Malphegor
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HSU: Ch. 58
🕑 Added 2024-12-09 15:51:38 +0000 UTCPerched high in the mountains, Kumo was as close to the clouds as one could imagine.
Puffs of silvery-white clouds drifted and flickered, floating with the wind. Looking down, thick mists rose like splashes of water in a lake, surging from all directions and swaying mid-mountain.
The news of Orochimaru's defection, Tsunade's departure, and Jiraiya's injury, leading to the breakup of the Legendary Sannin, had already reached Kumo.
The ninjas of this highland village had begun to set their sights southward.
Rumors suggested that the Fourth Raikage had convened multiple high-level meetings to discuss strategies for moving south.
Whenever the Kumo ninjas moved south, they had to guard against the Iwa ninjas. Those sneaky ninjas had ambushed them more than once, and the Third Raikage had sacrificed his life because of them.
The Kumo ninjas craved the fertile lands of the Land of Fire. Though they had suffered losses over it, they didn't harbor much hatred.
But when it came to Iwa, the entire village brimmed with animosity.
All the great ninja nations coveted the Land of Fire, but Kumo had always been singularly focused—it wanted the Land of Fire alone. Iwa, however, coveted both the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning.
Among the Five Great Nations, the Land of Fire, the Land of Lightning, and the Land of Water had the richest and most livable natural resources, with the Land of Fire being the most ideal: four distinct seasons, favorable weather, and minimal geological disasters.
The other two countries came next but were still gems of the shinobi world.
The Land of Lightning, situated in the northeast of the continent, boasted scenery akin to paradise. The sky was a perfect bright blue, like someone had cleaned it until it shone. The highlands were thick with greenery, while meadows spread across the lowlands.
The residents could farm in the mountains or establish pastures in the grasslands. With access to the strait, their fishing industry was also thriving.
The downside, however, was the deadly plateau winds, snowstorms, and thunderclaps that could shatter the tranquility and claim lives.
"Thunder doesn't scare us! It's our lullaby!" a local merchant laughed at a visitor's concerned face as thunder cracked overhead.
"How do you sleep through such noise?"
"Hahaha! In Kumo, if you can't sleep through thunder, you don't sleep at all!"
Residents of the Land of Lightning were accustomed to hearing deafening thunder from the sky as they walked the streets. They were a people defined by resilience and a refusal to bow to fate.
Obito emerged from a bar in Kumo, his face expressionless.
He hadn't come to this village under a concealed identity for pleasure. Yet, for some inexplicable reason, he found himself entering this bar the moment he laid eyes on it.
Masashi, whom Obito deemed a potentially useful pawn, was still an annoying person in his eyes.
But there was no denying one fact: he was incredibly strong.
Obito sought to uncover the secrets behind his strength. Based on all his observations, Masashi's life and training habits seemed to revolve around one place: bars.
"Something about finding three-tomoe in tea" or other nonsense like that was a phrase Obito had heard countless times.
And so, he went in—with his usual deadpan expression.
When he finally left, he felt… nothing. Enhancement drugs would explain the rapid progress, but something didn't add up...
The guy's words had been as cryptic as ever. Despite drinking for a long time, he gained no insights.
Could it be that Konoha's alcohol was brewed differently? Or… had Masashi been doping all along?
He leaned toward the latter theory. Doping among ninja wasn't uncommon. It was rare within the Uchiha clan, but not unheard of.
Such ninja often made rapid progress early on but ultimately paid the price as their bodies deteriorated.
Obito concluded that Masashi must have been using enhancements.
Acting all mysterious—he's just a fraud... Feeling a bit better, he turned to leave.
"Wait, sir! Don't leave yet!"
A dancer ran out and grabbed him by the arm, her face glowing with playful charm.
Obito almost flung her off but restrained himself. He couldn't blow his cover. Right now, his disguise was that of a foreign merchant, his face wrapped in bandages with a backstory of disfigurement.
