Qingwu's Awakening: Choose Me as Your Leader, and I'll Take You to the Moon

The high-ranking officials of Konoha had yet to make their move.

"I, Hyuga Hiashi, have decided to dedicate myself to cultivation and pass the position of clan head to the younger generation. The new head of the house shall be Hyuga Seigo..."

The Hyuga clan announced that Hiashi had abdicated and that Seigo would become the new clan head, with the handover ceremony to be held in one month. They welcomed all clans to attend as observers and sent out invitations accordingly.

The Ninja World was blown wide open once again.

It was a sensation.

"Damn it, why is Konoha never-ending?"

"This entire year."

"It's been nothing but news about you people."

"Itachi Uchiha, a 13-year-old S-rank missing-nin, wiped out his entire clan."

"Kakashi Hatake, with his thousand techniques, has killed so many foreign spies that they dare not show their faces, and he fought to a draw against Ōnoki's son, Yellow Earth."

"The Blue Beast, Might Guy, has taijutsu so fierce and tyrannical that he can go head-to-head with the Nintaijutsu of Kumogakure, even taking on several opponents at once. Terrifying~"

"The Moonlight Dancer, Hayate (though his lungs were crippled~), uses his Transparent Escape to appear and disappear like a ghost, coordinating with his swordsmanship to make his assassinations impossible to guard against~"

"Sarutobi Hiruzen's youngest son, Asuma Sarutobi, has made a name for himself in the capital of the Land of Fire alongside his Guardian Ninja partners~"

"We know you people in the Land of Fire are impressive, and that Konoha has many talented youths, but aren't you annoying?"

"And what's with the Hyuga? Are they out of people? Letting a wet-behind-the-ears brat ascend to the position of clan head... what were they thinking..."

"At such a young age, he has reached the peak of life that others can never attain."

"I'm so damn envious, jealous, and hateful! Why don't I have an awesome grandfather or father?"

"..."

For a time, the Ninja World began to churn with undercurrents once more. Especially in Kumogakure of the Land of Lightning; the failure of their plot a few years ago had left them harboring a grudge ever since.

"Fine, you've delivered yourselves right to our doorstep. Kumogakure will have the Hyuga's Byakugan. Damn you, Sarutobi Hiruzen..."

Back then, they had used the opportunity of peace talks with Konoha to have their delegation infiltrate the Hyuga, with the goal of obtaining the Byakugan from the young mistress, Hyuga Hinata. They had even prepared a contingency plan for failure.

That plan was: if discovered, they would let themselves be killed by the Hyuga Main House, then frame the Hyuga for attacking the delegation and violating the peace between the two nations. The Hyuga would then be forced to hand over the culprits, or else face the threat of war.

Their intelligence staff had analyzed that the villagers of Konoha, weary of war, and the weak, easily bullied Sarutobi Hiruzen would surely agree. They had planned it perfectly, but they hadn't expected a mishap. The one who killed the delegation's ninjas turned out to be Asuma Sarutobi.

(Seigo: Didn't see that coming, did you? It was me.)

Having just lost his son and daughter-in-law, Sarutobi Hiruzen was in no mood to sacrifice his only remaining young son, and his attitude was incredibly rigid. Damn it, how could it be you who killed them, Asuma...

"Hmph~ talk of sacrificing comrades to obtain peace."

"The Will of Fire of Konoha is to protect—to protect one's comrades and burn oneself so that the new buds of Konoha may grow strong."

"If necessary, this old man will take to the battlefield himself."

Good heavens, this performance alone moved the villagers of Konoha to tears. They cheered "Long live the Hokage," "Down with Kumogakure," and "The Land of Lightning has gone too far." The war spirit was surging, and the calls for battle were intense.

The rational members of the great clans cursed him under their breath.

"Hypocrite. When you first heard that someone had killed members of the delegation, you couldn't wait to capture the culprits and hand them over to Kumogakure."

"You even said that Konoha was burdened by the economy after years of war and must not start a war lightly, that for the sake of the Will of Fire and peace in the Ninja World, one must sacrifice the few..."

But the moment you found out it was your own son.

You immediately changed your tune: "Peace bought by sacrificing comrades is a disgrace," "Peace gained through compromise is not long-lasting," "It goes against the Will of Fire," "If we cannot even protect our comrades, how can we protect Konoha? War it is."

Holy crap~ you really can spin black into white just like that.

When it involves your son.

Suddenly, there's no need for sacrifice, right?

