Hikaru paid no attention to what Hiruzen Sarutobi meant by "the future."
Nor would he.
To him, those words were no longer especially important. At this point, he had already gained the absolute upper hand.
All he needed to do was wait.
Wait for the right opportunity. Wait for time to ferment. Then he would be able to take everything he wanted.
There was no need for him to rush.
Besides, he had plenty of his own matters to handle.
He had been away from Konoha for quite some time. Even though ANBU, under Hikaru's restructuring, had mechanisms that allowed it to operate on its own without collapsing, many things still could not be handled or integrated without him.
In the end, decision-making authority remained firmly in Hikaru's hands.
For minor matters, ANBU could act on its own. But when it came to major decisions, it could not act independently.
This was the safeguard Hikaru had put in place to prevent his authority from being hollowed out. Of course, it had plenty of flaws as well—such as right now.
Once Hikaru lacked the time or energy to handle ANBU's internal affairs, ANBU's major decisions could not be effectively carried out.
But Hikaru was in no hurry to change that.
At least for now, there was no need.
"Fortunately, ANBU is still stable overall. Maybe it's because there weren't any particularly important matters to handle during the war."
There were plenty of lingering problems within ANBU, but at the very least, it was stable.
That alone satisfied Hikaru.
Nothing was more pleasing than stability.
Sir Humphrey had once said that any change created instability, so doing less was better than doing more, and doing nothing was better than doing less.
Hikaru agreed with the first half.
As for the second half, not so much.
Perhaps it was because the system was different.
Perhaps it was because in a world like the shinobi world, where power mattered above all else, personal strength also carried enormous weight.
Interest groups entangling one another was indeed troublesome, but sometimes they could still be forced to "compromise" so certain agendas could continue moving forward.
That was still better than every proposal being dragged back to square one the moment it touched the interests of various factions, with the so-called perfect solution becoming doing absolutely nothing.
Hikaru could not accept that.
Nor would he.
Change was inevitable.
Once he became Hokage, there would naturally be even more things he needed to change.
He would try his best to convince people with reason.
And if that did not work, he did not mind "convincing them with reason" in another way.
"Forget it. No point thinking about that now. I should handle the work in front of me first."
Hikaru sighed softly.
Looking at the pile of documents stacked across his desk, he felt his scalp go numb.
After thinking for a long while, he decided that resting might be the better choice.
After all, he had just returned from the battlefield.
The personal gains Hikaru had received from this war were unprecedented.
After all, annihilating eight thousand shinobi alone was something that could be considered unmatched in the entire history of the shinobi world.
Hikaru was not exaggerating.
Being able to do it was one thing.
Actually doing it was another.
Hashirama Senju could certainly have done it better than Hikaru, more thoroughly and more easily.
Unfortunately, by the time he became Hokage, everyone in the shinobi world already knew his reputation. Who would dare challenge his might?
Besides, even if such a lunatic had existed, the shinobi village system had only just been established at that time.
Every village had piles of unresolved internal problems.
If war broke out then, even logistics might have become an issue.
Naturally, no lunatic truly dared to do such a thing.
In truth, Hikaru knew very well that if he had shown off enough in the past, Kumo would probably never have dared to attack Konoha.
But in that case, Hikaru would not be in his current position either.
He would not be the person with the highest call to become Hokage.
At most, he would have been a "future Hokage."
But future did not mean present.
And Hikaru wanted the present.
"Still, it's not like there are no problems. That elder of mine is giving me quite a bit of pressure."
When Hikaru faced Kumo, he had unleashed something enormous.
That colossal True Several Thousand Hands had truly stunned the entire Senju Clan.
As members of the Senju Clan, how could they not understand what that technique meant?
Especially Senju Shōma, who had lived through that turbulent era.
There was no way he could forget a technique of such decisive significance.
So after Hikaru returned, Shōma had not stopped "visiting" him.
And after receiving a definite answer from Hikaru, he had been completely shaken.
This time, Hikaru did not hide anything.
He told him about his Sage Arts, Wood Release, and other matters.
After all, True Several Thousand Hands was no ordinary Wood Release technique. It had to be used together with Sage Arts to function properly.
Senju Shōma was most likely very clear about that, so Hikaru saw no point hiding it.
Besides, Minato Namikaze already knew about Hikaru's Sage Mode.
Not only Sage Arts, Hikaru also mentioned his eyes.
Before this, his use of the Jōgan in battle could not exactly be called high-profile, but it definitely was not low-profile either.
And during the war against Kumo, he had activated Jōgan Chakra Mode in front of six thousand Konoha shinobi.
That was not something he could hide even if he wanted to.
However, Hikaru did not think revealing it would bring him much trouble.
After all, knowing he had those eyes and knowing what those eyes could do were two entirely different things.
He had no intention of revealing the abilities of his eyes.
