Sasuke glared at the old man before him, who had lowered his head, but said nothing. He merely snorted coldly. Li Yue likewise said nothing, simply smiling as he watched Hiruzen Sarutobi.
This had all been Li Yue's arrangement.
Hiruzen Sarutobi had originally wanted to handle the matter discreetly, reporting only the investigation results to Sasuke and minimizing the fallout as much as possible. But Li Yue had rejected that outright. Left with no choice, Hiruzen Sarutobi could only make the findings public. Though he had dumped all the blame onto Shimura Danzō and Root, as the Hokage, he naturally could not remain completely uninvolved. With Konoha's ninjas facing a crisis of trust in the higher-ups, he had no choice but to resign.
However, he would not give up just like that. When it came to choosing the Fifth Hokage, he would bring one of his disciples back from outside, then select one from among his disciples to become Hokage.
But none of that had any impact on Li Yue. All he needed to do was kill Shimura Danzō.
The most annoying thing about Konoha was the Leaf F4. They were behind one hundred percent of Konoha's problems, especially Shimura Danzō. The man was weak but loved making trouble. Well, it was not quite right to call him weak—he was indeed an Elite Jonin—but his ability to stir up trouble far exceeded his strength. Especially under Hiruzen Sarutobi's protection, he waved the banner of doing things for Konoha, relied on his status as a Konoha elder, and secretly caused chaos everywhere.
But Li Yue was not from Konoha, so he did not care in the slightest about killing him. What happened to Konoha was none of his concern. The ninjas of this entire village were nothing more than mercenaries. As long as he was having fun and did not have to be disgusted by people like Shimura Danzō, he could just kill Shimura Danzō the moment he arrived.
As for whether Hiruzen Sarutobi would seek revenge for Shimura Danzō? Simple. Would he choose his beloved Danzō, who was already dead, or the Sarutobi clan behind him?
The Uchiha clan could be wiped out, so why could the Sarutobi clan not be wiped out?
Hiruzen Sarutobi loved playing the bonds game most of all, so the Sarutobi clan naturally counted as one of his bonds. Li Yue would not threaten all of Konoha; he would target only the Sarutobi clan. That way, Hiruzen Sarutobi would not think of fighting Li Yue to the death and might even be willing to cooperate with him.
Hiruzen Sarutobi had finished speaking. Now it was Li Yue's turn.
Li Yue directly lifted Sasuke up, stepped past Hiruzen Sarutobi, and walked to the front so that all the ninjas in the plaza below could see them.
"Is that the Uchiha survivor?"
"That's Second Pillar, but who's the other person?"
"No, didn't the Hokage just say it? There's no longer an Uchiha clan. It's called the Otsutsuki clan now."
"What does Otsutsuki clan mean?"
"I don't know. I've never heard of it."
The ninjas below began whispering among themselves as they watched the two newcomers.
"Shut the hell up!!!"
Li Yue released a burst of Reiatsu, and everyone felt a crushing pressure descend upon them. However, because Li Yue had controlled his output, they did not collapse straight to the ground. Even so, the sudden weight successfully shut them all up.
"You're chattering and squawking like a flock of sparrows. You trash are so damn noisy. Shut up!"
Li Yue's sudden scolding made Sasuke and Hiruzen Sarutobi, standing beside him, twitch at the corners of their eyes. This butler's way of speaking was still as... explosive as ever!
Hearing Li Yue's explosive words, the ninjas below were stunned for a moment. But after recovering from their shock, they began shouting one after another.
"What the hell! Who are you?"
"Yeah! Who are you to talk like that in Konoha?"
"Who do you think you are? How dare you call us trash? This is Konoha!"
"I said, shut up!!"
Li Yue's Kensei Muguruma-level Reiatsu erupted in full. Though he had not used Bankai, the immense pressure of Captain level bore down on the souls of the ninjas below with unbearable weight, forcing everyone onto the ground.
"H-How is this possible?!"
"What... what is happening?!"
"I... I can't... breathe!"
The ninjas present had been completely wiped out!
And that was not all. Li Yue stomped his foot, and the enormous Wood Person that had appeared at the academy emerged once more!
The enormous Wood Person directly burst through the entire Hokage Building, occupying the site where it had stood and appearing before Konoha's ninjas. Li Yue stood on its shoulder, his hands folded behind his back, while Hiruzen Sarutobi and Sasuke stood to his left.
Looking at the massive Wood Person beneath his feet, Hiruzen Sarutobi's eye twitched. My Hokage Building... my Hokage Building that I just renovated...
The Wood Person's intimidation effect was indeed more effective than Reiatsu. Konoha's villagers had already seen the gigantic Wood Person at the academy and had been shocked by it. The Wood Style that had once allowed the First Hokage to pacify the world had appeared again. Now, that enormous Wood Person stood directly before them, delivering a second blow that left no one daring to speak.
Senju Hashirama's influence was simply that immense!
Malada, look at yourself. You just can't compare to Hashirama. After you came back to life, a bunch of people dared charge at you with kunai! How embarrassing!
Li Yue nodded in satisfaction at the Konoha ninjas' silence.
