Malphegor
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HSU: Ch. 150
🕑 Added 2025-01-21 18:03:04 +0000 UTCTo be honest, this was the first time Masashi had stayed overnight at someone else's house in this life.
Although he thought this arrangement was unnecessary, he accepted it as it was convenient.
Thinking about the chance to showcase his mentor's demeanor again, he was full of enthusiasm.
When he arrived at Hikari's house, the lights inside were still on.
He stepped forward and knocked on the door.
The door quickly opened.
Out of habit, he looked down.
However, he didn't see Haku's inquisitive eyes. Instead, he saw a pair of legs wrapped in flesh-colored stockings, with petite, delicate feet that were both light and enticing.
"Hikari, where's Haku?" Masashi, in his role as a somewhat overzealous mentor, was slightly disappointed.
"Haku went to Elder Setsuna's house," Hikari said, her cheeks rosy.
"Are you working out at home?" Masashi glanced at her curiously. "But I thought I heard someone talking?"
Still unconvinced, he looked inside, hoping Haku was just hiding and planning to surprise him.
He finally started to understand why Tobirama's teaching style was so different. For "control-oriented" ninjas like him and Tobirama, it was fine when they weren't taking disciples. But once they did, they developed an intense desire to shape their students into their ideal vision.
Watching even the smallest progress toward that vision brought an immense sense of accomplishment.
Why did people enjoy playing those training simulation games on Earth? It was the same principle.
"Not here? What a pity." Though he felt a little disappointed, getting a good night's sleep wasn't a bad thing. Lately, his schedule had been packed, so it was rare to have some free time.
Although his body had developed quite well over the years, extra rest was still a good idea.
"I'll stay the night here and borrow a room. Where's the guest room?"
"The guest room… Well, there's a bedroom next to Haku's. That should be it," Hikari said after thinking about it; the house only had three bedrooms in total.
"Alright, you carry on with what you're doing and rest early. I won't bother you much tonight since I need to train early tomorrow morning," Masashi said, already feeling a bit drowsy. He headed straight inside.
As he passed the dining area, he noticed Pakura sitting in the living room.
The normally cool and composed kunoichi had a faint blush on her face.
"Huh? You're here too? Are you two this close?" Masashi was a little surprised. He had been so busy with the festival lately that he hadn't noticed how close the two girls had become.
"Sort of. I actually came to find you," Pakura said with a slightly awkward smile.
She couldn't help but glance at Hikari, who had followed Masashi into the house.
Women from Kiri really couldn't be judged by appearances alone.
She had been utterly stunned earlier, feeling like a horse carriage had run over her face repeatedly.
Today, she realized that there were far more ways to "ride" than she'd ever imagined.
Luckily, Masashi had returned just in time to interrupt things.
"You came to see me?" he asked, confused, dropping onto the sofa across from her. "What's up?"
"It's not a big deal," Pakura shook her head. Mostly, she wasn't in the mood anymore.
She felt her worldview had been severely shaken and needed time to process everything.
But she couldn't say that to Masashi.
After all, she cared about her image in front of him.
"You should rest. I'll head back now," Pakura stood up. "Let's talk when you're less busy."
"Alright…" Masashi didn't think much of it. Girls were hard to figure out.
"Be careful tonight when you sleep," Pakura said something cryptic before leaving.
Masashi pondered briefly.
But this was the Uchiha clan's territory. To be frank, in this timeline, it was the safest place for him.
In the current shinobi world, there really wasn't anyone who could simultaneously take on three Susanoo. Even Nagato wasn't capable of it yet.
Ten years from now might be a different story.
But by then, Masashi figured he wouldn't be the same either. If it came to a fight, who would win was anyone's guess.
"Let me serve you tonight," Hikari said, seeing Masashi heading toward the bathroom.
The first time they met, she had dressed in an elegant and mature style. But in reality, she was the same age as Masashi. Her face leaned toward the cute side, though her figure was outrageously attractive.
Her curves could make anyone understand why Adam made the mistake he did. One sway of her hips could be utterly tantalizing.
Over time, as they got to know each other, Masashi became less concerned about physical contact.
He just hoped she could adjust her mindset and not constantly "accidentally" bump into him.
