The world begins with refining skills

Chapter 361 Hidden Grass Village (Seeking Monthly Tickets)
Why destroy it?

Mu Sheng looked down at Kimimaro, his pale fingers gripping the bone knife tightly, like a young animal separated from its pack.

Beneath their fierce, bared eyes and fangs lies a sense of bewilderment and helplessness in the face of the unknown and unfamiliar environment.

"Anyway, no one will see it if it's opened in a place like this, so there's no point."

"Who says it's meaningless?" Mu Sheng gently removed the bone knife from Kimimaro's hand and casually stuck it into the ground.

"For life, existence itself is the meaning!"

Mu Sheng reached out and gently plucked the petals of the little white flower: "The meaninglessness you speak of is what lies beneath the dark, damp ground."

It is the result of desperately absorbing nutrients, pushing its tender shoots through the soil, and enduring countless hardships.

"Such a life-risking display of brilliance, even if unknown to anyone, is still very meaningful!"

Kimimaro stared blankly at the little white flower, as if he were seeing himself curled up in the dungeon of the Kaguya clan.

Even if no one knows, is it still meaningful?
Mu Sheng withdrew his hand that was twirling the flower petals, and pinched Kimimaro's cheek as if he were twirling the petals.

The warmth of Mu Sheng's palm made Kimimaro's cheeks flush red.

The once closed and lifeless chamber of my heart seemed to be filled with a ray of sunlight, becoming brighter.

Mu Sheng smiled slightly, stood up, and extended his right hand to Kimimaro.

"Want to come with me?"

Kimimaro looked up at Maki's face, then at his outstretched hand.

Without much thought, I reached out and grasped that hand tightly, as if I were grasping my own future.

On one side is a past filled with loneliness and darkness, and on the other side is the warmth that gives him meaning.

Even though he wasn't well-read, Kimimaro knew what choices to make.

Feeling the pressure from Kimimaro's hand, Maki Sho tightened his grip slightly, took the pale little hand in his, and turned to walk away from Kirigakure.

The two figures, one large and one small, quickly blurred into the spreading mist.

All that remained was a small white flower blooming in obscurity under a tree by the river, and a bone knife stuck beside it.

A gentle breeze blew by, and the little white flowers swayed slightly, as if bidding farewell to Kimimaro.

In the distance, through the mist, the faint sounds of conversation could be heard.

"That...your name"

"Huh? Didn't I tell you? My name is Katsumi Kambara. What's yours?"

"Kimimaro, Kaguya Kimimaro"

"."

Two days later, in a coastal town in the western part of the Land of Water.

Makikatsu and Kimimaro dined in a private room at a restaurant.

Over the past two days, Mu Sheng led Kimimaro westward, traversing almost half of the Land of Water, and finally arrived at the western coastline of the Land of Water.

Mu Sheng didn't use the Flying Thunder God Technique to travel, not because he wanted to show Kimimaro the customs and culture of the Land of Water.

Rather, it was because Kimimaro could not withstand the damage caused by the spacetime forces during spatial travel.

Maki's version of Flying Thunder God is different from Minato Namikaze's version.

Minato Namikaze's version of the Flying Thunder God Technique uses himself and the Flying Thunder God Mark as nodes to connect two different spatial coordinates.

After opening a door in place, travel directly to the location of the mark node.

However, Mu Sheng's version of the Flying Thunder God Technique is different; it creates a spatial passage between two nodes.

Instantaneous teleportation is achieved through spatial channels.

This means that Mu Sheng's Flying Thunder God Technique, like the Cloud Village's Heavenly Delivery Technique, requires a certain level of physical fitness from the teleporter.

Fortunately, we already have mature space-time ninjutsu, so it only needs some modifications and optimizations, which won't take much time.

[Flying Thunder God Technique 2.0: Progress 99%]

Mu Sheng glanced at the optimization progress bar and estimated that it would be completed in a few more hours.

'Once the Flying Thunder God Technique is optimized, we can focus all the computing power on the Chakra True Body.'

With a thought, Mu Sheng noticed that the words in front of him had changed instantly.

[Chakra True Form - Bone and Muscle Chapter: 71% Complete]

'With the selfless dedication of the Kaguya clan, the Muscle and Bone Chapter should be completed within six months.'

'By then, I should be unmatched among Kage-level fighters.'

'Huh! '

'Doesn't that mean that with Hashirama and Madara dead, and Nagato holed up in Akatsuki and not coming out?'

'Am I invincible again?'

Thinking of this, Mu Sheng touched his forehead with a look of melancholy.

Those who have never been invincible do not know how lonely invincible is, how incredibly lonely it is!

"Lord Sheng?"

