Chapter 658 White Eyes Evolution

So Hanzo is dead too. The Land of Rain has truly undergone a silent, massive change,” Homura Mitokado said, putting down the material and adjusting his glasses.

Compared to Danzo Shimura, whose death spread quickly throughout the Ninja World, Hanzo, the Ninja Demigod, died almost silently. The news was limited to the Amegakure and barely spread beyond the Land of Rain.

Homura Mitokado felt there was something strange about this. Even if Hanzo’s death was overshadowed by the war between the Great Shinobi Villages, the death of a Ninja of his caliber shouldn’t have been so quiet.

“It should be that there’s a problem within the Amegakure itself,” Utatane Koharu analyzed.

“Hanzo’s prestige declined after his failure in the Second Shinobi World War, and he was repelled when he tried to encircle and kill Sōsuke. Coupled with Sōsuke’s reputation in the Land of Rain, internal division within the Amegakure is not surprising.”

She believed it was a coup, and likely one orchestrated by Sōsuke, because after Hanzo’s death, cooperation between the Shinobi Sect and the Amegakure increased significantly.

Utatane Koharu had reason to believe that Sōsuke was now the de facto controller of the Amegakure.

“Whether the Amegakure experienced a coup or not isn’t the main point. The main point is that the Amegakure and the Shinobi Sect can now be seen as one entity,” Hiruzen Sarutobi said, seeing the topic straying.

“If we are to act against the Shinobi Sect, then we must take the strength of the Amegakure into account.”

He investigated the Amegakure because of the Shinobi Sect and Danzo Shimura; the core issue was still the Shinobi Sect and Sōsuke.

“Multiple pieces of evidence indicate that the person who killed Danzo was Sōsuke. This is beyond doubt.” As he said this, Hiruzen Sarutobi glanced at Muzuki.

Muzuki nodded, affirming Hiruzen Sarutobi’s statement as an eyewitness.

Following this, Hiruzen Sarutobi continued:

“As our Hokage Assistant of Konoha, even if Danzo made mistakes, he should have been punished by Konoha. Sōsuke directly killing Danzo is a provocation to Konoha!”

“We absolutely cannot ignore such a Ninja force. We must take measures to punish them!”

Homura Mitokado and Utatane Koharu both looked in agreement.

Danzo Shimura was indeed wrong for carrying out assassination activities privately, but their Konoha was the largest Shinobi Village. How dare a small country’s Ninja force kill a high-ranking official of Konoha? Isn’t that asking for a beating?

It was only because Sōsuke was indeed strong and had integrated the Ninja forces of the Land of Rain, making his personal strength and influence the strongest below the Five Great Ninja Villages.

Otherwise, there would have been no need for discussion in a high-level meeting; the team to kill Sōsuke would have already departed.

“However, Konoha is currently at a critical juncture. When to punish, and the specific method of punishment, need to be carefully considered,” Hiruzen Sarutobi’s tone shifted, becoming less sharp.

He actually didn’t want to make a big fuss. If Sōsuke was willing to pay with his life, Hiruzen Sarutobi could pretend that nothing had happened.

It wasn’t that the Land of Rain under Sōsuke’s leadership posed a threat to Konoha’s strength.

Konoha didn’t suffer significant damage in this war. Destroying a small country, even the strongest small country, was not that difficult for Konoha.

Hiruzen Sarutobi’s real concern was the other Four Great Shinobi Villages.

Nominally, they were allied, they were allies.

But this so-called alliance was just a piece of scrap paper in the face of self-interest. If everything went smoothly, it would be fine, but if Konoha revealed a weakness while attacking the Land of Rain, the alliance might not hold.

“How about we try to resolve the issue through negotiation first?” Homura Mitokado suggested.

He understood Hiruzen Sarutobi’s thinking, which was to develop cautiously and keep actions as small as possible.

It would be best not to make any major moves before Muzuki became the true second God of Shinobi.

“First, strongly condemn them to show our stance, and then state our demands.”

Hiruzen Sarutobi thought for a moment, then nodded and said, “If we can resolve the issue through negotiation, that would be for the best.”

Negotiation meant no need for action, which meant no weaknesses would be exposed.

“What do you think, Muzuki?” Hiruzen Sarutobi asked, trying to give Muzuki more involvement.

He was very satisfied with Muzuki’s performance in his first meeting: if you don’t understand, watch, learn, and speak less.

