The Box of Heavenly Peace was, after all, a legendary weapon from the era of the Sage of Six Paths. Yuto naturally wouldn't leave it behind — he took it with him.
So Yuto temporarily stored the Box of Heavenly Peace inside a Truth-Seeking Ball.
Even at the Six Paths level, Yuto still lacked true spatial abilities. This only strengthened his resolve to acquire the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.
Before heading to the moon, he needed to deal with Uchiha Madara first, preventing any interference with his plans while he was away.
Yuto murmured to himself as several thoughts flashed through his mind.
Currently, in the ninja world, the only variable was Uchiha Madara. So before he was fully prepared, Yuto couldn't allow Madara to gather all the Tailed Beasts.
With this matter settled, Yuto had no intention of remaining at Hozuki Castle. He transformed into a shadow and vanished.
Having acquired the shrine maiden's power — the ability to cleanly separate souls from bodies — a rather interesting idea had taken root in Yuto's mind. He intended to return to the Kirigakure.
He also needed to prepare several bargaining chips for his eventual negotiation with Uchiha Madara.
One day later.
Yuto returned to the Kirigakure, having been away for over a week.
The streets were noticeably more crowded than during his last visit. Upon observation, Yuto discovered that a large portion of these people weren't Kirigakure residents.
Many of them were merchants and travelers from other nations.
The Kirigakure now controlled both the Land of Water and the Land of Fire, possessing vast territories and abundant resources.
Previously, relations between the Land of Fire and the Land of Water had been far from friendly. Beyond the grudges between their ninja villages, friction and conflict between the two great nations had been common.
Because of this, many merchants had been unwilling to trade between them, fearing they might become collateral damage. Travelers had been even rarer.
But now, with both nations under Kirigakure's control, and the new shipping route established via the bridge in the Land of Waves, the journey was both shorter and safer.
These factors naturally accelerated trade prosperity between the two nations. Many sharp-eyed merchants and trading companies had quickly invested, and those who struck it rich were too numerous to count.
It even attracted merchants and travelers from other great nations. The Kirigakure's leadership was naturally pleased with this development.
Especially the bridge in the Land of Waves.
During the war, this bridge had been an extremely important strategic point, and now it remained one of the Kirigakure's vital sources of income.
Anyone wishing to take the shortest route had to cross the bridge.
That was why, from the very beginning, Yuto had stationed numerous ninja near the Land of Waves bridge. Beyond its strategic importance, they could also collect tolls.
Terumi Mei had initially been somewhat confused by this, but she was probably now smiling in her sleep. The tolls alone from the Land of Waves bridge equaled more than a third of the Kirigakure's previous revenue.
And this amount would only grow with time.
After returning to the village, Yuto enjoyed a hearty meal and then soaked in a hot spring. After all the traveling he'd been doing, he needed to rest.
During his soak, Yuto had been contemplating whether to tell Terumi Mei about Chiyome. After some deliberation, he decided to set it aside for the time being.
Terumi Mei was certainly swamped with work, and Chiyome and the Land of Demons hadn't given him their answer yet. So Yuto decided there was no rush.
Unfortunately.
Yuto had overlooked something — the slug.
The Second Kirigakure.
Inside the Mizukage's office.
The original Kirigakure residents who had relocated had all been settled in, and after a period of observation, their integration was proceeding reasonably well.
The Rain Village residents had also been fully accommodated, with more than half having already found employment and being able to support their families without issue.
Currently, the Second Kirigakure needed extensive reconstruction, requiring a large workforce. The remaining residents could have their living situations resolved within half a month at most.
Ao held a document and reported to Terumi Mei in a soft voice, pausing briefly at one point.
"Additionally, while the arrival of the Rain Village residents has eased some internal tensions in the Second Kirigakure, conflicts between the original Konoha residents and Kirigakure residents still occur regularly."
"The police force is somewhat short-handed. If these incidents aren't prevented proactively, they could lead to significant unrest and trouble down the line."
After delivering his full report, Ao fell silent, looking up at Terumi Mei seated behind her desk, waiting quietly.
Terumi Mei signed the document in her hand and passed it to a nearby ninja.
