Generation Has Arrived
The story of Otsutsuki Hamura and Otsutsuki Toneri gave off quite a sense of déjà vu when spoken aloud.
The elderly Hamura believed that his elder brother, Hagoromo, could create a peaceful world. Before his death, he entrusted this wish to his descendants.
But because of the passage of time and the endless conflicts on the ground, his descendants' interpretation of Hamura's last words gradually became distorted, ultimately leading to the birth of the Tenseigan and the plan to drop the moon and recreate the world.
It sounded like another version of the Sage of Six Paths and Madara Uchiha.
Only, the Sage of Six Paths' last words Madara Uchiha saw had been tampered with by Black Zetsu, while Hamura's last words that Otsutsuki Toneri heard had been distorted little by little by his ancestors over the long years.
In a certain sense, the two of them should have had quite a bit in common.
But after listening to the story of Otsutsuki Toneri and what had happened on the moon, only one thought formed in Rei Kaguya's mind.
Konoha's waste of resources was truly excessive.
If any other village had encountered this kind of situation, Hanabi Hyuga, who possessed a pair of eyes that had once reached the Six Paths level, would have long been cultivated by the entire village with all their strength as a future core combat asset.
How could she have been left alone like Konoha had done, allowed to grow crooked into a defective product who could not even be considered strong among jonin?
Perhaps it was because the still-young Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha existed as two cheat users, so the demand for high-end combat strength had been reduced infinitely.
Truly negligent.
"I thought you would keep them behind. At the very least, keep that young lady of the Hyuga family and use her for something."
Seeing Rei Kaguya return Karasuki to Hanabi Hyuga without any hesitation, then watch the three-person Konoha group disappear from his sight and sensory range at the fastest speed possible, Nagato turned his head and spoke to Rei Kaguya with some surprise.
"There is no need. Hanabi Hyuga's talent does not have anything especially worthy of praise. The only valuable thing about her is that pair of Byakugan that once became the Tenseigan. But that thing is neither my own eyes nor something evolved through my hands. If I forcibly stole them, there is a high probability I would not be able to bring out their full power."
Rei Kaguya looked meaningfully at Nagato's Rinnegan before continuing,
"And I also have the bloodline of the Hyuga main family on hand. After I use the volunteers in the village to figure out the method of inheriting the Byakugan, I plan to use my own cells to cultivate a pair of Byakugan completely compatible with me, then go to the moon to evolve them into the Tenseigan…"
"During that time, I will have to trouble you to act as the shinobi world's police and help me maintain the basic peace of the shinobi world, Nagato."
"Shouldn't you be a dictator who relies on force to maintain your rule? Why have you suddenly gained some researcher elements as well?"
Nagato looked over with great surprise.
"Because the one thing Kirigakure lacks least is people who rely on force to fight and kill."
Rei Kaguya sighed somewhat helplessly.
"And if I want these people to obediently listen, the most feasible method is to bring out things that can make them stronger… Unfortunately, Kirigakure does not have talent in that field. So I can only step up myself, can I not?"
"If you are interested in making the other members of your Akatsuki a bit stronger as well, I can provide you with some volunteer slots for experiments. Although I cannot guarantee every person will be successfully strengthened, at least failure will not cause major harm…"
"That is completely unnecessary."
Nagato decisively refused Rei Kaguya's proposal.
"Is that so? Then you had better become a better teacher than Jiraiya. Otherwise, one day, in order to stop your weaker companions from withdrawing from Akatsuki's activities, you will take the initiative to come and ask me."
The moment his voice fell, Rei Kaguya's figure vanished from outside the town ruins.
After Nagato speechlessly raised his middle finger at the place Rei Kaguya had disappeared, he also turned into a puff of white smoke and dispersed, bringing all the experience and knowledge from this trip back to his main body.
…
Konoha Year 49, January 24.
Under the witness of the daimyo of the Land of Iron, Kirigakure and Konoha formally signed a complete peace agreement, ending their state of war with each other.
Although Kirigakure had been at a disadvantage in the overall war situation, relying on the unrivaled personal strength of the Fourth Mizukage, Rei Kaguya, Kirigakure not only successfully signed many trade treaties with Konoha that were favorable to its own transformation, but also fully turned the blood descendants of the Uchiha and Hyuga clans they had taken from the battlefield into their own possessions.
In the eyes of many people, this negotiation was undoubtedly a great victory for Kirigakure.
As for the Third Mizukage, who signed this peace treaty, because he had fought for many conditions favorable to Kirigakure's development, his reputation changed slightly for the better.
Although it was not enough to completely wash away his reputation as a sinner of Kirigakure, at the very least, it gave his diehard supporters a tiny bit more confidence when they spoke.
As for Konoha, although the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, received a large amount of criticism for making too many concessions when signing the peace treaty, compared to the cheers of the people who had breathed a sigh of relief because the war had ended, those voices of criticism could only temporarily restrain themselves.
In addition, during the dual-Kage summit, the Akatsuki organization, which had successfully and outstandingly completed security work and captured a total of two S-rank missing-nin, three Kekkei Genkai shinobi, and more than forty jonin from various villages, had also thoroughly made a name for itself, entering the sight of the upper levels of every nation and village.