“Negotiation sounds pretty good,” Muzuki replied.

He felt that the Hokage Assistant position was worth it. He had considerable power and could watch others discuss how to deal with him and his forces.

After Utatane Koharu nodded, it signified that the high-level opinions were in agreement: Konoha would begin negotiations with the Shinobi Sect.

Their demand was simple: Sōsuke must die.

After the meeting, Muzuki returned to his home in the Main urban area.

As soon as he opened the door, there was a commotion from Minato Namikaze’s house next door, and figures quickly emerged.

“Lord Mu Yue, you’re done with the meeting,” Obito was the first to greet Muzuki, rushing into the room.

“It’s finally over. Shizune, quickly bring in the groceries,” Lady Tsunade walked into the house without ceremony and sat on the sofa.

Originally, after buying groceries, she wanted to go straight into Muzuki’s house, but Minato Namikaze persuaded her against it, saying that trespassing was not good.

This led to a group of people gathering at Minato Namikaze’s house.

“Amazing, Muzuki, a twenty-two-year-old Hokage Assistant. We must have a good drink tonight,” Jiraiya said with a smile as he entered the house.

Looking at his disciples and friends at the door, Muzuki smiled and welcomed everyone into the house.

However, what surprised Muzuki a bit was that Orochimaru had also come; all three Sannin were present.

“Lord Mu Yue, excuse the intrusion,” Orochimaru said calmly after entering.

He had originally come to test whether Muzuki, who had inherited the Root, had discovered his secret cooperation with Danzo Shimura. He wanted to leave when he saw so many people, but Jiraiya dragged him and he couldn’t leave.

“Muzuki, why don’t we go to a restaurant tonight?” Minato Namikaze said after scanning the room.

There were five of Muzuki’s disciples alone, plus the others, that made eleven, and with Muzuki himself, it was a full twelve.

“No need. The groceries are already bought. Why go to a restaurant?” Muzuki shook his head and smiled.

Cooking for twelve people, especially Ninjas with large appetites, while ensuring quality, would certainly be exhausting for an ordinary person, but he was not an ordinary person.

After speaking, Muzuki walked directly into the kitchen, and Minato Namikaze followed him in.

Lady Tsunade found this scene a bit strange. “Why is Minato going in? He looks so practiced.”

“Because they’re neighbors, so they often eat and cook together,” Kushina, sitting next to Lady Tsunade, said as a matter of course.

She didn’t know the situation after her Nine-Tailed control training, but before that, they often ate together.

“What kind of neighbors eat together? You must be relatives,” Lady Tsunade grumbled.

“Hehe, you never know. Maybe Muzuki and Minato really are relatives,” Kushina said nonchalantly.

When they first met, Kushina was quite curious if Muzuki was Minato Namikaze’s long-lost brother, but she stopped caring later.

Relatives might not even have such a good relationship as them, so why care about such things?

“The war has ended again. Orochimaru, are you still holding onto that idea?” Jiraiya asked casually.

At the end of the Second Shinobi World War, Orochimaru once said something that left a deep impression on Jiraiya.

Orochimaru said he wanted to learn all Ninjutsu, overcome human mortality, and understand all truths in the world.

“Of course, that is my only dream,” Orochimaru replied calmly.

His experiences made him realize the fragility of human life. Orochimaru disliked such fragile lives.

“What about you? Still planning to find trouble to do?”

“What do you mean ‘find trouble’? This is a major matter concerning the future of the Ninja World!” Jiraiya retorted seriously.

According to the Great Toad Sage’s prophecy, his disciple would bring great change to the Ninja World, and he would be the one to guide the change, bearing an important responsibility.

Although Jiraiya guessed that Nagato might be the Child of Prophecy, he wasn’t 100% sure.

Anyway, he was idle, and he enjoyed traveling the Ninja World, so he continued his journey at his previous pace.

“Hehe,” Orochimaru let out a highly sarcastic cold laugh. He didn’t believe in so-called prophecies.

If prophecies were bound to come true, then wouldn’t it mean that everything in this world was predetermined, and no matter how much effort was put in, it would be meaningless? Then why would Jiraiya need to act?

If prophecies were not certain and could be changed, Orochimaru felt it was more like the Great Toad Sage was orchestrating things, guiding the future towards the outcome he desired.

