Chapter 540: You Are Not Allowed to Expel Me from the Nin Beast Registry
The white light gradually faded, and the Pokémon Egg disappeared without a trace, leaving behind only the soft cushion Nagato had used to prop it up.
Of course, that did not mean Mugetsu had given Nagato some fake or defective Pokémon Egg.
Sensing a gaze and a faint chill behind him, Nagato turned around.
What greeted his eyes was a mass of purple mist. At the center of it floated a large black sphere with a pair of oversized white eyes and a mouth lined with two sharp fangs.
As Nagato stared at it, the creature in the mist also looked back at him with equal curiosity.
After getting a clear look at it, Nagato instinctively took half a step back.
Although he generally did not judge things by appearance, the unknown being before him truly did not look like something from the world of the living.
Nagato felt that anyone who suddenly turned around and found a black sphere wrapped in purple mist, with a pair of giant eyes and a mouth nearly pressed against their face, would instinctively recoil.
The fact that he had only taken half a step back already proved how much confidence he had in his own strength.
"Gastly!"
Gastly let out a friendly laugh and greeted Nagato. For some reason, it felt an unusual sense of closeness toward him.
Of course, that friendliness existed only in Gastly's own perception. From Nagato's point of view, it was simply a black ball wrapped in eerie purple mist, letting out a bizarre and unsettling laugh.
"Is this... a Nin Beast?" Nagato fell into thought.
The Pokémon Egg had hatched, and then Gastly had appeared in the training room. No matter how he looked at it, this had to be the newly hatched Nin Beast.
Nagato had seen strange looking Nin Beasts before, but none of them were as peculiar as Gastly.
To put it bluntly, he thought Gastly looked more like some legendary supernatural anomaly than a Nin Beast.
"There's no doubt that it is. It's just a little more unique," Mugetsu said as he stepped into the training room.
Even Mugetsu had not expected Nagato's Pokémon to be a Gastly.
He had originally thought it might be something like Eevee, given Nagato's many elemental affinities.
Still, if one only considered combat compatibility, Gastly was actually a very good match for Nagato.
Nagato's only real weakness at the moment was close combat, and Gastly possessed strong stealth abilities. It could hide beside Nagato and protect him at critical moments.
"Hee hee hee!"
Hearing Mugetsu praise its uniqueness, Gastly immediately burst into laughter, then floated around Nagato in circles, orbiting him nonstop.
Since Mugetsu had personally confirmed that it was indeed a Nin Beast, Nagato did not hesitate. He immediately formed a contract with Gastly.
"Mugetsu sensei, can I take it outside now, or should it stay in the training room for the time being?" Nagato asked.
Ever since Mugetsu had handed him the egg, it had remained in this sealed, windowless training room. Nagato wanted to take it outside and let it see the world.
"Yes, you can take it out now. There's no longer any need for it to stay here," Mugetsu replied.
Gastly's appearance and abilities were completely different from Obito's Pokémon. No one would associate the two sides just from that.
If Gastly evolved, there might be a few more overlapping traits, but even then, it still would not be enough for anyone to immediately connect Sōsuke and Hayate Mugetsu.
Of course, even if Uchiha Madara or Black Zetsu somehow learned that Mugetsu was Sōsuke, Mugetsu no longer cared very much.
He had kept his identity hidden at first because he did not want Madara interfering before he had successfully accepted Nagato as a disciple.
Now that the apprenticeship was already established and his teacher student relationship with Nagato had become solid, Mugetsu no longer feared Madara stirring up trouble over that issue.
That was also why, after taking Nagato in as a student, Mugetsu had revealed everything to him so quickly. If he had not done so, Madara might have used that point to deceive Nagato later.
At present, the overall situation actually favored Mugetsu.
Even if Madara learned the truth, aside from directly using his own power to create trouble, there was little else he could do.
Could he reveal Mugetsu's identity publicly and use that to make other nations wary of Konoha and the Shinobi Sect? Not really.
If Madara sent White Zetsu out to spread such news, hardly anyone would believe it.
Compared to the idea that Raging Sun Mu Yue of Konoha was secretly Ninja Master Sōsuke, the conspiracy theory that everything surrounding Sōsuke was just a scheme orchestrated by Amegakure would sound far more believable.
