The Hokage Rock?
From now on, it would likely be called the Mizukage Rock.
A look of mild sentimentality passed over Konan's face, but it quickly returned to its usual mask of calm as she continued deeper into the village.
Walking along the somewhat sparse streets, Konan surveyed her surroundings, a contemplative expression flickering across her features.
The streets of Hidden Mist–Second Village had few pedestrians, and those who were present walked quickly with purpose.
But among them, Konan noticed some whose eyes held both curiosity and admiration.
Judging by their clothing, these were clearly not former residents of Konoha.
Along both sides of the street, numerous buildings were under repair and reconstruction. Workers toiled with vigorous energy.
What surprised Konan most was the occasional sight of children running and playing through the streets.
This scene left Konan's face marked with both astonishment and puzzlement.
Having experienced war firsthand, Konan understood the devastation and suffering it brought better than anyone.
The Konoha before her was certainly not as prosperous as it had been before the war. A faint air of desolation still lingered.
But Konan could clearly sense that within this desolation, there was also a pulse of vitality.
She could see that the pedestrians hurrying along the street did not display excessive fear or hatred. There was mostly a sense of uncertainty in their faces.
This was something Konan had never expected.
She had seen countless villages ravaged by war. Not one had ever looked like this–free from the shroud of hatred, desolation, destruction, and misery.
"Is this what you meant by 'unification'?"
Konan stood in the middle of the road. Her face maintained its expressionless mask, but her eyes shone faintly.
After a brief moment of contemplation.
Konan raised her stride and headed toward the former Hokage building.
The closer she got to the center of the Hidden Mist–Second Village, the more Hidden Mist shinobi she saw, all working busily.
A guard patrol team noticed Konan heading toward the office building and studied her briefly.
From the Hidden Rain Village?
The patrol leader paused in surprise. He was curious about what someone from the Hidden Rain was doing here at this time, but he didn't stop her.
The patrol shinobi returned to their rounds.
Konan entered the former Hokage building, went directly to the second floor, and knocked twice.
"Come in."
A calm voice came from within the room.
It was Yuto's voice.
Konan opened the door and walked straight in.
Inside the office, besides Yuto, Chōjūrō stood at one side.
"Oh, you've arrived."
Yuto looked up at Konan, a gentle smile on his face.
The moment Konan had entered the Hidden Mist–Second Village, Yuto had received word. He wasn't surprised.
"Lady Konan." Chōjūrō also turned to look at her, offering a quiet greeting.
"Is something the matter, arriving so suddenly?"
Yuto's face held a hint of curiosity.
"I wanted to see what Konoha looks like after the war. And the ideals behind your so-called unification."
Konan regarded Yuto with a deep, unreadable look.
Before this.
In Konan's view, Nagato's philosophy and Yuto's philosophy had been fundamentally the same.
Nagato had sought to control the Tailed Beasts' power to create a deterrent that would bring peace.
Yuto's "unification" seemed, in her mind, to rely on the same thing–overwhelming military force. There appeared to be no difference in essence.
But only after entering the former Konoha did Konan realize the two were profoundly different.
Hearing Konan's words, Yuto raised an eyebrow slightly, a smile playing on his lips.
He recognized that help had arrived. He could finally relax a bit.
"I want to know why the civilians on the street don't show the panic one would expect."
"Why haven't the former Konoha residents developed hostility toward the Hidden Mist?"
"Doesn't war bring suffering, hatred, and decay? But I've seen none of that as I walked through."
Konan's face showed both excitement and curiosity, her eyes locked on Yuto.
Facing Konan's barrage of questions, Chōjūrō, standing by the desk, shot a strange glance at Lord Yuto's expression.
Chōjūrō knew that his Lord had found someone willing to take on most of his workload again.
"These questions aren't easy to answer."
Yuto stroked his chin, seemingly considering how to respond.
Konan looked at him expectantly, her face alight with curiosity.
"Before I answer, you must have noticed the civilians walking around the village entrance and the streets."
"Normally, after a war, civilians would be hiding. At the very least, they wouldn't be as active as what you've observed."
Yuto smiled as he spoke to Konan.
Konan nodded firmly. This was exactly what had puzzled her.
During shinobi wars, civilians were typically the most vulnerable.
