At Odds and Petrification

"A terrifying Genjutsu?"

Vegapunk tilted his head, his expression a half-smile:

"I don't think this Genjutsu is scary at all. It's just fulfilling everyone's dreams. Is it really that terrifying?"

Minato Namikaze frowned, looking at Vegapunk with a serious expression:

"Doesn't this incident demonstrate just how terrifying this Genjutsu is? If this continues, most people in the world will become addicted to this horrific Genjutsu and won't want to wake up!"

Vegapunk's smile slowly faded. He glanced seriously at the somewhat agitated Minato Namikaze and said calmly:

"No, what's truly terrifying isn't Genjutsu itself. Genjutsu merely offers people a perfect life to make up for their regrets—what's truly terrifying is this Hell world!"

The conflicts in the Ninja World are even more frequent and chaotic than those in the Pirate World. The Pirate World seems to be in constant warfare, but a large part of the reason for this is that the World Government has ruled the sea for 800 years, which has reached the limit of the dynastic cycle, leading to this chaos.

If we go back in time, while the Pirate World wasn't exactly a great place, with pirates still roaming the high seas, the various Affiliated Nation as a whole didn't experience as much war and chaos.

The Ninja World is different. These ninjas seem to be able to launch wars recklessly for any reason, and they don't care about anyone's life at all.

It's important to understand that the most brutal era of the ninja clans only ended 50 years ago. According to the dynastic cycle, theoretically, this period should be a golden time for the newly established Five Great Nations and Five Great Shinobi Villages to recuperate and develop normally. In fact, this 50-year period should be the most peaceful and prosperous period.

As a result, these ninjas launched three Ninja World War in 50 years, leaving the world devastated and causing heavy casualties in Major Ninja Villages. Many ninjas cursed the cruelty of war while going to the battlefield without hesitation.

If the Major Ninja Villages were aiming to unify the world, Vegapunk could understand it somewhat, since even within the dynastic cycle, there are special eras like the Spring Sengoku.

However, in reality, none of the battles between the Major Ninja Villages were for the clear goal of unifying the world. They were mostly just for the struggle for interests, or to put it bluntly, for robbery.

There may be some hatred between the Major Ninja Villages involved, but to say that these constitute the real reason for the war is unacceptable.

Hearing Vegapunk's words, Minato Namikaze's expression turned somewhat unpleasant, but he still tried his best to refute them:

"Konoha has always been the one being invaded; we are only doing this to protect our own ninja village..."

Vegapunk glanced at Minato Namikaze with a half-smile on his face. However, Minato noticed Vegapunk's expression halfway through his sentence, Minato Namikaze his own face turned slightly red.

Although Konoha is the village most frequently invaded, it would be a joke to say that it has never interfered with other countries. At least when the Rain Country was ambitiously trying to become the sixth great ninja village, Konoha was the first to take the lead in attacking it. Otherwise, why would Hanzo the Salamander have gone against the Sannin?

As the Fourth Hokage, who is now almost certain to be chosen, Minato Namikaze is quite familiar with the dark side of Konoha. He already knows that Konoha is not some great and righteous savior of the Ninja World, and its dark history is no less than that of other ninja villages.

But no matter what, Konoha is the village where he was born, so his stance is definitely on Konoha's side.

When Minato Namikaze fell silent, Vegapunk finally spoke:

"What happens to Konoha is none of my business, and I don't believe the world is in chaos because of my Genjutsu. If you want me to stop, I think words alone won't be enough!"

"So, will you continue using this Genjutsu? It seems I have no choice but to defeat you directly!"

Minato Namikaze took a breath and fixed his gaze on Vegapunk.

At this moment, Obito Uchiha to the side, finally couldn't hold back any longer and hurriedly spoke up:

"Um... Minato... and senpai, you guys..."

"Alright, kid, that's enough!"

The Masked Man in Young Obito's mind, another Obito Uchiha spoke up directly.

"Everyone has their own beliefs and path. When two people's paths clash, then only fists can determine right and wrong!"

"There's only one question now, kid, which side do you want to choose?"

