Naruto: Zanka No Tachi

Chapter 46: NZNT: Chapter 46

Facing the dozens of white pythons charging towards him, Pain didn’t panic. Holding the black rod in his left hand, he quickly stabbed forward repeatedly, each strike landing on the body of a white snake.

”Impossible!”

The white pythons emitted Orochimaru’s voice. Struck by Pain, they curled up together, re-forming into Orochimaru.

However, Orochimaru looked very disheveled. Not only was he being held aloft by Pain’s right hand, but his body also had several bloody holes. These holes were clearly made by Pain’s black rod.

Just then, the hand holding Orochimaru began to freeze. Pain frowned and threw Orochimaru’s body away forcefully.

Orochimaru flipped several times in the air before finally stabilizing and stopping.

Looking at the black rod in Pain’s left hand, Orochimaru asked gloomily, ”What kind of weapon is that? It can actually hit my genjutsu clone.”

Pain didn’t answer Orochimaru. He just looked at him calmly and said, ”Tell me your choice. Join or die.”

The black rod in Pain’s hand was made using the power of the Rinnegan, combined with Yin-Yang Release.

This substance could harm genjutsu bodies made of Yin Release chakra. It could not only be used as a weapon, but more importantly, it could serve as a chakra sensor for the Six Paths of Pain, which was the key to Nagato’s control of the Six Paths of Pain. However, Pain naturally wouldn’t explain all this to Orochimaru.

Hearing Pain’s words, Orochimaru fell silent.

Although he was very confident in his own strength and the power of the cursed seal hadn’t been used yet, Orochimaru clearly felt that this enemy was completely different from his previous opponents!

This man with the extraordinary dōjutsu kekkei genkai seemed to have reached a higher level among ninjas.

After thinking for a moment, Orochimaru’s expression changed from gloomy to playful. He licked his lips and asked with interest, ”Joining isn’t impossible, but I need to know what your organization’s purpose is.”

Whether he joined the organization or found a chance to escape, Orochimaru needed to understand the organization’s purpose first.

”To collect all the Tailed Beasts and rule the ninja world with absolute power!” Pain said calmly. His tone was very ordinary, as if it were a very simple and natural thing to accomplish.

”Interesting, interesting!” Orochimaru laughed.

He laughed for about ten seconds before stopping. He looked at Pain and said slowly, ”I’ll join.”

Hearing that Pain’s goal was to rule the ninja world by collecting all the Tailed Beasts, Orochimaru felt that this was a rare opportunity for him.

His current ”Four Symbol Seal” only contained the Yin Release chakra of the One-Tailed Shukaku. He also wanted to use the organization’s power to obtain more Tailed Beast power.

As for the One-Tailed Shukaku he had just killed, Orochimaru didn’t feel sorry at all. Instead, he was very relieved. If Shukaku had been discovered by the other side, not only would it have been taken away, but it would have also exposed the fact that he was also collecting Tailed Beasts.

To be safe, Orochimaru also decided not to use the Four Symbol Seal easily in front of Akatsuki members, in case they discovered any clues.

Seeing that Orochimaru agreed to join the organization, Pain put away the black rod and casually threw something to Orochimaru.

Orochimaru took it and opened his palm to see a ring with the character ”empty” engraved on it.

”Put this ring on. You’re now an official member of Akatsuki. From now on, your partner is Sasori.”

On the other side, Yusuke didn’t know that Orochimaru had already joined Akatsuki ahead of time and was planning to use Akatsuki’s power to collect Tailed Beasts.

At this time, he was in the mental world, fighting Ryujin Jakka. He was training his soul power through this method.

Ryujin Jakka, transformed into a human form, was still full of domineering energy. Every strike was powerful and wide-ranging. The flames on his weapon crackled with every swing.

Facing Ryujin Jakka’s powerful attack, Yusuke could only barely defend himself. He couldn’t parry it. Ryujin Jakka’s voice continued to ring in his ears.

”Control your Reiatsu. Focus your Reiatsu on your weapon!”

”Don’t just defend. You have to find a chance to attack!”

”You’re the worst batch I’ve ever trained!”

With a clang, Ryujin Jakka swung his sword horizontally. Yusuke’s weapon broke with a snap, and he was knocked away by the powerful impact.

Sensing that Yusuke’s remaining dojutsu power wasn’t much, Ryujin Jakka said calmly, ”That’s enough for today.”

After months of training, Yusuke could clearly feel his soul power increasing.

The most direct benefit was that his dojutsu power had improved. Originally, he could only last about ten minutes in the mental world while fighting. Now, he could almost last fifteen minutes.

Another benefit was that his stamina had increased. Yusuke now slept less than he used to, but he was less prone to fatigue and his concentration had also improved.

Besides his soul power, Yusuke’s other gain was his improved swordsmanship. The swordsmanship style used by Ryujin Jakka was called ”Genryū,” which had been created by Ryujin Jakka’s former master, Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto.

Under Ryujin Jakka’s guidance, Yusuke was also constantly learning Genryū swordsmanship. The most important aspect of this swordsmanship style was Reiatsu control. It used Reiatsu to enhance the power of the sword techniques.

Looking at the broken sword in his hand, Yusuke asked Ryujin Jakka, ”When do you think I’ll be able to learn Bankai?”