In a war of public perception, Madara simply could not outplay Mugetsu.
Inside Konoha, Mugetsu was effectively Root's second in command, and Hiruzen trusted him deeply.
In the Land of Rain, Mugetsu was already a highly respected Ninja Master. Besides commanding the Shinobi Sect, he could even borrow the strength of the Rain Ninja if he chose to negotiate with Hanzō.
Madara could still muddy the waters through his various schemes, but in terms of actual manpower he could mobilize, he was nowhere near Mugetsu's level.
After all, Madara had spent decades pretending to be dead. During that time, the various villages had already changed from First Kage to Third Kage, and Sunagakure, which changed faster than most, had already reached the era of the Fourth Kazekage.
Nagato nodded, then walked out of the room with Gastly floating behind him.
After Nagato left, Mugetsu took out his own Pokémon Egg and looked at it for a moment.
Although the eggs had been obtained at the same time, his own still showed no sign of hatching.
Nagato had barely stepped outside when Yahiko, who was planning to go for a walk, spotted him and smiled in greeting.
"Nagato."
But almost immediately, the smile on Yahiko's face stiffened.
Because behind Nagato, he saw a mysterious figure wrapped in purple mist slowly floating upward.
"Nagato, watch out!" Yahiko shouted, instantly rushing toward him.
Nagato sensed nothing behind him other than Gastly, so he could not help but look puzzled.
Then he thought about it more carefully. Given Gastly's appearance, Yahiko was probably talking about Gastly itself.
"It's fine, Yahiko. You don't have to worry," Nagato said to reassure him.
Although Gastly truly did not look like something from the world of the living, it had been personally certified by Mugetsu as a Nin Beast. There was no problem.
"How is that fine? There's something like a ghost floating behind you!" Yahiko blurted out.
Even though he had never believed in ghosts before, after seeing one with his own eyes, whether he believed or not no longer seemed to matter.
"If you don't believe me, just turn around," Yahiko added.
But when he looked back again, he found that the mysterious purple figure had disappeared.
"Huh? That's strange. Did I see it wrong?"
Yahiko reflexively reached up to scratch his head, only to feel a chilling sensation behind him, like plunging his hand into icy water.
He immediately turned his head.
A black sphere shrouded in ominous purple mist, with huge eyes and a mouth, floated directly beside him.
"A ghost!"
Yahiko's eyes widened. Caught off guard, he nearly collapsed on the spot. Fortunately, Nagato reacted quickly and grabbed him before he could make intimate contact with the ground.
"Nagato, hurry and use Shinra Tensei!" Yahiko shouted while gathering Chakra.
Gastly was simply too close. At this distance, Shinra Tensei, which required no hand seals, would be extremely effective.
Nagato looked at him helplessly.
"Actually... it's my Nin Beast."
Yahiko froze.
"Oh. So it's a Nin Beast."
He wore an expression of sudden realization.
Then the next moment, he could no longer hold back.
"I still can't make sense of it, all right? Whose Nin Beast looks like this?"
This purple mist, this floating black sphere, those enormous eyes... what normal person's Nin Beast looked like that?
"Gastly!"
Hearing Yahiko complain about its appearance, Gastly immediately became dissatisfied and stuck out its long pink tongue at him.
Lick!
Even though it had only just been born and had not yet learned to use Chakra properly, so it could not really damage Yahiko, the sensation still made Yahiko's vision black out for a moment. He suddenly felt the urge to wash his face a dozen times.
"Although it looks a little different from ordinary Nin Beasts, it really is a Nin Beast," Nagato said, repeating Mugetsu's explanation.
Even though Gastly truly looked like something unnatural, it had shown no hostility, so Yahiko had no choice but to believe him.
"Nagato, let's go find the others," Yahiko said after a moment, pulling him along toward Kyūsuke and the rest.
There was no way he was going to be the only one who got frightened by Nagato's unusually terrifying looking Nin Beast.
In any case, if Gastly belonged to Nagato, then sooner or later everyone in the Shinobi Sect would end up seeing it anyway.
