June, Warring States Era.
A month that tore the shinobi world apart.
First came the Sarutobi Alliance, formally merging their clan into Konoha. Then came the announcement that shattered centuries of chaos — the Konoha Alliance had officially transformed into the first Hidden Village in history.
One village. One banner. One future.
The rest of the ninja world froze. They'd seen alliances before, but none had survived a single generation. Yet this… this was something else.
And then came the thunderstrike that followed — a secret meeting between Amamiya Raizen, Chief of Konoha, and the daimyō of the Land of Fire himself. No guards, no scribes, no witnesses. Just two men who were about to redraw the map of the world.
At the end of that month, both men appeared side by side at the capital.
Their joint declaration shook every clan from the southern marshes to the mountain borders:
The Fire Nation Pact
— A treaty of mutual assistance between the Land of Fire and Konoha.
Core Articles:
Konoha Shinobi Village is recognized as the sole military force of the Land of Fire — the living embodiment of its will, and its only authorized ninja army.
Konoha bears the absolute duty of defending the Land of Fire from foreign threats.
Konoha is charged with maintaining internal order and suppressing any rogue ninja who endanger the nation's peace.
Konoha is forbidden from political interference. In return, its missions and funding shall come directly from the daimyō's treasury. The selection of its leader must be approved by the daimyō.
When the final clause was read aloud, silence fell over every outpost, every clan hall, every battlefield.
Everyone understood what it meant.
From now on, any ninja within the Land of Fire not aligned with Konoha was an outlaw.
Any mercenary clan who refused to join — a target for extermination.
Konoha had become both shield and sword of the Land of Fire.
The response was immediate and violent.
Independent clans panicked. Mercenaries fled. The great families of the Fire Nation realized what this meant — Konoha, already powerful, would now have endless missions, endless money, endless legitimacy.
If they didn't act, they'd be devoured next.
Other nations also trembled. The treaty's words — "Konoha shall serve as the Land of Fire's military corps" — were practically a declaration of war. A hundred thousand ninja under a single banner, backed by the richest country on the continent.
Every daimyō in the world felt their palms sweat. Within weeks, spies and messengers were racing across borders. The age of fragmented clans was over. Every nation scrambled to create its own Hidden Village.
The dominoes had fallen.
Meanwhile, Raizen didn't waste time celebrating.
He immediately began coordinating missions with the daimyō — practical, political, and necessary.
The first joint task was simple but vital: refugee stabilization.
War had turned half the Land of Fire into ash. Every month, more starving, homeless people wandered the roads — easy prey for bandits or revolutionaries.
Normal soldiers couldn't handle it. But shinobi could.
The daimyō provided grain and supplies. Konoha provided speed, skill, and chakra.
Raizen sent dozens of teams to build refugee villages using Earth Release and Wood Release.
What would've taken months took weeks.
By the end of summer, nearly a hundred thousand refugees had roofs over their heads — and Konoha had earned something priceless: the people's trust.
For the first time, the common folk spoke of the "Konoha shinobi" not as mercenaries, but as heroes of the Land of Fire.
And just like that, Raizen's experiment — a village united by loyalty rather than coin — began to feel real.
By autumn, Konoha's name was everywhere.
Mission requests from nobles and merchants poured in. Konoha's income soared.
Meanwhile, the old freelance ninja — those who refused to join — were starving.
Their contracts vanished overnight. Their influence, gone.
Whispers of rebellion grew louder. Some talked of uniting against Konoha. But when the Uchiha and Senju reignited their ancient feud in the south, that "unity" collapsed instantly.
The Land of Fire burned again. And in the chaos, Konoha only grew stronger.
Raizen sat in his office that October night, watching candlelight flicker across stacks of reports.
"Four months since Konoha's founding," he muttered. "The daimyō's funds are flowing. The people are with us. Our losses from the last war are rebuilt."
He exhaled through his teeth, a half-smile curling on his lips.
"Then it's time. If they won't join us, they'll face us."
He stood and looked out at the village — the symbol he'd bled to create.
"The Warring States era ends here."
The next morning, Amamiya Raizen officially formed the Guardian Twelve — twelve elite shinobi sworn to protect the daimyō himself. The announcement sent a clear message to every rogue clan in the Fire Nation:
Konoha now had legitimacy, wealth, and the authority to wage war.
The cleansing of the Land of Fire was about to begin.