Ryota had no idea what was happening.
Or rather, he simply didn't care.
Even if the all-out mobilization order had been issued in Amegakure, even if a storm that could overturn the entire shinobi world was already brewing…
At this very moment, Ryota was calmly seated in the hall atop the Hokage Tower, the one that had once belonged to the Third Hokage.
Ais tilted her head, quietly watching the scenery outside the window. Lefiya looked drowsy, fighting to keep her eyes open.
And just as Ryota had predicted, Uchiha Fugaku's decision to stay behind was already paying off.
This man's nature was indeed soft, indecisive. In the original story, he was even labeled "the most spineless Uchiha clan head."
But that was only because he had been bound—by identity, by position, and most importantly, by the lack of power behind him.
Now, things were different.
Behind Fugaku stood Ryota, the man with countless cheats at his disposal.
The "new god" who could, in a single day, flatten Konoha, erase the Third Hokage, and slaughter the entire leadership.
Fugaku no longer needed to weigh factions, no longer needed to fear Danzō or the Hokage, nor suppress the fury of his own clan.
He had only one task now: carry out orders.
And this task, Fugaku executed faster than Ryota had ever expected.
He had assumed it would take ten days, maybe half a month, to transition power smoothly.
But it had taken only five.
In just five days, Fugaku had dragged Konoha up from smoldering ruins, from the brink of collapse, and forcibly reshaped it into a new regime—"stable on the surface, orderly in appearance."
—Konoha no longer had a Hokage.
—And no one dared even mention Hokage.
Every shinobi, every civilian, accepted a simple truth: Konoha's new ruler was the Uchiha clan head.
The few clans that had survived, after losing their leaders and their main fighting strength, had no power to resist.
First, Fugaku appeased the people by sending shinobi to handle disaster relief. Then, with two of Ryota's Six Paths Puppets standing watch, any hint of defiance was smothered into silence.
Threats, promises, incentives, warnings…
Every tool of a seasoned politician, Fugaku wielded flawlessly.
At that moment—
Footsteps echoed briskly outside the hall.
The door opened, and Fugaku's slightly hurried voice followed:
"Clan Head."
"Konoha's internal situation has stabilized. The remnants of the great clans have been absorbed and consolidated… but—"
He strode forward, drew a sealed scroll from his pouch, and presented it with both hands.
"This intelligence report just arrived. News of Konoha's upheaval has already spread to the other great villages."
Ryota accepted the scroll, unrolled it, and scanned the dense lines of script:
Iwagakure: mobilizing three Anbu squads, suspected to be moving toward the Land of Fire.
Kumogakure: war readiness state, with multiple Raikage's personal units gone missing.
Sunagakure: reacting slowest, but puppet brigades are being redeployed. Destination unknown.
…
Ryota paused, glanced at Fugaku, and chuckled:
"Seems they're all coming straight for Konoha."
"So eager, these old men?"
Fugaku nodded.
"That Tailed Beast Bomb nearly erased Konoha's entire center. It couldn't be hidden, even if we tried."
Ryota didn't reply, just turned his eyes back to the scroll.
The shinobi world might look peaceful on the surface, but every village constantly watched the others.
Show the slightest weakness, and they'd pounce without hesitation.
Fifty years of Konoha's history, beginning with the first Nine-Tails' rampage. Back then, it had been Kirigakure that struck first. Too bad they hadn't accounted for Shisui's cheat-like presence.
Now, history was repeating itself. Another Nine-Tails disaster. From the outside, Konoha had fallen into chaos: Hokage dead, leadership wiped out.
To any observer, Konoha was finished.
A fat fish on the chopping block—who wouldn't want a bite?
And above all, the Nine-Tails.
The Tailed Beast's power was the ultimate weapon all villages craved and feared.
In the past, Jinchūriki had been unstable—berserk, uncontrollable, dangerous to their hosts.
But with time, the technique had matured. Villages were learning to use Tailed Beasts not as gambles, but as strategic weapons.
And the Nine-Tails—the strongest of them all—was the only one capable of leveling an entire village on its own.
To fully control it would be a game-changer, a trump card that could shift the entire balance of power.
That's why these "advance squads" had been dispatched. Not just to exploit Konoha's weakness, but to seize the Nine-Tails.
Only they had miscalculated.
The Nine-Tails was already Ryota's property.
At his whim, it could appear anywhere, anytime.
Ryota suddenly looked up, as if recalling something.