"Isn't that a little bad?" Nagato asked, his expression hesitant.
Although judging by appearance was not right, Gastly's appearance really did attack people before it even did anything.
"What's bad about it? Better to get everyone familiar with it now so nobody makes a mistake later," Yahiko said, sounding completely reasonable.
If someone had encountered Gastly alone just now, Yahiko himself would definitely have attacked first and asked questions later.
Nagato thought about it, then nodded in agreement.
Gastly, meanwhile, looked extremely excited.
"A ghost!"
Thus, cries of [A ghost!] began echoing one after another throughout the Shinobi Sect headquarters.
In this bizarre fashion, Gastly made a deep and unforgettable first impression on almost everyone in the Shinobi Sect.
...
After the Martial Arts Tournament ended, Mugetsu did not even need to spend effort promoting it. News of the event spread rapidly throughout the entire Ninja World on its own.
The tournament had already drawn a great deal of attention for many different reasons, and now that so many unexpected things had happened during it, its popularity naturally exploded.
However, what shocked many ninja the most was that first place had actually been won by a ninja from the Shinobi Sect itself.
That was something very few had expected.
Anyone who had followed the tournament knew that among all the villages, Iwagakure and Konoha had taken it the most seriously.
Not only had they sent many talented young ninja, they had also dispatched powerful senior leaders.
Iwagakure had sent Kitsuchi, the son of the Third Tsuchikage.
Konoha had sent Raging Sun Mugetsu.
With that kind of setup, it was obvious that the Shinobi Sect could not simply have rigged the event to hand the prize to one of their own.
After all, even if they favored their own contestant, that person still had to defeat the strongest competitors with genuine skill.
Because of that, some people began giving Nagato the title of the Ninja World's Number One Genius, believing that among the current generation of young ninja, he truly stood at the top.
The first people to use the title might have genuinely believed it.
But once the idea spread, it gradually started carrying a different flavor, almost as if some people were trying to set Nagato up to become a target.
After all, none of the Five Great Villages had ever publicly claimed one of their own was the number one genius of the entire Ninja World.
For a ninja from a force based in a small country to suddenly receive such a title naturally made others suspicious.
Aside from Nagato's victory, Konoha's overwhelming performance in the tournament also stunned the Ninja World.
Although Iwagakure had placed almost the same level of importance on the event as Konoha, when it came to actual results, its contestants had been completely crushed.
From the quarterfinals onward, the proportion of Konoha ninja had become absurd.
Five of the eight quarterfinalists were from Konoha.
Three of the four semifinalists were from Konoha.
By comparison, not a single Iwagakure ninja had managed to enter the semifinals.
Of course, Iwagakure was not the only Great Village that had failed to place anyone that high. Sunagakure and Kumogakure had both been eliminated in the first round as well.
But the situations were clearly not comparable.
Sunagakure and Kumogakure had barely sent anyone to begin with.
Inside the Tsuchikage's office in the Land of Earth, Ōnoki rubbed his temples as he looked over the report Kitsuchi had submitted.
"In terms of genius level ninja, Iwagakure is actually this far behind Konoha..." he muttered with a headache.
Some things really only became obvious when placed side by side.
As a responsible Tsuchikage, Ōnoki had long known that Iwagakure had not produced many truly exceptional young geniuses in recent years.
But he had not expected the gap with Konoha to be this large.
Iwagaki had already been one of the strongest young geniuses in Iwagakure, yet he had been knocked out by Might Guy in a single punch.
And it was not as if Konoha only had one Might Guy. They still had several other young monsters who were only slightly weaker than him.
"In that case, the Shinobi Sect becomes even more important," Ōnoki thought, gradually becoming more serious.
If the Shinobi Sect could really help them train more excellent shinobi, it could relieve Iwagakure's current weakness to some extent.
At the same time, however, there was a problem.
According to Ōnoki's original plans, Iwagakure was very likely to come into conflict with the Shinobi Sect sooner or later.
His original reason for helping mediate between the Shinobi Sect and the Rain Ninja had never been pure kindness. He had wanted to create friction and use the Land of Rain to help tie Konoha down.
