The ninja world's planet is relatively large. The Five Great Nations and the surrounding smaller countries occupy less than one-tenth of its total area, leaving many regions still undeveloped.
However, the Divine Tree can no longer be planted. This planet's energy likely cannot withstand another planting. Kaguya planted it once, Isshiki planted it once, and Hyuga Mirai also drained the Dragon Vein's energy.
Ordinary ninjas might not sense it, but someone like Hyuga Mirai—whose strength has reached the Six Paths level and who controls Kekkei Mora—can perceive it clearly. Three plantings of the Divine Tree are already this planet's limit. If it were planted again, the planet would likely become a dead world, no longer suitable for life.
Hyuga Mirai would eventually embark on an interstellar plan as well. For now, he had only evolved his life level once; there was still vast room for further evolution, including for the people around him.
"Mirai-sama…"
Ayaka Uzumaki gently opened the door and peeked her head in, checking whether Hyuga Mirai was busy.
Hyuga Mirai shut down the holographic projection and said toward the doorway, "Come in, Ayaka."
Seeing Ayaka Uzumaki tiptoe inside and then sit down with a puffed-up face, Hyuga Mirai asked before she could speak, "Did you get wronged outside? This was Kushina's idea, wasn't it?"
The grievance Ayaka had put on her face instantly fell apart, but she still complained to Hyuga Mirai, saying, "It's the Federation newspaper. Those people are really too much. I'm also Mirai-sama's fiancée, but they barely mentioned me."
After saying that, Ayaka Uzumaki took out a newspaper, which Hyuga Mirai accepted and read.
The front page promoted the progress of the merger between the Sand Federation and Konoha. Recently, due to the union of the two sides, each issue had to devote the first three pages to publicity—this was a mandatory political task.
The front page itself had no issues. Tsunade and Pakura each occupied half the space with their achievements. Hyuga Mirai then flipped to the next page, and after reading it, he understood where Ayaka Uzumaki's grievance came from.
The Federation's newspaper staff were too rigid. They devoted large sections to Kiyo Hyuga and Kurenai Yuhi, and even fabricated a story about the three of them based on circulating anecdotes. Hyuga Mirai found it quite interesting to see himself as the protagonist for the first time. Only after finishing did he notice, in the final paragraph, a single sentence about Ayaka Uzumaki.
There was still no name—she was referred to as "a woman of the Federation," supposedly contributing to the Sand Federation–Konoha merger.
After putting the newspaper down, Hyuga Mirai said seriously to Ayaka Uzumaki, "These people are really incompetent. I'll notify Maki and have all the newspaper staff replaced."
Hearing how much Hyuga Mirai cared about her, the unhappiness in Ayaka's heart instantly vanished. In truth, she only wanted to use this as an excuse to spend more time with him, not to make things difficult for the newspaper staff. She quickly said, "No need, Mirai-sama. It's just a newspaper, after all."
Hyuga Mirai knew she would answer like that. After placing the newspaper on the table, he still said solemnly, "Even if you plead for them, they still need to be reprimanded to improve their professionalism. You're the one who's been by my side the most. If there's someone I like the most, it should be you. Newspaper writers can't just make things up."
Upon hearing this, Ayaka's heart was instantly filled with joy, and all of Kushina's advice was thrown to the back of her mind.
"I-it's fine, Mirai-sama. They're doing it for the Federation too."
Ayaka Uzumaki said with a flushed face. Even though the wedding was approaching, hearing those words still made her heart race wildly.
After waiting so many years, Ayaka felt her life was complete. She was filled with happiness from head to toe, and this joy even made the Nine-Tails inside her feel uncomfortable.
In the past, it was usually the tailed beast's negative emotions affecting the jinchuriki, but now it seemed reversed. The Nine-Tails felt its own negative emotions within its chakra being eroded by the jinchuriki's happiness and contentment.
"Hmph, such boring human emotions."
The Nine-Tails snorted, then lay down and drooped its ears. Its treatment was a bit better than before—its actions were no longer sealed by adamantine chains. However, Ayaka Uzumaki could still block its perception of the outside world at any time, though she usually allowed it to observe what was happening outside.
"Oh right, Ayaka. From what I heard you discussing last time, I still think a qipao suits you better…"
Hearing this, Ayaka Uzumaki immediately nodded vigorously and said, "I think so too. I'll go tell Kushina right away…"
Before Hyuga Mirai could say anything else, Ayaka Uzumaki happily skipped away like a little deer.
"Balancing three people is even harder to control than balancing three kinds of energy. It's harder than senjutsu."
After thinking for a moment, Hyuga Mirai called up the holographic projection again and contemplated future planetary development. His plan was to initiate the interstellar project in twenty years. While it would be impossible for everyone to enter an age of interstellar migration, they at least needed the capability for large-scale cosmic exploration and deployment of forward outposts.
After all, chakra fruits need to be planted on planets suitable for nurturing life in order to grow.
As for analysis of the Ten-Tails and its growth and maturation process, No. 18 had been working on it continuously, though progress was relatively slow.
Konoha
After rushing back, Senju Hashirama found that Konoha had indeed changed significantly. Its area had expanded considerably, and ninjas were constantly returning from outside, as if missions were being carried out every second.
