Chapter 138: Go, Let’s Go Home!
Divine Cry.
The name wasn’t anything impressive.
But its Shikai release left Hakken thoroughly satisfied.
From today onward, he no longer needed to prepare and build up an overwhelming Katana’s Cero to deal with enemies who used space-time ninjutsu. This was something close to absolute control over space itself.
The greater the difference in strength, the wider the range and the stronger the effect of that control.
The advancement mission was finally complete.
At this moment, Hakken was a true Shinigami, though the power he wielded was far more than that of a simple God of Death.
It was the fusion of three energies—power clearly surpassing chakra and spiritual pressure.
And this power wasn’t limited to just those three. In the coming days, Hakken planned to try adding a bit of Senjutsu—natural energy—into his basic strikes.
After all, during the Fourth Shinobi World War, without the boost from Senjutsu, attacks against Six Paths–level enemies proved lacking.
Of course, Hakken’s blade could obliterate souls, so Senjutsu enhancement was optional.
No one ever complained about becoming stronger, and Senjutsu was still worth exploring.
Where others’ blades carried chakra, his strikes carried solitude.
He had no idea yet how powerful a simple Sage Mode slash would be, but he wasn’t in a hurry.
He had only just mastered Shikai, and the sensation of three energies converging within him was still something he hadn’t fully adapted to.
Settling into it would take time.
And the best way to settle was through endless blade training.
Raising his newly transformed Zanpakutō, Hakken examined it and nodded in satisfaction.
The once massive, heavy blade had become more restrained after the shift in his spiritual pressure, yet the intricate patterns etched across its pitch-black body radiated an extraordinary presence.
It still felt perfectly balanced in his grasp—an extension of his arm.
A Zanpakutō’s size changes based on spiritual pressure; a larger blade doesn’t necessarily mean stronger power.
In Bleach, Ichigo Kurosaki’s oversized Zanpakutō simply came from not knowing how to control his spiritual pressure.
But even that showed how vast his spiritual pressure was.
This Zanpakutō resembled Zangetsu, but far more ornate and visually striking. From now on, Hakken wouldn’t need to haul around that enormous blade; he could wear this one at his waist like a true swordsman.
A sake gourd and a sword—things a swordsman could never part with.
The journey to the Land of Earth had brought Hakken enormous gains.
Three personal energies fused completely, his Zanpakutō achieved Shikai, and he accumulated a considerable amount of slash points.
All rewards from the advancement mission.
If Shikai alone granted so much, he could only imagine the rewards awaiting him from the Bankai advancement mission.
“Ken-san.”
Itachi approached, a complicated expression on his face, though joy for Hakken’s growth was the clearest emotion present.
Between friends, many words were unnecessary.
Besides, he was here to report.
“Kakashi-san just returned. He said Ōnoki agreed to the conditions Konoha proposed earlier.”
“He’s yielded.”
A smile tugged at Itachi’s lips—he had yielded.
After more than two hundred ANBU had pressured him for three full months, Ōnoki finally could no longer endure and chose to beg Konoha for forgiveness. Over those three months, he had repeatedly attempted to speak with Hakken, hoping to resolve the matter through negotiations. But the very first request Hakken made was rejected on the spot.
That demand was for all of Iwagakure to bow its head and apologize to Konoha—an apology issued publicly to the entire ninja world.
That was the first condition. The second, identical to the conditions placed on Kumogakure, was to compensate for war damages and pay tribute annually.
For someone as prideful as Ōnoki, agreeing to this was no small thing.
But he had no choice left. If he allowed Night Owl to continue devouring the Land of Earth, both the nation and the village would collapse entirely.
He could no longer stall.
Nor could the Land of Earth.
Hakken didn’t push him further. With those two conditions met, he agreed to withdraw from the borders of the Land of Earth.
Different villages required different methods.
Hakken knew very well which brought more benefit—the continued existence of the Land of Earth, or its destruction.
Unification couldn’t be rushed. Konoha was still digesting the resources of Kirigakure from the Land of Water and lacked the manpower to take full control of Iwagakure.
So the right move, for now, was to extract as much benefit from Iwagakure as possible.
Once Kirigakure was mostly assimilated, that would be the right time to act.
Konoha needed capital. And now that Ōnoki had finally spoken those words, it meant the mission was complete.
“Understood. Prepare to head to Sunagakure.”
Hakken nodded, twirling his Zanpakutō once before glancing at the ANBU around him.
Blood must be repaid with blood.
The Land of Earth had already paid its price—why should the Land of the Wind be allowed to slip through?
“Uh… Hakken—”
Just as he issued the order, Jiraiya walked over, a messenger frog perched on his shoulder.
It was a summoned beast from Mount Myōboku.
Because Minato Namikaze also held a contract with Mount Myōboku, the messenger frogs could relay information between Minato and Jiraiya. That meant Konoha already knew what Hakken had been doing in the Land of Earth, as well as his team’s exact position.
Even so, the frogs were rarely used. The toads of Mount Myōboku called themselves sages, and they only took on message delivery in emergencies.
The messenger frog spat out a scroll. It glanced at Hakken once before vanishing with a thud.
For some reason, Hakken saw shock—and even a hint of caution—in the frog’s eyes.
He shook his head, not bothering to dwell on it, and picked up the scroll.
As for the so-called Three Great Sacred Lands… he had no idea who had given them that title. Animals crowning themselves sages struck him as absurd.
He certainly didn’t see himself as any Child of Prophecy, nor did he intend to learn Senjutsu through Mount Myōboku’s methods. Unless something unexpected happened, he had no plans to deal with those toads at all.
True power came from the blade in his hand.
Unfolding the scroll, Hakken’s expression grew odd. Shisui, who had walked over, took one look and froze.
“The Land of the Wind sent an envoy? What are they after?”
Yes.
The scroll contained only one message: the envoy from the Land of the Wind had suddenly arrived. Minato wanted Hakken’s opinion on how to handle them.
“What else could it be? Same purpose as Ōnoki.”
Rolling the scroll back up, Hakken lifted his sake gourd and took a swig.
Rasa was a smart man.
Judging from the situation in the Land of Earth, he had already foreseen the Land of the Wind’s fate.
If they didn’t make a choice, their ending would likely be worse than the Land of Earth’s.
That was something the Kazekage absolutely did not want to see.
So before Hakken had even made a move, they surrendered first.
I’ll surrender immediately! Will you still have the heart to strike me?
A very clever choice.
But did they truly have the resolve to pay the price?
Hakken let out a cold chuckle, hooked the gourd back at his waist, and looked around.
Three months had passed.
Not only had he undergone a transformation.
This ANBU unit had changed as well—utterly and completely.
Three months of battle inevitably brought casualties, but even those who fell had shown the iron-blooded resolve a true shinobi should possess. That was real growth.
This was the assassination special forces unit Konoha truly needed.
Drawing his blade toward the sky, Hakken inhaled deeply and roared out:
“Move!”
“Home!”