Advance

Kakuzu and Hidan had a friendly talk, and he invited Hidan to join their team so he could add his own brick to the future construction of the Perfect World!

And for that, Kakuzu put it into practice many times over, teaching him by both word and deed.

After being given a thorough beating, Hidan had originally thought Kakuzu had come to capture him. He had not expected him to invite him into a great cause.

Although the ideal of the Perfect World ran counter to Hidan's faith, there was nothing he could do. Circumstances were stronger than people; he could not win, and he could not escape.

"Submitting for now isn't shameful. Lord Jashin won't care about a little detail like this, mm!"

Hidan decided to pretend to agree first, then look for a chance to steal Kakuzu's blood and send him straight to meet Lord Jashin.

But young man, you were thinking too much!

You were still a little short of playing mind games with an old immortal.

After Hyuga Shin's reminder, as well as what he had seen with his own eyes, Kakuzu had long since become extremely wary of Hidan's secret technique.

And he had prepared for it: using the Self-Curse Binding Seal on Hidan, which could lock down his movements in an instant.

Although he truly did not think much of Hidan's strength, he had to admit that his Lord Jashin secret technique was really bizarre! Really dangerous!

After that, Kakuzu fooled Hidan by saying it was a mandatory initiation ritual for the organization, then carved a sealing formula onto Hidan's body.

Hidan did not pay it much mind either. After all, with an Immortal Body, he had plenty of capital.

It was only later, when Hidan seized an opportunity and tried to ambush Kakuzu, that he realized he had been arranged perfectly clearly.

In the end, he was still too young, with a limited understanding of ninja, and had been tied onto a pirate ship.

From then on, Hidan joined Hyuga Shin's command and became one of the strongest fighters of the later Resistance Army.

The Immortal Duo was officially formed and went into action under its own banner.

The prelude to the Third Shinobi World War had already slowly begun. Every village continued sending reinforcements to the border battlefields, and the smoke of war gradually rose.

On the Mist Village battlefield, Kagami Uchiha served as commander. As a disciple of the Second Hokage and a companion of the Third, he naturally had to offer support.

And he led a large number of powerful members of the Uchiha Clan onto the battlefield.

Although the clan elders were extremely dissatisfied with his actions, he still held firmly to his position.

Little did he know, his naivety and foolishness would eventually harm the Uchiha Clan.

Of all the places he could have gone, he just had to go to the Mist Village battlefield. Did he not know that Mist Village ninja were naturally somewhat restraining against the Uchiha Clan?

This was clearly Hiruzen Sarutobi's scheme against the Uchiha Clan.

Could Kagami Uchiha not even see that much?

He truly was a brat selling off his grandfather's fields without feeling the pain.

This was also one of the reasons that led to his later death.

Meanwhile, on the Cloud Village battlefield, the one commanding the central army was a disciple of the Third, one of Konohagakure's Sannin, Jiraiya.

It had to be said, Hiruzen Sarutobi really knew how to take in disciples. He had three disciples in total, and every one of them could hold their own.

Orochimaru, Tsunade, and Jiraiya had made their names in the battles against Amegakure after the Second Shinobi World War and before the Third Shinobi World War.

Their strength had earned the recognition of Demigod Hanzō of the Shinobi World, who bestowed upon them the title of Sannin.

Moreover, two of them were from civilian backgrounds, which added quite a bit to his foundation, basically securing his position as Hokage.

As for why he had taken civilians as disciples, one had to mention the impact brought about by Hiruzen Sarutobi inheriting the position in the mourning hall back then.

At the end of the First Shinobi World War, Tobirama Senju's designation of his successor on his deathbed left the powerful members of the various clans who had participated in founding the village extremely dissatisfied.

The position of Hokage, according to the original agreement, was to be decided by having the whole village's ninja vote in an assembly, not designated by the previous holder.

If Tobirama Senju designated a successor this time, then what if Hiruzen Sarutobi designated his own disciple to inherit it next time?

What business would there still be for their major ninja clans?

Because of this, he was despised by the major ninja clans, which were still relatively powerful at the time, and they refused to support him.

But with the support of Uzumaki Mito, the Senju Clan, and his teammates, Hiruzen Sarutobi still forced his way into the Hokage's seat.

