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

Chapter 250 The Wraith of Death and Evil God

"You bastard, Shingetsu Hozuki, have you gone mad? How could you do this to me?"

Black Zetsu, sealed inside the sphere, couldn't believe what he was seeing and continued to curse.

"Do you know what you're doing? I am the will of a planet, an avatar of the Sage of Six Paths! Do you know what the consequences will be if you seal me away?"

"If that negative energy mass on the moon goes unchecked, do you know that the ninja world will face annihilation? Then, not only your Hidden Mist Village, but everyone will die without a burial place, do you understand?"

Hearing Black Zetsu's incessant cursing in his ears, Hozuki Shingetsu scratched his ear, then with a flick of his hand, put it away.

In that brief moment, he really wanted to whisper "Kaguya Otsutsuki" and "Chibaku Tensei" in Black Zetsu's ear, to see how Black Zetsu would react after learning that he knew the true identity of the sealed artifact on the moon.

But after much thought, he ultimately suppressed his wicked sense of humor.

There was no way around it; as a novel enthusiast, he had read far too many examples in his previous life of how the main villain would reveal crucial information at the last moment, only to be overturned by someone else's car under some unseen force.

Hozuki Shingetsu, however, felt that his actions did not qualify him as a positive character, so just in case, he forcibly gave up the opportunity to pretend to be a hero.

"Thank you all for your hard work... The matter here is now complete."

Hozuki Shingetsu put away the sealed artifact and politely bowed to the surrounding Uzumaki clan elders to express his gratitude.

After all, these old ninjas of the Uzumaki clan are different from the elders of other ninja clans; each of them possesses the deadly weapon "Dead Demon Seal".

Under this ultimate one-for-one exchange, anyone below the Six Paths level could be killed one by one. Therefore, Hozuki Shingetsu naturally wouldn't hold back his politeness when facing these people.

The elderly people glanced curiously at the small ball that Hozuki Shingetsu had put away. With their keen hearing, they had naturally heard Black Zetsu's cursing just now.

However, everyone wisely pretended not to know, since the Uzumaki clan was now firmly bound to Hozuki Shingetsu, and they were already halfway to the grave, so naturally they wouldn't be so tactless.

"The threat from Kaguya Ōtsutsuki has been temporarily eliminated, but this incident has served as a wake-up call. It seems I still need to acquire Six Paths level strength as soon as possible!"

Seeing everyone leave, Hozuki Shingetsu once again pulled out the sealing sphere, pondering his next steps to improve his own strength.

"I have completed my normalized training in Sage Mode. Combined with all my current abilities, I should have just reached the level of Kage, which is equivalent to the prime of Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha."

"Logically speaking, the clearest path to advancing to the Six Paths level should be to gather all nine tailed beasts and become the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki."

"But in the current chaotic situation, collecting all nine tailed beasts is tantamount to going against the entire ninja world. And at this moment, Kirigakure does not have enough strength to take on the ninja world alone..."

"Looks like we'll have to try other methods..."

Hozuki Shingetsu involuntarily recalled something he had overheard during a casual chat with Rokuou.

Because the Six-Tails was created by the Sage of Six Paths himself, it has a considerable understanding of the thousand-year history of the ninja world.

Hozuki Shingetsu was particularly curious about whether a supernatural system, different from that of ninjas, existed in the ninja world before the arrival of the Otsutsuki clan.

After all, the power of the priestess of the Land of Demons is clearly contrary to that of ninjas, as well as the ancient professions of samurai and onmyoji.

If anyone still understands these things now, it's probably only Black Zetsu and the Sage of Six Paths in their own soul forms.

Black could never tell him that the Sage of Six Paths could not be found, so Hozuki Shingetsu could only ask the Six-Tails.

He still remembers a sentence that Liuwei once said:

"Legend has it that before the Ninja Cult was created, there was a supreme deity in the Ninja World who created a system of 'spiritual power' and developed extraordinary professions such as priestesses, priests, and Onmyoji based on it."

"In the era before ninjas existed, these professions were the mainstream in the ninja world. In fact, because the gods still existed at that time, the social status of these professions was far higher than that of ninjas today."

"However, in a later incident, this deity perished, but his resentment lingered. After his death, he split into four, and from his corpse emerged four strange, immortal creatures: the God of Death, the Evil God, the Wraith, and the Enlightenment."

These details were learned by the Sage of Six Paths during a casual conversation.

When Hozuki Shingetsu first heard this news, he was extremely surprised.

