115 Steve Chapter 114
"Your Excellency... Did you seal Shukaku within that sword?"
"Yes, I did. What's your question?" Fang Mo replied, his face stern.
"How did you manage to do that?" Minato asked, astonished. "I know a bit about sealing jutsu, and while there have been precedents of sealing tailed beasts within objects, I've never heard of using a tailed beast's chakra through an object..."
"Is it impossible to extract a tailed beast's chakra without a Jinchuriki? Are Jinchuriki really that inconvenient?" Fang Mo glanced calmly at Minato and said, "Ultimately, it's because your bunch of brats has such low purity, like tiny specks of dust, not even a fraction of the power of Hashirama."
"Uh..." Minato was taken aback by Fang Mo's words but continued, "So, you plan to reclaim all nine tailed beasts using this method?"
"First, I will reclaim eight of them," Fang Mo replied calmly. "The Nine-Tails is still in Konoha, right? It can stay there for now. The immediate task is to reclaim the tailed beasts from the other hidden villages. Only then can we make them behave a bit."
"Is that so?" Minato breathed a sigh of relief.
"You, young one, what's your name?" Fang Mo asked, seeing Minato relaxing a bit.
"Minato," Minato replied.
"Oh?" Fang Mo raised an eyebrow. "No noble bloodline, yet you mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique of Tobirama? Not bad. It seems Konoha today is not entirely without merit."
After saying that, Fang Mo suddenly threw the Sword of Shukaku towards Minato.
"!?" Minato was startled but instinctively caught the large sword flying towards him.
"What is this, Your Excellency..." Looking at the sword surrounded by countless grains of sand and inscriptions, Minato was utterly puzzled.
"The Flying Thunder God Technique consumes a lot of chakra. You can borrow this sword for now," Fang Mo said calmly. "Because of that idiot, Hashirama, the five great nations have been at war for years. I bet even Konoha's shinobi have suffered heavy losses."
"Konoha is now under my control, and I won't allow these precious living forces to be wasted meaninglessly on the battlefield. I'll lend you this Sword of Shukaku. Although your talent is far from being one in a million like mine, it shouldn't take you long to master this sword. When the time comes, you can use it to defeat the enemy army and maximize the chance of survival for the other Konoha shinobi."
"This... What?" Minato was stunned after hearing Fang Mo's words.
To be honest, Minato didn't know much about this legendary ninja. He only knew that Madara was an arrogant, crazy guy who was defeated by the First Hokage, Hashirama, because he wanted to destroy the village.
However, the words Fang Mo had just spoken left him dumbfounded. To protect the living forces of the village, he casually gave away a sword that could seal tailed beasts?
In this moment, Minato was having a hard time figuring out who this person in front of him really was.
Could he really be Madara?
His way of speaking, his aura, his beliefs, power, and appearance were exactly like Madara, but could he really be him?
Since when did the Uchiha clan start caring about protecting Konoha? And would they think of ways to protect the lives of other shinobi? Could this really be something Madara, who viewed everyone with disdain, would do?
"What is your plan, then?" Minato couldn't help but ask.
"Of course, it is to completely sever the root cause of this hatred!" Fang Mo waved his hand with the unique arrogance of the Uchiha clan. "I will use these crimson eyes to burn the decaying land! There will no longer be the five great shinobi villages or the five great nations. From now on, there will be only one Shinobi Land. The chakra of shinobi should not be used for killing but to transform this world. Hunger, pain, everything will be driven away from us!"
"We will eventually break free from the shackles of this small world and ascend to the heights of heaven!"
"This... " Minato stared at Fang Mo in a daze.
He felt like something deep within his heart was slightly moved. It was an indescribable emotion, as if his reason and ideals were clashing in his mind, leaving him torn. Minato truly wanted the world to become peaceful and prosperous, but the education and experiences he had received made it difficult for him to possess the same determination and courage as Fang Mo.
In simpler terms, Minato's reason told him that the five great shinobi villages and nations must remain, rules must not be broken, and Fang Mo's ideals were too insane and had to be stopped.
But at the same time, his own ideals, like a seed, had already deeply rooted itself in his heart. After listening to Fang Mo's words, it began to rapidly grow, telling Minato that this was a path full of light, a truly new path.
"But that will surely cause many sacrifices, right?" Minato hesitated.
"Sacrifices are inevitable," Fang Mo replied, looking at Minato. He calmly asked, "Ask yourself, if you don't do it this way, will innocent sacrifices decrease in this world?"
"But..." Minato seemed to want to say something, but before he could speak, Fang Mo suddenly placed a hand on his shoulder.
"It is precisely because we don't want them to sacrifice in vain that we must bring about change," Fang Mo said as he looked at Minato. "Young one, this world has souls, and they all wait for us in the afterlife. Do you want to tell them after your death that nothing has changed in this world? Or do you want to return to the afterlife with glory, proudly responding to the expectations of those children? Tell them that you spent your life changing this world, so there will be no more pain and conflict in the world?"
"The five great nations, the five great shinobi villages, and even my own clan and descendants... They are all so shallow."
With one hand on Minato's shoulder, Fang Mo looked up at the sky.
"People fight for power on this vast land, they antagonize each other for the smallest benefits, and they kill each other. Hmph... This world is full of prisoners, looking out through the window of destiny, all looking down on the earth."
"Only I look up at the stars."
