The two Ōtsutsuki brothers—one harvesting the power of the dead in the Pure Land of the Netherworld, the other raising bloodline descendants on the Moon.
Both spoke endlessly of peace and understanding.
But reality was far from those ideals.
Especially after the recent incident where Ōtsutsuki Hamura watched from the sidelines, clearly hoping that Uchiha Soren would act so he could probe Soren's true strength.
After witnessing that, Soren had no reason left to trust Hamura.
Likewise, the Ōtsutsuki brothers remained deeply wary of this ambitious successor.
They feared that the thousand-year plans they had carefully laid might be disrupted by Uchiha Soren's sudden rise.
At the same time, Soren faintly sensed the gaze of Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo.
And beyond that…
Another gaze descended from somewhere on the Magic Continent.
The moment Soren's awareness brushed against it, a sharp chill ran down his spine.
The feeling was no weaker than when facing Hagoromo.
There was a high probability that it belonged to the Supreme Dragon Emperor, the legendary being who had once forced the Ōtsutsuki brothers to retreat.
The sages of the Three Great Sacred Lands did not join the spectacle.
The Great Toad Sage behaved like a reclusive shut-in who preferred secretly watching events unfold, using prophetic dreams to obtain the information he desired.
The Slug Sage was even more of a homebody, rarely leaving her nest unless absolutely necessary.
As for the White Snake Sage, Uchiha Soren had once visited her personally.
In terms of strength, she was roughly equal to the Great Toad Sage.
However, her escape abilities were truly unparalleled.
Unfortunately for her, before Soren's spatial authority technique—Amenominakanushi—even that ability proved useless.
He found her easily and forced her into signing numerous unequal agreements.
The three snake princesses under the White Snake Sage looked youthful and beautiful when taking human form.
But when they revealed their ferocious serpent forms, Soren slapped them half to death with three casual strikes.
After that, they obediently kept their tails tucked like proper snakes.
Even the arrogant and hot-tempered Manda and Shinya became well-behaved after receiving a few extra slaps.
If it weren't for the sake of maintaining biological diversity—so the Konoha Scientific Research Institute would have more specimens to study—Soren would have simply burned down Ryuchi Cave altogether.
"An-kun, where exactly did our conflict with the Great Tomb begin?"
After hearing Soren explain the irreconcilable contradictions between himself and the Ōtsutsuki brothers, Uchiha Zhili asked about the Great Tomb.
The prophecy of the shrine maiden Momiji still lingered in her mind.
"The conquest of the Magic Continent's native nations by the ninja world is almost guaranteed," she continued.
"But the Great Tomb that suddenly appeared… we know too little about them."
"And the conflict escalated far too quickly."
"I don't deny that," Soren replied.
He lowered his head slightly, inhaling the fragrance of the two women's hair.
His tone carried a hint of dissatisfaction.
"Plans can't keep up with reality."
"I only intended to send a clone to visit the Great Tomb as a guest."
"But their subordinates were incredibly rude."
"In the end, one of them even tried to self-destruct."
With two beauties in his arms, Soren's hands began wandering somewhat mischievously.
The temperature in the warm chamber seemed to rise instantly.
Both women's faces flushed crimson.
"If he wanted to self-destruct, let him," Minamoto Kaori said softly, her breathing slightly uneven.
"We could have revived him afterward with resurrection magic."
"Why crush him outright?"
She raised her moist eyes and looked at Soren.
"Now things have escalated so much that conflict is unavoidable."
"Conflict was inevitable sooner or later," Soren replied.
"If it happens sooner, so be it."
He suddenly rolled over, looking down at the two women beneath him—each beautiful in her own way.
A mischievous grin appeared on his face.
"But the conflict between us… should be taken slowly."
A sharp flash of white blade-light streaked through the air.
The Uchiha jōnin widened his two-tomoe Sharingan, barely managing to see a single strand of black hair fall from his forehead.
"Winner — Hatake Sakumo!"
On the selection platform of the Royal Court Ninja Army, Hatake Sakumo—who had opened the Third Gate—grimaced slightly as he closed the Eight Gates technique.
This forbidden technique, bestowed by Uchiha Soren, was extremely difficult to learn.
Mastering it was even harder.
Even with Sakumo's talent, he felt the Fourth Gate was already his limit.
Meanwhile, someone who had no choice but to devote himself entirely to taijutsu—
"Winner — Might Dai!"
The examiner's voice rang out from another arena.
Sakumo turned his head.
On the other stage, a figure had appeared so quickly that the eye could barely track him.
Standing proudly in a bright green jumpsuit, Might Dai raised his fist and shouted about the invincibility of youth.
"He's already opened the Fifth Gate…"
Sakumo was secretly shocked by Dai's taijutsu talent.
Thinking back to their childhood, when Dai had been mocked for being unable to perform ninjutsu or genjutsu, Sakumo felt genuine happiness for him.
Once Dai fully mastered the Eight Gates, Konoha would gain another top-tier powerhouse.
And that would repay the kindness of the Supreme Leader of the Ninja World.
"I can't fall behind Dai either."
"Taijutsu isn't my specialty… I should focus more on swordsmanship."
Sakumo sheathed his short blade and turned to face his opponent, smiling gently.
"Hatake Sakumo, right?"
The defeated Uchiha jōnin still looked shaken.
Although he was five or six years older than Sakumo, he could only sigh.
"I still had plenty of techniques left unused…"
"But victory is victory."
"That's undeniable."
"You kid are truly strong."
"When you have time, come visit the Uchiha clan compound."
After saying that, the Uchiha jōnin waved his hand and left.
Sakumo watched the Uchiha fan emblem on his back and smiled proudly.
Defeating a two-tomoe Sharingan Uchiha so cleanly meant his strength had firmly stepped into the Elite Jōnin level.
"The next step… is reaching the Morning Star rank."
Because the ninja military uniforms now bore sun, moon, and star insignias, the traditional power rankings had also gained new titles.
Kage-level shinobi were called Morning Stars.
Strong Kage-level shinobi were known as Radiant Moons.
And those beyond them were called Blazing Suns.
Only after reaching the Morning Star level would one truly gain privileges—and the chance to display one's abilities fully.
As Sakumo stepped down from the arena, lost in thought, Might Dai called out to him.
The two walked together while watching the matches on the other arenas.
Elsewhere, Uchiha Hikari initially watched the twenty arenas with interest.
But gradually, she grew bored.
Whether jōnin or Morning Star fighters, all of their movements looked unbearably slow in her eyes.
There was nothing new to see.
Meanwhile, Uzumaki Minako held a document listing the candidates for the military ranks of squad leaders and centurions.
Unsurprisingly, half of the officer corps belonged to the Uchiha clan.
Another quarter belonged to the Senju and Uzumaki clans.
The remainder were divided between the Hyuga clan and the Ino–Shika–Cho alliance.
Suddenly—
A long dragon's roar echoed from the direction of the Teleportation Array.
"Roar!"
"Among the Supreme Leader's ninja army… how could the Yuki clan be absent?!"
A formation of ice-blue dragon cavalry streaked across the sky.
At the front rode Yuki Haku, mounted upon the Frost Dragon King.
Descending into the center of the arena, he wore silver armor and carried a massive knight's lance over three meters long.
Standing proudly atop the Frost Dragon King's head, Haku gazed down at the surrounding shinobi.
His voice rang out with confidence.
"Who dares to fight me?!"
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