The Kumo ninjas weren't concerned about whether merchants were disfigured or not, as long as their goods were top-notch. This allowed him to enter the village smoothly.
But the dancer saw something different in him.
In the Land of Lightning, most men were either burly or pale-skinned—there wasn't much in between. The darker men were usually rugged and crude, and the paler ones often overcompensated by acting overly masculine.
As for the women, they were fiery in both temperament and physique. And, as the saying went, people yearned for what they lacked.
Having grown accustomed to brash, rough men, this dancer was instantly captivated by the aura Obito exuded.
Though he wore bandages, his hands were smooth and delicate—not something you'd see in a highlander. His polite demeanor and restrained gaze also set him apart.
Here was a man with class. Compared to the coarse villagers, this gentleman was leagues ahead. Such a high-quality man—how could she not seize this opportunity to make him hers?
In the Land of Lightning, women were bold and direct about love, unlike the reserved women of the Land of Fire.
"Why are you in such a hurry to leave?"
"???" What the heck?
Why was this woman, wearing so little, fawning over him now?
He barely kept his irritation in check.
"I'm sorry, miss. I have work to do," he replied.
The dancer was momentarily stunned.
She decided she had to make him understand—she wasn't just any dancer. She was a good girl, one who performed for art, not… other services.
"Alright…" she finally said, releasing him reluctantly. For the first time, she felt her profession wasn't as wonderful as it seemed.
Obito didn't notice the emotional rollercoaster she went through. But her tact pleased him, so he softened his tone.
"I apologize if I was rude earlier. This is just the way I am," he said politely before striding away.
---
In the training hall within the Uchiha clan's compound, Masashi was hard at work honing his skills.
Blinding flashes of electricity revealed he was training in lightning chakra transformation. However, judging by the results on the target, it was not going well.
He retracted the sparks from his hand and closely examined the target, looking disappointed. The scorch marks were scattered and unfocused, nothing like the precise strikes he needed.
As expected, proficiency wasn't something that could be built up easily.
Among the seven chakra nature transformations, the unique aspects of Yin and Yang aside, the Five Elements transformations were something every ninja could potentially master. These were considered the standard chakra nature transformations.
Mastery could be achieved in two ways: either one had an innate talent, starting with a baseline proficiency that required no beginner training—only steady improvement; or one started with zero innate ability, relying solely on rigorous training to brute-force progress, which was far more challenging.
Most people naturally excelled in only one chakra nature, which was the norm. However, due to the strategic importance of elemental interactions in ninja battles, a ninja needed proficiency in at least two natures by the time they reached the rank of jonin.
If they were naturally skilled in only one, the other had to be trained up the hard way.
Take Hiruzen, for example—innately gifted in all five natures, a true anomaly.
Masashi wasn't so fortunate. He was naturally adept in three natures, which still put him far ahead of most. Yet, by his own high standards, he considered his elemental compatibility incomplete. Having maxed out his proficiency in fire, water, and wind, he had long decided to focus on a fourth nature—lightning.
For someone like him, who favored highly mobile combat, the offensive nature of lightning took precedence over the defensive potential of earth. With sage techniques in his arsenal, his current environment didn't demand much focus on defense.
Still, starting from scratch with a new nature transformation was anything but easy.
Since returning from Ryūchi Cave, he had been working on lightning. By now, it had been over half a year.
Following Orochimaru's defection, Tsunade formally left the village, and Jiraiya also departed after a brief stay in the village for recovery. Since then, Konoha had entered a period of calm, with no major incidents.
The Hokage's office showed little urgency in reestablishing contact with Kiri, and progress on that front was slow. This afforded Masashi plenty of time to devote to mastering lightning release.
At first, he could only produce a few faint sparks. Now, he could at least unleash an attack, though it paled in comparison to his fire, water, and wind techniques.
Despite the slow progress, he was advancing at a remarkable pace, thanks to employing a strategy inspired by Naruto from the original timeline—using multiple shadow clones to accelerate training.