They promoted the idea of achieving peace through nonviolent means and stated that they would act as witnesses and guardians of peace agreements between villages, doing everything they could to prevent war from descending upon the world again.
Although this act drew dissatisfaction from hawks in various nations, it resonated with many shinobi tormented by war.
For a time, shinobi who wanted to join Akatsuki came one after another, causing Nagato and the other two, who were still staying in the Land of Iron, to fall into a rather sweet dilemma.
Not long after the members of Konoha and Kirigakure who participated in the summit returned to their respective villages, two heavyweight pieces of news spread almost on the same day.
The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, chose to resign and take responsibility on the grounds that he had made many mistaken judgments during the war, passing the position of Fourth Hokage to Minato Namikaze, who possessed the title of Yellow Flash.
As for the Third Mizukage, because he had completed the final obsession in his heart, he became bedridden after returning to Kirigakure and passed away a few days later.
The one who inherited the position of Fourth Mizukage after the Third Mizukage was Rei Kaguya, who possessed a series of strange titles such as Human-shaped Tailed Beast, Tailless Tailed Beast, and Tenth Tailed Beast.
And so, aside from Iwagakure, which was still ruled by the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, the four great shinobi villages officially entered the era of the Fourth Kage.
…
"The future of the Land of Water and Kirigakure will be entrusted to you, Fourth."
The daimyo of the Land of Water held the blue-and-white hat symbolizing the position of Mizukage and solemnly placed it into the hands of Rei Kaguya, who was wearing a blue-and-white haori with the words "Fourth Mizukage" written on its back.
"Do not worry. I will not disappoint you."
Rei Kaguya put the hat on his head and said with pride and confidence,
"You will see a brand-new world that you could not even imagine in your dreams, Lord Daimyo."
Looking at Rei Kaguya, who was about the same age as his own grandson, the elderly daimyo of the Land of Water sighed and said quietly,
"I hope that in the new world you envision, we can still be good cooperative partners, Fourth."
"As long as your descendants do not interfere in my reforms and do not lack self-awareness to the point of trying to stand above me, the Land of Water will still have a place reserved for the daimyo."
After saying this, Rei Kaguya lightly leaped up and stood on the high platform where successive Mizukage faced the shinobi of Kirigakure during their inauguration.
Then he looked at the densely gathered Kirigakure shinobi below, took a deep breath, and laughed loudly.
"Everyone of Kirigakure, are you ready to recast Kirigakure's glory with me and then defend everything that belongs to us!?"
"Ooooooh—We are ready, Fourth!!!"
The sound wave formed by their cheers surged toward the place where Rei Kaguya stood like a tsunami.
"Very good."
Rei Kaguya nodded, then stretched his right hand toward the sky and clenched it hard into a fist.
"Now, with your support, Kirigakure has seized the only opportunity of our lives."
"Our era begins now!"
…
"It is about time to leave, Hanabi."
Kakashi Hatake poked his head out from the forest and spoke to Hanabi Hyuga, who was watching the Fourth Hokage's inauguration ceremony.
"Ah? Uh, yes. I am coming, Lord Sixth."
Hanabi Hyuga withdrew her gaze from Minato Namikaze in the distance, hugged Karasuki, the Otsutsuki clan treasure, and came to the deserted place Jiraiya had found for the two of them.
Then she began activating this treasure that could travel through time and space.
"Sigh. Although I borrowed Lord Jiraiya's cover recently and passed some reform plans I once tried and successfully implemented to Minato-sensei, I really do not know whether they will work in this era."
Standing inside the gradually unfolding halo, Kakashi Hatake looked at the three Hokage Rock faces in the distance and spoke with some emotion.
"Lord Sixth, you are clearly curious about where this era will go too, right?"
Hanabi Hyuga stepped into the light ring spread out by Karasuki and asked.
"Of course I am curious. After all, the intelligence we revealed has already given this era's already different historical direction even more possibilities… But after returning, I will probably seal away my own memories."
"Eh!? Why!?"
"Because I do not want to always immerse myself in fantasies and deductions about this dream."
Kakashi Hatake waved his hand and said lightly,
"But if you are interested, Hanabi, there is no harm in occasionally coming over to take a look."
"…So Lord Sixth noticed after all. That note stuffed into Karasuki's shell."
Hanabi Hyuga somewhat awkwardly took out the note Rei Kaguya had previously stuffed into Karasuki.
Looking at the four mocking words written on it—"Welcome to Visit Again"—she puffed her cheeks angrily and said,
"This is too much… He makes it sound as if he knows what our era looks like, and is also absolutely certain that he can do better than Lord Seventh and the others."
"The fact that Rei Kaguya did not choose to tyrannically take your Byakugan like Madara Uchiha would have done, but instead let us return to our own era without caring, already says a great deal about his absolute confidence in himself."
Kakashi shook his head helplessly.
"But we must admit that Rei Kaguya does have the ability to turn this world into something completely different from ours. If we occasionally come back and take a look, perhaps we really might learn something of practical value for ourselves in return."
"Lord Seventh and Sasuke-kun should seal Karasuki away, right?" Hanabi Hyuga asked worriedly.
"Who knows whether they will? If you have that thought, then go try…"
Light flashed.
Their figures vanished together with Kakashi Hatake's voice from this era that was stepping onto a brand-new track.