Malphegor
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HSU: Ch. 223
🕑 Added 2025-03-13 16:25:33 +0000 UTCAfter living so long as an Uchiha, Masashi felt confident enough to proudly declare himself an expert in the Sharingan.
Opening one's eyes by losing loved ones? That method was not only cruel but also crude.
In the original timeline, Sasuke awakened his Sharingan in a fit of rage on the night of the Uchiha massacre.
And that was Indra's reincarnation of that era. So, the old method was not worth advocating at all.
Masashi had already made up his mind. He was going to let Sasuke take a different path.
During the Warring States period, it was customary for many Uchiha to awaken their Sharingan for the first time during their first kill.
Whether it was due to the extreme suppression of emotions finally bursting out or the act of overcoming fear, even for an old ninja clan like the Uchiha, this moment was always a significant mental challenge for most.
In this timeline, Sasuke had lived a happy life.
But Masashi had a nagging feeling—although this version of Sasuke had received better education, in an actual fight, he might not necessarily be stronger than the Sasuke of the original timeline at this age.
At this moment, Sasuke stood before his enemy, just as Masashi had predicted—he was conflicted.
Yet, with Masashi by his side, he didn't feel threatened by the seasoned killer in front of him. His struggle wasn't about danger; it was about hesitation. Even after all his training, when it came to actually killing, he was at a loss.
"What's wrong, Sasuke?" Masashi looked at him. "You've trained for so long, all for this moment. If you can't get past this, you can't be a ninja."
Sasuke swallowed hard.
Suddenly, the kunai in his hand felt unbearably heavy, as if the air around him had turned into water, making his movements sluggish and clumsy.
On the side, Naruto and Hinata also stood frozen, even more nervous than Sasuke himself.
In the silence, someone finally snapped.
It was the Hannya ninja.
Knowing he had no chance of escape, he made a desperate decision. If he was going to die, he would take someone down with him.
With a sudden leap, he lunged at Sasuke.
Instinctively, trained over the years by Masashi, he activated a jutsu that had been drilled into him long ago.
The Hannya ninja's final strike landed—his kunai stabbed deeply into Sasuke's neck.
But the next moment, Sasuke dispersed. He transformed into a swarm of small snakes. The enemy's attack only managed to sever a few of them, and in doing so, enraged the rest.
These strange little creatures, swarmed over the enemy in fury. One bite at a time, they paralyzed him, leaving him convulsing on the ground.
Sasuke now stood behind the fallen enemy, still holding his kunai. Though he had instinctively used his Substitution Jutsu and Summoning Clone Technique to incapacitate the opponent, his kunai remained suspended in hesitation—he hadn't yet delivered the final blow.
In the end, he turned to look at Masashi with pleading eyes.
"Masashi-nii…"
Masashi showed no anger or disappointment. In his first life, he had been even worse than Sasuke.
But he knew what had to be done.
He stepped up beside Sasuke, grabbed his hand, and guided it forward.
The sharp kunai slid effortlessly into the Hannya ninja's throat, severing his carotid artery.
Sasuke's world turned red. The enemy's blood splattered onto his hands, his face—everywhere.
Soon, the ninja's body stopped moving.
"It's done, Sasuke. Dismiss your summon," Masashi said softly.
Still dazed, Sasuke instinctively followed the command.
A swirl of white mist rose from the Hannya ninja's body as the small snakes were sent back to Ryūchi Cave.
In the end, only a lifeless corpse remained.
Masashi made a subtle hand motion, causing sand to rise and cover the body, pulling it into the earth.
"Naruto." He called out.
Naruto nearly jumped in shock.
"It's your turn." Masashi motioned for him to step forward as another Hannya ninja was thrown onto the ground.
Pulling Sasuke to the side, he brought Naruto forward.
"Don't be such a coward. Sasuke and Hinata are both watching you."
Something about that last sentence seemed to stir Naruto just a little, he didn't look as scared anymore.
Gripping his kunai in a reverse hold, he locked eyes with the enemy in front of him.
He looked intimidating, super fierce even—but in reality, his eyes still lacked confidence.
