"So the Raikage isn't stupid after all. He actually knows how to retreat?"
After discovering that Fox had brought two thousand Konoha ninja to reinforce the Land of Hot Water front, the Cloud ninja immediately withdrew.
Meanwhile, Konoha advanced in great strides.
Yako had expected the Konoha forces to fight a major battle beneath the capital of the Land of the Moon.
But he had underestimated the Raikage's resolve.
The Raikage had abandoned the capital of the Land of the Moon.
Not only that, he had evacuated the Daimyo family and the major noble families of the Land of the Moon, denying Fox the opportunity to massacre another castle city.
Standing before the castle gates, Yako decided not to pursue the Cloud immediately.
Instead, he would first absorb the Land of the Moon.
Establishing a joint government and building the teleportation shrine system would take over a month.
The Konoha ninja began rotating into rest periods.
One of the palace halls within the castle became the temporary command headquarters for the Konoha forces.
Team Kakashi entered the hall, and Kakashi anxiously said:
"Teacher Minato! I've already completed Lightning Release chakra refinement. There's no need for me to return to the village for rest."
Only brutal combat and near-death experiences allowed surviving ninja to rapidly grow stronger.
Through intense battles against the Cloud ninja, fourteen-year-old Kakashi had already begun mastering the White Fang's greatest techniques and possessed Kage-level strength.
Minato smiled.
"Kakashi, don't rush.
All Konoha ninja will rotate through rest periods. Before the final battle with Kumogakure begins, we must make complete preparations.
Long-term tension and exhaustion are not good for maintaining peak combat strength.
The situation has changed now. The three of you only need to go to the shrine and can instantly return to Konoha.
When the decisive battle begins, the village will dispatch elite ninja to the front again. You can return at that time."
Hearing that, Kakashi stopped arguing.
He keenly realized something.
Perhaps he would never again experience a shinobi world war.
Konoha was spreading its influence through every nation with overwhelming power.
Uchiha Hato noticed that Clan Leader Uchiha Fugaku was absent from headquarters and asked:
"Teacher Minato, how is the village handling things now? I noticed there's a police division in the capital of the Land of the Moon too.
What's the difference between this police division and the Konoha Military Police Force controlled by the Uchiha clan?
Why wasn't the Uchiha clan put in charge of this police division?"
Minato replied:
"As the enforcers within Konoha Village, the Military Police Force has long been resented by the villagers.
By establishing an entirely new police system, Lord Fox has resolved the conflict between the Uchiha police force and the village.
The Uchiha clan no longer needs to remain bound to the Konoha police force. Instead, they will join all Konoha ninja in becoming part of the police system across the entire shinobi world.
Konoha has police divisions.
The capital of the Land of the Moon has police divisions as well.
Above all local police divisions, Konoha has established a Central Police Headquarters.
The Hokage serves as the Director of Central Police Headquarters, while Clan Leader Fugaku serves as Deputy Director.
Kakashi, Rin, Hato, you've stayed on the frontlines too long.
It's time for you to return to the village and see how much it has changed."
Hato did not fully understand, but the title "Central Police Headquarters" sounded extremely impressive.
After receiving their leave documents, the three left the command hall and headed to the large palace beneath the castle's northern gate.
This palace had a huge plaza where the Daimyo of the Land of the Moon once reviewed his samurai troops. Since it was easy to evacuate people there, it had been converted into a shrine.
Inside the shrine, Rin and Hato placed their hands on Kakashi's shoulders while Kakashi pointed at the location marked as Konoha on the shinobi world map scroll.
The three instantly vanished and returned to Konoha Village.
As they walked out of Konoha's shrine, Uchiha Hato pointed east in surprise.
"Look! Someone's tearing down Konoha's walls!"
Kakashi looked in the direction Hato pointed and saw ninja dismantling the village walls.
Rin said:
"Don't panic, Hato. Look at the construction barriers—they all bear the village's markings. This is an official project."
As the three walked through Konoha's streets, they discovered the village had become extremely crowded. There were people everywhere.
After thinking for a moment, Kakashi said:
"Konoha controls every nation except the Land of Lightning and the Land of Iron. Every capital and major city now has teleportation shrines.