The ninja took the document, bowed slightly, and left the office.
Only then did Terumi Mei look up at Ao, extending a slender finger to rub her temple.
"Half a month is too long. All Rain Village residents must be settled within a week, with adequate provisions for food, clothing, housing, and transportation."
"Discuss this with Konan. The key is to resolve it quickly."
"Regarding the police force, we can reassign some Genin. Notify the mission division — starting today, we'll temporarily stop accepting D-rank missions and reduce C-rank mission intake."
"Reassign all freed personnel to the police force, counting their service toward C-rank mission rewards. Maintain peace and stability in the Second Kirigakure at all costs. Anyone deliberately causing trouble can be thrown directly into prison."
Terumi Mei spoke calmly without any sign of panic as she rubbed her temple.
"Yes, Mizukage-sama."
Ao wrote something on the document in his hand, nodded respectfully, and quickly turned to leave.
Shortly after Ao departed, Chojuro entered carrying a stack of documents.
"Oh — you're the last person I want to see right now."
Terumi Mei looked at Chojuro entering, particularly at the documents in his arms, and spoke with a helpless tone.
Chojuro's eye twitched slightly as he placed the stack on the desk, a hint of grievance on his face.
"These were specially selected by Ao — they're important matters requiring the Mizukage's personal decision."
"You should see how the Administrative Division's documents have piled up."
Chojuro said with some grievance.
Compared to this small stack for Terumi Mei, the Administrative Division's paperwork was far more voluminous.
Seeing Chojuro's slightly aggrieved expression, Terumi Mei's earlier irritation softened considerably, and she couldn't help but chuckle.
"There, there — I was just complaining a little."
Terumi Mei smiled and gave Chojuro an encouraging look.
The Second Kirigakure was indeed short-handed. Compared to the massive Administrative Division of the original Konoha, their current staffing was pitifully small.
There was no helping it — Konoha had been the foremost of the Five Great Ninja Villages, excelling in every aspect.
The Nara clan, for instance, were crucial strategists — exactly what the current Kirigakure lacked, not to mention other clans as well.
Fortunately, Hyuga Neji had brought the entire Hyuga clan to the Kirigakure. Without him, the police force alone would have given Terumi Mei an enormous headache trying to find suitable personnel.
After setting down the documents, Chojuro rose to leave — the Administrative Division had plenty of work waiting. He ignored Terumi Mei's encouraging gaze entirely.
"Wait."
Terumi Mei called out as Chojuro turned to leave, suddenly remembering something.
Chojuro turned back, looking at Terumi Mei with some confusion.
"Pull up information and records about the Land of Demons. I want to review them."
A mysterious expression flickered across Terumi Mei's face as she spoke to Chojuro.
"The Land of Demons?"
Chojuro paused momentarily, wondering why his Mizukage had suddenly taken interest in a small border nation. But he nodded nonetheless.
After watching Chojuro leave, Terumi Mei turned to look at the palm-sized slug resting on the desk beside her.
"What you told me earlier — is that true?"
"Of course! Lord Yuto left a slug with a girl named Chiyome."
The slug nodded, its soft voice reaching Terumi Mei's ears.
After hearing the slug's words.
A brilliant smile appeared on Terumi Mei's face, though it carried a distinctly dangerous quality.
Men are all the same.
"However, I am curious about this girl named Chiyome who caught Lord Yuto's attention. What does she look like?"
"Hmph — let's see how long you take to tell me about this."
Terumi Mei wore a disgruntled expression, throwing a small tantrum.
The palm-sized slug beside her seemed to sense the dangerous aura Terumi Mei periodically emitted and shrank back slightly.
I suddenly feel like I've said something rather significant.
The slug's upright eyes wobbled slightly as it thought with some unease.
Meanwhile.
In the Kirigakure.
Yuto, who was soaking in the hot spring, suddenly felt a chill run down his spine for no apparent reason.
Strange — why this sudden premonition of something bad?
Yuto rubbed his neck, feeling perplexed.
Never mind — the bath has gone on long enough. Time to get back to work.
Yuto shook his head slightly, rose from the hot spring, changed into dry clothes, and headed toward where Uumo and the others were.
[
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