Even so, Ryuji hesitated, unsure which blade to draw. He felt as if he might embody all of the Seven Deadly Sins.
After a brief pause, Ryuji Hyuga stepped forward. He grasped the blade in the very center, "Greed."
A low hum echoed. Greed manifested as uncontrollable desire, and the other six sins were, in essence, born to satisfy that unreasonable desire.
As for Ryuji Hyuga, when he played the good person he was gentle and polite, and when he played the villain he was cold and arrogant from above. Yet his truest self was neither of those.
It was ambition that wanted everything, the desire to control everything. Power, achievement, status, authority.
He wanted more, and to dominate more. Just like humanity as a whole, always moving forward because it wants more and never truly stopping.
Ryuji Hyuga was the same. He wanted more than anyone else.
kacha. He drew "Greed" from the case.
The blade had a dark silver base, with a glass like sheen flowing under the light. The hilt was wrapped in dark red, vein shaped ridges, and when held, a faint pulse could be felt.
The most striking feature was the guard. A closed horizontal pupil was set at its center, and the moment Ryuji Hyuga drew the blade, that pupil snapped open.
Everyone felt a sense of being watched. The gaze of that eye seemed to lick across their bodies inch by inch, making them shiver.
"What is its ability?" someone could not help asking.
All eyes were fixed on Ryuji Hyuga, waiting for his answer, but no one noticed Jiraiya's gaze gradually turning strange.
"Mirror flowers, water moon. Control of the five senses."
The voice did not come from in front of them. It came from behind everyone present.
The people in the tent froze, then woke as if from a dream, as the Ryuji Hyuga before them vanished. Following the sound, they turned around and saw that Ryuji Hyuga was already standing behind them.
"This is…" a Jonin from the Nara Clan said in a low voice. "Is it similar to the Kurama clan's Kekkei Genkai?"
The Kurama clan had once been a powerful ninja family, able to use Genjutsu to control the five senses and trap others within a Genjutsu space. Hearing, sight, touch, taste, and smell were all under their control.
Those caught in it could still suffer real damage, which was what made their Kekkei Genkai so terrifying. Any Kurama who awakened this Kekkei Genkai was a powerhouse, yet no one in that clan had done so for decades.
Now, a single blade could achieve all of this. Just now, only Jiraiya had not been affected by the blade.
If Ryuji Hyuga had wanted to kill them, it would have been effortless. The thought chilled everyone, though they also felt relief that these strange seven blades were in Konoha's hands.
If they had fallen into another village's possession, the fear would have been unbearable. The existence that had forged these three blades was truly terrifying.
Kakashi Hatake's expression was extremely complex. There was fear of the "Envy" in his own hand, and confusion about Ryuji Hyuga's "Greed."
Yet the seven blades were meant to judge the soul, so he did not believe Ryuji Hyuga was a villain. Just as he could never know that Jiraiya's true nature was sloth, and did not even realize his own was envy.
Perhaps the essence of Greed was not simply "Greed. Maybe it was having lost too much, and wanting to possess more.
With that thought, Kakashi Hatake's gaze toward Ryuji Hyuga gradually softened.
A notification sounded in Ryuji Hyuga's mind as he watched the mix of shock and excitement on their faces. It confirmed that he had told another lie.
The "Greed" in his hand did have the ability to control the five senses. But that was only the initial power it revealed.
Its true name was "control of cognition." Anyone watched by the eye on the blade would have their perception altered to a certain degree.
However, the human brain was a forbidden zone even to Zetsu, and reaching the level of absolute mental imprinting was something he did not know when he could achieve. Changing common sense, like convincing someone that water was poisonous, was beyond him for now.
Even briefly controlling the senses of more than a dozen people had almost drained all of the Chakra in his body. Even so, it was one of the abilities best suited to him, and one that allowed him to do much more.
Mirror flowers, water moon. Flowers in the mirror are not real flowers, and the moon in the water is not the real moon.
At this point, three of the seven blades in the case had found their masters.
