss this with your Uncle Shikaku."
"...Fine. The Shinigami's sense of time is different from ours, but I can't stall for too long."
Ino began gesturing randomly at the Shinigami to buy time.
Externally, the Third Hokage used the Shadow Clone Technique to seal the First Hokage, the Second Hokage, and the Fourth Kazekage into his shadow clones. He was now gripping Orochimaru's soul tightly, but his own stamina was nearly depleted, making the process agonizingly slow.
The Third believed his old age and the massive chakra expenditure during the battle were to blame. Having already begun the summoning, there was no turning back—he had to grit his teeth and focus on dragging Orochimaru's soul out to sacrifice to the Shinigami.
Meanwhile, Inoichi used his Sensing Transmission ability to connect with his old comrades, Nara Shikaku and Akimichi Choza.
He explained the situation to them, though he didn't mention the Mind Body Disturbance Technique—not even Yamanaka Rino knew about it, let alone them. No matter how close they were, some secrets had to stay hidden.
Inoichi had mastered the art of deflection and pinned everything on the First Hokage, vaguely claiming that this was a contingency plan the First had arranged for Ino to save the Third.
Don't ask—just accept that the First Hokage was wise, far-sighted, and infallible.
None of these thirty-something ninjas had ever met the First Hokage, and the Hidden Leaf Village had a long tradition of glorifying past leaders. Now that the First was sealed by the Shinigami, it was a literal case of "dead men tell no tales," so Inoichi could spin the story however he wanted.
The First Hokage's name alone was enough to convince them.
After wrapping up the First's part, Inoichi steered the conversation back: "Time is short, Shikaku. You need to make a decision—should we save the Third or not?"
The unspoken question was: Who should we support as the next Hokage? But that was too blunt to say outright.
Truthfully, Shikaku had a decent personal relationship with the Third Hokage, and the Ino-Shika-Cho Formation's friendship with the Sarutobi Clan ran deep. But sentiment aside, adults had to prioritize interests.
When the Third Hokage and Danzo had dealt with Uchiha Kagami's descendants, had they considered sentiment then?
Shikaku had ninety-nine percent of his focus devoted to weighing the pros and cons. The Sound Ninja Village Genin fighting him wore a bewildered expression—What the hell? This is the leader of Konoha's Jonin squad? My grandma moves faster than you! The slacking is way too obvious!
Akimichi Choza's attack intensity also dropped by ninety percent instantly.
Seeing the two clan heads start holding back, the ninjas from the Nara and Akimichi clans quickly followed suit. With the Yamanaka Clan head absent, their allies were slacking—might as well join in.
The three clans began half-heartedly going through the motions, which in turn affected the Hyuga, Aburame, and Inuzuka clans.
The infamous expert at crushing weaklings, Hiashi Hyuga, who had been one-shotting minor enemies with palm strikes, noticed something amiss. After scanning the area with his Byakugan and failing to understand why the Ino-Shika-Cho Formation's attacks had weakened so drastically, he decided—no matter, the Hyuga would follow suit too!
His movements slowed to resemble elderly park-goers practicing Tai Chi. Despite eight Suna and Sound ninja corpses piled nearby, he somehow found himself locked in an evenly matched struggle with the ninth minor enemy.
Even the Sarutobi clan ninjas began holding back. "Clan leader and Hokage, didn't you always tell us to keep a low profile? Well, we're showing you just how low we can go!"
Shikaku quickly reached a decision—the Third Hokage still needed saving. If the man could live just one more month, the Ino-Shika-Cho could make proper preparations and arrangements in advance, avoiding last-minute chaos that might harm their clan interests.
Inoichi was even more direct, asking if they could use this opportunity to advance further. Shikaku refused outright—his seniority was sufficient, connections weren't lacking, and he had decisiveness, but becoming Hokage? No thanks. That job was exhausting!
The three clans agreed to continue serving as the Hokage's support, whoever that Hokage might be.
"One month is enough. Save him—save the Third Hokage!" Inoichi immediately relayed the decision to Ino.
Ino began preparing for her next move while instructing them to quickly capture a prisoner—she'd already chosen her target: Orochimaru's subordinate Sakon, with his two souls in one body, would make the perfect offering for the Shinigami.
"Sakon? Understood." Upon receiving the message, Shikaku suddenly launched a fierce assault under the perplexed gazes of Hiashi and other clan ninjas.
Hiashi was utterly confused—what madness had possessed the Ino-Shika-Cho today? Seeing their sudden intensity, he had no choice but to step up his own attacks, finally ending the Sound ninja he'd been "struggling" against for thirty exchanges with a single palm strike.
As one of the Sound Four and Orochimaru's important subordinate, Sakon possessed considerable skill. But facing over twenty Jonin from the three clans swarming him simultaneously, he stood no chance.
Before he could even react, multiple Jonin had him pinned down, beaten senseless, then expertly bound and carried away.
With Jirobo already crushed to death by Ino earlier, the remaining two Sound Four members exchanged bewildered glances—their companion had vanished in an instant. Was this the Hidden Leaf Village or a bandit den? Since when were they so skilled at kidnapping?
A Yamanaka Jonin delivered Sakon to the Yamanaka Flower Shop. Without ceremony, Ino pressed the Shinigami mask against his face. One second later, the dual-souled individual lost all signs of life.
The Shinigami was quite pleased with the new toy Ino had brought for it, playfully holding the connected souls of Sakon and Ukon in one hand.
It had developed a bit of fondness for its "dim-witted" friend and took out a new mask and a Ninjutsu Scroll from its robes to give to her.
The previous mask had been more of a temporary item, but this one was a permanent tool for summoning the Shinigami. As for the Ninja techniques within the Ninjutsu Scroll—they were naturally the Reaper Death Seal.