TitoVillar
patreon
OPI Chapter 471: A Prayer Heard by a God
🕑 Added 2025-07-17 02:56:07 +0000 UTCWhile the Gate of the Underworld was being sealed by the Uchiha Flame Formation— In spirit form, Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo drifted out from within
While the Gate of the Underworld was being sealed by the Uchiha Flame Formation— In spirit form, Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo drifted out from within
While the Gate of the Underworld was being sealed by the Uchiha Flame Formation— In spirit form, Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo drifted out from within
While the Gate of the Underworld was being sealed by the Uchiha Flame Formation—
In spirit form, Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo drifted out from within the pyramid.
His Sage’s Staff had vanished from his hand.
In its place was a black box, each of its four faces bearing a different human expression—joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure.
This was the treasured tool he had once created: the Box of Bliss.
Back in Shinnō’s inner mental realm, after listening to Void’s words, Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo had summoned this Box of Bliss from a remote corner of the shinobi world—and forcefully sealed the frantically struggling Void inside.
As for its size—this was his own creation, and naturally, he could control it at will.
To Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo, this counted as keeping his promise.
After all, he didn’t kill it!
“Looks like they’ve done pretty well… Though I wonder how long they’ll be able to keep it up?”
Hagoromo murmured to himself, also observing the effects of the Uchiha Flame Formation.
“Looks like they’ve even prepared the Four Red Yang Formation. Not a bad choice.”
Still, Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo knew that no barrier could be sustained indefinitely.
So the best option remained using his Truth-Seeking Orbs to seal off the Gate of the Underworld.
As long as the devils couldn’t break through the Truth-Seeking Orbs, the problem would be solved once and for all.
To be honest, Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo had quite a bit of confidence in the Truth-Seeking Orbs.
Although Void constantly spoke of how powerful the Supreme Devils were, even citing the so-called myth of the "Demon King" Lucifero, the fact remained that it had never actually seen Lucifero.
And Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo could only speculate about the strength of the Supreme Devils based on Nahamah and Lilith.
He truly didn’t believe the strength of those two Supreme Devils could shake the Truth-Seeking Orbs.
Which showed that no matter how powerful the other Supreme Devils were, they couldn't be that much stronger.
This was because Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo was unaware of the true nature of Nahamah and Lilith.
"Hm? Hamura’s back?"
Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo suddenly sensed that Ōtsutsuki Hamura had returned to the Pure Land.
After a moment's thought, he decided he could leave the Gate of the Underworld in the hands of Uchiha Fugaku and Ōnoki, and the others for now.
Besides, he was indeed quite concerned about the information Hamura had brought back—he wanted to know how the negotiations with the World Government had gone.
Tch, one’s the Underworld, the other’s the World Government... neither of them is ever easy to deal with.
Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo shook his head helplessly, and then his figure slowly dissipated into the air.
Only, he seemed to overlook the faint screams echoing from within the pyramid.
Inside the "Burial Shrine", Shinnō, now devoid of Void, could only rely on his own chakra and strength to resist the encroaching and crushing quicksand.
Shinnō didn’t understand what was happening—why had Void disappeared from his body?!
But after a series of emotional stages—shock, rage, disbelief—he ultimately had no choice but to accept this inexplicably cruel reality, forced to face the world’s darkness, torment, and oppression alone.
"No! I don’t want to die like this!"
"I want freedom! I want a life full of brilliance!"
Shinnō was filled with unwillingness. The emergence of the World Government and the Underworld had laid the entire multiverse before his eyes.
Before all of this, he’d still believed he had the power to rule the shinobi world and roam across countless worlds.
But now, everything was gone, and he was about to die in a place with no daylight, not even his bones would remain.
"This kind of fate—this is not fair!!!"
Shinnō howled in fury within his heart.
But it couldn’t stop the quicksand from all directions from continuously wearing down his chakra.
The threat of death drove his emotions to the brink.
"God! Please hear the prayer of your lamb! Deliver me from this terrifying hell! I want to live! I want to live!!!"
Shinnō swore that if a miracle truly occurred, no matter who it was, no matter what kind of existence it was—
Even if it was evil, even if it was a devil, he would worship it as the faith of his entire life.
Perhaps some deity in this shinobi world had really heard Shinnō’s inner voice.
For in the originally pitch-dark space, a bright pale blue light suddenly blossomed.
Not only did it dispel the darkness, it also restored Shinnō’s vision, and he saw that this light was emanating from his own body.
[Swish!]
Before the tearful Shinnō could even react, his entire body vanished without a trace in an instant.
The spot where he had just been standing was immediately filled by the surging quicksand.
“Th-this place is…”
Shinnō opened his eyes wide in shock as he stared at the misty purple space around him.
But almost immediately, his gaze was drawn—deeply—by the four figures standing not far away.
Two of them were giants, seemingly more than twenty meters tall, completely clad in golden armor. Logically, they should have been the most eye-catching presence.
But Shinnō’s attention was instinctively drawn to the white figure floating before them.
The moment his eyes met those golden pupils, sharp as a hawk’s, a chill ran through his entire body.
