Tang Sect and the Uzumaki Clan's Similarities

Inside the dormitory, Huo Yuhao slowly exhaled a breath of cold air.

The Mystic Ice Pill truly lived up to its reputation.

Huo Yuhao clenched his fist, feeling the surging Soul Power within him.

Under the catalyst of the Mystic Ice Pill's medicinal effects, his Soul Power Level had risen two levels in a row, directly reaching level eighteen.

He was only one step away from becoming a two-ring Soul Grandmaster.

What delighted him even more were the changes in his body.

As his water-element Soul Power became more refined, the Hashirama Cells dormant within his body seemed to have been nourished, their vitality further enhanced.

His meridians had become broader and tougher, and his five senses had grown even sharper.

Not only that.

Huo Yuhao raised a hand, condensing a ball of water at his fingertips.

My understanding of water-nature Chakra transformation has deepened.

Huo Yuhao nodded in satisfaction and dispersed the water ball in his hand.

A week had passed.

The ninja tools at the blacksmith shop should have been finished.

And it was time for his arranged meeting with Tang Ya.

Huo Yuhao changed into casual clothes and left the dormitory alone.

Shrek City, South Gate.

Although Huo Yuhao had been delayed by cultivation for a while, by the time he reached the city gate, a lovely pink figure was already waiting there.

Tang Ya wore a light pink long dress today, making her look especially youthful and lively.

When she saw Huo Yuhao approaching, her eyes immediately lit up.

"Little Yu Hao! Over here!"

Tang Ya waved and ran over to him in a few steps, looking him up and down.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. It's only been a week, and I never thought you'd become such a famous figure in the Outer Court."

Tang Ya's tone carried both teasing and disbelief. "I heard you actually defeated that freakish old hag Zhou Yi head-on? She's a Soul Emperor! Are you really a one-ring Soul Master?"

The matter had already spread like wildfire through the academy.

Though the academy's higher-ups had sealed off the specific details, the incident of "a new student directly confronting his homeroom teacher and getting Zhou Yi suspended" had still become everyone's favorite gossip.

Huo Yuhao remained calm, showing no pride at the praise.

"Just luck."

He said blandly, "She underestimated me, and my spiritual attribute soul skill interfered with her judgment."

"Tch, forget it if you don't want to talk about it."

Tang Ya curled her lips, clearly unconvinced by that perfunctory excuse. Still, she did not press him further. After all, everyone had secrets.

"Let's go. We'll head to the blacksmith shop first. The owner informed me yesterday that your things were ready."

Inside the blacksmith shop.

The owner carefully brought out two heavy wooden boxes.

"Little Brother Huo, everything you ordered is here. Fifty shuriken and fifty kunai. They were all forged from the finest Hundred-Refined Iron, exactly according to your drawings."

Huo Yuhao opened the boxes.

Cold light gleamed sharply.

He casually picked up a kunai and deftly spun it twice around his fingers.

"Very good."

Huo Yuhao waved his hand.

Without anyone seeing him make any movement, the two enormous wooden boxes vanished in an instant.

Tang Ya, who had been standing beside him, suddenly narrowed her eyes.

That was... a storage Soul Tool?

And judging by how quickly it stored things, it definitely was not some ordinary item. At the very least, it was a level-five... no, an exceptional storage Soul Tool above level six!

A storm churned in Tang Ya's heart.

Huo Yuhao had said he was an orphan and that his family had already perished... but how could a destitute orphan possibly carry such a priceless treasure with him?

Just what kind of background did his "Five Spirits Clan" have?

Huo Yuhao seemed not to notice Tang Ya's unusual reaction, or perhaps this was precisely what he had intentionally shown her.

After leaving the blacksmith shop, the two strolled along the street.

"Um..." Tang Ya finally could not hold back any longer. "Little Yu Hao, that Storage Ring you used just now... it seemed to be of a very high grade."

