Watching Ace devour meat and down alcohol in massive gulps, Shiraishi and Unohana Yachiru joined the group of young women from the Navy Department in celebrating the party with him.
"Master Ace, a toast to you from your subordinate!"
"Right on!"
"To the future of our Navy Department, cheers!"
The young women of the Navy Department usually appeared gentle and quiet on regular days, but once the alcohol started flowing, their faces flushed with a slight tipsy glow, and they began drinking as heroically and boisterously as Ace himself.
Shiraishi drank along, but he didn't directly guzzle it down cup after cup. As the Kazekage, he needed to maintain a state of calm, analytical thinking at all times; deep down, he harbored a strong aversion to losing control via alcohol.
As for Unohana, though she drank as well, she exercised restraint to avoid any unnecessary, alcohol-fueled rampages of cutting people down.
Noticing Unohana looking over at him, Shiraishi explained simply, "The situation is unstable, so I never drink carelessly."
The current ninja world was locked in the eerie calm before a storm. Compared to the original history, the current Hidden Sand Village was overwhelmingly powerful, even showing vague signs of unifying the entire world.
The number of Jonin in Sunagakure, as well as the number of graduates from the Ninja Academy each year, had reached staggering figures.
Furthermore, in terms of high-end combat power, the Sand was no longer the desperate situation from years ago, with only two or three notable figures; they now possessed a complete, continuous line of succession.
There were the highly experienced elders, like the older generation of powerhouses Ebizo and Chiyo.
In the middle-aged bracket stood Rasa and Pakura, alongside Shiraishi himself—the strongest monster currently in the ninja world.
Leaving aside the peerless Shiraishi, there were the newly risen giants of the Sand, like Arakawa Arashi and Shikasa.
As for the younger generation, Uzumaki Tomoki and Fire Fist Ace were quickly making names for themselves.
On top of that, ancient monsters who had survived for over a thousand years, like Unohana Yachiru and Shirohebi-hime, had secretly become assets to the Sand.
Combined with the massive influx of rising stars emerging from the Ninja Academy and the Navy Department, the Hidden Sand Village was currently at the absolute zenith of its prosperity.
Yet, Shirohebi-hime's recent divination echoed ominously in Shiraishi's mind: "The current state of the Sand has entered the stage of the 'Arrogant Dragon Having Cause for Repentance'—."
According to Shirohebi-hime's reading of the hexagram lines, Sunagakure had already reached the absolute ultimate peak.
There was no higher position left to occupy. Perched at the absolute highest point, like a dragon soaring beyond the clouds, it had climbed to the most extreme, unyielding height.
Looking around, it was met with a vast emptiness; it could neither advance further upward nor easily descend. Therefore, it naturally bred melancholy and regret.
In terms of natural laws, this line signified that things pushed to their absolute limits must reverse.
In human affairs, it foretold that extreme joy inevitably gives rise to sorrow. For Sunagakure, it meant the entire village had peaked, and a decline from prosperity to ruin was on the horizon.
Rising to a peak only to fall was an inevitable principle under the operation of the Heavenly Dao.
However, this particular shift was actually being driven by a profound external malice. Once the fortunes of the Hidden Sand and Shiraishi reached their absolute pinnacle, the decay would begin.
In history, after Otsutsuki Kaguya reached the peak of her personal strength and authority, she was suddenly betrayed by her two sons and ultimately sealed within the moon.
Against this backdrop, various factions were covertly aligning with one another. Even Orochimaru, who had defected from Konoha long ago, had begun strengthening his cooperation with the Leaf.
It was glaringly obvious that except for the Hidden Sand Village, no faction wanted to see the unification of the ninja world.
Beyond them, the millennium-old will of the Ninja Sect represented by the Sage of Six Paths absolutely did not wish to see Aoki Shiraishi—who possessed a background terrifyingly similar to Otsutsuki Kaguya—succeed in controlling this continent.
A certain specialized set of rules inherent to this world had already begun to shift against Shiraishi's faction.
The Great Toad Sage of Mount Myoboku was plagued by constant nightmares, hinting both openly and covertly that the Hidden Sand Village was the source of a chaotic era.
One could easily deduce that the final battle for the future of the ninja world would be a vicious, grueling war.
The native hidden wills behind the scenes of this world would stop at nothing to eliminate the threat posed by Shiraishi and the Sand.
