Night City was too new, so new that the entire city's foundation had only just been laid. There was really nothing to do there. Even Uzushiogakure's leader, Naruto Uzumaki, who wanted to arrange a full-service experience for himself to learn foreign languages, had nowhere to go.
However, after getting off work at 10:30 p.m., the ninja world's "once-in-a-millennium musical genius"—Killer Bee's concert, gave Naruto a little surprise.
"Once-in-a-millennium musical genius" was a self-proclaimed title by Killer Bee. Naruto felt that Killer Bee… a genius? At most, he was a "genius" in a certain flavor~.
However, the concert was indeed lively! The scene was filled with gongs, drums, firecrackers, red flags, and a sea of people. So many friends in attendance (with nowhere else to go) sent Killer Bee into a frenzy. The atmosphere was so passionate that Naruto even went up to show off his singing voice.
As expected, after a song, the audience's response was enthusiastic, their faces contorted in a passionate grimace. After coming down from the stage, Naruto decided then and there that he must create a clone specifically for making music. He had to get pop culture going.
Ahem, it was definitely not because the audience's applause was too half-hearted!
Anyway, after a night of passion, it was the next day. As dawn broke, the master of ninjutsu, who was just over 18 years old (minus 72 months), struggled out of his rock-hard bed. He stretched his limbs, then rubbed his slightly stiff lower back.
"Tsk, this wretched bed..." He glanced back at it in disgust, missing the soft, comfortable bed at his real home even more.
After a simple wash, he walked into the office next door and saw the red-haired, disheveled Naruto still wrapped in his blanket, fast asleep with a snot bubble coming out of his nose! He gave him two hard kicks, and as Naruto looked up, dazed and confused, he instantly vanished with a Flying Raijin flash.
Swoosh~ Thud!
The air trembled, and his figure disappeared instantly! Thanks to his clones, which numbered in the hundreds initially and had now expanded to thousands, and their hard work running around the ninja world for over four months, his Flying Raijin markers were already as densely scattered as stars across the entire ninja world.
Although the ninja world was vast, for him, a thought was all it took to arrive instantly! Naruto could now take a spontaneous trip anytime and still come home for dinner and sleep on time.
Using the countless Flying Raijin coordinate points covering every corner of the ninja world, Naruto flashed a few times, and…
"Swoosh!"
When he landed again, the surroundings had changed completely. A humid, fresh scent of grass and trees greeted him, and his eyes fell upon a lush forest. At the edge of the forest stood a seemingly ordinary, low-key wooden building, next to a bustling commercial district of the Land of Hot Water.
As soon as he appeared, Naruto keenly sensed that the entire wooden structure of the building contained a vibrant and energetic chakra. He looked up closer: This building "hidden" in the forest, with the special "aura" emanating from its wood, was almost one with nature. If you weren't looking for it specifically, it would be easy to miss.
This was the temporary headquarters for the Ninja World Media Group, Konoha Sun Group, White Rabbit Group, and other sister companies.
"Boss!" a clear voice called out. A figure who had been waiting nearby, upon seeing the suddenly appearing Naruto, walked over to greet him. The person had long, black, disheveled hair that fluttered in the breeze. In the early morning, with the light in the forest dim and hazy, he looked like a ghost.
As he got closer, Naruto saw his face clearly. It was a beautiful and flawless face with delicate features. He wore no makeup, yet he was breathtakingly beautiful! The slender eyebrows, the enchanting phoenix eyes, and the charming face were enough to make anyone's heart race.
Unfortunately, it was a cross-dressing guy!
Even the straightest of men would be turned just by a glance at his face. If that wasn't enough, that pair of phoenix eyes could deliver a look so flirtatious it was absolutely lethal.
However... Naruto's heart was completely calm; he even wanted to rub his forehead. If his other strange clones were an amplification of a certain part of his personality, where did this cross-dressing guy's personality come from? Was there a strange cross-dressing fetish hidden beneath his sunny and cheerful exterior?
This… this can't be right?
"The wind is quite noisy today!" Naruto couldn't help but make an incomprehensible comment.
"Boss, what did you say?" Mizuki Tetsuhiro approached, a look of well-crafted confusion on his stunning face, but his voice was deep and magnetic.
Hmm.
That's right, the voice is definitely a man's deep voice.
Naruto breathed a sigh of relief. This clone was at least staying true to himself. As for the appearance… well, it must be because the Mizuki family's ancestral genes were just too good!
Yes, that must be it!
"I was saying," Naruto changed the subject, gesturing to the deserted gate, "there are so few people today. There isn't even a single soul around?"
