The snow continued to fall.
The four great shinobi villages had dispatched numerous teams to search for the Sky Village.
However, none of them returned with useful intelligence.
Even his little brother, Black Zetsu, had yet to return.
Facts had proven one thing—
Being able to fly was truly extraordinary!
No one knew how long the Sky Village could remain airborne before it had to land.
Perhaps it was still drifting through the sky even now.
The ninja world was simply too vast.
And the Sky Village could fly.
If it was truly determined to hide, Uchiha Ren would not be able to do anything about it for quite some time.
However—
Even if he couldn't attack the Sky Village, could he not attack the Land of Sky?
In the original timeline, after Konoha destroyed the Sky Village, only a handful of remnants survived and hid throughout the ninja world.
Without the protection of its shinobi village, the Land of Sky was quickly annexed by the surrounding nations.
The current situation was merely history repeating itself.
The campaign against the Land of Sky proceeded extremely smoothly.
There was not even any need to deploy a large shinobi army.
What could an army composed of ordinary people possibly do against elite shinobi squads?
The Land of Sky was like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.
The daimyō of the Five Great Nations arranged a meeting.
After arguing fiercely at the negotiating table for several days and nights over how to divide the spoils, the matter was settled.
The Fire Daimyo maintained an extremely forceful attitude.
Although he was timid and submissive within his own country, he struck hard against outsiders and obtained the largest share of the benefits.
That was the advantage of possessing a powerful military.
The largest fist always felt the best!
Konoha had no interest in the Land of Sky's territory.
The existing territory within the Land of Fire was already more than enough for Konoha to develop.
As for wealth—
Naturally, it would be divided seventy-thirty.
Konoha would take seventy percent.
As for population—
The more cheap laborers, the better.
Konoha was gradually becoming the factory of the entire ninja world, constantly exporting every variety of industrial product.
At such a time, it desperately needed cheap labor.
For the workers of the Land of Sky, however, this was not necessarily a bad path.
Working inside Konoha-owned factories might exhaust them half to death—
But they would not starve.
Nor would they be killed for no reason by wandering shinobi.
Those fortunate enough to be assigned to factories near Konoha would have to thank their ancestors, even if their ancestral graves had been burned black by Amaterasu.
They would be able to experience the benevolence of Konoha's fatherly ruler from close range.
If they possessed foresight and were ruthless enough toward themselves, their best option would be to take out a thirty-year loan and purchase a home in Konoha.
After working hard for more than a decade and obtaining a Konoha resident identity card—
Three generations of their family would be secure.
However, none of that was the most important point.
Because of the Sky Village, the Land of Sky's education system had developed in a completely different direction from the rest of the ninja world.
It had always prioritized technology.
As a result, it had trained large numbers of researchers, engineers, teachers, and highly skilled technicians.
This was exactly the wealth Uchiha Ren had always wanted!
It was the most valuable spoil of war after the Sky Village's Zero-Tails!
Senju Tobirama was an outstanding nuclear-powered donkey.
He could practically be treated as a sacred relic and passed down through generations of Konoha.
Uchiha Ren had not yet decided who would become the Fourth Hokage.
After all, he was still young and in the prime of his life.
Remaining in office for another ten or even twenty years would be effortless.
However—
He still intended to pass the nuclear-powered donkey known as Senju Tobirama to the next Hokage.
A Hokage should continue shining and generating heat for Konoha forever!
Senju Tobirama might disagree.
But there were countless things he disagreed with.
Uchiha Ren had no intention of indulging him.
If necessary—
Uchiha Ren could also resurrect Senju Hashirama through the Impure World Reincarnation and have the First Hokage help persuade Tobirama.
For the sake of Konoha's future development, Hashirama would probably agree.
After all, he had personally said that for Konoha—
Whether friend, brother, or family—
He would spare no one.
Back then, Senju Hashirama had used that reasoning to convince himself to kill his closest friend, Uchiha Madara.
If the same logic were used now—
Sacrificing his beloved little brother and joining Uchiha Ren in persuading Tobirama to serve Konoha as a nuclear-powered donkey for generations should not be a problem.
And now…
Hmm.
Perhaps Uchiha Izuna could be added as well.
That man would be somewhat more difficult to handle.
But with Senju Tobirama and Uchiha Madara available—
As long as Uchiha Ren lowered his moral bottom line slightly, he would definitely find a way to manipulate Uchiha Izuna.
Still—
Relying forever on the strength of those two nuclear-powered donkeys would be far too dangerous for Konoha.
As a qualified Hokage, Uchiha Ren always had to consider the distant future.
He immediately dispatched personnel to take control of the Land of Sky's valuable human resources.
Konoha appreciated such talent more than anything.
Come and experience the benevolence of Konoha's fatherly ruler!