An overwhelming terror surged toward him like a howling storm, forcing him to his knees, his forehead pressed to the ground.
A god!!!
It must be a god who heard my voice—who reached out and rescued me!
In that humble, prostrated posture, Shinnō felt no anger, no humiliation—on the contrary, his blood boiled with excitement, his heart overwhelmed with emotion.
“I am Imu, founder and ruler of the World Government. From this day forth, you shall be My divine envoy. I grant you the honor of being a reserve member of the Ōka Shichibukai. Guard this shinobi world in my name.”
As soon as the words fell, a stream of black light instantly shot into Shinnō’s mind.
It caused him to rapidly comprehend what Imu was, what the Ōka Shichibukai were, what the World Government was—
And finally, what his mission would be in the future.
...
Shinobi World — Pure Land.
Inside the ancient, austere hall at the heart of the Shinobi Sect, Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion at the upper seat.
Beside him sat the Box of Ultimate Bliss.
Across from him sat Ōtsutsuki Hamura, who had just returned from the Starfish Underworld, also seated cross-legged on his own cushion.
Just moments ago, he had spent nearly thirty full minutes recounting his experience and the conversations he had during his journey.
There were three key points.
The first two, naturally, concerned the Shinobi World joining the World Government and the establishment of a ninja education system.
These drew several approving nods from Hagoromo.
He could sense genuine goodwill and sincerity from the World Government in these proposals.
And when he heard that Imu was even willing to return the souls of shinobi who die in other worlds to the Pure Land, he was utterly pleased—his impression of the World Government skyrocketed.
As for things like monetary unification, the precedence of World Government law, or the Police Affairs Department taking over law enforcement in the Shinobi World—Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo didn’t really understand those matters, nor did he particularly care.
In his eyes, as long as the lives of the people in the Shinobi World remained stable, the number of shinobi continued to grow, and the World Government didn’t engage in tyranny or oppression, that was good enough.
Besides, hadn’t Hamura secured the right to rebuild the Shinobi Sect within the Shinobi World?
When the time came, he could go and take charge of it himself, saving him from being idle here in the Pure Land.
However, Hagoromo was a bit hesitant about the idea of relocating certain shinobi clans to live on Starfish.
After some thought, he felt it wasn’t entirely unacceptable—so long as they weren’t taking everyone away.
Especially not the Senju Clan or the Uchiha Clan.
Because those two were closely tied to the reincarnation of his sons’ chakra.
But when Hamura mentioned the third point—the one concerning Imu, and the prophecy mentioned by Enma—Hagoromo’s expression instantly grew heavy.
Imu’s avatar. Imu’s methods. Imu’s power. And the statement that the Ōtsutsuki Clan would descend upon the Shinobi World in twenty-three years. Every one of those details struck a nerve.
Thinking further about Sakazuki and Kuzan each defeating one highest-ranking devil on their own, Hagoromo’s sense of the World Government’s hidden depths only grew.
And yet, there was one thing he still couldn’t quite accept.
All nine tailed beasts… were going to be taken away?
Even though they’d said that, in the future, if needed, the Pure Land could apply to the World Government for assistance from the tailed beasts…
But who could say what would actually happen then?
This was practically the same as needing the World Government’s permission to become the Ten-Tails’ jinchūriki again!
And why should it be that way?
The tailed beasts were beings he had divided and created back then—how could Imu just take them all for collection?
That was way too overbearing!
But then, considering Imu’s control over the Dimensional Gate, his ability to foresee events across a thousand years, and even sense the very aura of the starry sea…
It didn’t seem that strange for someone like that to act overbearing.
Maybe he really did just want to treat the tailed beasts as display pieces—to enrich the biodiversity of Starfish?
After all, from everything he now knew, this “Lord Imu” of the World Government was clearly far more formidable than the mother they had sealed on the Moon.
If they truly had such powerful figures backing them—
Then perhaps they wouldn’t need to worry so much when the Ōtsutsuki Clan from beyond the stars eventually came?
Even if the Ōtsutsuki really did arrive twenty-three years from now, odds were they wouldn’t be fighting us, but the World Government!
A war between the World Government and Ōtsutsuki civilization…
As for him and his brother, in such a war, they might very well end up as irrelevant, passive bystanders at most.
And with that in mind—giving the tailed beasts to Starfish… maybe it wasn’t so unacceptable after all?
In truth, Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo was simply finding solace in bitterness, trying to console himself.
What else could a weakling do when faced with overwhelming power?
Especially when that overwhelming power had taken the initiative to express goodwill toward you—could you really afford to throw that back in their face?
The only thing truly leaving Hagoromo at a loss… was Imu’s desire to meet their mother.
Was Imu hinting that he wanted him to release her?
Or did he actually have the means to find her himself?
When it came to matters involving both Imu and Kaguya, Hagoromo found his mindset growing chaotic.
And why did Imu want to meet Kaguya?
That was strange in itself.
If it was just curiosity—he could already see across a thousand years of shinobi history. He should already know what their mother looked like and what she was capable of.
So why still insist on meeting her?
What did he want?
Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.