"By the way—Naruto. How is he?"
Fugaku froze, then quickly answered:
"Still unconscious."
When Ryota had the Nine-Tails unleash its Tailed Beast Bomb, Naruto had collapsed in that very instant—as if his consciousness had been snuffed out. Fugaku had only discovered him later, back at his home.
But according to the medics, there was no danger to his life.
Ryota nodded. He could already guess.
Most likely, his own Nine-Tails' Tailed Beast Bomb had stirred the Nine-Tails sealed within Naruto.
The boy was still young, with neither bond nor control over the beast inside him. Being shaken by its chakra was inevitable.
Ryota waved a hand dismissively.
"Go."
Fugaku bowed respectfully and left in haste.
As the footsteps faded, silence returned to the room.
Ryota leaned back in his chair, fingers idly tapping the armrest.
The main quest was still incomplete.
And yet, by all appearances, Konoha lay crushed beneath his heel:
The Third Hokage slain, the council annihilated, the clans destroyed or subdued. Nothing seemed unstable.
"So why… hasn't the system triggered?"
"Why is the quest progress still stuck?"
He narrowed his eyes, sifting rapidly through possibilities.
Fugaku? No—the man's loyalty was beyond doubt.
The scattered survivors? No—mere fish that could make no waves.
Then suddenly, a name flashed in his mind.
"Naruto?"
But the thought was dismissed almost instantly.
"No. The Nine-Tails inside him is still sealed. My Nine-Tails has been fused with me for ages. That kid hasn't even sensed his seal properly, let alone controlled it. He's no threat."
If not that, then there was only one explanation.
—External factors.
"The quest's definition is to control Konoha. But what is true control?"
"Eliminating the leadership? I've done that."
Suppressing the clans? Done."
"Winning the people's loyalty? …Maybe not."
His gaze darkened, his voice dropping to a mutter:
"Perhaps… the system demands not just conquest, but stability."
"True, lasting stability."
His brows furrowed.
It was maddeningly abstract. The system gave no hints.
"So…"
"I have to get Konoha functioning again?"
The thought made Ryota chuckle softly, eyes glinting with irony.
"What a hassle… Do I really have to be Hokage?"
"…Well then."
"Hokage it is."
As Ryota pondered the shifting future, Ais quietly approached.
She rested her head against his chest, speaking softly:
"…Are you worried about something?"
Ryota stroked her hair and smiled.
"Nothing serious. Just… deciding how to keep this place running."
"Rebuild Konoha?" Ais tilted her face up, golden eyes intent.
"Yeah." He nodded.
"Though on paper I hold power, this place is crumbling in every sense. Building a system of my own is trickier than I thought."
Ais was silent for a moment, then suddenly suggested:
"Then why not bring Finn and the others here?"
Ryota froze, then his eyes lit up.
Of course!
Finn's leadership, Riveria's training, the Hiryute Sister' combat prowess…
If they were here in the shinobi world, a new Familia-style system would be far more reliable than any Konoha jōnin or chūnin.
That would be the true cornerstone he could trust!
But then his brow creased again.
"…The problem is, how to bring them here?"
The Golden Gate could only carry two companions across worlds.
Even with all his cheats, he couldn't bypass that limit. It wasn't chakra that bound him, but the very barrier of dimensions.
As Ryota sat frowning, straining to think of a way past the Golden Gate's restrictions—
Ding—
A cold, mechanical voice echoed in his ears.
[Main Branch Quest Triggered!]
[Quest Name]: Blood Inheritance of Asura and Indra
[Quest Description]: In the shinobi world, only the power of the First Sons can break the shackles of the world.
[Quest Objective]: Indra's Chakra Reincarnate 0/1, Asura's Chakra Reincarnate 0/1
[Quest Reward]: Unknown
Ryota's eyes flashed.
So this was the key to breaking the Golden Gate's limits?!
Not brute force, but through accepting two opposing bloodlines—using their fused wills as an anchor to forge his own [Divine Authority]!
Sasuke and Naruto—
Uchiha and Senju, Indra and Asura.
They were the perfect vessels for his Familia template!
A slow smile curved Ryota's lips.
"So, taming those two brats… was inevitable after all."
He turned his gaze toward the direction of Konoha.
Naruto, lying unconscious, was the perfect opportunity.
And Sasuke… perhaps it was time he learned what true Uchiha pride meant.
"Time to ignite the fire of their destiny."