After the Kumogakure surrendered, Fugaku Uchiha and the others began postwar cleanup.
Kitazawa appeared directly in front of the Fourth Raikage.
"Kitazawa-sensei!" Naruto Uzumaki shouted happily.
"Kitazawa-sensei." Sasuke Uchiha and Hinata Hyuga were a beat slower as they greeted him.
"You did great today," Kitazawa said with a light chuckle. "I'll heal the Fourth Raikage first—before he actually dies on me."
He stretched out both hands and used the Mystical Palm Technique.
A pale green glow quickly enveloped the Fourth Raikage, and the injuries inside his body began healing at a rapid pace.
But he still didn't wake up.
His wounds were too severe—even after they healed, he'd need months of recovery.
Kitazawa withdrew his hands. Three lines of text appeared before his eyes:
[Current mission: Three students speedrun the Kumogakure.]
[Reward: TakamimusubinoMikoto.]
[Mission Completed. Reward Granted.]
Kitazawa nodded in satisfaction.
Another Rinnegan-level dōjutsu, added to his collection.
Now that the Sunagakure and Kumogakure were defeated, only the Iwagakure and Kirigakure remained.
He wondered if those two villages could "give" him two more Rinnegan-level dōjutsu.
"You've worked hard. Go rest," Kitazawa said, reaching out to pat Hinata Hyuga's head.
"Yes, Kitazawa-sensei," Sasuke and the others answered in unison.
After they left, Fugaku Uchiha approached.
"The Fourth Raikage is out of danger. Bring him and the other Cloud shinobi back to Konoha," Kitazawa said casually.
"Yes, Hokage-sama," Fugaku answered at once.
"Go call Itachi over. I have a mission for him," Kitazawa added.
Fugaku nodded and hurried off to notify Itachi Uchiha.
"Hokage-sama."
Itachi arrived before Kitazawa soon after.
"I'm assigning you a mission: go take control of the Land of Lightning," Kitazawa ordered.
Itachi froze for a moment, then accepted.
This wasn't the first time he'd handled something like this.
Before, he had followed Kitazawa's orders and taken control of the Land of Fire.
Controlling the Land of Lightning now was hardly a challenge.
"White Zetsu."
Kitazawa stomped lightly on the ground and called out.
White Zetsu emerged from beneath the earth.
"Spread the news," Kitazawa said with a smile. "Let's hope it doesn't scare the Iwa and Kiri too badly."
In truth, it didn't take a genius to guess that Iwagakure and Kirigakure were already shaking.
They could accept losing to Konoha if it was the Sand—Sunagakure was weaker than them.
But the Cloud? The strongest of the four great villages—and it lost. And it lost this badly.
For them, it was a crushing blow bordering on despair.
[Current mission: Win without fighting—force a village to surrender on its own.]
[Mission reward: Yomotsu Hirasaka.]
[Accept?]
Kitazawa let out a soft, surprised sound.
So the system could trigger a mission like this?
The reward was excellent, though.
Yomotsu Hirasaka was the ultimate space-time ninjutsu, a Kekkei Mōra technique.
It opened a portal that allowed travel between different dimensions.
In the original story, both Ōtsutsuki Kaguya and Ōtsutsuki Urashiki used it.
Kitazawa stroked his chin.
Between Iwagakure and Kirigakure, which one would surrender voluntarily?
He thought the latter was more likely.
Kirigakure's strength was simply too poor—it wasn't on the same level as Kumogakure or Iwagakure.
The only reason it could hold out was its terrain.
But the ocean's advantage couldn't make up for the gap between the Mist and Konoha. Defeat was only a matter of time.
And once the news of the Cloud's defeat spread, the Mist would absolutely start wavering.
Kitazawa decided that after White Zetsu finished spreading the message, he'd go to the Mist and see how things stood.
If they had any sense, they'd surrender.
If they refused… he didn't mind "helping" them along.
Kitazawa came back to himself and looked at the captured Cloud shinobi.
There were so many that they stretched beyond sight.
Even though Team Seven had killed plenty, over ten thousand Cloud shinobi had taken part in the war.
More than half of them were still alive.
That forced Kitazawa to confront a problem:
Konoha couldn't house that many people.
Especially not when the Stone and Mist shinobi would be next.
And there was another issue too—
What about the shinobi from the four villages who hadn't participated in the war?
