Start with a Zanpakuto and build the strongest Mist Village.

There is no reincarnation in this world. Once a person dies, their soul will only linger in the Pure Land of the Underworld until it perishes.

Yoru doesn't know if this peculiar rule is the work of the Rokudo's soul after his death, or if the Yomi Pure Land of this world is like the 'hell' of the Bleach world. But Yoru guesses it's the former. After all, if it were hell, it would be absurd to be summoned and pulled at will using chakra.

If a Hollow purified by the Grim Reaper can become a pure, ascended spirit and be reincarnated, the impact on this world would be truly enormous.

If she could replenish the cycle of reincarnation, then in the primordial world she would be the goddess Houtu!

Night slowly pierced the head of the Gillian with the Hyōrinmaru in his hand. The blade broke through the mask and disappeared completely amidst the Gillian's terrified screams.

Driven by the power of death, the Kylian's body was instantly covered in cracks.

A moment later, a human figure emerged from Kylian's cracked body, looking around with a bewildered expression.

Night, carrying this soul, appeared outside Kirigakure, freed from the chakra tower's restraints.

But the next moment, the soul was swallowed by a powerful suction force and disappeared directly in front of Ye.

"No way..."

Ye frowned. Even a pure soul that had been completely evolved by the power of death could not reincarnate on its own and would still be sucked into the Pure Land of the Underworld.

To be honest, if I wasn't unprepared to face the Sage of Six Paths, I really wanted to go and see the 'pure land' of this world!

Yoru is not without means to reach the Pure Land. Putting aside everything else, the Rinnegan in Shisui's eye sockets alone is enough for him to feel the power of the Pure Land.

A moment later, Night's figure returned to the open space, looked at the Grim Reapers present with puzzled expressions, completely unaware of what had happened, and shook his head.

"That was just a small experiment, don't worry about it."

"I know you are wondering what that monster is. Simply put, it is a creature born from the distortion caused by corrupted souls full of malice, which are subjected to the power of death and ultimately kill and devour each other."

"I call it..."

"Empty".

Chapter 128 The Place Where Hollows Are Raised, and the Selection of the Fourth Hokage

"You've all seen the strength of Hollows. That guy's level is 'Kirion,' which is the weakest among Hollows. But because it is born by devouring each other's souls, even the lowest level Hollow can still be comparable to a Shinigami who has just mastered 'Shikai.'"

"Logically speaking, this kind of creature can be considered an enemy of us Shinigami, because we Shinigami are high-intensity spiritual beings, and are almost the favorite food of these Hollows."

Night explained, the words "devouring souls" and "feeding on death" made the faces of the death gods present extremely strange, even somewhat ugly.

No one would be happy to suddenly learn that a creature that feeds on itself has appeared in the world.

"The birth of this kind of creature is extremely convenient; it can be born continuously simply by being influenced by the power of death and the Box of Elysium."

Night smiled, easing the tense atmosphere: "Of course, because of my existence, and with the Box of Elysium in our hands, you don't need to worry about this creature becoming our enemy."

"Can that be controlled?"

Hozuki Gengetsu suddenly spoke up.

Such a convenient way of being born, and yet it possesses such formidable power.

If this creature could be used for our purposes, then the fighting strength of Kirigakure would be greatly enhanced!

Although Kirigakure, with its several Shinigami, already boasts an exceptionally high level of combat power in the ninja world, no one would complain about wanting their power to increase even further.

"I'm afraid that won't work. That thing has no intelligence or consciousness whatsoever; it acts entirely on its instinct to devour souls." Yagura shook his head. "However, with some special methods, it should be possible to control it..."

All eyes were on Night. As the source of the power of death, if there really was a power in this world that could control such a creature, then only Night could possess it.

Besides, they hadn't forgotten Ye's first reaction upon seeing this creature.

A true undead army!

"Indeed, just as you thought, this creature can indeed be controlled by us and become a weapon in our hands."

Under everyone's gaze, Ye nodded.

"As Hollows continuously devour each other, they become stronger and stronger. When their power breaks through from the Gillian to the next level and they become 'Adjuchas,' they will possess a higher level of power and intelligence, and may even be able to command Gillian-level Hollows."

"The alpha wolf of the pack, huh?" Hibiki Juzo murmured.

