And this time Onoki knew that he had no other choices but to talk. He had tried escaping from this place and by now was sure that this wasn't genjutsu. He was a shinobi and a very capable one and thus was actively trying to find solutions. Sadly there were none and maybe through diplomacy he could achieve it now.
"What do you want to know?" Onoki asked.
"Answer my question and be honest. Or else I won't mind burying you deep here." Aoto said as he waved his hands and for the first time he felt genuine fear as the structures around him started to move on its own.
The structures whole alignment changed, the reality seemed to bent and it move in angles that he couldn't fathom. He was appalled because he understood that it wasn't genjutsu and thus what Aoto did was bend reality on his own whim. This wasn't what he had shown before.
"You can bend reality now?" Even Yoruichi was surprised and asked. Though they were Shinigami and could never do magic, it didn't mean they wouldn't read and learn. Bending reality in mirror dimension was a high end magic and if one was able to do that it meant he had almost graduated from Eldritch magic. Aoto had come a long way in his magical endeavor and was almost at the level of Sorcerer Supreme, without the dark magic of course.
There were many other bindings on Aoto which would never allow him to play his full potential. Of course it was upto Aoto if he wanted to go to the dark side of the magic to become more powerful and risk being affected by it. Aoto had been studying hard and practicing to be the Sorcerer Supreme and establish a Sanctum as that was stopping him from next upgrade.
He needed Masters too and this old man was not even cooperating with him and the system wanted him to be Sorcerer Supreme? Lol! Yes, the author meant it in the text form.
"So you see, Onoki, you have no options now but to comply or be buried in this reality itself," Aoto continued. This time he showed no respect for the old man. There was a long pause before Onoki spoke.
"I want to make Iwagakure the greatest possible village in my lifetime." The words of Onoki sounded genuine. Aoto looked at Yoruichi, and she nodded in confirmation. Aoto then waved his hand, and the whip bindings were released.
"You see, that wasn't hard to admit, was it?" Aoto said. Onoki was surprised that Aoto had actually let him go. He was ready to break out at any moment and was just biding his time, but he didn't expect this. There was another long pause before Onoki continued.
"Is that all you wanted to know?" Onoki asked.
"Yes, but I also wanted to know if, one day, you achieve it, then what?" Aoto asked.
"What?" Onoki stumbled at Aoto's question.
"Yeah, suppose you made your village the greatest ever. Suppose your village is more powerful than Konoha in its prime. Then what? Have you ever thought about that?" Aoto asked.
"I... I haven't thought about that. I will rest in peace probably," Onoki said after much thinking.
"And you think you will get peace after being the greatest?" Aoto asked. This again stumped Onoki as he didn't expect such a question. All his life, all he ever wanted was to make a great village, but he had never thought about what would happen afterward.
Konoha was the greatest at one point and, in a way, it was still the greatest, but it was still plagued with problems and even close to invasion again. Was this what he always wanted? Defeat one problem only to give rise to another set of problems?
"I don't know," Onoki said. This made Aoto smile as he opened a path to the same place Onoki had come from. Onoki didn't know what this technique was, but it seemed like space-time manipulation, like before.
"You are letting me go?" Onoki asked.
"Yes. I am. I know what is going to come, and let me give you a piece of advice. Take actions after much thought because it will decide the future of your village. No, it will decide the future of the world," Aoto said as he closed the portal behind Onoki.
As Onoki emerged, two of his trusted shinobi appeared. The fight had been tough for him, and he was on his knees.
"Tsuchikage-sama, are you alright? These bastards... We will soon declare war on them now," one of the shinobi who held him said with intense anger.
"No... No war... Not until I find out the traitor," Onoki said.
"Traitor?" The ANBU shinobi were appalled to know that there was a traitor in their midst. They were perplexed and didn't know what to say to him.
-----
Yoruichi had already turned herself into a cat again, and she looked exhausted. That small fight had been her full power, well, except for her going into lightning mode. But it did take a toll on her body as those moves came with a price tag.
She climbed onto the shoulder of Aoto, and he proceeded to open a portal. This time the portal was to the tower where the next session of matches would be held. As he came out of the portal, he saw Lee and Team 7 interacting, with Lee being the macho that he was, professing his love for Sakura.
But as soon as Team 7 saw Aoto coming out, they stopped giving Lee any attention and ran to Aoto.
"Brother, are you okay?"
"Aoto-san, who was that person who attacked us?"
"Is everything fine?"
The three younglings were incessant with their questions, leaving Lee a bit out of place but also curious about who this person was.
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Read 50 chapters ahead on my p@treon.com/thelightedghost