"Trash finally knows how to shut up. Good!"
"Who I am is none of your concern, because trash like you are not qualified to hear my name!"
"You only need to know that I am Otsutsuki Indra's butler. The only reason I came to Konoha was to ensure that this useless and incompetent trash, Otsutsuki Sasuke, could continue his bloodline!"
His fists clenched again!
Sasuke clenched his fists, desperately wanting to punch Li Yue. But his instincts told him that if he dared make a move, he would be flattened to the ground the instant he did, then cursed out by Li Yue until he was drenched in spit.
"As for what the Otsutsuki clan is, you only need to know that it is a lofty peak that trash like you can only ever look up to. Just like now—lying on the ground like discarded garbage and raising your heads to gaze up at it!"
Damn it!
The ninjas lying on the ground were already struggling to raise their heads. Hearing Li Yue's words, they all wanted to curse aloud, but the pressure on their bodies was too great for them to even speak.
"If you truly want to behold the glory of Otsutsuki Indra, you can ask that innately evil Sarutobi Brat directly. This trash may be useless and incompetent, but as the village chief of you trash, he at least has an obligation to let you understand the greatness of the Otsutsuki clan, so that you trash do not recklessly offend the noble Otsutsuki clan!"
The innately evil Sarutobi Brat? Village chief? Was he talking about the Hokage?
The ninjas who had wanted to curse all turned to look at Hiruzen Sarutobi beside Li Yue with strange expressions.
#!
Hiruzen Sarutobi's fists clenched!
"Of course, you trash are lucky, because I will now give you an opportunity!"
Li Yue shoved Sasuke forward.
"Because I know you are trash, my expectations for you are very low. As long as you trash can meet my minimum standard of approval, you may become the wife of the Otsutsuki clan head!"
"Huh?"
Sasuke stared at Li Yue in utter confusion, and Li Yue immediately snapped back at him.
"Huh what, useless trash? How else do you think the Otsutsuki clan continues its bloodline?"
After a single sentence left Sasuke stunned, Li Yue spoke again.
"As long as you gain my approval, you can join the Otsutsuki clan, then unite with this useless trash, bear descendants with Otsutsuki blood, and raise them to adulthood!"
"I don't care what backwater village you come from, and I don't care about your status. Ninja or civilian, either is fine. So long as you are a woman of suitable age, there is no limit to the number! As long as you gain my approval, I will grant you absolute protection. Even this trash village chief will not dare touch you. No one can do anything about it. I said so!"
Li Yue's words once again shocked everyone present. Once Li Yue finished speaking and withdrew his Reiatsu, the ninjas lying on the ground finally let out cries of astonishment.
"What!!!?" XN
This was called World Marriage!!
World Focuses on Konoha
The shinobi world welcomed an extraordinary day, whether for ninjas or ordinary civilians.
The Otsutsuki clan's butler was arranging a World Marriage for the clan head!
"Konoha elder Shimura Danzō coveted the Uchiha clan's power, joined forces with Uchiha Itachi to slaughter the Uchiha clan, then took the Uchiha clan's Sharingan for himself. Now that it has been exposed, he was killed?"
"The Senju clan was the culprit behind a thousand years of war in the shinobi world!? Huh!?"
"Regardless of village or whether they are ninjas, as long as they can pass the butler's approval, they can become the wife of the Otsutsuki clan head, receive the butler's protection, and be responsible for uniting with Otsutsuki Sasuke, the Otsutsuki clan head, to give birth to new Otsutsuki blood?"
The village chief of Kumogakure, Fourth Raikage Ai, looked at the intelligence in his hand, his face full of question marks.
"What is this intelligence report? What the hell is all this? Konoha's elders know how to play that hard? They exterminated the Uchiha clan just for the Sharingan? And what is this Otsutsuki clan?"
"Lord Raikage, the Otsutsuki clan is the Uchiha clan. According to the information we have obtained, the Otsutsuki clan is the Uchiha clan's ancestor."
"The Uchiha clan's ancestor?"
The Raikage became interested.
"Explain it carefully. What exactly happened?"
"Based on the messages sent back by our intelligence agents in Konoha, this is what happened."
Inside the Raikage's office, he listened to the intelligence concerning the Otsutsuki clan, and his brows furrowed deeper the more he heard.
The same situation was playing out in the offices of the village chiefs in other villages.
The Mist Village, Stone Village, and Sand Village had all received intelligence concerning Konoha.
They had not even needed to use their own intelligence agents, because Li Yue's marriage announcement in front of the village chief's building had not avoided civilians at all. Merchants could easily carry the news outward.
For the village chiefs of every village, the revelation that the Uchiha clan had been exterminated by Shimura Danzō was not impossible to accept. In this era, the Uchiha clan was merely a Kekkei Genkai clan, albeit the strongest among them. The Uchiha clan was not the only Kekkei Genkai clan to be exterminated. Just look next door at Kirigakure, which had been utterly ravaged by Tsuchikage.
