Naruto Online: Hyuga Branch Family? Let's go all out!

Chapter 140 First Encounter with Black Jue

Ning Yuan's journey has been stuck at a very delicate point in time.

When Tsunade had just developed hemophobia and still harbored resentment towards the village, she revealed Hiruzen Sarutobi's true identity.

Minato had just become Jiraiya's disciple and his mind had not yet been influenced, so he preemptively intercepted him.

Sakumo Hatake was about to be framed, but he didn't commit suicide, making this the easiest time for him to be won over.

The fact that Yahiko didn't die also made it the easiest time for the Akatsuki to win over their supporters.

If it had been any later, Tsunade would have left the village and wouldn't have had the chance to meet Orochimaru, who was engrossed in scientific research.

After the death of Konoha's White Fang, Kakashi turned to the dark side.

If Minato can't hook her, Kushina's efforts are in vain.

With Yahiko's death, the Akatsuki organization also became the villains.

Being one step ahead opens up vast possibilities, while being one step behind, though not a precipice, makes unifying the world far more difficult.

Of course, the story might be more exciting back then, with fighting from beginning to end.

"Who's there?" Ning Yuan asked in a low voice as he walked out of town to see off Yahiko's trio and Nono Yakushi, who had gone with him to help with the Akatsuki's restructuring. He turned to look in one direction.

"Someone's here?" Kurenai Yuhi was startled and quickly raised her hand to form a hand seal.

After two years of studying the "Arcane Pen Hall," her mental state had reached a point where she could unleash sensory ninjutsu.

But after scanning around, they couldn't find anything.

Even so, she cautiously pulled out a weapon—a metal hairpin shaped like a chopstick, pulled from her hair, which looked like an enlarged version of Senbon.

Ning Yuan's voice didn't stop, but his gaze began to shift, as if following something moving underground: "It's pitch black, and this thing moving underground, do you think I'm bluffing you?"

"You can actually see me?" The thing underground finally stopped moving, and not only that, it floated up to the surface.

A moment later, a black man who looked about 80% similar to the man in black from Detective Conan, but with a matte black coat, appeared in front of the two.

The man looked at Ning Yuan curiously and said, "From the Hyuga clan? But the Byakugan shouldn't be able to see me!"

His mother has Byakugan, and his enemies also have Byakugan. How could he not have set up targeted ninjutsu to counter them?

"My white eye might be a little different from the traditional white eye!" Ning Yuan laughed. "And what's your name, Uncle Blackie, and why are you hiding underground?"

Does he not know me?

Hei Jue was taken aback, then nodded in his mind as if it were the most natural thing in the world. I haven't shown my face for a long time since I caused trouble last time, so of course he couldn't possibly know me.

I was quite startled when I was first discovered.

"My name is Zetsu, I'm a wandering ninja. I just happened to be passing by and saw you kids chatting, so I came over to check it out!" Zetsu said. "By the way, what are you talking about?"

"Oh, let's talk about ancient mythology, the Goddess of the Rabbit!" Ning Yuan replied.

"What?" Black Jue's heart skipped a beat. Oh, he didn't have a heart.

"The Goddess of the Rabbit? Don't you know? She's my ancestor!" Ning Yuan said proudly. "I told them that the Goddess of the Rabbit once briefly unified the world, bringing peace to it. I, Ning Yuan, wish to emulate my ancestor and achieve the same feat of unifying the world once again. I feel they are all very promising individuals, so I've come to invite them to join me!"

"You, unify the world?" Black Zetsu laughed heartily. "Don't be ridiculous. Even Hashirama couldn't do it back then, how could you, a mere Hyuga, possibly accomplish it!"

"It's not that he couldn't do it, it's just that he didn't want to!" Ning Yuan said. "Otherwise, with his and Madara Uchiha's strength back then, with Susanoo and the Great Buddha on top, who could be their match?"