Even if someone guessed a few things, as long as Hikaru refused to admit it, what could they do?
Senju Shōma was also extremely surprised that Hikaru had developed such eyes.
After all, in the history of the Senju Clan, there had never been anyone who awakened some inexplicable dōjutsu.
But after seeing Hikaru's eyes, he stopped caring.
As far as he was concerned, as long as they were not the Sharingan or Byakugan, everything else was irrelevant.
Besides, those eyes could provide such overwhelming battle power.
That was a blessing for the Senju Clan.
And thus, Hikaru's problem began.
"Hikaru, I know there are some things I shouldn't rush you about. You're still young.
But your bloodline is already infinitely close to the First Hokage's. It may even have surpassed his.
So I hope you can leave behind your bloodline.
Leave behind this bloodline that may surpass the First Hokage's."
When Senju Shōma said this to Hikaru and Renka with a perfectly serious expression, both Hikaru and Renka's faces turned rather numb.
Renka was still fine.
After all, she was two years older than Hikaru.
But Hikaru was only fifteen or sixteen years old right now.
In this world, that age was already considered acceptable.
But for some reason, Hikaru himself was not particularly enthusiastic about that kind of matter.
Especially when it came to having children for the sake of continuing the bloodline.
He was even less interested.
Still, to deal with Senju Shōma, Hikaru said he would do his best.
To avoid later trouble, he also said that forcing things would not be sweet, and that it was better to take things step by step.
Unfortunately, Senju Shōma was not easy to handle.
He probably knew that taking a hard stance against Hikaru was useless.
Because Hikaru would only respond even more forcefully.
So he simply kept wearing him down.
He kept visiting Hikaru again and again.
He had the air of someone who would not stop until Hikaru agreed, as if saying, "A forced melon may not be sweet, but it is still fragrant. You'll know once you taste it."
This left Hikaru truly helpless.
Right now, he really had no interest in having some troublesome brat.
"Every family really does have its own problems."
With a helpless sigh, Hikaru once again turned his gaze to the documents in front of him.
He decided that once he finished dealing with these things, he would make a trip to his secret "plantation."
His harvest this time had been extremely rich.
He needed to process it properly.
...
While Hikaru was busy handling ANBU's affairs, Konoha and Iwagakure were also putting the final touches on the matter of Kumo.
Kumo had lost.
And it had lost utterly.
Not only had it been defeated head-on by Konoha, but Iwagakure had also launched a surprise attack on its flank.
Kumo had also arranged defenses along the border near the Land of Iron, but there were no especially powerful figures stationed there.
To wage war against Konoha, the Fourth Raikage had transferred the elites from the other fronts away.
As a result, this defensive force could only rely on fortifications to hold their position.
They had no ability to launch any meaningful counterattack.
If they had been able to hold the line, that would have counted as success.
Unfortunately, when news from the front reached them, when they learned that the main army on the Land of Hot Water front had been completely wiped out...
And more importantly, when they learned that their Raikage's fate was unknown, while the Eight-Tails jinchūriki had temporarily disappeared...
The blow to morale was devastating.
At that moment, they could no longer hold on.
Their defensive line collapsed at an unbelievable speed, and Iwagakure's army marched grandly into the Land of Lightning.
However, Iwagakure's army only stepped into the Land of Lightning's territory.
They did not continue advancing.
This was actually an order issued by Ōnoki.
It was not that he did not want to expand the results of the battle.
He simply did not dare to go any further.
After all, Konoha had already withdrawn and was waiting for Kumo to come negotiate as a defeated nation.
If Iwagakure kept pushing forward without knowing its place, it might provoke the now outrageously powerful Konoha.
In truth, after Kumo was crushed in one blow by Konoha, it no longer mattered much whether Iwagakure attacked or not.
Kumo had already collapsed.
For Iwagakure to forcefully take a share of the spoils was already somewhat shameless.
If they still did not know when to stop, they really would become everyone's enemy.
Inside the Tsuchikage's office in Iwagakure, Ōnoki sat with bandages wrapped around his face.
He looked rather comical.
But no one dared laugh at him.
Not only because of Ōnoki's authority, but also because they all knew this Tsuchikage had truly escaped death by a hair.
Iwagakure knew very clearly what had happened at the front.
After all, the newspapers had reported it, and Ōnoki had also sent back the most accurate information.
At that moment, the elders from Ōnoki's generation felt as though they had returned to the era when Konoha's pressure loomed over the entire shinobi world.
And yet, they had no solution.
They could not think of any way to stop this from happening.
Aside from lamenting heaven's favoritism toward Konoha, and marveling that the Senju Clan could revive from such desperate circumstances, they had nothing else to say.
"Speak."
After a long silence, Ōnoki finally opened his mouth and broke the quiet.
