Deep within a forest in the Land of Fire, the Raikage's face was deathly pale. When he finally reached the edge of a temporary encampment, he collapsed, utterly exhausted.
All these years of war…
Never had A been so battered.
Moments later, two dark figures flickered out of the trees and caught him.
"Brother!!" Killer B, seeing the Raikage's miserable state, lost all will for rapping and quickly supported him.
The surrounding Hidden Cloud shinobi, who had been lying in wait, fell into silence as they noticed the Raikage's missing left arm.
They had lost.
Utterly defeated.
The Raikage weakly drank the water Killer B handed him and whispered, "Run…"
Killer B said in a low voice, "Brother, Uchiha hasn't chased after us."
Only then did the Raikage let out a long breath of relief.
He sighed. "Return to the Hidden Cloud… the real war is still ahead."
The Cloud shinobi, burdened by humiliation, immediately obeyed.
When the complete Susanoo had appeared in Konoha, the Raikage had ordered Killer B, as the Eight-Tails' jinchūriki, to lead a unit away from the village in advance.
Unexpectedly, that precaution had actually worked.
Otherwise…
The Raikage figured that not only would they have lost the battle with nothing to gain, but they likely wouldn't have been able to keep their tailed beast either.
Even so, the Raikage knew he had only escaped this time. The next time they faced the Uchiha, what would the Hidden Cloud do?
…
…
At the edge of Konoha, Garaga carried Orochimaru and Uzuki Yugao—who had been captured earlier by Tamao—and finally arrived, a step too late.
It wasn't entirely Orochimaru's fault for not moving sooner. The truth was that the serpent-king Shinya had chased the complete Susanoo away from Konoha.
Halfway through, man and serpent had almost caught up to Susanoo.
But in the next instant, with the Light-Weight Rock Technique boosting it, even Susanoo's afterimage left them behind, before turning back toward Konoha once more…
"Orochimaru, these shinobi seem to be Stone ninja. Why are they still here helping Konoha rebuild the village?"
The one-eyed serpent Garaga swiveled its head left and right, scanning both sides of the street. It noticed the Stone shinobi were equally wary of it, though upon realizing Shinya bore no hostility, they relaxed and continued working.
At the question, Orochimaru looked down at the hard-working Stone ninja filling the ground and repairing buildings.
He, too, was puzzled for a moment—but then he understood.
With a quiet laugh, Orochimaru said, "Did you forget Uchiha Yu's declaration of war? Now that Konoha belongs to Uchiha Yu, these Stone ninja are working for him."
Garaga's serpent pupils lit up in awe. "To enslave shinobi from other villages to labor for him… as expected of my master!"
The war was over.
The Stone ninja rebuilt the village.
Orochimaru's long tongue slid across his lips as he marveled internally. Perhaps only Uchiha Yu in all the shinobi world could achieve such a feat after a war.
Casting a sidelong glance at Garaga, Orochimaru teased, "Weren't you reluctant to address him respectfully before?"
Garaga muttered vaguely, "Don't fuss over trivialities. Snakes always shed their skin."
Just as Orochimaru was about to continue mocking him, he froze at the sight ahead.
For a long moment, he whispered:
"Sensei Sarutobi…"
Beside him, Uzuki Yugao was equally stunned. Her eyes widened in disbelief as she blurted out in her heart:
"The Third Hokage!"
At a street corner, Hiruzen Sarutobi and his son Asuma—both in their reanimated forms—were carrying stones, helping repair buildings.
Other reanimated Sarutobi clan shinobi around them were doing the same.
One after another, the Edo Tensei shinobi looked bedraggled, their clan pride nowhere to be seen.
Before Orochimaru could even process this, his eyes shifted to the end of the line—where Shimura Danzo carried a massive boulder half his height.
Seated atop the rock was a young man.
Crack!
In his hand was a long whip, which he lashed mercilessly onto Danzo's back from time to time.
He delighted in it, shouting excitedly:
"Hurry up, faster! You're still dawdling while hauling bricks? This is giving you employment after death—cherish it!"
With that, the young man cracked his whip across Danzo's back once again.
The youth wore the Uchiha clan uniform—it was none other than Uchiha Tamao, the most energetic member of the Uchiha forces.
Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo glared furiously at Tamao, but having been controlled by Yasakani, they had no choice but to follow Uchiha Yu's orders.
And Yu had just given a new order: all of Konoha's reanimated shinobi were to devote themselves to the reconstruction of the village.
In other words, they were made to haul bricks, carrying out every bit of exhausting grunt work.
At that moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi turned his head—and his eyes fell upon Orochimaru standing atop Shinya's serpent head.
Teacher and student, meeting again in such circumstances, could hardly have been more awkward.
Hiruzen immediately lowered his head, silently carrying bricks as he followed the line of workers.
"..." Orochimaru fell silent.
