Malphegor
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HSU: Ch. 181
🕑 Added 2025-02-05 16:44:51 +0000 UTCThe journey from Konoha to Suna took three days, whereas the trip to Mount Myōboku took about thirty days.
At least, that was what Masashi had originally thought. But after having a late-night snack with Minato, he realized he had been wrong.
To be precise, it took thirty days to reach Maze Mountain.
In the original timeline, Naruto had reached Mount Myōboku in just thirty days because he had an inside guide.
Under normal circumstances, it would take a full month just to reach Maze Mountain—this was assuming a ninja was traveling in a straight line. After that, there was a long and arduous journey through the mountains. However, for a contract holder like Minato, once he arrived at Maze Mountain, a messenger from Mount Myōboku would come to escort him the rest of the way.
Clearly, Masashi was not a contract holder of Mount Myōboku—at least, not yet.
While having supper with Minato, it was obvious that Minato felt a bit awkward, as he said something like: "Honestly, I'd love to take you with me, but you know how it is..."
I get it. Overtime, right? Your wife is waiting at home for you to secure the victory, right?
---
At this moment, Masashi was already in the Land of Wind.
Of course, to avoid trouble, he had an entry permit for Suna.
That was something Minato had helped him acquire.
Apparently, the Fourth Kazekage had agreed to it quite readily.
The Land of Wind was vast, and to the west lay an expanse of land. However, the country had never considered expanding in that direction.
The First Kazekage would rather throw tantrums in front of Hashirama, shamelessly demanding that the other four great ninja villages share some of the money they made from selling tailed beasts. He had been willing to risk getting beaten up, just to avoid expanding westward.
The reason was simple—the further west you went in the Land of Wind, the worse the environment got.
The so-called Maze Mountain was probably an oasis-like location within the desert.
Fortunately, the location was well-documented. As one of the most famous secret lands in the shinobi world, its reputation had spread far and wide. Every year, countless people attempted to challenge the Maze Mountain, and they weren't just ninjas.
Masashi was even able to buy a map to the Maze Mountain in a town along the way.
So, he didn't think too much about it and just followed the map.
He had seriously considered whether he truly needed to learn the Senjutsu of Mount Myōboku. After all, he was long past the phase of wanting to learn everything.
He wasn't lacking in jutsu.
But after careful consideration, he still felt that he needed this Senjutsu system.
The key difference between Mount Myōboku and Ryūchi Cave lay in their approach—Ryūchi Cave's Senjutsu was more about directly utilizing and manipulating natural energy, while Mount Myōboku's Senjutsu focused more on enhancing chakra with natural energy.
For him, given that he had no clear direction regarding Yin-Yang Release, Mount Myōboku's Senjutsu was undoubtedly a safer path. Moreover, if he mastered it, he could absorb natural energy from the air as a medium.
After all, he was now a ninja capable of flight.
Using the Lightened Boulder, he flew through the sky with a map in hand, comparing it to the landmarks below. Masashi continued westward, descending whenever he spotted a town to confirm his location and rest before setting off again.
This signature technique of the Third Tsuchikage caused some misunderstandings in the Land of Wind, but once he proved his identity and showed the Kazekage's entry permit, those misunderstandings were resolved.
Eventually, the Suna ninjas got so spooked by his constant flying that, after receiving approval from the village, they assigned him a team of ninja and even arranged a vehicle to take him to Maze Mountain—for free.
A personal escort service.
When Masashi heard about this great deal, he happily agreed and stopped bothering with the map.
Reading maps was such a hassle.
Compared to Masashi, who was a foreigner, the Suna ninjas were much more familiar with the Maze Mountain. Every year, many people from the Land of Wind tried their luck there—some were adventurers, some were nobles, and some were Suna ninjas. The nobles usually hired Suna ninjas as escorts.
Because of this, the Suna ninjas had perfected the logistics of Maze Mountain travel. The only difference this time was that their client wasn't paying.
But that wasn't a problem—safely delivering the White Ghost the to Maze Mountain was more important than money.
