Late at night, Namikaze Minato walked out of the tree house.
He looked up at the falling rain with a dazed expression. The lines of rain, with their perspective from above, seemed to scatter down from a single point in the sky. Lost in his troubled thoughts, Minato spotted a figure standing on a tree trunk in the distance. It was Lord Fox, standing guard on night watch.
Minato used Body Flicker to appear on that tree trunk, standing side by side with Lord Fox.
After over four years of continuous special training, Minato and Lord Fox were quite familiar with each other. Minato's journey of growth had been this: In his early childhood, he met his teacher, Hatake Sakumo. Sakumo meticulously taught Minato and imparted the Secret Technique of Chakra Crystallization to him, giving Minato top-tier Wind Release Body Flicker. Minato also learned the one-handed, one-seal Wind Release ninjutsu, Vacuum Sword, from his teacher's subordinate, Hayama.
After Teacher Sakumo sacrificed himself for the village, Minato then met Lady Tsunade. When Tsunade taught Kushina sealing techniques, she would also teach Minato, which quickly raised his sealing jutsu proficiency.
Later, Lord Fox took over Kushina's special training. For four consecutive years, Minato could ask Lord Fox about any problems in his training, especially regarding sealing techniques. Under Lord Fox's training, Kushina's strength grew rapidly, from the initial three semi-transparent fox tails to the current six, the amount of Nine-Tails chakra she could utilize growing larger and larger.
"Lord Fox, did the village really just stand by and watch the Uzumaki clan's annihilation?"
Yōkō turned his head to look at Minato and said, "Did you think Konoha was absolutely just, that our village was peaceful and serene, the best village in the shinobi world?"
"Yes. Konoha has had no war for many years; all the children have grown up safely," Minato said. "My classmates from the same year have become Chūnin, Special Jōnin. People like Nara Shikaku and Yamanaka Inoichi have become Jōnin like me. I thought our only duty was to protect the village with our lives like our predecessors, to kill every invading enemy with our ninja swords. I never imagined the village had a hand in the Uzumaki clan's destruction. Sister Yuka said they suspected the troop deployments on Uzushiogakure's coastal defenses were betrayed by spies. The spies didn't come from within Uzushiogakure, but from Konoha, which had signed a mutual defense treaty with them..."
Yōkō thought to himself, Minato has finally seen the cruelty of the shinobi world. Young people are still too naive. If he knew the leak of the Uzumaki clan's hideout this time was also Konoha's doing, I wonder what he would think. Yōkō had deliberately leaked the location to Iwagakure to allow Kushina to contact the Uzumaki remnants and to encourage the Uzumaki clan to enter Konoha before the war, so he wouldn't be unable to protect them during the conflict.
Yōkō said, "Did Yuka mention that the Uzumaki clan no longer hates Konoha?"
"She did," Minato said. "Sister Yuka advised Kushina that those who massacred Uzushiogakure were Kumo-nin and Kiri-nin; they are the real enemies. As for the people within Konoha who played a dishonorable role, they have all died one after another. Sister Yuka said the Uzumaki clansmen no longer hate Konoha and hope Kushina won't get agitated. But when Sister Yuka said it, she couldn't hide the bitterness in her tone. Uncle Kaichō, Brother Genchō, and the others all bowed their heads."
Yōkō said, "Minato, since the advent of chakra, war in the shinobi world has never ceased. Many predecessors have tried various methods; almost every possible path has been attempted, yet none have succeeded. For example, the First Hokage tried distributing the Tailed Beasts to achieve a deterrent balance. In the end, it became the First Hokage's wishful thinking.
There has always been a problem in the shinobi world. The problem lies in the very origin of chakra."
Yōkō then spoke of the Ōtsutsuki Clan and the God Tree, of the Sage of the Six Paths sealing Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, and of Ashura and Indra reincarnating for millennia, constantly fighting each other.