"How should we set our diplomatic policy toward Konoha from now on?
And for the upcoming negotiations with Kumogakure, what attitude should we take?"
His questions struck directly at the heart of the matter.
But neither question was easy to answer.
Both were irritatingly difficult problems.
Konoha was no longer the Konoha of the past.
If it were still the old Konoha, they would not need to consider so much.
Even if they were not the stronger side, they absolutely would not fear Konoha too much.
But now things were different.
With Senju Hikaru's sudden rise, they had to change.
And that change had to happen in every aspect.
The most obvious one was that they had to revise their previous diplomatic policy.
A shinobi village was equivalent to a nation.
Every diplomatic policy it made was extremely important.
Although small-scale friction constantly occurred throughout the shinobi world, the great villages generally tried to maintain restraint.
Because they all knew that once a true war broke out, the consequences would be catastrophic.
To be honest, it was rather ironic.
Even though they understood this, in the face of profit, all that understanding became insignificant.
Otherwise, there would not have been three Shinobi World Wars in just over fifty years.
But now, no matter what kind of conflict arose, they likely would not dare provoke Konoha again.
Because Konoha now had Senju Hikaru.
"Tsuchikage-sama, as for Konoha... we should avoid provoking them whenever possible."
After a long while, one elder finally spoke.
His voice was filled with helplessness.
"Our future diplomatic policy should avoid Konoha as much as possible.
Even if conflict occurs, we must pull them to the negotiating table rather than imitate Kumo."
"That is inevitable."
Ōnoki did not object.
He nodded lightly.
"But we must control the degree properly.
I'll leave that to you to discuss. Submit a written document to me within the week.
Next is Kumogakure. Have you thought it through?"
"As for Kumogakure, we should follow Konoha's pace."
Having interests already in hand, yet still needing to watch someone else's expression before deciding whether they could eat or how much they could eat...
That feeling was truly suffocating.
But they had no choice.
No matter how frustrating it was, they could only endure it.
"We can only see what Konoha wants, and how much they intend to take, before making our decision.
But there is one thing we must agree on.
We cannot take more than Konoha.
We absolutely cannot make Konoha resent us.
Otherwise, it will be disastrous for our future!"
...
"Very good. Your current condition is excellent."
Inside a tower in the Land of Rain, Black Zetsu looked at Nagato, who had finally stood again, and smiled.
His smile looked bright.
But inwardly, he felt as if his heart was bleeding.
Along with that, there was also a certain degree of unease.
Ever since Nagato's mentality had been shattered by Hikaru, Black Zetsu had been forced to improve this "tool's" body and strength in order to salvage him.
Strictly speaking, carrying out such a modification was not difficult.
He only needed to fuse White Zetsu's body into Nagato's.
By using the White Zetsu he had improved, he could restore Nagato's vitality and grant him a degree of Hashirama Senju's power, allowing him to better endure the Rinnegan.
Originally, Black Zetsu believed the modification would certainly have some effect.
The exact result, however, was difficult to say.
The reason it would have an effect was that Nagato was a descendant of the Uzumaki Clan.
The Uzumaki and Senju had a deep, hard-to-explain connection.
Tracing their bloodlines upward, both came from Asura's lineage.
Because of that, Hashirama Senju's power could produce some effect in Nagato's body.
The problem was that no one knew exactly how that effect would manifest.
Power did not necessarily become better simply because it fused together.
Fusion could also create imbalance in other areas.
For example, both the Uzumaki and Senju were clans skilled in Yang Release.
These two powers could indeed produce a considerable improvement, but it would also cause the Yang Release side to become far stronger.
Nagato did not possess Asura's power to make up the difference and stabilize things.
The result might be that the power would rapidly dissipate.
Or perhaps the power belonging to Hashirama Senju would directly turn Nagato into an Uzumaki tree-man.
Of course, Black Zetsu also knew that the chance of Nagato turning into a tree-man was probably not high.
After all, Nagato had the Rinnegan inside him as a source of Yin Release to suppress it.
The problem was that Nagato's mastery of the Rinnegan could only be described as shallow to the point of numbness.
In Black Zetsu's view, after Nagato accepted White Zetsu's power, the worst-case scenario was simply that his body recovered.
A better result would be him standing again.
The best result would be complete physical recovery, along with the ability to use that body to better wield the Rinnegan's power.
Black Zetsu did not even want to think about the best-case scenario.
Personally, he felt it was unrealistic.
What he thought was most likely was that those powers would either be erased by the Rinnegan, or Nagato himself would be unable to absorb enough of them, causing them to be wasted.
That was why, when helping Nagato, he chose a complete White Zetsu body containing a relatively dense amount of Hashirama Senju's cells.
But he never dreamed that Nagato would be like a ghost.
At first, the experiment had progressed smoothly.
