HSU: Ch. 312

Masashi, following his philosophy of acting as soon as he decided, went straight to the best restaurant on the shopping street and booked a private room.

For this kind of gathering, too many attendees weren't necessary.

He had already figured it out, on the Uchiha side, Fugaku had to be present, along with himself, Shisui, and Itachi.

After all, Itachi was the designated fighter for this round.

On Kakashi's side, aside from Kakashi himself, there would naturally be Guy and the Namikaze couple.

Guy had been getting stronger and stronger lately.

Thanks to Konoha's greater overall stability compared to the original timeline, he'd had better conditions for growth. In this war, his improvement was visibly evident. Take his Body Flicker Technique speed as an example: under normal conditions, he ranked just behind Minato, Masashi, and Shisui.

If you were just talking speed, the four of them were in the same top tier.

Masashi was now already being called the strongest of the current Konoha generation by those in the know. From his own perspective, the one person he least wanted to have a life-or-death duel with was still Guy.

After confirming the time with the restaurant, the two men finished up and went home.

More accurately, Shisui went home.

Masashi, on the other hand, headed to the Hokage Rock.

Once under the Hokage Rock, one could look up and see the four huge stone heads, as well as the climbing steps and viewing platform built for people to admire them up close.

During peaceful times, those structures were of course for sightseeing. But during wartime, they became rapid evacuation routes for the villagers.

Konoha's largest shelter was located just behind the Hokage Rock.

Initially, evacuation of villagers was handled by ad-hoc ninja units. Later, this responsibility was transferred to the Police Force.

The First Great Ninja War had been chaotic enough, borders between the villages were nearly nonexistent. Konoha had to organize civilian evacuations into the shelter multiple times, and the Police Force had played a key role back then.

Although the department had been formed due to political power struggles, once it was up and running, it became an irreplaceable pillar of Konoha's stability.

In the original timeline, after the Uchiha clan was annihilated, the Police Force disappeared for a time, but later, Konoha re-established it.

The difference it made was huge.

Masashi walked up the path, ascending step by step to the viewing platform.

As the altitude rose, the Hokage faces grew larger, while the streets and blocks below became distant, and the people turned into tiny black dots.

On normal days, the platform would be filled with tourists and villagers with children.

If you saw a big group of kids, it was almost certainly a Ninja Academy field trip.

But today, the platform was rather deserted.

The war had only just ended, not a tourist in sight.

The battle had been intense.

Konoha's campaign had crippled both Iwa and Kumo. While Kiri hadn't been attacked on its home turf, its deployed forces had suffered heavy losses, conservative estimates said they lost nearly half their ninjas.

Still, when it came time to sign the peace treaty, Masashi couldn't shake the feeling that Kiri was barely restraining itself from clapping in celebration.

So much so that, although they tried hard to look solemn, no one on the Konoha side really felt their grief. What was supposed to be a victor squeezing the defeated turned into this surreal "fellow villagers reuniting with teary eyes" type of scene.

All you could say was, if you want to create atmosphere, you gotta hand it to Kiri. As always, they took the road less traveled.

He stood on the platform, gazing at the four Hokage statues one by one.

Hmm… the Second Hokage's head still looked the most stompable.

What could you do? Everyone else's heads were smooth, but this guy just had to wear something on his head, adding an unnecessary layer of "solid footing."

He respected buffs, so he jumped up.

He sat cross-legged on top of Tobirama's head. From this angle, the village looked especially picturesque.

Konoha's postwar reconstruction had already begun. From here, the village looked like a giant construction site, busy and booming. Further off, you could see that the outer walls were nearly rebuilt.

Buildings were fixed assets, and they depreciated rapidly.

But that wasn't the biggest issue. Because construction inspection standards kept getting stricter, any buildings made later would, by default, be built to higher technical standards, assuming everyone was playing by the rules.

If you could swap it out, don't hoard it.

Thanks to this war, Konoha had been able to refresh its entire infrastructure in one go.

