At that moment, Ryuji Hyuga spoke up and broke the silence. He asked if Jiraiya would like to try the remaining six blades. Jiraiya hesitated, knowing another failure might hit morale harder, but seeing Ryuji Hyuga's calm eyes, he asked which one he should try.
"Sloth," Ryuji Hyuga said softly.
The crowd frowned in confusion, unable to connect that name with Jiraiya's path from a common Ninja to a member of the Three Legendary Sannin. Even his indulgences were paired with gathering intelligence, so how could he be slothful?
Without explaining, Jiraiya stepped forward and grasped the blade called "Sloth." The sword hummed in response.
Under the tightened gazes of everyone present, the blade called "Sloth" had been impossible to move before, no matter how red others' faces became from exertion. The moment Jiraiya gripped the hilt, a clear, sharp sound rang out. A low hum followed as the will named "Sloth" examined his soul and granted recognition.
The essence of "Sloth" was not simple laziness, but avoidance and refusal to act. He treated desire as a private kind of romance, used his strength to chase the distant Child of Prophecy, and dressed his escape as the detachment of a sage. He avoided reality without admitting it, and when others pointed it out, he said the world was ugly and beyond his power to change.
His mind was ordinary, best at writing erotic novels, yet he chased elegance and lofty ideals. He traveled through many lands and recorded the state of the world, but never truly changed anything. He chose not to see, not to hear, not to ask, and not to act.
He was an idealist who escaped from reality. kacha.
An unsheathed greatsword was drawn from the case, its edge unsharpened, the blade thick and dull like stone. Jiraiya's breathing stalled as he held it, and despite drawing the sword, his chest felt heavy and tight.
Sloth was telling him that this was the true nature of his soul. The sword cut through his disguise of lust and heroic pride, and clearly exposed his habit of avoidance. The weight of that judgment pressed on him.
"Sloth?" Ryuji Hyuga watched calmly, already understanding why Jiraiya could draw the blade. True heroism meant seeing reality clearly and still choosing to love life and act to change it.
It meant acting even when defeat was certain and change seemed impossible. Even Hashirama Senju could be called a hero, because with a limited life and power he still brought change to the Ninja World. Perhaps when Jiraiya faced Pain at the end of his life, he could be called resolute for Konoha.
But looking across his entire life, avoidance had always guided his choices. Tsunade, Orochimaru, Akatsuki, Hiruzen Sarutobi, Konoha, and the Ninja World were all part of it. It was impossible that he knew nothing of Tsunade's thoughts, noticed nothing of Orochimaru's change, or had no sense of Akatsuki's future.
It was impossible that he failed to read Hiruzen Sarutobi's repeated hints, or see the darkness hidden within Konoha. Because he knew all of this and believed he could not change it, he chose to avoid everything and place hope from Wang onto the Child of Prophecy. But did he truly believe the state of the Ninja World could be changed by one person?
"Senior Jiraiya." A Nara Jonin broke the dead silence and asked, "Is there something special about that sword?" Jiraiya came back from his daze and forced a pale smile. "This sword…"
He touched the blunt Sloth to the ground, as if pressing a slow button within five meters. The air filled with drifting dust, and breaths and heartbeats slowed more and more, while everyone could still clearly sense the changes around them.
"What is this?" someone exclaimed, their words also slowed within the area. The heaviness in Jiraiya's chest was pushed aside by shock at the sword's ability, because within five meters only his speed remained normal.
"Ten seconds, five meters?" Feeling Chakra drain rapidly, Jiraiya lifted the greatsword from the ground. Time returned to normal, but everyone stood in stunned silence.
Time deceleration. This greatsword, which had no direct killing power, possessed such a strange ability. Si Dong of the Akimichi Clan swallowed and said, "This is something a sword can actually do?"
"The duration is short, and the range is not large," the Nara Jonin said, forcing calm. "Slowing time by half leaves very limited room in combat." Jiraiya licked his dry lips and replied, "No. I can feel that this sword can become stronger."
Silence fell again, and eyes burned as they turned toward the other six blades. If the remaining swords were also this strange and powerful, the meaning was obvious.
