The Spread of Red Ideology and Return

Early in the morning, the awakened ‘Hyuga Mirai’ looked exhausted and listlessly finished washing up.

He truly did not want to experience last night’s nightmare a second time. He had clearly already graduated from the Ninja Academy, yet he had to undergo those terrifying cultural classes again—and what he learned in the dream was completely different from what he had learned at the academy.

Everything that had happened in the dream was clearly imprinted in ‘Hyuga Mirai’s’ mind, including the knowledge he had learned.

Today was his first day as one of the Sannin, Orochimaru’s, disciples, so ‘Hyuga Mirai’ needed to get there early and make a good impression.

Orochimaru was even stronger than the Hyuga Clan head. Although ‘Hyuga Mirai’ did not know who had asked Orochimaru to take him as a disciple, learning strength from Orochimaru and then protecting Kiyomi-sama was his most fundamental goal.

"Morning, Kiyomi-sama."

‘Hyuga Mirai’ came to Hyuga Kiyomi’s courtyard and greeted her. Before he arrived, Hyuga Kiyomi had already prepared a bento box. Since ‘Hyuga Mirai’ had become Orochimaru’s disciple, he would likely have much less free time every day, so Hyuga Kiyomi had decisively taken over chores like preparing bento boxes.

Although her cooking was merely average, it could still save ‘Hyuga Mirai’ quite a bit of time.

"Mirai, you don’t look very well. Did something happen?"

"It’s nothing, Kiyomi-sama. It was still that dream from yesterday, except it got even more terrifying." ‘Hyuga Mirai’ yawned. Although his body was not particularly tired, the knowledge he had learned in the dream lingered in his mind like a swarm of flies, impossible to drive away.

"Terrifying?"

Hyuga Kiyomi did not quite understand. Training in the Gentle Fist in a dream should not have been terrifying, right?

"Yeah, that dream is getting more and more outrageous. Now it’s not just training in the Gentle Fist—it also gave me half a day of… what was it called? Political Ideology Class. The things it taught me in the dream made my head hurt."

"It said things like how the development of the Ninja World was full of contradictions and interests, how Ninja represented by extraordinary power and the noble class led by the Daimyo, Civilians and the Daimyo, Ninja… were opposed yet united. Anyway, it all sounded incredibly troublesome."

‘Hyuga Mirai’ complained listlessly to Hyuga Kiyomi. Half of last night’s dream had been spent on that. Compared to it, ‘Hyuga Mirai’ still preferred learning the Gentle Fist in his dreams.

"Mirai, do you still remember all that?"

"Of course, Kiyomi-sama. I remember everything from the dream very clearly." Through the Nano Ring as a transmitter, Chakra had been directly sent into ‘Hyuga Mirai’s’ mind in the form of the Spirit Transformation Technique. There was no way he could forget it anytime soon.

Upon hearing that, Hyuga Kiyomi smiled and said, "Then when you come back, teach me what you learned in the dream." After briefly listening to what ‘Hyuga Mirai’ had said, she found it rather interesting. Her Grandfather had mentioned some of those things to her before, though never as clearly as ‘Hyuga Mirai’ had put them.

"Of course, no problem, Kiyomi-sama."

‘Hyuga Mirai’ agreed immediately. Then, picking up the bento box, he prepared to go find Orochimaru. It was his first time being a Sannin’s disciple. With no experience to rely on, ‘Hyuga Mirai’ could only arrive early and obey Orochimaru’s every instruction.

By the time ‘Hyuga Mirai’ reached the place Orochimaru had told him about, he saw Orochimaru waiting there for quite some time. However, this was merely one of his Shadow Clones; the real Orochimaru was busy with research.

After seeing ‘Hyuga Mirai,’ Orochimaru said, "Mirai-kun, I more or less understand your situation. You have the strength of a Genin but lack the corresponding experience. From now on, I will make you grow as quickly as possible."

"I understand, Orochimaru-sensei!"

‘Hyuga Mirai’ had run all the way here, yet he had not expected Orochimaru to arrive even earlier. Still, he slightly raised the bento box and said to Orochimaru, "Orochimaru-sensei, I prepared a Bento for you too."

A Bento.