As for the Hannya ninja who had just witnessed his comrade get taken down, he was in total despair.
Are you kidding me?
These Konoha brats… they were way too strong!
Since when could a genin use the Three Basic Jutsu at that level? He himself couldn't even do it that well.
He wanted to run. But then he met Masashi's gaze—the kind of gaze that said: Go ahead, try running. See what happens.
Screw it! I'll fight!
Using live people for training was nothing new, and he had already figured out that these three kids were mentally still rookies. If he could just grab the one in front of him, maybe, just maybe, he'd have a chance to survive.
He quickly used the Body Flicker and lunged at Naruto.
If only that idiot had used Body Flicker earlier, maybe he wouldn't have died. That was his last thought before he realized—he had lunged at nothing.
Standing where Naruto used to be, his eyes filled with despair. He turned to look at Masashi, his gaze screaming: What kind of genin knows Body Flicker!?!
Blood spurted from his throat—the exact same spot as his comrade before him.
He followed in his comrade's footsteps, staining the earth with his blood.
As his body collapsed, Naruto stood further back, staring blankly at the kunai in his hand. Then, he looked at his now-dead opponent, trying to recall what had just happened.
The moment his enemy moved, he instinctively used Body Flicker, then instinctively swung his kunai like he was chopping a training post.
And then… he had killed someone.
So this was what it felt like to kill an enemy?
"Naruto, come back," Masashi called.
Even though Naruto had taken down his opponent smoothly, that didn't necessarily mean he had performed better than Sasuke. Their different combat styles simply made their experiences look different.
This was exactly why Shikuro had said pairing the two together completely violated the principle of balance. Despite just graduating from the Academy, their ninjutsu proficiency and skill level were already at chunin-level. They simply lacked real combat experience.
After all, as the reincarnations of Indra and Asura, their talent and foundational abilities were simply on another level.
Naruto dazedly walked back to the group, standing beside Sasuke as they both started contemplating life.
For now, Masashi let the two them process what they had just experienced. Then, he turned to call up Hinata.
But first, he patted her head to ease her nerves.
"Hinata, Gentle Fist kills without leaving a trace. Don't worry about how it'll look. Just do as you do in training—don't focus on tenketsu, just aim for lethal strikes."
After saying this, he released the last Hannya ninja.
Maybe it was because he had seen the miserable fate of his two comrades, but this ninja was already mentally prepared. His thought process was probably the same as the second guy's.
The moment his feet touched the ground, he locked onto Hinata. And when he saw her hesitantly take a step forward, he immediately pounced on her.
---
Hinata was a girl who, in the original timeline, wholeheartedly loved Naruto, making Neji's fans sigh with regret.
Perhaps because of the heavy focus on romance, people often overlooked the fact that she actually possessed one of the most overpowered taijutsu techniques in the Naruto world.
The Gentle Fist could kill with just a single touch.
In terms of raw power, she couldn't compare to Naruto or Sasuke. But the moment her palm struck the Hannya ninja, the battle was over.
The ninja's internal organs were immediately shredded by the chakra she injected into his bodies.
With this, all three had now "graduated."
From this moment on, they could be officially called Team 7.
As the yellow sand surged, the last Hannya ninja was swallowed into the ground. The trio watched as their enemies disappeared without a trace, leaving them with complex emotions.
"Feeling a little conflicted?" Masashi finished dealing with the bodies, then turned to look at them. "It's fine. The fact that none of you threw up already means you're doing well."
To prevent young ninjas from being killed in battle due to their natural first-time reaction to taking a life, all major ninja clans devised various methods to prepare them.
So, although they were uneasy, they didn't show physical discomfort.
Since they were children of ninja clans, he held them to the standards of one.
They had enjoyed resources far beyond those of civilian families, so they had to live up to those resources.
"Take today to process everything. Tomorrow, you'll join me in launching an offensive and wiping out the enemy."
With the altered life paths of Naruto and Sasuke, Masashi wasn't sure if they could still reach the Six Paths-level in a few years.
He never relied on others, but having two more Six Paths-level allies on their side wouldn't hurt, right?