Young Obito stared wide-eyed, speechless for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "I... I choose Mizuki-sensei!"

Obito Uchiha was not surprised at all by Young Obito's choice. To be precise, the more miserable and unsuccessful a person's life is in reality, the more they yearn for Vegapunk's Chakra Network Genjutsu space.

Conversely, those who are currently successful and popular, like Minato Namikaze Obito Uchiha, would definitely choose the current world.

Unfortunately... no matter what choice the other side makes, it won't change the fact they have to face. Right now, Minato Namikaze and Konohagakure have no idea who they're dealing with.

Before Vegapunk could even utter a word in response to Minato Namikaze's declaration of war, Hancock was already the first to step forward:

"You laughable insect, how dare you be so disrespectful to my husband! Are you prepared to atone with your death?"

Even though Minato Namikaze was on high alert, he couldn't help but frown after hearing Hancock's words. This woman was indeed incredibly beautiful, but wasn't she a little too arrogant?

However, Minato Namikaze quickly lost his temper and stopped complaining. As Hancock stepped out, she released her Chakra, and Minato Namikaze immediately felt dizzy and weak in the knees, almost fainting.

As for Obito Uchiha, he was already kneeling on the ground, panting heavily, and almost unconscious.

Is this Chakra? This is a sun!! Even though Minato Namikaze's sensory abilities weren't strong, he could still feel the overwhelming level of Chakra emanating from Hancock, which was beyond imagination.

In general, the Chakra reserves of humanoid ninjas in the Ninja World are enormous, often referred to as the chakra reserves of Tailed Beast. Minato Chakra, who had fought against Jinchuriki and even had a Jinchuriki wife, had naturally sensed just how vast the Chakra Minato Namikaze of Tailed Beast were.

However, in Minato Namikaze's perception, Hancock's Chakra reserves were worlds apart from the Nine-Tails', which possessed the most Chakra. The Nine-Tails' terrifying Chakra reserves were like a drop of water in a lake compared to Hancock's!

"How... how is this possible..."

Minato Namikaze's eyes flickered, revealing an expression of near despair. It wasn't that he lacked mental fortitude, but rather that the gap between the two was simply too vast!

Although Chakra cannot truly represent a ninja's strength, when a ninja's Chakra is enough to completely overwhelm all the Chakra in the world, it has already completely transformed from a quantitative change to a qualitative one!

Even a Great Fireball, amplified by this amount of Chakra, would be comparable to the power of Tailed Beast Ball, easily capable of blasting away half of Konoha.

With a snap, a scream came from the nearby forest. A moment later, Kushina Uzumaki Red Hair, walked out tremblingly, gritting her teeth as she looked at Vegapunk and his group, her body shaking and her forehead covered in cold sweat.

"Kushina, what are you doing here? Go back!"

Upon seeing Kushina Uzumaki appear, Minato Namikaze shouted, his face pale.

In fact, Kushina Uzumaki discovered Vegapunk and his group faster than Minato Namikaze, after all, she had a natural advantage in finding people because she possessed Mind's Eye of the Kagura.

Moreover, Kushina Uzumaki was very familiar with the Chakra of the four of them. Even though they had restrained their Chakra this time, Kushina Uzumaki could still sense the characteristics of their Chakra.

However, it was precisely because Hancock and Kaguya Otsutsuki had both restrained their Chakra that Kushina Uzumaki initially showed no fear. After discovering that Minato Namikaze's Chakra had met Chakra of Vegapunk and the others, she rushed over there in a hurry.

Although Kakashi Hatake was on guard around the perimeter, Kakashi certainly couldn't stop his teacher's wife, so Kushina Uzumaki was also squatting in the woods outside the Training Ground at the beginning, watching the situation inside.

Just when it seemed the two sides were about to fight because they couldn't reach an agreement, Kushina Uzumaki prepared to step in to help Minato. However, she was startled by the terrifying Chakra that Hancock unleashed. When she appeared, she didn't seem to be there to fight, but rather like a frightened kitten or puppy.

