Bang.
In the Hokage's office, the door was kicked open with a loud noise.
The man entering had one eye wrapped in bandages and a grim, stern face.
"Hiruzen, what do you want with me?" he barked loudly as soon as he entered, trying to seize the initiative.
Hiruzen calmly slid a forbidden scroll back into his drawer, without so much as looking up.
He said blandly, "You're here, Danzō. Next time, knock."
Danzō had already caught a glimpse before entering. "Naka River"? He reads that too?
Even I think that book is well-written. Very realistic. Sensei used to say the Uchiha clan was naturally prone to infighting.
He wasn't just making things up. That was what Tobirama said.
During the Warring States period, there was a jutsu called Izanagi, you could lose an eye to alter reality.
With this technique, the Uchiha clan started getting arrogant.
Within the clan, everyone had this godlike ability. No one accepted anyone else's authority. So they fought among themselves.
The losing side would use Izanagi to rewrite reality and claim victory.
Then the ones who were rewritten as losers would use Izanagi again to reverse the outcome.
Sensei was right: the Uchiha are evil, insidious, deceitful, and unreasonable creatures.
"You read 'Naka River' too? Wasn't this book banned by the Uchiha clan?"
He stepped forward skillfully and opened the drawer of the office desk.
Hiruzen, hearing that Danzō also read the same book, forgot to stop him. And forgot that he had summoned Danzō to talk about Kusao begging not to be targeted by him.
Danzō picked up the first volume of "Naka River," revealing another book underneath it.
"The ANBU Captain and the Commander."
"..." Danzō's his face was complicated.
"..." Hiruzen's face was awkward.
What a coincidence. His son's wife was an ANBU captain, and his son was a commander, both his trusted people.
"Nonsense! Who put this book in my drawer? Who?"
"It must've been Jiraiya!"
"Danzō, you know what kind of man I am. I was just curious why all the jonin in the village are obsessed with Pain's books."
"Pain? I heard only true fans call him that, right?"
"Shut up, Danzō! Look at the mess you've caused! What did you do in the Land of Grass?"
Hiruzen decisively changed the subject, huffing and puffing as he threw down the plea letter from Kusao.
Danzō was stunned. Was that matter one of the things he did? If it was... no way. He would never admit it.
He replied coldly, "I never sent anyone there!"
"Hmm." Hiruzen nodded. "Well done this time. Just pressuring the enemy to beg for mercy is enough, no need to annihilate them. That 1.8 million ryō will be Root's budget then."
"1.8 million? What 1.8 million? I really didn't do it!"
"Alright, alright. Just do it this way next time."
---
Yahiko could swear no one in the shinobi world cared more about civilians than he did.
He firmly believed a single spark could start a prairie fire!
At the village gate, the welcome ceremony was once again hosted by Genno.
This time, not only were there banners... There was music too.
♪Come and stay in our village
Oh, gates of Yoake
Oh, gates of Yoake, oh
Come and stay in our village
Oh, gates of Yoake♪
Leading the singing was none other than Genno's daughter.
It brought many of the weary and wandering people to tears of joy. After so many years, they finally felt the warmth of home again.
The Uzumaki clan, deeply empathetic, teared up as well. They didn't mind that these people were covered in filth. They stepped forward, hugged them warmly.
"Don't cry, child. This is your new home now."
A 40-year-old man wiped his tears and felt a bit embarrassed, he was so old, yet someone still patted his head and called him "child."
When he looked up, he saw it was Shuzen, nearly 100 years old, a living veteran from the Warring States period.
Yahiko had heard this elder once escorted Mito to marry Hashirama, and even clashed with Madara who tried to interfere.
"It's so beautiful."
Kyosuke, an orphan since childhood, sobbed as he leaned against Shuzen's chest, touched by the warmth.
---
This new group quickly settled in.
The men joined the village construction team; the women, under Konan's arrangements, engaged in handicrafts or animal husbandry.
The village began building a small-scale ranch.
Hmm... and not a penny was spent.
Nagato had taken a detour to the Land of Lightning, and somehow, they just gave them the livestock.
He wasn't sure what happened either, he just appeared, and the chickens and cows came on their own. Even a few chunin from Yoake couldn't stop them.
So Yoake simply accepted the gift with a smile, after all, these were the chickens and cows from the Land of Lightning. And in that land, the livestock were trained year-round by a bunch of musclebound people who knew nothing but physical training.