With Hashirama's keen perception, it was not hard to tell that most Konoha ninjas had returned from missions involving killing. The aura of slaughter and bloodshed had yet to dissipate from them.
"Little Tsuna really became the Fifth Hokage. She didn't bankrupt the village, did she…"
Seeing the faces carved on the Hokage Rock, Senju Hashirama thought worriedly. The fourth youthful statue should be the Fourth Hokage—someone he did not recognize—but he recognized his granddaughter's statue at a glance.
At Konoha's gate, a small squad of ninjas was checking those entering and leaving. Hashirama felt a bit troubled. He did not want to alarm others by appearing as a dead man, and he also wanted to see whether Konoha's current state matched what the masked man had said.
However, the inspections at the gate were extremely strict. Even ordinary civilians were checked thoroughly, and there were sensory-type ninjas present.
"I'll try going underground. I remember Mito's sensory barrier can't extend very deep underground…"
Hashirama scratched his head, then directly used Wood Release to burrow underground and head into Konoha.
Compared to Earth Release, which causes chakra fluctuations when moving underground, Wood Release was extremely well concealed. By relying on branches growing and extending through the soil, once ten meters deep, no one could detect it.
After successfully entering Konoha, Hashirama headed toward the village interior.
The village gate defenses were tight, but security inside was looser. Many members of ANBU, Root, and the Police Force had been pulled away by Kabuto Yakushi to carry out "cleanup" missions. All corrupt and incompetent noble trash were beheaded and had their properties confiscated; the rest were escorted to Kawa-Suna District and handed over to the Sand Federation.
The more manpower available, the greater the benefit for future Federation development. Even if they were just moving bricks, the Federation would make them exert their full strength.
After entering the village, Hashirama did not immediately seek out Tsunade. Instead, he went to places like izakayas, dessert shops, and ramen stalls to gather information. Ninjas returning from missions would more or less talk about their experiences.
Moreover, since the merger with the Sand Federation had been clearly decided, these missions were no longer confidential matters.
Killing, escort missions, and discussions about merging into the Sand Federation—listening to these made Hashirama feel that the current Konoha was very different from what he had imagined.
Afterward, Hashirama headed toward the Hokage Building. After Danzo blew it up, Konoha quickly rebuilt it before Tsunade returned. It was still the center for handling administrative affairs.
Arriving near the Hokage Building, Hashirama looked through a window and saw Tsunade buried in a pile of documents, writing furiously as she handled Konoha's affairs. After watching for a while, he could not help but smile in relief and said, "Little Tsuna has grown up. It looks like she's fully taken on the responsibility of Hokage."
Then he directly jumped onto the wall of the Hokage Building and walked along it to the window of Tsunade's office. He had no intention of hiding. If he still had to sneak around his own granddaughter, what would that be? He wasn't foolish enough to trust an outsider over his own granddaughter.
Before Hashirama could knock, Tsunade opened the window first, stuck her head out, and loudly said, "Violating the Hokage's orders—now come in and help me handle things, Grandpa?"
Although his face bore cracks, it was unmistakably her grandfather's appearance. Being caught climbing the wall, Hashirama scratched his head in embarrassment and smiled. "Little Tsuna, long time no see…"
"Grandpa, were you brought back with Edo Tensei? Who did this? Did they not control you? What exactly happened? Was it Danzo who revived you? Were you the only one, or—"
Tsunade was on guard, but seeing that her grandfather showed no signs of attacking and did not seem like a puppet with his mind suppressed, she stepped aside and let him in to talk.
After Hashirama entered, he looked around and sighed. "I didn't expect the Hokage Building to change this much. Back in my time, the office was much smaller."
"If it were any smaller, it wouldn't even be able to hold all these documents…"
Tsunade's mood immediately sank as she pointed at the small mountains of files piled on the desk and floor, complaining to Hashirama.
"By the way, Grandpa, who used Edo Tensei on you? Didn't they control you? What exactly happened? Was it Danzo who revived you? Was it only you, or—"
"Stop, stop, Little Tsuna. Too many questions. One at a time…"
Hashirama quickly waved his hands to stop her and sighed. "Honestly, this time being brought back was rather baffling. First, I was in the Pure Land when—"
"Tsunade-sama, this is the report on the recapture of Tanzaku Town."
Before Hashirama could finish, someone pushed the door open. It was Kabuto Yakushi, holding a stack of documents.
Upon entering, Kabuto immediately saw Senju Hashirama. His first reaction was that Tsunade-sama was trying to escape again, and this time had come up with a new trick—using a Shadow Clone transformed into the First Hokage to fool him.
How naive.
After placing the documents down, Kabuto adjusted his glasses, slowly stepped closer, and asked, "Tsunade-sama, is this the First Hokage?"
Tsunade sighed and introduced him to Kabuto. "That's right. This is my grandfather, the First Hokage. Due to some accident, he was brought back with Edo Tensei."
Before she could finish, Kabuto suddenly used a chakra scalpel and placed it against her grandfather's arm.
"Kabuto, what are you doing?" Tsunade asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion.
Not a Shadow Clone?
Kabuto laughed awkwardly, then scratched his head and explained, "I thought this was Tsunade-sama's Shadow Clone, so I wanted to test it."
After all, Tsunade had a long list of prior offenses—she had used all kinds of excuses just to take leave.
(End of Chapter)