After all, the Senju were the largest and strongest ninja clan at the time, bar none.

Even the Uchiha had to take a step back.

Besides, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, Uzumaki Mito, was still there, and that was what completely suppressed the voices of opposition.

However, the Senju Clan also paid a price for this. On the Second Shinobi World War battlefield, they lacked support from powerful members of the major ninja clans, causing their own clansmen to suffer heavy losses!

Their strength plummeted, and they no longer possessed the glory they had during the era of the village's founding.

When Hiruzen Sarutobi had just taken the Hokage's seat, because he had no better options, he could only choose talented children from among civilians to cultivate.

His goal was to draw in the ordinary lower-level ninja, set up examples for them, gain their support, and thereby increase his own say.

As for the result, it was obvious: he succeeded.

Under the arrangements of the Six Paths Script, it would have been hard for him to fail even if he wanted to.

Moreover, Hiruzen Sarutobi himself was also a very clever person, a master of brainwashing! In this regard, his skill was even greater than Orochimaru's, not lesser.

He had simply used it in the wrong direction.

His mind had already been corroded by power. Even if the Sage of Six Paths made no further interventions after this, he would basically keep moving in the direction set by the script.

A chaotic Shinobi World was what the Sage of Six Paths needed. Only through constant conflict would the Chakra system become increasingly stable.

Because the more chaotic things were, the more people yearned for power!

If there were no conflict and everything was peaceful, the transmission and continuation of Chakra would be greatly affected.

That did not align with the Sage of Six Paths' interests.

This was also one of the reasons he had prevented the Shinobi World from being unified.

As the commander of the Cloud Village battlefield, Jiraiya was not as intelligent as Orochimaru, but he handled matters with relative steadiness.

So overall, his responses were fairly appropriate, and no trouble had arisen.

In this war, he had also brought his disciple, Minato Namikaze, to the battlefield.

Minato Namikaze was a true genius, and he had gained the recognition of the Great Toad Head, becoming a contractor of the toad clan.

Jiraiya placed great importance on him.

After all, after receiving guidance from the Great Toad Head Sage, he had set out on a journey to search for the Child of Prophecy.

During that time, he had encountered some fairly promising seedlings, but none of them had satisfied the Great Toad Head Sage.

Even Nagato, who possessed the Sage of Six Paths' eyes, and Yahiko, who held a true ideal of peace, had failed.

Only Minato Namikaze had been accepted by the Great Toad Head Sage, which had once led Jiraiya to believe that Minato Namikaze was the legendary Child of Prophecy.

And he held rather great expectations for him.

His hope in bringing him along on this campaign was also that this disciple would be able to grow quickly.

Jiraiya knew well that towering trees could not grow in a greenhouse.

Minato Namikaze, who was suspected to be the Child of Prophecy, should all the more accept the wind and rain of the Shinobi World.

Over this period of time, the performance of Minato Namikaze, who was only fifteen years old, had indeed been astonishing.

In just two short days, he had adapted to the complex and ever-changing situation of the battlefield. His thinking was quick, his command and judgment abilities were outstanding, and his strength was no small matter either!

At only fifteen, he already possessed combat power surpassing that of an ordinary Elite Jonin!

Because at this point in time, Minato Namikaze had long since obtained the Flying Thunder God cultivation method with Jiraiya's help.

And he had already completed part of his Flying Thunder God training. It was just that he was still at the first stage of Flying Thunder God right now, with some distance left before the second stage.

So his speed was especially freakish!

At the same time, he was proficient in Wind Release and Water Release, first-rate in Taijutsu, and his Genjutsu was above average as well.

In addition, he had a powerful Summoning Beast!

Moreover, his personality was extremely approachable. He was a very reliable companion, and he was deeply respected and trusted by the ninja on the Cloud Village battlefield.

This made Jiraiya believe even more that Minato Namikaze was the Child of Prophecy from the Great Toad Head Sage's prophecy!

Fools were just easy to deceive. It was not without reason that Jiraiya had been chosen.

Meanwhile, the Sage of Six Paths, who was in the Pure Land, had already begun to act.

Hyuga Shin, however, was still racking his brains over his research, irritated to death.