Chapter 189 (Patreon)

Mihawk slept until noon the following day.

By the time he awoke, Hinata and Saeko Busujima had already prepared lunch.

After washing up, Nerona Mihawk entered the dining room and sat down.

Hanabi immediately leaned forward and asked, “Mihawk-nii, when are we leaving?”

Mihawk smiled at the anticipation written across her face.

“What’s wrong? Can’t you wait any longer?”

“Mm-hm! I’ve never traveled outside the village before.”

Hanabi nodded repeatedly, making no attempt to hide her excitement.

“It’s another world! I really want to see it for myself.”

“In that case, how would you feel if I sent you to Saeko’s world?”

“Mihawk-nii, you’re so mean!”

Hanabi immediately pouted and turned her head away in displeasure.

After Mihawk explained where Saeko had come from, both Hinata and Hanabi had asked her countless questions about the Otherworld.

After all, anyone would be curious after discovering that other worlds truly existed.

From Saeko’s description, Hinata and Hanabi had gained a clear understanding of the current state of her world.

The idea of monsters capable of turning someone into one of them with a single bite sounded even stranger than White Zetsu.

It was a world where humanity itself was facing extinction.

Naturally, Hanabi was upset when Mihawk joked about sending her there.

Mihawk smiled at her reaction.

“Have you said goodbye to your father?”

Hanabi’s displeasure vanished immediately.

She nodded several times and answered, “My sister and I went to see Father this morning. He agreed to let us leave the village for a ‘journey.’”

Mihawk nodded.

“Then we’ll leave Konoha after lunch.”

“Yes! That’s great!”

Hanabi cheered at once.

She usually tried to act mature for her age, but at that moment, she finally displayed the innocence and excitement expected of an 13-year-old girl.

The prospect of visiting another world was as irresistible to Hanabi as receiving something she had dreamed of for years.

She ate lunch faster than ever before.

The moment she finished, Hanabi left the dining room and hurried to her room to pack.

Mihawk, Hinata, and Saeko exchanged amused smiles.

After leisurely finishing their lunch, they also began preparing for the journey.

Their luggage was not particularly complicated.

They only needed dried food, water, clothing, weapons, and basic toiletries.

Everything could easily be stored inside a single storage scroll.

Within an hour, Mihawk, Hinata, Hanabi, and Saeko were fully prepared.

They left the house and quietly departed from Konoha without informing anyone else.

It was worth mentioning that Mihawk and Hinata had resigned from their shinobi positions several days earlier.

Mihawk was no longer one of Konoha’s elite Jōnin, while Hinata was no longer a Chūnin.

Team 8 had also been officially disbanded.

Therefore, neither Mihawk nor Hinata needed to report their departure to Kakashi, the Sixth Hokage.

After traveling some distance from Konoha, Mihawk led the other three into a secluded forest that was rarely visited.

Hinata used the extraordinary vision of her Tenseigan to survey their surroundings.

Once she confirmed that no one was within several miles of them, Mihawk deliberately activated the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception.

He raised two fingers like the blade of a sword and lightly slashed through the air.

In the next instant, a black fissure tore through space.

It rapidly expanded until it formed a space-time portal resembling a black hole.

Hinata and Hanabi’s eyes widened as they witnessed the World Gate open before them.

“It’s incredible...” Hanabi murmured in a daze.

“Mm.”

Hinata nodded in agreement.

Saeko had understood that the gate was something extraordinary, but Hinata and Hanabi had been born and raised in the shinobi world.

They understood exactly how difficult it was to tear open space and create a stable passage through it.

Because of Mihawk’s earlier lie, they genuinely believed that the portal had been created by his ocular jutsu.

That only made the sight even more astonishing to them.

Once the World Gate had fully opened, Mihawk extended his hand toward Hinata.

He then looked at Hanabi and Saeko.

“Everyone, hold hands. Whatever happens, don’t let go.”

“Yes.”

All three immediately followed his instructions.

After they had taken one another’s hands, Mihawk stepped into the World Gate.

Hinata, Hanabi, and Saeko followed closely behind him.

Once all four disappeared, the portal contracted and vanished.

This time, after entering the World Gate, Mihawk found himself inside the star-filled passage he had seen before.

It resembled a tunnel stretching through a vast galaxy.

Hinata, Hanabi, and Saeko were all stunned by the sight.

Mihawk, however, fell into thought.

The tunnel had not appeared when he returned from Saeko’s world. Instead, the gate had taken him directly back to Konoha.

It seemed the system had designated the shinobi world as his primary location.

The four continued through the passage for half an hour before reaching the glowing portal at its end.

Just as before, once they approached a certain point, the light ahead separated into several individual gates.

However, instead of the six gates Mihawk had encountered last time, only three appeared before them.

“Mihawk-nii...”

Still holding Saeko’s hand, Hanabi looked toward Mihawk uncertainly.

“Do all three of these gates lead to different worlds?”

Mihawk nodded and smiled.

“Why don’t you choose one? We’ll visit whichever world you select.”

Hanabi immediately became nervous.

“But... what if I choose a dangerous world?”

“Choose whichever one you want. Nothing will happen to you.”

Unless they were extraordinarily unlucky and entered a world where gods were already fighting, Mihawk was confident they would be safe.

As long as that world’s strongest beings were not far beyond those of the shinobi world, Mihawk and Hinata would be capable of handling almost any danger they encountered.

Hanabi swallowed nervously.

Her gaze moved between the three portals before she raised her hand and pointed toward the second one.

“Th-Then... that one!”

“Let’s go.”

Without wasting any more time, Mihawk took Hinata’s hand and walked toward the second gate.

Since all four were still holding hands, Hanabi and Saeko followed closely behind them.

Clatter!

Bang! Clang!

As the four passed through the light, the white glow obscuring their vision gradually faded.

The sounds of hurried movement and clashing weapons immediately reached their ears.

Several strangely shaped humanoid creatures appeared before them, each possessing unusual features and complexions.

Mihawk felt solid concrete beneath his feet.

Numerous unconscious figures lay scattered across the surrounding ground.

Blood had stained the concrete red, showing that a fierce battle had taken place only moments earlier.

The sudden appearance of Mihawk and the others caused the entire battlefield to fall silent.

Mihawk narrowed his eyes as he surveyed the scene before him.

“This is...”