"That's right, Adjuchas is a minor leader of the Hollows, and the fighting power of such Hollows can even rival that of a Shinigami in 'Bankai'!"

"hiss……"

Everyone present knew how difficult it was for a Shinigami to achieve Bankai. In fact, apart from the three captains, even the vice-captains like Juzo Biwa and Kushimaru Kurihara were not yet able to achieve Bankai.

In other words, if a void of this level were to appear, these guys might even be in mortal danger!

"Because higher-level Voids possess intelligence and have control over lower-level Voids, we only need to control the higher-level Voids to control a portion of the Voids."

"Of course, this is one method; there are other methods as well."

Night explained, "So we don't need to be afraid of beings like the Void. They are our weapons and tools, and in the future, they may even become one of the opportunities for your power to transform."

What does that mean...?

The Grim Reapers present were all somewhat puzzled, but Night clearly did not intend to tell them everything at this time, instead acting as a riddle teller.

“But even if we can control these creatures, we can’t keep them in Kirigakure.” Yagura said in a low voice, “If these creatures appear in the village, not to mention the souls, just the sight of the villagers would probably cause panic.”

Hollows are pure spiritual entities that ordinary people cannot see, but under the influence of the spiritually rich land, Kirigakure will inevitably produce many people with the ability of 'spiritual vision'.

For these people, seeing a creature like a Hollow would probably scare them to death!

"That's true, but our Water Kingdom may not have much else, but it has a lot of islands, doesn't it?"

Ye said calmly, "I think it's perfectly fine to designate an area and make it a breeding ground for the survival and slaughter of the 'Virtual'."

"However, the birth of a Hollow requires a large number of souls, so we will need to trouble you with the collection of souls."

"……Fine."

"Don't look like that. Although the war in the ninja world has stopped, there are still many chaotic places in the ninja world."

“Especially those small countries that have not yet completely ended their wars, they are quite suitable targets, aren’t they?”

……

The appearance of Hollows has increased Kirigakure's demand for soul power to an even higher level, and has also kept the Shinigami (death gods) in Kirigakure constantly busy in the ninja world.

Although Shinigami possess the unique ability to be undetected by chakra, their actions are too ordinary, and Hozuki Gengetsu is rather carefree, always wanting to experience the local customs and eat some local delicacies whenever he goes out.

In his words, that's it.

In my past life, I sacrificed myself to take down the Second Tsuchikage, Mu, that bandaged man, for the sake of Kirigakure. Can't I enjoy myself while doing missions in this life?

In addition, Iwagakure has also begun its search for the 'White Feather' and 'Seireitei' forces.

The figure and name of Death still reached the ears of many people.

"Death and Seireitei..."

In Yuyin Village.

Having just finished his journey through the ninja world, successfully collecting all the ninjas from Jiraiya's books and creating the Six Paths of Pain, and also finding several Akatsuki members, Nagato, he murmured these messages in the dark shadows.

"According to the intelligence I have, this so-called Seireitei is a special force that Mizuki Yoru created in Kirigakure."

Obito Uchiha looked at Nagato in front of him and imitated Madara's tone, saying, "That guy has a special power to control souls, and those so-called Shinigami are people he used to resurrect from the Pure Land of the Underworld."

"Although I don't know what their purpose is, there is no doubt that Nagato and his group will become obstacles to your plans."

"So what do you plan to do? Send Akatsuki to attack Kirigakure now?"

Nagato glanced indifferently at Obito, who was wearing a vortex mask: "Even if I am not afraid of Minazuki Yoru, the Akatsuki organization as it is now is not enough to fight against Kirigakure, one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, not to mention that they have those 'dead spirits' to help them."

"Of course, I'm not telling you to attack now, I'm just telling you that you should gather the Akatsuki members as soon as possible."

"Once Zetsu and I pinpoint the locations of all the tailed beasts in the ninja world, it will be time for your Akatsuki to make their appearance. Don't let us down at the crucial moment."

"Don't joke around, how could God possibly mess things up!"

Nagato snorted coldly, his tone unfriendly. Although he had reached an agreement with this guy who called himself Uchiha Madara, his resentment towards Obito remained strong.

Obito didn't mind. He glanced at Konan, who was standing silently to the side, but looking at him with extreme caution, and said calmly, "You know what you're doing. By the way, I heard you're planning to take action against Hanzo. Do you want me to help?"

