On this day, in the feudal lord's mansions across various countries, and within the ninja villages, countless people were engaged in heated discussions.
Even though Natsuro had already demonstrated an unmatched level of power, there were still some who believed that, with the full strength of their nations, they could stop his advance.
At that moment, in the Land of Fire's Daimyō's mansion, the feudal lord of the Land of Fire was gently fanning himself, silently watching the people below him arguing.
A significant portion of them belonged to the pro-surrender faction, while another group remained undecided. The rest were firmly against surrender.
Their reasoning was simple: since the resources of the ninja village were largely supplied by the Land of Fire, they could cut off support to Konoha. Without resources, Konoha would find it difficult to wage war.
However, the opposing faction argued that the current Hokage's strength was already far beyond normal comprehension. His power couldn't be constrained by something as basic as resource logistics.
The Daimyō, sitting at the head of the room, let out a heavy sigh as he looked toward the sky outside—he could still vividly recall that enormous meteorite from before.
As the ruler of the Land of Fire, he understood the nature of shinobi very well.
This profession had always been born for the sake of war. Even in the past, with the strength of ordinary shinobi, a single country alone was no match for them.
Sure, they could cut off Konoha's supplies, but who could guarantee that before their resources ran out, those ninja wouldn't just seize new ones by force? Or simply adopt a "capture the king first" strategy to take out leadership directly?
In truth, there had always been an unspoken understanding between the feudal lords and their ninja villages, which was a mutual agreement originally crafted by the First Hokage of Konoha.
But now, that tacit agreement had been completely shattered by the new Hokage.
"This is… truly a time of turmoil." The Land of Fire's Daimyō sighed again, clearly having made a decision—one that perhaps went against generations of family tradition.
Similar scenes were playing out in feudal courts and villages across the shinobi world. The only difference was the distribution of supporters and opposition.
Meanwhile, the one who had triggered all this chaos, Natsuro, didn't meet with anyone that day, nor did he spend time strategizing.
Instead, he enjoyed a peaceful and relaxing day at home.
.....
The next morning, he casually walked into the Hokage's council room.
By then, all of Konoha's advisors and jōnin-level shinobi had already gathered, waiting for his arrival.
"Good morning, everyone," Natsuro greeted as he took his seat.
"Good morning, Lord Hokage," the attendees responded. Though some of them were slightly speechless at his relaxed demeanor, since the Hokage had greeted them first, they couldn't not reply.
Natsuro let out a yawn and said, "Alright, let's officially begin the meeting. The topic today is how to launch a war to unify the world. As for whether to launch it, there's no need to discuss that."
As soon as Natsuro finished speaking, Jiraiya became visibly anxious.
He looked at Natsuro and said, "Nats—Lord Hokage, do you really have to do this? The world has only just been freed from Madara's scheme..."
"Sensei, this is something I already decided before the Fourth Great Ninja War even began.And if you ask those seated here, how many of them actually oppose this plan?" Natsuro looked calmly at Jiraiya.
He wasn't surprised, he knew Jiraiya too well. An idealist to the core.
Though he wouldn't go soft when the time came, he'd still do everything he could to prevent tragedy.
Jiraiya was momentarily at a loss for words.
He glanced around the room and saw the weary sigh of the former Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, who clearly felt just as helpless.
Jiraiya's heart slowly sank.
As for the others, he already knew where they stood.
When the clan heads had led their forces to Natsuro's side back then, their position had become clear.
Among the remaining jōnin, there were certainly some unwilling voices, but compared to the overall numbers, did they really matter?
From the very beginning, Jiraiya could only hope to sway Natsuro himself.But now, Natsuro had skipped even the discussion phase and jumped straight to war planning...
Jiraiya's eyes dimmed.
Natsuro's confidence was not misplaced... In this room, fewer than ten percent supported Jiraiya's stance.Only Tsunade and the Third Hokage might be on his side.
Even Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado wouldn't support him.
Despite their age and stubbornness, they deeply cared for Konoha and wanted the village to grow stronger.
If Konoha had no strength, they would oppose such a plan, but with his overwhelming power on display, they saw potential... Under such circumstances, their support was certain.
Natsuro didn't mind their views. Yes, they were stubborn on some issues, trapped by the limits of their era but they still had value. Their experience was still vital to Konoha's younger generation.
As for their outdated thinking—take the good, discard the bad.
In his eyes, the anime had portrayed them as hardliners only for dramatic effect, without showing their actual contributions to Konoha.
Looking at Jiraiya's dim expression, Natsuro sighed and said, "Sensei, don't you believe that once I complete this unification… the world will become a better place?"
"But…" Jiraiya tried to argue, yet no words came.
Natsuro continued, "You spent yesterday observing Konoha, didn't you?"
Jiraiya was silent for a moment, then nodded.
"Then, Sensei, did you see how the villagers reacted when I announced the unification?"
Jiraiya had no answer. He had clearly felt it, the liveliness in Konoha, the genuine pride the people felt for their village.
Of course, not everyone supported it, but under such overwhelming momentum, dissenting voices were drowned out completely.
"…I understand." At last, Jiraiya nodded and said no more.
"Sensei, there's one more thing I want to remind you of," Natsuro suddenly added.
"What is it?" Jiraiya asked, a bit confused.
"The faster this war ends, the fewer people will die," Natsuro said, now completely serious.
Jiraiya gave a bitter smile and nodded.
....
