Uchiha Yoru raised his head and looked at the four heads before him, each with a different style.
One had the jaw of a dragonfly nymph.
One had the grinding circular mouth of a leech.
One had a mouth full of piranha-like serrated teeth.
One had the crushing mouthparts of a crab.
He said in disappointment, "You're in a mental world, yet you're using primitive attack methods from insects, fish, and crabs."
"This is what a god is?"
"You have no imagination at all. No wonder you went extinct."
As Uchiha Yoru spoke, his body began to glow. Suddenly, it expanded to an indescribable height, and his appearance changed at tremendous speed.
When the light faded, a towering figure of agility and skill appeared before the river god.
He wore golden armor that shone brilliantly, and a golden crown whose light reflected dazzlingly. In his hand, he raised a single golden-hooped staff. Cloud-walking shoes matched his feet. His strange eyes were like bright stars, and his ears reached past his shoulders, firm and hard.
Heart-Aspect: Heart Ape: Great Sage Equaling Heaven.
"Hehehe. Now this is what a battle of the mind should look like."
"Eat a strike from Old Sun!"
The dumbfounded river god stupidly raised its neck, staring motionlessly as the enemy lifted a heaven-supporting pillar. Wrapped in wind and thunder, it came crashing down like the sky itself collapsing.
Boom—
Under this indescribably terrifying strike, the mental world of the monster mutated into a kappa shattered together with the river god, turning into countless fragments and collapsing completely.
Just launching this single attack left Uchiha Yoru exhausted almost to death, unable to maintain the heart-aspect's existence any longer.
The Great Sage Equaling Heaven did not even manage to fully display his true appearance before turning into countless golden lights and returning to Uchiha Yoru's body.
With the mental world shattered, the kappa monster began walking the path toward death. But after the god was shattered, it instead began the automatic process of resurrection.
Uchiha Yoru took the opportunity to begin capturing it.
He only needed to seize the few most core structures and stitch them together. Then the god's spirit body surged toward the seal Uchiha Yoru constructed like ten thousand birds returning to their nests.
At the final instant before the mental world collapsed, Uchiha Yoru brought the already formed god back into his Purple Mansion.
In his own territory, Uchiha Yoru's mental power surged explosively. Driven by his will, layers of seals transformed into a shallow white porcelain basin and a basin of clear, transparent water.
Inside the basin was a tiny monster with four heads, six tails, and two pincers, fearfully swimming in circles along the edge of the basin at extreme speed, as if searching for the exit of an endless maze.
After several days of evolution, the Purple Mansion world no longer had even the slightest empty space. Every piece of land and every body of water had an owner.
The hole-covered octopus Xiao Ke had clearly arrived first, yet now it could only work hard to manage the Kidney Kun's body in exchange for residence rights in the North Sea.
But Xiao Ke's existence had caused dissatisfaction among the heart-aspects. The other heart-aspects seemed to want wings of their own.
Therefore, after the river god became the second living mind-creature to arrive in the Purple Mansion world, it immediately drew the covetous eyes of the heart-aspects.
Uchiha Yoru, who originally intended to leave after completing the seal, saw the Spleen Boar's predatory gaze, as well as the attention of the other heart-aspects, and immediately knew something was wrong.
He held the basin in his hand, preparing to find a temporary safe place to put the river god.
This was a god he had finally captured with great difficulty, and it was even the stitched-together god most suited to his needs. Nothing could be allowed to go wrong.
After looking left and right, Uchiha Yoru helplessly shook his head. There was no space left on the land of the Purple Mansion.
Thus, he lifted his steps and climbed upward, walking through empty air toward the sky.
As Uchiha Yoru's steps gradually rose higher, white clouds gathered beneath his feet, gradually covering a large stretch of sky like a vast snowy plain.
According to Uchiha Yoru's expectations, the white clouds floated lightly in the sky while also being able to carry physical objects, becoming an area the five great heart-aspects could not reach.
He gently placed the basin on the white clouds, then left the Purple Mansion and returned to the real world.
The instant Uchiha Yoru opened his eyes, countless arcs of electricity erupted from his entire body. Bolts of lightning violently struck the ground, and a vast amount of electric charge instantly spread across the earth.