Mizuki Tetsuhiro looked embarrassed. "Boss, our work schedule is a bit different from others. The reporters are all out running around, digging up news, and chasing headlines. The headquarters is busiest at night. Right now... the guys have just finished their all-nighters and gone to sleep not long ago."
"Oh, so that's how it is." Naruto suddenly understood. He really hadn't paid attention to such small matters.
But his gaze fell upon Tetsuhiro's face, which showed no signs of fatigue and was glowing with vitality. Naruto remembered that this big boss was in charge of 139 newspapers, 52 magazines, and hundreds of other publications. Shouldn't he be even busier?
"Have you rested?" Naruto was still concerned about his subordinate.
"Boss, I've evolved beyond the need for sleep!" When he mentioned this, Mizuki Tetsuhiro's beautiful phoenix eyes instantly curved into crescent moons.
"???"
The corner of Naruto's mouth twitched imperceptibly.
Evolved beyond the need for sleep? That's a thing?
Thinking about it, it seemed... it wasn't impossible? With his non-human physique, he would be fine even without sleep.
So... was he, who stubbornly slept every day and even liked to stay in bed, the lazy one?
Heh, so be it!
I love sleeping in! I'm proud of it!
But! As soon as this thought flashed through his mind, Naruto suddenly realized a serious problem!
This subordinate, Mizuki Tetsuhiro, was so busy he had "evolved" beyond sleep! So why was that red-haired Naruto sleeping in with a snot bubble coming out of his nose? And why was Uchiha Roku the slacker wandering around all day doing nothing?
Heh!
It's one thing for me, the original body, to occasionally sleep in… but how dare these clone subordinates of mine be so leisurely?
Naruto instantly felt that he was too kind. After he kicked Naruto just now, he even felt a tiny bit of guilt! Now that he thought about it, those kicks were too light! Too gentle!
Guilt?
Guilt my ass!
I should have dumped a bucket of ice water on his head! No, I should have thrown him directly into the sea!
Lazy!
Too lazy!
It's one thing for a single red-haired Naruto to be lazy! But if all my clones are so sluggish, when will I, Naruto, become the light of the ninja world?
Thinking of all the wasted time, the smile on Naruto's face instantly disappeared. He was no longer happy.
Mizuki Tetsuhiro keenly caught the change in his boss's demeanor, and his heart tightened! The boss isn't satisfied? Am I not doing a good enough job?
He immediately straightened his back, and his beautiful phoenix eyes shone with a light of unparalleled loyalty.
"Boss!" his voice was decisive and powerful. "Please don't worry! Sleep is just the beginning! My next step is to 'evolve' beyond these low-level physiological needs like eating and using the restroom!"
"I will burn every single second on the glorious path of your great ideal!"
Naruto said nothing, just nodded silently.
He's unlocked two more directions for exploitation—no, for "evolution"!
He took a step forward, grabbed Tetsuhiro's delicate hand, and patted it with gratification. "Tetsuhiro, you are a favorite of the Emperor's heart! Understand?"
What's the use of those clones that just follow him around and flatter him?
Look at Tetsuhiro!
This is a true and capable minister! He's pragmatic, efficient, and has a built-in "perpetual motion machine" evolution path!
Unlike that fool Naruto! He doesn't organize people to work overtime at night to catch up on progress, only to do some flashy welcome ceremony!
And look at how fast the media group is developing! In less than four months, it grew from nothing, from a handful of people and seven or eight guns, into a huge comprehensive media group. In simple terms, it has grown into an army of over a hundred thousand people!
He's even better than Li Yunlong! If this were during the Anti-Japanese War, would he still be fighting over Ping'an County? Tetsuhiro would have already marched straight to Tokyo!
This speed is truly terrifying.
Although his game-like functions played a huge part, Mizuki Tetsuhiro's hard work was still invaluable!
After their pleasantries, Tetsuhiro respectfully led Naruto on a tour of the headquarters. The exterior was a low-key wooden building, but the interior was a different world, with space utilized to the fullest! The different departments were clearly divided, neat, and orderly!
Naruto did a quick count. The total number of clones and hired employees under Tetsuhiro was just over a thousand, with the majority being reporters and others working outside. This complex organization of over a thousand people, under Tetsuhiro's command, was operating like a set of precise gears, in a neat and orderly fashion!
Clearly, the SSSSSS-rank talent was still at work!
Finally, they arrived at the top-floor president's office with its open view. Naruto sat down in Tetsuhiro's chair and listened to his work report.
"The first item: The anti-propaganda campaign for Uchiha Obito (codename: Project Kurotsuchi) is progressing smoothly, with significant results!"