Having persuaded Jiraiya, Natsuro formally began the meeting.
But truthfully, he hadn't been too worried about convincing his teacher.
At this point, Jiraiya's personal opinion could no longer stop Konoha's overall momentum. In fact, Natsuro didn't even need to talk to him.
When the time came, Jiraiya would still take action. And as for the idea that Jiraiya might rebel with Naruto? That was impossible. At most, he would simply refuse to "aid and abet tyranny."
Still, he had chosen to speak to him anyway, because Jiraiya was his teacher and Natsuro was willing to give him that respect.
Very quickly, the meeting entered full swing.
The key topics of discussion were, of course: supplies, resources, and strategic directions.
As Natsuro listened, he keenly sensed the unique nature of war in this world because here, individual power could determine the outcome of a conflict.
And conveniently, the majority of those individuals strong enough to sway entire wars… were on Konoha's side.
So, what was there to worry about?
The meeting was fiery and enthusiastic, yet not a single person showed concern.
Why would they?
They had an invincible Hokage, and also Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki, the two strongest beneath the Hokage himself.
These three, even individually, could defeat entire armies on their own.
In this fervent atmosphere, a simple and direct action plan was soon drawn up.
At this moment, he couldn't help but sigh once again—this world truly was far too small, far smaller than the maps of his previous life.
Even if he were to complete the unification of the entire shinobi world, it would only be comparable to ruling a single large country in his previous world, and likely with even fewer people.
This, undoubtedly, reduced the burden of governance going forward.
But even so, it was unrealistic to think that Konoha alone could manage an entire world.
And so, Natsuro smiled.
There were still three days left, and he hoped that within that time, some people would take the initiative to prove they were useful.
After the meeting concluded, he spoke once more... "Next, everyone—sound the alarm throughout Konoha. Summon every ninja."
"Lord Hokage, is this about…" asked Shikaku, a guess already forming in his mind.
"That's right. I'm going to teach everyone how to absorb natural energy," Natsuro replied.
At those words, he could immediately sense that the breathing of everyone present became heavier...
Even the aged Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado, not to mention the Third Hokage himself.
No one could resist the allure of a path to immortality.
As soon as Natsuro finished speaking, the assembled shinobi sprang into action. They, too, were eager to learn the method of train the Path of Natural Energy.
He found it a bit amusing, these people really were too impatient.
But he could understand why.
Soon after, he stood atop the Hokage Tower, gazing down at the vast crowd that had already gathered below.
Not only had ninjas arrived, but even ordinary civilians had shown up.
They knew they had no hope of becoming shinobi... But now, they dared to hope that they might be able to cultivate this "Path of Natural Energy" that Natsuro spoke of.
He didn't reject them. He felt all those burning gazes below him. Despite their impatience, the crowd was silent. No one made a fuss.
Everyone was anxiously awaiting the revelation of the Path of Natural Energy.
Natsuro didn't intend to be cryptic. He began, "Before I teach you the Path of Natural Energy, I must first tell you a few things about it."
"First, because I was the only one training it until now, there are very few techniques that function like ninjutsu."
At that, every eye below widened.
If that were true, then switching to the Path of Natural Energy might be a risky move. It could drastically weaken their combat power.
But some quickly thought deeper, if there were no techniques, then how had he used such powerful jutsu during the Fourth Great Ninja War?
Clearly, there had to be another method.
Natsuro continued, "Second: natural energy can be converted into chakra. This means you'll still be able to use ninjutsu and based on my tests, chakra produced from natural energy is far superior in quality to what a normal person can generate. As a result, the power of your jutsu will also be noticeably enhanced."
With that, the panic many had been feeling quickly calmed. Not only would they not become weaker, they might actually become stronger.
As for Natsuro's use of the term "normal person," everyone understood, he was likely referring to the Ōtsutsuki clan he had mentioned earlier.
"Third: absorbing natural energy is risky. If you lose control over it, there could be consequences including, but not limited to, turning to stone, being crushed, or other life-threatening effects."
He continued listing important points and cautions about natural energy. Then, he explained the method to sense and absorb natural energy.
Afterward, he instructed everyone present to begin training immediately. Since he was there personally, he could instantly intervene if anything went wrong.
Before long, people began to sense natural energy one after another, and they started absorbing it.
This made him feel a bit emotional. So this is what it means to benefit from others' efforts.When he had first tried to sense natural energy, it had been incredibly difficult, even Naruto had struggled with it.
But now, natural energy had returned to its original state. Not only was it easier to sense, but it was far less wild and chaotic than before. That was the real reason he dared to teach it on such a wide scale.
Even so, there were still a few people whose training went awry. Each time, he swiftly appeared by their side and disrupted their session.
In the end, Natsuro looked down at the trainees, roughly 30–40% of them had successfully learned how to absorb natural energy.
From here, they could continue training on their own.
Still, it was clear that it would take time for them to refine their natural energy to the level of usable chakra.
Natsuro took note of this success rate, especially considering it included civilians as well. That meant most of the shinobi did have the necessary talent.
And at that moment, Natsuro was finally certain, the Path of Natural Energy could absolutely spread throughout this world.
The previous Sage Mode also relied on natural energy, but its training method was nearly impossible to replicate or teach broadly.
Very few could ever master it.
What could truly spread were methods with some requirements, but not impossibly high ones.
And the Path of Natural Energy, while slightly harder than the chakra path, was not by much, making it enough to be the perfect candidate.
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