Saturday, 9:00 a.m.
Kitazawa pushed open the door and walked into the meeting room in the Hokage Tower.
The room fell silent at once.
Kitazawa wasn't surprised.
Konoha's jōnin meeting was scheduled for tomorrow, but today's meeting was the Five Kage Summit.
The Fourth Raikage, Ōnoki, Mei Terumī, and Rasa—four Kage—sat in the room, each wearing a different expression.
Behind them were Mabui, Kurotsuchi, Ao, and Maki, among others, their faces just as complicated.
They all understood perfectly well that today's Five Kage Summit would decide the future of their villages.
"I didn't expect the Second Five Kage Summit to be held in Konoha again," Kitazawa said with a smile.
The last time Kumogakure held a summit in the Land of Iron, he hadn't attended—so that didn't really count as a Five Kage Summit, at most a Four Kage meeting.
As for the first Five Kage Summit, it had been held when the five great villages were first established, mainly for Senju Hashirama to distribute the tailed beasts.
But this time, the Fourth Raikage and the others knew very well that there would be no "tailed beast distribution" happening again.
If Kitazawa truly wanted to hand out tailed beasts, he wouldn't have skipped the summit in the Land of Iron.
"Hokage-dono, why did you convene this Second Five Kage Summit?" Mei Terumī asked, forcing down her emotions.
"Simple," Kitazawa replied. "I'm giving you two choices: die, or join Konoha."
Mei and the others froze, their breathing catching, and the room plunged into silence.
They'd expected it—but when it truly came time to choose, it was still suffocating.
"Hokage-dono," Mabui asked in a low voice, "aren't you afraid this will anger the Five Great Nations?"
At those words, a sliver of hope rose in the Fourth Raikage's group.
The Five Great Nations surely wouldn't just stand by and watch the five great ninja villages become one.
"I've heard your strategic mind isn't inferior to the Nara clan's," Kitazawa said, looking at her. "So tell me—why do you think I'm not afraid?"
Mabui frowned.
Was Kitazawa planning to ignore the Five Great Nations outright?
But without the daimyōs' financial backing, how would the great villages develop?
Then—
Mabui suddenly remembered something.
Throughout this entire shinobi war, the daimyōs of the Five Great Nations had never shown themselves once.
That was clearly abnormal.
"What did you do to the daimyō?" Mabui blurted out instinctively.
"You really are smart," Kitazawa said, nodding in approval.
The Fourth Raikage and the others immediately looked shaken.
Given Kitazawa's strength and temperament, what he could do to a daimyō went without saying.
But as prisoners, what could they possibly say?
If they provoked him, he would definitely kill them without hesitation.
"I don't have much patience," Kitazawa said, not answering Mabui's question. His tone shifted. "You have five minutes to choose."
"I accept," Mei Terumī said without the slightest hesitation.
Surrender wasn't new to her.
During the previous war with Konoha, she'd already made that choice once.
Now that she had to choose again, there was nothing to weigh.
Soon, the Fourth Raikage and the others agreed as well.
After all, only by living could there be hope.
Back then, Senju Hashirama had suppressed the entire shinobi world by himself—but once he died, peace shattered again.
Kitazawa was younger than all of them. He could outlive them.
At most, he'd outlive two generations.
When he eventually died of old age, the five great villages would split apart again.
Kitazawa naturally knew what they were thinking.
All he could say was that their horizons were too narrow—they didn't know about the Ōtsutsuki clan.
He couldn't be bothered to explain.
In any case, he could live long enough.
By then, the five great villages would merge completely and never separate again.
"After we join Konoha, what are we supposed to do?" Mei looked at Kitazawa and asked.
The Fourth Raikage and the others looked at him too.
This was the question they cared about most.
"Same as before," Kitazawa said casually. "Take orders and carry out missions."
Mei and the others exchanged looks.
So aside from "joining Konoha," nothing really changed?
"Tomorrow there'll be a jōnin meeting in front of the Hokage Plaza. You're coming too," Kitazawa said as he stood. "Today's Five Kage Summit is over."
With that, he left the room.
"What do you think?" Ōnoki asked, looking at the others.
"We don't have any other choice," Mei sighed.
"All we can do is preserve our strength and wait for the right moment," the Fourth Raikage said, clenching his fist.