The only unfortunate people were the staff inside the Hokage Building.
To handle the affairs of the Land of Sky properly, they were forced to continue working overtime even during the New Year period.
They could not even take their annual leave.
However, Uchiha Ren was not resting either.
As Hokage, he was effectively working alongside them.
Every day, he remained inside the command tent, reviewing intelligence reports sent from Konoha.
He signed his name on each document before having them delivered back to the village.
"It seems I won't be able to spend New Year in Konoha this year."
"What a pity."
Uchiha Ren finished processing the day's documents.
As Hokage—
He felt he should prepare some benefits for the shinobi stationed outside the village who could not return home for New Year.
"To celebrate the New Year, we could hold an outdoor party."
Uchiha Ren considered the idea.
It wasn't because he personally wanted to have fun.
Well—
Perhaps there was a small part of that.
But the main purpose—
Was to continue demonstrating Konoha's strength before the other four great shinobi villages.
Over the past several days, Konoha had already planted numerous spies within those villages.
All of them had voluntarily pledged allegiance to Konoha.
There was no need to mention Sunagakure.
The village had already been infiltrated until it resembled a sieve.
Economically, it depended heavily upon Konoha.
Konoha's logo filled Sunagakure.
From ninja tools and medical supplies to ordinary household goods—
Everything was produced by Konoha.
A trend had even emerged inside Sunagakure where people refused to use products that were not made by Konoha.
Konoha had also established several factories within Sunagakure that received special subsidies from the village.
Large numbers of Sunagakure residents worked in those factories.
They were mainly responsible for secondary processing of the Kazekage's gold dust and other precious metals.
Not only were their salaries extremely high—
Their benefits were also exceptional!
Workers employed in Konoha factories could drink fresh water freely!
In the barren desert, that alone was an unbelievably luxurious benefit.
The factory workers were unwavering supporters of Konoha.
They yearned endlessly for Konoha's wonderful lifestyle.
They firmly believed everything Konoha's propaganda claimed and were loyal readers of Konoha's version of inspirational magazines.
The rumor that Konoha shinobi washed their shuriken seven times had first spread from those people.
"We cannot help but reflect upon whether Konoha's undefeated shinobi owe their victories to washing every shuriken seven times."
"However, a shuriken washed seven times represents Konoha's serious and rigorous working attitude."
"It represents the sharpness of metal when killing enemies."
"As for our Sunagakure…"
Uchiha Ren did not know whether Konoha shinobi truly washed their shuriken seven times.
But if Sunagakure shinobi dared use water to wash shuriken seven times while living in the desert—
Uchiha Ren would genuinely give them a thumbs-up.
In addition—
There was also the infiltration of Sunagakure's middle and upper leadership.
The student exchange program had never stopped.
Every group of exchange students returning to Sunagakure maintained good relations with Konoha.
Some had already been turned.
Others remained uncertain, but had mentally become citizens of Konoha.
They promoted Konoha's greatness inside Sunagakure and spoke in favor of Konoha's interests.
Sunagakure had long since ceased to be a concern.
Therefore, Uchiha Ren paid little attention to the shinobi from Sunagakure who pledged allegiance.
Then there were the bloodline clans of Kirigakure.
They desperately wanted to kneel before Uchiha Ren and acknowledge him as their adoptive father.
But they remained too hesitant and embarrassed to commit openly.
They still wanted to gamble on something larger—
Kill the Third Mizukage and seize complete control of Kirigakure.
The Kaguya Clan intended to use the Five-Village alliance as an opportunity to secretly place several young clan members inside Konoha.
They would temporarily hide their identities and preserve an escape route for the Kaguya Clan.
The Hozuki Clan and Yuki Clan had the same idea.
Several ordinary shinobi had also chosen to defect.
Uchiha Ren gladly accepted them all.
The situations within Iwagakure and Kumogakure were much the same.
Some shinobi yearned for Konoha's wonderful lifestyle and wanted to become part of the village.
Before long—
News that Uchiha Ren intended to hold an outdoor New Year party spread throughout the allied forces.
The shinobi of Sunagakure, Kirigakure, Iwagakure, and Kumogakure cheered excitedly.
At last, they could once again experience the benevolence of Konoha's fatherly ruler!
The happiest were naturally Kumogakure's shinobi.
Their lives had been unbelievably miserable.
Their village had suffered a catastrophe.
They had survived on ration pills for days.
Ever since tasting Konoha's food once, they had never stopped thinking about it.
But Konoha was not a charity.
Was one free meal not enough?
Since that lunchtime feast—
Konoha's food-waste bins had begun disappearing regularly.
According to the investigation conducted by Hyuga shinobi, the missing bins had appeared near Kumogakure's camp.
The matter could have been treated as serious or insignificant.
After all, they were merely food-waste bins.