In any conflict, shinobi showed little regard for civilian lives, let alone when the enemy had taken over one's village.
Even with Tsunade, the former Hokage, providing reassurance, it was unreasonable to expect the civilians to adapt so quickly.
"That's because I relocated a portion of the Hidden Mist Village's population here."
Yuto smiled at Konan's curious expression.
Relocating Hidden Mist civilians to the former Konoha?
Such a method existed!
Konan's eyes brightened as realization dawned on her face.
"Of course, there were many other measures involved."
Yuto smiled lightly, then shifted his tone, a brilliant grin spreading across his face:
"But those measures can't be explained in words alone. If you want to know, you're welcome to stay and participate directly."
Hearing this, a look of surprise and delight appeared on Konan's face.
Having experienced war, Konan understood civilian suffering better than anyone.
How could she refuse such an invitation?
"Would that be permissible? This is, after all, the Hidden Mist's policy."
Konan's usually calm face showed a rare hint of nervousness.
Watching the typically composed Konan now display such an expression, Yuto suddenly found her rather endearing.
"Of course there's no problem."
Yuto's face immediately turned serious.
He was desperately short of personnel. With someone finally willing to help, how could he refuse?
"By the way, there's something I wanted to ask. Would the Hidden Rain Village be interested in–"
Yuto seemed to recall something and spoke suddenly.
Konan tilted her head slightly, waiting for him to continue.
"Would the residents of the Hidden Rain Village like to relocate here, to the Hidden Mist–Second Village?"
Yuto's smile was warm as he asked softly.
The moment these words left his mouth.
Konan froze in place. Her light amber eyes widened involuntarily.
"To Konoha… no, to the Hidden Mist–Second Village?"
Konan repeated Yuto's words in disbelief.
"That's right."
"When the Hidden Mist relocated its civilians here, it solved some problems but also created others."
"Having conquered Konoha, some Hidden Mist civilians naturally came to view themselves as superior to the former Konoha residents."
"This might not be apparent now, but over time, this friction will inevitably arise. So I plan to bring in civilians from other villages as well. This will significantly reduce such tensions."
Yuto scratched his head with a helpless expression.
This kind of conflict was unavoidable.
It was simply human nature, and there was no way to eliminate it entirely.
Of course, Yuto had no intention of completely eradicating these tensions. Every coin had two sides.
As long as the friction remained within a manageable range, it wasn't conflict–it was a form of healthy competition.
"What's wrong? Not interested?"
Yuto asked Konan, who stood in a daze.
"No–yes, I'm interested."
Konan's voice trembled slightly with excitement.
The Land of Fire was among the shinobi world's most resource-rich nations, and Konoha occupied its prime location. It was a true treasure of a place.
The Hidden Rain Village–perpetually rain-soaked, the ground always smelling of mildew–couldn't compare to Konoha in any respect.
For the village's civilians to relocate here would be an incredible blessing.
As the village's leader, Konan genuinely wished for her people to live better lives.
Of course, if the Hidden Rain's civilians moved to the Hidden Mist–Second Village, the relationship between the two villages would no longer be a simple alliance.
Konan understood this clearly.
But she didn't mind. From the moment Yuto had revived Nagato and granted the Hidden Rain protection from Uchiha Madara's attacks, the Hidden Rain had already become the Hidden Mist's vassal.
The term "alliance" was merely a prettier name for it.
Both Nagato and Konan genuinely wished for their civilians to live better.
As for everything else, neither cared much.
"In that case, I'm delighted."
Yuto smiled at Konan, then slid the massive stack of documents across the desk toward her.
"Those questions you raised can all be answered in these files."
Yuto stretched with a brilliant smile.
Konan stared at the half-man-high stack of documents in front of her and realized she had just been set up.
Yuto quickly adopted an innocent expression while casting a glance at Chōjūrō, who stood to the side with a peculiar look.
Chōjūrō promptly lowered his head.
Though Yuto's face remained perfectly composed, inwardly he was close to laughing aloud. With Konan's help, he could finally slack off.
While Yuto and the others rebuilt the Hidden Mist–Second Village.
The entire shinobi world seethed with hidden currents over Konoha's fall.
The Konoha fugitives–Jiraiya, Naruto, and the others–had fled the Land of Fire at top speed, heading toward remote minor villages or even nations without shinobi settlements.