Looking at the bento box held out before him, Orochimaru could not help but smile. "No need, Mirai-kun. I am only a Shadow Clone. If you complete the missions quickly enough, you can deliver it to my Experiment Base before nightfall."

"Let’s go. Today, we have two C-rank Missions. They are fairly close to Konoha, but if you are too slow, Mirai-kun, you will have to camp in the wilderness."

Orochimaru had never taught disciples step by step. Giving ‘Hyuga Mirai’ a few C-rank Missions as a transition was already him taking care of the boy.

A thirteen-year-old Hyuga Branch Family Genin who had only ever done D-rank Missions in the village—if Orochimaru had not been worried that B-rank Missions might get ‘Hyuga Mirai’ killed, he would have directly taken two B-rank Missions for ‘Hyuga Mirai’ to cut his teeth on.

Tempering oneself between life and death was the best teacher. Orochimaru’s first disciple, Nawaki, had died in the Shinobi World War precisely because Orochimaru had taught him conventionally and gently, leaving him unaware of the war’s cruelty.

From then on, Orochimaru gained a new understanding of life. Even if he took another disciple, he would not patiently guide them. Instead, he would make them grow at the fastest possible pace, allowing them to understand this world for themselves.

Anko had been taught this way, and so would the ‘Hyuga Mirai’ before him.

Hehe, his personality is somewhat like Nawaki’s. I hope you can show me what is special about you. Why did you draw the Senju Clan’s interest?

Orochimaru’s Shadow Clone smiled to himself, then led ‘Hyuga Mirai’ out of the village.

A Shadow Clone of one of the Sannin was enough to handle any mission below A-rank.

Orochimaru could only gain the absorption and use of Natural Energy after producing results. Through experimentation, he had already proven that the fusion method for Hashirama Cells given by that Mirai was indeed effective.

Following this direction of research could indeed reproduce the Wood Release Kekkei Genkai. However, due to individual differences in the test subjects, it was difficult to completely replicate the Wood Release that had once pacified the chaotic age.

Still, enhanced cellular vitality, increased Chakra reserves, and the Wood Release Kekkei Genkai could all be recreated.

With the support of Sage Art, perhaps they could truly recreate thirty percent of Hashirama Senju’s strength.

Land of Waves.

After leaving Konoha, Hyuga Mirai had traveled here while writing along the way.

As for writing, he had already completed a book titled "Objective View of the World—From a Ninja’s Perspective." If he had named it "Dialectical Materialism" from the very beginning, no one would have cared even if it were published.

In the Ninja World, only things connected to Ninja could stir the curiosity of Civilians and other non-ninja.

After all, Ninja were both the closest and most distant existence to them. People could hire Ninja with money to complete missions, but many also feared Ninja who could easily take lives and possessed terrifying power capable of destroying heaven and earth.

If he wanted to stir up a Red Storm in this space-time, relying on Hyuga Mirai alone would likely be difficult. He already understood that personality—it was practically the kind he hated most.

But if that personality possessed strength as well, it would absolutely make the ideal red leader. In comparison, Hyuga Mirai could not do it. He was far too selfish, always considering himself first. Even if he used the banner of reforming the Ninja World, it would only be to facilitate his own research and desires.

"Now I only need to publish it and let more people see it."

Without hesitation, Hyuga Mirai added the name "Mirai" to the end of the book’s title, then began writing the next one. This was still rather troublesome for him. To write an ideological book that contained genuine interest, he could only dress it up in Ninja themes.

Hyuga Mirai did not travel quickly, but he had still taken only three days to reach the Land of Waves from the Land of Fire. That was only because he frequently stopped to write.

Although the Land of Waves was a precarious small country in the Ninja World, it had an enormously wealthy man named Gato.

He controlled trade between two countries and maritime shipping. At a time when transportation was underdeveloped and nations were hostile to one another, sea transport was the mainstream of commercial exchange.

Although Gato had holed up in a tiny place like the Land of Waves, that was precisely where his cleverness lay. With no Ninja Village and weak national power, the country was easy to control. A few wandering ninja and Samurai were enough for him to amass immense wealth.

Even the skinniest rat could be squeezed for a bit of meat, much less the people of the Land of Waves, who lived by the sea.