He never imagined that the origins of these four most mysterious monsters in the ninja world were so profound, involving ancient gods of the ninja world.

But on second thought, it seemed quite reasonable.

The figures of these four monsters have spanned a thousand years of ninja history, and though they have experienced many twists and turns, they have never been broken.

Even powerful figures like Hagoromo and Hamura Otsutsuki have lifespan defects because they are not pure Otsutsuki. How come these monsters are able to live for so long?

But if you explain it this way, then it makes sense.

After all, in Japanese mythology, even excrement can become gods, so it's perfectly reasonable for these gods to transform into the Four Evil Creatures after death.

It was during this casual conversation that Hozuki Shingetsu took notice.

Through the Six-Tails' narration, combined with his knowledge of the ninja world's history from his previous life, the truth behind the god's death can be roughly reconstructed.

It must be that when the Otsutsuki clan descended to Earth, they clashed with the local gods. The gods were no match for them, and their resentment, unable to dissipate, transformed into the Four Evil Creatures.

If that's the case, it proves that this legendary deity is of the same rank as the Otsutsuki and the Ten-Tails, and must also be at the Six Paths level.

If that's the case, then the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki who gathers all nine tailed beasts can become a Six Paths level Jinchuriki, and by gathering all four evil creatures, he can become a god Jinchuriki?

Is it possible to reach the Six Paths level?

What changes would occur if the Gedo Mazo, as the body of the Ten-Tails, absorbed the power of the Four Evil Creatures instead of the Nine Tailed Beasts?

Going even further, with the nine tailed beasts and the four evil creatures combined, along with the Gedo Mazo and a Sage Art, to what extent would Hozuki Shingetsu's power be amplified?

Hozuki Shingetsu is really looking forward to this.

Moreover, compared to gathering all nine tailed beasts, it is much easier to gather all four evil creatures.

As soon as the idea came to mind, Hozuki Shingetsu naturally began to consider the feasibility of the plan.

"The demon is entangled with the priestess of the Land of Demons, and its true form seems to be sealed in the Land of Swamps. Unfortunately, the Land of Demons is in the northwest corner of the continent, too far from Kirigakure, separated by Konoha and Iwagakure. How to deal with it still needs to be planned..."

"The most certain thing is that it's in the Paradise Box in the Land of Grass. The Land of Grass isn't far from the Land of Fire, so when our army invades the Land of Fire, we can find an opportunity to go there..."

"The only clue related to the Jashin is the Jashin Cult, which is in the Land of Hot Water, not far from the Land of Water, so there's no need to go through all that trouble. However, within the entire Jashin Cult, only Hidan truly enjoys the Jashin's favor, and to gain the Jashin's response, we can only rely on Hidan... Speaking of which, Hidan should have been born by now, right?"

"I just don't know when he became the son of the evil god... Oh well, at this point the evil god cult is just a bunch of small fry. Just have the Anbu capture them all and then help Hidan with the ritual..."

Hozuki Shingetsu writes and draws on paper, recording his thoughts in his own unique cipher.

"The Grim Reaper is the simplest; just use 'Reaper Death Seal.' However, only the caster and the victim can see the Grim Reaper, and both methods come at the cost of life... which means I'll have to die no matter what, right?"

When Hozuki Shingetsu thought of this, his brows furrowed slightly.

When it comes to life and death, even he cannot escape it.

"...No, it doesn't necessarily have to be a real death. In the original story, Orochimaru's Substitute Death Skin Technique allowed him to evade the Shinigami's attack. We could contact this guy and see what price we could pay to obtain his unique technique. And if all else fails, we could also steal Nagato's Rinnegan and have someone we trust use it to revive him..."

Thinking of this, Hozuki Shingetsu suddenly remembered the "Spirit Transformation Technique" that he had obtained from Shimura Danzo when he used his Mangekyou Sharingan to blackmail him.

My initial purpose in obtaining this "Spirit Transformation Technique" was simply to enhance my soul power through this ninjutsu.

But now it seems that this ninjutsu has another purpose.

"The 'Dead Demon Seal' is a ninjutsu that affects the soul. If I were to separate my soul from my body and possess someone else's, could I use that person's soul as a scapegoat to avoid the side effects of this ninjutsu?"

"Or, if the target of my influence is someone else's soul, but my soul is currently possessing that person, can I sense death together with them?"

Upon realizing this, Hozuki Shingetsu was immediately invigorated and wrote down the symbol representing "spiritualization technique" in his notebook.

Hozuki Shingetsu looked at the densely packed ciphertext symbols on the notebook that only he knew, and a satisfied smile appeared on his face.