A White Zetsu was struck by the charge until it screamed miserably, its whole body twitching as it was squeezed out from underground. Uchiha Yoru grabbed it by the neck.
He said coldly, "I said, if you dared follow me again, I would kill you."
Uchiha Yoru's fingers gently exerted force, and with a crack, he snapped White Zetsu's neck. Then lightning flashed again, blasting White Zetsu to pieces. Only then did he throw down the smoking remains.
Hidden beneath the motion of throwing it away, at an angle no one could see, Uchiha Yoru's thumb pierced into the back of White Zetsu's neck and silently engraved a Flying Thunder God mark.
Two hours after he left, the scattered pieces of White Zetsu flesh began wriggling across the ground. They slowly moved toward one another, merging into larger pieces of flesh.
After an entire night of effort, a ragged and broken White Zetsu revived. The first moment it opened its eyes, it shouted neurotically, "That hurt so much! That hurt so much!"
"Ah, this feeling is amazing!"
Without anyone noticing, Black Zetsu emerged from underground and silently covered White Zetsu's body, reading its memories.
After a long while, Black Zetsu clicked its tongue in wonder. "It really was hunting Evil Gods. Could he truly be a revived god?"
"Gods are also enemies of Otsutsuki Hagoromo. There should be a chance to pull him into the Infinite Tsukuyomi plan."
"But how should I do it?"
"Mm? This White Zetsu is almost finished? This White Zetsu's quality is still decent. Worth sending back for maintenance. I'll switch to a new body."
"Hehehe. Let me tell Uchiha Madara the news of the Thunder God's appearance. I can't be the only one with a headache."
…
At a wild hot spring in the Land of Hot Water, Uchiha Yoru lay openly in the scalding spring water, leisurely enjoying the bubbling impact of the water.
By the edge of the pool, Miwa Masayo was enjoying a salad made of hot spring boiled eggs and chopped octopus.
Because the sulfur scent of the hot spring had seeped into the egg whites, this kind of salad tasted extremely unbearable to humans. But for the cat sage, it was a novel, stimulating, and unique flavor.
There was even a feeling that the more she ate, the more addictive it became.
Miwa Masayo ate happily with little awu awu sounds. Uchiha Yoru smiled, closed his eyes, focused his mind, and once again sensed the Flying Thunder God mark he had left.
"Tch. The position moved. That White Zetsu really didn't die."
"Really, nya? It was beaten up that badly and still didn't die, nya?"
"It probably didn't die. This might be a very special White Zetsu. As long as we follow its trail, we will definitely find traces of Uchiha Madara."
"Yoru, have you thought this through? Are you really going to trouble Uchiha Madara, nya? That's Uchiha Madara, nya."
"Uchiha Madara hit me hard through the Three-Tails, forcing me to fight with only a sixty percent chance of victory. How could I be satisfied if I don't repay this grudge?"
Miwa Masayo emphasized again, "But he's Uchiha Madara, nya."
Uchiha Yoru raised an eyebrow, counted the years on his fingers, then said seriously, "It's fine. Uchiha Madara should be close to dying of old age right now. I can't beat the Shinobi World's Asura at full strength, but can't I bully a dying Uchiha Madara?"
"Besides, I know the Flying Thunder God Technique. Even if I really can't win, can't I run?"
"If I find him, I'll send shadow clones to trouble him every few days. No matter how strong Uchiha Madara is, I don't believe he'll still be that capable right before death."
Miwa Masayo joked, "What if he really is so strong that you still can't beat him even when he's about to die, nya?"
"Then… then I'll dig out a piece of his flesh and use Impure World Reincarnation on him, giving him the worst possible sacrifice. That should be enough for revenge, right?"
The tabby cat was dumbfounded. Only after a long while did she squeeze out half a sentence.
"…That should work, nya."
Uchiha Yoru raised his head, submerging every part of his body except his face beneath the water, and sighed. "I hope I can find Uchiha Madara soon. After that, I still need to hurry to Kubota Village and take a look."
"In the Land of Hot Water and the Land of Water, this is the only thing left hanging in my heart."
"Once everything is handled, I can return to Konoha Village with peace of mind."
Miwa Masayo asked in surprise, "There really aren't any other lingering matters?"
"There really aren't. I've eaten what I needed to eat, and seen what I needed to see."
