"Otherwise, I can't guarantee that you'll be able to take those 'gifts' you brought back intact."
When Gen'yō's cold yet playful words were clearly relayed by the " Amaterasu " mainframe and reached the ears of the three teams that were struggling on the road to the border of the Divine Kingdom, everyone's heart sank to the bottom.
Three days later, at the Moon Palace, in the Divine Grace Hall.
This sacred hall, representing the highest authority in the new Shinobi World order, welcomed a group of special "guests" today.
A massive spatial portal shimmered with golden light in the center of the hall. Three groups of people, each with distinctly different feelings, emerged from the portal, disheveled yet daring not to utter a single complaint.
Leading the way was the Konoha team.
The Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi, wore the sacred robe symbolizing his Hokage status, but that robe, which should have represented honor, looked incredibly ironic on his hunched back. Behind him stood Tsunade, her face as pale as paper, and Tsunade, his expression complex, his fists clenching and Jiraiya. The three of them represented a legend of an era in Konoha, yet now they appeared like defeated prisoners facing judgment.
The Sunagakure team followed closely behind.
The Fourth Kazekage Rasa, had the most humble expression, even with a hint of flattery. He practically jogged out of the portal, followed by Baki and several elders who carefully carried several huge boxes made of pure gold and inlaid with gemstones. The intense Chakra fluctuations emanating from the boxes indicated that they contained the Sunagakure's most treasured secret technique scrolls and rare materials.
The last group to appear was from Kirigakure.
The Fifth Mizukage Mei Terumi, now wore a cold, solemn expression on her beautiful face. She brought no "gifts," only the elder Genji and over a hundred young female ninjas dressed in uniform white clothing, each tall, beautiful, and faintly radiating Kekkei Genkai.
The meaning of this "gift" is self-evident.
As they stood still and looked up at the towering throne made of pure light, everyone felt as if their breath had been stolen from them.
That man, Uchiha Gen'yō, sat casually on the throne.
He didn't release any Chakra, but his Kamui eyes, burning with nine golden halo, merely swept down, making these three "Kage" standing at the pinnacle of the Shinobi World feel as if their souls were about to be crushed into powder by that endless majesty and divinity!
"It seems you're all very punctual."
Gen'yō's voice rang out in the hall, so calm that it revealed no emotion, yet it made everyone's hearts leap into their throats.
"Greetings, Lord Gen'yō, Ruler of the Divine Kingdom!"
The quickest to react was the Fourth Kazekage Rasa. Without the slightest hesitation, he knelt down with a thud, burying his head deeply, his voice loud and respectful. " Sunagakure pays the highest tribute to you and the Uchiha Divine Kingdom! We have heard of your unprecedented achievements, and we admire them greatly. We have prepared this small gift to express our submission to Sunagakure, and we hope you will accept it!"
As he spoke, the elder behind him immediately and nimbly opened the gold chests.
For a moment, the dazzling jewels and the rich aura of Ninjutsu intertwined, almost blinding people.
Watching Rasa's shameless performance, Jiraiya and Tsunade both showed a hint of disdain in their eyes, but more than that, they felt a sense of helpless sorrow.
Once upon a time, the Five Great Shinobi Villages were closely united; when had there ever been such a servile "Kage"?
However, Gen'yō, sitting on the throne, didn't even bother to glance at those so-called "gifts."
His gaze passed over the lowly Rasa and landed on Hiruzen Sarutobi's wrinkled and regretful old face.
" Teacher Sarutobi, long time no see." Gen'yō's voice remained calm. "Where's your gift? Or do you think your old life is the best gift?"
"Puff!"
Upon hearing these merciless and scathing words, Tsunade felt a surge of heat rush to her head, almost causing her to explode. However, Jiraiya, standing beside her, firmly held her shoulder and shook his head slightly at her.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's body trembled violently. He slowly raised his head, his cloudy old eyes filled with endless bitterness. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end, he only took out a scroll that had been prepared beforehand, symbolizing the transfer of the highest power of the Land of Fire, and presented it with both hands.
Konoha has been defeated.
Those three simple words seemed to drain all the strength from his body.
Gen'yō still didn't look at the official document. His gaze finally fell on Mei Terumi and the hundreds of female ninjas behind her, a playful smile curving his lips.
"I must say, Fifth Mizukage, your gift is the one that interests me the most out of the three."