Regardless of the possibility, Orochimaru thought Jiraiya was foolish for wasting so much time on a prophecy.

“I’m too lazy to argue with you, you boring person. Tsunade, what are you planning to do next?” Jiraiya asked, looking at Lady Tsunade.

“Travel the world and win money at various casinos?”

“Let’s talk about it later. I want to lie low in Konoha for another four years,” Tsunade replied, shaking her head.

She used to want to gamble at casinos all over the world. No, actually, she still does, but before she goes, she has to collect all her debts, otherwise, it would be a huge loss.

“You…”

“None of your business!” Jiraiya was about to retort when Tsunade directly interrupted him.

Seeing Tsunade’s fierce gaze, Jiraiya wisely shut his mouth. Others might just be putting on an act, but Tsunade really hits, and she doesn’t hold back.

“Still as foolish as ever.” Seeing this, Orochimaru couldn’t help but recall their time training together in their youth, a slight smile playing on his lips.

“Why don’t we ask Lord Mu Yue if we can go to the second floor? I feel like we might be disturbing Lady Tsunade and the others here,” Rin Nohara suggested.

Kakashi and the others all nodded.

Tsunade and Jiraiya were fine, but Orochimaru’s aura was truly strong, making it impossible for them to relax.

After getting Muzuki’s approval, Rin Nohara and the others went up to the second floor.

“So the cold-faced uncle is like this in private too. I thought he was only serious on the battlefield,” Obito said, scratching his head.

With Jiraiya and Tsunade as examples, Obito thought that Orochimaru, one of the Sannin, was also putting on a facade, but he didn’t expect him to be genuinely serious, his personality exactly as rumored.

“You already know he’s a relatively serious person, yet you still give him nicknames,” Kakashi said, looking speechless.

“You really need to change this habit, otherwise, if you run for Hokage in the future, I’ll definitely vote against you. I can’t imagine what Konoha would become otherwise.”

Kakashi imagined Obito sitting in the Hokage Office, suddenly saying, “Call the white-haired assistant over,” and it was hard to keep a straight face.

“Why should I do what you say? I don’t need your vote!” Obito firmly stated his position.

Kakashi hadn’t even become Hokage yet and dared to dictate to him. If he became Hokage, it would be even worse. He was determined to win the Fifth Hokage position from Kakashi.

“Their relationship is still so good,” Shizune said with a hint of envy.

She had interned with Muzuki for a while and was quite familiar with Kakashi and the others.

Shizune was quite envious of this kind of relationship. She usually didn’t have friends to play with, only when Rin Nohara came to learn from Tsunade did she have a playmate her age.

“Right, it’s so good it’s a bit enviable,” Rin Nohara said, covering her mouth and chuckling softly.

“No way!” × 2

Obito and Kakashi denied it in unison with perfect synchronicity.

“Don’t copy what I say!” × 2

“Hmph!” × 2

This perfectly synchronized triple denial added a cheerful atmosphere to the air.

“It’s as precise as if they copied the movements with Sharingan,” said Shisui, the Sharingan expert.

“As expected of best friends!” Might Guy, inexplicably fired up, gave Kakashi a thumbs-up.

“How could I use Sharingan for something like this?”

“This isn’t something to be praised for at all, is it?”

After a period of laughter and chatter, the aroma from the first floor grew stronger and stronger, and the atmosphere on the second floor changed accordingly.

“I’m really looking forward to it, a super feast!” Obito licked his somewhat dry lips, his eyes gleaming with anticipation.

During the two months he fought alongside Muzuki, Muzuki would occasionally cook something himself.

But the conditions on the battlefield couldn’t compare to Konoha, so he was greatly looking forward to the upcoming feast.

The disciples all nodded, and Might Guy even made an outrageous statement, “Only youth and Lord Mu Yue’s feast must not be let down!”

“This smell, it’s squirrel mandarin fish!”

“I sense the aroma of sweet and sour pork.”

The more Obito smelled, the more excited he became. Based on these scents, he could already identify which dishes were present.

“Come down and eat.”

Obito suppressed the urge to use Kamui to directly phase through the floor and reach downstairs, instead rushing downstairs at top speed.

The other disciples also restrained their strength. With their current power, if they didn’t restrain themselves a bit, they could easily tear down Muzuki’s house in a hurry.

“Wood Release: Furniture Technique!”

