Chapter 134
<span style="font-weight:400">In the end, Mochizuki Hui chose not to disturb Mito Uzumaki. He couldn’t bring himself to interrupt her reverie as she immersed herself in memories of days gone by.
<span style="font-weight:400">Stepping outside, he looked up at the sky.
<span style="font-weight:400">The sun was setting, its final rays disappearing over the horizon. People, like the sun, all have their ends.
<span style="font-weight:400">Just as the sun sets here, it rises elsewhere. And when people pass away in this world, perhaps they find new life in another.
<span style="font-weight:400">Does that mean the shinobi world spans two realms? Hui wondered, feeling a sudden curiosity about the other side.
<span style="font-weight:400">What would it be like to glimpse that other world?
<span style="font-weight:400">Of course, it didn’t mean he had any desire to die. The world of spirits may seem exclusive to the dead, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the living can’t visit.
<span style="font-weight:400">After all, dead souls have been summoned back to the living world; why couldn’t the living go to the world of the dead?
<span style="font-weight:400">After all, this was the shinobi world, where all manner of jutsu could exist. Even if they didn’t exist yet, they could be created.
<span style="font-weight:400">And just who or what was the “Death God,” exactly? This sparked another thread of interest in him; he felt that the shinobi world might hold more secrets than it appeared.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Hui? What are you doing here, lost in thought? Come on, I ran into something interesting today!” Tsunade’s cheerful voice broke through his musings as she hooked her arm through his, her face full of excitement.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Alright, I’m all ears.” Hui smiled warmly, his momentary wistfulness fading.
<span style="font-weight:400">Whatever secrets the shinobi world held, he knew that if he became strong enough, he’d be able to protect everyone he cared for.
<span style="font-weight:400">Time passed quietly, and soon six months had gone by. During that time, Hui had nearly mastered the various sealing techniques recorded in the Scroll of Seals, though he hadn’t yet adapted any of them for regrbat.
<span style="font-weight:400">His only battle-ready sealing technique remained the Body-Binding Seal.
<span style="font-weight:400">The vige itself flourished, thriving in peace.
<span style="font-weight:400">The people had healed from the scars of war and were full of hope for the future.
<span style="font-weight:400">All the while, an unseen figure in the shadows continued to watch, closely observing Hui and seemingly plotting something.
<span style="font-weight:400">For most, six months flew by in the blink of an eye. But for others, those six months had been a gruelling ordeal—especially for three particr people: Onoki, A, and the Third Kazekage.
<span style="font-weight:400">A year and a half had passed since the Uzushio incident, and the seals on the three had long since been removed.
<span style="font-weight:400">Yet the “seal” that Mochizuki Hui had left on their hearts remained unbroken.
<span style="font-weight:400">Once celebrated as strong contenders for the kage positions in their viges, they had been admired as prodigies, as pirs of strength and hope.
<span style="font-weight:400">Now, though they still held these titles, they carried a newbel—a stigma, even: they were three kage-level shinobi who had been bested by Mochizuki Hui in a one-versus-three battle.
<span style="font-weight:400">This encounter was destined to be mentioned repeatedly, a reminder of defeat that would haunt them for the rest of their lives. And each time it was brought up, the memory would sting.
<span style="font-weight:400">For the three of them, the shame was not only in reputation but in the personal defeat they had suffered. In that battle, Hui had not only defeated them but had captured them alive, using them as bargaining chips in negotiations with their viges.
<span style="font-weight:400">The worst part for Onoki and the Third Kazekage was realizing that they hadn’t even fought Hui directly but had been defeated by his shadow clone.
<span style="font-weight:400">For Onoki, this realization was particrly devastating. He would often wake in the dead of night, drenched in sweat from nightmares of Hui leading Konoha’s forces in the destruction of Iwagakure.
<span style="font-weight:400">He was haunted. For a kage-level ninja to fear another shinobi to such an extent was… rare.
<span style="font-weight:400">But once he learned that only Hui’s clone had been the one to defeat him, Hui had be a living nightmare.
<span style="font-weight:400">“This can’t go on… We can’t let this guy grow any stronger!” Onoki gritted out, terror shing in his eyes.
<span style="font-weight:400">He feared a day when the dreams he had of Konoha annihting Iwagakure woulde true.
<span style="font-weight:400">If being defeated by Hui the first time had left Onoki wary, being defeated by a mere shadow clone hadpletely shattered his confidence.
<span style="font-weight:400">Hui’s power had grown at a terrifying pace. Each day, the thought of Hui growing stronger added to Onoki’s sense of dread. Now, after a year and a half, he had reached his breaking point.
<span style="font-weight:400">“I can’t let Konoha have a second God of Shinobi!” Onoki said through gritted teeth.
<span style="font-weight:400">Fueled by this resolve, he sought out the Second Tsuchikage, Mu, with a proposal: they needed to eliminate Mochizuki Hui.
<span style="font-weight:400">Onoki had resolved to do whatever it took to kill Hui, even if it risked igniting another war.
<span style="font-weight:400">However, he also knew that Iwagakure alone couldn’t achieve this goal. To rid the world of Hui, he would need allies.
<span style="font-weight:400">Three figures instantly came to mind: A, the Third Kazekage, and the Third Mizukage.
<span style="font-weight:400">The four of them had previously united on a mission to Uzushio, forming a temporary alliance for a shared purpose.
<span style="font-weight:400">Back then, the four young shinobi had believed themselves invincible, an unstoppable force ready to crush all obstacles.
<span style="font-weight:400">Instead, they had been thoroughly defeated. In a humiliating turn of events, the Third Mizukage had been forced out of the battle by Hui’s sheer intimidation, while Onoki, A, and the Third Kazekage had been defeated and held captive. Their viges had paid a steep price to secure their release.
<span style="font-weight:400">A year and a half ago, they hade together to achieve a goal. Now, they shared amon enemy.
<span style="font-weight:400">Onoki believed the other three would wee an alliance. Their viges, too, had no desire to see a second God of Shinobi emerge in the form of Mochizuki Hui.
<span style="font-weight:400">Hui was not like Hashirama Senju, who had handed out the tailed beasts in an attempt to maintain peace. If Hui rose to Hashirama’s level of power, the shinobi world wouldn’t receive such a “gift”—only war and annihtion.
<span style="font-weight:400">Yes, Onoki was sure of it: the other three viges must be on the verge of acting against Hui themselves. Even if he didn’t reach out, another vige would likely take the lead soon.
<span style="font-weight:400">The next day, three squads of Iwagakure’s elite Anbu quietly set out from the vige, each squad assigned to a different destination.
<span style="font-weight:400">One squad headed to the Land of Lightning, making their way toward Kumogakure.
<span style="font-weight:400">Another squad traveled to the Land of Wind, bound for Sunagakure.
<span style="font-weight:400">Thest squad took the sea route, crossing the ocean to reach the Land of Water and Kirigakure.
<span style="font-weight:400">Their objective was singr: establish contact with the Second Raikage, the Second Kazekage, and the Second Mizukage, and propose a pact to eliminate Mochizuki Hui.
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