The Hyuga Clan came from a prestigious shinobi family.
They were dignified people.
Causing trouble with Kumogakure over several bins would have felt humiliating.
Therefore, they directly reported the matter to Uchiha Ren.
"They're only a few food-waste bins."
"If they're gone, they're gone."
Uchiha Ren did not care.
Kumogakure's shinobi had already fallen so low that they were searching through discarded food.
People should possess at least a little compassion.
When Ōnoki, Suitō, and the Third Raikage learned that Konoha would hold an outdoor party—
They met again that very day.
"Everyone, the Hokage's sugar-coated artillery has returned."
"People's hearts are becoming unstable."
"I cannot even forbid Iwagakure's shinobi from attending Konoha's New Year party."
"Otherwise, there may be a mutiny."
Ōnoki spoke with a worried expression.
Over the past several days, the complaints from Iwagakure's shinobi had never stopped.
Why was Iwagakure's logistics support so much worse than Konoha's?
Why did they receive only rice balls and miso soup?
Speak!
Quartermaster, did you embezzle the supplies?!
Faced with the furious questioning of Iwagakure's shinobi, the village quartermaster wanted to die.
Well—
He had embezzled a little.
After all, what procurement officer could resist stealing something?
Even the cooks serving the daimyo's household looked for opportunities to take a share whenever they went shopping.
If the cook didn't steal, the harvest wouldn't grow.
But the Iwagakure quartermaster could swear on his life that he had taken only the tiniest amount.
Those damned merchants were more treacherous than the last.
They all had powerful backers.
They openly declared that even if the quartermaster killed them, they would never lower their prices.
Ōnoki had approved only a limited budget.
Even if they forced the quartermaster to death, he could not create supplies from nothing.
And even if every coin had been spent on purchasing resources—
They still could not have reached Konoha's food standards.
However—
The quartermaster truly was forced to death.
Faced with the furious Iwagakure shinobi, Ōnoki could only execute the quartermaster in tears to calm their resentment.
After all—
He really had embezzled funds.
Ōnoki appointed a new quartermaster, increased the budget, and improved Iwagakure's meals.
Although the standard still could not compare with Konoha's, it was significantly better than the previous diet of rice balls and miso soup.
"Yes…"
"But there is nothing we can do about it."
The Third Raikage spoke as he swept the snow from a large stone and sat upon it.
Kumogakure's situation was even more difficult than Iwagakure's.
Cloud shinobi had already begun stealing Konoha's food-waste bins.
The Third Raikage had eaten from them too.
The taste of ration pills was impossible to describe.
Eating them continuously could genuinely make someone vomit.
Konoha's discarded food still contained many useful things.
Half-eaten steamed buns.
Rice balls.
Pieces of roasted meat.
They collected everything still edible, placed it into a pot, added water, and heated it over a fire.
The result—
Tasted excellent!
Every Cloud shinobi who tried it praised the meal.
At the very least, it tasted far better than ration pills.
"We cannot continue like this."
"We must locate the Sky Village as quickly as possible!"
"If people's hearts scatter, the troops will become impossible to command."
Regret filled Suitō's voice.
He should never have brought Kirigakure's forces here merely to watch the excitement.
In the end, he had only trapped himself!
Those damned bloodline clans were not merely exchanging flirtatious glances with Konoha.
They were also spreading rumors among Kirigakure's forces to mislead the ordinary shinobi who originally supported him.
Konoha was so powerful because its Hokage came from a bloodline clan!
Bloodline shinobi were the chosen people of the ninja world.
They had received the favor of the Sage of Six Paths.
Only bloodline clans could lead Kirigakure toward strength equal to Konoha.
Yet Suitō had spent years acting against nature and treating bloodline clans as thorns in his side!
One day, he would inevitably face retribution!
The bloodline clans had to restore proper order and reclaim Kirigakure's glorious future from Suitō's hands!
Such rumors were so idiotic that they could hardly become more foolish.
Yet some shinobi genuinely believed them.
The slander Suitō had spread against the bloodline clans was beginning to work against him.
After all—
Konoha also possessed bloodline clans.
Its Hokage even came from one.
Yet Konoha had not been cursed.
Instead, it was thriving.
Its development rose like a rocket!
Between those two completely opposing rumors—
One of them had to be correct.
"Have the shinobi you dispatched to search for the Sky Village discovered anything recently?"
Suitō questioned Ōnoki and the Third Raikage.
"No."
"They're still searching."
The Third Raikage and Ōnoki shook their heads together.
"That damned Sky Village can really hide!"
The Third Raikage slammed his fist into the stone beneath him.
A clearly visible fist-shaped dent appeared in its surface.
No one wanted to locate the Sky Village more than he did.
For a time—
The oppressive atmosphere left all three Kage struggling to breathe.