And without needing demolition compensation, they'd saved a ton on costs. After all, the enemy bombed it, no additional reimbursement needed.

"Nice," he nodded, his expression sentimental. "This is the value of peace."

"If only the Hashirama hadn't stopped me, it'd be even better," came Muzo's voice from behind.

Masashi couldn't be bothered to turn around, because in his ear, Kaguya was urging him to hurry up.

Nag nag nag, what are you in such a rush for?

I'm using my own chakra, what are you panicking about?

Since he had a vague idea why she was rushing him, he was beginning to suspect that this world was about to branch into an alternate storyline. 

Maybe it was already one since he became Muzo.

But ever since Kaguya had stopped hiding and started openly connecting with him, he realized, this Ōtsutsuki was a complete disgrace to her clan.

But hey, disgraceful in the best way.

He'd already watched plenty in his his life on Earth, enough for Kaguya to binge for a while.

Now with Muzo's media library topped off, he was practically the ambassador of peace.

"That's because you're an idiot," Masashi scooted over and patted the spot next to him. "Come sit, talk."

"Idiot or not, the players are still the same," Muzo replied. "I don't have as much free time as you to recalibrate."

He sat down and looked at the scenery below, his gaze drifting.

"You haven't been up here before?" Masashi asked.

"Nope. Tobirama kept a close watch on me, I never had the chance," Muzo said, eyes lighting up. "This is way different from looking at manga panels."

Masashi nodded, saying nothing more.

When he first climbed up here after entering after his life as Muzo, the completely changed Konoha landscape had also left him dazed.

But after so many years, he'd grown used to it.

"Now that I think about it, it is kind of strange," Muzo said after a moment of silence. "For me, it was just like blinking once, and suddenly I was like my own shadow clone."

A shadow clone's sensations weren't unfamiliar to any ninja who could use the technique. After all, you got feedback from them every time.

But what happened to Masashi and Muzo, that was one-of-a-kind.

"What's the Pure Land like?" Masashi asked.

"I have absolutely no memory of it," Muzo said after thinking it over. "But it's definitely not something that formed naturally. In combat, I could sense that it was full of chakra, and identifiable at that, meaning there could only be one of me. If that wasn't man-made, I'll livestream myself cutting off my di—"

"But I'm also here, and yet you appeared," Masashi ignored that last bit of nonsense and continued, "Maybe what's in the Pure Land isn't actually souls, but chakra-based data imprints."

"Who the hell knows. Go ask Hagoromo. There's no need to study this kind of thing. What we should do is figure out how to use Rinne Rebirth on Hashirama and Tobirama. They definitely didn't reincarnate, if they come back to life, it'll be actual resurrection."

"Definitely. With Hashirama's personality, he'd never bother to research reincarnation," Masashi laughed.

"And Tobirama, always pretending to be cold and shameless to scare people," Muzo also chuckled. "But he was the first to notice this whole thing."

"Hashirama knew too?"

"That tsundere could never hide things from Hashirama."

The two fell silent again.

After a while, it was Masashi who spoke first.

"So when our chakras merge later, will it be me reclaiming my own chakra, or you becoming some sort of spiritual hitchhiker?"

"Damn, it's only been a few years and I've become this sentimental? Time really is a butcher's knife."

"...Forget it. Let's get to the main business."

He raised his right hand. Seeing this, Muzo raised his left.

As soon as their palms met, chakra from Muzo began flowing into Masashi.

After a moment, noticeable cracks started to appear on Muzo's body. This was a sign that his Edo Tensei body was about to collapse from severe chakra depletion.

According to the accepted theory of the Reanimation Jutsu, once the body lost its supporting chakra, the soul returned to the Pure Land. The essence of a voluntary return was the soul freeing itself from the jutsu's restraints, which allowed the Pure Land's power to pull it back.

Breaking free from a jutsu's restraints was different from escaping the user's control, the original Madara belonged to the latter case.