Kimimaro, who was engrossed in eating, heard Maki's sigh and immediately put down his chopsticks, looking up at Maki with concern.

Looking at Kimimaro's serious little face, Mu Sheng smiled and said, "I'm fine, Kimimaro. Let's continue eating. We still need to keep going after we've eaten."

As Mu Sheng spoke, he picked up a tissue and wiped Kimimaro's greasy mouth.

Kimimaro blushed immediately and obediently lowered his head to continue eating.

Why does this child blush so easily?
Maki discovered that even simple acts of kindness in daily life could move Kimimaro.

No wonder so many perverts enjoy raising virtual pets; it doesn't require much investment to get the passionate reward of a soul.

Yes, I'm talking about you, Orochimaru!
After half an hour.

With Kimimaro, who had eaten and drunk his fill, Mu Sheng left the restaurant and soon left the coastal town, arriving at the coast.

"Lord Sheng, shall we take a boat?"

"By boat?" Mu Sheng was taken aback.

His original plan was to take Kimimaro to the beach to digest their food, and once the Flying Thunder God Technique was optimized, they would teleport back to the Land of Fire.

But now, after hearing Kimimaro say that, I suddenly realized that this child must have never been on a boat before.

My heart softened; I'd already wasted two days, so what's a little more time?

“Yes, by boat! We’ll take a boat to the Land of Fire.” Mu Sheng rubbed Kimimaro’s head.

Kimimaro's features of the Kaguya clan are too obvious, making it unsuitable to bring him directly back to Konoha.

Mu Sheng planned to find a place within the Land of Fire to settle him down.

However, before that, we need to find him a suitable nanny.

Otherwise, leaving him alone outside would be too lonely and pitiful.

Soon, Mu Sheng bought a small boat, about ten meters long, from a ship merchant and sailed away from the coastline of the Land of Water with Kimimaro.

Watching Kimimaro walk around the ship curiously, Makikatsu smiled knowingly.

The shadow clone steered the ship from inside the cabin, while Mu Sheng brought over a deck chair, lay down on the bow deck, and began to tally up the spoils of the trip.

"Hmm? Have we collected a bit too many corpses from the Kaguya clan?"

"Never mind, let's keep it for now. It won't make a difference if we leave a little more space."

"Damn it, Kimimaro was kidnapped by that brat Katsutoshi Kanbara, and we still haven't collected the bodies of the Kaguya clan."

Orochimaru, his face ashen, pulled the Kusanagi sword from the body of a Hidden Mist ninja.

After retreating from the battle for Kimimaro that day, he planned to return to Kirigakure to collect some of the Kaguya clan's corpses for research.

Who would have thought that a place for storing corpses would be so heavily guarded?

He had barely entered when he accidentally triggered the alarm and was chased down by the Hidden Mist Ninja forces.

It was later learned that after the people of Kirigakure wiped out the Kaguya clan, they discovered that a large number of corpses had been stolen.

So they set up many more guard posts. And that's exactly what Orochimaru happened to run into.

Kirigakure obviously doesn't need to steal corpses; only people from other villages could do that.

Moreover, the person who was able to infiltrate Kirigakure and steal the corpse without anyone noticing must be quite strong.

Orochimaru had just met someone like that not long ago.

"Kamihara Katsuki!"

Orochimaru kept repeating that name to himself.

This shameless and despicable ninja, whose behavior was no better, left a deep impression on him.

"To possess such strength at only 12 years old, and to have even created two bloodline limits, Scorch Release and Lava Release."

"Such a genius ninja, Danzo should be very interested in him, right?"

Orochimaru immediately had an idea: he planned to pass on what Maki had done in Kirigakure to his partner in Konoha.

Given Danzo's personality, it's unlikely he would allow a powerful and ambitious genius ninja like 'Kamihara Masaru' to grow and thrive in Konoha.

"over there!"

"Get ready, the enemy is one of the Legendary Sannin."

The sound of many ninjas rushing towards them could be heard in the distance. Orochimaru glanced at them coldly, then his body sank into the ground and disappeared.

Engaging with the Hidden Mist ninja within the territory of the Hidden Mist Village is clearly not a good idea.

The land of grass.

Maki and Kimimaro walked through a dilapidated and desolate village.

The collapsed houses, the overgrown courtyards and paths clearly indicate that this place has been abandoned for a long time.

Mu Sheng had been to several countries, but the Grass Country was the most dilapidated and chaotic country he had ever seen.

"It's quite remarkable that a weak and sparsely populated country has managed to survive until now without being destroyed."

As the main battlefield of the Third Shinobi World War, the Land of Grass was utterly ravaged by the ninjas of the Lands of Fire, Wind, and Earth.

