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"Haori-sama, this is the last one…"
An ANBU ninja said to Haori in front of him.
Although they were all Jōnin of the same level, it wasn't surprising for an ANBU ninja to call Haori "sama." Although Haori didn't hold any permanent positions in Konoha, and he didn't have any administrative rank. He couldn't be classified as "high-ranking." But based on his strength alone, he had already gained a certain status.
The fact that he dared to invade Kumogakure was enough to make people submit to him. Not to mention that he successfully released the Eight-Tails.
If anyone questioned him, Haori could simply say, "If you can do it, you do it." Although, with his personality, he wouldn't care about saying that.
"Alright."
Haori nodded, signaling that the other side could start.
He was still fully bandaged. Some things had to be done by others.
Although only one eye was exposed, his posture revealed that he wasn't in a good mood… and he couldn't possibly be in a good mood.
The injuries on his face and body would eventually heal completely. That's what "skin" is for. But some things can't be restored…
Compared to his face, Haori hoped that the injuries on his hands would heal faster. It was really inconvenient not being able to make hand seals.
What he was doing now, with a team of ANBU and a team of sealing specialists, was dismantling the Mutual Multiplication Composite Four Symbols Sealing Barrier that he had spent four months setting up. This powerful barrier, which took so much time and effort, was ultimately never activated.
This was also why Haori stayed by Kushina's side. He had guessed this outcome, so he left a backdoor in the activated jutsu.
In that situation, Minato should have been able to successfully transfer and take the two children away. But even if that happened, Kushina probably wouldn't have activated that jutsu… because there were dozens of ANBU here, and even Kakashi.
To say that Haori didn't consider those ANBU as people would be a bit too much. But compared to him, they were definitely the ones who could be "sacrificed," including Kakashi.
Even including Haori himself.
Risking death was an attempt. Haori had started doing it a long time ago. In his first battle with the Eight-Tails, he had gone all out on a whim. He just wanted to take advantage of the situation to awaken his eyes. But it didn't work. Reality doesn't depend on willpower.
One person can't decide another person's thoughts and actions either. With Kushina's personality, she wouldn't let so many people die for no reason.
She didn't do it even after the Nine-Tails escaped. One reason was her personality. Another reason was that, considering her premature birth might have been caused by some kind of medicine, her physical condition at the time was imaginable.
In fact, the masked man had already gotten his hands on the Nine-Tails. The Sharingan is ultimately a very convenient ability. Powerful eyes have the potential to control tailed beasts. If Minato hadn't suddenly used the Flying Thunder God and activated the contract seal, breaking the connection between the Nine-Tails and the masked man, the Nine-Tails might have been taken away from Konoha.
Then, after repelling the masked man and facing the tailed beast alone, Minato split the Nine-Tails into yin and yang. He sealed half of it in Naruto's body. The other half went with him into the Death God's Seal, instead of being sealed into another baby.
This should be relatively easy to understand. Minato probably thought that the Hokage's son should naturally shoulder some responsibility. As for the other child, she was a girl after all… She wasn't incapable of this responsibility, but she shouldn't have to bear it.
No one knows better than Minato what kind of pain a Jinchūriki has to endure. He couldn't let both of his children suffer this pain. Did he struggle when he made his son a Jinchūriki? It's impossible that he didn't.
There's a limit to selflessness. Even the Fourth Hokage had selfish moments.
Everything had passed. There was no use leaving this sealing jutsu here anymore. After Haori returned from Kumogakure, he had seen the twins and sorted through Kushina's belongings. Finally, he decided to erase the traces of the jutsu. He didn't want to expose it to irrelevant people.
Actually, if he could, he didn't want to come to this place.
In the war, Haori's mission was complete. To be honest, he didn't pay much attention to the war anymore.
And the current situation was that both Konoha and Kumogakure were reluctant to attack. No matter what, the war had reached a point where it was just a tail end. It was just a matter of how long each side could drag it out.
