— — — — — —
"That damn fox! Throws a tantrum and runs off—hasn't changed at all!"
Gyuki couldn't help but complain after sensing the Nine-Tails' actions, his face full of exasperation.
"What just happened?" Renzo looked over at Kushina, clearly confused.
"Uhh…" Kushina tried to hold back a laugh. "Kurama cut off all external perception from the seal space—and locked everyone else out."
Of course, as the true master of the seal space, Kushina could still enter whenever she wanted.
"Yup, that's Kurama alright. Classic tsundere fox." Renzo just shook his head, amused.
Ignoring Killer Bee, who was still rapping angrily in the background, Renzo turned to Kushina. "Co on, Kushina-nee. Let's get out of here."
"Right!"
The two of them exited the seal space, resealing it behind them.
From inside, they could still faintly hear Killer Bee shouting through the barrier, "Yo~ baka-yaro, yo~ konoyaro!"
But once the seal was fully closed and the sound cut off, both Renzo and Kushina let out a relieved sigh.
"Man, that guy's voice really is a weapon of mass destruction."Kushina shook her head, half-joking.
"No kidding."Renzo nodded. "He could probably be classified as a high-level noise pollution device. Honestly, it's a miracle Gyuki can stand being with him."
"No wonder Kurama calls him a total freak," Kushina said with a snort. "For once, I'm totally on Kurama's side."
After that, the peace talks moved quickly. It was clear Kumo and the Land of Lightning had already been ntally prepared.
Even though Konoha's demands were harsh, they weren't completely unreasonable.
Painful? Yes. But not beyond what Kumo was willing to accept.
So in just one day, the negotiations wrapped up, and a treaty was signed.
Kumo representatives took their Third Raikage's body and the now-unsealed Killer Bee and left.
Before going, Killer Bee made a whole fuss, still complaining that Renzo and Kushina didn't appreciate his art.
"That was surprisingly easy," Nara Shikaku remarked afterward, clearly impressed. "I didn't think they'd agree to such harsh terms so readily. Kumo really took a hit this ti."
"It makes sense," Renzo replied with a chuckle. "They probably had even worse scenarios in mind. Compared to what they were bracing for, our terms might've felt almost reasonable. That kind of psychological gap makes people more willing to accept things."
"True," Shikaku agreed with a wry smile. "Sha they don't realize we weren't being kind at all. Hopefully, they'll burn through a lot of Iwa's forces in their next conflict."
The more brutal that war turned out to be, the happier Konoha would be.
"Don't worry about that," Renzo said as he waved his hand, opening a projection screen in the air. It showed the frontlines where Kumo and Iwa were clashing.
Thanks to their greed, Kumo hadn't retreated as quickly as they should have. Naturally, they got caught by Iwa's advance troops who had rushed in to reinforce the battlefield.
The result? All-out war.
The fighting was intense and bloody, with heavy casualties on both sides.
But as more and more Iwa ninja arrived—and with no reinforcents coming for Kumo—Kumo forces started getting overwheld. Their numbers were already smaller to begin with.
At this point, Kumo had left a few hundred ninja behind to cover the retreat while the remaining 2,000-plus troops began withdrawing at full speed.
As Renzo had predicted, only about half of them would make it back alive.
Sure, they did manage to seize a good amount of supplies, which helped offset so of their losses from the Konoha side of the campaign.
But even then, it barely made up a quarter of what they lost.
And to make things worse, they also lost nearly half of their elite troops in the process.
Once they found out... well, they'd probably be spitting blood.
---
anwhile, on the other side, Orochimaru's negotiations with Iwagakure had also gone quite smoothly.
They managed to squeeze a decent amount of supplies and compensation money out of them.
Just like Ōnoki said earlier, Iwa was stalling hard—dragging their feet and throwing out every excuse in the book. It was like watching a delivery video in 0.1x slow motion.
"Heh." When Renzo received a video transmission from Orochimaru with the latest update, he couldn't help but sneer. "I knew Ōnoki wouldn't just roll over and cooperate."
"But that's fine. Let him stall for now. Once they're done slugging it out with the Kumo, I'll pay Iwagakure a personal visit."