No need to describe the quality of the meat, on the market, a single black cow from there could sell for as much as 6.3 million ryō.
When Nagato and the others were herding the animals, they almost lost them. They ran faster than most average chunin. Even the ANBU sent by the Third Raikage to capture Nagato couldn't catch up, with all their cows and chickens in tow.
On the day the chickens were slaughtered and the cows butchered, the best meat had to go to Nagato, the hero of the hour.
"Our cows, each and every one, is from the pasturelands where people cared for them with love and attention."
"They ate naturally organic grass rich in minerals from the grasslands. And drank spring water from the high mountains, the very spring once used by legendary figures a thousand years ago."
"Not every cow can be a Yoake cow."
The village was gradually getting back on track.
With Ame behaving itself, the Second Great Ninja War was nearing its end outside the village.
Konoha's White Fang had slain both the father and mother of Sasori on the Suna front.
Suna's army was losing morale. The tide had clearly turned.
The Third Kazekage had already begun negotiations with Konoha. But rumor had it that within Konoha, Danzō's hawkish faction and Hiruzen's dovish camp were at each other's throats.
It looked like that argument wouldn't settle anytime soon.
So for now, Yoake could enjoy a period of peaceful development, preparing for the Third Great Ninja War that would be triggered in just a few years by the disappearance of the Third Kazekage.
Given the current number of ninja in the village, Yahiko was still very nervous.
The Third War would be a meat grinder, so brutal that even the leaders of the Five Great Nations could fall on the battlefield. He was so worried he wrote a new volume of "The ANBU Captain and the Commander" that very night to calm his nerves.
Oddly enough, this book resonated perfectly with the tastes of the shinobi world. The bookstore owner, wanting to help him, offered him privileges usually reserved for top-tier authors.
Just from the signing bonus on this one book, he received nearly 3 million ryō.
It was like finding money on the ground, it came that easily.
He immediately traded the funds with the publishers for the supplies Yoake needed.
At that moment, Yahiko was out with a few village leaders scouting locations for a new Ninja Academy.
They had to consider not disturbing the villagers, while also ensuring the children didn't have to travel too far and could sleep in a bit in the mornings.
Yahiko and the others circled the village several times but couldn't find a suitable place.
"How about we build it right in the village center?" Konan said as she tucked her hair behind her ear.
Yahiko thought it over, Konan was right. The children were the heart of Yoake.
Education took time. Ideals had to be passed down generation by generation.
Putting the school right next to the village leader's office meant he could see the kids every day, and that brought him peace of mind.
"Alright!" Yahiko declared with a sweeping gesture.
The construction team immediately requisitioned the nearby residential houses next to the office.
Ironically, the ones being demolished were the courtyards belonging to Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato themselves.
Such sacrifice!
Once those three courtyards were torn down, not only was there enough room for a school, there was even space left for a retirement home.
---
Outside, the Great Nations were still watching, and Kusa too, everything beyond their walls was unstable. But that had nothing to do with Yoake, a tiny dot not even marked on standard shinobi maps.
Under Yahiko's direct supervision, Yoake launched a massive wave of construction.
Using the village leader's office as the central ring, they expanded outward, first ring, second ring, third ring...
He decided the first ring would house the village's core industries, accessible only to villagers.
The sounds of construction rang out all day.
Sometimes it was the noise of some Earth Release ninja yelling out jutsu names during construction.
The village was united. Ninjas and civilians alike worked with one heart, and everything proceeded in an orderly manner.
Today, Yahiko was wearing a safety helmet, inspecting the foundation.
"This foundation better be solid. If I find someone cutting corners and putting residents in danger, I'll throw them to Ame to be fed to the giant salamanders."
"Time for lunch." Konan showed up again, bringing food.
This time, she brought the women with her to deliver meals to the hard-working men at the construction site.
She didn't eat. She laid out paper with her paper ninjutsu on a patch of empty ground, carefully setting the tableware.
"Yahiko, try these vegetables, I made them."
"Nom nom, delicious."
"This pork too, I stewed it."
"So tasty!"
"This dish is..."
"Mmhmm, it's incredible!"
"Ah! That one's for the kids..."
"..."
Even though the wind and dust at the construction site were harsh, the two of them were clearly enjoying their meal.
But beneath the proposed site for the Ninja Academy and retirement home, someone was quite displeased.
In the dim underground cavern, a razor-sharp scythe leaned against a massive throne. And on that throne sat an aged figure.
"How many days has it been... what's all that noise outside?"