Kitazawa's ultimate goal was to integrate all shinobi, until only Konoha remained.
But anyone could tell that wouldn't be easy.
For decades—maybe even a century—shinobi from other villages wouldn't just forget their old village and identity.
Still, he had absolute power on his side.
The rest was just a matter of time.
With that in mind, Kitazawa formed a plan.
He would establish five major shinobi divisions based on the current military structure—each responsible for managing one of the Five Great Nations.
Put simply, shinobi would be divided into two types going forward:
One would be "traditional shinobi," whose sole job was to join one of the five divisions and protect the shinobi world.
The other would be "new-type shinobi," who could be deployed across society—transportation, engineering, and so on.
Kitazawa walked toward Fugaku and the others.
"Hokage-sama!"
Konoha's shinobi greeted him one after another, faces flushed with excitement.
Even though he hadn't personally fought in the war against the Cloud, his students had stolen the show—three people defeating the entire village.
"Hokage-sama." Fugaku stepped up to him.
"There are too many Cloud shinobi. We can't bring them all back to Konoha," Kitazawa said bluntly. "Bring back the jōnin only."
Fugaku paused, then asked, "Then what should we do with the rest of the Cloud shinobi?"
"Mabui, come here," Kitazawa called, turning his gaze toward her.
With her white hair and dark skin, she was instantly recognizable.
Samui instinctively stepped in front of Mabui.
Kitazawa glanced at her.
Her figure really could rival Tsunade's.
Mabui shook her head at Samui.
At this point, anything they did was pointless.
"Hokage-sama." Mabui bowed slightly. "What are your orders?"
Her posture was extremely humble.
After all, everyone in the Cloud had their lives in Kitazawa's hands now.
Offending him would only bring suffering.
"You'll take the Cloud's chūnin and genin and return to the Cloud," Kitazawa said with a smile.
Mabui's expression flashed with shock.
But she understood almost immediately.
Kitazawa thought there were too many of them to bring back to Konoha.
And he was confident enough that even if he let them go, they wouldn't dare rebel again.
"Yes, Hokage-sama," Mabui answered with a quiet sigh.
Fugaku understood Kitazawa's intention too.
He actually thought it was a good solution—bringing that many Cloud shinobi back would be a headache.
"The rest is up to you. I'm heading back to Konoha," Kitazawa told Fugaku, then vanished on the spot.
Konoha Casino.
The Fourth Great Ninja War hadn't affected this place at all—it was still lively as ever.
Kitazawa quickly found Tsunade sitting at a gambling table.
He walked over.
"Tsunade-sensei." He sat beside her and asked with a grin, "How much have you won?"
"None of your business!" Tsunade's face darkened instantly.
"You're losing my money," Kitazawa said with a smile. "Why isn't it my business?"
"Don't talk nonsense!" Tsunade glared at him. "I haven't lost!"
"Then keep it up." Kitazawa lifted a hand.
"…"
Tsunade's mouth twitched, speechless.
She turned back to the table—
And, unsurprisingly, lost again.
"I'm hungry. I'm done. I'll come back this afternoon," Tsunade said, tossing her chips aside and clapping her hands.
"Lost it all again?" Kitazawa blinked.
"It's still morning!" Tsunade gritted her teeth. "This afternoon, I'm definitely winning it back!"
"I'll be watching," Kitazawa said, smiling.
"You seriously have nothing to do?" Tsunade frowned.
She didn't care much about winning or losing, but losing nonstop right in front of Kitazawa was still humiliating.
"I just got back from the Land of the Moon," Kitazawa replied. "The Cloud has surrendered."
Tsunade froze, surprise spreading across her face.
Konoha was strong now, but in her mind, the Cloud was no weakling either.
She hadn't expected the second village to fall would be the Cloud.
If the Cloud lost, the Stone and Mist likely wouldn't last long either.
Tsunade stared at Kitazawa, feeling a little dazed.
Once all four great villages surrendered, Kitazawa truly would be the second "God of Shinobi."
In a sense, even more worthy of the title than Hashirama Senju—
Because Kitazawa hadn't even needed to fight personally.
Though capturing the nine tailed beasts was directly tied to him.
"Did the Cloud really surrender that fast?" Tsunade asked after snapping back to herself, curiosity rising.
