In a dim, alternate dimension.
The unconscious Killer Bee was suspended upside down in mid-air, black receivers piercing his shoulder blades and limbs.
"The Seven-Tails' revival time has been confirmed. It's tomorrow," the masked man announced to the several Akatsuki members present, standing on one of the Gedo Mazo's fingers.
"Any movements from the Five Great Shinobi Villages?" Konan asked.
"Are the Hokage, Kazekage, Tsuchikage, Mizukage, and the like, gonna show up?" Hidan's spirits instantly soared upon hearing this.
"All Four Kage gathered? Take a look at your own face—think you're that important?" Hiruko retorted, annoyed. Ever since this guy had offed the Fourth Raikage, he had become completely arrogant. The most obvious sign was him clamoring every day to curse the Kage of other shinobi villages. Although... Hiruko was thoroughly irritated by him.
"Hey, Snowball, do you even know the prestige of killing a Raikage?" Hidan, being targeted like this, actually felt even more elated. What kind of people were in Akatsuki? Every single one was an S-rank wanted criminal. Being able to annoy these guys, wasn't that a symbol of strength in itself?
"Don't call me Snowball!" Veins bulged on Hiruko's forehead. This was another reason he couldn't stand the guy; just because he wore a bit of white and looked a bit pale, this idiot kept calling him Snowball.
"Anyway, those pests from the Shinobi Squad will definitely show up," Kisame grinned.
"The Shinobi Squad? It'd be weirder if they didn't show up," Sasori said without looking up, busy adjusting one of his puppets. Ever since Hiruko had been destroyed, he had reverted to his youthful appearance. It wasn't that he lacked the ability to create another, but the current intensity of the shinobi world's pursuit of Akatsuki left him no leeway to gather materials. Besides, he hadn't encountered a suitable human puppet either.
"According to White Zetsu's intelligence, Kumogakure has already assembled a force of five thousand ninja," the masked man stated.
"The Seven-Tails' revival location is in the Land of Waterfalls. The Five Great Shinobi Villages aren't a monolithic bloc. A force of five thousand... would the other shinobi villages tolerate them entering another country's territory?" Kakuzu asked, puzzled.
"No guarantees," the masked man shook his head. "After all, Kumogakure has done similar things before."
"So, you're saying, when we capture the Seven-Tails, we also have to consider the possibility of being besieged by a five-thousand-strong ninja force?!" Hidan was first astonished, then overjoyed. "This is awesome!"
"I just hope that when your head gets chopped off, you won't be screaming for me to sew it back on," Kakuzu promptly threw cold water on his excitement. "Among everyone here, your abilities are the most useless in a group fight."
"I killed the Raikage!" Hidan yelled back, dissatisfied.
"If it weren't for me, you probably wouldn't have even touched a hair on the Fourth Raikage's head," Hiruko sneered.
The few of them bickered, turning the originally quiet space noisy. Judging by the expressions of the others, they seemed quite accustomed to this situation.
"I bring good news!" Zetsu slowly emerged, half of its body visible.
"..." The air suddenly stilled. Everyone turned their gaze to Zetsu.
"Apart from Kumogakure and the Shinobi Squad, the other shinobi villages are too busy to interfere with the Seven-Tails' revival." After capturing their attention, White Zetsu gleefully revealed the reason, "Dragon Heritage has established a nation! The other shinobi villages are currently preoccupied with how to appease their own Daimyo."
Everyone: "??!!"
"Hey, hey, hey, what kind of joke is this?" Hidan was the first to break the silence.
"Dragon Heritage established a nation? Can they even do that?" Kakuzu also expressed his disbelief. "Should we also establish a nation for fun?"
Meeting everyone's gazes, White Zetsu quickly explained, "Back then, Dragon Heritage was wanted along with us. Now, only we are like rats scurrying across the street. It just doesn't feel right."
"There's some truth to that," Hidan fell into thought.
"There's no truth to it at all," Sasori said, exasperated. "How long has the Dragon Heritage organization been dormant, and how much have we done? Don't you have any clue?"
"What exactly happened?" Even the masked man couldn't help but feel curious. Even at the end of the Warring States Period, when ninja officially stepped onto the main stage, they did so by establishing shinobi villages backed by nations. For ninja to truly establish a nation themselves, there had only been half a precedent—the Land of Whirlpools. The Uzumaki clan had managed to establish their own mark in a region purely due to their massive population, and then logically founded a nation.