More than 100 local newspapers under our wing are continuously fabricating juicy gossip and negative stories about Uchiha Obito, aiming to engrain the stereotypical image of him as "brutal," "treacherous," "neurotic," and "emotionally twisted" into the minds of everyone in the ninja world.In the second half of the year, a total of 12 novels will be released in the ninja world, in which Uchiha Obito's identity will be: the antagonist, the villain, and once again, the villain!Three theatrical movies have been filmed and are waiting to be released. In these movies, Uchiha Obito's identity is still the villain, and the kind that can't be whitewashed no matter what.
Naruto nodded slightly, a cold smirk on his face. Uchiha Obito, I wonder if you can sleep at night! But this grudge was something he, Naruto, couldn't let go of.
"The second item: The progress of the Mizukage Struggle team."
After hearing the report, Naruto was quite satisfied with the current progress.
Since ancient times, true love doesn't last, but schemes win people's hearts!
The purpose of the Mizukage Struggle team was to verify if the strategy he proposed earlier was effective. That is: Is it feasible to become a Kage by acting as a savior?
From a preliminary perspective, the execution during the Konoha Crush was not bad. If it weren't for his young age and the sudden appearance of Tsunade, the roadblock, he, Naruto, would have been the Hokage a long time ago!
So, he decided to test this strategy in the Hidden Mist Village. The goal this time was to align the granularity, find an accurate lever in this new experiment, and thus form a path dependence, completely clearing the underlying logic and completing a new business closed loop. If this was successful, then this strategy could naturally be applied to other places.
In addition, there was one last, but most important, matter. That was the work of public opinion and propaganda!
Unifying the ninja world was still a long way off; the great unification in Naruto's plan would not happen for at least three years. However, compared to action, consciousness and culture must precede it.
He first had to remove the ideological barriers in people's minds!
After all, the history between ninja villages spans decades; the history between countries spans thousands of years. What would happen if one day everything was suddenly merged? Would people be unaccustomed to it?
For example, in the future, if the entire Earth were to form a United Earth Federation, would humans be unaccustomed to it?
While it was certainly possible to force it, since there was a better, more harmonious way, why not try it? It would also prevent the rise of resistance movements in the future!
So, how could he inspire people's longing for great unification? This was also Mizuki Tetsuhiro's question.
The answer Naruto gave was: write history! No, it should be called—create history!
Looking at the world, it seemed that only the great Eastern nations liked to record history from morning to night. What about the ninja world? They didn't have the habit of detailed record-keeping. Since no one was meticulously recording history, this gave him room to use his imagination.
News must serve politics, culture must serve politics, and history, of course, must also serve politics! What was the future political need? Great unification! So, the history of the past, or at least the fabricated history of the past, needed to serve the purpose of great unification!
There had never been a precedent for great unification, but there could have been one before!
What? There was no precedent?
How do you know?
I, Uzumaki Naruto, control the media group. I say there was! And therefore, there was!
Even if there wasn't, there was!
For example, 500 years ago, no, a thousand years ago, there was a wonderful era of great unification. An era without war, filled with peace!
This was what was known as "distance creates beauty"! People always liked to give an ideal state to countries they didn't know well, placing all their hopes and dissatisfaction with reality onto this ideal country, hoping it could fulfill their every desire.
For example, the ancient people's longing for the era of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors with its democratic abdication and rule by virtue. For example, Europe's ideal country from the 15th to 18th centuries—China! For example, the ideal country for many people in the '80s and '90s in China—the United States! And so on!
The reality of the United States, a mountain-top country, could have its image shattered by the increasing number of people traveling abroad and the development of the internet. But a thousand years ago in the ninja world, no one could reach that time, so he could let his imagination fly!
He had to portray the unified ninja world of a thousand years ago as a utopia, an ideal country, and place all good things in that era. The implication was: As long as the ninja world was unified, the current ninja world would also transform into that state.
Peace was probably the greatest desire of the ninja world. Even if it wasn't now, it would be after the wars!
And a thousand years ago, peace was as easy to come by as breathing air. There was never any war! How harmonious and wonderful!
Next, the Ninja World Media Group would launch four major magazines, including "Zhiyin," "Duzhe," "Yilin," and "Youth WenZhai," to specifically embellish and promote this idea. The goal was to achieve an acceptance rate for great unification of over 75% among all citizens in three years or within ten years.
As for the rest, it could be promoted after the great unification!
Now there was only one remaining question. How did that period of great unification in history come to be? This was naturally Tetsuhiro's question.
At this moment, Naruto smiled slightly. The two individuals whose names were never heard of in reality and couldn't be found: Ōtsutsuki Kaguya and Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo, could now be brought out!