Ororchi Yashiro

Special Event: Five Nations' Fall progress update. Current: 33.6%

Special Event: Five Nations' Fall progress update. Current: 33.8%

Bai Cangshu sat on the edge of a steep cliff in the Land of Lightning, watching clouds churn through the mountain gorge. He knew that every change in those decimal points meant Akatsuki’s members were slaughtering people across the Land of Fire, the Land of Lightning, and the Land of Wind. Those traditional nobles were constantly being assassinated.

This was not like before, when a powerful rogue ninja occasionally appeared. These were ninjas with top-tier combat strength acting in organized teams.

The ninjas of ordinary villages simply could not protect against them.

At present, aside from the Land of Wind, which remained relatively stable because Akatsuki could not spare enough manpower and Sasori’s attempt to assassinate the daimyo had failed, the nobles and daimyo of the Land of Fire and Land of Lightning had largely been slaughtered.

With their Kage dead or missing, the ninjas of those two nations had fallen into chaos and could not coordinate an effective response.

Meanwhile, the Land of Water, which should have fallen under Zetsu and Sasori’s assault, had been set aside because Sasori insisted on assassinating the Land of Wind’s daimyo first.

After assassinating the Third Kazekage, Sasori had not expected Rasa, who succeeded him, to remain just as corrupt. He had actually traded Sunagakure’s hero, Pakura, to Kirigakure for execution through political means. That act left Sasori utterly disappointed in Sunagakure.

He decided to deal with the Land of Wind, which Sunagakure was meant to protect, before anything else.

Unfortunately, after Black Zetsu realized how terrifying Mercenary Tao was and witnessed the emergence of the Golden Order, he temporarily abandoned Akatsuki’s operations. Sasori lost his support, and when Rasa rushed back to reinforce them, the assassination failed.

Bai Cangshu did not hurry to support the Land of Wind battlefield and seize the tailed beasts.

Instead, atop a cliff overlooking the cloud-shrouded gorge of the Land of Lightning, in the place where lightning was most active, he activated the special item, Hakkesshu’s Inheritance: Ororchi Yashiro.

Bai Cangshu was not worried about the negative effects of failing to use the item. His Consciousness Sea had long since become something like a miniature hell.

Yellow Springs flowed through it, and yin spirits covered the ground. Powerful spirits such as Satoru Gojo, Uchiha Madara, and the Death God were all contained within. What difference would one more Hakkesshu make?

He only worried that the inheritance he received would not be strong enough.

He clenched the magatama that constantly flickered with lightning and suddenly crushed it.

Now that dawn had come, Bai Cangshu had lost the full moon transformation effect of Silver Wolf Under the Moon, and his body had returned to normal.

Once the magatama shattered, the sky abruptly darkened. Dark clouds gathered above the gorge, and intense lightning continuously condensed within them.

Even the people of the Land of Lightning had rarely seen such a sight. It was as though those dark clouds were about to touch the mountaintops.

Crack!

A bolt of lightning illuminated the entire world, followed by a terrifying roar that drowned out every other sound.

Standing outside the royal capital, beneath the cliff, Hiranaka Minoru stared blankly at the scene, concern written across his face. He wanted to offer a prayer for Mercenary Tao, but he had been warned before that he was not allowed to set foot above.

"Minoru, what exactly… happened to you?"

Hiranaka Hana stood behind her husband, looking at the man who still wore that suit of heavy armor, her eyes filled with confusion.

She felt that her honest, simple-minded husband had become a different person after escaping from Konoha. Even now, he had not asked how everyone in town was doing, whether their neighbors were safe, or… whether she herself was afraid.

She reached out toward Hiranaka Minoru. Her husband was clearly standing right in front of her, yet she felt as if an immense distance separated them.

The golden ring in Hiranaka Minoru’s eyes grew increasingly solid. He realized that facing the wife he had once longed for day and night did not stir him as deeply as it should have. Or rather, his heart had already been filled with something far grander.

Hiranaka Minoru turned and met his wife’s gaze. His eyes became calm, and that golden radiance hurt Hiranaka Hana’s eyes.

Hiranaka Minoru said,

"I’m fine, Hana. I just…"

He tried not to look toward the chaotic royal capital. Hiranaka Minoru did not want to call Mercenary Tao’s frenzied "tyranny" from the previous night benevolence.

It was unrestrained recklessness, allowing everyone to make demands without limit, then having Mercenary Tao fulfill them with pure violence.

Under the temptation of that violence, he discovered that what most people craved in their bones was violence. Whether it was wealth or vengeance, beauty or power, all of it was rooted in violence against others.

"I just hope this world can become a little better."

"Hana, I hope you’ll never die. I hope Mother will never die. I hope everyone in town will never die. I hope… Yao will never die…"

Hiranaka Minoru murmured as if speaking to himself. The pain he had endured was probably all tied to those who had passed away. His mother, who had painstakingly raised him, had died of a sudden cold.

The war orphan he had taken in had been so kind and lovable, yet had died at the hands of another war orphan, all for the little bit of food he had left behind.

Hiranaka Minoru lowered his head to look at his wife, sorrow showing in his eyes.

"Death is so painful, Hana. A world where no one dies… I will make it come true. When that day comes…"

Smack!

A crisp slap rang out. Hiranaka Minoru felt no pain, but Hiranaka Hana’s right hand had nearly gone numb. Tears welled in the corners of her eyes. She could not tell whether it hurt because she had struck her husband’s armor, or because the person she knew had become a stranger.

"Minoru!"

"That kind of thing… that kind of thing has nothing to do with us…"

After following Mercenary Tao for the past seven or eight days, Hiranaka Hana had fully realized that this world did not belong to ordinary people like them, who lived diligently and honestly.

Those ninjas could casually kill dozens, even hundreds, of people like her;

while Mercenary Tao could casually kill hundreds of ninjas like those.

Seeing her husband stare at her blankly, Hiranaka Hana threw herself into his arms, tears spilling down her face.

"Let them fight over those things. Let them decide them. I… only want us to live well…"

"For Mother’s sake, and Yao’s too!"

"Mr. Nishikawa is dead, Mr. Kakuda is dead, everyone is dead! Minoru, you’re all I have left. Don’t do dangerous things. Don’t get mixed up with someone like Mercenary Tao!"

The woman wrapped her arms around her husband with all her strength, as if she wanted to meld her body into his armor, crying out herself hoarse.

Neither of them had emerged from those deaths, but life could not stand still. Rather than remain bound by the past, Hiranaka Hana hoped to face the future with her husband.

Looking at his wife clinging tightly to him, Hiranaka Minoru seemed to see how she had held him and wept after his mother and Yao died. But back then, he could not do anything.

"Things are different now…"

As Hiranaka Minoru spoke, a golden magic circle shone beneath him, and the radiance of the Golden Order grew brighter and brighter.

I will change this sorrowful world!

Hiranaka Minoru’s violently surging heart seemed to be calling for the descent of some Greater Will.

Hiranaka Hana bathed in the warm golden prayer, but her heart grew colder and colder.

She looked at her husband in despair, feeling that he had been occupied by something else. He could no longer see her. He would no longer clumsily bring her warmth.

How much more will this world take from me?

What must I do before a world like this is willing to let me be happy?

Hiranaka Hana released her grip on Hiranaka Minoru and turned to look at the mountaintop, now completely shrouded in black clouds. She knew that up there stood a true tyrant.

Perhaps only that person could…

Crack!

Another thunderbolt flashed. Amid the alternating light and darkness, Hiranaka Hana’s peaceful face flickered between brightness and shadow as well.