Humans cannot imagine what they have never seen.
The same holds true for daimyō and nobles. Because of their ancient bloodlines, passed down for millennia—long before the founding of the shinobi villages—they used so-called wisdom and economic savvy to tame those with powerful abilities: the shinobi.
They employed them, sent them to war on their behalf, and even arranged betting matches, assigning conflicting missions to different clans to watch the bloodshed unfold.
To them, shinobi were nothing more than humanoid weapons of war.
Disobedient? Kill them and replace them.
Naturally, if there were better options—better weapons—they would gladly switch. The Ōtsutsuki clan, for instance, was looking like a fine replacement.
In the minds of these nobles, the calculations had already begun. They schemed on how to conquer this new race with their intellect, to usher in a generational upgrade.
After all, this was one of the few times in their long, extravagant lives when they actually had to use their brains...
...
"Just as expected—lower beings are always lower beings."
Momoshiki sat upon the moon, holding a glowing blue orb in his hand as he observed the pathetic struggles of the people of the Shinobi World.
This orb was formed by collecting fragments of the Tenseigan scattered across the moon.
It could be used like a Tenseigan, or consumed like a pill to gain its power.
An unexpected windfall.
Originally, after depleting his strength, Momoshiki had fled to the moon intending to use Ōtsutsuki Toneri—an abandoned clansman sealed away by Urashiki—as alchemical material to restore his power.
But instead, he found numerous Tenseigan fragments lodged in crevices and shattered stones.
Useless to others—but with alchemy, he could turn decay into divinity.
Now, having consumed the Tenseigan pill, Momoshiki calmly savored the rare power—uncommon even among the Ōtsutsuki.
As for Toneri, now that a better substitute existed, he could be kept alive for now.
When the main force arrived later, returning a pureblooded stray Ōtsutsuki to the clan would easily earn him a top-tier God Tree fruit.
Or perhaps, like Kinshiki, Toneri could become his servant and path-guardian.
This trip to the Shinobi World...
Though he suffered some losses due to arrogance, the gains were immense.
After devouring Isshiki and the Tenseigan pill, Momoshiki had not only evolved his Byakugan but also obtained divine space-time techniques like the one held by Shōname Bikuna.
His chakra reserves had greatly expanded.
Already a genius among the Ōtsutsuki who could surpass his rank and challenge true gods, Momoshiki had now ascended even further.
If he re-entered the Shinobi World now and clashed with those three again, he was confident he could win.
Still, to play it safe, he planned to wait until Kinshiki resurrected through Naruto's body before launching his full-scale conquest...
...
Elsewhere—
The Ōtsutsuki invasion had sent shockwaves through the entire Shinobi World.
This was not the responsibility of any single warrior, village, or nation.
It was a battle for survival—one that every single person in the world, be they shinobi, samurai, or civilian, had to take up.
Now was not the time for clans to selfishly guard their techniques. It was time for openness and cooperation.
Konoha, as the leading Hidden Village, was first to speak out, announcing a massive expansion of its shinobi academy enrollment. Its jutsu and resources were now under wartime regulation.
Genin were granted access to Chūnin-level jutsu.
Chūnin were given Jōnin-tier jutsu.
And gifted Jōnin were even granted limited access to forbidden techniques—to rapidly elevate combat power across the board.
The Breathing Arts of the Sage Path, once restricted in the Land of Iron, were now permitted to spread freely among the public.
The other villages abandoned their previous repression of breathing techniques, instead embracing and researching them—seeking to combine them with ninjutsu.
Such moves, of course, sparked outrage among the nobles.
Some daimyō from smaller nations even declared their shinobi villages to be illegal organizations, demanding the other daimyō send troops for justice.
But the very next day—
The daimyō of the Land of Earth and the Land of Iron were assassinated by mysterious figures.
Their entire families were dismembered and their corpses dumped in the streets!
In this modern era of the Shinobi World—an age of information—such shocking news and graphic photos spread like wildfire.
It was a declaration: in wartime, those with power lead.
Suddenly, one by one, daimyō from smaller nations were assassinated by their own village's shinobi.
Those acts, too, were posted online.
...
"This is outrageous!"
The daimyō of the Land of Fire was livid.
He could not accept that a bunch of dirty-handed slaves had risen up to stand above him.
It was defiance. It was betrayal.
At his command, the entire noble faction across the Shinobi World mobilized.
They rallied troops, determined to seize the Land of Earth—which had dared to kill its ruler—and crush Iwagakure, to judge Ōnoki, and restore the rules of the Shinobi World!
That was the slogan their armies carried.
Ironically, due to their long-term reliance on hired shinobi, the armies of these daimyō were in disarray.
Outside of the Land of Iron, most samurai hadn't fought a war in over a hundred years.
After all, samurai were still considered minor nobles—and without war, their daily duty was simply collecting taxes.
Over time, these so-called warriors had become no different from conscripted laborers, save for their fancy armor and basic swordplay.
The daimyō couldn't help but curse when they saw this pathetic state.
"There's no way we can beat the Land of Earth with this lot!"
Some of the sharper nobles caught on.
"Why not hire the samurai of the Land of Iron as our main force? And if that's not enough, supplement with shinobi from Konoha or other villages..."
One particularly cunning noble offered his insight.
He came from a family famed for their intellect—a line that ensured its wisdom through generations of inbreeding between close kin to preserve their noble bloodline.
Their genealogy spanned nearly a hundred generations—and could stand up to scrutiny!
"Then it's settled."
No one present seemed to notice that the Land of Iron, which they were planning to rely on, had been the first nation to abolish the daimyō system.
...
"Well, either way, we've secured funding for the new Shinobi World Allied Forces!"
Ōnoki leaned against a pillar and smiled.
At that moment, Naruto, Sasuke, Neji, and other key figures from the Shinobi World were attending a summit in the Land of Iron.
The core objective of the summit: to unify the entire Shinobi World, establish a joint government, and resist the Ōtsutsuki invasion.
The daimyō system had to go—but dismantling it all at once would cause too great a shock, and risk fracturing the world's strength once again.
So they planned to use the wealth of the daimyō and nobles to fund a so-called "training war" among the shinobi.
Of course, there was another purpose to the summit—proving that Naruto's body was still fine.
To silence some increasingly dangerous speculation.
In reality, once the summit concluded, Naruto would undergo a body-transfer surgery under Sasuke's supervision...
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