The Situation in the Ninja World

"Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu!"

Amid agonized screams, the sacrifice was gradually wrapped in scraps of paper, then took on Hashirama Senju’s appearance.

"Why is it you again, young man?"

When Hashirama Senju regained consciousness and saw Hyuga Mirai before him, his face immediately twisted in pain. "Though I’m relieved you didn’t use this Forbidden Technique in war, isn’t making me use Wood Release to cultivate crops for months on end a little too cruel for an old senior…?"

Day and night without rest—after ripening one batch of medicinal herbs, he had to immediately move on to the next. Hashirama Senju was also responsible for planting, harvesting, drying, storage, and a whole series of other tasks. Even at night, he remained endlessly busy.

There was no one else at the Whirlpool Country Plantation besides him. Whenever Hashirama Senju thought back on it now, those days felt utterly terrifying—far worse than the endless official business he had dealt with as Hokage.

Endless work, all alone, and his body was not even under his control.

Hyuga Mirai comforted him, "First Lord, every medicinal herb you cultivate can cure illnesses and save lives. Think about it—how many lives can a plantation spanning tens of thousands of acres save? This matter cannot be delayed."

"Saving lives? I see. Then I really should work harder, but even so—"

Hyuga Mirai said, "Fine. I’ll have the Second Hokage help you. You’ll get twenty minutes every day to rest and chat."

"Really? It’s a deal, young man."

Seeing Hyuga Mirai’s expression, Hashirama Senju knew this was the absolute limit of what he could negotiate. The Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu had originally been a technique Tobirama invented to summon the dead to fight for him, but being used by this Hyuga Clan’s young man for planting and cultivation was not such a bad thing.

At the very least, his will had not been erased and he had not been turned into a tool for starting wars.

As for continuing the planting, with Tobirama Senju accompanying him, the next few months would not be quite so boring.

Hyuga Mirai had already planned to reincarnate Tobirama Senju again. His Flying Thunder God Technique was the best transportation method. Once Flying Thunder God Marks were left at Orochimaru’s, Sasori’s, and several other bases in the Land of Fire, it would be equivalent to having a spatial teleportation array.

However, Tobirama Senju’s sacrifice needed careful study. Not only did it require a Hashirama Cells experimental subject, but the sacrifice’s physical strength also had to be increased, so Tobirama Senju would not die of "exhaustion" in the Ninja World.

As for other Edo Tensei Bodies, Hyuga Mirai had no plans to consider them for now. Controlling too many Edo Tensei Bodies would affect him to some extent, and it would also increase the chances of Tobirama Senju breaking free.

Hyuga Mirai had been collecting the flesh and blood of previous Kage, but unless war broke out, he would not summon a large number of Edo Tensei Bodies at once.

After arranging matters for Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senju, Hyuga Mirai went to develop ninjutsu.

Ever since he had successfully researched the Method of cultivating Nine-Tails Chakra, he had been studying the Improvement of Spirit Transformation Technique.

Tailed Beast Chakra was far too immense. However, after training, a Jinchuriki could gradually gain control over Tailed Beast Chakra. Yet when using Tailed Beast Chakra, it was difficult to control other Chakra at the same time, so Hyuga Mirai intended to use the Improvement of Spirit Transformation Technique to artificially create a Tailed Beast’s consciousness.

One of the major abilities of Tenseigan Chakra Mode was creating a Mental sphere capable of controlling people. Hyuga Mirai planned to improve the Spirit Transformation Technique based on that principle.

After all, many of Hyuga Mirai’s subordinates would become Pseudo Nine-Tails Jinchuriki in the future. Once he improved the Spirit Transformation Technique, he could create many Perfect Jinchuriki.

"Ninjutsu involving Yin-Yang Release really isn’t simple."

Hyuga Mirai pondered this. Improving the Spirit Transformation Technique required consideration from many angles, including the principles of ninjutsu, the Characteristics of Yin Release Chakra, and hand seals. Among them, Yin Release Chakra, as the foundation carrying the technique, was especially crucial.

After researching for one or two months, Hyuga Mirai had barely formed a few ideas, but he still needed many more attempts.

"Sir, news has arrived from the Land of Fire," Android 18 suddenly reported to Hyuga Mirai.

"What is it?"

"Konoha and Daimyo Manor reached an agreement. They will no longer pursue anyone other than you and Uzumaki Ayaka, nor will they interfere with Uzumaki Company’s normal business activities. If they successfully capture you and Uzumaki Ayaka, Daimyo Manor’s people must participate in the interrogation."

Hyuga Mirai chuckled when he heard that. "It seems Sarutobi Hiruzen has truly become much more timid after Namikaze Minato’s death. I thought they would be tougher… But the Land of Fire Daimyo has also grown greedy for Uzumaki Company. Ignore him for now. We’ll deal with him later."

Things like Daimyo and nobles had already made it onto Hyuga Mirai’s blacklist. In the future, they were destined to be swept into the trash heap.

"Proceed according to the original plan. We can gradually begin selling certain goods to the Land of Fire, but first, slowly wrest the power control rights and road rights away from the Daimyo."

Android 18 immediately replied, "Understood, sir. Also, Kumo-nin and Konoha have fought three battles in Hot Spring Country, involving 630 people. The detailed footage has already been sent to your terminal."

