When they were about to deal the final blow to the enemy, Shuimu intervened and all their efforts might be wasted. The depression in the hearts of the two destined saviors was really hard to relieve.

Uzumaki Naruto in particular had no idea why Mizuki would do such a thing at this critical moment when peace was about to come.

They watched helplessly as Mizuki grasped at hope, who had not yet woken up, and used the Flying Thunder God Jutsu to disappear. Naruto and Sasuke could only scramble to avoid the attacks of the Sandaime Tsuchikage Ōnoki.

"It's troublesome. I don't know where Mr. Mizuki has gone. The ninja world is so big..."

He was so timid that he couldn't even get rid of Ōnoki's entanglement. After all, he was nominally one of the strongest ninjas in the ninja world and not a small fry who could be easily dealt with.

Not only that, the Fourth Raikage, Ai, who was a step late, also arrived, but fortunately he was stopped by Hatake Kakashi and Sakura.

The slightly slower Fifth Mizukage - Mei Terumi, Fifth Hokage - Tsunade, and Fifth Kazekage - Gaara seemed to be arriving soon.

“Have we been deceived?”

Uzumaki Naruto was unwilling to give in, but he couldn't find anyone to vent his anger on.

"The Sage of Six Paths clearly warned me, but I was still careless..."

Uchiha Sasuke said calmly.

"I'm not completely sure yet! Someone as proud as Mizuki-sensei would not become a Jinchūriki, who is so uncontrollable and risky, even if he covets the power of the Ten-Tails."

"Then why did his clone snatch the Ten-Tails and then become the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki?"

"I have no idea……"

Uchiha Sasuke shook his head.

"Too little information... We are being dragged here now... Letting the five Kage come to besiege us seems more like Mr. Mizuki's evil taste. In fact, even if we don't do this, we can't catch up with him..."

Who knows how to track the enemy when a master who knows the Flying Thunder God Technique has made painstaking arrangements and is deliberately hiding?

"Is it time for us to come out now?"

The fluctuations of time and space flashed by, and a mature voice came over.

"Just now, we were powerless against the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki, the Six Paths Senjutsu, and Yin-Yang Release. But it shouldn't be a problem to deal with these younger generations..."

Even among the strongest Five Kage, it is estimated that only Tsunade has mastered the basics of Yang Release. Ōnoki's bloodline elimination - Dust Release: Origin Separation Technique is worth paying attention to.

The previous Hokage of Konoha Village - Hashirama Senju, the Senju Tobirama brothers, Sarutobi Hiruzen, Namikaze Minato, Uzumaki Mito in palace clothes, and Hatake Sakumo with a sullen face all appeared together to show their presence.

"Kakashi, take your students and go in that direction. We estimate the distance. It's probably in the Land of Rain..."

Senju Tobirama used the Impure World Reincarnation and the spiritual connection between Mizuki to determine the approximate location. Although Mizuki had already canceled the Impure World Reincarnation, Senju Tobirama, who was familiar with the Impure World Reincarnation, still stayed and gathered several of the strongest fighters in Konoha Village just in case. Unexpectedly, they could really come in handy.

"Then... I'll leave this to the seniors!"

Kakashi Hatake also knew that now was not the time to hesitate. With Mizuki's decisive style, it would be too late to catch up.

Kakashi sucked Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto and himself into the Kamui space, and prepared to rush to the Rain Country as fast as possible, not even caring about the consumption of chakra.

…

In the Land of Rain, at the very top of the central tower, layers of sealing barriers have already covered this place tightly. It is not easy to reach here without Shuimu's permission.

Hope was placed by Shuimu in the center of a complicated sealing array on the ground.

“Let’s get started!”

Shuimu carefully checked the surrounding barrier and found nothing unusual.

Gongzhi on the side nodded.

"Yes, we are ready. Including me, there are four physical clones in total, which should be enough to temporarily take over the duties."

After hesitating for a moment, Gongzhi asked hesitantly.

"Logically, I shouldn't ask too much, but the characters you've positioned for us seem to have some issues. There are so many myths and legends, why did you choose the Four Judges of the Underworld as prototypes? The four ancient beasts - Ju Mang, Zhu Rong, Ru Shou, and Yu Qiang - are actually good choices. Even the four elephants that replaced them - Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermillion Bird, and Black Tortoise - are more in line with the tradition of the ninja world. Why not use these?"

"Because if the Six Paths Sage can't make any achievements in the Yin-Yang Reincarnation System of the Ninja World, the other minor fixes will not be a decisive change. If I don't do this, how can I convince him to support me? I can't really fight with Team 7, so why bother? I can just restart the Ninja World!"

"I see. I see!"

After saying that, Kouji used the Flying Thunder God Technique and disappeared.

Shuimu took a deep breath, stretched out his hands towards Hope, reached into his abdomen, and untied the Ten-Tails Coffin Seal on his body.

The seal was broken, and the chakra of the nine tailed beasts rushed out, but were restrained by the seal, and then sucked into nine energy balls suspended in the air that were wrapped in vast power of faith.

As if aware of the drastic changes in his body, the Ten-Tails' chakra left his body and awakened Hope.

Hope opened her eyes and saw the situation around her at a glance.

"Before I die, I can still see the final result, which is not bad."

"You have the body of an evil god, you are immortal, but you will also die?"

"The evil god is not as good as the ten-tailed one!"

“I see!”

Mizuki felt a little regretful.

"You said before that you would not want to die even if sacrifice could save the world. Then why did you go to such great lengths to plan your own death?"

If it weren't for the desire to reveal a lot of important information and make choices that were favorable to Shuimu at the critical moment, it would have been difficult to implement the plan so smoothly.

Hope smiled bitterly.

"This isn't a sacrifice. In fact, you and I both know that Hope has died a long time ago!"

The water and trees were silent.

A person, a soul, has a meaning of existence.

As yourself, there is always an unbreakable boundary.

When Hope realizes that he can no longer distinguish which thoughts are his own and which are imposed by the outside world, he will clearly understand that he is dead.

This body that exists in the ninja world is just a monster formed by the remnants of the soul of the physical clone and the will of the evil god.

"I regret!"

In this situation, Shuimu was truly powerless. Even the secret technique of the Rinnegan - the Outer Path, the Natural Technique of the Rinnegan - could not reverse the situation.

"It's not like you've accomplished nothing. Judging from your plan, it should be designed according to my ideas."

In the mythological era, what was important was not power, but rituals and the recognition of the world.

"The Four Judges of the Underworld, the Department of Rewards for Good, the Department of Punishments for Evil, the Department of Investigations, and the Department of Yin Laws, as you wish, this is the most profound mark of my existence I have left on you..."