"What happened today must not be leaked," Jiraiya said sternly to everyone present, even placing restrictions on them. He then turned to Ryuji Hyuga with a smile. "Ryuji, how confident are you now?"
Ryuji Hyuga raised his head and returned a gentle smile. "Completely confident."
The ground forces would fully cooperate with him to launch a surprise attack on the troops of Kumogakure. This time, he would make his true name known across the Ninja World, and gain real authority and power.
Land of Grass is shaped by wide grasslands and dense forests, and the natural environment is fairly rich, though it lacks standout resources. Across those endless plains, there is not only living green. Many glaring blackened patches lie there like huge sores, and even after wind and rain, the buried roots and shoots tied to Root cannot sprout again.
The bridge called Kannabi Bridge was destroyed by the Minato Namikaze Team during the Third Shinobi World War. The route that once supported the economic lifeline has never been rebuilt.
"Shadow."
"Hm?"
"Tell me, if Hanzo had truly accepted Yahiko's ideals back then, would Land of Rain have fallen into a state like this?"
In the forest, Nagato stood on a tree branch and Wang at the ruins in the distance as he asked. "Probably," the one called Shadow said with a smile behind him. "The way Land of Grass responded to pressure from great powers was close to the 'diplomatic negotiation' that Yahiko believed in."
"As for the result, you can see it for yourself."
Land of Grass might be slightly better off than Land of Rain, but it still lies between the Land of Fire and the Land of Earth. Its diplomacy, put kindly, is the skillful use of talks to maneuver among the powers, but put bluntly, it lives up to its name and bends with the wind.
It leans toward whichever force is strongest at the moment to seek shelter, so it adopts wavering policies and fence sitting strategies. During both the Second Shinobi World War and the Third Shinobi World War, it allied at times with Konoha or Iwagakure, and at other times even provided information and convenience to both opposing sides.
This may have been forced on it to survive between great powers, but it also made it an unreliable piece or a variable to watch. After countless compromises, the result was becoming one of the main battlefields of the Third Shinobi World War, and the battle that decided the fates of Kakashi Hatake and Obito Uchiha happened here.
Yes, because of the strong stance and power Hanzo showed in the Second Shinobi World War, Iwagakure and Konoha both skipped Land of Rain and chose Land of Grass as the battlefield. That alone proves how naive and childish Yahiko's ideas were.
If Hanzo had really accepted his idea of seeking understanding and peace through negotiation, Land of Rain would likely not have enjoyed even the dozen years of peace around the Third Shinobi World War.
Nagato fell silent. He was now increasingly able to understand Yahiko's past mistakes, and his mind was no longer filled with only simple and extreme pain.
He was thinking. Under the guidance of Teacher Jiraiya, the death of the first generation of Akatsuki led by Yahiko was almost inevitable.
With that thought, Nagato sighed inwardly and turned to Shadow behind him. "You said earlier that Land of Grass has people of my clan. Is that information accurate?"
Shadow ignored his doubt, glanced at the frowning Kakuzu beside him, and smiled. "Stop staring at your manicure and tell us what you know about Kusagakure."
Hearing this, Kakuzu looked down at his green fingernails, his face darkening, but he still spoke. "I do not know the specifics. But I have heard there is a red haired woman in Kusagakure who can heal injuries if someone bites her, and I always treated that as a rumor."
Kakuzu did not understand much, but Nagato, also of the Uzumaki clan, understood all too well. A body with life force so strong that crude biting alone could heal wounds was something only the Uzumaki could possess.
"Kusagakure…" When he thought of a clanswoman being treated like that, a shadow crossed Nagato's cold face.
Shadow saw his thoughts and did not press the moment. He spoke instead. "So, before going to Hozuki Castle, should we make a stop at Kusagakure?"
"I do not care," Kakuzu said calmly, already numb to the ugliness of the Ninja World. He had lived from the founding of Konoha to the present and had seen far too much darkness.
Because of that, he treated money as the only comfort he could trust. As Nagato nodded without a word, the three figures vanished from the forest.