Hyuga Mirai pulled up the footage on his wristwatch and found it extremely clear, though it was filmed from an aerial perspective.

"How many Satellites have been launched, Android 18?"

"The third is currently being prepared, sir. Eighty percent of their time is spent monitoring the moon, but the situation inside the Moon structure remains unknown. The next step will be to launch an Exploration robot toward the moon in twelve days to gather detailed intelligence."

Hyuga Mirai nodded. Anything he entrusted to Android 18 put him at ease. So far, she had not made a single mistake.

"Then I’ll leave it to you, Android 18. Once the intelligence has been gathered, compile it and give it to me. After that, begin preparations for the Moon landing."

There was not much to prepare for the Moon landing. As long as he could deceive Otsutsuki Toneri and keep him from using that enormous Tenseigan, everything afterward would be easy.

The current Otsutsuki Toneri was absolutely no match for Hyuga Mirai. He did not even have his eyes.

"Continue researching the Spirit Transformation Technique."

Afterward, Hyuga Mirai plunged headfirst into the Laboratory, intending to complete the Improvement of Spirit Transformation Technique as soon as possible.

Within the Ninja World, only Hot Spring Country and River Country remained relatively unsettled. After Namikaze Minato’s death, Suna-nin and Kumo-nin had indeed wanted to profit from Konoha’s weakness. However, Sarutobi Hiruzen had rarely taken a hard line, directly deploying many Ninja to the borders and even sending out half the Anbu teams.

Jiraiya was stationed on the River Country side. The Ninja troop under his command had clashed with Kumo-nin several times. Even when Fourth Raikage A arrived at the Hot Spring Country battlefield, he had failed to gain any advantage against Jiraiya.

In terms of speed, Jiraiya was inferior to Namikaze Minato, but his strength lay in his balance, and he also had the Summoning beasts of Mount Myoboku. Unless the Raikage intended to start a full-scale war, defeating Jiraiya would be difficult.

However, Kumo-nin could not possibly wage a full-scale war against Konoha. Iwa-nin lay beside both countries. During the last Shinobi World War, Iwa-nin had failed to gain any advantage from Konoha. This time, they might set their sights on Kumo-nin instead.

Moreover, the two Ninja Villages bore a deep grudge against each other. The Third Raikage had died at Iwa-nin’s hands, while many Iwa-nin had also died at Kumo-nin’s hands. The hatred between the two Ninja Villages could not be erased.

Ōnoki had even spent money at the Underground Money Exchange to hire several powerful Rogue ninja to target Kumo-nin.

Precisely because Iwa-nin stood nearby, the Fourth Raikage did not dare launch a full-scale offensive against Konoha. Yet he was unwilling to give up, and so the war situation remained deadlocked.

As for River Country, they had forcefully repelled the probing Suna-nin.

The Probe troop Rasa had just dispatched encountered a head-on blow from Konoha. Of the sixty-man force, only a dozen or so escaped after a fierce battle.

Konoha’s River Country outpost.

The vanguard troop dispatched from the village was recuperating here. Having just forcefully repelled the Suna-nin troop, quite a few Ninja in the vanguard troop had suffered injuries. Until the envoy sent to Suna-nin returned, Konoha’s Ninja would rest here.

"Kiyomi-sama, please have some water."

A Branch Family guard respectfully held out water to Hyuga Kiyomi.

As time passed, Hyuga Mirai’s nearly taboo name was no longer mentioned within the Hyūga Clan, as though it had been forgotten.

The Branch Family affiliated with the Fourth Elder’s line had gradually come to deeply admire Hyuga Kiyomi, the future Main House Elder.

Whether in her methods of managing people or her own conduct, Hyuga Kiyomi displayed maturity far beyond her age. For example, during the battle against Suna-nin just now, Hyuga Kiyomi alone had held back an enemy Jonin squad. Before the Branch Family Guards could reinforce her, she had already killed the Suna-nin Jonin.

Though she had also been injured, Hyuga Kiyomi had earned the Branch Family’s heartfelt conviction through both her strength and her ability to lead by example.

Hyuga Nakaichi of the Branch Family spoke up. "Kiyomi-sama, I’m deeply sorry. We failed to reinforce you in time just now—"

Hyuga Kiyomi calmly interrupted him. "It wasn’t your fault. If I had been held up by a Puppet Master, I would not have been able to break free quickly either."

"Kiyomi-sama, why don’t we escort you back to the village next? With your status and achievements, I believe no one else would say anything."

"No. Only through fighting can I improve my strength, and these injuries aren’t serious enough for me to return to Konoha." Hyuga Kiyomi shook her head and refused. Improving her strength in the village was far too slow. The battlefield was where she could advance more quickly.

"But—"

"We’ll do it this way. No one will question it after we return."

Hyuga Kiyomi slowly closed her eyes and made her decision decisively.

She had just faced only one Jonin and three Genin, yet they had still inflicted considerable injuries on her. Though possessing such strength at Hyuga Kiyomi’s age was already extremely rare in Konoha, before that person, her strength was still far from enough.

Thinking of those scenes in her memories, as well as the intelligence her grandfather had obtained through the Clan Head, Hyuga Kiyomi’s heart was filled with unwillingness.

Too slow!

At this rate, she feared she would never catch up to that person in her lifetime.

Chapter One!