The collapse of the God Tree, the deaths of every White Zetsu clone, the defeat of the invading forces, and the fall of Mist's extremist faction...
One after another, these pieces of good news spread throughout the entire Shinobi Allied Forces.
The seventy thousand strong allied ninja force exploded into celebration.
Though their joint operation hadn't suffered major losses, having faced the enemy's overwhelming numbers still gave them chills.
Originally, they had braced themselves for long battles and heavy losses among their comrades.
Who could have expected that several long-absent Kage were secretly collaborating with Konoha's top experts to carry out a decapitation strike?
The plan succeeded—the one hundred thousand White Zetsu clones along with the enemy leadership were wiped out!
How could anyone not feel thrilled?
But it didn't last long.
Another piece of news soon broke, causing the celebrating Shinobi Allied Forces to fall silent once more, as if a crushing weight had settled over their hearts.
The Otsutsuki Clan had a full three thousand members...
Compared to that, their own battle might have only just begun!
A legendary deity known as Hikaru Tsukino created one hundred thousand White Zetsu capable of rivaling the entire Shinobi Allied Forces.
A single individual named Isshiki Otsutsuki alone had the strength to defeat all Five Kage!
Three thousand...
Although reports indicated that both Hikaru and Isshiki were already top-tier combatants within the Otsutsuki Clan,
those very same reports also noted that neither was the ultimate power within the Otsutsuki Clan!
If they failed in fighting against this race, their friends, families, and even the planet itself would be destroyed...
Faced with such overwhelming external threats, old conflicts quickly faded away.
Kei Yamanaka's initial goal was thus partly realized.
As for what came next—
First, complete the merger of the hidden villages. Then we can talk about what comes next!
After ending the battle, the allied forces of the four great hidden villages began an orderly retreat from the Land of Water.
Meanwhile, Mist's remaining rationalist faction stepped forward again, regrouping surviving ninja and submitting an application to join the Shinobi Allied Forces.
With all Seven Swordsmen of the Mist deceased
and most of Mist's top experts fallen in battle,
to preserve their dignity as one of the Five Great Ninja Villages and fight for rightful influence,
the Mist ninja led by Elder Mei repeatedly petitioned Hikaku Uchiha, pathetically groveling at his feet, showing no shame, begging him to continue serving as Fifth Mizukage.
Initially, Hikaku Uchiha had no intention of entertaining these people.
However, when he noticed that aside from going home, Kei Yamanaka visited each Kage's office most frequently—especially showing a particular fondness for the Hokage's office—
after "careful" deliberation, he finally accepted the position of Mizukage.
The formal negotiations didn't take long.
Besides demanding equal status with the other Kage, Hikaku made virtually no additional requests on behalf of Mist.
Tsunade, Pakura, Kitsuchi, and A, the Third Raikage, had no intention of making things difficult for him either.
After all, with so few Mist ninja left, what real difference could a bit more authority make?
The merger of the Five Great Ninja Villages began in full swing.
Because of its favorable geographical location, abundant resources, and dominant role in the merging of villages, Konoha was naturally selected as the new headquarters for the Five Nations' Allied Ninja Army.
As renovating Konoha's existing structure would have been too time-consuming and labor-intensive,
After deliberation,
everyone unanimously approved a proposal to establish a new military base ten kilometers northeast of Konoha.
Ninjas proficient in different nature transformations from the Five Great Ninja Villages began assembling en masse.
Earth Release specialists from Iwagakure uprooted one massive tree after another. Following them, Wind Release specialists from Sunagakure quickly trimmed the trees into standardized lumber.
Konoha's Fire Release ninjas treated the timber with controlled flames to protect it from rot and infestation.
Cloud ninja, each more powerfully built than the last, were responsible for transporting the logs and clearing away useless tree roots.
Within less than three days,
these highly efficient teams of ninja had completely cleared and compacted the ground within a twenty-kilometer radius.
The soil layer, dozens of meters thick,
was so dense that even seasoned Earth Release ninjas found it difficult to burrow beneath!
Temporary brick factories popped up everywhere around the site. Working together, Earth, Water, and Fire Release specialists churned out millions of bricks and tons of cement nonstop.
Thousands of craftsmen from across the nations began laying down the underground drainage systems, communication lines, and essential infrastructure as per detailed blueprints.
An endless flow of iron supplies, steel, construction materials, and daily necessities rushed rapidly into Konoha.
The construction of the new base visibly accelerated day by day.
A staggering amount of funds were poured into the project.
After coordinating funds among various ninja villages, the already fragile funding chain began to show signs of strain.
Whether it was because they'd all had their heads hit by a falling door or whether they genuinely believed themselves born above the law and untouchable,
the Daimyos of the Land of Fire, Land of Earth, Land of Lightning, Land of Wind, and Land of Water
all refused to continue funding the current Five Nations' Allied Ninja Army.
They even dispatched envoys to warn the Allied Ninja Army that if they didn't disband within a specified period, their armies would launch a punitive campaign against them.
When Kei Yamanaka learned the news, he almost burst into laughter.
Originally, he had planned to use gentler methods to ease these feudal lords out of power.