However, unlike Naruto, Masashi dared not go overboard. He capped his shadow clones at ten, well aware of the risks associated with overusing the technique, which had been classified as forbidden for good reason.
In the past, some had pushed themselves too far and died from chakra depletion or suffered severe mental trauma from the memory feedback.
He had learned this lesson the hard way in his previous life.
After training for a whole day, he had released two shadow clones simultaneously, the sudden rush of memories and experiences had overwhelmed his mind, leaving him unconscious for days. Though he had been lucky it was only two clones, the experience had taught him to be more cautious.
Now, he only released one or two clones at a time, letting his mind properly process each wave of information before moving on to the next.
Naruto, with his massive innate chakra reserves as a reincarnation of Asura and the Nine-Tails jinchūriki, could afford such reckless training. By the late stages of his development, he had reached a monstrous level, capable of kicking away Truth-Seeking Orbs with raw chakra power alone.
Truth-Seeking Orbs, composed of chakra condensed to its ultimate form, transcended the Five Elements and Yin-Yang transformations, embodying the pinnacle known as Yin-Yang Release.
This was the realm Masashi aspired to reach.
For an Uchiha, Yin-Yang Release held special significance—it was the sole pathway to awakening the Rinnegan. Given the choice, who would only settle for the Mangekyō Sharingan?
Unfortunately, he had no examples to guide him on this path. He was left to experiment and forge his own way forward.
In this life, however, he had managed to analyze both Asura and Indra's chakra. Based on his observations of these ancient powers, he had devised a methodical plan.
His chosen approach? Master every possible chakra nature transformation.
Even if he never reached Yin-Yang Release, being proficient in all chakra natures would still be a worthwhile accomplishment.
After all, being a "man of all elements" was undeniably useful.
Masashi was ambitious. He wanted to be strong—stronger than anyone—and still savor life's pleasures.
For a ninja, he was insatiably greedy. Yet, he was also pragmatic, knowing that not every good thing in life would come his way.
His ultimate goal was simple: when the final battle came, he refused to be a helpless pawn tied to a tree as someone's battery. He'd rather die at the hands of Madara in a great fight.
If there was a second chance, there'd surely be a third. Those with multiple chances had the luxury of being willful.
Sensing his chakra reserves nearing safe limits, Masashi stopped his Lightning Release training. With caution, he began dispelling his shadow clones one at a time, carefully processing each set of memories and experiences.
In the training room, the ten clones vanished in sequence, each puff of smoke separated by a few moments of mental integration.
He punched forward, unleashing a brilliant burst of lightning that obliterated the target before him.
Still, this was the best he could manage for now.
The Uchiha clan library contained plenty of lightning techniques, but he had no intention of learning them all. Despite his ambitions, he wasn't indiscriminate about training, especially since he had a better-suited mentor in mind for Lightning Release. It just depended on whether they'd show up.
After tidying up, Masashi left the training room and went home to shower. With plenty of daylight left, he decided to take a leisurely stroll outside.
Dressed casually, he left the clan compound. It had been a long time since he'd wandered around purely for enjoyment. The last time was when he'd been curious enough to explore every corner of Konoha, just to see how big it really was.
As he strolled through the commercial district, stopping occasionally to browse shops, he found the relaxed atmosphere refreshing.
Although he had suggested to Fugaku that they prepare an escape plan, leaving the village was a last resort. Who would willingly abandon Konoha?
Rescuing Minato's family had its downsides. But the benefits far outweighed the drawbacks.
Along the way, Masashi encountered some familiar faces from the police force. They said their hellos before each went on their way—some to work, others to relax.
Suddenly, he heard a commotion behind him.
With a grilled squid skewer in his mouth, Masashi turned to look.
A ninja pushed through the crowd, running down the street in a hurry. Judging by his appearance, he had just returned from outside the village. His expression was one of urgency.
What's going on?