I suppose these people are government workers from other countries coming to Konoha on official business."
When they arrived at the Hokage Building to submit their leave documents, they saw the Fourth Hokage, Tsunade, waiting outside with her assistants.
Then a group approached from the distance.
It was someone being personally accompanied by Lord Fox.
Who could possibly deserve Lord Fox personally welcoming them at the village gates?
Looking carefully, Kakashi saw the person wore the Kazekage hat and ceremonial robes.
It was the Fifth Kazekage, Pakura.
From the surrounding conversations, they learned that today was the day Sunagakure would formally sign an agreement with Konoha.
Sunagakure had already established teleportation shrines.
The capital of the Land of Wind and its four major cities would have police divisions established by Konoha.
After hearing the terms of the agreement, Rin said:
"Sunagakure practically surrendered voluntarily to Konoha, yet the agreement is exactly the same as those signed by Iwagakure and Kirigakure after being completely defeated."
Kakashi replied:
"The will of the higher-ups is as cold and hard as steel. In Konoha's plans, there is no room for exceptions in the shinobi world—not even for Sunagakure, which voluntarily sided with Konoha."
Hato stared at Fox.
"When will I ever become as strong as Lord Fox? There's still a war going on in the Land of the Moon, yet it doesn't stop him from returning to the village to attend important ceremonies."
After submitting their scrolls, the three went their separate ways.
As Kakashi passed by the Ninja Academy, a child bumped into him.
The child wore silk robes styled like noble clothing.
Kakashi found it odd.
There were still nobles around?
Weren't all the nobles wiped out by Konoha?
Still, Kakashi paid the child no mind. Perhaps the boy simply liked noble clothing.
Kojii Yoru quickly apologized.
"I'm sorry! I was in too much of a hurry and didn't notice you!"
After apologizing, Kojii Yoru hurried off again.
Kakashi also turned to leave, then frowned.
That child looked like he was still attending the Ninja Academy—at most a third-year student.
So why was he so strong?
Normally, even if Kakashi had been careless, his muscle memory alone should have prevented a child from colliding with him.
Curious, Kakashi turned back to look at the child's retreating figure, only to find he had already vanished from sight.
Yoru soon spotted a courtyard with the plaque "Kojii" hanging outside.
This was the residence the Kojii family had purchased in Konoha.
Rushing into the main hall, Yoru saw his mother, Kojii Chisa.
"Mother! I heard that—"
Chisa interrupted calmly.
"Don't rush, Yoru. Speak slowly."
"Mother! Did our Kojii family really give up the Land of Rivers? Did we really hand it over to some kind of joint government?"
Chisa answered:
"Yoru, this is the inevitable trend of the shinobi world. Our Kojii family was the first family to voluntarily abandon the title of Daimyo.
The Fire Daimyo family was exterminated. The Grass Daimyo family that refused to submit was exterminated as well.
Only our family and the Hot Water Daimyo family surrendered to Konoha beforehand.
This was not done merely to preserve our lives or retain some wealth.
We simply cannot oppose the tide of history. Do you understand?"
Yoru clearly could not accept his mother's explanation.
Looking at her as though she had become a stranger, he turned and fled from the Kojii residence.
Yako appeared behind Chisa in an instant and shook his head.
"Yoru is still young. Hopefully once he grows older, he'll abandon the meaningless superiority brought by noble status."
That night, Yako was leaving Chisa's room and heading toward the inn where Pakura was staying.
Quite a few ANBU ninja were leaping across the rooftops throughout the village.
Yako stopped one of the ANBU and asked what had happened.
"Lord Fox! Lord White Ram has been searching for you!
Lord Jiraiya has left the village. He took a child with him. According to the ANBU investigation, that child is Kojii Yoru, formerly a noble of the Land of Rivers."
Yako froze.
He looked up at the crescent moon in the night sky.
Those souls unwilling to die had finally begun making their moves.
Jiraiya had taken away the Child of Prophecy and begun cultivating Asura's reincarnation…
What a familiar plot.
Then where was Indra's reincarnation?