Since the original table wasn’t big enough, Muzuki simply used Wood Release Chakra to create a new set of tables and chairs.

“What a convenient Bloodline Limit,” Obito exclaimed.

No wonder Uchiha Madara couldn’t defeat Senju Hashirama back then. This Wood Release was truly powerful; not only could it create giants, but it also had huge advantages in daily life.

Then everyone got busy, some serving dishes, others getting bowls and rice.

“Everyone, don’t be shy, eat quickly,” Muzuki said with a smile, picking up a piece of sweet and sour pork first.

Without needing to say more, Minato Namikaze fully utilized his superior reaction time, quickly picking up two pieces of braised pork and putting them into his bowl.

And Tsunade and the others who had tasted Muzuki’s cooking were all going full throttle, eating voraciously.

“What are they doing? This is so exaggerated, is it really necessary?” Orochimaru thought in surprise, looking at the blurred chopsticks on the table.

The dishes did smell good and looked appealing, but no matter what, they were just food, not some miraculous secret medicine.

Orochimaru calmly picked up a piece of squirrel mandarin fish closest to him with his chopsticks. He put a piece of fish into his mouth, and his expression instantly changed.

The moment the fish entered his mouth, a sweet and sour flavor exploded in Orochimaru’s mouth, followed by the crispy outside and tender inside texture of the fish. As he chewed the fish, the sweet and sour taste that had permeated the fish gave Orochimaru another unique experience.

The excellent texture of the fish, the perfectly balanced sweet and sour, just a small piece of fish, yet it gave Orochimaru an unprecedented experience.

In a trance, Orochimaru felt as if he had transformed into a free-swimming fish in a river, his entire body enveloped in coolness, spending his days joyfully swimming.

When he came back to his senses, Orochimaru looked at Muzuki with an incredulous gaze.

As a master of genjutsu, he naturally knew that he hadn’t been caught in a genjutsu just now, but what was with that genuine feeling of exhilaration?

“Lord Mu Yue, no wonder your cooking is so popular,” Orochimaru exclaimed.

If cooking also had realms, then Muzuki must be the God of Shinobi of cooking, the Senju Hashirama of the culinary world, with a generational gap between him and other chefs.

He had never imagined that a dish could give him such an experience.

“If it’s delicious, eat more,” Muzuki reminded him with a smile.

Orochimaru was clearly a newcomer; the veterans knew not to talk while eating, to grab every bite they could.

Orochimaru then noticed that the dishes on the table were rapidly decreasing, and some popular dishes were already empty.

Orochimaru quickly grabbed more food while feeling regretful about it. He had wanted to taste every dish.

After dinner, Orochimaru thought for a moment and asked:

“Muzuki, have you perhaps researched a Ninjutsu related to cooking?”

Muzuki’s cooking was too different from ordinary cooking, and Orochimaru believed there must be some reason for it, not just a simple difference in experience.

“Everyone who has tasted Muzuki’s cooking has thought that, but unfortunately, it’s not. If you watch him cook, you’ll know; it’s a pinnacle of skill,” Jiraiya said, patting Orochimaru’s shoulder.

He had curiously watched Muzuki cook the entire process. Aside from looking skilled, there was nothing special about it, but the taste was just different.

Jiraiya’s understanding was that every step was done to perfection, creating this god-like cuisine.

“Next time, if I have a chance, I’ll take some of the food to the lab to study it,” Orochimaru thought to himself.

As for testing Muzuki, there were too many people here, so it wasn’t suitable.

If his secrets were exposed, there would be no place for him in Konoha, and perhaps his only two friendships would also leave him.

After chatting for a while, everyone went home, and Muzuki went to the study to research Sealing Technique.

At eleven o’clock, Muzuki was about to go to bed when he suddenly felt an unusual sensation in his eyes.

Without hesitation, Muzuki immediately used the Flying Thunder God Technique to teleport to a mountain outside Konoha.

The Chakra in his body surged uncontrollably towards his eyes, intensifying the strange sensation in Muzuki’s eyes.

Muzuki keenly noticed something: the Chakra flowing into his right eye seemed to be more abundant.

When the unusual sensation in Muzuki’s eyes reached its peak, his aura suddenly surged, and a massive amount of Chakra erupted from his eyes, flowing throughout his entire body.

His right eye, originally pure white, turned golden, with eight triangular patterns encircling the pupil.