Possessing a super-computation system, Shiraishi's deductions of the situation were naturally razor-sharp. To prevent the worst-case scenario, he had already secretly laid out a series of countermeasures.
Among them, the Akatsuki organization was a crucial pawn meant to disrupt the playing field.
Although Nagato had already become estranged from him in spirit, the Land of Rain ultimately shared a border with the Land of Wind; there were many things Nagato simply had no choice but to do.
However, fellow travelers of his kind, such as Unohana Yachiru, Fire Fist Ace, and the companions who would later join them, served as Shiraishi's alternate, ironclad support system.
As the banquet drew to a close, several of the assistants fell fast asleep, snoring softly. Yet Ace, who had drunk the most, was still in incredibly high spirits.
His face was flushed with a warm glow as he looked toward Unohana, who sat quietly to one side.
"Haha! I can feel it, big sister... your strength is crazy powerful."
Through his short observation during the party, Ace increasingly felt that Unohana's strength was an unfathomable abyss.
His original world had swordsmen like Vista, but neither had given him a pressure as suffocating as the one radiating from Unohana.
Furthermore, learning Unohana's true age from Shiraishi had instead ignited a fierce, burning fighting spirit within him.
"Do you wish to test yourself against me?"
Though Ace hadn't explicitly said the words, the aura drifting from his body caused Unohana to display a highly amused, thoroughly pleased smile.
It was a smile that made the hairs on the back of Shiraishi's neck stand straight up.
"Hahaha, I just want to ask for some guidance from a senior, that's all."
Ace didn't mean it as an arrogant challenge, but facing a top-tier powerhouse, he naturally welcomed a harsh lesson. Unohana nodded calmly. "In that case, let us change locations, Kazekage."
Her impression of Fire Fist wasn't a negative one. However, even if it was just guidance, he had to enter the bout with the resolve of being hacked to death by her blade.
Seeing this, Shiraishi instantly formed hand seals. A specialized space-time ninjutsu activated, instantly teleporting the two of them into a secret underground combat arena beneath the Hidden Sand Village.
Ace's fighting style revolved around wide-open, heavy-hitting fists, whereas Unohana possessed a meticulous, blindingly fast assassination sword style.
The two approaches were completely different, and Shiraishi was genuinely curious to see what kind of sparks would fly when they clashed.
However, Unohana was ultimately a powerhouse who had lived through centuries of slaughter. Her very first strike placed a mountain of heavy pressure on Ace. T
errifying, high-temperature energy erupted from his body, expanding outward in a wave of flames.
Unohana was no stranger to fire-based attacks. After all, the Captain-Commander she knew best possessed a Zanpakuto with a terrifyingly similar flame affinity.
With a rapid flurry, the Zanpakuto in Unohana's hand carved out a dazzlingly beautiful arc of sword-light. The resulting air-current storm instantly formed three distinct wind-scythes, violently slicing through Ace's defensive wall of flames.
This is...
Amidst the scattering, shattered sparks, Unohana directed a remarkably gentle, maternal gaze toward him. "Your strength and talent are excellent, but your personal growth is still insufficient. Let me give you a proper workout."
The moment the words left her mouth, Unohana's blade pierced clean through Ace's abdomen. As blood began to drip down drop by drop, her eyes remained incredibly warm and serene.
Her words were entirely genuine—she truly intended to forge Ace's growth, which was precisely why she chose such a brutal, direct method.
Possessing a Fire Style Sage Body, Ace had managed to barely shift his vitals out of harm's way at the last millisecond.
The burning Fire Style energy enveloping him immediately began knitting his wound back together, but he still winced, gritting his teeth. "Damn, that hurts..."
"A little scratch like this makes you cry out in pain? This is merely the appetizer."
Watching Unohana ruthlessly carve wound after wound into Ace's body, Shiraishi wiped a bead of cold sweat from his forehead. "Is this... really going to be okay?"
Sheathing her Zanpakuto back into its scabbard, Unohana offered a perfectly gentle, pleasant smile. "Do not worry.
I have intentionally avoided all his vital organs. But if he dies simply because he cannot endure the pain... then it only proves his training was far from enough."
🌟 The story is already written… waiting to be unleashed. Claim early access on Patreon: Patreon.com/kazama677
🔓 You hold the keys to bonus chapters:💬 10 reviews ignite 1 bonus chapter🔷 100 Power Stones summon another
🔥 Your power determines how fast the tale unfolds.