Konoha's Mission Master

“They are all great,” Yakumo remarked.

“They are indeed great, but you are the key. All those people have done is slow down the expansion of the ethereal energy. Only you can end the ethereal energy completely.”

Uchiha Runyu patted Yakumo on the shoulder encouragingly, his smile growing wider.

"If you lack a reason to keep going, then think about how the arena evolved into an incredibly desolate planet. If you don't want your world to become like that, you must rise up and fight back."

"I understand," Yakumo nodded in reply.

What are the conditions for this level?

“Defeat me,” Uchiha Runyu replied.

"That's impossible. I don't think I can do it."

Yakumo immediately denied it, saying that although Uchiha Runyu's soul was only half of his, he was still a ninth-level powerhouse at the pinnacle of the universe, representing the strongest combat power in the universe.

"You should be learning Origin Blade Technique, but what I'm teaching you is called Star Origin Body."

Uchiha Runyu stood up, his whole body radiating silver starlight.

"Come on, let me see your current strength."

The next second, the fist wrapped in silver light expanded continuously in front of Yakumo, and the wind it carried seemed to break his nose.

"Shh."

Yakumo intended to use his spatial teleportation ability to create distance, but he found that his position had not moved at all. His fist struck Yakumo squarely in the face, sending the 140-pound Yakumo flying like a sack of potatoes.

In this attack, Uchiha Runyu held back.

Yakumo steadied himself in mid-air and tried again to use spatial teleportation to create distance, but this attempt also ended in failure, as if he had completely lost this ability.

"Star Source Body, capable of restricting all space and time."

Uchiha Juntama instantly appeared in front of Yakumo, and his fist, the size of a sandbag, slammed down again. Yakumo was sent flying without any ability to resist, and he clearly heard Uchiha Juntama's introduction about the Star Source Body.

"This technique is the ultimate physical technique that I created after splitting my soul, and I think there is no one in the entire universe who can inherit it."

"Didn't previous gamers manage to reach the twelfth floor?"

Yakumo used the Fuma shield in front of his face to block Uchiha Juntama's attack. Although he couldn't predict the enemy's moves, he could guess the location where the enemy intended to attack.

For some reason, this Uchiha Runyu really enjoys directly slapping people in the face.

"Of course there are, but they all died at the last step."

Uchiha Runyu answered matter-of-factly and continued.

"......"

Yakumo was speechless for a moment, but he still chose to defend and keep looking for an opportunity to counterattack, while reflecting on what the Uchiha Juntama split soul had told him.

"What are you thinking about?"

Because of his own will, the power of Uchiha Juntama's punches was well limited to the limit that Yakumo could withstand, which meant that although he was hit many times... he could only be considered to have minor injuries.

Yakumo quickly got up from the ground, intending to take the initiative to attack.

"If I'm not mistaken, the ultimate goal... is definitely to go to a realm filled with ethereal energy, so... you always enter that world together with the game players, right?"

“That’s right.” Uchiha Runyu stopped his attack and asked.

"Since you've been to that world so many times, why do you have no memory of the final steps?" Yakumo continued to ask.

"Because when a player fails, I will actively erase their memories and then leave that area to choose a new lucky winner."

Upon hearing this, Uchiha Runyu asked without any hesitation, his body hovering in mid-air, his eyes clear and calm.

"Since you have traveled to worlds filled with illusory energy, and have traveled to those worlds many times, how can you be sure that you have not been corrupted?"

Yakumo asked somewhat warily, while preparing to leave the arena at any moment. At this point, the only thing he could rely on was the game system.

"System, I hope you can be reliable this once."

Uchiha Juntama, suspended in mid-air, showed no change in expression when faced with Yakumo's question, as if he were not surprised that Yakumo would ask such a question.

"I can't tell you that, it's a secret."

Uchiha Junyu's body vanished instantly, reappearing in front of Yakumo with a hint of displeasure on his face. This time, he shattered Yakumo's body with just one punch.

The fragments reassembled, forming the shape of Yakumo.

"I acted impulsively this time, sigh."

Yakumo sighed, feeling that his questions had only increased. The sudden appearance of the split soul, the truth about the arena... all made his heart uneasy.

Blood-red characters appeared in the void.

"Challenge failed."

........

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Chapter 461 Preparations for the Conversation

Yakumo opened his eyes from the rattan chair. He didn't plan to challenge the twelfth floor of the arena again anytime soon, because his mind seemed to be filled with new questions.

Shadow clone Yakumo brought milk tea and a fruit platter.

Yakumo couldn't help but recall Uchiha Juntama's words.

The threat of the Void Realm was far more terrifying than he had imagined, and he was the key to ending the Void Realm. Such a precious key—did Uchiha Run-tama's true form really not have any means to ensure the plan's success?

What do you think of the boss on the twelfth floor of the arena?

Yakumo did not directly mention Uchiha Juntama's name, but instead planned to conduct a simple test on the system.

[Note: Tests have shown that Lord Runyu's divided soul has not been corrupted by the illusory energy, and tests have also shown that Lord Runyu's main body has not been corrupted by the illusory energy. The plan remains unchanged.]

The game system's answer was more specific than Yakumo had imagined. It seemed to have guessed the answer Yakumo really wanted to know, so it directly told Yakumo that answer.