After all, he was the leader of the current Uchiha cavalry. If provoked enough, he might respond with a full-on charge or even a mounted assault.
Right now, though, his mind was preoccupied with the festival.
This time was different from the first. He intended to use this platform to carefully shape the Uchiha clan's image. The rift between Konoha and the Uchiha clan had lasted far too long. This couldn't be fixed solely by Minato's friendliness.
The villagers and the wider population of civilian ninjas still held shallow, surface-level perceptions of the Uchiha members.
This stood in stark contrast to their deep understanding of the Hokage.
Stabilizing internal matters came first. Economic measures could prevent direct conflict between the Hokage's office and the Uchiha clan, but for the Uchiha clan to truly integrate into Konoha, a sustained effort in image-building was essential.
Considering how much effort he, a former Senju, was putting into helping the Uchiha clan, if Madara ever got revived and didn't give him an award, it would be utterly unjust!
After washing up, he went to bed early.
Before sleeping, he asked Hikari to wake him up at four in the morning.
Perhaps his expression had been particularly serious, because he felt Hikari treated this as a critical mission.
However, she was indeed a reliable girl. When she promised something, she delivered.
At exactly four in the morning, Hikari woke Masashi as agreed.
Fully rested and energized, he thanked her before freshening up and heading out.
Before leaving, he expressed concern for Hikari, as her complexion didn't look great.
"Hikari, it's still early. Get some more rest. Thanks for waking me up so early today. I'll get an alarm clock when I return, so you won't have to worry about it anymore."
"Alright, take care of yourself too," Hikari said.
She felt it might be time to bring out her strategy again.
Indeed, starting directly with high-speed tactics had been too abrupt; the implementation was too difficult.
---
Today, the Second Uchiha Ice and Snow Festival began as scheduled.
This time, the Uchiha clan chose as the venue the very site of the Nine-Tails' rampage.
Even before the festival officially started, a long line of eager visitors had already formed at the entrance.
Thanks to the basic organizational discipline of the people in the ninja village, only a few ninjas were needed to maintain order, and no unpleasant incidents occurred at the venue.
After the ribbon-cutting ceremony was performed by Minato, the Ice and Snow Festival officially began.
Upon entering the festival, the expectant visitors immediately noticed the differences from the first festival.
Gone were the unique and fantastical buildings. This time, the architectural style was one they were all familiar with—structures modeled after the traditional architecture of the Land of Fire.
Each exhibition area was also marked with familiar names:
The Battle of Konoha and Kumo
The Battle of Konoha and Iwa
The Battle of Konoha and Kiri
The Battle of Konoha and Suna
Within each area, specific battle names were labeled.
As they walked through the exhibits, villagers realized that this Ice and Snow Festival showcased the heroic deeds from the Third Great Ninja War.
Some of the heroes' names were widely known; others were unfamiliar. But all of them were heroes of Konoha.
The excitement of the visiting villagers and ninjas gradually turned to solemnity as they observed the exhibits.
Ninjas saw echoes of past bloodshed and separations. Villagers came to understand the hardships endured by those who protected their peaceful lives.
And this was precisely what Masashi wanted them to see.
For the ordinary citizens of Konoha, their understanding of war was often fragmentary, and their knowledge of Konoha's history was even more limited. This lack of awareness made them susceptible to manipulation, turning them into a mob-like force.
Take, for example, the suicide of Konoha's White Fang. While he had his personal reasons and the broader context of the ninja system contributed to his downfall, the villagers' cold treatment of him had undeniably exacerbated the situation.
In the original timeline, Konoha's decline began with the death of the White Fang.
His suicide exposed some of the flaws in the collective ideology of the Will of Fire, which, while noble, was primitive in certain aspects of its application.
When the leadership lacked the flexibility to address issues, this ideology could backfire and harm their own people. The villagers' ignorance of the underlying circumstances only made matters worse.
History, like tragedy, would seem dull and lifeless without the chaos of sin and calamity to stir the pot.
But history also had the power to eliminate prejudice and inspire passion. Unfortunately, in the world of shinobi, history was not treated as a formal academic discipline. Ninjas were only interested in the exploits of their ancestors and the inheritance of techniques, while ordinary people were almost entirely indifferent.
To Masashi, this was incomprehensible.
