Uchiha Yoru said seriously, "One hundred years. You must manage the Land of Demons properly for the entire century. And if His Majesty the Heavenly Emperor has need of you, you must also carry out missions for him."
Priestess Miroku nodded with restrained dignity. "No problem. Absolutely no problem!"
"This is all something I should do. Being able to share His Majesty's burdens is truly an honor!"
Looking at the cold and elegant priestess displaying such enthusiasm, Uchiha Yoru smiled and said, "Actually, becoming one of His Majesty's believers comes with quite a few benefits."
Miroku asked in surprise, "There are more benefits?"
Uchiha Yoru nodded. "I can see that you already believe in the Heavenly Emperor. I imagine you should be able to feel it by now... the divine power His Majesty returns to you."
Miroku immediately turned her attention inward and carefully sensed the changes in both body and mind.
Sure enough, a stream of divine power that was not particularly strong, yet flowed without end, was pouring into her through the thread of faith from somewhere beyond perception.
This stream was nowhere near as overwhelming or satisfying as the enormous surge of divine power from earlier, but its strength lay in its continuity. It steadily soothed her accumulated emotions and stabilized the hidden injuries within her soul.
The priestess could no longer maintain her aloof, cold image.
She burst into tears, dropped to her knees, and shouted, "Long live His Majesty!"
The purity of her faith skyrocketed at an absurd rate.
As a professional in matters involving gods, Miroku knew a great deal about divine beings.
She had never imagined that a god could be this generous.
Watching the excited priestess, whose face practically screamed that she wanted to die in service to the Heavenly Emperor, Uchiha Yoru was dumbfounded.
For some reason, he suddenly felt like he had become some alien imperial overlord, while Priestess Miroku before him was a native begging to be exploited.
For a moment, he couldn't help doubting his own nature.
[Am I seriously the one here to exploit people?]
Uchiha Yoru coughed lightly, interrupting the priestess's fanatical display, then continued, "As for protecting the Land of Demons, His Majesty has already made specific arrangements."
The priestess immediately stopped crying.
She swiftly collected her emotions and said to Uchiha Yoru, "Please, go ahead."
Uchiha Yoru said, "Following His Majesty's instructions, I will establish an unprecedentedly enormous sealing formation across the Land of Demons."
"This sealing formation will cover most of the country's territory and ultimately form a small 'Hall of Heroes' inside this shrine."
Miroku frowned thoughtfully. "Lord Uchiha Yoru, a sealing formation on such a scale would likely require mobilizing half the labor force of the Land of Demons and having them work at full capacity for several years."
"And even if such a formation were successfully built, the free-floating chakra in the Land of Demons would never be enough to sustain it."
"You know that the Land of Demons is one of the poorest regions in the shinobi world in terms of energy. Both natural energy and chakra are scarce here. Otherwise, we would never have been forced to use Mōryō's own chakra to seal Mōryō."
She paused, then asked, "And what exactly is this 'Hall of Heroes'?"
Uchiha Yoru explained, "Those are two separate questions."
"You don't need to worry about the first one, and there is no need to mobilize the Land of Demons' labor force."
He pointed at himself.
"I will personally handle the construction."
"As for the shortage of chakra and natural energy, the great Heavenly Emperor has already taken that into consideration."
"The sealing formation His Majesty requires me to build will not operate using chakra or natural energy."
"It will use the power of faith generated by the people of the Land of Demons."
"That will also help with the formation of the 'Hall of Heroes.'"
"As the name suggests, the Hall of Heroes will house the souls of certain heroes collected by the Heavenly Emperor."
"His Majesty believes that such heroic spirits should not simply dissipate."
"So he intends for the people of the Land of Demons to provide power of faith to sustain them. And at critical moments, those heroic spirits can be called upon to fight in defense of the Land of Demons."
"These souls belong to heroes from the shinobi world's past."
"You should trust in their strength."
"They are more than powerful enough to protect the Land of Demons."
Miroku took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled.
Her faith in the Heavenly Emperor deepened another step, yet she also couldn't suppress a trace of unease.
This god was simply too generous.
So generous that he seemed almost indifferent to the power of faith itself.
The priestess couldn't help wondering whether the faith of the Land of Demons might not actually be that important to him.
And if it wasn't important, would he truly care about the Land of Demons?
In truth, she was overthinking things.
His Majesty the Heavenly Emperor was merely one of Uchiha Yoru's personas, and Uchiha Yoru genuinely did not care that much about the power of faith.
His principle regarding it was simple: take what he needed, use it where necessary.
What he cared about most was the process of using it.