To think—even in death, his teacher was made to work, lugging bricks. Pitiful indeed. Hopefully the old man could enjoy such an "afterlife."
—
Hokage Building.
Office.
This office had always been plain and simple. After its restoration, the Uchiha quickly repaired it further.
Now, Uchiha Yu sat in the Hokage's seat, with a brand-new desk before him.
Various scrolls were laid neatly across its surface.
He first picked up a compiled list of recent mission assignments and began reading through them. Both the scrolls and the desk itself had been salvaged by the Uchiha from the ruins.
As expected of Konoha—the foremost military and financial powerhouse in the shinobi world.
Even during wartime, the missions commissioned to Konoha were countless.
Most, however, were B-rank or below. Recently, there had been no high-paying S-rank commissions.
Ironically, Konoha itself had issued several S-rank bounties—on Uchiha Yu.
It was now late autumn, nearly winter. Based on seasonal cycles, the backlog of autumn missions alone brought in nearly a hundred million ryō in net revenue, Yu estimated.
And that wasn't even the entire quarter's profit.
Truly, if one wanted to become wealthy in the shinobi world, one had to directly control a village.
But after such a great war, many of these missions were bound to be invalidated.
War eroded a village's credibility. If the new Uchiha-led Konoha wanted to make real profit, it would have to reestablish a trustworthy diplomatic image, both among the citizens of the Fire Country and in the eyes of other villages.
After finishing the mission reports, Yu moved on to some critical financial statements. Just then, Mikoto entered with a smile, placing a cup of hot tea on his desk.
She then joined the other Uchiha in busying themselves, excavating and organizing the records from within the Hokage building.
The Uchiha takeover of Konoha left them with endless matters to settle. For now, the most urgent tasks were gathering and sorting information.
Taking a sip of tea, warm and fragrant, Yu felt his throat ease, his brow relax, his entire body loosening.
For the first time since his days on the run, he felt the constant tension in his nerves give way to the rhythm of normal life.
For the first time, it felt as though the world had truly come alive again.
He closed his eyes briefly, rubbing his temples as he adjusted fully to this new pace of life.
With this battle won, he had secured a true place for himself in the filthy, chaotic shinobi world.
No longer was his life dictated by others. Whatever he wished to do, he could do—freely.
Yu's gaze shifted toward the corner.
There, broken desks and chairs lay discarded, along with the portraits of Hiruzen Sarutobi and the past Hokage.
At the moment, Tsunade, Shizune, Kushina, and Rin leaned by the window, glassless now, watching the rebuilding of the village after war.
When the masked Tsunade caught sight of Hiruzen, Danzo, and the reanimated Sarutobi clan shinobi hauling bricks, her heart softened, and she bowed her head silently.
Thanks to the Stone shinobi's assistance, the reconstruction of the village was going far more smoothly than Tsunade and the others had imagined.
From the Hokage office window, buildings were already rising one after another, the village gradually regaining its former shape.
Meanwhile, within the spiritual prison, Hashirama and Tobirama passed the time idly by watching Yu sift through the scrolls on his desk.
"You can actually sit quietly in the office, reading scrolls for this long?" Hashirama remarked with admiration.
"Anyone could do that, brother," Tobirama replied, glancing sidelong at him, not understanding what he meant by such a statement.
Hashirama smiled as he explained, "I feel like someone like Madara could never sit still in an office."
Tobirama coldly retorted, "You still can't forget about him."
Hashirama gave an awkward laugh.
Uchiha Yu thought to himself that Madara could sit still—after all, in his later years, driven by his dream, he had sat underground with pipes sticking out of his back, unmoving in the shadows for who knew how long.
Yu did not bother joining such a dull conversation.
Instead, he began planning his next steps. Today, he would settle what to do after taking over Konoha. Tomorrow, he would head to annex the Sky Ninja Village.
The new Konoha's core could never just be the Hokage's office building.
He planned to move the Sky Ninja's airborne fortress above Konoha itself, and build the new village around air superiority.
As he thought, Yu glanced toward the corner, where Shinno stood blank-eyed, riddled with the Yasakani, awaiting orders.
Ever since Yu had released his Perfect Susanoo, the Zero-Tails had not returned to Shinno's body.
Now, the Zero-Tails, along with the Three-Tails and Six-Tails, was sealed inside Yu's Tailed Beast space.
"Tsunade, come here."
Yu's gaze fell on Tsunade's figure.
Even with a mask on, her identity could easily be guessed from her build and the graceful lines of her back.
And since everyone present was one of his own, Yu saw no issue with calling her over bluntly.
"Bastard, be nicer to little Tsunade! You'll never get a girlfriend if you act like that!" Hashirama said in distress.
After all, she was his granddaughter. He couldn't bear to see her treated so rudely.
Naturally, Yu had no interest in answering Hashirama on such trivial matters. His gaze remained calm as water as he looked at Tsunade's back.
