Arisu's image of light paused slightly in the void, then silently turned toward the back of the Ninshu's main hall.
In the backyard, sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting dappled shadows.
Three-year-old Senju Shuichi was squatting beside the stone steps, his little hands holding several smooth pebbles, which he carefully lined up in a row. He was also mumbling something indistinctly.
Not far away, two servants and a guard stood quietly on watch, not daring to disturb the young master's play.
The air suddenly seemed to tighten slightly.
Arisu's figure silently landed beneath the shade of the tree opposite Shuichi.
Standing with his hands behind his back, his robes unmoving, his calm gaze settled on the child.
In the entire backyard, only Shuichi could see him.
"Huh?"
Shuichi's movements suddenly stopped.
His little hand still held the stone, but he slowly raised his head. His still-clear black eyes suddenly widened, as if he had seen something unbelievable.
"Who are you?"
His voice was childish, but there was a trace of instinctive wariness in it.
The servant and guard beside him both froze at the same time, looking at each other.
The young master had clearly been playing with stones just now. Why had he suddenly started talking to a completely empty space?
The guard immediately stepped forward and asked in a low voice, "Young master, who are you talking to?"
The servant hurriedly crouched down as well and followed Shuichi's gaze. There was nothing there, only the rustling of leaves as the wind passed through them.
Shuichi, however, continued staring fixedly at that image of light, his little hand tightly gripping the pebble, as if confirming whether the person before him truly existed.
Arisu did not speak.
He merely looked at Shuichi quietly.
After a moment, the image of light flickered slightly before completely disappearing.
Shuichi blinked and reached out to grab it, but only caught a wisp of empty air.
"He's gone?", Shuichi murmured softly, only to be picked up by the servant, who immediately began asking whether he felt uncomfortable anywhere.
"You take the young master away first. I'll look around."
The guard quickly scanned the surroundings, spreading his chakra out finely, but found nothing.
The backyard returned to silence.
Only the three-year-old child still subconsciously looked back toward the place where the image of light had disappeared, a trace of inexplicable confusion in his eyes.
———
Sarutobi stood alone in his residence.
He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled.
The will of the god had already been delivered.
The Ninshu had to disband.
He opened his eyes, and his gaze gradually became calm.
That night, Sarutobi began making his arrangements.
The first step was extremely subtle.
Under the name of "redistributing resources after the war," he summoned several core elders.
On the surface, they were discussing the allocation of supplies along the borders, but during the meeting, he intentionally brought up, seemingly casually, the fact that several elders of the war faction had "too much military merit" from the recent battles, and the rewards they had received far exceeded those of the peace faction.
The expressions of the peace faction elders changed slightly.
The war faction remained silent, but their eyes already carried a trace of wariness.
Sarutobi did not pursue the matter. He merely brought the meeting to a light conclusion, allowing it to end in superficial "harmony."
But the seed had already been planted.
Over the next half month, he summoned the middle-ranking disciples in batches.
To those from the war faction, he privately mentioned that "the elders of the peace faction seem to be secretly restricting supplies to the front lines."
To those from the peace faction, he hinted that "some disciples of the war faction have been killing innocent people indiscriminately at the border, which may bring about an even greater war."
Suspicion quietly began to spread within the Ninshu.
The elders met less and less often, while exchanges between the disciples gradually became probing.
Disputes began to arise over who should receive credit for the military achievements reported from the border.
Some said a certain victory had been won through the war faction's fierce fighting, while others insisted it was the peace faction's strategy that deserved the credit.
Arguments slowly moved from private discussions into the open.
Sitting in his room, Sarutobi listened to his subordinates report these "naturally occurring" rifts, without a trace of a smile on his lips.
Sarutobi merely said quietly to himself, "Continue."
"Let it go a little deeper."
"Deep enough that it can never be healed again."
———
Outside the window, the night was deep.
The Ninshu's semi-unified state was slowly sliding toward collapse under his own hands.
Time passed silently.
Sarutobi did not rush things.
He was like a patient chess player, planting cracks within the Ninshu inch by inch.
The Senju clan was the main clan of the Ninshu, and also one of Ashura's descendants.
(PS: The Senju and Uzumaki are both descendants of Ashura.)
Taking advantage of the name of "fair distribution," Sarutobi repeatedly proposed at elder meetings that "the front lines are consuming too many resources, so the Senju's share of supplies should be reduced appropriately to balance the various clans."
As soon as he finished speaking, the Senju elder's expression darkened, while the other clansmen looked thoughtful, with quite a few showing satisfied smiles.
The Hagoromo clan already had a hidden connection to Indra's lineage and had always been dissatisfied with the Ninshu's internal tendency toward "peace."
Whenever Sarutobi privately summoned the Hagoromo elders, he would constantly fan the flames.
The Uzumaki clan was skilled in sealing and sensing techniques, occupying a key position in logistics and intelligence.
Sarutobi deliberately allowed several important pieces of border intelligence to be "delayed," then afterward skillfully shifted the blame onto the Uzumaki disciples' "negligence."
The Uzumaki elder was furious, while the Senju and Sarutobi could only "express their regret." Suspicion took root from then on.
The three clans of the Pig, Deer, and Butterfly had always been closely connected and were originally the most stable alliance within the Ninshu.
Sarutobi felt there was no need to sow discord between them. The three clans were practically one clan.
As for his own clansmen, he deliberately had them maintain a stance of "neutrality" during every conflict.
They neither took sides nor expressed their position, only "mediating" at critical moments.
Thus, when the various clans began to suspect one another, the Sarutobi clan instead became the only existence that all sides could still reluctantly trust.
The cracks expanded little by little like this.
From private complaints at the beginning, to open confrontation at elder meetings.
From disputes over resource allocation, to public quarrels over who deserved credit for border battles.
From cold looks between disciples, to the various clans beginning to secretly train "in case of unforeseen circumstances."
The Ninshu's outer shell of semi-unity was collapsing from within.
Time reached the year Senju Shuichi turned fourteen.
The young man's chakra was already powerful, and his temperament was steady.
He vaguely sensed that something was wrong with the atmosphere within the clan, but he could never find the true source.
That day, Sarutobi summoned all the core elders and representatives of the various clans.
The atmosphere inside the main hall was so oppressive that it was almost frozen.
Sarutobi stood at the highest point. His voice was calm, yet carried an unquestionable weight.
"Over these years, the cracks between the various clans can no longer be hidden.
"Continuing to maintain this superficial unity will only allow hatred to keep brewing in the shadows, until it eventually erupts even more completely."
"To avoid even greater bloodshed..."
"I, Sarutobi, in the name of the current leader of the Ninshu, hereby officially announce..."
"The Ninshu, is disbanded."
As his words fell, the hall fell into complete silence.
The next second, everyone shouted long live, their hearts filled with joy, feeling that Sarutobi was wise and enlightened.
The Senju clan leader looked as though a spring breeze had brushed across his face. With a wave of his hand, he led a group of clansmen away. The Hagoromo representative let out a cold laugh.
The Uzumaki clan leader left with his clansmen in high spirits, while the people of the Pig, Deer, and Butterfly clans exchanged a glance, their expressions complicated.