Chapter 133: Ruthless, Unrighteous, Moral, and Unwise

Uchiha Madara, having accepted his fate, knew there was no point in holding onto his techniques any longer. After all, he was nothing more than a spirit now, and skills meant nothing to the dead.

So, as a final gesture, he traded them to Lucas—hoping, at the very least, to learn the truth about Infinite Tsukuyomi.

Lucas's words had cut deep. If what he said was true—if Black Zetsu had really deceived him—then his entire life's work was a farce.

[Chat Group]

Gengetsu Hōzuki: "If I recall correctly, the Four-Tails and Five-Tails belong to Iwagakure, and the Six-Tails belongs to Kirigakure, right?"

Lucas: "You're right. But all three of them left their villages voluntarily. Do you really think a Jinchūriki's life is easy? Being rejected and feared by your own people is sometimes worse than physical violence."

Senju Hashirama: "Group Leader, please… take back all the Tailed Beasts. This was my mistake. I created Jinchūriki, believing it would bring balance, but… I was wrong. Now, I can't fix it myself."

Senju Tobirama: "What about the Perfect Jinchūriki?"

Lucas: "Like I said before, a Perfect Jinchūriki is an exception. Of course, there are some rare cases where Tailed Beasts and Jinchūriki coexist peacefully. But they're too few to matter in the grand scheme of things."

Senju Tobirama: "How many exist?"

Lucas: "Only one—Killer Bee of Kumogakure, the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki. He and Gyūki have truly bonded."

Senju Hashirama: "Really? I never expected that when I divided the Tailed Beasts, I would actually create a strong partnership."

Lucas: "Don't be so happy. Killer Bee's closest friend lost his father to a past Eight-Tails rampage. That friend transferred his hatred onto Bee and tried to kill him multiple times."

Senju Hashirama: "…"

Lucas: "See? Even a Perfect Jinchūriki isn't free from prejudice. It's just two outcasts clinging to each other for survival."

Sunagakure – Kazekage Building

In Sunagakure, a high-level meeting was taking place inside the Kazekage's office.

Seated at the head of the table, Fourth Kazekage Rasa gestured toward the screen displaying Lucas's image. His expression was grave.

"This man… Lucas. According to our spies, he's the one who subverted Konoha. Based on what we've gathered, he possesses an incredibly powerful Water Release and Wood Release. It is said that he single-handedly eliminated Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzō."

Elder Chiyo frowned, skepticism evident in her voice. "Is this information reliable? It seems… exaggerated. Konoha's Third Hokage may be old, but he still had the strength of a Kage-level ninja."

She crossed her arms. "Not to mention, Sarutobi had Anbu elites at his command. There's no way he would fall so easily. And while the Sarutobi and Shimura clans weren't as strong as the Hyūga or Uchiha, they weren't weak either."

Rasa sighed. "I had the same doubts. But these reports didn't come from a single spy—all of our operatives reported the same thing. They all work independently, meaning there's no way Konoha could have fed them false information at the same time."

Elder Ebizō narrowed his eyes. "Then there's also the matter of Konoha's Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato. Reports claim he has been resurrected. That, more than anything, makes me doubt these reports."

Ebizō scoffed. "This sounds like nonsense. I'm starting to think our spies have been captured, and Konoha is feeding us false information to make fools of us."

Rasa rubbed his temple. "That's what I thought at first, but if it were just one or two spies, I'd agree. The problem is, every single one of them reported this. Are we to believe Konoha captured them all?"

A tense silence settled over the room.

Elder Chiyo finally broke it. "Then we must confirm the truth for ourselves. Send additional intelligence operatives to Konoha. Until we have concrete evidence, we won't act."

The other Sunagakure officials nodded in agreement.

Then—

BOOM!

The entire Kazekage Building shook violently. A massive impact shattered an entire wall, sending debris flying.

The gathered officials turned instantly toward the destruction—only to see a single figure hovering outside the wreckage, his expression calm and indifferent.

Lucas.

The Kazekage's pupils shrank as he recognized the same face from the reports.

Elder Chiyo's hands clenched into fists. "He's here?!"

Lucas glanced casually at the screen displaying his image, then smirked. "Oh? Looks like you've already done your homework on me. Not bad. Sunagakure's intelligence work is decent."

Then, without any hesitation, he got straight to the point.

"I'm here to take control of Sunagakure—and while I'm at it, I'll be taking One-Tail Shukaku as well."

Lucas's tone was so casual it sounded like he was discussing the weather.

"You shouldn't have a problem with that, right?"

A heavy silence fell over the room.

Then—

"COURT DEATH!"

Elder Chiyo, furious, didn't waste a second. She immediately pulled out a sealing scroll, releasing her strongest puppets—the legendary Ten Puppets of Chikamatsu.

Dozens of Chakra threads shot out from her fingers, linking to the puppets as they soared through the air, launching a coordinated attack at Lucas.

Unlike normal ninjas, puppet masters could fight mid-air using their puppets as extensions of themselves.

Shing! Shing! Shing!

Kunai rained down from the puppets, shooting toward Lucas.

At the same time, the puppets transformed, revealing hidden blades that gleamed under the sunlight.

Lucas didn't move.

He allowed the kunai to strike—only for them to bounce off harmlessly as his body remained unscathed.

Chiyo's pupils shrank.

"Impossible…!"

The kunai had completely failed to penetrate his Armament Haki.

Before she could react, the puppets lunged forward, attempting to cut him apart with their razor-sharp weapons.