Transform faith into divine power.
Then use that divine power to exert influence upon the shinobi world, pushing the world toward prosperity and stability.
Previously, Uchiha Yoru had comprehended the principle that "the will of Heaven is the will of the masses."
That truth was much like the principle of "the highest goodness is like water."
It could be applied not merely to personal cultivation, but also to understanding the Great Dao itself.
Uchiha Yoru was experimenting.
If he devoted himself to improving the shinobi world, would the shinobi world respond in kind?
Could he, in this world, shape something that could truly be called the "Heavenly Dao"?
Compared to such a lofty objective, what did a little divine power amount to?
However, many of the things Uchiha Yoru had just told Miroku were still nothing more than boasting.
For example, that gigantic sealing formation he claimed he would construct—the national-scale faith barrier—didn't even exist in blueprint form yet.
Uchiha Yoru didn't even know how to control the power of faith well enough to use it as the operating energy for a sealing technique.
As for creating the "Hall of Heroes," that was nothing more than a concept.
Yet Uchiha Yoru was not panicked in the slightest.
Because behind him stood a genuine BUG-level researcher.
The Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama.
That development-obsessed creator of forbidden techniques and shinobi-world black technology would definitely solve these problems in a short amount of time.
Uchiha Yoru wasn't worried in the slightest that Senju Tobirama would slack off.
The Second Hokage had certainly never encountered either faith power or divine power while alive.
He would definitely become fascinated by both.
He would throw himself into the research with impatient enthusiasm.
As long as Uchiha Yoru gave him a research topic and an objective, Senju Tobirama would instinctively complete it.
Besides, this so-called Hall of Heroes was being prepared specifically for Senju Tobirama.
Uchiha Yoru valued Senju Tobirama more and more.
Because of that, the fact that such an important person's soul was still in the Pure Land—and might even be under the control of the Sage of Six Paths—made him deeply uneasy.
He hoped that by establishing the Hall of Heroes, he could seize Senju Tobirama, Senju Hashirama, Hatake Sakumo, and other heroic spirits from the Pure Land and turn them into his own subordinates.
If circumstances permitted, resurrection and immortality could also be arranged.
Since one of the defining characteristics of this world was the blurred boundary between life and death, why bother staying dead?
Why not return to life and pursue longevity and the elevation of one's life level?
Wouldn't that be better?
Death need not represent despair.
It could become the beginning of new hope.
If such a change became a trend throughout the shinobi world, it would greatly improve the psychological condition of shinobi and allow them to retain hope no matter what they faced.
The shinobi world might even develop an overwhelmingly positive momentum.
This would not be some so-called golden age created under the manipulation of the Sage of Six Paths, who casually manufactured two Six Paths-level puppets and used overwhelming power to enforce peace.
This would be a human tide in which everyone possessed hope of rising like a dragon, and in which human desire was tightly bound to morality.
Uchiha Yoru firmly believed that this great human current would follow behind him and become a force pushing him ever upward.
As the saying went, once standing in the path of the wind, even a pig could be carried into the sky.
Uchiha Yoru wasn't a pig.
If the shinobi world had no existing wind to ride, then he would simply create his own.
He would not lose out.
After all, if he was the one who created the wind, no one could possibly borrow more of its force than he himself.
And the "heroes" who rose with that wind would naturally become members of Uchiha Yoru's camp when the Ōtsutsuki Clan invaded.
They would become part of the force resisting the Ōtsutsuki.
In theory, there shouldn't be any traitors among those who rose with the wind.
Their rise would be built upon Uchiha Yoru's immortal path and the great current of humanity.
Even if they never completely severed themselves from chakra, their foundations would still be forged jointly by chakra and natural energy.
If they defected to the Ōtsutsuki Clan—a race that devoured all life and natural energy to create pure chakra fruits—they would only suffer losses.
There would be no benefit.
As the saying went:
There were always people willing to risk decapitation for profit, but no one wanted to do business at a loss.
So no one would betray him.
Ah.
With lofty human ideals guiding the way, a great dream waiting ahead, and the temptations of resurrection and longevity added on top...
Could Lord Senju Tobirama really refuse?
Could he truly refuse?
He couldn't.
...
Senju Tobirama was awakened by Uchiha Yoru once again.
His mind hadn't even fully emerged from the haze of sleep when Uchiha Yoru immediately triggered his waking temper.
The brat actually shouted,
"Senju Tobirama, stop sleeping! Get up and work! We're short on time!"
Senju Tobirama flew into a rage.
"Ki sa ma—!"
