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As they sat together, the room filled with a comfortable silence, Horyu felt a sense of peace he hadn't experienced in a long time. "Thank you, Mito-sama. I needed this."
Mito smiled, her eyes twinkling with affection. "Anytime, my dear." She then got serious, "Horyu, I don't want to hide anything from you." Horyu's heart tightened as he heard that but just listened. "The truth is, the ritual is not as safe as I put it earlier. It requires sacrifice."
Horyu frowned. He had studied the ritual but didn't see anything about a sacrifice. "I hid this from you as I didn't know if I could trust you at the beginning, then I kept hiding it because I didn't want you to worry."
"You mean?" Horyu asked, his eyes narrowing.
Mito nodded, her expression solemn. "It requires a strong source of Chakra, and I have the strongest."
"Then no," Horyu said firmly, his jaw tightening.
Mito shook her head, smiling gently. "It is okay. I am old now. It is the last time I will do something for people I cherish."
"No," Horyu repeated, staring at her. "Let me study and alter the ritual. We can find other ways."
Mito reached out and placed a hand on his arm, her touch warm and reassuring. "Horyu, my dear, I have lived a long and full life. This is something I am prepared to do."
He shook his head again, determination etched into his features. "There has to be another way. I can find it. I will find it."
Mito's eyes softened, filled with a mix of pride and sorrow. "You are a remarkable young man, Horyu. But sometimes, sacrifices are necessary for the greater good."
Horyu sat silently, absorbing her words. The room felt heavy with the weight of the conversation, the reality of the situation pressing down on him. He remembered Hinata's worrisome words; she and the Hare Tribe had divined that something bad would happen. Was this it? Mito's sacrifice? A lot of thoughts passed through Horyu's mind. He wanted to say, "You are not Dumbledore, fuck the greater good," but he swallowed the impulse. Instead, he looked at her and asked, "This cannot be a new addition to the ritual. Did Hashirama accept your sacrifice back when you first planned it?" He saw the guilty look in Mito's eyes. "You weren't the sacrifice back then. Kyubi was."
She nodded. Horyu's gaze hardened as he realized, "Then let's use the Kyubi again. There's no need for you to die."
Mito shook her head gently. "The Kyubi is sealed within Naruto and Himawari-chan now. Extracting it would kill them, and we cannot afford to lose them."
Horyu clenched his fists, his mind racing for alternatives. "There has to be another way. We can find another powerful source of chakra. Maybe the other tailed beasts."
Mito's eyes were sad but resolute. "The other tailed beasts are not as potent as the Kyubi. And we would need to capture and prepare them, which would take too much time."
Horyu's frustration was palpable. "We could use the chakra from the villages. The combined chakra of all the shinobi could equal the Kyubi's power."
Mito sighed, looking at him with a mixture of pride and sorrow. "Horyu, even if we could gather that much chakra, the ritual requires a single, cohesive source. Fragmented chakra would disrupt the process and could lead to catastrophic failure."
Horyu felt a wave of helplessness wash over him. He had always been able to find a solution, to outsmart or outfight any challenge. But this was different. This was a cold, inescapable reality. "I can't accept this," he said finally, his voice low but firm.
Mito reached out, placing a comforting hand on his hand. "I know this is hard for you, but sometimes, sacrifices are necessary. This is the best way to ensure the safety and future of our world."
Horyu's jaw tightened. He hated feeling powerless, but he also knew that Mito was right. The world they were trying to save was worth the sacrifice. He just wished it didn't have to be her. "Fine," he said, his voice strained. "But we're not giving up yet. I'll keep looking for another solution, right up until the last moment."
Mito smiled, a weary but proud expression. "That's all I can ask for. Thank you, Horyu."
After a silence, Horyu asked, "You never told me why Madara gave up on this plan."
Mito took a deep breath, her eyes reflecting decades of memories. "At the time, we realized specters were the root cause of all the conflicts on our planet for centuries. Even the first quarrel between two brothers was their doing. We wanted to end this, isolate our world and seal the extreme negative emotions so specters couldn't feed on us. Madara was on board too, as we needed his ocular power. But one day, out of the blue, he said either Tobirama would be out of this project, or he would never go along with it. This ritual was mostly Tobirama's and my brainchild, so without him, we couldn't proceed. Even some parts elude me still. Over time, Madara grew angrier with Tobirama, which turned into a fight between him and Hashirama. And you know the rest."
Horyu absorbed Mito's words, contemplating the implications. "So, Madara's grudge against Tobirama derailed the plan. But why? What did Tobirama do that made Madara react so strongly?"
Mito's expression darkened as she thought back. "Tobirama was always suspicious of the Uchiha, especially Madara. He implemented policies that marginalized the Uchiha Clan, sowing seeds of resentment. Madara felt betrayed, not just by Tobirama, but by Hashirama for allowing it to happen. The tension between them escalated until it became an insurmountable rift."
Horyu nodded, the pieces of history falling into place. "Madara's anger wasn't just about the plan; it was about the treatment of his clan and the betrayal by his closest friend. No wonder he refused to cooperate if Tobirama was involved."
Mito sighed, her shoulders heavy with the weight of the past. "Madara believed that Tobirama's exclusion was necessary for the plan's success. He thought Tobirama would sabotage it to weaken the Uchiha further. But without Tobirama's expertise, the ritual couldn't proceed. It was a tragic stalemate."
Horyu looked at Mito, his expression resolute. "We can't let the same mistakes happen again. We need unity, not division. I'll ensure this plan succeeds, and I won't let personal grudges stand in the way."
Mito's eyes softened, filled with a mix of pride and sorrow. "You've grown into a remarkable leader, Horyu. I have faith in you. Just remember, the path ahead is fraught with challenges. Stay vigilant and true to your principles."
Horyu nodded, determination etched into his features. "I will, Mito-sama."
As they sat in silence, the weight of their conversation settled over them. Horyu excused himself casually, but Mito knew he was going to search for an alternative to the sacrifice. Mito watched him go with a smile, hoping he would not be too shaken by her sacrifice and would live on.
Back in his house, Horyu began sifting through all the knowledge stored in his mind. When he was reincarnated, all the fiction on Earth was stored in his mind, and he compared the current predicament with those stories, but failed to find anything useful. Not that there weren't other sacrificial rituals in other fiction, just that the purpose and execution were vastly different, making it impossible to alter in the short time he had.
He poured over countless possibilities, trying to adapt various ideas. He examined rituals that required sacrifices, those that called for powerful energy sources, and those involving complex chakra manipulations. Each attempt to modify the ritual met with failure. The necessary balance and cohesion of chakra couldn't be achieved with fragmented sources or rushed modifications. Frustration gnawed at him, but he didn't give up. Hours turned into days as he combed through every piece of knowledge he had, yet the answer eluded him.
Horyu's eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep, and the weight of impending failure bore down on him. Despite his best efforts, the original design of the ritual seemed unchangeable without catastrophic consequences. He clenched his fists, feeling the sting of helplessness—a feeling he despised.
Eventually, he accepted the bitter reality. The ritual required a singular, potent source of chakra, and no alternative method would suffice in the limited time they had. He sighed heavily, the sound filled with resignation and determination.
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