Had the people of Konoha understood history even slightly, the Uchiha clan in the original timeline would not have met their tragic end.
Thus, for the second Ice and Snow Festival, he used his Ice Release to recreate the war scenes of the Third Great Ninja War with lifelike ice sculptures. He hoped this would serve as a starting point to truly bridge the gap between ninjas and ordinary villagers—and between the Uchiha clan and the rest of the village.
The Uchiha and Senju clans were not only Konoha's founders but also its protectors.
The Third Great Ninja War was far from the glorious, one-sided dominance the villagers might have imagined.
Minato and the Sannin were active during the war, but their contributions were feats of exceptional individuals. Before the Battle of Kannabi Bridge, Konoha had already exhausted most of its resources, leading to the desperate scenario where Kakashi was hastily promoted and Minato's team split into two groups for critical missions.
As for the Battle of Kikyō Pass against Suna, it was a grim reminder that the enemy had invaded deep into the Land of Fire, not far from Konoha itself.
Glorious? Not even close.
The only enemy Konoha decisively dominated was Kiri, but even that came at the cost of Duy sacrificing his life to cripple the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist.
Without Masashi's miraculous emergence after the war, the year 54 of Konoha's calendar would likely have been the village's darkest year—one where they were trampled on by Kumo.
Through this festival, he sought to convey the true hardships of this war to the villagers.
To the people of Konoha, this year's Ice and Snow Festival was both novel and heavy-hearted.
For those with ninja family members, the exhibition offered a poignant glimpse into their loved ones' past struggles.
This was far more impactful than exaggerated "heroic tales."
A picture was worth a thousand words. In the modern world, visual media was the most effective propaganda tool to connect with an audience and evoke empathy—assuming the director's heart is in the right place.
Masashi wasn't a professional, but he wasn't in it for profit either.
Hikari and Haku attended the festival as visitors, spending most of their time in the Kiri war zone section. There, Hikari saw the Yuki clan ninja sculptures created by Masashi from memory. Remarkably, he refrained from letting his personal biases as a Konoha ninja influence his portrayal, which was why these exhibitions resonated deeply with the audience.
Meanwhile, Pakura stayed mostly in the Suna war zone section, repeatedly revisiting the displays about Konoha's White Fang. Looking back on those events, she was filled with mixed emotions.
But none of the sections could rival the central stage performance in popularity.
On the first day, Masashi debuted a reenactment of the "Battle of Kannabi Bridge."
The "stage" was a massive sandbox.
Using dynamic, shape-shifting ice and sand, he recreated the entire battle. Minato and Kakashi, as living participants of the event, voiced their own roles, while other characters were portrayed by stand-ins.
For instance, Tetsuka played the role of Obito. His temperament closely resembled Obito's at that time, so the choice felt natural.
Such minor discrepancies were overlooked by the audience.
The story of how these two Sharingan heroes came to be deeply moved everyone who watched.
After the performance, Kakashi sat backstage for a long time, lost in thought.
He felt as though he had relived the Battle of Kannabi Bridge.
The vivid recreation of lost comrades through the shifting ice and sand was so lifelike that it felt as though he had traveled through time.
What struck him even more was the audience's reaction.
As he stepped out from backstage, he was surrounded by many villagers who had come to apologize. Some of them admitted to having spoken ill of his father in the past.
Masashi believed the play had not been in vain.
Mistakes could not be erased, but they could be atoned for.
This performance not only prompted villagers to reconsider the White Fang but also to reevaluate their views on the Uchiha clan.
As for the higher-ups like Hiruzen, who were already aware that Obito had defected, they wouldn't find fault with this play.
Although his wife had been killed by Obito, the Obito of the Kannabi Bridge was undoubtedly a hero. To someone like Hiruzen, who valued the village above all else, he would distinguish between the two Obitos.
This ability to compartmentalize was one of the qualities that had made him stay Hokage in the first place.
After the first performance concluded, Masashi thanked the voice actors before teleporting home with Flying Thunder God.
There were still several performances to go, but his task for the day was complete. Now it was time for training.
He had a premonition that Kumo would soon initiate formal negotiations.
Dealing with such a troublemaking village required even greater strength if he wanted everything to proceed according to his plans.
Of the three treasures of the Susanoo, he needed to master at least one to gain the absolute upper hand.
