They're promoting the "Konoha threat" theory, and spouting nonsense about the Hidden

Chapter 157 Thoughts on the Six Paths

Not only did he want Iwagakure to issue a public apology and pay the Uzumaki clan 5 billion ryo in compensation, but he also wanted Onoki to teach the Kirigakure ninja Dust Release.

Has Hozuki Shingetsu gone mad, or does Onoki just seem easy to bully?

Onoki glared angrily at Hozuki Shingetsu, whose face remained calm, his large, bulbous nose turning even redder with rage.

Whether Onoki is easy to bully or not, Hozuki Shingetsu is someone he knows all too well whether he's insane or not.

That's right. The reason he made those conditions was that he never thought Onoki would agree, because he never intended to return the Five-Tails to Iwagakure.

Four years have passed since Takumi Uzumaki sealed the Five-Tails with his life.

Over the past four years, Hozuki Shingetsu had almost forgotten about the matter. It was only when Onoki mentioned it that he remembered that there was still a tailed beast sealed inside the Shinigami's stomach.

Thinking of the tailed beasts, he thought of Madara Uchiha and Black Zetsu's "Eye of the Moon" plan and their efforts to collect the tailed beasts.

The current Hozuki Shingetsu has mastered the secret techniques of the Hozuki clan, such as the Steam Explosion and Mirage, completed the training to normalize the Water Release Chakra Mode, learned Sage Mode, and can also steal the Lightning Release Chakra Mode. At the same time, he is also a perfect Jinchūriki.

In this era where the Six Paths of Hell no longer exist, his own strength can be said to be at the pinnacle of the ninja world.

Therefore, from a preventative perspective, he needs to consider how to deal with potential enemies at the sixth level.

There are only a handful of Six Paths level enemies that could appear in the current ninja world: Kaguya Otsutsuki, who is sealed on the moon; Toneri Otsutsuki, who might appear on the moon decades later and possess the Tenseigan; and Madara Uchiha, who will absorb all nine tailed beasts, or other Rinnegan users.

The simplest way to deal with these people is to also possess the combat power of the Six Paths level.

However, Hozuki Shingetsu is neither a direct descendant of the Otsutsuki clan nor the Ten-Tails' Jinchuriki, so it would be too far-fetched for him to achieve Six Paths level combat power.

Therefore, since he cannot reach the level of the Six Paths, he needs to find a way to prevent these Six Paths level enemies from appearing.

Leaving aside the fact that Otsutsuki Toneri still has several decades to live, Otsutsuki Kaguya and the Six Paths level Uchiha Madara are essentially the same person; the key lies in the nine tailed beasts.

Although Hozuki Shingetsu is the Six-Tails Jinchuriki, and anyone who wants to become the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki must pass through his test, the ninja world is vast and full of wonders. What if there is some device that can absorb the scattered Tailed Beast chakra and turn it into a mini Six-Tails?

So Hozuki Shingetsu deliberately didn't return the Five-Tails to Onoki because he wanted the Five-Tails to stay inside the Shinigami's stomach to prevent it from being stolen one day.

Moreover, he harbored a thought that no one else could tell: since Madara Uchiha and Obito Uchiha could become the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki, why couldn't he, Shingetsu Hozuki?

Since he arrived in the ninja world, he has set three goals: immortality, stamp collecting, and unification.

At present, both stamp collecting and unification are easy to discuss. At least he already has some plans in mind, and he has been working hard towards these two goals. In fact, he has already achieved some of these goals.

The only exception is immortality. In the current state of the ninja world, achieving immortality almost always requires the strength of the Six Paths level. However, there are only a few ways for someone who is not of the Otsutsuki bloodline to reach the Six Paths level.

Among these options, absorbing the nine tailed beasts to become the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki is arguably the simplest and quickest path. Moreover, Hozuki Shingetsu has prior experience to draw upon for this method, making it far easier than using the Kira-ga-ga technique to absorb the seven elemental chakra and reverse the bloodline limit.

Although he had some other ideas about how to reach the Six Paths level based on his own cheat ability, there are many paths and many ways, right?

Having five tails in hand finally gives you more options.

Moreover, if all else fails, the Five-Tails can be used as an infinite chakra energy device, right?

Both the Three-Tails and the Six-Tails are essentially "family," and Yagura Karatachi and Shingetsu Hozuki are perfect Jinchuriki. It would be a waste to abandon these perfect Jinchuriki in exchange for an energy storage device, but there would be no such regret if we used the Five-Tails.

Therefore, given all these considerations, Hozuki Shingetsu will not return the Five-Tails to Iwagakure no matter what, and Onoki's trip is destined to end in disappointment.

Of course, Onoki was completely unaware of the various schemes in Hozuki Shingetsu's mind; he was still furious about Hozuki Shingetsu's insane demands!

"It seems that I, this old man, have been inactive for too long and haven't cultivated any closer ties with your Hidden Mist Village, to the point that you've forgotten how Hozuki Gengetsu died!"

"If you're interested, brat, I'd be happy to let you experience the despair your ancestors once felt!"

Under Hozuki Shingetsu's crazy suggestion, Onoki could no longer suppress his anger and spoke without any politeness, wanting to fight Hozuki Shingetsu.

"A duel? Forget it! If I were to fight you on my Kirigakure's turf, people would probably say I'm bullying an old person!"

Hozuki Shingetsu resolutely refused Onoki's challenge.

There's no point in fighting Onoki at this point. Even though Hozuki Shingetsu is confident he can win, he has no chance of taking Onoki's life unless he wants to start a war with Iwagakure or give up the favorable public opinion environment that Kirigakure is in.

Since he couldn't take his life and there was no stake in it, Hozuki Shingetsu naturally wouldn't do something so thankless.

"Also, I would like to remind Lord Tsuchikage that this is, after all, Kirigakure, and we have just held a peace conference and established that international ninja organization."

"Out of goodwill, Lord Tsuchikage would be best advised not to cause trouble in my Hidden Mist Village. Otherwise, losing face is a minor matter compared to damaging the village's image!"

Hozuki Shingetsu said meaningfully.

Even if Hozuki Shingetsu doesn't make a move on Kirigakure's territory, and even if Onoki has the ability to fly and master Dust Release, they would definitely not come out on the same side if a fight broke out.

Onoki naturally understood this principle, and although he was extremely resentful, he was powerless to change the situation.

After giving Hozuki Shingetsu a deep look, he left Kirigakure without saying another word, leading the Iwa ninja behind him.

As the saying goes, a barking dog doesn't bite. This time, Onoki was humiliated in such a way, so it's foreseeable that Onoki will hold a grudge against Hozuki Shingetsu and Kirigakure.

However, Hozuki Shingetsu was completely unconcerned about the hostility of Onoki or Iwagakure.

Simply put, it's determined by geographical location.

If Iwagakure wants to attack Kirigakure, they either need to take the sea route to bypass Kumogakure, or they need to pass through the Land of Fire.

In either case, Iwagakure faces the risk of having its escape route cut off, so Hozuki Shingetsu is not worried about Iwagakure's hostility at all.

This is also why Hozuki Shingetsu couldn't understand why Hozuki Gengetsu wanted to launch an expedition to Iwagakure.

The strategy of "befriending distant states while attacking nearby ones" is something our ancestors mentioned two thousand years ago, yet no one in the ninja world has grasped it yet.

Perhaps this is the characteristic of the ninja profession!

Strength in tactics, weakness in strategy.

(End of this chapter)