Chapter 167 (Patreon)

“So that’s what happened. Mihawk and Hinata defeated Uchiha Madara, while you two sealed him away?”

After briefly recounting what had happened on his side, Kakashi surveyed the now-silent battlefield before turning toward Naruto and Sasuke.

“Does that mean the war is finally over?”

Although he said those words, exhaustion was plainly visible in Kakashi’s eyes, and his voice lacked its usual energy.

Mihawk could no longer sense Obito’s presence. He could roughly guess what had happened, but he did not ask.

Whatever had passed between Kakashi and Obito—and whatever decision had ultimately been made—was best left between them.

“Yeah… We’ve already sealed the Ten-Tails,” Naruto replied with a nod. Then, as though suddenly remembering something, he exclaimed, “Right! I still need to find Kurama and the others.”

Covering his left eye, Kakashi interrupted him.

“Naruto…let’s go together.”

“Wait…I almost forgot.”

Naruto slapped his forehead before walking toward him with a grin.

“Kakashi-sensei, let me heal you first.”

As Naruto began treating Kakashi, with Sasuke standing silently nearby, Mihawk turned toward Hinata.

“Hinata, let’s go home.”

“Mm.”

Hinata smiled softly and nodded without hesitation.

“Why?”

Naruto turned his head while healing Kakashi.

“Mihawk, Hinata, are you leaving already?”

Mihawk nodded slightly.

“The war is over. The Five Kage and the rest of you can handle the aftermath. As a shinobi of Konoha, I’ve already fulfilled my duty.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Hinata used repulsion to lift them both into the air. Instead of returning to the Allied Shinobi Forces, they flew directly toward Konoha.

The greatest threat, Uchiha Madara, had been defeated and sealed away.

The Ten-Tails had also been sealed, while Black Zetsu had been completely destroyed. The conditions required for Kaguya Ōtsutsuki’s resurrection no longer existed.

All that remained was dealing with the aftermath of the war and the final destined confrontation between the reincarnations of Asura and Indra.

Neither had anything to do with Mihawk.

He had worked toward a single goal—preventing the Infinite Tsukuyomi from ever illuminating the world.

That goal had now been accomplished.

No matter how the situation changed from this point onward, as long as Konoha remained standing and the peaceful lives he shared with Hinata and Hanabi were not threatened, Mihawk had no intention of involving himself again.

Under the fading night sky, two figures flew high above the land.

Hinata carried Mihawk on her back as she flew toward Konoha.

“Mihawk-kun, you’ve worked hard. You should rest for a while.”

“No, it wasn’t hard at all.”

With none of his usual aloofness, Mihawk wrapped his arms around Hinata’s neck and rested against her back.

“If anything, these past two days have benefited me greatly. I finally surpassed the limits in my swordsmanship that had held me back for several years.”

Ever since awakening the system, obtaining Hawkeye’s template, and learning to hear the Breath of All Things, Mihawk’s strength had risen at an astonishing rate.

By the age of thirteen, he had already entered the realm of a Great Swordsman and mastered Ranged Slashes.

However, his explosive progress had then come to an abrupt halt.

That limit only began to loosen after he unlocked his second template and obtained the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception. Even then, his actual level of swordsmanship had remained unchanged.

Only now, after fully integrating the profound mysteries of both paths, had Mihawk finally broken through.

Although his physical abilities were still inferior to Hawkeye’s, his swordsmanship had already surpassed the man whose template had started him on this path.

Hinata nodded, the image of that tsunami-like wave of dark-red sword energy still vivid in her mind.

“That final strike was terrifying.”

“It still wasn’t perfect.”

Mihawk sounded slightly regretful as he continued.

“I originally intended to compress one hundred slashes, but I reached my limit after the seventy-third. It seems I still have plenty of room to improve.”

Ordinarily, separate slashes could not be superimposed upon one another. Fusing seventy-three Great Swordsman-level Ranged Slashes into a single attack should have been impossible.

Return to One was the profound technique Mihawk had created by combining the swordsmanship of a Great Swordsman with the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception.

As long as he could perceive the “death” of an object, even a tiny blade could sever steel or stone by tracing its Line of Death.

Every one of those seventy-three attacks had been a genuine Great Swordsman-level Ranged Slash, unleashed with the smallest possible expenditure before being compressed into one.

Return to One had already surpassed the realm of a Great Swordsman.

In nature, it resembled Night Guy—a final attack into which the user poured everything they possessed.

The difference was that Return to One would not kill Mihawk merely by being unleashed. However, it was still an all-or-nothing technique. If the enemy survived, Mihawk would be left almost entirely defenseless.

This time, the price had been the complete exhaustion of his energy and the severe strain placed upon his brain by the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception.

After speaking, Mihawk tightened his arms around Hinata’s neck and slowly closed his eyes.

“Hinata, I’m going to sleep for a while. Wake me when we get home.”

“Mm.”

Hinata answered softly. She turned toward the east, where the first rays of dawn were beginning to appear, and a warm smile spread across her face.

Back on the battlefield, the news rapidly spread throughout the Allied Shinobi Forces.

“The war is over!”

The shinobi who had survived erupted into excited cheers.

However, their joy could not erase the sorrow left behind by the war.

Once the Allied Shinobi Forces were disbanded, shinobi from every nation began gathering the bodies of their fallen comrades and preparing to return home.

The consequences of the Fourth Shinobi World War would undoubtedly continue for many years.

Uchiha Madara had been defeated by Mihawk and Hinata before he could cast the Infinite Tsukuyomi, while Naruto and Sasuke had sealed the Ten-Tails.

By all rights, the four of them had made the greatest contributions to ending the war.

No—in the end, only three would ever attain that status.

Although Sasuke’s contribution had been considerable, his identity was far too sensitive.

His actions during the war were enough to compensate for his previous crimes and erase his status as a rogue shinobi, but they were not enough for the shinobi world to hail him as its savior.

After Kakashi reported everything that had happened to the Allied Shinobi Forces, three names quickly spread throughout the nations.

Nerona Mihawk.

Hinata Hyūga.

Uzumaki Naruto.

Only those three were raised to the status of heroes who had saved the shinobi world.

Yet neither the celebration nor the sorrow reached Mihawk and Hinata, who had already returned home.

Now that he had accomplished everything he’d set out to do, Mihawk returned to his usual distant self, with no interest whatsoever in fame or wealth.