Since these people failed to recognize the situation, he had no choice but to adopt a more decisive approach.
Fugaku Uchiha, Maito Gai, Minato Namikaze, Little A, B, Roshi, Han, and others led over seventy active members of Root Combat Unit alongside over two hundred newly handpicked members recruited from the Anbu of each Kage, heading toward the capital cities of the great nations.
By the next day, the Fire Daimyo and several so-called "high ministers" were publicly executed and hung at the city gates, their bodies barely recognizable from the injuries.
All who resisted from the Daimyo's mansion, along with nobles notorious for oppressing civilians, were collectively sent to the Pure Land.
On the third day, more than ten individuals foolish enough to resist shared the same fate.
On the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh days…
When an entire wall of the Fire Capital was completely covered in rotting, stinking corpses...
After nearly ten thousand vassals, guards, and samurai had all died alongside their loyal lord, the Land of Fire finally resumed normal operations, as though it had never had a Daimyo in the first place.
Only a few days later, the Lands of Lightning, Earth, Wind, and Water followed suit, each reliving the same grim spectacle.
Under absolute military might, status, identity, and bloodline were reduced to mere jokes!
The armies that once served as the backbone of these Daimyos stood no chance against Root operatives—each a Jonin-level fighter.
Even if occasionally one or two powerful experts did emerge, their fate was already decided when facing Fugaku Uchiha, Minato Namikaze, and others.
Many smaller nations' Daimyos, who had previously remained watchful, were now shaking with terror at the ruthless methods of the Five Spirit Ninja Army.
They didn't just empty their entire national treasuries to show goodwill to the Five Spirits—
even those small countries with their own minor Hidden Villages rushed to have their villages submit formal applications to join the Five Spirit Ninja Army.
Inside the temporary high-level war room within the Hokage Office,
Nara Shikaku gazed at the staggering sums recorded in the financial ledger
and immediately began discussing with Dodai, Boine, Karura, and others present about advancing plans for the Special Talent Academy.
Rapid development required both money and resources!
Although releasing such an excessive amount of funds into the market over a short time would greatly impact existing currency values,
backed by the massive reserves of essential supplies stored in Louran,
this shock wouldn't create significant negative effects.
Everything was moving forward at an accelerated pace.
Hashirama Senju, Tobirama Senju, Madara Uchiha, Izuna Uchiha, and others who had returned from the Pure Land chose not to interfere with the current state of the world.
Instead, they established a new training ground farther northwest of Konoha.
Except for Tobirama, who occasionally visited Hebihime's research lab, collaborating with her on cutting-edge research,
the rest spent all their time training at this new location.
Even the reincarnated younger version of Mito Uzumaki couldn't stop these people's intense desire to grow stronger.
Tsunade, Kushina, Jiraiya, Hebihime, Fugaku Uchiha, Minato Namikaze, Might Guy, A, the Third Raikage, Little A, B—practically every named expert became a regular fixture at this training ground.
Within just one month,
Tobirama Senju successfully entered [Sage Mode] using the Three-Tails chakra within him, boldly implanting newly developed cells he had researched together with Orochimaru.
Minato Namikaze completed his [Sage Mode] transformation thanks to highly concentrated spirit energy generously shared by Kei Yamanaka.
Hikaku Uchiha, [drawing upon chakra from 15,000 White Zetsus] plus a tiny sample borrowed from Kaguya otsutsuki, directly awakened the [Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan] and steadily advanced toward attaining the [Rinnegan].
Kushina even upgraded her [Magic Girl Transformation], launching the "New Year Edition" and boosting her power to the next level.
As for Kaguya otsutsuki,
after hearing from Tobi about a Genjutsu developed by Kei Yamanaka that accelerated combat experience gain,
she without hesitation relinquished all resistance, sealing away her Dojutsu powers to enter the [Genjutsu Realm] for intensive training.
Despite her abysmal lack of combat skill,
after one month in the real world and thirty years within the genjutsu space, she somehow managed to grind out a blue-tier combat skill: [Ten Thousand Deaths and Still Standing]!
"Konoha's proud Azure Beast… That's you, Madman Guy! Burn brighter, youthful fire! Aaah~ Youth~ Pure, unbridled youth~"
"Guy! Screaming louder won't stop you from falling into my genjutsu!"
"Kurenai, look out!"
Accompanied by the energetic shouts of Maito Gai, Yuhi Kurenai, and Shiranami Genma.
Kei Yamanaka lay on a wooden hammock-style swing chair, a Six Paths Sage's ninja scroll draped over his face as he soaked up the afternoon sun, wearing a pained expression.
If the noise ringing in his ears was just annoying his hearing,
then the relentless clash beneath the scorching sun—sweat flying through the air—was piercing straight into his soul!
Do you really have to grind that hard?
Can't you slack off even a tiny bit?
Just existing, you make me feel guilty for lying here!
"Ugh! Whatever, time to get moving. Miroku's been hounding me nonstop. The Pure Land's still frozen, and we've got Otsutsuki trash to clean up…"
Kei let out a lazy stretch.
In just a month, the new base for the Five Spirit Ninja Army was already around seventy to eighty percent done.
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