"Lord Jiraiya, how did you pull it out?" someone asked. All eyes turned to him, while a few who understood exchanged looks.
"I…" Jiraiya opened his mouth but could not continue, his face growing paler. The feeling was like having his long self-deception exposed and his past choices denied.
"It is useless. Everyone is different," the Nara Jonin said, shaking his head. "If you cannot draw one, then you cannot. You can still try them all." With that, the questions stopped, and those who had not tried every blade stepped forward again.
There was little change until Kakashi Hatake stopped before "Envy" and lightly placed his fingers on the hilt. The same hum sounded, and the blade was pulled free by the instinctive force of Kakashi Hatake, whose face turned pale as he froze.
Beyond the so called Seven Deadly Sins, there were also the corresponding seven virtues. Lust, sloth, greed, pride, wrath, gluttony, and envy stood opposite chastity, diligence, generosity, humility, gentleness, temperance, and tolerance. Envy's true opposite was tolerance, and envy itself was closer to hatred, the desire to gain what one hoped for but never obtained.
Kakashi Hatake's hatred was not for others, but for himself. It was for the self who now had nothing, who failed Obito's expectations, and whose hands were stained with Rin's blood. He hated the self who once had everything and destroyed it all.
This was his true nature. His hand trembled as he looked at the short blade called Envy, which gave off a chilling presence that clung to the senses. The twisted patterns on the blade seemed to reflect the ugliest corners of the heart.
As he was about to drop it, a hand caught his wrist. Kakashi Hatake looked up to see Jiraiya with a complicated expression, who only shook his head. "Calm down," Jiraiya said softly. "What is its ability?"
Kakashi Hatake forced down the fear of being seen through and answered hoarsely, "False mirror image. It copies a possible future image of the target and fights the target."
"What does this mean?"
Beside them, Sidong Akimichi scratched his head.
"It is actually very simple. For example, if you choose Senior Jiraiya."
The Nara Jonin let out a long breath. "It might copy an image of a future Senior Jiraiya who becomes a cripple after being caught peeking in the bathhouse and having his arms and legs broken by Lady Tsunade."
"It could also copy an image of a future Senior Jiraiya who becomes the Fifth Hokage."
When they heard the first possibility, the expressions around them were strange. When they heard the second, that strangeness turned into fear.
How could the abilities of these blades be more unsettling than the last? They had heard that the Fourth Mizukage's "Water Release · Water Mirror Technique" could create a clone identical to the enemy, able to use the same Ninjutsu with the same power.
That alone was already an extremely strong Ninjutsu. Yet the upper limit of this so called "false mirror image" was even more terrifying.
At this moment, even Ryuji Hyuga fell silent, feeling a dull ache in his teeth. He seriously wondered if the system had malfunctioned, because this did not look like something that could be made with just a few thousand points.
The current initial state did meet expectations, but these seven blades could grow. Could creations like this, whose results even he did not fully understand and felt like a random draw, really be the most cost effective choice?
Thinking back, that seemed to be the case. The more detailed the requirements, the more points were consumed.
This kind of manifestation reduced the risk of plans going wrong. On the other hand, random results were unstable, and even he had not expected the blades in Jiraiya and Kakashi Hatake's hands to be so strange, though luckily the first ownership was still in his control.
But according to the rule that the system could only manifest things based on the power system of this world, how did these two abilities that touched on time even exist?
"Is it the so called Dragon Vein? Or that time traveling 'plow' of the Otsutsuki Clan?"
While Ryuji Hyuga was thinking, he suddenly felt several gazes on him. He raised his head by instinct and met everyone's eyes.
"Ryuji." Jiraiya looked at him with bright eyes. "It's your turn."
However, Kakashi Hatake, who believed he understood Ryuji Hyuga well, had no expectations that he could draw a blade. Judging from the character Ryuji had shown, Root did not align with the Seven Deadly Sins at all.
If Kakashi Hatake knew about the Akatsuki's "Seven Virtues," he would think Ryuji Hyuga fit them perfectly. Chastity, diligence, generosity, humility, gentleness, restraint, and tolerance.