You Gotta Pay More!

"I have a matter I would like to ask of you." Danzo looked at Shiraishi and made his request.

"Oh? Let's hear it!" Shiraishi leaned against the railing and turned his head to look at Danzo.

"I do not want Hiruzen Sarutobi to die," Danzo said.

Hearing this request, Shiraishi smiled. Even if Danzo hadn't asked, he wouldn't have let Hiruzen Sarutobi truly die.

To let Danzo possess Hiruzen Sarutobi's body and force Hiruzen to watch as Danzo used his own form to commit acts he despised—what a fascinating spectacle that would be. How could Shiraishi possibly pass that up?

However, at this moment, Shiraishi shook his head and spoke with a tone of feigned difficulty: "You have set a great challenge before me!"

"My Reincarnation Technique requires your soul to enter Hiruzen Sarutobi's body and, with my assistance, defeat and consume his soul."

"Only in this way can you better master his body."

"Otherwise, due to the body's instinctive rejection, it will be very difficult for you to perfectly control Hiruzen Sarutobi's body after the reincarnation."

Danzo's brows furrowed slightly, but he asked persistently, "Is there really no other way?"

Shiraishi deliberately feigned hesitation, pondering for a moment before replying: "It is not that there is no way, but it would needlessly increase the risks and also increase the energy consumption required for me to perform the Reincarnation Technique."

"What do you mean?" Danzo vaguely caught the implication in Shiraishi's words.

Shiraishi laughed again. "It's going to cost you more!"

"What do you want?" Danzo knew that the "cost" Shiraishi spoke of was certainly not mere money.

"I want you, after becoming Hokage, to mobilize the power of Konoha to help me forge a perfect body," Shiraishi stated his demand.

Danzo's brows knit together tightly as he looked at Shiraishi with wariness. "What do you want me to do?"

Shiraishi smiled without giving a direct answer. "Once I have finished my preparations, I will naturally tell you."

"I will not betray the interests of the village for your sake," Danzo emphasized.

Hearing Danzo's words, Shiraishi felt as if he had heard a grand joke. He couldn't help but laugh out loud, continuing for several moments until Danzo was nearly enraged, at which point he finally managed to stop.

"Rest assured, there is no need for you to betray the interests of Konoha. I am very interested in your cloning technology. After you become Hokage, I want to know all of Konoha's research data regarding cloning, especially the research conducted by Orochimaru." Shiraishi patted Danzo on the shoulder, deliberately revealing some intelligence in his words.

"How could you possibly know..." As Shiraishi had expected, a look of shock flashed across Danzo's face.

Cloning research was a classified project in Konoha, and his sponsorship of Orochimaru's research was a secret among secrets. Logically, Shiraishi, who had been staying in a secret chamber, should have been absolutely incapable of knowing these things.

Shiraishi wore a meaningful smile. "I never said I would stay in that secret chamber forever."

"You!" Danzo looked at Shiraishi in shock and anger.

If that were the case, then just how much intelligence had Shiraishi gleaned while spending an entire year in the Root base in his soul form?

Thinking of this, a chill ran down Danzo's spine. Already wary of Shiraishi, he now felt as if needles were pricking his back when faced with this powerful entity of mysterious origin and bizarre abilities.

"Don't worry, I said it before. I have no malice toward you. On the contrary, I will be your best partner. Because like you, I wish to see war; I love war." Shiraishi watched Danzo's shocked and angry expression and spoke to soothe him.

Danzo stared fixedly at Shiraishi, his mind constantly analyzing the intent behind Shiraishi's words. As he recalled every transaction between himself and Shiraishi, he gradually found the key point.

"Souls! You need a large number of souls!"

"Hahaha!" Shiraishi laughed heartily. He raised a finger and pointed at Danzo. "You truly are a smart man."

"What exactly are you trying to do?" A sense of instinctive unease rose in Danzo's heart.

"Didn't I tell you? I am the spirit of a magical artifact left behind by the Sage of Six Paths. During a great war a thousand years ago, I suffered severe damage and exhaustion. I need a large number of souls to replenish my consumption and heal my soul," Shiraishi said, mixing truth with lies.

If what Shiraishi had said earlier was meant to warn Danzo—to show him that he held many classified secrets about him, making him afraid to deceive him—then this current answer was meant to put Danzo's mind at ease.

For a man like Danzo, he did not fear that his partner was evil; he only feared not being able to guess his partner's motives.

This push and pull, this tightening and loosening, was Shiraishi's way of keeping Danzo in check while simultaneously calming his nerves.

Such is the way of domestication.

After hearing Shiraishi's answer, most of the unease in Danzo's heart dissipated. He did not fear that Shiraishi's goal was evil; he only feared not knowing what it was.

