Penglai Ninja Village.
This time away from the village, Heiyan not only resolved the crisis facing Mist, but also recruited many talented individuals.
The people from Snow Country, Hoshigakure, and Craft Ninja Village received a warm welcome upon arrival at Penglai. A grand ceremony was held in the central plaza to honor their arrival.
Anyone visiting Penglai for the first time would be stunned by its prosperity, and these new arrivals were no exception.
Even more shocking to them was discovering that the true identity of the Immortal Sage was actually Uzumaki Heiyan!
After all, across the world of shinobi, from eighty-year-old elders down to eight-year-old children, almost everyone had heard of Uzumaki Heiyan's notorious reputation.
However, after personally meeting Heiyan and learning about his character and deeds, they found everything was completely different than expected.
Seeing with one's own eyes is believing.
The new villagers slowly came to realize that the rumors circulating outside were intentionally spread by the Five Great Nations to target Heiyan. This made people from these smaller ninja villages even more resentful toward the major ninja villages and strengthened their support for Heiyan.
Next came the housing arrangements.
Heiyan designated Fangzhang Island as a tech development zone, relocating most of the new villagers there. He formally established departments such as the Science Division, Engineering Research Department, and Technology Section on the island, giving special treatment to technical personnel including scientists, engineers, and blacksmiths.
In addition, the Penglai Ninja Academy experienced a recruitment expansion during the new semester.
Over these past few years, some local talents had emerged within Penglai itself. Currently enrolled at the academy were Princess Sara of Loulan and Princess Yuki Kazahana of Snow Country, the genius girl Summer from Hoshigakure, and from Mist — Mei Terumi, Kisame, and Zabuza.
In the future, when these young talents matured, they would become the golden generation in Penglai Ninja Village's history.
A few days later,
Heiyan personally used divine power to construct three massive bridges over the sea, connecting Penglai, Fangzhang, and Yingtian islands into an inseparable whole.
And the massive chakra energy cannon seized from Cloud was placed on top of the mountain in Penglai Ninja Village, its huge black barrel aimed toward the direction of the ninja world, serving as a display of deterrent force.
Furthermore, Heiyan formulated large-scale land reclamation plans to prepare for accommodating more residents in the future.
While the entire ninja world was plunged into war and chaos,
Penglai Ninja Village was growing visibly stronger and developing rapidly, with daily changes transforming the village's appearance.
Time passes swiftly like a fleeting breeze.
Unconsciously, one month had passed.
During this period, the situation within the ninja world underwent new developments.
Firstly, Mist.
As currently the least visible among the Five Great Ninja Villages, Mist issued a solemn declaration that it would not participate in any form of warfare. However, if attacked by enemies, they vowed to mobilize the entire nation for retaliation, vowing to fight to the bitter end.
This strongly worded and determined declaration allowed Mist to stay far away from the whirlpools of war engulfing the ninja world, maintaining its peaceful isolation.
Next came Cloud from the Land of Lightning.
Since being attacked by the Immortal Sage and suffering destruction of the village and loss of their cannon, Akagakure had undoubtedly lost significant strength. They no longer dared to challenge Mist or Snow Country.
Before that, however, Akagakure had already annexed the countries of Hot Spring, Iron, and Frost, plundering vast resources. Their military power remained intact and even grew stronger.
During this time, after a purge and reshuffle of Akagakure's leadership, a new generation of young officers rose to power, reshaping the political structure.
Troops massed along the borders, eager to launch their southern campaign.
Akagakure's strategy was to watch carefully, closely monitoring the situation on Rain Country's battlefield. They waited for one of the three villages—Leaf, Sand, or Stone—to weaken first, then seize the chance to strike a weakened enemy like dogs kicking a fallen foe.
Once more, the entire world of shinobi turned its gaze toward the Land of Rain.
The war remained deadlocked.
But as time passed, Rain's combat tactics gradually became familiar to the three great hidden villages, resulting in heavy casualties for Rain's ninja forces.
Even Hanzo's most formidable weapon—the [Poison Gas Attack]—was deciphered by Chiyo, the elder of Sunagakure. His summoned poisonous giant salamander, Ibuse, was surrounded and killed. Fortunately, Hanzo possessed more than just one summoned salamander, allowing him to fight back and stabilize the situation.
During this period, the three great ninja villages—Konoha, Sunagakure, and Iwagakure—privately met to negotiate, agreeing temporarily to cease hostilities against each other and unite to eliminate Rain before resuming their battles.
However, during the meeting, all three sides secretly set up ambushes. Before talks could begin, a fierce battle erupted, claiming many high-ranking lives.
The most shocking battle was when Sakumo Hatake, Konoha's Anbu Commander, killed two brilliant puppet master couple from Sunagakure.
This pair was husband and wife, Sasori's parents, and also Chiyo's son and his wife.
When news broke, Sunagakure fell into a gloomy mood, while Konoha celebrated with rising morale, slowly gaining the advantage in the war.
Yet despite making breakthroughs on the battlefield and seizing an edge, Konoha struggled to expand this advantage and convert it into victory.
That was because within Konoha, unity was lacking; instead, factions abounded, constantly engaged in infighting and backstabbing.
Fugaku Uchiha and Hiashi Hyuga had now become clan heads of their respective houses. Leading Konoha's two most powerful families, they courted smaller clans, forming secret alliances.
This group completely ignored orders from above, refusing to send any clan members to the frontlines. The village elders were helpless against them.
Many whispered that if things continued this way, these two powerful clans would eventually break away and establish a rival Leaf Village of their own.
As for why Fugaku and Hiashi acted this way, it was naturally due to Heiyan.
Heiyan, as the eldest member of the Konoha Sannin, had sacrificed so much for the village, only to be treated so unjustly after death. This left both men utterly disheartened.
The second faction included Gamamaru and Danzo.
One was an Honorary Elder commanding Mount Myoboku's toad special forces; the other served as the Hokage's advisor, wielding control over Root's ninja forces.
They worked closely together but weren't truly united, each calculating his own ambitions.
The last remaining faction centered around Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi.
As he grew older, being Hokage became increasingly burdensome. He often felt overwhelmed and unable to keep up.
He had come to feel increasingly like he was being sidelined by others.
These days, the only ninja Hiruzen could truly rely on were a handful of loyal Anbu and the regular ninja in the village.
Perhaps it was time to step down.
Perhaps it was time to let the younger generation step forward.
In his office, Hiruzen stood by the tall window, puffing slowly on his pipe as he gazed at Konoha below, his brow deeply furrowed.
To him, Konoha appeared strong on the surface but was secretly torn apart by both internal strife and external threats. If this kept up, the village would one day collapse from within.
At a time like this, someone strong must rise—someone who can unite the village's factions and bring Konoha back to its former glory.
This person must not only possess unmatched strength, but also carry great prestige, exhibit unwavering virtue, and have wide influence throughout the village.
All of these qualities were essential—none could be missing.
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