The Hidden Star Village, tucked away in the deep folds of the mountains, possessed a military force of roughly two hundred shinobi. Among them were only forty Chūnin, and a mere five Jōnin, including the likes of Akahoshi, Shizō, and Yotaka.
The rest of their so-called "elites" were, at best, at the level of Special Jōnin. Under Uchiha Hikari's devastating offensive, these ninja were swept aside like autumn leaves in a gale. If Menma hadn't explicitly ordered that the village be preserved for his service, the streets would have been paved with corpses by now.
Watching his shinobi being tossed aside like ragdolls, the Third Starshadow, Yashiro, struggled to his feet. His heart was bitter. A year ago, the village could still scrape together eight Jōnin-level combatants. But since the "defection" of Summer and Firefly last year, the village's high-level strength had dwindled to almost nothing.
"Stop!" Yashiro roared, clutching his mangled shoulder, but his voice was swallowed by the roar of the flames.
In the center of the battlefield, Uchiha Hikari stood with her arms crossed amidst the ruins of the Starshadow building. She had her foot pinned firmly on the chest of a bald shinobi. Behind her, the building continued to burn, the dancing firelight casting her shadow long and terrifying across the ground.
Yashiro recognized the man beneath her boot: Yotaka, one of the village's rising stars in taijutsu. He hadn't even been able to withstand a single casual kick from her.
Looking around, Yashiro saw dozens of his men lying in the dirt. Most were severely injured but alive—it was clear the girl had no intent to kill. Yet.
"You want the Star! I will give it to you!" Yashiro groaned, dragging himself forward.
The surrounding Star shinobi struggled to crawl toward their leader, forced to watch in agony as their "Kage" bowed to the enemy.
"Who said... I wanted that worthless rock?" Hikari lifted her foot and sent the bald ninja flying into a pile of rubble, where he slumped into unconsciousness.
"You aren't here for the Star?" Yashiro was stunned.
The most vital asset of their village was the meteorite that had fallen two hundred years ago. Their entire legacy was built upon it; it was the catalyst that allowed them to manifest the Mysterious Peacock Method. To the Star Village, that stone was a treasure the whole world coveted.
And yet, this girl looked upon it with utter contempt.
"Hmph. If your 'Star' can only grant you strength of this pathetic caliber, it truly isn't worth coveting," Hikari remarked, having fully gauged the village's power.
"Then what... what do you want from us?!"
Through the flickering firelight, the girl's voice rang out cold as a blade, severing Yashiro's last hope.
"I want your entire village... to kneel!"
The next day.
By the time Gato's merchant caravan and the Uzumaki mother and daughter arrived, the Star Village had already seen a change of flags.
Deep in the forest near the village, at the center of a crater kilometers wide and hundreds of meters deep, stood a training hall. Inside, Hikari, Vanilla, and little Karin sat on one side, while Kakuzu and Gato sat on the other. They all peered curiously at a pedestal in the center, where claw-like branches held aloft a glowing purple meteorite.
The forty-year-old Yashiro had already discarded his "Starshadow" robes and hat. He sat kneeling on the floor below the others, waiting in anxious silence for the arrival of the person these powerful shinobi called "That Lord."
Vanilla respectfully drew a Flying Thunder God kunai from her pouch. She channeled chakra into it with both hands and placed it upon the primary seat at the head of the room.
When Kakuzu saw the kunai, his green pupils narrowed. Having lived through the era of the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, and the subsequent rise of the Yellow Flash, Minato Namikaze, he knew exactly what that weapon represented.
The kunai vibrated slightly.
In a flicker of motion, a figure appeared out of thin air, seated firmly upon the cushion. He picked up the specialized blade.
"Lord Shura!"
Hikari, Kakuzu, Gato, and Vanilla all bowed deeply. Even little Karin clumsily mimicked the gesture.
Kneeling on the ground, Yashiro slowly lifted his head, catching sight of the mysterious figure in the black robe and the white, three-eyed fox mask.
Shura. The name that had set the shinobi world ablaze in recent months.
Even a village as isolated as his had heard the tales. He had defied the Hidden Leaf and the Hidden Cloud, escaping their combined pursuit unscathed. The Cloud had even placed a seventy-million-ryō bounty on his head at the black market exchange.
"Lord Shura... this humble servant... is the leader of the Star Village, Yashiro." The old man was wise enough not to use the title "Starshadow." He performed a full dogeza, pressing his forehead to the floor in total submission.
Menma surveyed the room, his gaze landing on the purple meteorite. He reached up and removed his fox mask, revealing his youthful face.
Kakuzu and Gato had never seen his true face before; their expressions flickered with a mix of curiosity and shock. Gato, in particular, compared this face to the orphan "Menma" he had been told to look after in the Leaf. He became even more convinced that the boy in the village was Shura's secret heir. They were identical!
"From this day forward, the Star Village belongs to me!" Menma's voice was regal and commanding.
"Yes, My Lord..." Yashiro dared not resist. His entire village couldn't defeat a single member of this group, let alone the man who had left two Great Nations helpless!
Menma walked to the meteorite and picked it up, probing it with his chakra.
The stone was radioactive; while it increased chakra activity, it also slowly ate away at the user's vitality. He didn't destroy it, however. He tucked it away into a scroll. It was possible this stone was linked to the Otsutsuki—those who traveled the cosmos planting trees. It would be a useful subject for future research.
Over the following weeks, Menma remained in the village to oversee its transformation.
Uzumaki Vanilla was appointed as the Political Advisor, tasked with a complete overhaul of the village administration.
Uchiha Hikari became the Head of the Jōnin Council, responsible for commanding the forces and retraining every shinobi in the village.
Kakuzu was named the Anbu Commander, tasked with restructuring the black-ops unit and conducting counter-intelligence. Menma gave him a simple directive: anyone attempting to desert or leak information was to be hunted down.
Gato served as the Financial Advisor, beginning a full audit and consolidation of the village's wealth.
Yashiro was relegated to Construction Advisor, facilitating the physical renovations demanded by the organization.
Supplies from Gato's conglomerate began pouring into the impoverished mountain village. Menma used the iron fist of his strength to suppress dissent and the "carrot" of resources to win hearts.
Under this dual pressure, the shinobi and villagers slowly accepted the reality of being ruled by a god-like master.
For Menma, conquering the Star Village was merely the first step toward the unification of the world.