Now it seemed that, at least on the surface, he and Shiraishi had a foundation for cooperation.

He would incite war and lead Konoha back to its peak, while Shiraishi would harvest souls to recover his strength—a mutually beneficial arrangement.

"I hope you are not lying to me!" Danzo warned.

"Rest assured, a high-ranking official of Konoha who is as passionate about war as you are is not easy to find," Shiraishi replied with a grin.

"Hmph! Everything I do is for the sake of the village!" Danzo snorted coldly, correcting him.

"Hahaha! Then I shall look forward to seeing what kind of peak you will lead Konoha to," Shiraishi said in closing.

With that, Shiraishi left the railing and walked toward the stairs.

"Where are you going?" Danzo hurriedly called out to stop him.

"Konoha is so large; I want to look around." Shiraishi pulled an oil-paper bag from his inner pocket.

"There is a major event tonight," Danzo reminded him.

"Don't worry, I will find you at the Root base before sunset."

Before his voice had even faded, Shiraishi's figure had already vanished at the top of the stairs.

After Shiraishi left, two Root ninjas appeared before Danzo as if teleporting.

"Follow him," Danzo said expressionlessly, looking back at the Konoha scenery before the observation deck.

"Yes!" The two Root ninjas replied and vanished with a Shunshin.

Shiraishi walked the streets of Konoha, his powerful divine sense forcefully sweeping across the entire village, its sights and information entering his soul.

The Nine Nether Sect inheritance Shiraishi obtained placed the greatest emphasis on the tempering and cultivation of the soul, with its core technique named the Nine Nether Reincarnation Sutra.

Legend had it that the founder of this technique, and the founding patriarch of the Nine Nether Sect, had entered the Netherworld beneath the nine heavens in a living body, a realm unseen for tens of thousands of years.

There, this patriarch witnessed fallen Netherworld deities, saw the ruined path of reincarnation, and learned the reason for the disappearance of reincarnation in the cultivation world tens of thousands of years ago.

Because of this experience, the patriarch, who had received a portion of the Netherworld's inheritance, returned to the human world and created the Nine Nether Reincarnation Sutra, vowing to reopen the Netherworld and re-establish reincarnation.

This technique primarily cultivates the divine soul, first forming an Yin God, then using the Yin God to condense a Ghost God Dharma Image, followed by absorbing Yin energy to refine the body, transforming the Ghost God Dharma Image from emptiness to reality, and achieving the Yama Emperor Dharma Body.

The Ten Kings of Hell are the ten rulers of the Netherworld who govern countless souls of the dead. If a Nine Nether Sect cultivator can master one of them, they are considered to have achieved success in their cultivation, becoming an Earthly Immortal with eternal life.

To advance further, one must cultivate all ten Dharma Bodies and merge them into one, achieving the Yama Emperor Dharma Body, making the divine soul immortal and comparable to a Heavenly Immortal.

Cultivating to this stage is already considered a peerless prodigy, with one appearing once in a thousand years.

As for realms beyond this, one needs to wield the Ten Thousand Soul Banner, a treasure refined with the Yama Emperor Dharma Body, to open a small Netherworld in the void, achieving the feat of creation.

As long as this small world is indestructible, the divine soul will be immortal and indestructible, achieving a half-step transcendence.

This step was also the realm the Nine Nether Sect patriarch cultivated to, a realm that only the patriarch had achieved in the tens of thousands of years since the Nine Nether Sect's establishment.

There was no other way; creating a world by force required and sought after was as difficult as reaching the heavens, demanding not only astonishing talent but also profound foundations and immeasurable accumulation.

The Nine Nether Patriarch succeeded solely due to the residual blessings of the Netherworld; how could later generations find such an astonishing opportunity?

After obtaining the inheritance, although Shiraishi also yearned for that immortal and indestructible realm of transcendence, and even considered advancing further to achieve the supreme realm of creating reincarnation, he also understood in his heart that the path of cultivation was fraught with thorns and as difficult as ascending to heaven. If he could cultivate one Yama Emperor Dharma Body and achieve the status of an Earthly Immortal with eternal life, it would be considered success.

But now, with the activation of the Jade Bead, the possibility of traversing myriad worlds has emerged, and Shiraishi once again saw hope for achieving the supreme realm.

If the resources of one world are insufficient, Shiraishi will use the souls of countless beings from myriad worlds as his nourishment to help him cultivate to that supreme realm, truly immortal and indestructible.

This is Shiraishi's goal, and the reason he has set his sights on Danzo and is helping him become Hokage.

Only war is the fastest way to harvest souls.