"Just last night, the Daimyo of the Land of Rivers was assassinated by two unknown petty thieves. The Dragon Heritage organization suddenly appeared and, under the pretext of maintaining order, took control of the Land of Rivers," Black Zetsu explained. "The next morning, the major nations of the shinobi world received a message and an invitation..."
"What?" Hoshigaki Kisame couldn't help but ask.
"The Land of Rivers has been renamed the Land of Dragon, and they have invited the Daimyo of all nations to attend the ceremony. Interestingly, the Kage of the Five Great Shinobi Villages also received invitations."
"...How arrogant." After a long pause, Hiruko clicked his tongue.
"Indeed, arrogant. And they're wanted criminals, just like us," Hidan, for once, agreed with him.
"Didn't they say they were for peace? What's the meaning of establishing a nation?" Sasori couldn't figure it out no matter how hard he thought.
"Who knows?" Kisame said. "Aren't we also for peace?"
"Pain..." Konan looked at the Deva Path, who was lost in thought, hesitated for a moment, but ultimately didn't voice her question.
Land of Dragon.
"Any movement on the borders?" Shadow Clone #2 asked, turning his head towards Haku, who was approaching. After all, what they had done had touched upon the taboo between shinobi villages and Daimyo.
"None for now," Haku shook his head slightly. "Perhaps because the Seven-Tails' revival is imminent, the shinobi villages are currently preparing for battle with Akatsuki."
"What about those stubborn old fools?" Although the Land of Rivers had been renamed the Land of Dragon, its roots were still in the Land of Rivers. Even Naruto couldn't change this in a short period.
"Their every move is being monitored by members of the Third Squad. They won't have a chance to cause trouble," Haku said confidently. "Additionally, the core members Dragon Heritage has cultivated over the past year have already been deployed to the various towns and villages of the Land of Dragon."
"Mmm." Shadow Clone #2 nodded slightly. The implementation of any decision, especially one that would shake the powerful vested interest class, required a prerequisite: possessing the formidable power to enforce it. This power wasn't merely about individual strength, like his own. Changing the world's fundamental structure couldn't be accomplished overnight; it required decades, even generations, of sustained effort. Naruto was currently trying to build the foundation for this power.
"How many ninja academies can the Land of Rivers' national treasury reserves build?" Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. For him to single-handedly push the shinobi world forward was a fool's dream. Never mind whether his ideal nation could be established; he would definitely die of exhaustion halfway through. So, wouldn't it be better to broaden the horizons of the populace and let them push the wheels of history forward themselves? For this world, the knowledge of ninja was advanced knowledge, the kind of perspective that needed broadening.
"Originally, it was only enough for ten. After confiscating the assets of several ministers, it's now enough for twenty." As he spoke, Haku looked somewhat eager. "My lord, should we confiscate the homes of all those bastards? With a surplus in the national treasury, everything becomes easier."
"Not for now. For the population of the Land of Dragon, about twelve ninja academies should suffice," Shadow Clone #2 said, raising a hand to stop him. When he said "establish ninja academies," he didn't just mean building the schools and being done with it. There needed to be a sufficient cash flow to ensure these established ninja academies could operate smoothly for a year, or even longer. Due to current funding limitations, he could only set this period at one year for now. For ninja possessing extraordinary power, the cost of constructing buildings was almost negligible. What? Schools built with Earth Release are too crude? To this, Naruto could only say, get the basic framework up first; other considerations could wait until funds were more plentiful later. Infrastructure, teaching materials, faculty, related equipment, teaching tools... It could only be said that compulsory education was a bottomless pit. With limited funds, if one aspect was to be improved, other conditions had to be sacrificed. For example: the teaching environment...
That's right, he planned to implement compulsory education in this world. The mainstream education system in the Five Great Shinobi Villages currently could only be described as semi-compulsory; it wasn't open to the entire populace. If one's parents were ninja and had made certain contributions to the village, then their children could enter the ninja academy for free. Others had to pay exorbitant tuition fees for their children to attend. Yet, even such a semi-compulsory education system had laid the foundation for Konoha to win the Second and Third Great Shinobi Wars. Naruto intended to expand this foundation.
Even if only one in ten commoners could awaken chakra, one in ten of those could become a usable ninja, and one in ten of those could become a core member... Once compulsory education was popularized in the Land of Dragon, under the sheer weight of numbers, he refused to believe that one or two monstrous talents wouldn't emerge. Moreover, with the Dragon Heritage organization frantically scouring the shinobi world for Kekkei Genkai and amassing a large talent pool, the probability of monstrous talents appearing was definitely far higher than the above estimate. If he then poured massive resources into these monstrous talents, he refused to believe he couldn't produce top-tier combatants. He had practical experience in this—Haku and Karin.