"Sū, the evil god, the demon, the death god, plus the demonic statue of the Outer Path, and the nine tailed beasts..."

"Heh, I'm really looking forward to that day..."

--------------

"How are the battle lines now? Has the Land of Whirlpools been lost?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had just arrived at Konoha's headquarters in the Land of Vegetables, summoned his intelligence personnel and began inquiring about the battle situation there.

"Lord Hokage, the battle is currently at a stalemate, but as of this morning, thanks to the valiant fighting of all the village's ninjas, the Kirigakure army is still being held back at the front lines of the Land of Whirlpools..."

Although Hiruzen Sarutobi was no longer the Hokage, his many years as Hokage had not been in vain, and the intelligence personnel still reported the current battlefield situation with great respect.

"However, thanks to the efforts of our intelligence personnel, we have now discovered that the commander of the opposing Kirigakure forces is the head of the Uzumaki clan, Uzumaki Muneto. Considering the historical ties between the Uzumaki clan and the Land of Whirlpools, as well as the disparity in numbers and strength between our and the enemy's ninjas on the front lines, we estimate that the Whirlpools' defense line will soon be breached."

When Hiruzen Sarutobi heard that the Uzushio Defense Line was still intact, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

For Konoha right now, the strategy is to buy time and wait for the unexpected turn of events that Shimura Danzo spoke of. Therefore, the more territory Konoha controls, the less pressure they face.

However, when he heard the name Uzumaki Munen, his expression became somewhat inexplicable.

"Uzumaki clan member, so-and-so of the Uzumaki clan..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi murmured the name, then involuntarily shook his head.

If we're talking about things he regretted in his life, there really weren't many.

However, his decision to watch the Uzumaki clan be surrounded by the Thunder and Earth Alliance and fall into a life-or-death crisis due to his fear of the Senju Reanimation Jutsu, which ultimately led to the Hidden Mist Village undermining their survival, was indeed a regrettable event in his life.

His regret wasn't about not saving the Uzumaki clan. His regret was about Hozuki Shingetsu taking advantage of the situation.

The thought of the Uzumaki clan's assistance to Kirigakure, and their current status and level of trust within the village, made his heart itch as if it were being gnawed by ants.

The others present naturally knew about the story of the Uzumaki clan entering the water. Seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi's indecisive silence, they pretended not to see it and stood silently to the side, eyes downcast.

Even Fugaku Uchiha didn't provoke his teacher at this time.

"Lord Hokage, the defense line of Uzushiogakure has fallen! The army of Kirigakure is about to march on the Land of Vegetables!"

Just as Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression shifted between light and shadow, another ANBU member appeared inside the tent and reported to him.

Before Hiruzen Sarutobi could speak, the man revealed another astonishing piece of information.

"During the army's retreat, Hyuga Himi was captured by Kirigakure because her guards were too conspicuous!"

"What?!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't react much when he heard about the loss of the Whirlpool Defense Line, but he couldn't sit still when he heard that Hiki Hyuga had been captured.

There's no other reason than that Hyuga Hiki is a member of the Hyuga main family!

To ensure the continuation of the lineage, the main branch of the Hyuga clan actually consists of six branches.

The clan leader's lineage is divided into five branches, with the other five elders each forming their own branch. Only one person per generation from each branch can become the head of the clan, while the rest of the offspring are relegated to branch families.

This Hyuga Hiki is the next generation of the main family of the Hyuga Third Elder lineage.

Because Kirigakure is extremely skilled in the Hidden Mist Technique, the Hyuga clan mostly appears on this southeastern defensive line.

Furthermore, due to the Byakugan's limited range, the Hyuga clan could only send one member of the main family to assist them, under the dual orders of Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura.

But to everyone's surprise, the main family was captured by Kirigakure!

Although in the subsequent reports from intelligence personnel, Hiruzen Sarutobi learned that Hyuga Hiki had grown up in a large mansion since childhood due to the main family's influence, and when he suddenly appeared on the battlefield without the supervision of his elders, he acted recklessly and was eventually captured by Kirigakure because he relied on the protection of others and disobeyed orders.

But none of these are the reasons they can give to the Hyuga clan!

Moreover, compared to the Hyuga clan, he was more afraid of Hyuga Hiki being captured and used as a breeding boar by Kirigakure, thus creating a new Hyuga lineage in Kirigakure and establishing the Byakugan belonging to Kirigakure.

If that's really the case, then he'll truly regret it!

(End of this chapter)