Over these past days, Orochimaru, revived through his Curse Mark, had also made contact with Jiraiya and the other fleeing Konoha shinobi.
Those who had managed to escape Konoha were elites among elites. Combined with the seedlings preserved by various clans, their numbers were small but represented an unstoppable force for minor nations.
So Jiraiya and his companions swiftly seized a small nation near the sea's edge, spending a half-day to establish control.
Of course, facing the Hidden Mist's bounties and the pursuit of the Hidden Mist's assassination corps.
Jiraiya's group remained extremely cautious. Though they had taken the nation, there were no overt changes on the surface. All their forces remained hidden.
After completing these preparations.
Just as Jiraiya and the others were about to secretly contact the Fire Daimyo.
A shocking event erupted across the shinobi world!
Konoha Year 61, June 17th!
The Fire Daimyo was assassinated by a warrior who should have been his bodyguard, sending shockwaves through the entire upper echelon of the Land of Fire.
Four days later.
On June 21st of Konoha Year 61!
The Land of Water and the Land of Earth simultaneously declared war on the Land of Fire. The shinobi world was shaken!
This marked the first time since the establishment of the Five Great Shinobi Villages that entire nations had openly entered the conflict.
This development caught most people off guard and struck many as inconceivable.
Previously, wars had been fought between shinobi. The great nations provided support from the shadows–food, money, weapons, and supplies.
This first open warfare between nations left many in a state of bewilderment.
Massive armies of soldiers marched toward the Land of Fire!
Though these soldiers were ordinary people–even the weakest genin could easily handle four or five of them–their sheer numbers were staggering.
They vastly exceeded the number of shinobi, by multiples or even tens of times!
A sea of soldiers poured into the Land of Fire. Just when everyone expected another drawn-out war.
The Hidden Mist and Hidden Stone villages deployed shinobi to assassinate the Land of Fire's high-ranking officials.
Without Konoha as a shield, though the Land of Fire still had some shinobi, they couldn't withstand the elite jōnin sent by both villages.
Minister after minister was assassinated.
In less than two days, with no leadership to coordinate resistance, the entire Land of Fire collapsed.
The Land of Water and the Land of Earth swiftly advanced, seizing territory.
It was only then that everyone realized.
The massive armies of the Land of Water and the Land of Earth had been deployed for one purpose–rapid territorial conquest.
Konoha Year 61, June 24th.
With the Fire Daimyo and his cabinet ministers all assassinated, the Land of Fire fell!
[
Dear Readers,
I hope you are doing well. I am writing to you today because things have become genuinely difficult, and I need to be honest about where I stand.
I am currently posting five to seven chapters every day across my active fictions, keeping up with bonus releases and extra chapters on top of that. The schedule is relentless, and I am putting in everything I have to make sure nobody is left waiting.
Going forward, I am also bringing more quality fictions to the table — unfound gems and hidden stories that deserve a wider audience. I want to keep expanding what is available for you to read, but I cannot do it alone.
Right now, my financial situation has dropped to the lowest point it has ever been. Patreon support is not just helpful anymore — it is what keeps this work alive. Without it, I do not know how long I can sustain this daily output or continue hunting down those new stories for you.
If you have been reading and enjoying the work, please consider joining a tier. I have increased what each tier offers so that your support goes further:
Adventurer — $3 per month
20 chapters in advance for all of my works
Warrior — $7 per month
40 chapters in advance for all of my works
Immortal — $10 per month (Highlighted Tier)
60 chapters in advance for all of my works
Access to character images
Important note: Subscribing through the Apple App adds an extra 30 percent fee due to Apple/Patreon policy. Please subscribe through your browser to avoid the extra charge. Apple also processes payments very late — two to three months — which makes it much harder for me to receive funds quickly when I need them most.
I am pleading with you because I need your help right now. Your support would let me keep the daily releases going, keep the early access flowing, and keep bringing you those new, quality fictions I have lined up. It would keep my head above water while I do what I love.
If you cannot subscribe, sharing the work with others who might enjoy it still helps more than you know.
Thank you for reading, and thank you for your time.
Patreon: patreon.com/anish_44
Ko-fi: ko-fi.com/anish_44
]