"Tomorrow's jōnin meeting is the real point," Mabui said thoughtfully. "Kitazawa will definitely assign us roles then."
"Then we'll talk tomorrow," Ōnoki said, standing up. "Right now, our four villages are in the same situation. I hope we can cooperate and help each other."
"Of course," Rasa nodded at once.
The Fourth Raikage and Mei agreed as well.
Kitazawa walked into the Hokage's office.
He had no idea what Ōnoki and the others were discussing in the meeting room.
But it didn't matter.
He was already invincible in the shinobi world.
If Ōnoki and the others really wanted to stir up trouble, he'd just watch it like a bit of entertainment.
"Konan, I need you to do something," Kitazawa said, sitting on the sofa and looking up at her.
"What is it?" Konan asked coolly.
"Have the Anbu compile a list of nobles and officials from the Five Great Nations," Kitazawa said, stroking her thigh clad in black stockings.
"Mm." Konan nodded.
But she didn't leave immediately—she silently watched his hand.
Kitazawa gave her thigh a squeeze and pulled his hand back.
Konan stepped back two paces and changed into Anbu attire right in front of him.
After putting on an Anbu mask, she turned and left the Hokage's office.
A new day.
The plaza in front of the Hokage Tower was packed wall-to-wall.
In the first row stood jōnin like Uchiha Fugaku and Hyūga Hiashi.
Tsunade had retired, so she didn't come.
In the second row stood Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, and other shinobi who had made enormous contributions on the battlefield.
In the third row were the Fourth Raikage, Rasa, Mei Terumī, and the others.
Behind them were Konoha's ninja and civilians.
When Kitazawa appeared on the rooftop of the Hokage Tower, the crowd erupted into thunderous cheers.
His prestige had already surpassed Senju Hashirama's.
Hashirama had been dead for many years; many of his feats had faded into history.
But Kitazawa was a living legend.
Especially since the Fourth Great Ninja War had just ended—Konoha had won a one-versus-four victory.
Kitazawa raised a hand.
The plaza instantly quieted.
"Today, there are two main matters," Kitazawa said. "First, the jōnin meeting. Second, the victory celebration."
Uchiha Fugaku and the others immediately looked excited.
Whether it was the jōnin meeting or the celebration, it ultimately came down to rewards and promotions.
And this round of rewards was different.
Because after the shinobi world unified, it would be hard to ever rack up achievements on this scale again.
In other words, these rewards would decide the future structure of both the shinobi world and Konoha.
"First, the jōnin meeting," Kitazawa said after a pause. "From now on, the five great ninja villages will become five great ninja corps. Their leaders will still be called 'Kage.'"
"Huh? What does that mean?" Naruto scratched his head, feeling his brain short-circuit.
His dream had always been to become Hokage of Konoha—now he'd become the commander of a corps?
Sasuke was also confused.
Would "Hokage" only be in charge of one corps in the future?
Then what would the overall leader of all five corps be called?
It wasn't just the two of them—Fugaku and the others were also at a loss.
Only the Fourth Raikage's group felt a bad premonition.
If that was the plan, then the leaders of all five corps would surely come from Konoha.
So where did that leave them?
"The First Ninja Corps will be temporarily under my command, stationed in Konoha, and will still use the title Hokage," Kitazawa said with a smile.
He emphasized "temporarily," because what he wanted wasn't just to lead one corps.
"The Second Ninja Corps will be led by Uchiha Fugaku, stationed in Kumogakure, and he will be called the Raikage," Kitazawa continued.
Fugaku's heart jolted.
Even if he didn't fully understand the situation, for him and the Uchiha, it was undeniably a good thing.
Hyūga Hiashi, Nara Shikaku, and Yakushi Kabuto, however, wore different expressions.
They had already guessed who would lead the other three corps.
And honestly, it made sense.
Hyūga Hiashi would lead the Third Ninja Corps, stationed in Iwagakure, and be called the Tsuchikage.
Nara Shikaku would lead the Fourth Ninja Corps, stationed in Kirigakure, and be called the Mizukage.
Yakushi Kabuto would lead the Fifth Ninja Corps, stationed in Sunagakure, and be called the Kazekage.
"What is he trying to do?" the Fourth Raikage asked, his face dark.
Mei and the others fell silent.
Being stripped of their Kage titles in public was humiliating—but they had no power to resist.