"I've seen Kirigakure's Fourth Mizukage, the Kaguya clan's Shikotsumyaku, the Yuki clan's Ice Release, and the Hozuki clan's Hydrification Technique. I've also seen Kumogakure's Third Raikage, the Eight-Tails jinchuriki, and the A-B Combo."
"But there's one thing I still haven't figured out, nya."
"Hm? Something of yours, Rika-chan?"
Uchiha Yoru sat up in surprise and carefully searched his memories. Very quickly, he found the matter troubling Miwa Masayo.
That was when they had first arrived in the Land of Hot Water. At that time, Miwa Masayo had constantly felt oppressed, as if something strange made her feel extremely uncomfortable.
Only after Uchiha Yoru took Miwa Masayo out to sea for the first time did she stop feeling uncomfortable.
Later, when they returned to the Land of Hot Water and led the Uchiha to form the Tiger Unit, Miwa Masayo no longer felt that uncomfortable sensation.
Now that she brought this topic up again, did that mean the feeling making the cat sage uncomfortable had appeared again?
Miwa Masayo nodded without hesitation and said, "It started again these past two days, nya. I've begun feeling uncomfortable again, nya."
The tabby cat scratched her ear with a paw, then said, "But this time, the feeling is obviously not as oppressive as last time, nya. It feels like…"
She raised her head, puffed out her chest, and said proudly, "My strength has increased, so my tolerance against the oppressive feeling has become stronger, nya."
"Rika-chan is amazing!"
Uchiha Yoru praised Miwa Masayo without holding back.
The cat sage truly was amazing. After watching his breakthrough process from afar, she had actually completed a major breakthrough of her own, changing the ratio of her senjutsu chakra from 1:1 to 1:3.
Now, one portion of chakra could blend with three portions of natural energy, greatly increasing Miwa Masayo's total amount of senjutsu chakra. She finally had the ability to use projectile-type senjutsu.
The number of times the cat sage could use senjutsu, as well as the types of senjutsu she could use, had doubled. Naturally, her strength had increased greatly.
Most importantly, the change in senjutsu chakra ratio represented that Miwa Masayo's understanding of senjutsu had deepened. As her understanding of senjutsu improved, its power directly increased severalfold.
But she could still feel oppressed, which meant the source of the pressure was still a threat to the cat sage.
Uchiha Yoru stood up from the hot spring. Water-aspected natural energy surrounded him, instantly drying his body.
He calmly put on his clothes, then hid away all kinds of weapons, tools, scrolls, and other items. Finally, he put on his most familiar gray-blue coat.
Uchiha Yoru moved his body and confirmed that his condition had returned to its best. Then he said, "Rika-chan, since we have time now, let's go find the source making you uncomfortable."
"No matter what it is, or who it is, we need to know what we're dealing with."
Miwa Masayo swallowed the last hot spring egg in two or three bites, then leapt up onto her exclusive shoulder seat. While tidying herself, she said, "Let's go!"
"After becoming stronger, I can vaguely sense the focal position of that feeling. Let's go see what it really is."
…
After twenty-two days, Orochimaru's report about repelling Kirigakure's Fourth Mizukage finally passed through the troublesome submission process and arrived on the Third Hokage's desk.
Hiruzen Sarutobi deliberately lit a pipe and looked at the rare victory report, enjoying it beautifully.
He read it almost word by word, a delighted smile blooming across his face. He did not care at all about the wrinkles that could no longer be erased.
As he read, Hiruzen Sarutobi's smile disappeared.
He extinguished his pipe, seriously and repeatedly read several pages, then searched through the reports from the past few months. For the Third Hokage, who personally reviewed and approved every document, this was not difficult at all.
Very quickly, Hiruzen Sarutobi placed four reports side by side. After carefully comparing them several times, he gave an order.
"Notify Shimura Danzo, Mitokado Homura, and Utatane Koharu to come for a meeting immediately."
An ANBU shinobi suddenly appeared in the corner of the office. Kneeling on one knee, he answered respectfully, "Yes, Lord Hokage."
Very quickly, the Konoha F4 gathered and began a closed-door meeting.
At forty-nine years old, Hiruzen Sarutobi's personality was still quite direct. He did not make his three classmates guess what he was thinking. Instead, he directly circled the key points of the four reports and gave them to the others to read.
