[Morning At Mount Myoboku]
"To master peerless martial arts~ you must endure pain ordinary people can't endure. The tea Master likes to drink is called oolong, the clothes he likes to wear are golden yellow~"
"No matter if it's blazing summer or freezing winter, I long for the sky beyond the mountain gate~"
The door of the temporary wooden hut creaked open.
"Bunta! What are you yelling about this early in the morning?! What kind of messed up song is that?!", Jiraiya walked out while yawning, dark circles hanging under his eyes like panda eyes.
Gamabunta grinned, "Hahaha, then you don't get it! This is a divine song passed down in Mount Myoboku for a thousand years!"
"Great Toad Sage Gamamaru personally taught it to me. I heard even the Sage of Six Paths hummed a few lines back then. As for who wrote it... hehe, I don't know either."
Jiraiya nodded helplessly.
Last night, he had been too excited to sleep at all.
"Alright, stop making that sour face."
"With your little body right now, you still can't withstand the backlash of senjutsu. If you force yourself to train, the natural energy will turn you into stone. First train taijutsu with me and build a solid foundation."
Bunta clapped his hands, "Okay."
Jiraiya put away his complaints, and his eyes instantly became serious.
From then on, Jiraiya began a hard life of running back and forth between two places.
Fukasaku gave him special permission to regularly return to Konoha. On one side, he teamed up with Tsunade and Orochimaru to carry out missions and gain real combat experience.
On the other side, he returned to Mount Myoboku to temper his body and comprehend natural energy.
But the restriction mark in the summoning contract was carved deep into Jiraiya's soul. He could not reveal a single word about Mount Myoboku to outsiders.
After all, it was the Great Sage's method. No one in the ninja world could undo it.
While Jiraiya focused on quietly building himself up, the undercurrents of the ninja world had already become turbulent. A storm that would sweep across the world was quietly brewing.
———
[Hidden Rain Village]
Deep within the endless curtain of rain, a man wearing an orange spiral mask leaned against the wall, his cold gaze sweeping over the young man in the middle of the training ground swinging a sickle.
It was Obito.
Back when Hanzo of the Salamander was still a child, he had transplanted the deadly salamander poison sac into his body and personally taught him a ruthless sickle style meant to kill in a single strike.
Under his secret support and manipulation, Hanzo used iron-fisted methods to wipe out every opposing force in the Land of Rain.
He forcibly twisted this small buffer nation caught between the three great countries into a single united force, completely breaking free from Konoha's control!
It became an independent power in the southwest corner of the ninja world that could not be underestimated.
Seeing this, the Hidden Sand and Hidden Cloud also began preparing for action, constantly creating friction along the borders while testing each other's limits.
As for the Hidden Stone, Onoki had only just taken power, so he was not in a hurry to make moves outward.
Only the Hidden Mist Village still kept its gates tightly shut, maintaining its isolated and mysterious posture within the endless thick fog. No one knew what was happening behind that mist.
It was said that after the death of the Second Mizukage, the Hidden Mist launched the massive Bloody Mist policy internally.
It was also said that the entire Hidden Mist Village was removing bloodline limits.
"Lord Tobi!", Hanzo of the Salamander respectfully knelt beneath Obito's feet.
Obito's low laughter sounded out, "Hehehe, ever since you repelled the Hidden Sand forces last time, the ninja world has started calling you a demigod."
"It is because my lord taught me well. Without Lord Tobi, I, Hanzo of the Salamander, would have died in the chaos of war long ago.", Hanzo spoke respectfully.
Obito smiled and casually waved his hand.
With his back facing Hanzo, "What exists between you and me is a secret. You stand in the light, I remain in the dark."
After speaking, Obito slowly clasped his hands behind his back and merged into the darkness.
Hanzo of the Salamander slightly nodded, but a faint light flashed through his eyes.
———
[Pure Land]
Arisu stepped into the Pure Land once again. The Pure Land was still the same as before. After several hundred years, not much had changed.
The only change was that it had become larger and larger.
And the team opening up the Pure Land had also become bigger and bigger.
The reason was because Arisu had previously issued an order.
Those who committed evil in life would be directly sent to expand the Pure Land.
Those guilty of lesser evils would expand the Pure Land for five years temporarily.
Those guilty of great evil would expand it forever.
At the edge of the Pure Land, Arisu gathered several commanders overseeing the expansion of the Pure Land.
In other words, the eight strongest figures of the Pure Land from back then.
Uchiha Shuhaku, Senju Hiruka, the Uzumaki clan leader, the three clan leaders of Ino-Shika-Cho, the Sarutobi clan leader, and the Shimura clan leader.
"Sage!"
The eight people respectfully bowed. They were somewhat surprised by Arisu's arrival.
After all, Arisu had not come to see them for hundreds of years.
"You all still look the same. I actually missed you guys.", Arisu looked at them with a warm smile.
The group froze slightly, somewhat overwhelmed by the favor, then shy smiles appeared on their faces.
The Sage actually missed them.
Arisu condensed nine chairs and motioned for them to sit.
"We dare not sit as equals with the Sage of Six Paths."
Everyone quickly declined.
Arisu lightly sighed and waved his hand.
"No need for that. Sit."
Only then did the eight clan leaders slowly sit down.
Afterward, Arisu chatted with them about old times, and everyone revealed nostalgic expressions.
"For all these years, I've always felt that sentencing you to expand the Pure Land forever was a bit excessive. How about this, after a while, go back. Return to your clans."
"Go properly see your families.", Arisu slowly said.
When the eight clan leaders heard this, shock appeared on all their faces.
The Sarutobi clan leader was the first to recover. His eyes reddened as he stood and cupped his fists.
"Immortal, we made mistakes, but we have reflected for many years here in the Pure Land. To receive your forgiveness is already great fortune."
"But we...", The Sarutobi clan leader hesitated.
Then the Shimura clan leader frankly explained the reason.
"We've stayed here too long already. We're used to the life of expanding the Pure Land. Besides, our relatives and children are all here. If we return to the clans, we'll probably just sit around doing nothing."
"It's better to help the Great Immortal with some work.", The Shimura clan leader said.
The other clan leaders nodded one after another, expressing the same thoughts.
If they returned to their clans, they would spend every day doing nothing, maybe chatting with political enemies or old clan elders from the past.
But things were different at the edge of the Pure Land.
After so many years of development, the team expanding the Pure Land had reached a full twenty million people!
The eight of them managed twenty million people. This was simply the peak of life.
Looking through all of world history, who had ever controlled twenty million people?
Even at their clans' peak, they only had around ten thousand members.
Even if it was only expanding the Pure Land, it still gave the eight of them the feeling of commanding thousands upon thousands of troops.
After all, twenty million people, that feeling could not be described with words.
If they went back, they would instantly lose all of this.
They would become invisible nobodies with nothing to do.
Arisu smiled slightly and instantly understood their thoughts.
After all, these people managed twenty million people. How could they casually throw that away?
"Fine. Then let's be flexible. You can continue working, and at the same time enjoy the rights of normal people. You can be more free."
"Remember, everyone in the Pure Land is equal. Don't go too far.", Arisu slowly said.