"Maybe… he wants to become the daimyō," Mabui said, a thought flashing through her mind.
The Fourth Raikage and the others snapped to realization, all of them looking utterly incredulous.
A shinobi becoming a daimyō—becoming the daimyō of the Five Great Nations—would be unprecedented.
"The First Hokage established the 'one nation, one village' system. Clearly, it hasn't worked very well," Kitazawa said calmly. "So I'm going to make some changes. I will serve as the daimyō of the Five Great Nations and establish a new system."
The moment he said it, everyone went rigid with shock.
The "one nation, one village" system had been in place for decades—changing it so suddenly was hard to process.
But soon, many shinobi voiced support.
Mainly because the daimyō, nobles, and officials had never treated shinobi like people.
Even in the original history, it was obvious: they had no real respect for shinobi, and they cut village funding whenever they felt like it.
The most classic example was Sunagakure—Rasa, the Kazekage himself, had been forced to pan for gold to make money.
Konoha had faced similar issues too.
After Naruto became Hokage, the Fire Daimyō Enshi Kyū had proposed cutting Konoha's budget.
"I don't really like the title 'daimyō,'" Kitazawa added. "From now on, it'll be 'Emperor.'"
The name change itself was secondary.
What Fugaku and the others cared about was what the shinobi world would look like with Kitazawa as the ruler of the Five Great Nations.
But one thing was certain: from this moment on, the five nations and five villages would be unified.
A situation like this had never existed before.
And they were willing to accept it.
After all, going from one village to five villages meant their power and status would surge—they had no reason to oppose it.
"Second matter: reforming the ninja academy," Kitazawa continued.
The academy as it existed only produced traditional shinobi—people trained purely for fighting and killing—so it needed to change.
First, while keeping traditional courses, they would add new ones.
Some would focus on more "engineering" and everyday applications of ninjutsu, while others would cover economics, culture, and more.
Second, the six-year program would become twelve years.
Shinobi graduated at twelve because the world was at war and needed manpower.
Now that the world was at peace—and governance demanded talent—the graduation age would become eighteen.
After Kitazawa finished, Fugaku and the others quickly understood why the academy needed reform.
Many of them even felt the urge to "switch careers" on the spot.
Especially those whose combat strength had already hit its ceiling.
If they stayed as traditional shinobi, they might spend their entire lives as genin or chūnin.
But the achievements possible as a "new-type shinobi" were unknown.
They might have unique talent for governing the world—and rise to become high officials.
"Third matter: relocation," Kitazawa said slowly. "From now on, Konoha will keep only the shinobi of the five ninja corps. Everyone else will move to the Fire Nation metropolis."
The purpose was to shift the center from Konoha to the Fire Nation's great capital.
Anbu, the Hokage's secretaries, and the film-and-television department would move there as well.
In short, Konoha would become a pure military camp.
Konan quietly let out a breath of relief.
Earlier she'd worried that once Kitazawa became Emperor, he would reorganize entirely new departments.
Now it seemed that wouldn't happen.
"Fourth matter: rewards and honors," Kitazawa said, casually taking out a scroll.
There was still far more he could say about reshaping the shinobi world—more than just three matters.
But there was no need to dump it all at once.
Many reforms would take time; nothing could be done overnight.
As soon as the rewards segment began, excitement surged through the crowd.
In fact, the first matter already involved rewards—Fugaku and Hiashi, for example, had become the leaders of the five ninja corps.
That part excluded them from the later rewards.
The main rewards were for Naruto, Sasuke, and others who had earned merit in the great war.
There were two types of rewards.
The first was positions and titles.
There were three main points:
1. All members of the seven "Advanced Class" squads were promoted to jōnin.
2. Sasuke, Naruto, and the other nine jinchūriki would become the Emperor's guard.
Originally, it had been decided as the Hokage's guard, but now it had to change.
3. Other outstanding shinobi would be promoted—genin to chūnin, chūnin to jōnin, and so on.
The second type of reward was jutsu and money.
The actual distribution would be handled by the finance department, since so many people were involved.
The jōnin meeting lasted an hour and then ended.
After that came the victory celebration.
Kitazawa paid out of his own pocket to host a banquet for everyone in the plaza.
The feast went on until deep into the night, and only then did the crowd finally disperse, still wanting more.
~~~
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