The Third Hokage himself stood before the window, lit his pipe again, and puffed several times before finally controlling his emotions enough to speak.
"Danzo, this Uchiha Yoru problem was not discovered in advance, and the handling afterward was crude and ineffective. You cannot shirk responsibility."
"Most importantly, why did you use such a violent method as assassination? Not attacking Konoha shinobi is a bottom line I have repeatedly emphasized must not be touched!"
"Not only did you cross the bottom line to kill someone, but the force you sent was severely insufficient and ended up being counter-killed. After the mission failed, you hid it and did not report it, delaying things until today, when the matter has become completely impossible to clean up."
Shimura Danzo lowered his head and admitted his mistake very simply. "Everything was my mistake. Please forgive me."
Hiruzen Sarutobi did not let him off there. He said, "In these past two years, Root's methods of handling various matters have become increasingly crude and simplistic, often making a mess of things."
"Shimura Danzo, if this is the only level you are capable of, I will reclaim the autonomy granted to Root. ANBU shinobi can perform assassination missions just as well."
"Do you understand?"
Shimura Danzo was scolded like a grandson, his face flushed with anger and the veins on his forehead bulging high.
But he did not erupt. Instead, he breathed heavily, eventually suppressing his emotions and saying, "Hiruzen, I will pay double attention."
Seeing his old classmate's good attitude in admitting fault, the Third Hokage did not take it further and stopped there. After drawing in a few deep puffs of smoke, he asked, "Speak. How should we handle Uchiha Yoru?"
"This Uchiha Yoru is not even nineteen, yet he already has a title. 'Corpse Burner Yoru'—such a vicious nickname. Just hearing it tells you he isn't a good person."
Shimura Danzo maliciously guessed, "His heart must be extremely twisted."
"We can't let him off easily. I suggest sending him to the Land of Rain. No matter how strong he is, he won't survive there for long."
"As long as he dies, there will be no problem."
The Third Hokage sighed deeply. "Danzo, look carefully at the reports related to Uchiha Yoru. He is not that easy to kill."
"Several thousand Kirigakure shinobi surrounded the Tiger Unit he led, which numbered fewer than a hundred. The result was that he killed more than three thousand shinobi."
"If he replicates this battle record in the Land of Rain, his prestige may reach half of Sakumo Hatake's."
Mitokado Homura spoke. "Let him go home and rest. As long as he isn't given missions for half a year, things like prestige will gradually cool down."
"Our problem back then was that we only thought about solving problems. Whenever there was difficulty, we gave it to Sakumo Hatake. His pressure and risk were both too great. But after he solved all the difficulties, his prestige became too high, putting us in a dilemma."
"We cannot repeat the same mistake."
The Third Hokage nodded repeatedly and praised, "Homura is absolutely right. Uchiha Yoru is an outstanding Konoha shinobi and a precious talent. We cannot place too much pressure on such a talent. Since he has already fought in the Land of Hot Water for more than half a year, he should rest properly for a while, and other shinobi should have opportunities to display their talent as well."
Aside from Shimura Danzo, everyone agreed with this view.
Utatane Koharu even echoed, "The Hokage is right. Let Uchiha Yoru return and rest. This is the village's reward for him, and also very necessary protection. We cannot let our shinobi become overly exhausted on the front line."
Shimura Danzo's expression was gloomy, but in the end, he no longer said anything and tacitly accepted the result.
The four of them gathered together and began executing the decision with the highest efficiency. From writing, approval, review, signing, stamping, and finally handing it to the ANBU shinobi to send out, the entire process took only ten minutes.
Because a dedicated ANBU shinobi had been assigned, the order was handed directly to Orochimaru the next day.
Then Orochimaru casually placed it beneath a pile of documents.
He had already promised Uchiha Yoru one month.
There were still six days left.
No rush.
No rush.
Uchiha Yoru's teaching ability was simply too strong. In six days, he could still teach the Snake Unit three more lessons.
Although the one attending class was only a shadow clone, it could still bring very obvious improvement to the Snake Unit.
Moreover, delaying the order could also increase Uchiha Yoru's goodwill.
How could someone as shrewd as Orochimaru miss such a chance to kill two birds with one stone?
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