Chapter 77: A Devoted Father and Filial Son
Iwagakure, the Tsuchikage Building.
The air in the office felt as if it were filled with lead, weighing down the Anbu elites so much that they didn't dare to breathe, standing there like statues.
"Father! Stop this! The world outside is full of Karmic Obstruction!"
Kitsuchi knelt at Ōnoki's feet, covered in snot and tears. Those tiger-like eyes, once brimming with Killing Intent, were now filled with a compassionate mercy. He clung tightly to Ōnoki's short leg, refusing to let go.
"Listen to me, every drop of rain in the Land of Rain is a tear shed by the heavens! Our marching across that land is an act of trampling on the Face of a god! Father, take your son's advice and withdraw the troops! Let us use love to influence this cold Ninja World!"
"..."
Ōnoki's mouth twitched uncontrollably, and the veins on his forehead throbbed as if they might burst at any moment. He looked down at the successor he had once been most proud of, who now looked like a madwoman under the influence of a stupidity Aura.
Shame.
A sense of shame, intense enough to incinerate his reason, surged from the soles of Ōnoki's feet straight to the top of his head.
If he had been defeated and captured, or even died on the battlefield, Ōnoki could have accepted it and would have even felt proud of his son's bravery. But what was this?
He had been brainwashed into a sniveling coward!
This wasn't just breaking Iwagakure's backbone! This was throwing the "will of stone" onto the ground and then stomping on it ruthlessly in front of the entire Ninja World!
"You bastard!!"
Ōnoki finally couldn't take it anymore, letting out a roar that made the window panes rattle.
"Snap out of it!!"
The Old Man suddenly reached out, pressing his rough palm directly onto Kitsuchi's forehead.
"Release!!"
A massive wave of Earth-natured Chakra surged like a flood, instantly pouring into Kitsuchi's body. Ōnoki tried to use this blunt and crude method to shatter any Genjutsu Chakra that might exist within his son.
In the common knowledge of the Ninja World, a sudden change in personality usually meant one had fallen under an Advanced Genjutsu. As long as the Chakra flow was disrupted, it could be broken.
However—
Two seconds passed.
Kitsuchi didn't wake up; instead, he shuddered from the stimulation of the Chakra. He then looked up, staring at his enraged father with a look of pity, as if he were looking at a "lost old lamb."
"Father, why are you so irritable? Your Chakra is full of hostility. This is not good; it will frighten the flowers and grass by the roadside..."
"?"
Ōnoki's hand froze in mid-air, his eyes nearly bulging out of his head.
It didn't work?
The Chakra flow had clearly been completely disrupted, so why was he still acting like this?
"Is it not Genjutsu?" Ōnoki's heart sank.
As the Third Tsuchikage, he was well-versed and experienced. If even his Chakra surge couldn't break it, then it only meant two things: either the caster's ocular power was ridiculously high (like the Mangekyo Sharingan), or... this was some kind of unknown forbidden technique that directly altered the Soul!
No matter which it was, it meant that the organization called "Akatsuki" was openly declaring war on him.
This was no longer a matter of a toll fee.
This was a blatant provocation!
"Good... Very good..."
Ōnoki laughed out of sheer rage. He slowly withdrew his hand, looking at his son who was still incessantly trying to persuade him to "lay down the butcher's knife."
"Land of Rain, since you dare turn my son into this pathetic state, you must be prepared to Face my wrath."
"Father, what are you saying? Lay down the butcher's knife and become a Buddha on the spot..." Kitsuchi continued his output.
"Buddha my foot!!"
A flash of ruthlessness crossed Ōnoki's eyes as he raised his hand and delivered a sharp chop to the back of Kitsuchi's neck.
Bang!
A muffled thud.
Still weeping for world peace, Kitsuchi's eyes rolled back, and he finally fell unconscious as Ōnoki wished, his body slumping onto the floor like a mountain of meat.
The world was finally quiet.
"Drag this embarrassment away! Throw him in the dungeon! No one is allowed to let him out without my direct order!"
Ōnoki roared at the Anbu in the corner.
Two Anbu Ninjas stepped forward tremblingly and with great effort dragged away the peaceful-looking Young Master.
Inside the office, Ōnoki slowly floated toward the floor-to-ceiling window.
Outside, a rare heavy rain was falling in Iwagakure, as if echoing that damned Land of Rain.
The Old Man took off his Tsuchikage Robes, revealing the tight-fitting combat suit underneath. Although he was short and even somewhat hunched, at this moment, the Aura erupting from him was more terrifying than the thunder in the sky.
"Someone, come." Ōnoki's voice was frighteningly low.
"Tsuchikage-sama." A large guard stepped out from the shadows.
"Assemble the troops and follow me."
Ōnoki floated outside the window, his hands slowly spreading as the surrounding air began to vibrate violently.
"I'll go ahead. Today, I'll show the ignorant Land of Rain what the price for provoking a stone is!!"
Buzz—!
Earth Release: Ultralight-Weight Rock Technique!
Gravity ceased to exist at that moment, and his body instantly turned into a fired cannonball, disappearing into the horizon with a boom... The northern border of the Land of Rain.
After sending off the Iwagakure army whose worldview had collapsed, peace returned to the area.
Yahiko sat on that iconic giant rock, playing with a Kunai in his hand, looking down at the empty wasteland with a playful smile on his lips.
"Konan, do you think that Old Man is smashing cups in his office right now?"
Konan stood quietly by his side, her paper wings folded, looking at the heavy dark clouds to the north with cold eyes.
"Based on what we know of Ōnoki's personality from the intelligence, he will most likely come in person," Konan said without any emotion, as if stating a foregone conclusion. "He values Iwagakure's Face more than anything."
"That's inevitable."
Yahiko stretched and jumped down from the giant rock, brushing the water droplets off his clothes. "But even so, no matter how fast he is, moving an army takes time. Even if the Tsuchikage himself takes the field, after dealing with the mess that is Kitsuchi and rushing over, it would take at least..."
Before he could finish his sentence.
Yahiko's hand, which was brushing off his clothes, suddenly stopped in mid-air.
Not just him.
Even Konan, who rarely showed any emotion, snapped her head up at that moment.
An extremely eerie sense of oppression enveloped the area without warning.
The sound of the drizzling rain seemed to be forcibly cut off by some kind of power.
There were no violent fluctuations of Chakra.
No battle cries from a vast army.
Even the wind had stopped.
"Something's wrong."
Yahiko's pupils shrank to pinpoints. At that moment, [Epitaph] in his mind flashed frantically like an alarm, showing him images of the future a few seconds from now.
In that image, there were no flames, no explosions, only a heart-palpitating pale white.
It was an absolute "void" capable of swallowing one's vision and erasing existence. It was as if a piece of the world's canvas had been forcibly rubbed away with an eraser, and that location was exactly the ground beneath his feet!!!
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