Currently, among the Five Great Shinobi Villages, apart from Konoha: Suna had one and a half Kage-level combatants (the elderly Chiyo counted as half); Kiri had one (the current Mizukage); Kumo had one (Darui); Iwa had two (Onoki, Deidara). Once the high-tier was established, the mid and low-tiers just needed to be functional. Anyway, based on his experience, wars in this world were entirely decided by high-level ninja; once the top decided the outcome, the bottom followed suit.
Once the legacy of the Sky Ninja Village and the Land of Demons was integrated, he would directly unleash a flood of soldiers upon the shinobi world! Peace achieved through conquest was still peace! As for subsequent problems? He'd cross that bridge when he came to it! Even if the situation became more distorted then, it wouldn't be more hopeless than the present. Publicly allowing shinobi villages to conduct assassination missions, acknowledging the special privileges of nobles—the Five Great Nations had no reason to exist. Not engaging in production, living by killing—the profession of a ninja had to be rectified. He was going to carry out a thorough reform, a cleansing of everything. He would rebuild order upon ruins and desolation!
"Then, regarding Akatsuki's actions tomorrow, do we need to intervene?" Haku asked.
"Just watch the fire from the shore." Shadow Clone #2 gazed at the setting sun in the west. The dark red evening glow signified that tomorrow would bring a new dawn. In his plan, the appearance of the Ten-Tails was an extremely crucial link.
Night fell, and a thin black veil enveloped all things.
Shwoop!
In the room, Naruto's figure suddenly appeared.
"I'll take over things here personally."
"What about Konoha?"
"Ichimei (Clone #1) is in charge."
"Finally my turn to rest." Shadow Clone #2 stretched lazily and then dispersed into a puff of smoke.
Naruto pondered for a moment, then took out a scroll from his robes and released the White Zetsu sealed within. The structure of this creature was very interesting: it had life force, intelligence, yet it was like a "blank slate."
Naruto placed his palm on the White Zetsu's forehead.
Whoosh~
A gentle breeze stirred out of nowhere. Behind him, six Truth-Seeking Orbs spun ceaselessly.
With a thought, a large amount of Yin-Yang Release chakra poured into the White Zetsu's body.
Crack, crack, crack...
The White Zetsu's body twitched bizarrely. Simultaneously, its appearance began to change. Its pale skin gradually turned yellow. Its scarecrow-like head began to fill out—hair, eyes, nose, mouth... It became more and more like Naruto.
Several minutes later, Naruto removed his hand. Looking at the second "himself" beneath him, he nodded with satisfaction. But it wasn't over yet. He took out specially made ink and a brush, and on the second "himself" and the surrounding floor, he wrote numerous jutsu formulas.
"Kurama, without affecting the 'source,' inject chakra into this 'clone'." After speaking, a tail extended from behind him, connecting with the "clone." Every second, an amount of chakra equivalent to that of a Jonin was injected into the "clone."
Two minutes later.
"That's enough," Naruto said, then quickly formed hand seals and pressed them onto the "clone's" abdomen. The jutsu formulas he had just written, as if imbued with life, frantically swirled, converged, and spun around the "clone's" abdomen, slowly coalescing into a Four Symbols Seal.
Pseudo-Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, creation complete... Naruto thought to himself. For the Ten-Tails to appear, Kurama's chakra was indispensable. But to hand Kurama over to Nagato? Nonsense! So, he could only resort to creating a pseudo-Kurama.
"Ugh!" The pseudo-Naruto propped himself up with his right hand and shook his head lightly.
"Looks like the connection was successful." Seeing himself through the "clone's" perspective, Naruto nodded inwardly. The inspiration for creating this "clone" came from Nagato's Six Paths of Pain.
"Tomorrow, you will represent Dragon Heritage as an envoy to the Land of Waterfalls... This feeling of conversation is even weirder than with a shadow clone..." Naruto pinched the bridge of his nose. At least with shadow clones, there was a slight delay in receiving memories; conversing with this "clone" was direct, zero-latency interaction. The feeling... was indescribably strange.
"What should I call you? Ichimei, Nimei, those have been taken... Busshi? Ashina Genichiro..." As he spoke, Naruto suddenly paused. "Let's just call you Sekiro."
His voice was tinged with deep emotion. After all, that name carried the weight of an entire lifetime for him...