"Hehehe, interesting..."
After one last look at Konoha, Black Zetsu turned and left. He didn't believe he couldn't find Lucian by searching the entire ninja world.
"Black Zetsu..."
Lucian emerged from the shadows.
"He's already mixed up with that man so early?"
Lucian thought to himself.
In the original story, Black Zetsu only actively appeared after Madara entrusted everything to Obito and infused his will into the other half of White Zetsu's body.
Things were a bit different now; Black Zetsu had already disguised himself and was by Madara's side.
After stabilizing his energy earlier, Lucian had just left the spirit particle space when he was startled.
He saw a pitch-black fellow cruelly torturing a Root ninja, looking just like a ghost.
Hearing Black Zetsu's laughter from within the Schatten Bereich, Lucian wanted to hit someone.
"Such an unpleasant laugh. Who is that old schemer plotting against now..."
Lucian wasn't interested in Black Zetsu. He focused on expanding his perception, sensing the spiritual bodies throughout Konoha.
There were currently three ways for Lucian to become stronger.
One: Patiently absorb spirit particles and bide his time until he was invincible.
Two: Rely on the Hōgyoku to continuously evolve in all aspects.
Three: Rely on slaughter to devour soul energy—the stronger the opponent, the better.
The first option would take who knows how many years. For the second, he couldn't just keep killing himself every day.
Hōgyoku: Are you trying to exploit a bug in my system?
The third was currently the best method, but Lucian couldn't just mindlessly kill, as it would have a great impact on his mental state.
The soul energy of ordinary ninja wasn't very effective.
So he had to find top-tier powerhouses. And for top-tier powerhouses, Lucian had already set his target!
The Nine Tailed Beasts!
As life forms made of enormous amounts of chakra, they also had souls.
For example, when Minato Namikaze used the Reaper Death Seal on the Nine-Tails, its soul was huge—a source of highly concentrated spirit particles.
If he killed them all and devoured their soul energy, and then absorbed the soul energy of ninja from the war, it would be enough to quickly raise Lucian's level to the Six Paths Sage level.
Even if it wasn't enough, Lucian had several backup plans.
Without further ado, Lucian flew directly towards the location of the Nine-Tails' spiritual body that he had sensed.
...
The night was quiet!
But in the Konoha hospital, many ninja were groaning in pain. They had all been seriously injured by Lucian. The hospital was busy today!
Lucian's appearance had taught Konoha a good lesson!
In a hospital room in a corner on the third floor, two lolis who had just woken up were whispering to each other.
"Mikoto, thank you for saving me..."
The fact that Mikoto had stepped forward to protect her in a life-or-death situation filled Kushina with gratitude.
True friendship is found in times of crisis!
Mikoto Uchiha took Kushina's hand and smiled gently.
"It's good that you're okay. We're not official ninja yet. If you encounter a situation like that again, remember to stay far away."
"Mhm, mhm..."
Faced with the gentle young lady, Kushina nodded obediently.
However, thinking about what happened today, Kushina's eyes grew distant. It seemed she understood something, and Mikoto also fell silent.
The two girls had just woken up and didn't know what had happened afterwards.
Their memories stopped at... the scene where Lucian gave up resisting and was killed. Then, the two girls were knocked unconscious by a snake's tail.
The image of him as a 'hero' was something they couldn't shake.
Lucian's 'death' also made their hearts heavy and complicated.
"Mikoto, how could there be such a foolish person in the world? I..."
As she was speaking, Kushina's body suddenly trembled. A monster was roaring deep inside her.
"Quick, undo the seal! I'll get you out of here!"
"Hurry! Or we'll both die!"
Huh?
Is that the monster? Kushina was shocked!
Except for hearing it roar during the transfer of the Nine-Tails, the beast had never paid her any mind. But today was different.
Hey, you're the Nine-Tails! Are you that much of a coward?!
"Damn it, it's too late!"
The Nine-Tails' tone was extremely angry, with a hint of a tremor.
It was hard to imagine that the proud Nine-Tails would have a day of fear.
The Nine-Tails was extremely sensitive to danger.
After Lucian evolved, its fur stood on end. The threat made its heart run cold; it was a fatal feeling, one that could completely annihilate it.
And now, it sensed Lucian rapidly approaching, and it felt his undisguised killing intent.
Nine-Tails: Who the hell did I provoke?!
Once, there was a guy named Hashirama Senju. Without a word, he beat me up and sealed me away.
I asked him why he captured me. He said I was too strong.
What the hell.
He beat me with one hand and didn't even lock the cage properly.
Then there was that despicable Uchiha Madara. He also controlled me without a word, leaving me with years of psychological trauma.
And today, this one is even more ruthless. He wants to kill me?!
"You all bully beasts too much..."
The Nine-Tails recalled the past, its eyes filled with bitter tears.
BOOM!!
With a loud roar, the wall of the third-floor hospital room was blasted open, waking up the other people in the hospital.
Sarutobi, who was in a room on the third floor accompanying Danzo, immediately stood up.
Konoha had suffered great losses. The Root ninja were almost completely wiped out, and hundreds of other ninja had died, including some Genin and students who had come to watch the commotion. Sarutobi was mentally and physically exhausted.
He looked at the numb-faced Danzo and frowned slightly, "What's happening outside?"
"Lord Hokage, it's bad! That... Lucian is here again!"
"Damn it!"
Sarutobi immediately rushed out.
The expressionless Danzo's eyes were suddenly filled with venom and fear.
"He's back again, that devil..."
Hearing the name Lucian, Danzo's whole body shivered.
Just hearing those two words made his very soul tremble!
He finally understood why Lucian hadn't killed him!
Sometimes, living is more painful than dying