Throughout the journey, Masashi didn't put on any airs. Instead, he chatted with the Suna ninja, trying to learn more about Maze Mountain.
Unfortunately, they didn't know much.
As they put it, "Finding Maze Mountain isn't hard, but once you enter, it's all up to fate."
One thing was certain, though—people who failed the challenge would be sent back unharmed to the exact spot where they entered.
That spot had even been turned into a designated outpost by Suna to facilitate transportation.
This was a decision made by Rasa. Not only did it generate extra income every year, but it also created more missions for Suna ninjas.
This gave Masashi a much better impression of the Kazekage.
So, he wasn't just about mining and mistreating his son.
---
One month passed in the blink of an eye.
Maybe because he had spent the latter half of the journey riding in a vehicle, by the time Masashi arrived at Suna's dedicated "Maze Mountain Station," two full months had passed since he left Konoha.
And he fully experienced just how terrible the western regions were.
Especially in the last town.
It wasn't even a town anymore, just a small settlement.
Compared to the west, the area where Suna was located actually seemed pretty decent.
Any ordinary person brave enough to venture out here must have had a death wish.
To summarize: scorching heat, raging winds, dust storms everywhere.
There was rain here, but in just one hour, it could create a flash flood, carrying sand and debris that washed away everything in its path.
In fact, he was lucky to witness a rainfall—it was like hitting the jackpot.
Most of the time, he could only travel at night because daytime temperatures soared above seventy degrees Celsius.
Not even the Suna ninjas could handle that, let alone him.
Most so-called "towns" here weren't even meant for permanent residence. They were outposts built by Suna for people to take shelter from the sun.
Don't ask why—just know that Rasa had great foresight. And yes, they charged for it.
But all of these hardships ended the moment Masashi arrived at the foot of Maze Mountain.
It was as if he had crossed some invisible barrier and entered another world.
Before him stretched towering cliffs, forming a massive mountain range, lush and green as far as the eye could see.
---
"So, you're really not planning to change careers?"
After stepping out of the "car," Masashi casually brought up this topic with a few Suna ninjas.
"To be honest, being a ninja isn't my main profession. My real job is investment auditing. The automobile market in the Land of Fire is booming right now, and there's a huge gap in the market. I can help you apply to set up a pilot car dealership in Konoha. I can also introduce you to investors—ones who won't try to take advantage of you. Whether you want profits based on expected returns or net value, it's up to you. I guarantee there won't be any exploitative agreements."
He went on and on, talking at length, and the Suna ninjas listening to him only felt that the White Ghost had a commanding presence—but different from the elite jonin they had seen before.
It was intimidating, but not in a life-or-death way—it was something else.
Even though they didn't understand all the business jargon, they could vaguely tell that he was trying to recruit them to start a business in the Land of Fire.
That was absolutely out of the question. They were just ordinary puppet masters, the kind you could find anywhere in Suna. There was no way they could agree to his proposal.
The Suna ninjas chuckled awkwardly, hoping that this big shot would drop the subject—because they couldn't understand a thing he was saying.
"Sigh, you really shouldn't underestimate yourselves," Masashi said when he saw their expressions, looking genuinely regretful. "You are outstanding talents, carrying the mission of advancing the times."
Who said ninjutsu was only for fighting?
Every nation had developed its own unique "technology" based on chakra.
For the Land of Wind, it was intricate mechanical craftsmanship.
These Suna ninjas, though only at the chunin level at best, were already highly skilled at making puppet-driven vehicles.
With a puppeteer operating them, these vehicles were a specialty that only Suna's puppet masters could create.
He knew that the Suna ninjas always had to bring their own equipment on missions, and puppet masters even more so—they customized all their gear themselves.
There were plenty of puppet masters in Suna, but most of them were struggling to get by.
Why endure a tough life in Suna? Right now, in Konoha, public transportation was still reliant on animal power, to the point that a dedicated "pooper scooper" squad had to be formed.
There was potential in this. He would think about how to develop it later.
First, he had to find Mount Myōboku.
