Today marked the fifth day since the great battle in Konoha.
Despite the tremendous uproar that had stirred across the entire Ninja World, this village remained untouched in both peace and fervor.
It had already been several months since the Uchiha Clan defected and founded their own village.
Yet, the entire [Homuragakure Village] continued to expand and improve,
gradually developing...
The enthusiasm of its people combined with vast funding jointly promoted the construction of this village.
Even until today, although in terms of scale and population,
it still could not rival the Five Great Hidden Villages.
But the city's level of development and its prosperity were both on par with the Five Great Hidden Villages.
Besides, right now both [Konoha] and [Iwagakure] remained in ruins.
And [Kirigakure] had yet to recover from the effects of its 'Blood Mist Village' policies, with four-fifths of its population consisting of women, children, and the elderly.
Only [Kumogakure] and the dead-broke [Sunagakure] were somewhat better off.
If they could annex the [Rain Hidden Village] and fully absorb its technology and population,
they believed their village would experience a significant boost in strength and foundation.
At that time, even if they couldn't rival the Five Great Hidden Villages directly,
they could certainly give weaker villages like [Sunagakure] a serious butt-kicking.
Furthermore, following this development speed,
Shimoku felt they wouldn't even need five years before Homura Hidden Village completely overtook the Five Great Hidden Villages and unified the ninja world.
Sigh!
It's kind of my fault for gathering up so much money.
It's just too extravagant!
However, for the past two days, Shimoku had largely ignored the village's ongoing construction matters.
Instead, he repeatedly inscribed sealing techniques onto that [crystal pendant].
After all, engraving an enormous curse seal like the [Four Symbols Seal] onto a tiny crystal pendant was no small feat.
It required extremely high proficiency and incredibly precise execution.
Within those two days, Shimoku had failed countless times,
before barely succeeding—
Successfully engraving a complete set of [Four Symbols Seal] patterns onto it.
Thus, whenever the tailed beast's chakra inside its wearer began to surge due to weakening of the tailed beast seal,
the [Four Symbols Seal] on this crystal pendant would resonate and immediately activate, repressing the tailed beast chakra.
"It's done. Next, I should give this to Sister Yueji."
"Hmm, should I also take the chance to check the seal on Yueji's belly again?"
Shimoku held the pendant tightly, feeling secretly excited.
...
Around morning time.
Just finishing his morning training, having gotten beaten up badly by Zabuza,
then going to beat up Gin,
he dragged his aching body and lazily made his way toward the Young Master's place.
He coincidentally spotted Riyō guarding the door.
"Hey Riyō-niisan, what are you doing here? Did you have breakfast yet?"
Riyō: "Yes."
"The Young Master called for my sister, so I came along with her..."
Gin slightly trembled, becoming excited:
"Is there another mission? Am I included in it?"
Honestly, after getting brutally trained—and basically abused—by Zabuza for days straight, he was about ready to crack.
I just wanted to find a mission to unwind a little...
"I don't think so..."
"As for the details, I'm not sure either..."
Riyō shook his head. Anyway, he wouldn't guess at the Young Master's decisions.
"Huh? Could it be...?"
Gin grinned teasingly, about to make another joke.
Before he could finish his joke,
Both of them saw Sister Yueji step out from the Young Master's front door.
At the same time, there was now a delicate green pendant around her smooth and fair neck...
In fact, the two clearly saw—
Even Yueji, usually so cold and composed, managed a faint smile, revealing an exquisitely pretty sideways glance like something from a painting.
Moreover, she completely ignored Riyō and Gin standing outside the gate.
She strode away with light steps and disappeared at the end of the street.
She never once looked back at the two of them.
After a long pause,
Gin finally blinked away from the sight and rubbed his stiff face.
Then he stammered,
"Riyō brother? Did I see that right?"
"The Young Master actually gave Sister Yueji a necklace?"
"What—what does this mean?"
Riyō: "..."
"How should I know?"
Gin: "Hey, so does that mean we should start calling the Young Master 'bro-in-law' from now on?"
Riyō froze again, then immediately smacked Gin upside the head.
"If anyone calls him that, it'll be me first!"
Gin: "But Yueji Sister and the Young Master are several years apart! Doesn't that seem kinda inappropriate? Riyō Brother?"
Riyō: "I don't care!"
Gin: o(?Д?)っ!
...
"What are you two whispering about over here?"
The sudden voice from behind made both of them jump.
Somehow, Shimoku had already appeared behind them.
"N-Nothing! Nothing at all..."
Gin quickly denied.
Right now, things didn't look settled yet!
There was no way he was going to gossip about this in front of the Young Master.
Otherwise,
He'd probably end up next, forced to pose butt-naked for photos.
Lately, just seeing Riyō's camera made him shiver uncontrollably.
Shimoku: "Any results from these days of practical combat training?"
"Yes! I feel like I've improved significantly."
"I can already last over a minute against Mr. Zabuza!"
"And Riyō lasted ten seconds longer than me..."
Gin replied proudly.
Indeed, this kind of sparring practice with ninja from other villages produced good results.
Initially, against Zabuza, he couldn't even last ten seconds.
Almost always got beaten instantly.
Now being able to last a full minute was already quite an achievement!
After all, they were still just Tokubetsu Jonins.
You know, even regular Jonins would basically get instantly defeated by the Demon of the Hidden Mist Zabuza...
So clearly, they had worked very hard indeed...
"A whole minute?"
"That's still too short!"
"A man can't afford to be that quick!"
"You need to keep training harder..."
"I want both of you to be able to last over five minutes within a month!"
Shimoku raised his eyebrows and barked out an order.
After all, without some pressure, Riyō would be fine.
But Gin? He's probably gonna slack off again...
"Understood!"
Riyō immediately saluted and accepted the order.
"Eh? Five minutes? That's way too long! Who could possibly last that long?"
Gin muttered, pouting his lips in displeasure.
If Mr. Zabuza attacks that fiercely and powerfully,
how could I possibly endure for five whole minutes?
If I really could hold on that long, I'd probably already advanced to Jonin!
Shimoku: "Gin, if you don't meet the standard within a month, get ready to run around half-naked!"
Gin: !!!∑(?Д?ノ)ノ
Shimoku: "Of course, if both of you can be promoted to Jonin within a month, I will personally offer a reward as well."
Gin: "What kind of reward?"
Shimoku: "Something great, definitely. Something that boosts strength, and is one-of-a-kind!"
"Yes! Thanks, Young Master!"
Gin lit up instantly.
Beside him, Riyō also looked expectant.
"Alright, go do your work. Don't just stand here like an idiot."
"Understood!"
Just then, as soon as Shimoku finished speaking,
another figure came rushing from a distance, landing before Shimoku to report:
"Reporting, Young Master. The second delegation from the [Kiri] has arrived."
"Oh? Finally here, huh?"
Shimoku gave a slight nod, secretly pleased.
Whether the delegation from [Kiri] comes or not isn't important.
Mainly, Shimoku had missed seeing Terumi Mei's exceptional skills!
"Let's go. Let's go give them a warm welcome."
"Young Master, are you going personally?"
"They came such a long way as our allies. We should at least show them some courtesy, shouldn't we?"
Shimoku gave a faint smile and explained calmly.
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