Mei Terumi trembled slightly upon hearing this. Suppressing her humiliation, she bowed and said in a cold voice, " The Divine Kingdom is expanding its territory, and it is in dire need of capable men. Our Kirigakure is willing to offer our finest bloodline to you, my lord, to contribute our modest strength to the prosperity of the Divine Kingdom."
What a fine example of "contributing a small amount of effort"!
These words were perfectly worded, demonstrating both submission and preserving a last shred of dignity.
"Very good." Gen'yō seemed quite satisfied with the answer. He slowly rose from his throne, his domineering demeanor making everyone below feel suffocated.
"I have seen your sincerity."
"But--"
His tone suddenly shifted, and two beams of light, seemingly capable of piercing through time and space, shot out from his golden Kamui eyes, instantly enveloping Hiruzen Sarutobi, Rasa, and Mei Terumi!
"I'm far more interested in the older, more 'useless' things in your heads than in these tedious gifts and humble pledges of allegiance."
The three of them shuddered. Before they could react, an irresistible and terrifying mental force that directly affected their souls surged into their sea of consciousness like a flood bursting its banks!
"Ah!"
Even with their strong willpower, the three shadows couldn't help but let out a painful groan!
They felt as if their brains had become a completely open library, with the terrifying computing power of the " Amaterasu " main brain frantically searching, copying, and analyzing all their memories, all the books they had read, and all the legends they had heard throughout their lives at a rate of billions of times per second!
"What are you doing?!" Tsunade and Jiraiya were shocked and instinctively rushed forward.
But as soon as they took a step, an invisible, terrifying pressure as heavy as a star descended upon them! The two felt as if they had been struck head-on by an ancient divine mountain, and they spat out a mouthful of blood. They were sent flying like kites with broken strings, crashing heavily into the stone pillars of the main hall and losing consciousness!
Throughout the entire process, Gen'yō didn't even move a finger!
Divine Grace Hall, only the painful groans of the three figures from the forced extraction of their souls remained, along with their followers who had long since collapsed to the ground in terror, defecating and urinating uncontrollably.
Gen'yō's face was expressionless.
In his eyes, countless streams of data were flashing by frantically.
[Deep memory retrieval of target " Hiruzen Sarutobi "]
[Keywords discovered: " Uzumaki Clan ", "Forbidden Techniques", "Ancient Ritual"]
[Incomplete information found: "When two moons shine in the same sky, and the tides flow backward, the gateway to the Yomi will open once more."]
[Fragment extraction successful! " Star Chart Beacon A" acquired!]
[Performing a deep memory retrieval of the target " Rasa "]
[Keywords discovered: "Desert ruins", "ancient murals", "star worship"]
[Fragmented information found: "The lost moon slumbers at the edge of the quicksand sea, awaiting awakening by bloodline"—In the mural, a giant sand scorpion totem is worshipping one of the two moons.]
[Segment extraction successful! " Star Chart Beacon - B" acquired!]
[Deep memory retrieval is being performed on the target " Mei Terumi "]
[Keywords found: "Legend of the Sea God", "Secrets of the Blood Mist", " Phantom Island "]
[Fragmented information found: "In that devilish sea shrouded in perpetual fog, every century on the night of the 'Bloody Full Moon,' a second moon's reflection appears in the mirage."]
[Fragment extraction successful! " Star Chart Beacon - C" acquired!]
"Found it."
Gen'yō slowly withdrew that terrifying mental power.
Hiruzen Sarutobi, Rasa, Mei Terumi collapsed to the ground like drained salted fish, panting heavily, their eyes filled with endless fear and emptiness.
Before Gen'yō, three incomplete star maps, composed of pure light and imbued with an ancient and mysterious aura, slowly emerged.
They attracted each other, intertwined, and finally, with a "click," they were perfectly joined together!
A complete " Star Chart Beacon " pointing to some unknown coordinates deep in the endless void appeared before Gen'yō's eyes!
[Ding! Congratulations, host! The Rinnegan Awakening Mission (Phase 1): Retrieving the Lost Moon has been completed!]
[Rewards being distributed]
[The system's ultimate rewards are now fully unlocked!]
Gen'yō looked at the star map, then down at the three "heroes" on the ground who had completely lost their will to resist, and a cold smile curled at the corner of his mouth.
"It's pieced together; the coordinates of 'Yin Moon ' were indeed in your minds."
He spoke slowly, as if announcing a bestowal of favor.
"So, as a reward for finding the clues, how do you think I should deal with you 'meritorious contributors'?"