"Susanoo-clad Buddha" Kuroze sneered, "You really dare to dream!"

but

He thought about the scene carefully, and it seemed like it really had potential.

Thankfully, Hashirama was a pedantic person and didn't think that far ahead.

"Judging from your expression, you greatly admire the Goddess of Rabbit?" Kuroze asked.

After all, Ning Yuan himself said that he wanted to follow the example of his ancestors!

"Of course!" Ning Yuan nodded. "Throughout history, she's the only person who has ever unified the world, and she's a woman. Isn't that worthy of admiration?"

"Of course it's worth it!" Black Zetsu nodded immediately. "I feel that there is no god in this world more worthy of worship than the Goddess of the Rabbit!"

"That's right, that's right!" Ning Yuan nodded. "But what is the reality? The reality is that no matter which country it is, they all worship those fake gods from Takamagahara, like Tsukuyomi, Amaterasu, and Susanoo. Did these gods ever exist? What did they do for humanity? What contributions did they make?"

"The gods who truly dedicate themselves to the people until their dying breath are left unworshipped, while a bunch of ignorant gods sit high above them. It truly pains me to see this!" Ning Yuan clenched his fists unconsciously. "It's like the masters are wandering the streets while clowns occupy the halls of power. Mr. A-Jue, do you think this situation is normal?"

"Ah, of course it's not normal!" Black Zetsu nodded subconsciously. How should I put it?

He had never encountered a human being so loyal to their mother before.

Although the Goddess of Rabbit is very well-known, her situation is somewhat similar to that of the goddess Nuwa.

Everyone knows the story of Nuwa creating humans. Even if most people know that humans actually evolved from monkeys, they will still worship Nuwa as the ancestor who created humans.

However, Nuwa doesn't have many temples, and her popularity as a believer is far less than that of Mazu or Guanyin.

I don't know why, maybe it's because Nuwa didn't have a specific divine role?

Just like how the Sanqing Temple is not as lively as the Caishen Temple.

"So, I have a plan!" Ning Yuan reached out and put his arm around Hei Jue's shoulder.

Hei Jue probably felt that the two children posed no threat, or perhaps he felt that it was not easy to find a fan who was an old woman, so he actually bent down to cooperate with Ning Yuan, who was not tall.

"What are your plans?" Black Absolute asked.

"Uncle Ajue, is your body some kind of special ninjutsu? It feels cool to the touch, a bit like a stone."

"Oh, this is an Earth Release ninjutsu called Stone Skin Technique!" Black Zetsu didn't care at all about his strange appearance. There were plenty of ninjas in the world who looked even weirder than him. He just made up a ninjutsu on the spot and got away with it.

"Oh, how amazing!" Ning Yuan didn't see anything special about the creation of will at close range.

"Let's not talk about that. You still haven't told me your plan," Hei Jue asked.

"Oh, back to the plan!" Ning Yuan said, "I plan to abolish all the outer god temples in the Land of Fire, stipulating that only the goddess of the Rabbit will be allowed to be worshipped from now on. Those priests who believe in Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu can't be kept either; they have to be arrested. I plan to build a huge prison specifically to hold them, giving them only two meals a day, and making them work, like operating sewing machines or something!"

Hei Jue wiped away imaginary sweat and asked, somewhat bewildered, "Is it really necessary to go this far?"

"How could it be!" Ning Yuan's voice suddenly rose: "Don't you believe in the Goddess of the Rabbit?"

"No, I believe it!" Kuroze quickly shook his head. "No one believes in the Goddess of the Rabbit more than I do. I just think, isn't this method a bit too extreme?"

"Where's the extreme part?" Ning Yuan said irritably, "I haven't finished yet. Besides those shrines, all those temples need to be shut down, all the monks need to be sent home, and the temples need to enshrine the Goddess of Rabbit!"

The temples and monasteries of this era were described, to put it mildly, as places that harbored filth and corruption.

Taking over land and exploiting tenant farmers is something every temple does.