But every scheme carried the risk of being discovered. If the Shinobi Sect ever learned of Iwagakure's true hand in things, then the two sides would inevitably fall out.
"Then perhaps I should alter the plan and make Amegakure the main player, while using Amegakure to pressure the Shinobi Sect into tying down Konoha..." Ōnoki thought of a possible adjustment.
The final outcome would still be the Land of Rain becoming a thorn in Konoha's side, but this time the Shinobi Sect itself would not be the direct target of manipulation.
The downside of that plan was obvious too.
The Shinobi Sect might simply refuse to exert itself.
From Ōnoki's point of view, the Shinobi Sect and Amegakure were still only cooperating because they were wary of one another. Under those circumstances, the Shinobi Sect refusing to bleed itself for Amegakure would be completely understandable.
"Observe a little longer," Ōnoki decided, suppressing his anxiety for the moment.
In the end, although the gap in top young talent was real, Iwagakure's current overall military strength was still not inferior to Konoha's.
They still possessed an army of tens of thousands of ninja.
As long as Iwagakure could find the right chance to heavily damage Konoha during this war, there would be no need to worry so much about the future.
...
In the Land of Lightning, inside Kumogakure.
The Fourth Raikage looked over the news of the Youth Martial Arts Tournament and let out a cold, disdainful laugh.
"To call someone the number one genius in the Ninja World just because he won a competition hosted by his own side. How arrogant. How ignorant."
Then he looked toward Killer Bee, who was training nearby.
"If you did not still need time to familiarize yourself with the power of the Tailed Beast, I'd really want to send you there to teach them what reality looks like."
Having only recently become the new Eight Tails Jinchūriki, Killer Bee was currently forbidden from leaving the village.
A did not believe for even a second that Nagato, Might Guy, or Obito could defeat Killer Bee.
He had personally watched Bee grow stronger step by step. In his view, Killer Bee might one day even surpass him.
And if Bee could surpass him, then who else in this generation deserved the title of number one genius?
"Rain ninja punks acting so arrogant. If I didn't still need more training, I'd definitely go knock them flat myself, bastard fool, yeah!" Killer Bee replied in his own bizarre rhythm.
"Bastard! If you're going to speak while training, speak normally!" A roared, unable to stop his eyelid from twitching. He walked over and punched Killer Bee on the head.
At this point, he felt Bee's lack of popularity within Kumogakure no longer had anything to do with the Eight Tails.
It was entirely because Bee insisted on rapping no matter the time, place, or occasion.
"Even big bro can't make me abandon my perfect rhythm, fool, yeah!" Bee replied stubbornly despite being hit.
At that moment, a shinobi walked into the room.
It was Iwagaki.
"Please come with me to the conference room in the village building," he said.
A asked no questions and followed him directly.
Once inside the Raikage's conference chamber, he saw not only his father, the Third Raikage, but also several other elite Kumogakure ninja already waiting.
"All right, let's begin," the Third Raikage said with a nod once both Iwagaki and his son had entered.
"Which village should Kumogakure make its main target next? State your opinions."
Because of the instability surrounding the new Eight Tails Jinchūriki, Kumogakure had actually become much less aggressive than it had been two years ago.
At the moment, they were mostly in a tense standoff with Konoha. The only relatively intense conflict remained with Sunagakure.
Logically, Kumogakure should have kept pressing Sunagakure. But once Sunagakure's internal strife ended, it was no longer as easy a target as it had been right after the Third Kazekage's disappearance.
Of course, geography was also a factor. For Kumogakure, fighting Sunagakure was actually troublesome, because their forces had to pass through multiple smaller countries to get there.
Earlier, when Sunagakure had seemed weak enough to crush, those problems had been tolerable.
Now that Sunagakure was harder to chew through, all those issues had become much more obvious.
"Iwagakure is a good choice," one Cloud ninja said first.
"Our ninja can take ships directly to Iwagakure's east coast, or land in the northern Land of Waterfalls and then advance into the Land of Earth."
In terms of raw marching speed, taking a ship was not necessarily faster than traveling overland.
But sea transport had the advantage of being direct. There were no countries in between to leak information or set up ambushes.