However, after hearing Minato Namikaze's words, Kushina Uzumaki mustered her courage and stood directly beside him, looking at Minato Namikaze Vegapunk his group. "I'm not leaving! Minato! We'd rather die together!"

Kushina Uzumaki was, after all, a ninja, not some heroine from a romance drama who insisted on dragging everyone down with her.

However, after sensing Hancock's Chakra, she was completely desperate and didn't even think that Minato Namikaze could create a miracle. So now she was just standing with Minato Namikaze with the idea of dying for love.

Perhaps Minato Namikaze also saw through Kushina Uzumaki's thoughts. He gritted his teeth slightly and threw out a bunch of Trident- like Kunai.

However, Hancock chuckled coldly, gently raised one hand, and a pink Light Orb appeared in her palm.

"Space-Time Ninjutsu? I'll just cover the entire area, and see how you can escape then?!"

Holding the pink Light Orb in front of her, Hancock gently blew on it, and the Light Orb instantly transformed into a fan-shaped pink light. When the light disappeared, a petrified world lay before her.

The land, trees, birds, insects, Kunai... everything that was illuminated by the pink light has turned into gray stones. This is the Love-Love Fruit, which Hancock has developed to an unbelievable level as her strength has increased!

"Honey, what are you going to do with them?"

After turning all three ninjas on the other side into stone statues, Hancock turned to Vegapunk and asked him a question.

"Let's leave it at that for now! After some time, when things have settled down and everyone has gotten used to the Genjutsu space, you can go and remove their petrification."

Vegapunk glanced at the three stone statues in front of him and spoke.

He didn't care about the lives of those few people, but Obito Uchiha, who was now working under him, certainly wouldn't. Vegapunk therefore made an exception and allowed them to recover.

Most importantly, even Minato Namikaze is insignificant to Vegapunk's plans. Even if he wanted to stop him, he would only be crushed to ashes by the overwhelming force of the tide.

"Since you've put it that way, my dear, then I'll set a petrification period for them. My abilities have improved again, and I can now choose between permanent and temporary petrification. After about ten days, these people will recover!"

Hancock nodded, granting Vegapunk's request, and lightly touched the three statues.

"Alright, now that we know what will happen after the Infinite Tsukuyomi is deployed, let's leave!"

Vegapunk spoke somewhat listlessly, and Hancock asked in surprise:

"Shouldn't we go and check out other ninja villages and countries?"

"No need... They're probably all pretty much the same anyway!"

Vegapunk waved his hand, saying that even though Konoha had a lot of scandals, its national happiness and ninja happiness were actually quite high in this world. In other ninja villages, the situation would only be more serious than in Konoha.

Having learned from this experience, Vegapunk will be more careful in deploying his Chakra Network in the future Ninja World, at least he won't trigger a large number of mentally ill people like this time.

Vegapunk and his group came and went in a hurry, easily leaving Konohagakure using Space-Time Ninjutsu.

Kakashi Hatake had been keeping watch on the perimeter, did not turn to stone. Under the intimidation of Hancock 'Chakra, he had no intention of going up to his death. Instead, he hurriedly went to find reinforcements.

When Kakashi found the Third Hokage, who was already in the process of handing over the reins, the Third Hokage, who was waiting to retire, was immediately shocked and rushed to the Training Ground with a group of ninjas.

Upon arriving at the Training Ground, everyone saw a fan-shaped petrified area stretching over a thousand meters, along with the petrified Fourth Hokage, the former Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, and Obito Uchiha.

There was absolutely nothing any ninja could do about this petrification Ninjutsu. In fact, most ninjas believed that being petrified was an irreversible change. However, the group of ninjas, just in case, carefully preserved the three stone statues instead of burying them directly.

Ignoring the current state of Konoha, Vegapunk returned to the moon and began to modify the Sealing Array there. Unlike the last time when everyone entered their own perfect world separately, this time, Vegapunk was preparing to connect everyone.

That evening, the second wave of Infinite Tsukuyomi as scheduled. However, unlike the first Infinite Tsukuyomi which only allowed people to have sweet dreams, this time everyone who entered the Infinite Tsukuyomi space ended up in the same space.