But the claim that the Senju clan was an innately evil clan was extremely explosive. Senju Hashirama, as the God of Shinobi, had joined forces with Uchiha Madara to end the chaotic era and establish the ninja village system. Yet people talked much more about Senju Hashirama, while Uchiha Madara barely received any attention at all. If Obito had not impersonated Uchiha Madara and caused trouble everywhere, Uchiha Madara's popularity would practically have been zero.
But now, the Senju clan had directly been branded as the chief culprit behind a thousand years of war in the shinobi world. The God of Shinobi's reputation had fallen straight into the gutter.
No wonder Senju Hashirama had been so powerful yet never dared stir up trouble proactively. So he knew the Senju clan's sins ran that deep.
But for the merchants, the news of the Otsutsuki clan's marriage search was more important than anything else. Li Yue had said that regardless of whether one was a ninja or an ordinary civilian, as long as one met his standards, one could become part of the Otsutsuki clan. For merchants in the shinobi world, this was practically a one-step ascent to heaven.
Merchants might not know much about the shinobi world's history, but they knew about the Sharingan, especially Konoha's famous Kakashi and Sharingan Itachi. The Otsutsuki clan was the Sharingan clan—how could they not know that? If a merchant's daughter could pass the approval, she would directly become a member of a top-tier ninja clan. At that point, they would no longer be ordinary merchants.
Merchants in the shinobi world were strange. Some would call ninjas "Lord Ninja" upon seeing them, while others looked down on ninjas, believing they were nothing more than mercenaries, and treated them without the slightest courtesy.
But for merchants who revered ninja strength, this was an opportunity that came once in a lifetime!
And the Raikage also believed this was a good opportunity!
"Darui, how accurate is this intelligence?"
Darui, the Raikage's trusted right-hand man, was the one who had reported all the intelligence concerning Konoha to him.
"Could this be false information released by Konoha?"
"No, Lord Raikage. This information cannot be fake, because it was not released by Konoha's ninjas or our spies, but by all the merchants leaving Konoha. Moreover, whether it was merchants or our spies, the information reaching the Land of Lightning was identical. They all confirmed seeing two enormous Wood Persons in Konoha, and Shimura Danzō's crimes were publicly tried. He was even tried after his death."
"So Konoha now has an expert capable of using Wood Style, and he wants to arrange a marriage for the Uchiha survivor?"
"Yes, Lord Raikage."
Darui nodded firmly.
"Lord Raikage, should we do something?"
"Hmph, of course we should do something!"
The Raikage slapped the table and rose to his feet excitedly.
"Have all female ninjas of suitable age in the village gather in front of the Raikage Building!"
"Huh?"
Darui froze.
"What do you mean, huh? Bring all the female ninjas of suitable age here. Didn't he say anyone who meets the requirements can do it? Then we'll meet his requirements. Wouldn't that let us openly obtain Uchiha... no... Otsutsuki bloodline? Hurry! Gather everyone!"
Darui had originally thought the Raikage wanted to take advantage of Konoha's chaos and snatch something, such as the Byakugan. After all, with Li Yue's World Marriage, Konoha would definitely become lively, and all sorts of strange people would appear. It would be easy to fish in troubled waters. But he had not expected the Raikage to directly choose to bring people to participate in the marriage search.
"Hmph! Did you think I was going to stir up trouble amid the chaos?"
The Raikage saw Darui's confusion.
"If the Wood Person in the intelligence is real, do you think all of us together could defeat him?"
Though the Senju clan's reputation had been damaged, it did not stop everyone from believing Senju Hashirama's Wood Style was absurdly powerful.
"I understand. I'll go gather everyone right away!"
The Land of Lightning understood Kekkei Genkai and secret techniques. As the second-strongest nation after the Land of Fire, the Land of Lightning was highly martial, and Kumogakure was relatively harmonious internally. Though Kinkaku and Ginkaku had appeared there, there were generally few problems. More importantly, they truly understood technology.
After obtaining a Tailed Beast, what if they were not skilled in sealing techniques? Destroy the Land of Whirlpools and seize its sealing technology! What if they lacked Kekkei Genkai? Go to Konoha and steal the Hyuga clan's Byakugan. If they succeeded, it was a huge profit; if they failed, no big deal. Unlike neighboring Kirigakure, where Tsuchikage had caused utter chaos and relentlessly suppressed Kekkei Genkai clans, Kumogakure truly wanted secret techniques and technology. Their research into military technology was also at the forefront. After the Fourth War, they even developed a Chakra cannon that could blast apart the moon.
Now that they could openly obtain Uchiha Kekkei Genkai, why would they not do it?
Konoha might have regained Wood Style, but he was not going there to fight. He would enter openly through the front gate and participate in the selection. If he failed, there was no loss. If he succeeded, it would be an enormous gain!
The same scene was unfolding in Stone Village and Sand Village. No matter what, sending people over to try would not cost them anything, right? And they could use the opportunity to openly investigate Konoha's situation. As the strongest village, Konoha's every move was being watched.
The isolated Land of Rain had likewise received intelligence concerning Konoha.
However, the situation in the Land of Rain was somewhat different.
"Things are really rare today. Everyone is actually here."
"Couldn't be helped. The shinobi world has been far too lively lately. Konoha's affairs have the entire shinobi world in an uproar."
Before you continue