He Was Doing It for His Mother's Wish!

"I haven't even entered the village yet, and you're already sending me on another mission."

"Is this how you treat a hero?"

Faced with Sora's teasing expression, Moloi could not help showing a hint of embarrassment.

Someone like Sora—top-tier combat power who had left the village for over a decade due to conflicts with the higher-ups, only to return with overwhelming military achievements—should normally have received a grand welcome, countless rewards, money, authority, and subordinates. They should have used every conciliatory measure possible to bind him tightly to the village and prevent him from leaving again.

But desperate times called for desperate measures.

Thinking of the situation at the front lines, Moloi had no choice.

"Although you exceeded the mission requirements, the enormous commotion you caused enraged the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki."

"After failing to find you, the furious Onoki turned his sights directly on the Third Raikage!"

Moloi spoke quickly. "Nearly ten thousand Hidden Stone shinobi have completely sealed off the Heavenly White Mountains. The Third Raikage has tried to break through several times, but every attempt has failed. I hope you can make another trip to the front lines..."

"Don't joke around, old man."

Sora sneered. "You were the ones who assigned me the mission of drawing their attention. Now you're blaming me for completing it too well?"

"Since when did our Cloud Hidden Village start pulling Konoha's kind of bullshit?"

"What, are you planning to deal with me the way Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo dealt with the Konoha White Fang?!"

Sora stepped forward, his tall frame looking down upon the elderly, slightly hunched Moloi.

His indifferent voice sounded like that of an evil ghost.

"You don't think I'm the kind of idiot who'd kill himself over a few words, do you?"

Five years ago, Hatake Sakumo, Konoha's great general known as the White Fang, had suddenly died, shocking the ninja world.

Countless ninja villages and factions investigated the cause, wanting to know what had happened and what kind of opponent could possibly bring down a powerful shinobi like the White Fang.

Yet after extensive investigation, they discovered that the Konoha White Fang—whose strength had terrified countless shinobi throughout the ninja world and surpassed even the Three Sannin—had committed suicide.

And he had done so because of rumors and slander within the village.

The source of those rumors had actually been Konoha's upper ranks!

Such an act of cutting off one's own arm had made countless people burst into laughter at the time.

What were they laughing at?

Naturally, they were laughing at Konoha's Hokage for being incompetent and Danzo, the Darkness of the Shinobi, for being foolish enough to sever one of their own arms for the sake of power!

That had been the Konoha White Fang.

If a shinobi like him had belonged to their villages, they would not necessarily have named him the next Kage, but they would at least have given him the position of department head or advisor and treasured him like a prized possession.

Yet Konoha had not only failed to treasure him, but had snapped that blade because they feared his strength and overwhelming reputation might pose a threat!

Of course, the White Fang was the White Fang, and Sora was Sora.

Considering that this guy had left the village in his teens and stayed away for more than a decade, Moloi would never treat him like the White Fang.

"We are well aware of your contributions, but only you can carry out this mission."

"Where are your [AB] brothers?"

Sora asked calmly.

That single question plunged Moloi into silence.

His [AB] brothers were still stationed in the Land of Hot Water, confronting Konoha!

Just as Sora had been made to draw the Hidden Stone shinobi's attention back then, the [AB] brothers were the future foundation of the Cloud Hidden Village—its absolute pillars. Naturally, such a dangerous mission could not fall to them.

But how could he say that to Sora now?

Sensing Sora's mocking gaze, Moloi sighed.

"A and B are not as strong as you. Recently, they have clashed with Konoha's Yellow Flash several times and repeatedly ended up at a disadvantage."

"At this stage, only you in the Cloud Hidden Village can take on this task."

"That's true. That brat A really isn't as strong as me."

Sora accepted Moloi's flattery without the slightest courtesy.

He glanced over everyone present before his gaze finally settled on Yugito Nii, who was studying him curiously.

"I'll go, but this little girl belongs to me."

"What?!"

"No way!"

The moment he said that, the expressions on Dodai and Samui's faces became rather strange, as though this felt incredibly familiar.

Meanwhile, all the old men present changed expression dramatically and immediately rejected him.

"Yotsuki Sora, you want to lay your hands on the Jinchuriki? You've got some nerve!"

An elder standing to one side, looking rather gaunt, fiercely slammed his cane into the ground, producing a dull thudding sound as he fixed his eyes on Sora.

"You left the village because of a Tailed Beast. It's been over ten years—I thought you would have understood the importance of Tailed Beasts to the village by now. How can you still say something so ignorant?!"

"The importance of Tailed Beasts to the village goes without saying. And Yugito Nii has already passed the trial of the Waterfall of Truth and reached an understanding with the Two-Tails inside her. You should know what that means."

"Yotsuki Sora, you've crossed the line!"

"Yes, yes, yes. I crossed the line. The elders are all right."

Faced with the elders' rebukes, Sora threw back his head and laughed.

He neither argued nor hesitated. He simply turned and returned to stand between Pakura and Samui.

With an arm around each of them, he walked toward the village without looking back.

That attitude stunned the elders present for a moment before they flew into a rage.

"How insolent!"

"After running wild outside for more than ten years, he's truly forgotten that he's a Cloud ninja!"

"His strength has improved, but his temperament..."

"Enough!"

The chattering went on without end until Moloi, who had remained silent all this time, suddenly let out an angry shout.

His icy gaze swept across the surroundings. Wherever it passed, the old men shut their mouths, not daring to speak again.

"Do you people truly have no brains? Right now, the Third Raikage is leading his troops deep into enemy territory. Facing the rampaging Hidden Stone, dozens or even hundreds of ninja die every day."

Suddenly, Dodai, who had not spoken until now, sternly spoke up, his face full of disappointment.

"How long can they hold out? Tell me, how long can they hold out?!"

"We need Sora. We need his strength!"

"Even so, we can't hand over the Jinchuriki..."

"Does Sora want Yugito Nii solely for the Tailed Beast?"

The moment those words were spoken, everyone present froze.

Wasn't the reason Yotsuki Sora had chosen Yugito Nii the Two-Tails inside her?

Obviously not.

The true culprit behind Yotsuki Sora becoming what he was today had been the Eight-Tails, not the Two-Tails.

If he wanted to cause trouble, he should have gone after Killer B, not Yugito Nii.

And if he wanted the power of a Tailed Beast—

He already had the Five-Tails in his hands, completely at his mercy. Why would he need to bear the pressure of an entire village just to seize the Two-Tails' power?

Watching the elders sink into silence, Dodai sighed again.

How were an elder council that could not distinguish priorities or right from wrong any different from the Konoha higher-ups they had mocked for driving White Fang to his death?

"You don't understand what Sora truly wants."

"All he truly wants is to fulfill the promise he once made to his mother."

"...A promise?"

Dodai's words left the elders utterly confused. What did that have to do with Yugito Nii?

Looking at the old men before him, Dodai shook his head, his expression complicated.

"The revival of his clan."