Huo Yuhao slowed slightly and glanced sideways at Tang Ya, the corner of his lips curling into an imperceptible smile.

She took the bait.

He lowered his head and stroked the ring on his finger, a trace of nostalgia and sorrow appearing in his eyes.

"Yes. It's the last bit of inheritance my family left me."

"Speaking of which..."

Huo Yuhao raised his head and looked at Tang Ya, his tone faint and distant.

"My family is actually somewhat like your Tang Sect..."

Tang Ya froze. "Like us? How?"

Rather than answering directly, Huo Yuhao looked into the distance and began telling an "ancient" story.

"A long time ago, my family was called the 'Uzumaki Clan.' We excelled at Sealing Techniques and possessed great vitality. We were once a powerful hidden clan."

"We had an ally that had been close to us for generations, called the 'Konoha Sect.'"

"Our two clans shared an excellent relationship. Even the Konoha Sect's clan emblem bore our family's crest as a sign of friendship. We taught them our clan's secret arts without holding anything back."

At this point, Huo Yuhao's voice turned cold.

"But when my family was besieged by other forces because we possessed overly powerful Sealing Techniques, when we faced the catastrophe of clan extermination..."

"Our ally, the Konoha Sect—the one we had been so close to that we might as well have worn the same pair of pants—chose to stand by and do nothing."

"They stood on high ground and watched our clansmen be slaughtered, watched our village burn into ashes."

"Perhaps they feared our strength, or perhaps... they merely wanted to wait until we were all dead so they could seize those inheritances for themselves."

Huo Yuhao turned his head, looked at the engrossed Tang Ya, and asked softly.

"Teacher Xiao Ya, tell me, isn't such an ally... laughable?"

Tang Ya's face turned somewhat pale.

She clenched her fists tightly, her eyes filled with righteous indignation.

"That's utterly shameless! They're not even human!"

"They received so many favors from others, yet stood aside and watched them die when it mattered most? That kind of sect is simply too hypocritical!"

Huo Yuhao looked at the agitated Tang Ya and sneered inwardly.

Well said.

Unfortunately, the 'Konoha Sect' you're cursing has a far more resounding name in this world—Shrek.

He reached out and gently patted Tang Ya's shoulder.

"It's all in the past."

"Only the weak remain trapped in the hatred of the past, weeping over fate's unfairness."

"But the strong..."

A flash of red light passed through Huo Yuhao's eyes, and his voice became firm and powerful.

"Create the future with their own hands. They take back what they lost a thousandfold, a hundredfold."

Tang Ya shuddered.

Looking at the boy before her, who was several years younger than she was, an inexplicable admiration rose in her heart.

He's right... the strong create the future...

Yet at the same time, the story Huo Yuhao had just told was like a thorny seed, deeply embedding itself in her heart.

An ally close for generations... standing by and watching them die...

Two names surfaced uncontrollably in Tang Ya's mind.

Tang Sect.

Shrek Academy.

The Tang Sect's first-generation sect master, Patriarch Tang San, had also been the soul of the Shrek Seven Devils.

The Tang Sect had contributed immensely to Shrek Academy attaining its current status.

Even throughout Shrek City, statues of Tang Sect ancestors could be seen everywhere.

But...

Why, when the Tang Sect had gradually declined, when even its foundation had been seized and it faced the crisis of annihilation... had Shrek, the continent's foremost academy, which clearly had the ability to lend a hand, chosen silence?

They had simply watched the Tang Sect decline, watched us become displaced and homeless.

How was that any different from the "Konoha Sect" in Huo Yuhao's story?

Once the seed of doubt was planted, it would take root and sprout wildly in one's heart.

Tang Ya lowered her head and looked at the road beneath her feet, her expression growing complicated.

Huo Yuhao walked ahead without turning back.

But he knew that the Tiger Mask plan had already taken its first step.

Doubt it. Rage at it.

When you are completely despairing of this hypocritical world...

That will be the moment I put on that mask.