Six years passed in a blur of steel and silicon. Mishiru no Kuni was no longer a fledgling settlement; it was a sprawling, hyper-modern fortress-state. Skyscrapers of carbon-fiber and light-bending glass pierced the clouds, powered by the steady hum of cold fusion. Under the guidance of the Elected Parliament, the economy had surged, turning the "Unknown Land" into a silent titan that owned the world's resources without firing a single shot.
But for the Toumeikage, the true work was in the shadows.
In the subterranean training levels of Fumeigakure, the two hundred "lost" clans were undergoing a transformation that bordered on the divine. Hiroshi didn't just teach them Ninjutsu; he taught them Physics.
The soldiers stood in perfect formation, a sea of alabaster. Their outfits were striking—high-collar tactical vests and reinforced trousers identical in design to the flak jackets of a future Konoha, but rendered in a clinical, brilliant white. On their foreheads sat polished steel protectors engraved with a Gear Symbol, the mark of a nation built on the union of science and chakra.
"Don't just hit the target," Hiroshi's voice echoed through the high-tech dojo, his silver Kage hat shimmering under LED floodlights. "Understand the atoms you are displacing. We are not brawlers. We are surgeons of the battlefield."
The Kaguya Clan no longer simply sprouted bones; they learned the molecular density of calcium-carbon nanotubes. The Chinoike studied the hemodynamics of the human body, using their Ketsuryūgan to halt a heart from a mile away with microscopic chakra needles.
While Hiroshi built a future, the rest of the world was stuck in a bloody past. Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha had already begun their secret meetings by the river, dreaming of a "village" made of wood and stone. But it was the third boy, Tobirama Senju, who noticed the hole in the world.
"It doesn't make sense, Brother," Tobirama said, his red eyes narrowing as he spread a map across a mossy log. "They aren't retreating. They're vanishing. The Hagoromo? Gone. The Chinoike? Disappeared."
Tobirama didn't go alone. Convinced of a conspiracy, he led a specialized Senju strike team toward the Northern Barrens. Unknown to them, a contingent of Uchiha scouts, suspicious of the Senju's sudden movement toward the "useless" wastes, trailed them from the shadows, eager to see what their rivals had discovered.
Deep within the command center of Fumeigakure, Hiroshi watched a holographic display. Multiple clusters of red dots were moving toward their outer sensory perimeter.
"Sensory spikes detected, Lord Toumeikage," a technician reported, his gear-symbol protector gleaming. "The Senju have arrived at the perimeter. The Uchiha are tailing them from two kilometers back. Both are attempting to bypass the outer seals."
Hiroshi leaned forward, a small smile playing on his lips. He recognized the cold, sharp chakra of Tobirama, but the presence of both clans made this a perfect opportunity.
"Tobirama Senju," Hiroshi murmured. "And the Uchiha too. You're early."
He turned to his guard, a captain of the Hagoromo Clan clad in the shimmering white tactical vest. "Don't kill them. Open the first layer of the 'Mirror Barrier.' Let them see the garden. Let them see what happens when science meets the soul."
As the shimmer in the air rippled, the Senju and Uchiha alike froze. The barren salt flats vanished, replaced by a metropolis of glass and a forest of white-clad warriors.
******
The Mirror Barrier didn't stop them; it invited them. Tobirama Senju, a master of sensory logic, found the oscillating frequency of the seal and slipped through the shimmer with his strike team. Shadowing them from a tactical distance, the Uchiha scouts activated their Sharingan, their crimson eyes spinning as they breached the veil of the "Unknown Land."
They expected a fortress. They found a miracle.
The two rival groups moved like ghosts through the vertical gardens and over the silent asphalt roads of Mishiru no Kuni. They watched in stunned silence as civilians operated machines that defied the laws of nature—glowing glass panels that displayed data, carriages that moved without horses, and towers that touched the clouds.
High above in the Central Command Spire, Hiroshi Minamoto—the Toumeikage—watched the thermal signatures of the intruders on a holographic map. Beside him, a captain of the Hagoromo Clan tightened his grip on a high-frequency vibration blade, his white tactical vest gleaming under the LED lights.
"They are inside the secondary perimeter, Lord Toumeikage," the captain reported. "Shall we eliminate the breach?"
Hiroshi adjusted his silver Kage hat, his Indra-level aptitude allowing him to feel the precise chakra signatures of the invaders. He saw the cold calculation of Tobirama and the burning suspicion of the Uchiha.
"Maintain surveillance," Hiroshi commanded, his voice cold and precise. "If they attempt to sabotage the Nuclear Power Plants or harm a civilian, kill them without hesitation. Except for the white-haired one. Tobirama Senju is to be captured alive. The world still needs his mind, even if he doesn't know it yet."
The White Legion moved into the shadows. Using active camouflage and silent footwork, hundreds of shinobi with Gear Symbol protectors trailed the intruders, their fingers hovering over the triggers of specialized binding seals.
For three hours, the Senju and Uchiha witnessed a civilization that made their dreams of a "Hidden Village" look like a child's sandcastle. They saw clans they thought were extinct—the Chinoike and Kaguya—living in harmony, wearing the white uniforms of a unified army.
Fear, more potent than any blade, finally gripped them. They realized that if this nation decided to move, the Warring States Period would end in a single afternoon.
"We have seen enough," Tobirama whispered to his men, his face pale. "We cannot fight this. Not yet. We must report to Father and Hashirama."
The Uchiha scouts, reaching the same conclusion, vanished into the treeline. Hiroshi watched their heat signatures fade as they crossed back over the Mirror Barrier.
"Let them go," Hiroshi said, turning away from the screens. "Let them tell their legends about the Gear and the Glass. The era of the mercenary is over. The era of the Nation has begun."