With that, he strode toward the towering mountain ahead and soon disappeared from the Suna ninjas' sight.
---
"Whew… he's finally gone..." one of the Suna ninjas let out a sigh of relief.
The pressure from the White Ghost was immense. Even though he had been friendly and polite the whole way, every time he started talking about those topics, it felt like reporting to a superior.
It just proved how weak he was.
"Yeah, yeah," another Suna ninja agreed. "Honestly, the White Ghost is pretty nice to chunin like us. I heard that he even thanks genin sometimes."
"That must be the demeanor of a true powerhouse. No wonder he's Kage-level."
"He's polite, sure, but he can really talk..."
At that, the group of Suna ninjas collectively showed a look of resignation.
He could talk endlessly.
He had chatted with them the entire journey, even managing to extract the embarrassing stories of how they all failed at wooing women. Then he had turned around and started giving them dating advice.
The embarrassment was unbearable.
That was just the trip here—they still had to endure the trip back!
A Kage-level powerhouse… truly terrifying!
---
Deep inside the Maze Mountain, Masashi was beginning to understand why it was named so.
It really was like a maze.
It was a giant labyrinth.
He had entered a canyon, seemingly carved by years of flowing water. The natural formations, when combined, created what felt like a man-made maze. The visibility was low, with a mist enveloping the valleys.
Was this a masterpiece of nature, or had the toads of Mount Myōboku tampered with it? That was unclear.
Masashi activated his Sharingan.
Byakugan would have been more effective here, but he didn't have one.
In the shinobi world, Mount Myōboku was depicted as a grand, righteous place.
In the manga, it was portrayed as an ally of justice, especially with the Great Toad Sage's prophecy about the "Child of Destiny"—a truly prestigious concept.
But unfortunately, in Masashi's eyes, Mount Myōboku wasn't all that grand.
Perhaps it was just personal bias, but he preferred Ryūchi Cave.
At least Ryūchi Cave was honest about itself.
As for Mount Myōboku...
The world he saw through his Sharingan was one of chakra.
His face remained expressionless, but in his heart, he sneered.
The mountains might be a work of nature, but the mist was definitely the toads' doing.
And there was something mixed into the mist.
The power system of these mystical realms was based on natural energy, vastly different from human abilities.
Masashi couldn't analyze it, but he had prepared for this.
He retrieved a sealing scroll and pulled out a gas mask.
This was a top-tier model sourced through underground channels from the Land of Rain—completely unavailable on the market.
It was the same type that Hanzō used.
After putting on the mask, he stepped into the denser part of the mist.
The term "Sage Mode" was honestly just clever branding.
There was only one true Sage in history—Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo.
Without reaching the Six Paths level, one wasn't qualified to be called a Sage.
Hashirama might have been the first to come close to Six Paths-level power.
Madara, who wore his best friend's face on his chest, was the second.
Masashi ventured deeper into the mist.
The rule that "failure would result in being transported out" clearly had some hidden loopholes. While the terrain was a vast maze, any ninja with decent sensory abilities wouldn't be completely lost.
Masashi hadn't summoned Kuro, suspecting that the mist would affect even giant serpents.
And he didn't have a gas mask big enough for his snake.
After several hours of exploration, he was certain that the toads of Mount Myōboku were aware of his presence.
He had sensed chakra fluctuations multiple times—small in quantity and distinct from regular human chakra.
It was a mix of natural energy and chakra, forming senjutsu chakra.
The token he received from the White Snake Sage also contained this kind of chakra.
Are they refusing to acknowledge the White Snake Sage, or are they testing whether I am "sincere"? That thought crossed Masashi's mind.
If it was the former, so be it.
If it was the latter, then it was quite amusing.
He believed he understood Mount Myōboku's true nature.
At the very least, their current behavior confirmed his suspicions.
Since Mount Myōboku was technically an ally of Konoha, he had been polite so far.
But now, it seemed that politeness wasn't necessary.
Disrespecting him was one thing, but disrespecting the White Snake Sage?
Unacceptable.