Haori had heard about a certain matter. It seemed like Kumogakure had requested that he be a condition for peace… He didn't really know how to evaluate this, but for Konoha now, it was impossible.
It wasn't because Haori couldn't be "sacrificed." Besides Haori's strength and the potential danger he posed in certain states, the possibility of him turning against them, the impossibility of him willingly sacrificing himself, the main reason was that this request didn't align with Konoha's strategy.
What ended this possibility was that Kumogakure's request came too late. Haori's image now was almost that of the successor to the Yellow Flash. Asking Konoha to hand him over was like asking them to hand over Minato a few years ago. Was that possible?
If it really came to that, what would Konoha be doing as one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages? It would be a disgrace to the Five Great Rogue Nations.
After the war began to end, Konoha's own troubles arose. The root cause was still the Nine-Tails incident. Shimura Danzō attacked the Uchiha.
Considering that the Fourth Hokage had encountered a strong enemy that day, and the Nine-Tails was clearly under control, the blame had to be placed on the right person. It just so happened that this person was also not very honest and was somewhat detached from Konoha's system.
So, seemingly overnight, all the Konoha people knew that only the Sharingan could control tailed beasts… The situation of the Uchiha was imaginable.
They became the murderers of the Fourth Hokage and his wife. It's just that the village didn't have direct evidence.
This statement wasn't necessarily wrong. After all, the ones who did it were indeed "Uchiha."
Anyway, the balance of the war had been restored by Haori. With the losses that Kumogakure had suffered, even if the war continued, there wouldn't be any more large-scale battles.
So, in the judgment of the high command, the threat posed by the Uchiha's existence had outweighed their ability to play a role in the upcoming war.
Danzō seized the opportunity.
Haori didn't pay any attention to this kind of thing. He had his own plans for all of this.
In fact, he only mentioned the Rinnegan when he talked about Pain's intel. He only described the battle as a constant escape from the Rinnegan…
He wasn't that forgiving, and he didn't like to hold grudges either. After Minato's three bodyguards completed the "teleportation," they were simply killed by the masked man. After all, for him, it was best if all the ninjas who used space-time ninjutsu disappeared.
If they were still alive, it's hard to say whether Haori would attack them. After all, they were just controlled puppets.
But from a certain point in time, Haori couldn't possibly have any good feelings for the Uchiha. He wouldn't participate in this kind of thing. But to say that he would stop Danzō's actions, first, he couldn't do it. Second… why?
To put it bluntly, whether the Uchiha continued to exist or perished, it didn't concern Haori.
So, Haori was silent. He had already arranged the order of death for certain people and certain things in his heart. This order couldn't be changed, because some things could only be done before certain people died.
Compared to the Uchiha matter, another matter was more appealing to Haori… The activities of the Rain leader, Hanzo of the Salamander, had been sighted again.
That means he didn't die?
But the more this was the case, the more it reinforced Haori's own judgment: Hanzo was indeed dead.
Before Akatsuki officially began its goal-oriented activities, it had been mercenaries for a long time. During that time, they might have been hiding in Kirigakure, the "Blood Mist"… But now, the Fourth Mizukage was no longer the original Mizukage. The masked man didn't have the time or reason to control the Mizukage anymore.
And a hiding place to accumulate power didn't have to be Kirigakure. The Rain was also very closed off.
Due to the combined effect of all these reasons, Hanzo's death was at least ten years earlier than it was originally. The Rain had become Akatsuki's hiding place.
But it wasn't time for them to start their activities yet. So, Hanzo needed to appear again to stabilize the situation. The Hanzo who appeared was either someone using a Transformation Jutsu, or he was being controlled as a puppet of Pain.
Haori could roughly guess some things, but he wouldn't act immediately. One, his current state. Two, the power disparity. Three, it was still the same sentence: things need order and steps.
He was in no hurry, but those who were supposed to die wouldn't die any less.
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