The Divine Tree had fallen, the White Zetsu army was wiped out, the foreign invaders were executed, and the extremist forces of Kirigakure were crushed...
One piece of good news after another spread among the entire Allied Shinobi Forces.
Seventy thousand strong, the Allied Forces erupted into celebration.
Even though the casualties from this joint operation were not particularly high, the sheer volume of enemy forces had left them all shaken. Everyone had mentally prepared themselves for a prolonged and bloody war, ready to lose countless comrades along the way.
Who would have thought? The missing Kage and Konoha's top elites had been secretly carrying out a beheading operation!
And now, it had succeeded—ten thousand White Zetsu and the enemy leaders were all annihilated!
Who wouldn't be ecstatic?
...
But the celebration didn't last long.
A new announcement quickly silenced the revelry, as if a heavy mountain had come crashing down on everyone's hearts.
The Otsutsuki Clan... had three thousand members.
Their real battle was only just beginning!
A single legendary figure, the Rabbit Goddess, had created an army of White Zetsu that could rival the Allied Forces.
A single man, Otsutsuki Isshiki, possessed the strength to defeat the Five Kage combined!
And there were three thousand of them...
Even though the reports said that the Rabbit Goddess and Otsutsuki Isshiki were among the higher ranks of the clan's combat power, it was also made clear—they weren't even at the very top!
If they lost this war against the Otsutsuki, their friends, their families, even their entire planet would be doomed...
Under such overwhelming external pressure, all internal conflicts were naturally suppressed.
Yamanaka Shinno's goal had been achieved—at least for now.
As for the future? First, complete the merger of the hidden villages. The rest could wait.
...
After the battle ended, the Allied Forces began an orderly retreat from the Land of Water.
The remnants of the rational faction in Kirigakure stepped forward again, gathering the surviving ninja and formally applying to join the Allied Forces.
With the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist all dead, and most of Kirigakure's elite wiped out, the village's standing as one of the Five Great Shinobi Nations was hanging by a thread.
Led by Genshi, the remaining Kirigakure ninja, after countless discussions and negotiations, shamelessly clung to Uchiha Hikari—begging her with no dignity whatsoever to take up the position of Fifth Mizukage.
At first, Uchiha Hikari couldn't have cared less about these people.
But after noticing how often Yamanaka Shinno was visiting the various Kage offices—especially slipping into the Hokage's office—she gave it some careful consideration and eventually accepted the position.
...
The official negotiations didn't take long.
Other than securing equal status with the other Kage, Uchiha Hikari didn't ask for much on behalf of Kirigakure.
Tsunade, Pakura, Kitsuchi, and the Third Raikage A also didn't make things difficult for her. After all, Kirigakure barely had any people left. What harm was there in granting them a little dignity?
The merger of the Five Great Hidden Villages kicked off in full force.
Thanks to its superior location, abundant resources, and dominant position in the merger, Konohagakure was naturally designated as the new headquarters of the Five Shinobi Army.
However, because modifying the existing layout of Konoha would be time-consuming and costly, everyone agreed after some discussion to develop a new base—ten kilometers northeast of the village.
...
Shinobi from all five villages, masters of various chakra natures, began to gather on a massive scale.
Iwagakure's Earth Release ninja uprooted giant trees one after another. Sunagakure's Wind Release specialists swiftly trimmed the trees into regulation-sized lumber. Konoha's Fire Release ninja treated the wood with anti-corrosion and insect-proof techniques. The brawny muscleheads from Kumogakure hauled the lumber and cleared away the leftover roots.
In just three days, thanks to the absurd productivity of the shinobi, they leveled and compacted the land for a twenty-kilometer-wide base.
The ground was layered with meters-thick rammed earth and gravel. Even Earth Release specialists would have a hard time tunneling through it!
Temporary brick and cement factories sprang up. Working together, Earth Release, Water Release, and Fire Release ninja churned out millions of bricks and tons of cement.
Thousands of craftsmen from different countries followed the blueprints to construct drainage systems, communication lines, and essential infrastructure.
Endless streams of iron, steel, construction materials, and daily necessities flowed into Konoha.
The new base was advancing at a blistering pace—progressing visibly each day.
...
But the costs were staggering.
After pooling their resources, the finances of the newly united villages, which weren't rich to begin with, began to show signs of collapse.
Yet despite this, the Daimyo of the Land of Fire, Land of Earth, Land of Lightning, Land of Wind, and Land of Water—perhaps believing themselves to be above reproach—outright refused to continue funding the Five Shinobi Army.
They even sent envoys to deliver an ultimatum:
Disband the army within a set time frame, or face military suppression.
When Yamanaka Shinno received this news, he nearly laughed out loud.
