Chapter 337: The Ceremony Begins
The celestial phenomenon in the sky left an unforgettable impression on the audience. Many tourists who had traveled from afar cheered, feeling it was worth the trip.
"The Cloud is truly incredible!"
"Too spectacular! I can't even imagine what the official ceremony at sunrise will be like."
Madara Uchiha was the first to withdraw his gaze, his thoughts unknown.
Suddenly, as if sensing something, Madara turned to look at a nearby alley. There, three teenagers with blue, red, and orange hair were discussing something.
Madara gave them a deep look, recognizing one of them. Although Black Zetsu had already told him, seeing Nagato—his chosen vessel—in Kumogakure still gave him a headache.
"And indeed, it's still too early... He is far from mature enough to cast Rinne Tensei no Jutsu (Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique)..."
As one of the ultimate abilities of the Rinnegan, Nagato probably wasn't qualified to use Rinne Tensei yet.
"Not only is he too young, but his strength is insufficient..."
Madara's mind instantly cycled through several plans. People capable of bearing the Rinnegan's power were extremely rare in the ninja world. It wasn't as simple as finding a random person, stuffing the eyes in, and having Black Zetsu control them to make hand seals.
Not only did they need to possess the bloodline of the Sage of Six Paths to bear the Rinnegan, but the caster also needed to be familiar enough with the eyes, and their own strength and chakra reserves had to reach the peak of the ninja world.
According to the original plan, if Nagato matured, he could naturally do it... but...
Nagato was a vessel carefully selected by Madara, with top-tier talent. But now, Nagato had slipped out of control and wasn't growing in the direction Madara hoped...
So after being reanimated by Edo Tensei, Madara's first thought was whether to retrieve his eyes and switch vessels.
"Possessing Sage bloodline... and not too young, otherwise the wait is too long..."
Such people were scarce in the ninja world...
Madara glanced sideways at Yotsuki Teru (Kaguya)...
This was why, despite knowing this little girl had her own ideas, Madara and Black Zetsu tolerated her. Because Yotsuki Teru was also a possibility, a backup plan.
However, Teru was also still a distance away from having the strength to use Rinne Tensei, so she could only be called a backup for now.
"Let's go, little girl..."
No matter how lively the festival, human energy is finite. As the night deepened, the older folks decided to go back and sleep so they would be energetic for the ceremony tomorrow. The young people didn't care; they were in high spirits.
Some started lying on rooftops, counting how many types of lightning mimicry animals were in the sky.
Dana escorted his mother Satomi and the others back to the clan grounds. Not because they were tired, but because Satomi, as the Raikage's wife, and Natsu, as the Thunder Daimyo, needed to attend tomorrow's ceremony formally and in full regalia. They needed to rest and prepare.
Maki naturally went to accompany Satomi, while Kayo returned to Rain Inari. As a restaurant open all night, the busy period had just begun.
This gave Dana a brief moment of free time.
Truly brief, about 15 minutes. After all, he was one of the protagonists tomorrow—or rather, the biggest protagonist.
After showering and changing at lightning speed, then using the ancestral electric shock therapy to wake himself up, Dana finally arrived at the Raikage Building.
The building was somewhat empty. Having finished the last day of work, many confidential items had been moved out.
If one paid attention, they would notice that not only the Raikage Building, but the surrounding houses had also been cleared out, leaving them empty.
Dana knocked on the door. Inside the Raikage's office, his Old Man and Arashi had been working continuously for nearly 30 hours.
The Third Raikage smiled. "How was the festival?"
"Excellent! I'm already looking forward to next year's festival!"
Arashi added, "The dragons and animals outside are really nice."
Dana sat at his desk. Sunrise was less than four hours away, meaning the ceremony would begin soon.
Dana looked up at the ceiling of the Raikage's office.
"Quite nostalgic... Has this Raikage Building existed as long as the Cloud Village?"
The Third Raikage said, "Actually, no. The Raikage Building from the founding era was destroyed during the Gold and Silver Brothers' rebellion. After all, they attacked directly during negotiations. But neither you nor Arashi were born then. The current building was newly built when I succeeded the position."
Dana's thoughts drifted. Thinking of Tobirama Senju, one of the victims back then, who was currently attending the festival somewhere in the village, Dana felt a sense of unreality.
Even if it was an Edo Tensei body...
