As soon as he finished speaking, Hyūga Shigeo extended his hand and drew a scroll from his isekai (dimensional space). From within it, he took out ten documents and, with a brush, crossed out the line reading "double compensation," rewriting it as "fivefold compensation." Then he activated Mokuton (Wood Release), forming a sturdy wooden table from the magnetic field before him.
He signed first—his name bold and clear: "Hyūga Shigeo of the Nanmo Nation."
At that moment, the magnetic spikes dissolved, and everyone stepped forward to sign.
The scene had none of the solemnity one might expect—it looked more like the signing of a surrender treaty.
The Five Great Nations lost their wealth, and their ninja villages lost their pride.
With only two subordinates at his side, Shigeo had taken everything he wanted from the five great powers.
Upon returning home, each of the Five Ninja Villages issued a public declaration across the ninja world:
The attack by the Sky Ninja years ago had nothing to do with Hyūga Shigeo or the Nanmo Nation. The earlier "declaration of war" that bore Shigeo's name had been a fabrication, a deliberate frame-up. The so-called "joint crusade" against Nanmo was a misunderstanding.
Now, the Five Great Nations and their respective villages would maintain friendly and cooperative relations with the Nanmo Nation.
In the aftermath, Hyūga Shigeo was officially recognized as the Sixth Great Kage-level leader of the Shinobi World, known henceforth as the First Ink Shadow (Ichi-dai Mo-kage).
Although Nanmo's ninja village lacked the large population and hereditary clans of the five great villages, its strength far surpassed that of other small nations. Having once fought a war against over ten thousand shinobi and triumphed, the Nanmo Ninja Village swiftly became legendary—revered as the Sixth Great Ninja Village.
The following days were filled with ceaseless work—everywhere, Shigeo's people toiled in rebuilding, reorganization, and diplomacy.
The reparations from all major nations began to arrive one after another.
The Land of Tea was renamed Tea Prefecture, and the Land of Bears became Bear Prefecture.
Their ninja forces were reorganized and sent to the Nanmo Ninja Village for retraining and ideological education.
The Tea Prefecture's village, having been established only a few years earlier and recently leaderless, submitted readily. Its few surviving ninja soon arrived at Nanmo.
The Bear Prefecture, however, was another story.
Its Hoshinin Village (Star Ninja Village) had existed for two centuries and carried pride in its unique Hoshiton (Star Technique) tradition.
Though weaker than the five great villages, they possessed far greater backbone than the Tea ninjas.
Not only did they resist Nanmo's orders, but several even injured the Nanmo shinobi sent to oversee them.
When this news reached Shigeo's ears, he was already exhausted from governing—and his expression turned to thunder.
"They're still absorbing chakra from that meteorite?"
"Yes, my lord," the messenger said guiltily. "And in the past two days, some of their shinobi have mutated from overexposure. One escaped the village and injured three of our men."
Shigeo frowned, recalling the past month's battle.
During the Allied Shinobi invasion, he had used his Bun-ei Ishiki-kyō (Mirror of Shared Consciousness) to distribute his power across Nanmo's two defensive layers, granting his shinobi twentyfold strength.
With his own clones and Orochimaru's Edo Tensei (Reanimation Jutsu) as support, they had crushed the entire army in barely an hour.
But the effect of the Mirror lasted only a day.
After that, those who had received his "shared radiance" retained the technique's understanding but lost the immense chakra reserves they once wielded.
To reach such strength again, they would need relentless training—or an external source of power such as a Sen'nin no Karada (Sage Body) or a Juin (Cursed Seal). Without it, they could never reclaim that peak.
So when the Hoshi-nin—empowered by their radioactive "star"—rebelled, Nanmo's regular ninja stood little chance.
Now, with Nanmo expanding and chaos in every direction, Shigeo had no time to personally intervene.
Honglin and Jinshi were abroad, coordinating with the Blue Gate Sect to collect reparations from the Five Great Nations.
Wumang was busy dispatching troops to guard the borders.
No one could spare the manpower to watch over Star Ninja Village.
"Leaving them there will only create hidden explosives," Shigeo muttered. "Better to let them see the truth and choose for themselves."
After some thought, he said, "Withdraw everyone. I'll have the ANBU monitor them secretly."
"My lord, what if they rebel as a group?"
"Then let them. I want to see what they're capable of. Have our men return."
"Yes, my lord!"
…
As expected, after a few more skirmishes with Nanmo's shinobi, the Star Ninja believed their enemies had grown afraid.
Their leader, Akahoshi, gathered every surviving ninja—including children—and organized them into a unified resistance.
At this time, most of Nanmo's military forces were stationed in Nanmo City, Nanmo Village, and along the borders.
The smaller towns were undefended.
And since the nation had only just stabilized, there were no patrols on the roads.
The result: the two hundred Hoshi-nin advanced unopposed, marching straight toward the Nanmo Ninja Village.
After a single day of travel, they reached the Second Barrier, which still remained intact from the war.
Shigeo had planned to dismantle it later, once the country fully settled.
Pretending peace, Akahoshi and his followers appeared at the barrier's entrance, declaring themselves defectors seeking to join Nanmo.
At that time, Hyūga Shigeo had just finished a long day of administrative work.
Standing on his balcony, he watched the citizens below steering new ships through canals to the sea. The morning sun glittered across calm waters, and the peaceful scene briefly eased his mind.
For days, his schedule had been a blur—endless meetings in Nanmo City, staffing adjustments in the village, and affairs demanding his hand in everything.
"Reporting, my lord!" a messenger knelt outside his office. "Akahoshi and many from Star Ninja Village have arrived at the Second Barrier, claiming to surrender. How shall we proceed?"
"Let them in," Shigeo said, stretching his back. He picked up his cloak, draped it over his shoulders, and vanished in a flash using Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique), reappearing at the village gate to await them.
He arrived so quickly that by the time the Star Ninjas crossed the newly risen continent and walked to the gate, he had fallen asleep sitting on the guard's bench.
"We've come to surrender!"
Akahoshi shouted and stormed forward.
Seeing Shigeo leaning asleep over the table, he clenched his fist and slammed it down—
"Boom!"
The table splintered in half.
Without pause, he struck again, aiming directly for Shigeo's bowed head.
But to his shock, his fist passed straight through—without resistance, as if punching smoke.
Before he could react, a scream rang out behind him. He turned—too late.
A single kick sent him flying. Shigeo's foot connected squarely with his rear.
"Thud!"
Akahoshi crashed head-first into a roadside pile of cow dung.
He staggered up, face red and smeared, spitting and wiping furiously, seething with humiliation.
(End of Chapter)
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