And that "take to the battlefield myself" nonsense—isn't that just a way to trick the youngsters into charging first while you wait to see how things play out?

Sarutobi Hiruzen's sudden toughness.

This was something Kumogakure had never anticipated.

"But who the hell cares about Asuma Sarutobi? What kind of nonsense is this? I want the Hyuga, or it's war."

At the mention of this, Sarutobi Hiruzen was tempted.

But Sarutobi Hiruzen was already riding a tiger and couldn't get off; his two-faced behavior had already made the major clans wary of him.

If he dared to suggest sacrificing the Hyuga now.

There would be no need for a war.

Konoha would fall apart from within.

Because when it's your son, it's war, but when it's someone else, it's the "Will of Fire" and "sacrifice for the greater good." Is it only the lives of the Sarutobi clan that are lives, while our lives are nothing?!

"As expected, the old monkey is a hypocrite."

Qingwu was not surprised by this reaction; he truly wanted to shout it out loud: this is the true face of the Hokage you all respect, a hypocritical little man.

"Konoha will not sacrifice any comrade; if you want to fight, then let's fight."

Faced with Konoha's hardline stance, Kumogakure ultimately compromised because they truly could not afford to fight anymore, settling instead for a large sum of money, plenty of grain, and various supplies—all paid for by the Sarutobi clan.

Kumogakure had profited.

With the Hyuga clan changing their clan head this time, they began to harbor ulterior motives once again.

Other factions were also holding discussions.

Returning to the main topic.

Stepping from behind the scenes to the forefront was actually a massive headache for Qingwu. If it had gone according to his own plan, he would have developed stealthily, silently accumulating power until he was invincible, and then steamrolled the world.

"Qingwu, I hope you can revitalize the Hyuga; the Hyuga have lived too stifled a life these past years..."

"The Byakugan in Kirigakure, the branch family members who have gone missing over the years, and the matter of your parents... isn't it all because the Hyuga are weak?"

"Qingwu, we are already old, and our thinking cannot keep up with the times; the only use we have left is to serve as your muscle."

"As long as I can see the rise of the Hyuga, I will be able to close my eyes in peace even if I die right now."

However, the expectations and trust of his grandfather and the elders placed immense pressure on him, making it impossible for him to refuse.

"Muscle?!" Qingwu's mouth twitched uncontrollably.

He knew this was emotional blackmail, but he truly could not reject such anticipation because his grandfather had sacrificed everything for him, even going so far as to storm the Hokage Building with his broken body.

He almost blurted it out.

Choose me as your leader.

I will lead you to storm the moon.

Cough, cough, cough~

Therefore, he decided that since he had already been exposed, he might as well set his various plans into motion and stir up the stagnant waters of this world.

He had also come to a realization.

He had been by the side of the Child of Prophecy all along; perhaps he had already been exposed to Six Paths, who simply hadn't made a move against him yet.

Perhaps.

He had some other plans.

"To hell with the damn plot; I don't care anymore. The only constant in this world is that it is always changing."

"Damn it, if you die, you die; if you don't, you live for ten thousand years. Anyway, with the Demon Refining Pot as my trump card, at worst, I'll sacrifice everything to move to another world and stir up trouble..."

The salted-fish Qingwu suddenly had an epiphany. After making up his mind, the visualization technique taught by the Demon Refining Pot actually broke through in an instant, reaching a new realm: "As expected, the previous bottleneck was due to my state of mind, lacking the courage of a cultivator to dare to fight against the heavens."

Deep within his soul.

"Nirvana~ Void~"

"Begin."

"Understood, Original."

"Heh heh heh~ I've been waiting for this for a long time."

Do not think that Nirvana had done nothing this past year.

War orphans.

Various bloodline families from the anime, as well as many named ninjas, had all been rounded up and sent to the small world, along with hidden bloodline families that had never been mentioned.

Everything was flourishing.

The most important thing.

He had taken down the Sky Fortress of the Sky Ninja, and the Zero-Tails had been captured and transported to the small world, where he used the power of the Demon Refining Pot to refine it, thus giving birth to his second avatar, Void.

Void's power was the power of darkness; he could absorb the darkness in people's hearts, especially favoring the negative emotions of people during wartime as nourishment—slaughter, hatred, greed, despair, betrayal, fear, lust... they were all full of flavor.

He had also been released by Qingwu.

To stir up trouble.

Combined with the pyramid scheme tactics from his past life.

He was now a full-blown warmonger.

"Very well, Grandfather, then I shall contend with them."