Chapter 126: The Ninja World’s Advance Team Gathers

[System: This is an Actor, Soul Society's Resident Villain, Curly-haired Guy, and 6 others have joined the livestream.]

Curly-haired Guy: Hahaha! My name shows up! You no-name losers better start worshipping me now!

Doujin Artist: Shut up, you curly-haired freak!

Curly-haired Guy: What?! How dare you insult a charming, lovable, handsome main character like me? Don't you feel guilty?!

Doujin Artist: Nope! Not even a little! I feel great about it!

Skirt-Flipping Maniac: Is this the Ninja Alliance Headquarters on screen?

Machete Girl: Ah, I see Kisame-san.

Curly-haired Guy: Oh oh oh! I see him too! That shark face really stands out!

Shark-Faced Guy: …

At that moment, Kisame was standing in the lower right corner of the hall. The place was packed with elite ninjas from all the villages.

In the middle of the stage at the front, there was a huge "忍" character.

Rikudou Sennin, wearing his ceremonial robe, stood at a red wooden podium. He looked around the room and spoke in a loud, clear voice: "Fellow ninjas! Do you know why we're gathered here today?"

"To kill Aizen and protect the ninja world!"

A thunderous shout came from the crowd below. The whole place shook with their voices.

"Yes, we must protect our ninja world." Otsutsuki Hagoromo raised his fist and shouted, "Aizen Sosuke is a ruthless invader. His actions will only bring disaster and destruction to our world! For the future of all ninjas, we must stop him!"

"Ninjas will win! The evil invader will fall!"

"For the ninja world! For the future!"

The shouting grew louder. The ninjas were fully fired up.

"I believe we will win in the end," Otsutsuki Hagoromo nodded with satisfaction. "But Aizen is no weakling. And the sad part is—there are even people on our side who've chosen to follow him."

"You mean Uchiha Obito?"

"That damn traitor!"

"He's a disgrace to our ninja alliance!"

The crowd burst into angry yelling.

"That's right! Traitors who side with Aizen are a shame to all ninjas!" Otsutsuki Hagoromo waved his hand. "My fellow ninjas, always remember… we are ninjas! We never give in!"

"Never give in! Ninjas will win!"

"Kill Aizen! Crush the traitors!"

The whole hall shook again with a sky-high roar of voices.

Curly-haired Guy: Hey hey, this old guy's actually pretty good at hyping people up before battle.

Skirt-Flipping Maniac: Yeah, this kinda feels like an American president's speech. The original story never said Rikudou Sennin was such a good speaker.

Scarlet Lotus Fairy: He has both status and respect in the ninja world, so doing something like this isn't too hard for him.

Doujin Artist: I also think this might be because of Anzen-san. If Anzen hadn't given him such a mental blow, he probably wouldn't have come out to make a speech himself.

Amegakure Village's Angel: No matter what kind of speech he gives, the ending won't change! And seriously, the Otsutsuki family has ruled the ninja world for so many years, and now they have the nerve to call others traitors?! I'm standing up against their whole ruling family!

Skirt-Flipping Maniac: Whoa, Konan's mad.

Scarlet Lotus Fairy: But Konan's right. Honestly, the history of the ninja world is pretty much just the history of the Otsutsuki family. They say they're protecting the ninja world, but what they're really doing is protecting their own power.

Curly-haired Guy: Yeah, now I get why the boss keeps saying people need to wake up. Those ninjas don't even see what's really going on.

As they talked, the ninja world's advance team had already started gathering on the screen.

Second Hokage Senju Tobirama, Fourth Hokage Namikaze Minato, Third Raikage A, Second Tsuchikage Mu, and Uchiha Shisui were all part of the team.

The lineup was strong, and it was clear from their roles that this was a squad focused on speed.

Which made sense.

Their mission was to break into Aizen's Pure Land base and take Uzumaki Naruto, who was a candidate to become the Jinchuriki of the Ten-Tails. Without incredible speed, this mission would be impossible.

Buzz.

Outside the Pure Land base, a black space tunnel slowly appeared. Senju Tobirama and the others stepped out and looked up at the huge palace in front of them.

"So, this is the enemy's hideout?" The Third Raikage grinned. "Gotta say, it's impressive."

"This isn't what I expected. Shouldn't we have arrived inside the base?" The Second Tsuchikage narrowed his eyes, scanning the area.

"Yeah, seems like the space marker was off." Senju Tobirama frowned deeply, clearly concerned. "But we can't turn back now."

"Then let's go." Shisui let out a breath, eyes steady.

"Hold on. There's one thing I think we need to make clear first." The Second Tsuchikage smiled and said, "If that Ten-Tails Jinchuriki doesn't want to come with us, what should we do?"

"Don't worry. I'll convince him." Namikaze Minato said with confidence.

"I don't doubt your ability, Fourth Hokage," the Second Tsuchikage shook his head. "But you must understand, this mission is about the safety of the whole ninja world. For that, are you ready to sacrifice someone close to you?"

"I…" Namikaze Minato hesitated.

He knew exactly what the man meant.

Minato was sure he could talk Naruto into coming with them—but that would take time. And time was the one thing they didn't have, not with the whole ninja world at risk. So what choice should he make?

What Minato didn't know was that, inside the palace, Uzumaki Kushina had seen his hesitation—clear as day.

*Crack.*

The armrest of the chair shattered in her grip. The red-haired girl no longer had the gentle, warm look a wife should have when looking at her husband. All that was left in her eyes was deep disappointment and a coldness that cut to the bone.