In the last battle, Nagato summoned the Gedo Mazo in a fit of rage and became Pain, but he did not kill Hanzo.

After that, Hanzo retreated to Amegakure, surrounding himself with layers of guards and no longer trying to restrict the Akatsuki, thus creating a situation of 'co-governing Amegakure with the Akatsuki' on the surface.

This self-deceiving behavior has drawn ridicule from countless people.

Given the conflict between Akatsuki and Hanzo, it was inevitable that their contradictions would erupt. When that day came, one side would have to pay a bloody price!

But Hanzo paid no heed, indulging in fine wine and the power he wielded every day, as if the layers of guards surrounding him could truly stop Akatsuki.

"unnecessary."

Nagato coldly rejected Obito's offer: "Amegakure can only have one god, and that is Pain. So I will take care of Hanzo myself!"

"Since you have such confidence, that's for the best."

"Pain will handle things well in Amegakure. Please also do your job well, Madara." Konan said calmly, "Please find out the location and information of the Tailed Beasts as soon as possible."

"That's natural."

Obito gave a confident hum and slowly merged into the vortex.

With Zetsu's abilities, and the fact that Sunagakure, one of the five great ninja villages, is now completely under his control.

With the two forces combined, gathering information about the tailed beasts is incredibly easy!

Let me, Madara Uchiha, show you my skills and make you arrogant brats submit to me wholeheartedly!

……

"Death and Seireitei..."

Inside Konoha Village.

The Third Hokage puffed on his pipe while looking at the ninja world intelligence report in his hand, a smile constantly spreading across his old face.

Now that the war is over, and it was only because of his decisive decision (stealing the Box of Elysium) that it came to an end, the Third Hokage, who had been exhausted since the war between Konoha and Kirigakure, finally had two days to relax, and his face was always full of smiles.

Now, upon receiving this news, he couldn't contain his smile.

"Just as I expected, that kid Minazuki Yoru became the Fourth Mizukage at such a young age, and since he has no power to restrain him, he will inevitably succumb to the allure of power."

"What Grim Reaper, what Seireitei? It's just a little trick this kid pulls to satisfy his lust for power."

The Third Hokage snorted lightly, confidently picked up a proposal for seafood cooperation between Kirigakure and Konoha, and casually stamped it with his approval.

He didn't care about business collaborations at all. As long as that guy, Mizuki Yoru, who could devour soul power, didn't appear on the battlefield, there wouldn't be any problems.

His absence from the battlefield means his strength will stagnate, which means Konoha can take the opportunity to develop and improve, and thus surpass him!

Tossing aside the news about the Grim Reaper and the Seireitei, Hiruzen Sarutobi focused his gaze on the table in front of him.

As long as that guy Minazuki Yoru doesn't appear on the battlefield, nothing else matters. The most important thing for Konoha right now is still choosing the Fourth Hokage!

He took out the list on the table and scrutinized the candidates with a slightly narrowed gaze. Although there were quite a few names on it, most of the names at the end were just there to make up the numbers. He knew that most of them could not possibly be elected as the Fourth Hokage.

As for the two most likely candidates on the list, they have already become the two most talked-about figures in Konoha: Minato Namikaze and Orochimaru.

Gazing at those two faces he knew all too well, Hiruzen Sarutobi took a deep drag on his pipe.

"Who should I choose?"

Chapter 129 The Election of the Fourth Hokage, Orochimaru's Curious Soul

The Box of Bliss's cunning maneuver successfully removed the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, from his disgrace and condemnation to the pillory of Konoha.

However, he also knew that having signed a surrender agreement with Kirigakure and issued a 'self-reproach edict,' he was no longer suitable to become Hokage.

therefore.

Immediately after the war ended, he announced the list of candidates selected to become the Fourth Hokage.

Furthermore, they announced within the village that they would hold an election for a new Hokage on the last day of the year, using the joy of the New Year and the ascension of the new Hokage to dispel the gloom that had shrouded Konoha.

This is indeed a good idea.

The people of Konoha, who were still immersed in grief over the deceased, were quickly drawn to the double celebration, and almost everyone in the village was talking about it.

With the arrival of the first snow of winter, the war was over, and with the year-end approaching and the Hokage election in full swing, the village gradually began to come alive again.

Inside a tavern.

The heat from the heater filled the room, making one feel warm and comfortable as soon as they entered.