Lucas sighed.

BAM!

With a single kick, he sent one puppet flying, shattering it into pieces.

Golden Lion Shiki: "What the hell are those ninjas doing? They're using wooden dolls as weapons? How is that supposed to work?"

Lucas: "That's a unique fighting style in the Ninja World. Puppet Masters control these puppets with chakra threads. They're quite skilled—two old puppet users even reached Kage-level."

Gold Thief Woonan: "I still don't get it. What's the advantage? These puppets seem weak—more like toys than weapons."

Senju Tobirama: "Puppet Masters have always struggled with raw attack power, which is why they rely on poison. Most Jonin don't have high physical durability, so puppets work fine against them."

Whitebeard: "So, it's just a ninja specialty. No wonder they feel so weak. If this technique was introduced to the Pirate World, it'd be completely useless."

Pirate King Roger: "Yeah, most strong fighters in our world rely on raw physical power. I doubt those fragile puppets could even scratch them. Honestly, a gun would do more damage than these things."

Howard Stark: "Now that you mention it, why hasn't the Ninja World developed firearms? They've got technology like video projectors, but no guns?"

Lucas: "Because if guns existed, they'd replace ninjas. And ninjas won't allow that to happen. Many claim to desire peace, but deep down, they fear losing their purpose more than anything else."

Outside World

While casually chatting in the group, Lucas raised his hand and effortlessly smashed through another puppet with a single punch.

"Too fragile."

Puppets were useful against normal ninjas, but against Lucas, whose body was as durable as a monster's, they might as well be made of paper.

With a few more precise attacks, most of Chiyo's Kinmatsu Ten Puppets were reduced to splinters in mere moments.

Realizing the battle was slipping out of her control, Chiyo attempted to retract her remaining puppets.

Lucas didn't let her.

BOOM!

His fist, imbued with Shockwave power, shattered the rest of her puppets, leaving Chiyo devastated.

"Elder Sister!"

Ebizō hurried forward to support Chiyo, who was on the verge of collapse. The loss of her most treasured puppets had shaken her to the core.

Ebizō clenched his fists and glared at Lucas, but…

He didn't move.

He was also a Puppet Group Leader, but his skills were inferior to Chiyo's. Seeing his sister's complete defeat, he knew that fighting would be pointless.

"Golden Dust Burial!"

Rasa, the Fourth Kazekage, finally made his move.

With a swift motion of his hands, massive waves of golden sand rose from the desert, crashing toward Lucas like a tsunami.

Lucas didn't waste time dodging.

He simply vanished.

SWOOSH!

In the blink of an eye, he reappeared beside Rasa.

SLASH!

A single precise strike landed on the Kazekage's shoulder—enough to knock him unconscious.

"Tsk. That was easy."

Immediately, the walls and floor of the Kazekage Building turned into gold under Lucas's Gold-Gold Fruit ability.

Golden chains shot out from the walls, wrapping around Ebizō, Chiyo, and the remaining Sunagakure leaders, restraining them completely.

Lucas glanced up and smirked.

"She's here."

A figure descended in front of him—a woman with fiery orange hair and piercing eyes.

Pakura.

The woman who was once betrayed and used as a political pawn by Sunagakure.

Lucas gave her a slight nod. "I'll leave the Kazekage and the rest to you."

Pakura narrowed her eyes. "Aren't you afraid I'll mess things up?"

Lucas smirked. "Doesn't matter. If Sunagakure resists, I can always wipe it out."

Then, more softly, he added, "Besides… I trust you'll handle it well."

Without waiting for her response, Lucas disappeared.

As soon as Lucas was gone, Pakura's expression darkened. Her burning gaze swept across the Kazekage, Chiyo, and the rest of the Sunagakure elders.

"Do you remember what you did to me?"

Fourth Kazekage stirred awake, his vision blurry. The first thing he saw was Pakura's cold expression.

His face paled. "Wait! Pakura—I had no choice! What I did was for the good of the village!"

Pakura sneered. "For the village?"

Her tone was dripping with mockery.

"Then let me tell you something, Lord Kazekage—Sunagakure still needs a sacrifice."

"And this time, that sacrifice… is you."

Rasa's eyes widened in horror. "No! You can't do this! I'm the Fourth Kazekage! I—"

"Shut up."

Pakura's voice was icy.

"A ruthless man who didn't hesitate to harm his own son…"

"An unrighteous leader who betrayed his comrades…"

"An immoral coward who sacrificed a village hero…"

"And an absolute fool who forced a Jinchūriki to go berserk…"

Pakura leaned forward, her eyes filled with contempt.

"Do you really think anyone in Sunagakure would mourn you?"

Rasa trembled, realization dawning in his eyes.

Meanwhile, in a secluded part of the village, a young Gaara sat on the sand, playing alone. His small hands traced patterns in the grains, his red hair gleaming under the sun.

He had always been alone.

No one dared approach him.

Until today.

A shadow loomed over him.

Gaara lifted his head, his jade-green eyes locking onto the man standing before him.

The stranger didn't seem afraid.

Lucas.

Gaara's fingers curled slightly. "Who are you?"

Lucas crouched to his level, his expression gentle. "I'm here to help you."

Gaara's brows furrowed. "Help?"

Lucas nodded. "The monster inside you—I'm going to take it away."

==============================================

Support me at p@treon.com/goldengaruda and check out more chapter of this or more early access chapter of my other fanfic translation.

=============================================