Yōkō said, "If we cannot fundamentally resolve the troubles caused by the Ōtsutsuki lineage, Ashura and Indra will continue to reincarnate and constantly create wars. The First Hokage and Uchiha Madara were the previous reincarnations of Ashura and Indra. If Uchiha Madara hadn't betrayed Konoha, perhaps Konoha truly had a chance to unite the shinobi world and end the wars. But Uchiha Madara was Indra's reincarnation; he was destined to fight the Ashura reincarnation to the death. The First Hokage's early death was also a trigger for the First Great Shinobi War.
Minato, are you willing to join my organization, to thoroughly seal away, or even kill, those ghosts that have wandered the shinobi world for a thousand years and should have died long ago?"
"Your organization?"
"Yes, my organization. The Calamity Organization," Yōkō said. "Killing those ghosts that should have died long ago, erasing those wills that should have perished, and returning the shinobi world to ordinary people is the primary goal of the Calamity Organization. No one can ever eliminate war; war and death are crucial cycles in the shinobi world. I have never believed I could completely end war, but the affairs of the shinobi world should not be dictated by the wills of the dead."
Recalling the Uzumaki clan's tragic state, Minato said, "I am willing, Lord Fox."
"Bite your finger and press it onto this scroll."
After obtaining Minato's blood, Yōkō quickly completed the offering.
Minato's vision swam, the scene shifted, and his consciousness appeared in an unfamiliar place. The ground on the left was covered in knee-deep gray mist, while on the right was a pool of blood. Neither the mist nor the blood pool seemed to have an end in sight. Across from Minato stood three towering divine statues.
"The one in the middle is the Three Worlds Vidyārāja. The one bathed in blood is the Evil God. The one floating above the gray mist is the Shinigami."
Minato saw a blood shadow figure beneath the Vidyārāja. The voice was unmistakably Lord Fox's. Minato looked down at himself; he too was a blood shadow figure, like a paper cutout, without substance.
Soon, two more blood shadow figures appeared in the blood pool. Minato looked over; one was a woman, the other a young boy not much older than a teenager.
The boy said, "It's been a while since I've been to the Divine Hall. Why so many new people all of a sudden? Leader Thunder, who are those two?"
Minato thought, This boy seems to be a veteran here. He considers me and the woman to be newcomers.
"Pestilence, these two are new members of the Calamity Organization. Fire and Wind," Yōkō said. "Thunder, Fire, Wind, Blade, Pestilence, Famine. Our Calamity Organization now has four people. The biggest upcoming event in the shinobi world is the Third Great Shinobi War. Let's have a small meeting of our Calamity Organization here.
Pestilence, you continue to be responsible for spreading the faith. During the upcoming great war, offer enough wicked souls to enhance the power of the Three Gods."
Hidan said excitedly, "The ninja who start wars all deserve to die; they can all be offered. The samurai fish in troubled waters, the nobles drain the pond to catch the fish. There are too many wicked people. I feel we have too few members; we're not enough."
"Pestilence, you can recruit new believers, like Black Sail who follows you now," Yōkō turned to Pakura and said, "Fire, do your best to delay Sunagakure and prevent them from joining the war. Wind, improve your strength as quickly as possible. Only you can end the great shinobi war."
Hidan looked at Wind in surprise. The Thunder Leader actually said Wind could end the great shinobi war? Just who is this kid? Why does he have such strength?
Pakura also looked at Wind. Why does Kōji trust this person so much?
The Divine Hall meeting ended.
Namikaze Minato felt dazed. Lord Fox's organization was powerful, especially Fire, who could actually prevent Sunagakure from joining the war? Moreover, Lord Fox said he should end the great shinobi war as soon as possible. What did that mean?
Yōkō took out a scroll and handed it to Minato, saying, "Minato, this is the forbidden jutsu scroll for the Flying Thunder God Technique. I am teaching you this technique now. With this technique, you will become the hero who ends the war!"
***
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(End of Chapter)