A figure suddenly appeared atop the enormous statue of the Peach Country Emperor.
Shiraishi Yoshijo sat down cross-legged, letting the night wind whip his robes into a loud flutter.
He was in a very bad mood.
It was not only because of Tsunade. More than that, it was the weary helplessness he felt.
Anna, Reika, the women in the castle fighting for power, his many children scheming against one another, the high-ranking officials and councilors harboring ulterior motives—everything had left Shiraishi Yoshijo utterly exhausted.
Toward his home, that magnificent castle symbolizing power, he suddenly felt a deep disgust.
And toward Peach Country, the nation he had created with his own hands and which appeared to be at the height of its prosperity, he felt even more indifferent.
He looked up at the bright moon in the night sky, and a sigh drifted away on the wind.
"Life isn't worth it."
At that moment, he suddenly recalled his days in Konoha.
He had once thought those days were the source of his pain, but now that he looked back on them, they no longer seemed painful. Instead, he felt a faint sense of regret.
Perhaps he had chosen the wrong path from the very beginning.
No, it seemed that no matter what he chose, the ending would never have been very good.
Thinking of this, Shiraishi Yoshijo shook his head with a bitter smile. "I never thought I'd live to see the day when I regretted something. Life really is unpredictable."
A faint, illusory figure suddenly appeared before him. Looking at the figure's face, identical to his own, Shiraishi Yoshijo curled his lips. "Why did you come out?"
This figure identical to him was the spiritual manifestation of the Butterfly Seed Castle within his body.
"Because you're troubled, and I can't