His existence had truly changed many things in the ninja world.
And would likely change even more.
The establishment of the Cloud-Thunder Federation truly symbolized a new era for the ninja world.
Three hours passed quickly. The horizon gradually turned gray—experienced people knew sunrise was not far off.
The mimicry animals in the sky continued to roam.
Large numbers of villagers, tourists, and invited but less important guests spontaneously gathered toward the "Will of the Cloud" statue.
Some had played all night, tired but excited.
Some were drunk, supported by companions.
Some had good locations and could watch simply by opening their second-floor windows.
Of course, ninja village characteristics were present too; rooftops were full of ninja. One had to worry if the roofs would collapse.
"People over there! Clear the Cliffside Park immediately!"
Several Construction Ninja were ready at the cliff behind the statue.
They exchanged glances, timed it perfectly, and executed the prepared "Thousand-Machine Construction Technique" together.
In an instant, massive white pillars appeared outside the Cliffside Park. Upon closer inspection, these pillars weren't solid but spiraled upward in a single helix structure.
Each was tens of meters high, spaced ten meters apart, countless in number, encircling the entire Old Cloud Village.
"Look! What is that?!"
"So beautiful! White spiral stone pillars?"
"How did the Cloud do that? It appeared in an instant!"
The changes weren't over. A gigantic circular platform extended from the cliff edge of the Old Cloud Village, as if alive.
The "growing" platform left two circular holes to avoid the statues of the First and Second Raikage, then closed into a perfect circle at the front. Viewed from above, its shape resembled the Taiji symbol from Dana's past life.
On a rooftop below, Tobirama crossed his arms. "Quite the spectacle..."
After the circular platform formed, hundreds of Cloud ninja in uniform appeared for the final decorations—laying carpets, setting up the podium, and adjusting microphones.
Not far away, Cloud high officials and invited guests from the Lands of Lightning, Fire, Hot Water, Rice Fields, and Konoha arrived at the edge of the platform on time.
Some wore traditional clothes, others wore Kage robes. There were several fan hats representing Daimyo status alone.
Dana adjusted Natsu's fan hat for her, laughing as he did so.
"With this on, you almost reach my shoulder."
"Hehe, thanks for the compliment!"
Beside them, Satomi was adjusting the Third Raikage's attire.
"Still as handsome as when you were young."
The Third Raikage flashed his white teeth. "That's a given!"
Five minutes to sunrise.
Important figures from four countries and two villages stood up. leaving a space in the middle, they took their seats on both sides of the circular platform according to importance.
Fifty luxurious high-backed chairs were arranged along the outer arc.
Closest to the center were Thunder Daimyo Natsu and the Puppet Fire Daimyo.
Further out were the Daimyos of Hot Water and Rice Fields, the Hokage of Konoha, Konoha Elders, and some meritorious figures of the Cloud. Nobles were basically at the very end, almost off the platform—like the Yamazaki family from the Land of Lightning.
But even so, Isao Yamazaki was flushed with excitement.
Being on this platform at this moment was witnessing history.
Seeing the important figures take their seats, the people below knew the ceremony was about to begin.
The very center seats were naturally reserved for the true core figures of the Cloud.
The Third Raikage looked back. Yotsuki Dana, Yotsuki Arashi, Blue Bee, Dodai, various Elders, Yoshitoki, Minetarou—all the Cloud partners gave him a smile.
Dana patted his Old Man's shoulder gently. "Nervous? Don't forget your lines."
"Don't worry, I practiced for a month!"
After a final adjustment, just as the sun was about to rise, the Third Raikage led the Cloud high command to the central podium.
Their appearance immediately drew cheers from below!
"Raikage-sama!"
"Dana-sama! Marry me!"
"Blue Bee-sama! Look over here!"
"Eh? Who's that bald guy? Do we have someone like that in the village?"
Under the gaze of thousands, the Third Raikage walked slowly to the podium. After the cheers subsided, he cleared his throat.
"Ahem! First... welcome guests from all over the ninja world..."
The Third Raikage's deep and powerful voice reached the ears of tens of thousands.
However, before many could hear clearly, and just as the sun peeked a sliver of white over the horizon...
A pitch-black, gigantic Tailed Beast Bomb flew rapidly from the horizon.
No... accurately speaking, it was a chain of Tailed Beast Bombs!!