It was common for priests to use faith to abduct women and extort gold and silver.

There are also shamans who engage in feudal superstitions, and activities such as human sacrifice and water sacrifices often occur.

When I was a child, I learned the story of Ximen Bao governing Ye in my textbook. It said that the locals used to sacrifice young boys and girls to the River God. Later, Ximen Bao threw the shamans into the river and broke this sacrificial practice.

The people of Ye City have Ximen Bao to stand up for them, but the people of the ninja world don't!

Hidan is clearly involved in a cult, yet neither Pain nor Konan, who is known as an angel, seems to notice him. Why is that?

Because the actions of orthodox religions are no different from those of cults, this phenomenon has become so prevalent here that everyone has become accustomed to it!

Ning Yuan can use the curse seal to reshape people's values, but he can only control the upper echelons of the Fire Kingdom at present.

To deal with a religion that is deeply rooted in hundreds of millions of people, a direct, sweeping crackdown is not realistic. It would be better for the government to recommend a deity and fight fire with fire.

Hei Jue didn't take Ning Yuan's boastful words seriously; instead, he felt both happy and amused.

I'm happy because even in this day and age, there are still such loyal believers in Mother Teresa.

It's funny, but for some reason I was actually touched by this little kid.

I have lived for over a thousand years, and my heart is as cold and hard as the iron of the Snow Country. How could I be easily moved by a human child?

But Ning Yuan continued, "I heard that the Goddess of the Rabbit didn't actually die. She ate a magic pill and then floated up to the moon!"

Hei Jue said speechlessly, "You've got the story wrong. This is Chang'e!"

He often had to find interesting things to keep Ban occupied, and he also watched the "Primordial Era" series.

However, Mother is indeed on the moon.

"How could I be wrong? I didn't read 'The Primordial Era'!" Ning Yuan retorted. "I think I saw the record somewhere in my family. The Goddess of the Rabbit is definitely on the moon!"

"Oh?" Kuroze was taken aback. The Hyuga clan actually had such a record?

His mind was completely focused on Ashura and Indra, and he hadn't really paid attention to the Hyuga family's collection.

"Uncle Ajue, what kind of person do you think the Goddess of Rabbit is?" Ning Yuan asked.

"I don't know." Kuroze thought for a moment, then shook his head. His mother was sealed away when he was born, and he only saw Kaguya for the last time.

"However, since she's a goddess, she must be an extremely beautiful person, like moonlight!"

"That's what I think too!" Ning Yuan nodded. "I think the spread of the Goddess of the Rabbit might not be very smooth at first, but as long as we promote it and believe in her, one day she will come down from the moon to bless everyone, and then everyone will definitely accept it!"

"What you're describing isn't impossible, eh?" Black Zetsu blinked, suddenly realizing something.

Spreading the belief in the Goddess of Rabbit and fabricating prophecies about the goddess descending to earth?

If we do this, wouldn't the people be eagerly anticipating the descent of the Goddess of Rabbit?

This generation may not believe it, but what if I persevere and spread it for decades or centuries?

People back then might have firmly believed in the legend of the goddess of the rabbit descending to earth!

Then I'll spread the method for bringing down the Goddess of Rabbit, and maybe some people will actually want to try it!

Of course, this is just a backup plan if the current plan fails.

Black Zetsu just hopes he'll never need to use this plan.

Patting Ning Yuan on the shoulder, Hei Jue laughed and said, "Go for it! I support you. You can definitely achieve your dream!"

"Uh-huh!"

"I have something to do, I have to go now!" Black Jue's body slowly sank into the soil, and after sinking halfway, he suddenly remembered something.

Wait, didn't he just mention that his name is Ning Yuan?

Ning Yuan, the singer?

I wanted to ask again, but I was already feeling quite heavy-hearted, so I was too embarrassed to come out again.

Forget it, let's investigate this person first. We can talk about it later. He's got those white eyes for a reason, so finding him will be easy.

(End of this chapter)