Masashi and Muzo, being essentially the same person, were naturally skeptical of the Pure Land. They used a different method: A temporary severance of connection with the Pure Land.

Whether the Muzo before him was a soul or just chakra would soon be proven.

With both fully focused, one absorbing, the other outputting, the chakra transfer proceeded swiftly, outpacing the Pure Land's retrieval forces.

From Muzo's perspective, just as he sensed the Pure Land's power trying to "recapture" him, the last trace of chakra was finally drained.

Deprived of chakra, his body crumbled into dust, revealing underneath the body of an Oto ninja.

Masashi calmly observed, carefully inspecting his own chakra.

The chakra from his life as Muzo initially seemed to meet some resistance when entering his body, its flow was a bit sluggish, but that only lasted a moment. Soon, it fully and smoothly merged with his current chakra.

The next instant, a feedback effect similar to what happened when dispelling a shadow clone occurred.

Previously fragmented memories became clear and complete.

At the same time, the vague sensory impressions of the Pure Land that Muzo had experienced also surfaced in his mind.

Suddenly inspired, he directed the memory toward another person with whom he shared a mental connection.

---

In his mindscape, Kaguya, who had been lazing around binge-watching, suddenly had her mental screen interrupted by the unannounced memory.

This was the first time Masashi had voluntarily shared a memory with her.

In fact, the only reason she had once connected with him through Hanabi was because he had suddenly fortified his spiritual defenses.

The distance was too far, and without a medium, her mental projection was limited. When he actively protected his mindscape, it became impossible for her to snoop undetected, any attempts would be noticed.

After their face-to-face meeting, the situation improved slightly. His spiritual protection became more selective, and they established a minimal mutual mental link.

They could now speak freely, and she could continue browsing parts of his memories.

But this was the first time he had proactively sent her a memory.

Kaguya curiously opened it.

The next moment, her lazy expression vanished.

"Hagoromo... so you did prepare a backup plan..." Her voice turned ice-cold.

She felt increasingly disheartened.

What kind of karmic retribution was this, to raise such a monstrous child?

Unfortunately, she still couldn't break free.

It seemed the first thing she would do upon escaping wasn't casting Infinite Tsukuyomi, but rather, finding this so-called "Pure Land" and hunting down Hagoromo hiding within it!

Still, a part of her felt delighted.

The fact that Masashi had willingly shown her this... proved her charm was irresistible.

Masashi, he says no with his mouth, but his body is very honest!

"Very good. It seems you've finally acknowledged my greatness. I've decided to reward you."

Feeling happy, she decided to send a big gift, to let him know what it meant to be a goddess of the rankings.

But what should the reward be?

She rolled around on the bed, limbs sprawled out comfortably, thinking.

That little guy liked ninjutsu... then she'd reward him with a technique!

However, her techniques weren't something the people of this era could easily learn. Only one person might stand a chance.

"I'll grant you the learning method for Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack!"

She sent over the gift.

Some time passed, and there was no response in the mindscape.

Hmm? Outrageous! Where was the thank-you speech!?

She quickly checked the connection, everything was fine, the connection was strong.

"Masashi!" she yelled angrily. She couldn't allow her servant to be so casual. "Why haven't you thanked me?"

"I'm digesting the chakra," he sighed in the mindscape. "Could you go back to your drama for a while? If you keep pestering me, I'll go into chakra overload and die right here."

"Chakra overload? That can happen with chakra?" Kaguya was stunned. She'd seen that term before, in fantasy worlds with an energy called mana.

Masashi's original world had conquered many strange places. Those powerful worlds were probably among them, though the memories were incomplete, only the names remained.

So those rules applied to chakra too?

Oh, how inconvenient it was to not have Ōtsutsuki blood...

"Fine, but when you're done, you must properly thank me."

"Definitely. By the way, what file did you just send me?"

"Check for yourself," Kaguya said proudly. "You'll regret not treating me with more respect earlier."