Nine years had passed. In this chaotic era filled with countless ninja clans, Konoha Village had already become a standout existence.
Everyone else was a clan, but you were a village.
It felt like everyone was still living in tribes, and suddenly, a city-state appeared.
After nine years of refinement, Konoha's unique mission system had gained widespread praise. It firmly rooted itself in the needs of civilians, daimyo, and nobles alike, becoming a trusted choice for all sides.
In terms of strength, it had advanced by leaps and bounds.
Arisu had organized Konoha to take in a large number of children from civilian families and carefully train them.
These children were still in their infancy. In a few more years, they would surely become the backbone of Konoha.
Arisu had also innovatively established the ninja academy system and formed a formal ninja army.
This broke the old barriers where ninja clans operated as separate family units. Uchiha, Hyuga, and even ninja from civilian backgrounds were all incorporated under the same army, truly achieving integration within the village.
———
[Inside the Konoha Elder Building]
Arisu wore a dark elder's robe, lightly flipping through documents on the desk, his expression calm.
Uchiha Madara and Uchiha Izuna stood to his left and right, their eyes filled with urgency.
"Great-Grandfather, when are we going to unify the entire Land of Fire?", Madara tilted his head up, his eyes full of longing as he stared straight at Arisu.
"Yeah, we've been doing missions every day. When can we go save the other suffering ninja clans in the Land of Fire?", Izuna chimed in, his tone equally eager.
The education the two of them had received was shaped by Arisu.
Konoha's teaching was that outside of Konoha, everyone else was living in hardship.
Of course, that was indeed the reality.
At this time, Madara was fourteen, and Izuna was only thirteen, right at the age full of ambition.
Arisu looked up at them, raising an eyebrow slightly. "You're still young. Why are you always asking about this?"
Izuna and Madara exchanged a glance, then spoke in unison, "Of course it's because we want to contribute to the village!"
"Great-Grandfather has made the village so strong. Why don't we go conquer them ourselves?"
Madara looked at Arisu with admiration all over his face.
"Exactly! The village is already this powerful. Why hasn't Grandfather unified the Land of Fire yet?"
Izuna nodded along, his eyes full of trust.
Konoha had been established when Madara was five. He and Izuna had personally witnessed everything Arisu had done to govern the village.
The two of them admired Arisu to the extreme.
They admired their father Tajima's strength, but they admired Arisu's ability to manage the village and strategize behind the scenes even more.
"You're still young. Even though Konoha's strength now far surpasses the surrounding clans, if we rely only on force to conquer them, those clans will resist again and again in the future."
Arisu slowed his tone and patiently taught them.
"Force is only a supplement. We need to let them truly see the benefits of joining Konoha. Only then can real unification be achieved."
The two nodded, half understanding.
But Madara suddenly changed the topic.
"Great-Grandfather is absolutely right! Then can you assign us an S-rank mission? Catching cats and finding dogs every day is just too boring!"
Uchiha Madara asked with a face full of expectation.
"Yeah, yeah! Every day, either helping old ladies catch cats or helping villagers find dogs, it's no fun at all! We want to leave the village and do real missions!"
Izuna nodded vigorously, his eyes full of excitement.
Hearing this, Arisu's expression turned slightly serious as his gaze fell on the two children. "S-rank missions are out of the question. You're too young. You haven't reached that level yet."
"A B-rank mission can be considered. However, B-rank missions involve bloodshed."
Because the original storyline had already diverged too much,
Konoha had been established early, and Arisu had always adhered to a philosophy of peaceful development.
He had never initiated war, so Madara and Izuna, even at seven or eight years old, had never seen real blood and fire. They had been protected too well.
In the original story, at this age, Uchiha Madara probably already had several lives on his hands.
But now, Uchiha Madara could only help slaughter pigs in the village during festivals.
"We're not afraid!"
Hearing the words "bloodshed," Madara's eyes instead lit up as he raised his head and replied.
"I can finally test my sword!"
Izuna immediately followed, his eyes full of excitement.
Arisu tapped his finger lightly on the desk, pondering for a moment as if weighing the decision.
At that moment, Uchiha Tajima pushed the door open and walked in.
"Grandfather, agree to it! If they stay in the village all the time and never experience hardship, they'll eventually be raised into uselessness. Without facing storms, how can they grow into towering trees?"
Uchiha Tajima entered as he spoke.
Since Konoha was established, Tajima had set aside his identity as Uchiha clan head and actively thrown himself into frontline missions.
By all rights, he didn't need to do this.
But since he wasn't skilled in governance, he chose to contribute to the village through missions instead.
Although Konoha had been established by both Arisu and Tajima, the one who truly controlled Konoha and set all its rules was ultimately Arisu.
Arisu was the true master of Konoha.
"Since you're so eager to gain experience, I'll assign you a B-rank mission."
Arisu looked at their expectant faces and understood.
After saying that, he leaned forward and flipped through the mission scrolls on the desk. His fingers quickly passed over scrolls filled with commissions, and after a moment, he selected one.
"At the border of the Land of Fire, there's a small village that has recently been frequently attacked by bandits. The villagers are poorly dressed and struggling to survive."
"They saved up for a long time to gather enough money for a commission and specifically came to seek Konoha's help."
"Seeing how difficult their situation was, I took the initiative to waive most of the fee."
As his voice fell, Arisu raised his hand and lightly tossed the mission scroll to Uchiha Madara.
Madara reached out and caught it steadily. His youthful face immediately lit up with excitement as he straightened his posture and declared loudly, "Great-Grandfather, don't worry. Izuna and I will definitely complete the mission perfectly and won't fail you!"
With that, he grabbed Izuna, who was just as delighted.
The two brothers moved briskly and immediately turned to prepare their gear.
After they left, Uchiha Tajima looked toward the doorway, and worry inevitably surfaced in his eyes.
Even though he had just encouraged them to experience hardship, Madara and Izuna were still his own flesh and blood.
They were still young, yet they were about to face danger outside. The concern in his heart couldn't be hidden.
Arisu saw this and spoke calmly to reassure him, "Rest assured. Do you still remember the Anbu I organized earlier?"
"Whenever children under the age of twelve go out on missions, elite Anbu will secretly follow them and protect them the entire time. They will never be allowed to fall into real danger."
At this time, in this era of chaos, there were no ninja villages across the nations.
The Anbu established by Arisu had, at present, the core responsibility of secretly protecting Konoha teams on missions, preventing all kinds of unexpected dangers.
Hearing this, Uchiha Tajima's tightly furrowed brows immediately relaxed. The tension in his expression completely eased, and he said sincerely, "Grandfather truly thinks of everything. I was worrying too much."
The two looked at each other and both smiled faintly.