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The Second Ninja World War ended with Hanzo siding with Konoha.
Sunagakure was ultimately defeated, and Konoha emerged as the final victor.
After three grueling years, the war was finally over.
The shinobi world had once again found peace, but the scars left by the war still lingered in the hearts of many.
However, the end of the war didn't mean that Konoha could simply relax.
Having fought so hard in such a long conflict, the victorious village couldn't afford to let its guard down.
The most pressing matter after the war, apart from rebuilding the village, was the negotiation of the surrender agreements.
Unfortunately, Hanzo's intervention did little to grant Konoha any real advantage in the agreement with the Land of Rain.
As for the Land of Wind, with over 90% of its territory covered in desert, there was little they could offer as compensation.
Furthermore, due to the diplomatic precedent set by the First Hokage, Konoha was not in a position to resort to outright plundering.
As a result, despite achieving victory in the war, Konoha gained very little from it.
A win without tangible benefits, yet a loss could have cost everything.
It was clear that the peaceful ideals set by Senju Hashirama had placed restrictions on Konoha's expansion.
Hanzo's unexpected intervention had shifted the tides of the battle at the last moment.
And the man responsible for bringing Hanzo into the war was none other than Danzo Shimura.
Ordinarily, such an achievement would have allowed Danzo's organization, Root, to thrive in the post-war period.
However, too many incidents had occurred during the war.
Danzo had offended far too many people, and while his actions were tolerated during wartime, retribution followed after the war's end.
The damage control efforts made on his behalf were not enough to erase his wrongdoings.
Due to the alliances forged between major ninja clans, Danzo's contributions were largely overshadowed.
Danzo himself was furious.
After all his efforts, his recognition had been stripped away!
Despite this, the Third Hokage still secured some concessions for Danzo, including the reinstatement of his authority over Root.
Hiruzen had also considered restoring Danzo's elder position, but with staunch opposition from the ninja clans, he ultimately abandoned the idea.
"You tell me—why couldn't you just hold back?" Hiruzen had admonished Danzo. "Any action that causes internal strife during wartime is an unforgivable crime! And yet, you kept making mistakes—repeatedly! And worse, you got caught!"
Danzo had alienated nearly all of Konoha's clans.
The Uchiha despised him. The current generation's Uchiha prodigy wanted him dead.
Most importantly, the Senju Clan had suffered because of him.
The heir of the clan had disappeared due to Danzo's schemes.
And in the final battle, the Senju had been devastated.
After the war, the remaining Senju finally acted.
But by then, it was too late.
The contemporary Senju leader had no choice but to retire, leading the remnants of the clan to integrate fully into civilian life.
For years, the Senju had gradually faded into the background, but they had resisted total dissolution.
However, after this war, with their direct bloodline nearly wiped out, they had no choice but to fulfill the wishes of their previous generations.
Before their retreat, the Senju carried out their final act of revenge—sanctions against Danzo.
But they underestimated the depth of Hiruzen's loyalty to his old friend.
With this, the affairs of the Second Ninja World War had been mostly settled, and Konoha now focused on village reconstruction.
Uchiha Kiyo's clone in Konoha became more active, gathering intelligence.
Meanwhile, Sunagakure was completing its own post-war adjustments.
Despite the final reversal of the battle, Sunagakure still recognized Ma Jia's achievement in eliminating a Konoha Special Jōnin.
As a result, Sunagakure's leadership made an exception and promoted Ma Jia to Special Jōnin. He also received a generous reward.
That reward? Gold dust.
However, he wouldn't receive it immediately. He'd have to wait months for it to be processed.
It was yet another sign of Sunagakure's financial struggles.
The gold dust itself had to be refined by the Third Kazekage.
"What a miserable village…"
Still, sympathy was one thing—Ma Jia wasn't about to forfeit his reward.
Gold dust was an incredibly valuable resource.
On the open market, a fist-sized amount of refined gold dust could sell for one million ryo.
Ma Jia's reward was the size of a human head.
A fortune worth tens of millions of ryo!
The fact that Sunagakure even considered using gold dust as a reward spoke volumes.
"I guess they're really poor if they're handing out gold dust instead of ryo."
Ma Jia had no intention of selling his prize.
Gold dust, extracted by Kazekages throughout history, was a special metal.
Even a small amount added to a weapon could significantly enhance its durability and sharpness.
The purity of gold dust varied depending on the Kazekage who refined it, but for commercial and reward purposes, Sunagakure maintained a standard quality for forging weapons.
With this stockpile of gold dust, Ma Jia planned to craft multiple weapons.
Not for himself—but for Earth and Stone.
A few specially crafted kunai.
These weapons would serve as both tools and substitutes for his jutsu.
Although gold dust wasn't a chakra-conductive metal, its transmission capabilities were still above average.
A well-made kunai could enhance the efficiency of the Body Flicker Technique.
With a gold-dust-infused kunai, the range of Earth and Stone's teleportation jutsu could be tripled.
His next mission was dangerous—stealing secret techniques from Iwagakure, one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, which had suffered minimal losses in the war.
A few extra safety measures were necessary.
At the same time, Ma Jia considered another long-term goal.
Reincarnation Ninjutsu was still far off—at least two decades away.
So, in the meantime, why not exploit another opportunity?
Gold dust.
In Sunagakure, the internal price of gold dust was nearly half the market value.
Many mission rewards were paid in gold dust to ease the village's financial burdens.
Now that Ma Jia had infiltrated Sunagakure, gained recognition, and even contributed to the war effort, acquiring more gold dust would be significantly easier.
He would be a fool not to capitalize on it.
Thus, before he obtained the knowledge of Reincarnation Ninjutsu, his immediate goal was to amass gold dust.
If possible, he would even experiment to see if it could be converted into chakra metal.
This would also serve as financial support for Uchiha Kiyo and his clones.
As Konoha and Sunagakure entered the post-war recovery phase, the shinobi world welcomed a brief period of peace.
Uchiha Kiyo continued his training and research, refining his theories on spiritual energy.
His studies on nature transformation had also entered a new developmental stage.
Meanwhile, his clones carried out their respective missions.
Ma Jia was gathering wealth in Sunagakure, while Earth and Stone prepared for his infiltration into Iwagakure.
In Amegakure, another clone wandered the land, sharpening his skills and waiting for an opportunity to join the Akatsuki organization.
Konoha's clone remained embedded within the village, though he lacked a way to relay information.
That would soon change.
Once Uchiha Kiyo had more time, these two clones would be upgraded.
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Following the war, Konoha's shinobi numbers had been drastically reduced.
To address this, the village implemented a policy encouraging higher birth rates.
Thus, Konoha entered a new era.
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The era of the next generation.We're already at Chapter 333+ on Patreon!
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