"Because Team Seven defeated ten thousand Cloud shinobi," Kitazawa said with a soft chuckle.
"Just the three of them?" Tsunade stared, stunned.
She already knew Team Seven was strong—but this was beyond what she'd imagined.
"Yeah," Kitazawa said casually. "It's normal, really. Two jinchūriki and a Tenseigan—at that point, they're basically unbeatable."
"I don't think calling them the 'New Konoha Sannin' fits," Tsunade complained. "Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and I were never that strong."
Back then, they'd been called the Sannin because the three of them together still failed to defeat Hanzō—and he "granted" them the title.
In truth, the name "Konoha Sannin" had been a humiliating label.
But Sasuke, Naruto, and Hinata were completely different.
First, they were much stronger.
Second, their achievements were far more terrifying.
"That's not important anymore," Kitazawa said.
He understood what she meant, but titles didn't matter at their level.
No matter what people called them, no one would dare underestimate them.
"Fair enough." Tsunade stood up. "Come on. Let's go eat."
Kitazawa nodded.
He used Flying Thunder God and brought Tsunade home.
At the same time, with White Zetsu pushing the propaganda, news that Team Seven had defeated the Cloud spread throughout the entire shinobi world at breakneck speed.
Konoha was overjoyed—especially the Hyuga and Uchiha clans.
Both clans held celebration banquets that very day.
And the next Hokage became a hot topic among them.
After all, Team Seven's merits were already more than enough.
Land of Water, Konoha temporary encampment.
"That's ridiculous…" Asuma Sarutobi asked with bulging eyes.
"It sounds like a dying man's delusion," Anko Mitarashi said after hearing White Zetsu's report, unable to resist mocking it.
"Team Seven really are… freaks," Tayuya said, her mouth twitching.
Just thinking about how she once tried to surpass them made her feel… absurdly overconfident.
"So just how strong are they?" Shikamaru Nara asked in confusion.
"Stronger than us, that's for sure," Ino Yamanaka said with a sigh.
She'd thought becoming the Two-Tails jinchūriki would let her close the gap—but the difference was still worlds apart.
"Then we should stop holding back too. Let me lead the Curse Mark Corps and raid the Kiri's main base!" Anko said immediately, eyes shining with excitement.
"We've got two jinchūriki—we can totally do it!" Asuma chimed in.
Everyone instinctively looked toward Shikaku Nara.
He was the commander of Konoha's Third Shinobi Division.
Earlier, his strategy had been steady and methodical, because on the sea the Kiri had a major advantage:
One, Water Release was boosted.
Two, the Kiri Technique was a nightmare—it blocked visibility.
Even White Zetsu couldn't help much with that.
Unless every shinobi got paired with a White Zetsu.
Just then, the air warped.
Shikaku and the others immediately tensed—
Until Kitazawa stepped out.
"Kitazawa-sensei!" Ino sprang forward at once.
"I approve Anko's plan," Kitazawa said, rubbing Ino's head.
"Yes, Hokage-sama!" Anko exclaimed, thrilled.
"Hokage-sama, when exactly do we move?" Shikaku asked.
"Tonight," Kitazawa said after a moment of thought.
His plan was to have the Curse Mark Corps apply pressure from the outside while he went to see Mei Terumi and make her surrender willingly.
That would complete the system mission—
And it would also let the Curse Mark Corps show what they could do.
"Do we go too?" Asuma asked instinctively.
"You go too," Kitazawa nodded.
"Everyone, get ready," Shikaku said. "We depart at midnight."
Midnight was chosen because most Kiri shinobi would be asleep, making a successful raid easier.
In Kitazawa's view, timing didn't matter anymore—but Shikaku was the commander, so Kitazawa didn't argue.
Night deepened.
Land of Water, Kiri temporary encampment.
Inside the main tent on a certain island—
Mei Terumi and the others sat in silence.
They didn't have White Zetsu, so they received the news later.
Now, none of them felt sleepy at all.
After the Sand fell, the Cloud fell next.
And the way it happened was even more dramatic—and more terrifying.
Three people defeated ten thousand shinobi.
If Konoha sent Team Seven against them… could they stop it?
Obviously not.
In that moment, a deep sense of despair settled over many of them.
~~~
Patreon(.)com/Bleam
— This Fanfic is Completed in Patreon!