Even though the Third World War ended several years ago, the environment of the Grass Country has not yet recovered.

"Lord Katsu, will we be living here from now on?" Kimimaro asked curiously.

Although he saw many backward and decadent scenes along the way, Kimimaro was not deeply moved.

For Kimimaro, who had lived in a dark and gloomy dungeon since childhood, the environment in the Land of Grass was already quite good.

So you see, as long as you compare yourself to people who are worse off than you, happiness will come naturally, won't it?

"No, it's too close to the sun here; it's easy to get burned," Mu Sheng said, shaking his head.

The Akatsuki's base is in the neighboring Land of Rain, so Makikatsu doesn't feel comfortable placing Kimimaro there.

"Sunlight?"

Kimimaro looked up at the sun and then looked at Musheng with some confusion. He didn't feel that the sun was closer here than in other places.

Mu Sheng smiled and said, "A grand vision without power and will is like a storm rising on the surface of the sun."

It seemed to possess the power to change the world, but it couldn't maintain that power for long. It could change nothing but burn itself to ashes.

Does Nagato have power?

It seems to exist, but it actually doesn't.

The Rinnegan he relied on was merely something Madara Uchiha had stored in his body to nourish his own eyes.

Moreover, even if the Rinnegan is his, compared to Kaguya Otsutsuki, who is sealed in the moon, there is also the Sixth Sage hiding in the Pure Land.

This level of strength can't change anything.

Does Nagato have a will?
It seems to exist, but it doesn't.

Initially, he followed the ideals of his friend Yahiko, but after Yahiko's death, he was attracted by the ideals fabricated by Obito Uchiha.

Finally, on his deathbed, he was persuaded by the talk-no-jutsu ninja Naruto Uzumaki.

To say he's just parroting what others say is a bit of an exaggeration, but he's certainly not a person with a strong will.

"Oh!"

Kimimaro still didn't understand, but he nodded seriously.

What Lord Sheng said must make a lot of sense. Even if I don't understand it, I should just remember it.

"Let's go to Kusagakure and find someone to take care of your daily needs."

The Land of Grass is very small, so small that there isn't even a daimyo (feudal lord); the entire country is ruled by the Hidden Grass Village.

Even the leader of a village of ninjas is not worthy of the title of Kage.

Hokage, Kazekage, Mizukage—those are titles for the leaders of the five great ninja villages.

You're a tiny country with a land area less than a tenth the size of theirs, and the leader of the ninja village dares to call himself a Kage? You must be looking for a beating.

"This is it!"

Before long, Maki and Kimimaro arrived outside Kusagakure.

There's no way around it, the Land of Grass is just too small.

Mu Sheng pulled out two masks from behind his back and handed the smaller one to Kimimaro.

Unlike the masks commonly used by ninjas in this world, the lower half of these two masks is shaped like two rows of tightly closed human teeth.

It looks like it was cut off directly from the head of some kind of skeletal monster and used as a mask.

Kimimaro took the mask and put it on, and Maki also put on the bull-headed Hollow mask.

That's right, these two masks were made by Maki Shō based on the Hollowfication masks used in Bleach.

Well, it only referenced 99%.

"Kill every single Grass Ninja you see, except for the one with red hair!"

"Yes, Lord Sheng!"

Kimimaro's small face under the mask tensed, and two bone swords sprouted from his palms as he prepared to rush into Kusagakure.

"Wait!" Mu Sheng called out to Kimimaro, replacing the bone sword in his hand with two ninja swords.

If Kimimaro were to go in carrying two bone swords, wouldn't wearing this mask be pointless?
"Go!"

Mu Sheng patted Kimimaro on the back of the head, and the latter immediately roared and charged into Kusagakure.

"who?"

"Where did this kid come from?"

Several genin from Kusagakure immediately blocked Kimimaro's path upon seeing him wearing a skull mask.

Ding!
呲!
"Ah! Ah!"

Kimimaro wielded his somewhat awkward ninja sword, quickly felling several Kusagakure genin to the ground.

The commotion at the village entrance instantly attracted even more Kusagakure ninja.

"There is an enemy invasion!"

"How dare you kill someone on Kusagakure's land! Attack!"

Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!

"."

Huh?
Mu Sheng glanced curiously at the fireball spewed out by the Grass Ninja.

To actually use the fire of mercy to kill someone, isn't that a bit too much to ask?

As expected, Kimimaro easily dodged the attack of the Great Fireball Technique.

With a thought, Mu Sheng created a shadow clone that appeared with a 'bang' and then sank back into the ground, disappearing into the Grass Village.

Maki's true form leaped onto the gate of Kusagakure and sat atop it to observe Kimimaro's battle.

(End of this chapter)