Ryujin Jakka shook his head, ”It’s far from the time yet. The power of Bankai isn’t something your current soul can handle.”

”But when you can last half an hour in the mental world while fighting, you can try my first Bankai technique!”

After finishing his training that day, Yusuke secretly left Konoha Village and went to an abandoned shrine.

There was a swirl-shaped symbol on the roof beams of this abandoned shrine. It was the shrine of the Uzumaki clan.

Hidden here was an artifact passed down by the Uzumaki clan for generations — the Death God Mask.

The Death God Mask had a mysterious connection with the Death God. When a ninja wore the Death God Mask, they could summon the Death God even without using the Shiki Fūjin technique.

In the original story, Orochimaru had summoned the Death God through the Death God Mask, cut open the Death God’s belly, released the souls of the Fourth Hokage and his two hands, and restored his hands.

Slowly entering the dilapidated shrine, Yusuke found a wall covered in masks.

There were nearly a hundred masks on the wall, each with a different, eerie, distorted face. It seemed like they had been deliberately arranged to hide the true Death God Mask.

But for Yusuke, who had powerful spiritual power, the Death God Mask, which emitted a soul aura, was like a firefly in the dark. He could identify it at a glance.

”So this is the Death God Mask?” Yusuke slowly took down the mask with horns on its head and a distorted, grinning face. He carefully examined it.

Yusuke had once mentioned the Death God of the Naruto world to Ryujin Jakka, and Ryujin Jakka was very interested. After all, it had once been the weapon of a Shinigami from Soul Society. It was curious about the Death God of the Naruto world.

But after hearing Yusuke’s description, Ryujin Jakka believed that the Death God of the Naruto world wasn’t a true god who controlled the life and death of creatures in the Naruto world. It was more like a powerful demon that fed on souls.

Yusuke thought about Ryujin Jakka’s insight, and he felt that it made sense. After all, when Orochimaru cut open the Death God’s belly in the original story, he only released the souls of the Hokage sealed by the Shiki Fūjin technique and Orochimaru’s two hands. This showed that the so-called Death God only controlled the souls sealed by the Shiki Fūjin technique.

From this perspective, Shiki Fūjin was more like a Summoning Technique. The caster sacrifices their soul to summon the Death God and uses the Death God to reap the enemy’s soul.

In Yusuke’s plan, he was thinking of using the Death God’s power to complete the ”Reverse Four Symbol Seal.” The Death God itself was a pure soul form and fed on souls. It was composed of very pure Yin Release chakra, which could potentially meet the seal’s requirements for Yin Release materials.

”Although I’ve confirmed with Ryujin Jakka that it, as a Zanpakuto, can kill the Death God, a spiritual demon, I can’t assess the Death God’s strength. If I summon it and I’m not its opponent, I’ll die a pointless death.”

Yusuke thought for a moment. To be safe, he put the Death God Mask into his storage scroll. He decided not to summon the Death God until he was ready.

The next day, Yusuke went to the ”Hinoharu Tea House,” which was his favorite teahouse in Konoha Village.

”Huh? It’s you.” Yusuke was surprised to see the girl he had met before.

At this time, the girl was wearing a floral apron. Her light gray hair was still in two pigtails that stuck out over her shoulders. She looked cute and playful.

The girl was also delighted to see Yusuke. She ran over in small steps.

”Yusuke-sama, it’s been a while!”

Yusuke also smiled, ”You’ve already become a ninja. Why are you back working as a teahouse waitress?”

Hearing Yusuke’s words, the girl was still smiling, but her eyes revealed a hint of sadness, ”Being a ninja really isn’t for me.”

”When I was a child, I always looked up to the dashing ninja adults. I always dreamed of becoming a ninja one day, someone everyone admired.”

”But after actually carrying out missions, I realized how cruel the ninja world is.”

From the girl’s words, Yusuke learned that she was actually Itachi’s former teammate, named Inari Shinko.

During the mission when Itachi awakened his Sharingan, the captain, Mizunoto Yuki, and his teammate, Izumo Tenma, died in battle. Inari Shinko was also seriously injured and took several months to recover.

Inari Shinko, who had felt the cruelty of the ninja world, realized that she didn’t have the talent to become a ninja. She gave up on the ninja path and returned to the teahouse to work as a waitress.

”I don’t have Itachi’s extraordinary talent, and I can’t accept the fact that my comrades died in front of me. Maybe this teahouse is the best place for me,” Inari Shinko said, as if she was lost in some bad memories.

Coming back to her senses, Inari Shinko saw that Yusuke was patiently listening to her. She suddenly felt embarrassed. Her cheeks flushed, and she hurriedly said, ”I’m sorry, Yusuke-sama. I’ve wasted so much of your time listening to this little girl complain.”

Yusuke smiled and shook his head, signaling her not to mind.

The two didn’t chat for long. Inari Shinko went back to her waitress duties.

Looking at the girl’s busy figure, Yusuke picked up the remaining tea in his hand and drank it in one gulp. But his mind was filled with thoughts.

”The Five Great Nations, Akatsuki, countless independent small countries, Obito and others lurking in the shadows.”

”This world is truly chaotic and incredibly cruel.”

”And I’ve come here with such powerful strength, Ryujin Jakka. Can I do anything for this world?”

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