At the entrance of the Amegakure headquarters building, a tall, burly man appeared, striding confidently toward the entrance.
At the door, a young guard on duty quickly approached him.
"Sir, the First Leader is holding a meeting on the nineteenth floor."
Hearing this, Rinjin smiled and nodded, then walked toward the elevator.
On the nineteenth floor in the conference room, a serious meeting was in progress.
"First Leader, our troops are at peak morale right now. Should we advance north and bring the Land of Grass under our protection?"
After pondering for a moment, Rii shook her head.
"Although Fire and Earth haven't engaged in large-scale warfare, small-scale squad clashes are still frequent.
The territory of the Land of Grass holds no strategic value for us!
On the contrary, occupying those areas would only waste the lives of our precious comrades!"
Amegakure couldn't even keep its own Rain Country territory above water, let alone foreign lands.
On the other side, Ikehama raised his hand, signaling he wanted to speak.
Seeing this, Rii nodded at Ikehama.
"First Leader, since we've already signed trade agreements with the Land of Wind, should we expand the village somewhat?"
"Yes." Rii nodded.
"We can raise some land on the northern lake surface to establish a trading center.
At the same time, I'm planning to raise more land to the south for population expansion.
With border conflicts between Fire, Earth, and Lightning growing more frequent, I'm preparing to resettle some homeless refugees into Amegakure."
Hearing this, everyone looked indifferent, except for Uzumaki Meichū, who managed the village's cultural development—he looked absolutely thrilled.
Officially, he handled the village's spiritual civilization, but secretly, he was a mole for the Pure Love Alliance.
With this wave of newcomers flooding into the village, how could he not have some schemes brewing~
Next, the meeting participants discussed various issues for quite some time.
As the sun set, Rii finished assigning numerous tasks, dismissed everyone, and walked out of the conference room yawning.
In the hallway, Rinjin stood with arms crossed against the wall, watching his little sister with a satisfied expression.
"Bro, what are you doing back here?"
Hearing this, Rinjin smiled gently and, just like when they were children, reached out to pat Rii's head.
"Didn't succeed. Got detected."
"Are you going back?" Rii asked.
"Yes!
But Sunagakure is a major operation. I need to spend some time really thinking it through.
Oh, and temporarily slow down some of the trade with Sunagakure—I might need that leverage later."
Hearing this, Rii nodded obediently.
Seeing this, Rinjin felt another wave of comfort.
This girl's becoming more and more sensible. I... I could literally cry from happiness...
...
However, even Rinjin hadn't expected that his "thinking it through" would end up taking three whole years.
Konoha Year 45.
Time flowed on, and the wars between Fire, Earth, and Lightning escalated from initial small-scale skirmishes to large-scale battles.
The three great hidden villages tacitly abandoned group assault tactics, instead maximizing ninja mobility:
Behind-enemy-lines harassment, cutting supply lines, frontal disruption, infiltration and counter-infiltration.
Countless ninja, either in squad formation or individually, joined the battlefield. The small nations on the borders of the three countries became complete chaos.
War was evolving.
Through this crucible, many newcomers from various villages emerged.
Kumogakure's Third Raikage's son, along with his brother Killer Bee, became the brightest stars on the Fire-Lightning front.
On the Fire-Earth front, the "Demon Leech" wielded masterful swordsmanship with terrifyingly efficient solo mission performance.
The talent-rich Iwagakure boasted numerous elites including Mitsuhiko, Ōishi, Sumaji, and Higashi Shijin.
In contrast, on Konoha's side, Minato Namikaze's reputation was soaring—people had begun calling him the "Yellow Flash of the Leaf."
The twelve-year-old prodigy Kakashi had also become a jōnin.
The war's intensity escalated infinitely...
Inside Konohagakure's Training Ground Nine—
Minato Namikaze jumped down from a tree, wearing a satisfied smile while pointing to a torn section of his deep blue sleeve.
"Kakashi, well done."
Before Kakashi could respond, Rin behind him clasped her hands together in admiration.
"Amazing! You actually managed to damage Minato-sensei's clothes!"
Hearing this, Kakashi shook his head expressionlessly.
"It's just a torn sleeve. Minato-sensei wasn't being serious anyway."
"No, I was quite serious."
As the two conversed, nearby, a boy wearing goggles grumbled unhappily.
The next second, a basket emanating delicious aromas dropped from above, landing squarely on the goggled boy's head.
Behind the basket, a red-haired woman in casual clothes smiled at everyone.
"Minato, time for lunch!"
Hearing this, Minato Namikaze nodded gently.
"Lunch time, Rin-chan, Kakashi."
As he spoke, Nohara Rin bounced over to Kushina's side, sniffed, and exclaimed in delight:
"It smells wonderful! Kushina-nee's cooking is the best!"
Kushina, who couldn't resist praise, immediately tossed the basket into Obito's arms and pulled Rin into a tight embrace, rubbing their cheeks together.
"Rin-chan is so adorable! You're my absolute favorite~"
It was obvious these two had a great relationship.
After being affectionate for a while, Kushina finally released Rin and looked toward the still-sulking Obito.
"Hey~ Little hero Obito, aren't you eating?"
"I'm not hungry!" Obito turned his head away, his still-young face full of pride. But before he finished speaking, his stomach started growling loudly.
Seeing this, Kushina immediately grinned mischievously.
"Without eating, you'll have no energy. Without energy, how can you become an excellent ninja?"
Obito still scoffed and shook his head dismissively.
"I don't need food to become an excellent ninja!"
"Wow So manly"
Kushina said with apparent admiration, then her expression instantly changed dramatically.
"Like hell I'd say that! Get over here and eat, damn it!"
With a roar, her red hair defied physics by floating upward, and her delicate fist struck Obito hard on the head.
Watching Obito scurry away clutching his head, Minato smiled wryly and suppressed his urge to intervene.
Can't mess with her, can't mess with her. I'll just quietly eat my rice ball~
Time passed, and half the day was gone in a blink.
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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