Thus, during wartime, Gato took advantage of disrupted transport in the Land of Fire to vigorously develop maritime shipping, building his trading company into an impressively large enterprise.

It was precisely by taking advantage of the Shinobi World War that he gained the strength to seize the Daimyo’s authority in the Land of Waves.

However, by the time Hyuga Mirai arrived here, Gato’s wealth, power, and everything else had all been stripped away.

Under the dual control of Genjutsu Hypnosis and the Soul Cursed Seal, an ordinary person like Gato had no ability to resist.

He could only obediently follow Hyuga Mirai’s orders, and through long-term subtle influence, Gato would come to regard Hyuga Mirai as his sole faith.

This was the result of the Chakra within the Soul Cursed Seal subtly influencing him.

More than a month later.

Several Red Ideological Books disguised as Ninja travelogues gradually began to be published throughout the Ninja World. With Gato’s trading company and wealth, publishing a book was effortless. Besides, Hyuga Mirai’s books were genuinely interesting, using a Ninja’s perspective to address all sorts of matters within the Ninja World and spread red ideology.

During the period when he was writing, Hyuga Mirai also did quite a few other things. For example, he made that Branch Family boy in Konoha fall unconscious for more than ten days, then used a brush to draw a Curse Mark on his head.

"When Orochimaru gets serious, he really is a very good teacher. Then I’ll pass the method for absorbing and refining Natural Energy on to him. It will also make him value this newly accepted disciple even more."

As for the method he intended to pass to Orochimaru, Hyuga Mirai naturally would not return to Konoha to find him. Instead, he would use the T1 Armor to transmit it over a long distance to ‘Hyuga Mirai,’ who would then tell Orochimaru.

"The seal feels like it is faintly stirring. It seems Android 18 is close to pinpointing this space-time and finding me."

"Everything I have done followed my heart, and I have deliberately been making ‘Hyuga Mirai’ stronger. Once I return, the two space-times will become more easily traversable through the entanglement of the Quantum Magnetic Field. If the ‘Hyuga Mirai’ of this world can truly break through the predetermined future, then he will search for me through time."

All of Hyuga Mirai’s deductions rested on the fact that Uzumaki Naruto had never appeared in his own space-time. If, after he returned this time, Namikaze Minato no longer remembered why he had defected, then it would prove that Hyuga Mirai had indeed changed the predetermined course of this Ninja World and thereby affected the space-time where he belonged.

Buzz.

As Hyuga Mirai was thinking, a layer of white light suddenly emerged from his body. He sensed that this world had undergone a slight change. If he had instruments, he could have reached a more accurate conclusion.

"Magnetic field detection, Android 18."

The Android 18 Hyuga Mirai referred to now was merely the artificial intelligence support system inside the T1 Armor. The armor also possessed detection equipment, which could record the changes in his body and bring them back for later study.

However, an idea suddenly flashed through Hyuga Mirai’s mind.

"Is this also a choice that will change the future?"

He could use the armor to detect the changes and bring the data back for research, or he could leave the armor behind.

Space-Time Travel was always the experiment most difficult to produce concrete results from. Such an opportunity was rare. If he missed it, Hyuga Mirai feared he would lose his appetite for three days.

"If my deduction is correct, this armor will return to my hands sooner or later. It will only be a little later. Damn it, Hyuga Mirai, pull yourself together."

For a moment, Hyuga Mirai did not know whether he was cursing himself or the Branch Family boy currently escorting a merchant caravan.

Sage Art Seal!

Hyuga Mirai activated Sage Mode and poured all the immense Sage Chakra in his body into the armor. Then he removed the wristwatch’s control, completely transferring the control authority and artificial intelligence system to that ring.

After doing this, the white light around Hyuga Mirai grew even brighter.

"I hope my deduction is right."

After saying that, Hyuga Mirai directly had the armor throw itself away.

Then, in distant Rōran, the Dragon Vein suddenly erupted with a beam of purple light that shot into the sky, completely shattering Hyuga Mirai’s Sealing Technique.

At the instant the seal shattered, the white light around Hyuga Mirai in the Land of Waves seemed to answer a summons, instantly releasing a dazzling aurora as brilliant as the blazing sun.

However, it lasted only an instant. Once the aurora vanished, Hyuga Mirai’s figure vanished from where he stood as well.