The more nations an army had to pass through on land, the greater the chance of intelligence exposure or complications.
"Also, judging by the current war with Konoha, Iwagakure's strength doesn't seem all that impressive. And they don't appear to have many powerful individuals who require special caution."
Although many in the Ninja World liked to paint Kumogakure as reckless brutes, the truth was that the village had long maintained a network of spies constantly gathering war intelligence from across the Shinobi World.
"I think Konoha is still the better target," another Cloud ninja said, adjusting his glasses.
"Yes, Konoha looks prosperous on the surface. But in truth, it has suffered huge losses through multiple wars and has lost countless ninja. Even though monsters like the Yellow Flash and Raging Sun Mugetsu have risen, their mid and lower level forces cannot possibly have recovered to full strength yet."
"If we do not crush Konoha now, then once they recover in a few years, Kumogakure may no longer be able to surpass them."
"Why not stir trouble with Hidden Mist? They even let one of their Jinchūriki die," someone else suggested.
Throughout the discussion, A listened in silence.
He had only been brought here by the Third Raikage to observe and learn. In meetings like this, he usually listened rather than spoke.
After nearly three hours of discussion, the Third Raikage finally raised his hand.
"That's enough for today. Meeting adjourned."
A strategic decision involving an entire village, or even an entire country, could never be made casually.
At present, the Third Raikage himself still had no completely clear answer.
Kumogakure definitely still had to fight. If they did not, then all the military power they had built up would be wasted.
The problem was simply who to fight, and how best to do it.
...
Back in the Land of Fire, inside Konoha.
"I did not expect the Shinobi Sect to have produced such an outstanding young ninja. Even Might Guy and Kakashi failed to win first place," Hiruzen said with a trace of regret as he read through the intelligence report on the Youth Martial Arts Tournament.
He had actually wanted to witness that legendary Fire Dragon Dance for himself.
After all, it was a Fire Release capable of overpowering Hanzō's water techniques through pure elemental dominance. For a Fire Release master like him, curiosity was inevitable.
"Still, our Konoha ninja performed extremely well overall," Hiruzen added, quite pleased.
Although Konoha had not taken first place, they had effectively swept all the rewards from second to fourth. It was far from a wasted trip.
Still, those rewards were not even Konoha's greatest gain from the tournament.
The greater benefit was the rise in the number of missions Konoha had received afterward.
Nagato's strength was indeed astonishing, but Konoha had displayed terrifying depth, placing five ninja in the top eight.
"Asuma actually reached the semifinals on the same level as Kakashi. Should I give him a stern reminder so he doesn't start thinking he's already Kakashi's equal?" Hiruzen mused.
There was a difference even among semifinalists.
Kakashi had only stopped there because he had run into Might Guy, which was why he failed to go further.
Asuma, on the other hand, had clearly benefited from luck to some extent.
Thinking of how he had once exchanged teaching ideas with Mugetsu, Hiruzen finally shook his head.
Asuma had traveled all the way to the Land of Rain and performed quite well. He could allow the boy to enjoy himself for a little while first.
Of course, to prevent Asuma from developing any strange misconceptions, a proper reminder would still be necessary later.
While Hiruzen was feeling fairly pleased, Danzō down in Root was in an utterly foul mood.
He had originally wanted to stir up trouble during the Martial Arts Tournament.
But Mugetsu's arrangements had simply been too thorough. In every area, the Shinobi Sect had been prepared, leaving Root's forces in the Land of Rain with no opening at all.
Danzō had no good solution and could only watch the reports roll in helplessly.
During wartime, the amount of power he could freely mobilize was already limited. And the Shinobi Sect was not some easy target he could simply crush by force.
"Repulsion, attraction, Ninjutsu absorption... these must all be abilities granted by the Rinnegan," Danzō muttered, his greed for Nagato's eyes growing even stronger.
In his view, that brat Nagato had only taken first place because of those eyes.
Otherwise, how could he possibly have defeated so many Konoha ninja?
The more Danzō thought about it, the more convinced he became.
The Rinnegan had to be taken.
If he possessed that power alongside his own strength, then not even Hiruzen would be his match.
.....
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