Inside the Shinobi World, Urashiki moved with more directness.
After absorbing a large amount of various energies, he barely managed to regain full mobility. While still not back to his original peak, it was enough to deal with the scattered Naruto and Sasuke—as long as he didn't run into Neji again.
He first made his way to the palaces of several daimyō, introducing himself as an envoy of the Ōtsutsuki Clan.
Before he could even begin to manipulate them further, the daimyō and nobles welcomed his arrival with great enthusiasm.
They not only poured out their grievances to Urashiki, but even provided him with a new identity to help him remain hidden. They also informed him that Naruto hadn't appeared publicly for a long time.
The Ōtsutsuki had yet to complete a military conquest of the Shinobi World, and yet these people had already pledged allegiance. That genuinely surprised Urashiki.
He had conquered and interacted with many low-level native species before, but not once had a leader surrendered before even suffering a major defeat.
Wary of deception, he immediately used his Rinnegan to extract one person's soul and read their memories. To his astonishment—it was all true!
Even Urashiki found the whole situation laughable.
It seemed this species' core was far more spineless than it appeared at first glance. They were practically born to be servants.
Still, he quickly realized that gaining control over these nobles—people with power and status at the very top of the Shinobi World—could be the perfect method to dismantle its military power from within.
So, with just one order, many daimyō and nobles eagerly responded. They divided up the land and civilians on their territories, poured in manpower and resources, and began constructing lavish palaces in preparation for the arrival of the main Ōtsutsuki force.
Naturally, this sparked widespread public outrage.
After the Fourth Great Ninja War and the invasion of the Ōtsutsuki, the common people were no longer so easy to manipulate. Though the recently introduced ninjutsu and Breathing Arts hadn't yet spread to every person due to interference from the nobility, the wisdom of the common folk had already awakened. Many had even begun practicing those arts.
These people, who could now feed themselves through their own labor, were no longer livestock to be commanded. They were human.
And so, uprisings erupted across the noble domains.
The daimyō quickly assembled their samurai forces. Though those troops were no match for real shinobi, surely they could still handle these dirt-digging peasants?
...
Just as the United Shinobi Government and the Allied Shinobi Forces were beginning to take shape, fierce conflict broke out between the nobility and the commoners throughout nearly the entire Shinobi World.
While the intensity of the fighting wasn't high, the flames of war spread in an instant—engulfing the entire land.
Although Urashiki's plan to directly dismantle the Allied Shinobi Forces didn't succeed—since these nobles turned out to be completely useless—the massive unrest they caused still fulfilled the basic objective.
Urashiki quietly left the palace the daimyō had built for him.
He needed to find another way to further damage the Shinobi World.
...
After all, Urashiki wasn't like Momoshiki. Though he was also of the main family, he wasn't a prodigy—just someone with some talent in research. That's why he had been assigned support tasks like resource collection.
However, during the long interstellar voyage, he was unable to bring his branch family attendants with him. Being alone had allowed Neji to exploit the opportunity and severely injure him.
Unlike Momoshiki, who was just here for glory, Urashiki actually needed to complete his missions of collecting and destroying in order to raise his standing within the clan—exchange for fruit, and perhaps even earn a chance to become a god.
That was why he acted so proactively.
Upon arrival, he had immediately captured Ōtsutsuki Toneri, then assisted Momoshiki in hunting down members of Isshiki's inner circle, and even gathered cells from the Ōtsutsuki God.
Even now, despite being gravely wounded, he hadn't forgotten his goal of wreaking havoc across the Shinobi World.
...
While hiding out recently, Urashiki had discovered a curious phenomenon—some ninja weapons carried a strange kind of energy.
This energy could inflict injuries on members of the Ōtsutsuki Clan that were extremely difficult to heal.
He'd attempted to extract that power using his fishing hook, but every time he pulled it out, the energy would instantly collapse—making it impossible for his basket to store.
Later, after interrogating a group of nobles, he learned where it came from: the Hoshigakure.
It was said that a god known as the Mountain God resided there.
Urashiki's eyes lit up with joy.
He had once read records within the clan detailing the conquest of other races. One type of energy described there was strikingly similar to what he had encountered—
Faith Power.
Only things or beings that were worshipped could wield this power. It could not be stolen by any means, and it was extremely difficult to counter.
However, this power wasn't without weaknesses.
It required constant ritual prayers from a large number of weak beings in order to be sustained.
Thus, cutting off the source of faith meant the so-called deity could be hunted.
And this deity—was a god!
A god who cultivated faith power—immensely powerful, yet also inherently fragile. Urashiki had the inherited experience of his Ōtsutsuki ancestors.
He knew exactly how to use his own advantages to bring one down.
And once he succeeded in hunting the Mountain God, it would mean that with the clan's support, he could rise to the level of a true god himself!
...
Dragging his seemingly intact but heavily debilitated body, Urashiki stealthily infiltrated the Hoshigakure, convinced that no one had noticed.
But in truth, Neji had been tracking him from afar ever since he left the daimyō's palace.
...
"This is where I'll strike."
In Urashiki's Rinnegan-enhanced vision, an elderly craftsman with graying temples knelt in prayer. The man held deep faith in the Mountain God and was currently blessing a newly forged blade.
A streak of golden light rose from the craftsman's head, drifting toward the distant mountains. Moments later, a golden light laced with runes flew back, entering the blade and making it unbreakable.
That was the blessing ritual.
Urashiki cast out his fishing hook.
While a ninja being hooked would only have their chakra extracted, an ordinary person with no special energy would have their life force and spirit drained instead.
Once extracted, they were no different from a dried-out corpse.
This was how Urashiki had been slowly regaining his strength by preying on civilians.
Whoosh!
A blade of invisible light flashed out of nowhere, directly interrupting Urashiki's dream of a successful ambush.
Neji made his move.
Using the Breathing Art to resonate with his surroundings, he had achieved near-complete stealth.
If Urashiki were at full strength, he might've caught some traces of Neji's presence. But in his current state—badly wounded, body only partially restored, and unable to use much of his ocular power—he had no way of responding in time.
The fishing line was sliced aside.
Urashiki barely managed to dodge with a slight tilt of his head, but the blade still cleaved straight through his waist.
"Aaaargh!!!"
Urashiki let out a piercing scream—not just from the searing physical pain, but the anguish of his spirit.
Since arriving in the Shinobi World, he had repeatedly suffered defeats—at the hands of the same native, over and over again.
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