He didn't know if Suna would still attempt the Konoha Crush Plan. But what he did know was that the undercurrents stirring within Konoha were growing stronger and stronger.
Which was only natural. Every move made was for better development time and more resources.
In a world where power belonged only to oneself, wars were inevitable.
And in the end, he was just one person. He needed strong companions to protect his loved ones.
After giving Team 7 their orders, he sent them back to their post.
The test he gave them had made quite a commotion. If they didn't return, their client might grow uneasy.
Once they left, he pulled the three dead bodies out of the ground again. Using Ice Release, he refroze them, then applied Lightened Boulder Jutsu to lift the frozen corpses. He led the floating ice blocks away from the estate of Daigo and traveled some distance before finding a place to dispose of them.
Imitating Boil Release had been a good idea back then. It proved quite convenient for this.
No pollution, no noise—very environmentally friendly.
After using Water Release to wash away the remaining scraps, he began walking back.
A few steps later, he suddenly stopped.
The ground behind him lay quiet under the night sky.
His Sharingan flared to life, revealing the chakra signatures across the land.
Praise life, for it has given this world chakra.
There was only one person in this world who could completely conceal their chakra from the Sharingan.
But too much of anything was a mistake.
And from his first playthrough, Masashi had always liked unorthodox methods.
While others would search for traces of chakra left behind by someone in hiding, he preferred the opposite approach.
From the colorful world his Sharingan revealed, he saw an area that was utterly devoid of chakra.
Acting as if he had noticed nothing, he turned and continued walking.
Once he had gone a certain distance, the seemingly void-like presence beneath the earth slowly began to move.
Seemingly returning to Daigo's estate, he gradually deviated from the route.
Each time he reached a "limit" distance, he would leave behind a Flying Thunder God mark.
Underground, the presence that had been cautiously moving began to grow bolder.
By the time Masashi stopped again, he had arrived at the seaside.
The beach glowed faintly under the night sky.
His footprints left marks in the sand as he gazed toward the horizon, where the sea met the sky, blurred under the moonlight.
Behind him, a shadow emerged from the sand.
"Black Zetsu, that wasn't very loyal of you," Masashi suddenly said. "You just up and left without even saying goodbye?"
Black Zetsu stared at his back.
"Shouldn't I be the one asking you that?" he replied in a muffled voice.
Meeting again, he found that he no longer had the urge to eliminate Masashi.
That realization was… disheartening.
Oh well. After all these years, Masashi was the only one who never treated him like some freak of nature.
"I did something?" Masashi turned around, looking puzzled.
Black Zetsu saw that he even had a look of dissatisfaction on his face.
Seriously?
He felt like he should be angry.
"You really have the nerve to ask! What did you do to Obito?"
"Wait a second, let me think..." Masashi genuinely had to rack his brain to remember what he had last done to Obito.
He hadn't seen him in a while. Who knew where the guy was wandering now?
"Oh, that? That was Shisui kicking him, not me."
That was all he remembered.
"Who's talking about that?!" Black Zetsu was now genuinely annoyed. "You two didn't get along before, but I was always speaking up for you!"
Hearing this, Masashi suddenly felt a little guilty. "That wasn't my fault. I was just following the process, and he insisted on adding drama to it."
Thinking carefully, that was exactly how it had gone down.
He went to Kiri to handle something. Obito didn't have to show up, yet he did. What was he supposed to do, pull Obito out himself?
That whole incident with Yagura was all Obito's doing.
"Tell me, Obito messing around with his jutsu—how is that my fault He made a mess, then ran over to gloat in front of me, and when he screwed up, he blamed me. Does that make any sense?"
Black Zetsu opened his mouth but couldn't say a word.
Hearing Masashi's argument, he suddenly felt like… maybe Obito really was asking for a beating.
The way he handled things was just too reckless—there was no justification.
"Still… you didn't have to run him out of Kiri," Black Zetsu's voice weakened.
"With things at that point, what else could I do? Someone had to take the fall." Masashi became even more assertive. "I was going to talk to you about it in the Land of Grass, but you just up and moved without saying a word. Where's the trust? Is that how you treat a friend?"
"..."