"And when I do, I'll make sure Ōnoki pays up double."
"I'm really curious which will leave a deeper scar on him—my Susanoo, or the one from Uchiha Madara."
Back in the day, when Ōnoki was still a scrawny, ugly little punk tagging along behind his teacher, the Second Tsuchikage, to form an alliance with Konoha…
He ended up trembling like a leaf, scared witless by Madara's towering Susanoo. Dropped to his knees and begged for rcy—didn't even dare to fight back.
He has never forgotten that mont—it's been his personal sha for life.
Honestly, Renzo suspected half the reason Ōnoki's been so antagonistic toward Konoha ever since becoming the Third Tsuchikage is just to work through that trauma.
And even after two or three Ninja World Wars, the guy still hasn't moved past it. That's how deep the trauma runs… and how petty he is.
"Oh?" Orochimaru raised an eyebrow. "So Ōnoki actually clashed with Uchiha Madara before?"
"Nope," Renzo shook his head. "Wasn't even a fight. It was just one-sided intimidation—and even then, he wasn't alone. He had the Second Tsuchikage with him."
Fight Madara? Please. They weren't even in the sa league back then.
Renzo then launched into the whole story for the very intrigued Orochimaru, who by the end was chuckling.
"Ha?! I didn't think Ōnoki had dirt like that in his past. No wonder he's so hung up. Renzo-kun, when you go 'remind' Iwagakure who's boss, make sure to livestream it for —I want front-row seats for the ltdown."
Renzo laughed. "Deal. I wouldn't want you to miss the show."
— — —
Inside the consciousness space—
"Finally, the Reiatsu analysis is complete. Thanks, everyone. Now it's ti to rge everything."
Aizen's tone was light, almost cheerful. "Just in ti, too—my new body is ready. Wish luck. I'll be back with good news!"
"Good luck!"
"We believe in you!"
"GL!"
"You got this, boss!"
With a smile, Aizen left the ntal space.
---
Bleach - Soul Society
Aizen returned to reality, where he greeted Unohana briefly, then dove into one of the deeper levels of the Muken, the eighth and final level of the Central Great Underground Prison.
There, he retrieved the body he'd painstakingly crafted—his perfect vessel.
Without hesitation, he rged into it.
In that instant, the body's eyes snapped open. Power—shared from countless past sources—began pouring into it, rging with the flesh.
"Hmm..."
"As expected… rejection from Soul Society's laws," Aizen muttered, already feeling the world itself pushing back against his existence.
But he was ready.
Activating his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, he cast Takamagahara, enveloping himself in its power. The backlash vanished.
Now unopposed, the fusion continued deeper. The different powers he'd absorbed reshaped and strengthened his new form, gradually syncing it with his soul.
Eventually, all resistance disappeared. This body was now a perfect match.
"Next… ti to rge Reiatsu with Source Energy."
He sat down cross-legged, closed his eyes, and began the final integration.
...
The process lasted two whole months.
When he finally opened his eyes again, Aizen let out a long breath. "Phew… that was harder than expected. Must be because of how unique Reiatsu is."
Still, it was worth it.
He'd even managed to complete his body's transformation into reishi (spirit particles), giving him a new ability akin to the Shinigami (Soul Reaper) state—but vastly superior.
With a thought, his body shifted into spirit form. On the surface, it looked no different than his old Shinigami body, but this one retained all of his new physical power even in this state.
True unification of body and spirit.
He canceled Takamagahara, stepping back into the Muken's environnt.
"Just as I thought… no more rejection," Aizen muttered with a smirk.
He greeted the nearby guards, then strolled right out of the prison like it was no big deal.
---
"Seriously?! You were gone for two whole months and didn't say a word?!"
The mont he walked through the door, Unohana stord over, grabbed his ear, and gave him a sharp glare. She looked genuinely upset.
"I did tell you beforehand," Aizen replied, exasperated. "You're the one who said 'go ahead'!"
Still, there was no reasoning with her right now.
"Hmm?" Unohana suddenly paused, letting go of his ear. She sniffed him suspiciously, then stared hard. "Wait a second… why do you feel completely different? Like you're not even the sa person…"
.
.
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