Her face darkened as she turned around, only to be startled when she saw Yu already standing, gesturing for her to sit in the Hokage's chair.
"Tell me, after the Uchiha take over Konoha, what's the very first thing that must be done?" Yu asked.
Everyone else turned to look at Tsunade, clearly intrigued by the question.
Obviously, it wasn't that Yu himself didn't know what should come next for the new Konoha—he was testing Tsunade.
Tsunade didn't hesitate. She plopped herself into the Hokage's chair.
She had already read through the scrolls on the desk, and knew the state of Konoha before the war.
Her cold gaze met Yu's as she gave her answer: "You won't be able to do anything."
The response took everyone by surprise, leaving them each deep in thought.
"Oh?" Yu asked back, though in truth, he had already expected this answer.
Hashirama also looked puzzled. "Why nothing at all?"
Tobirama interjected with a sneer. "Heh… of course Little Tsunade would say that. For the Uchiha to think they can take over Konoha—it's a dream!"
Tsunade's voice grew heavy as she explained:
"The core of any hidden village lies in its 'mission system'—a complete framework that can reliably accept commissions from all sides with outstanding credibility.
That is how you earn rewards.
That is how you keep the system running.
Whether you plan to wage war against the other great villages or pursue some other goal, the very first thing you must consider is keeping your own ninja alive.
Sure, you can take shortcuts to repair buildings. But after the Uchiha seize Konoha, if you want the 'mission system' to function, you need a large number of shinobi—elite shinobi—who are well-versed in mission procedures and loyal to the village.
At most, counting Sasuke, you have twelve people.
Even if we step back and add the ones around you—including me, Shizune, the reanimated Kushina, the reanimated Rin—humans and Edo Tensei alike, you still don't even reach thirty.
With that, how exactly are you planning to run Konoha?"
Tsunade's words landed with weight, making everyone present feel that her reasoning was solid.
Inside the prison space, Tobirama's lips curved upward—he silently counted it as a point scored for himself.
After Tsunade finished speaking, she looked toward Uchiha Yu, only to be shocked to find his gaze still calm as water.
In truth, Yu had long been preparing for the manpower issue.
From the Tsuchigumo clan in the beginning, to the Uzumaki clan afterward, he had been laying the groundwork for today.
But both of those clans were currently in the Land of Rice Fields—too far to solve the immediate problem.
Everyone suddenly turned their eyes to Yu, realizing this was indeed a difficult matter.
A moment later—
Yu spoke with calm certainty: "I have people."
Tsunade's voice was sharp:
"Where would you get them? To keep the village's system running, you need reliable shinobi. Not only must they be loyal to the village, but they also need strong professional skills.
You can't raise that kind of population without at least fifteen years of cultivation.
And I know you might consider using Edo Tensei, but relying on the dead is no long-term solution.
Clients commissioning missions don't want corpses fulfilling their requests!"
Hearing this, Yu did not argue.
Instead, he stepped to the center of the office—orange-red flames suddenly burned across his body.
Suppressing Susanoo's full size, he directly entered the third stage. The armored Tengu helm appeared along with the Totsuka Blade.
Then, one after another, the Sand shinobi, Cloud shinobi, Mist shinobi, Grass shinobi, and other assorted captured ninja he had sealed away were released.
They spilled out as though he were dumping out trash.
Each one, once freed, stood slack-faced, pupils flickering with the Yasakani imprint—like walking corpses—as they lined up neatly in formation.
And they were alive.
In the blink of an eye, their numbers swelled to more than a thousand, the line stretching outside the Hokage building.
"What—when did you seal away this many people?" Tsunade stared at the endless column of shinobi, her mouth twitching as she was utterly dumbfounded.
Tobirama's reaction was the same.
Even Kushina, Rin, and the Uchiha searching through the rubble nearby were all stunned by the sight of the massive force.
"Collected them along the way while on the run," Yu said, walking calmly behind the desk and pulling out a bundle of Konoha forehead protectors from the drawer.
He walked to the front of the line, where Rasa stood, and personally tied a Konoha protector onto his head, patting him on the shoulder.
Yu's voice was calm: "From today onward, you are all shinobi of the Uchiha."
As he spoke, the Yasakani imprint in Rasa's eyes flared with red light.
"Yes, sir!"
Over a thousand shinobi stood tall, chests out, saluting in perfect unison.
Yu nodded in satisfaction, then turned to Tsunade and asked, "Will this many shinobi be enough? If not, I can find more."
"…"
Tsunade and the others could only stare in shock, eyes wide, jaws nearly dropping to the floor.
That was the Kazekage.
The Fourth Kazekage!
And Yu had just made him a Konoha nin—without even asking his opinion!
°°°
Hungry for more chaps? Then check out our pătreon!
Link: Påtreon.com/BaphometFiction
I post 20 advanced chapters of this fanfic there.
If you do subscribe, please do so in the web patreon, not the ios app.