He had originally intended to retire the Daimyo peacefully, giving them an honorable exit.
But since they were determined to act like idiots, he had no choice but to take more... forceful measures.
...
Uchiha Fugaku, Might Guy, Namikaze Minato, the Raikage's son A, Killer B, Roshi, Han, and seventy-odd active Root combat operatives, along with two hundred newly recruited ANBU elites, were dispatched toward the major capitals of the Great Nations.
...
The next day, the Daimyo of the Land of Fire—and several so-called "high ministers"—were strung up from the capital's gates, their bodies battered and broken.
All the nobles who had dared to resist or who had oppressed the common people were sent to the Pure Land to face judgment.
...
By the third day, over a dozen more fools who tried to resist met the same fate.
By the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh days, the entire outer wall of the Land of Fire's capital was covered with rotting, stinking corpses.
Nearly ten thousand retainers, guards, and samurai perished alongside the lords they had so loyally served.
And yet, life in the capital returned to normal—as if the Daimyo had never existed.
...
The other Great Nations—Lightning, Earth, Wind, and Water—soon followed in the same bloody footsteps.
Against overwhelming strength, things like status, bloodline, and noble lineage were meaningless jokes.
The armies and samurai that the Daimyo had trusted were utterly crushed by the new Root operatives—every one of them at least jōnin-level in strength!
Even the rare few "experts" among them were no match for the likes of Uchiha Fugaku and Namikaze Minato.
...
Meanwhile, the Daimyo of the smaller nations, who had been hesitating and watching from the sidelines, were scared half to death by the ruthlessness of the Five Shinobi Army.
Not only did they eagerly offer up all their wealth in submission, even the minor hidden villages began submitting formal applications to join.
...
In the temporary High Command set up in the Hokage's office, Nara Shikaku stared at the skyrocketing figures in the treasury account—each number more mind-boggling than the last.
He immediately discussed with Dōdai, and others to accelerate the opening of the Special Talent Academy.
After all, rapid development required both money and manpower.
Although injecting massive funds into the market would cause some inflation, the enormous stockpile of basic supplies from Loran would cushion the impact.
All aspects of growth were accelerating.
...
Senju Hashirama, Senju Tobirama, Uchiha Madara, Uchiha Izuna—those resurrected from the Pure Land—chose not to interfere with the world's current affairs.
Instead, they opened up a new training field far to the northwest of Konoha.
Except for Tobirama, who occasionally visited Orochimaru's lab to collaborate on new research projects, the others spent all day immersed in training.
Even the revived, youthful version of Uzumaki Mito couldn't pull them away.
Tsunade, Kushina, Jiraiya, Orochimaru, Uchiha Fugaku, Namikaze Minato, Might Duy, the Third Raikage A, Ōnoki, A, Killer B—virtually every top fighter you could name—became regulars at the training ground.
...
In just one month, Senju Tobirama, relying on the Three-Tails sealed inside him, successfully entered Sage Mode, and even boldly transplanted a new experimental cell developed with Orochimaru.
Namikaze Minato, benefiting from the dense spiritual energy Shinno had given him, also completed his Sage Mode training.
Uchiha Hikari, fueled by the chakra of fifteen thousand White Zetsu and some borrowed cells from Otsutsuki Kaguya, awakened her Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan—and was steadily advancing toward the Rinnegan.
Kushina even upgraded her "Magical Girl" transformation into a New Year's Edition, boosting her power further!
...
As for Otsutsuki Kaguya—
Upon learning from Tobi about a genjutsu technique that could rapidly improve battle experience, she immediately sealed her own dōjutsu, abandoned all resistance, and entered the illusionary training world.
Despite her abysmal battle sense, after thirty years in the illusion space (just one month in the real world),she managed to grind out a blue-grade combat trait: [Fighting to the Death].
...
"Konoha's proud Blue Beast... Crazy Might Guy! Burn, Youth! Ah—Youth! This is Youth—!"
"Guy! Shouting won't save you from genjutsu!"
"Careful, Kurenai!"
As Might Guy, Kurenai Yuhi, and Genma Shiranui sparred energetically, their youthful shouts echoed across the training grounds.
Meanwhile, Yamanaka Shinno lay back on a wooden lounge chair, a Sage Art scroll draped over his face, basking in the afternoon sun—wearing a mask of pure agony.
If the noise in his ears hurt his hearing, then the constant sounds of their sweaty training under the scorching sun...hurt his very soul.
These maniacs... Did they have no concept of taking it easy?
Couldn't they just laze around for once?
Their existence alone made Shinno feel like he was committing a crime just by lying there!
"Damn it... whatever, fine. I'll move. The Pure Land needs unsealing. The Otsutsuki need cleaning up too..."
Yamanaka Shinno slowly sat up...
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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