The Second Hokage didn't even finish his curse before a stone was shoved directly into his face, physically cutting off the second half of his sentence.
Furious, Tobirama raised his hand, ready to hit someone.
But in the next second, Uchiha Yoru extinguished his anger completely.
He said,
"I have a new research topic for you."
"It involves faith and divine power."
"And resurrection and immortality!"
How sharp was the Second Hokage?
The instant he heard those words, he understood exactly what Uchiha Yoru meant.
His towering rage disappeared without a trace.
His eyes angled downward.
One glance was enough for him to realize the stone was unusual.
He snatched it from Uchiha Yoru's hand and immediately began studying it carefully.
As for that damned brat Uchiha Yoru?
Hmph.
He didn't even bother looking at him.
It was now the second day after Uchiha Yoru had finished discussing everything with the priestess and parted ways with her.
Taking advantage of his tremendous flying speed, Uchiha Yoru had immediately traveled to the Land of Gloom.
Using the coordinates provided by the priestess, he dug deep into the ground and extracted the stone that stored the power of faith from thick mud.
The instant he saw it, he found it strangely familiar.
When first dug out, the stone was wrapped in a layer of metal.
The metallic shell showed no signs of corrosion whatsoever.
It even possessed patterns resembling overlapping scales or tree bark.
After inspection, Uchiha Yoru discovered that this metallic layer had not absorbed even the slightest amount of faith.
Instead, all the power of faith had gathered in the core within it.
That core also drew in every thread of faith.
After peeling away all the metal, what remained was a fist-sized greenish oval stone.
It truly was an extraordinarily mysterious divine object.
Unfortunately, it was ultimately just a dead object.
It could not circulate the power of faith.
In the end, the faith could only dissipate slowly through pointless consumption.
The peeled-off metallic layer had likely formed from the reverse convergence caused by the leakage of faith power.
But only a few minutes later, Senju Tobirama nearly smashed the miraculous object into pieces.
"Bastard! I can't sense faith at all!"
"It's exactly like natural energy!"
"If I can't even sense the damned thing, how am I supposed to research it?"
He raised the green oval stone high into the air.
Several times, he tensed his arm to throw it.
But in the end, he couldn't bring himself to smash it.
When he noticed Uchiha Yoru approaching, drawn over by the shouting, Senju Tobirama finally found somewhere to vent his anger.
He rushed forward, grabbed Uchiha Yoru by the collar, and demanded,
"You crafty little bastard. Your greatest talent is preparing everything in advance."
"Since you woke me up, there's no way you came here without sufficient preparation."
"You definitely have a way to let me perceive this power of faith, don't you?"
Uchiha Yoru nodded and admitted it.
"I really do have a way."
"But you'll have to pay a price."
Senju Tobirama immediately laughed mockingly.
"Hahaha! I'm already dead. You think I'm afraid of paying a price?"
"Is there even anything in this world that can still exact a price from a dead man?"
His dismissive attitude lasted only a few seconds.
Uchiha Yoru raised his right index finger.
"A dead man can't pay a price?"
"Second Hokage, if you can joke and argue with me, and if the shinobi world possesses methods capable of bringing the dead back, then death obviously isn't the endpoint."
"If death isn't the endpoint, then why would you assume there's no price left for you to pay?"
Senju Tobirama stopped laughing.
He thought seriously for a moment before saying,
"You're right."
"The fact that I can interact with you really doesn't fit the definition of true death."
"Then what price do I need to pay?"
Uchiha Yoru gave the answer just as seriously.
"Risk."
"Lord Senju Tobirama, the price you must pay is the risk of completely dissipating."
"That serious?"
"Fine. Let me experience it."
Who was Senju Tobirama?
He had possessed the Flying Thunder God Technique.
He had even had an Escort Unit protecting him.
Yet to protect his disciples, he had gone alone to fight the rebel forces of Kumogakure, clearing away the final obstacle to the Third Raikage's rise.
Fear was not an emotion Senju Tobirama was familiar with.
Instead, he impatiently began asking for the exact procedure.
Uchiha Yoru had expected this.
He immediately explained,
"I recommend that you believe in a god."
"If you want to understand faith and divine power, the best method is naturally to study a god who depends upon faith and divine power."
"A god?"
"There are actually real gods in the shinobi world?"
"Brat, you're sure you're not talking about those ridiculous things from the Land of Hot Water?"
"I'm sure."
"I've seen the gods of the Land of Hot Water."
"They're all garbage."
"This one is completely different."
Senju Tobirama confirmed that Uchiha Yoru wasn't lying.
He clicked his tongue thoughtfully.
"Interesting."