Are you sure?

[Note: Players, please trust this system.]

"Of course I believe you," Yakumo replied with a hint of emotion.

Even if he doesn't believe it, he can't change anything. As the weakest participant, he has no right to change anything.

Ba Yun held his milk tea cup and drank it through a straw. Suddenly, he realized that most of his current dilemmas were just unnecessary worries. Since nothing could be changed, thinking about it was meaningless.

As the sweet milk tea went down her throat, Yakumo felt a surge of happiness. Her suppressed emotions were gradually driven away by the delight on her taste buds, and she then picked up a cherry and swallowed it.

"There aren't many fruits left from the One Piece world. Maybe I can go back to the One Piece world to get some more in a while."

Yakumo thought to himself that the best way would be for Konoha to cultivate these fruits, which would require Konoha Hospital to establish an additional science department.

It seems that Kumogakure places great importance on science. Perhaps in the future, Kumogakure's scientists could take the lead in establishing the Konoha Science Department to cultivate these fruits.

However, it's highly unlikely that Konoha will agree to let Kumogakure take the lead and become the head of the Science Department. Orochimaru would have been a perfect fit for the position, but unfortunately, he's already been dealt with by Yakumo...

The next few days were uneventful for Yakumo. The thing he did most each day was to help Konoha find those ninjas with ill intentions, even though the alliance of many ninja villages had become the general trend.

However, the hatred between the ninja villages still exists, which has led to many defected ninjas secretly infiltrating Konoha with the intention of carrying out suicidal sabotage.

Their goal is to destroy Konoha as much as possible and kill its members. If they are weak, they will target ordinary Konoha residents; if they are slightly stronger, they will assassinate Konoha ninja children.

The reason for this behavior is simple: to vent.

To vent his anger and hatred, all he sought was to kill as many people as possible.

To prevent Konoha from being destroyed by such people, Minato Namikaze specifically asked Yakumo to monitor the entire village 24 hours a day, striving to resolve any unstable factors in advance.

The hatred is extremely difficult to diminish, and even though several months have passed, these suicide attacks still exist.

Yakumo also became the pillar of Konoha.

Finally, Iwagakure is about to be officially merged. Although the area was originally planned to be divided into zones, the relocation has not officially started yet, since absorbing the original ninja villages is already a difficult task.

Everything needs to be done step by step.

This means that the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, will soon regain his freedom, and in order to stabilize the entire Iwagakure village, Konoha has promised him a position with considerable power.

That is to make Onoki a member of the Konoha Elders Council.

However, this position is more like a status, and the power in one's hands is not actually that great. Not only is one subject to the constraints of the other elders, but one also cannot disobey the Hokage's orders. But for Iwagakure, it is already a privilege.

Of the major hidden villages outside of Konoha, only Iwagakure and Kirigakure have been relatively well preserved; the other two villages have suffered varying degrees of loss of their high-level combat power.

Back then, Madara Uchiha wreaked havoc on the ninja world, and Kumogakure lost two of its tailed beasts. Furthermore, Madara Uchiha eliminated many of its high-ranking combatants.

Now they have lost the Fourth Raikage, and the current leader of Kumogakure is Tsuchida, who has been sent to Konoha several times.

Sunagakure was already weak, and with the death of Chiyo and the mysterious disappearances of Ebizo and Pakura, the only one who could shoulder the responsibility was the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa. Now, the entire village could no longer muster any Kage-level fighters.

Because Shukaku was taken away by Madara Uchiha, Gaara had a very good childhood, but now he has lost his father.

Of course, the main problem arose with the merger of Iwagakure. The number of ninjas from the three villages had exceeded the number of ninjas from Konoha. Naturally, they united within the rules and began to demand greater power.

Yakumo heard the news but did not intend to intervene. Since the conflict was still within the rules, he believed that Minato Namikaze could resolve the issue well.

Two months have passed in the blink of an eye.

Konoha did not back down at all, but instead re-examined the Jonin of each village. Those who did not meet the requirements were all turned into Chunin or Genin, while those who met the Jonin requirements were given a three-year probationary period.

If you perform well within these three years, you can join the Konoha Jonin team, which is equivalent to entering the upper echelons of Konoha from another perspective and gaining some say.

This three-year probationary period naturally displeased many people, since a re-evaluation meant they might lose their current titles, and a three-year probationary period meant they would have to work for Konoha for free for three years.

Konoha's domineering and aggressive nature aroused dissatisfaction among many people, but they could only keep their dissatisfaction to themselves. Yakumo suddenly felt that Konoha was like a powder keg about to be ignited.

There was no explosion simply because... he was there.

Yakumo didn't think there was anything wrong with this approach; he was just worried that if he and the others disappeared, who would be left to quell this massive powder keg?

Perhaps it was... Obito Uchiha, and Kakashi Hatake.

Both of them ate Devil Fruits, and both of them were extremely powerful Devil Fruits. If they were to develop them with care, they could reach a position above the Kage level, thus perfectly protecting Konoha Village.

Finally, Yakumo chose a sunny day and arranged to have barbecue with Obito.

Q, a private room on the second floor.

The grill is filled with various kinds of grilled meat with alternating layers of fat and lean meat, as well as two rows of green vegetables for wrapping the meat, and special dipping sauces to suit different tastes.