A Sage's Pursuit of Power

Aoba approved Yumi's quest for revenge, as she had made an important point: he needed to resolve all the miscellaneous issues and focus entirely on the crisis looming in the future.

When Aoba first watched Naruto in his previous life, he was captivated by the flashy jutsu and enjoyed it as pure entertainment.

However, revisiting the series as he grew older, he began to analyze the world more deeply. It became clear that the ninja world was steeped in bloodshed and darkness beyond what anyone in the real world could imagine.

Even Konoha, the village portrayed as the most harmonious and peace-loving, secretly condoned human experimentation.

The supposedly united Kumogakure ninjas were seen as outright bandits or even monsters by outsiders.

Most shocking of all, the Five Great Ninja Villages were considered "the better ones." It was the smaller ninja villages that truly shattered moral boundaries with their actions.

This likely stemmed from the education system in the ninja world. Almost every ninja village taught only combat skills, with little to no emphasis on general education.

Even if there were any academic courses, they were purely auxiliary to ninja skills. Subjects like ethics or humanities were non-existent.

This distorted education system left most ninja with warped worldviews.

On a broader scale, it wasn't just the ninjas. The general population of the ninja world was so poorly educated that even a group of elderly ladies dancing in a public square in the real world would have more cultural awareness.

Even the main cast of Naruto were only relatively better in comparison.

The experiences of Karin and her mother were a stark example of the smaller villages' true nature.

To them, outsiders, and even lower-class citizens, were not regarded as humans. This wasn't a metaphor; it was their reality.

To most ninjas, ordinary people were nothing more than slaves or disposable resources. Many of Konoha's top leaders were no exception.

The difference was that Konoha, outwardly committed to peace, hid it better.

This was why Jiraiya had been left speechless when Aoba exposed Konoha's hidden atrocities with just one Root document.

The contents were so horrific that even the most depraved individuals in the real world couldn't imagine them.

As a member of Konoha's high command, Aoba now had complete access to such information. It took immense self-restraint not to preemptively destroy the entire ninja world in his rage.

Yumi's revenge against Kusagakure was, in a sense, also a way for Aoba to channel some of his own anger.

Meanwhile, Kusagakure was utterly baffled.

Earlier that day, they had received a notice from Konoha. The notice demanded that all civilians evacuate the village within a day, while all ninjas were forbidden to leave.

The notice left the entire village with an ominous feeling.

Oddly enough, the notice was framed as a "humanitarian warning" rather than a declaration of war.

This indicated that whatever threat was coming wasn't directly from Konoha.

But that made it even stranger.

According to Konoha's notice, Kusagakure was deemed incapable of handling the upcoming crisis. Yet no other major ninja villages had shown any signs of military action.

And Kusagakure didn't fear the smaller villages. Why would Konoha think they couldn't handle it?

Soon, a brave ninja decided to test the validity of Konoha's notice by attempting to leave the village.

He returned quickly, wearing a peculiar expression.

"Maki Hayata, what's going on? Why did you come back?"

"I came back because the village is surrounded."

"Surrounded by whom? We haven't detected any large-scale forces."

"You're right, there's no ninja army. But outside the village, there's one person or rather, one person and her clones. She's using over a hundred clones to block every exit from the village."

"One person? One person dares to block all of Kusagakure? That's absurd, wait, did you say over a hundred clones?"

"Yes, at least a hundred. And they're a special type of clone that doesn't disappear when hit."

"..."

The room fell silent. The information was so shocking that the Kusagakure leaders couldn't process it.

"Someone capable of creating over a hundred clones must be at least Kage-level. But why would such a powerful individual suddenly target us?"

The leadership struggled to understand the situation, while one of them, Hayata Naoki, sat pale-faced, his eyes unfocused as if he had already accepted his fate. He muttered under his breath, seemingly to himself.

A nearby official leaned in to catch his words.

"We're all going to die."

Yes, as a jonin of Kusagakure, Naoki Hayata had availed himself of the village's "privileges" more than once.

He had long forgotten about Yumi and Karin, until he saw Yumi's face. In that moment, memories of everything he had done to her came rushing back, and he realized the full weight of what was coming.

He tried to resist, but even one of her clones easily overwhelmed him, leaving him utterly disoriented.

Although Yumi didn't kill him outright, Naoki knew, deep down, that his fate was sealed. Or rather, the fate of the entire Kusagakure was sealed.

He knew who she was. He knew what he had done to her. And so, he knew there was no escape.

Outside Kusagakure, Yumi was savoring the moment.

Because vengeance is the most indisputable justice in this world.

Trust me, if you truly have a deep hatred, once you've exacted your revenge, you won't feel empty or lost. You'll feel... satisfied.

And if you can watch your enemy writhe in pain and fear? That's even better.

Yumi was doing exactly that now.

No one in Konoha, aside from Aoba, truly understood how powerful she was. In fact, she barely had any real combat experience.

But for her, combat experience wasn't necessary. As someone who had already surpassed the Kage-level threshold, fighting a village of ninja where even the strongest weren't Kage-level was a one-sided massacre.

After today, Kusagakure would cease to exist.

Check out the patreon and get 50 chapters in advance -> SaintXI

Currently on Chapter 311 - Monster