"Sounds like this god is very powerful."
Uchiha Yoru nodded proudly.
The Second Hokage nodded as well, then put on a look of sudden realization.
"And this god has a terrible temper."
Uchiha Yoru almost nodded along.
He caught himself just in time.
"Second Hokage, why would you think that?"
Senju Tobirama answered as though it were obvious.
"You're the one who said that believing in this god comes with the risk of complete dissolution."
"You expect me to believe a god like that has a good temper?"
"Forget it."
"It's not like I've never had to put up with an idiot before."
"Trust me."
"I'll be fine."
"Come on."
"Let's begin."
Uchiha Yoru did not refute or explain anything on the spot.
He couldn't be certain whether the Sage of Six Paths had left any hidden mechanisms inside Senju Tobirama's soul.
At least until he pulled Senju Tobirama into the Purple Mansion world, Uchiha Yoru intended to remain extremely cautious.
He would not allow the conversation to touch any keywords related to the Six Paths.
So he stopped hesitating and said,
"Lord Senju Tobirama, please repeat the god's honorific name after me."
"Descendant of the Crimson Flame God-King and the Yellow Earth God-King."
[Descendant of Yan and Huang.]
"Supreme Sovereign who inherits the mighty divine power of the Divine Dragon."
[Descendant of the Dragon.]
"Divine Court Emperor of Xiangfu Heaven, who opened the Immortal Spirit Golden Core Great Dao."
[The immortal cultivator who opened the Golden Core Great Dao in the shinobi world, with the Heavenly Emperor persona born in Xiangfu.]
Once the three-part honorific name had been recited, it indeed touched Uchiha Yoru's Purple Mansion world between his brows and caused the golden dragon throne to resonate.
Without showing anything outwardly, Uchiha Yoru split off a portion of his mind.
Within the Divine Court Hall, the colossal figure of His Majesty the Heavenly Emperor manifested upon the throne.
As expected, with a direct prayer naming him, operating the Heavenly Emperor persona became much easier.
Uchiha Yoru reached out and gently grasped.
He barely exerted any force at all.
Senju Tobirama's soul immediately entered the Purple Mansion world.
The instant he entered, two things happened.
First, the Edo Tensei body carrying his soul collapsed.
The gray-white earth composing the body scattered through the air like burnt paper ash, leaving behind a slightly withered White Zetsu corpse.
With the soul removed, the Edo Tensei technique was forcibly broken.
Uchiha Yoru unexpectedly discovered that soul extraction was an extremely simple method of dispelling Edo Tensei.
The challenge was how to transform this into a ninjutsu or senjutsu technique.
He needed a way to bypass the requirement for a thread of faith, or eliminate the need for the target to recite an honorific name and voluntarily open their heart.
That would still be a significant research challenge.
However, recalling how the Sage of Six Paths had casually summoned two generations of the Five Kage in the original story and used their power across the sealed space, Uchiha Yoru became certain that this was a research topic well worth pursuing.
In the future, he should solve it as soon as possible.
The second problem appeared within Senju Tobirama's soul.
The instant Tobirama was pulled into the Purple Mansion world, a mark suddenly surfaced.
Senju Tobirama's soul was immediately suppressed.
He lost consciousness.
The mark erupted with light and attempted to drag Senju Tobirama's soul downward, toward some inexplicable "lower" place.
Uchiha Yoru could also sense that the light emitted by the mark contained information.
Sharp information.
Information that resembled an alarm.
As expected, there was a problem.
This was definitely a mark originating from the Pure Land.
A method designed to prevent Senju Tobirama's soul from being lost.
The only question was whether this mark had naturally formed after his soul remained in the Pure Land for too long, or whether Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo had personally branded it using the power of the Pure Land.
If it was the first—a natural phenomenon—then there was no real danger.
Senju Tobirama could still return to the Pure Land afterward.
But if it was the second, an artificial measure...
Then the problem was enormous.
The mark radiated light.
In response, the Golden Core sun in the sky released a hundred times more brilliance, directly confronting it.
Every ray of light from the mark was erased in midair.
The Golden Core's radiance continued washing over the mark, steadily weakening its existence.
It became thinner.
More transparent.
Gradually, the mark began to destabilize under the cleansing golden light.
Then, at the final moment, the mark abruptly collapsed ahead of schedule.
The spiritual power that exploded outward gathered into the outline of an elderly man dressed in white.
He had brown hair and beard, a deeply wrinkled face, two horns growing from his head, and a third eye opened in the center of his forehead.
He was the Sage of Six Paths.
Master of the Pure Land.
Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo.
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