When Nagato fused with those powers, he experienced extreme incompatibility.
Although White Zetsu's power and Hashirama Senju's power had been merged together, Nagato could not control them at all.
Part of the power had already begun to leak away.
Seeing that result, Black Zetsu had naturally been delighted.
To him, that was an excellent outcome.
It meant things probably would not go too far off course.
But what happened next was, in Black Zetsu's eyes, nothing short of fantastical.
At the moment when White Zetsu's power and Hashirama Senju's power were leaking most violently, the Rinnegan belonging to Uchiha Madara seemed to awaken.
It actually began actively helping Nagato lock down and suppress Hashirama Senju's power.
Under the influence of those eyes, White Zetsu's power and Hashirama Senju's power stopped leaking.
They truly began fusing into Nagato's body.
If Black Zetsu had not maintained control over his expression, he might have stood there completely dumbfounded.
What was going on?
What the hell was going on?
Why would something so absurd happen?
Black Zetsu could not understand.
Never in his dreams had he imagined that after all his schemes, he would be stabbed in the back by that damned Rinnegan.
Was it sensing Hashirama Senju's power?
Or was it sensing Asura's power?
Did it really need to take the initiative to suppress it?
Was the person it helped even its true master?
Black Zetsu no longer knew what to say.
He could only watch as Nagato's condition improved day by day.
He truly did not want this to happen.
But he also had no way to deal with that damned Rinnegan.
Finally, after a long recovery period, Nagato had fully recovered.
And Black Zetsu was completely numb.
At this moment, Nagato could not only stand, his body had also fully recovered.
Most importantly, Black Zetsu could sense that the power of this boy's body had also become stronger.
Naturally, Black Zetsu understood what that meant.
It meant that Nagato could now better wield the Rinnegan's power.
Black Zetsu regretted this deeply.
He had intended to save him.
He had not intended to restore him this well.
A tool like this would be far harder to control if it stopped listening.
"Thank you."
Nagato clenched his fist, then nodded calmly at Black Zetsu.
"I feel that I've fully recovered. I'm even stronger than before."
Isn't that obvious? Did you have Hashirama Senju's power before?
Black Zetsu cursed inwardly.
But soon, he calmly nodded.
"You have indeed become stronger. I believe you can now control the Rinnegan's power much better."
"Yes."
Nagato nodded.
Then he suddenly turned toward Black Zetsu.
"By the way, while I was recovering, did Senju Hikaru make any moves?"
Senju Hikaru?
That brat made quite the commotion.
Black Zetsu thought disdainfully.
But the fact that Nagato asked about Senju Hikaru immediately after recovering was a good sign.
Black Zetsu had saved Nagato in the first place because he wanted Nagato and Senju Hikaru to tear into each other.
He had simply restored Nagato a little too well, which made him uneasy.
Still, as long as those two bit each other, it would only benefit Black Zetsu.
Black Zetsu now felt that the entire shinobi world had become unbearably strange.
First, there were those people who somehow controlled tailed beasts of unknown origin and might even be members of his mother's clan.
Then appeared someone who was not a successor of Asura's inheritance, yet displayed power not inferior to those inheritors.
Most importantly, that person had inexplicably awakened a pair of eyes.
A pair of eyes that looked extremely similar to the Tenseigan.
The entire shinobi world had become a mess.
Especially after the war between Konoha and Kumo ended, that chaos left Black Zetsu helpless.
Looking at Nagato, Black Zetsu felt he should tell him something heavy.
That way, he could avoid a lot of trouble later.
Thinking this, Black Zetsu's face became grave.
"During this period, Senju Hikaru has indeed done many things."
"Oh?"
Nagato raised a brow and asked, "What did he do? I'm curious what kind of vessel the owner of the Eye of Destruction has now."
Far harsher than you.
Although Black Zetsu thought this disdainfully, his expression remained terrifyingly calm.
"A war broke out between Konoha and Kumogakure.
Kumo went to Konoha carrying hopes of peace, but their envoy met with an accident and died inside Konoha.
Kumo demanded an explanation from Konoha, but Konoha gave none. Instead, they even began stirring up war.
Thus, Kumo had no choice but to go to war with Konoha.
This time, the Fourth Raikage and the Eight-Tails jinchūriki personally led the army.
Konoha, meanwhile, was led by Senju Hikaru.
Eventually, they met at the border of the Land of Hot Water."
Black Zetsu shamelessly used Kumo's own circulated version of "the beginning and end of the Konoha-Kumo war" to explain things to Nagato.
In any case, Hikaru was the owner of the "Eye of Destruction."
It was better if he sounded evil.
Black Zetsu did not feel embarrassed.
The one who should feel embarrassed was someone else.
Nagato listened seriously.
When he heard that Kumo had longed for peace only to be rejected by Konoha, his expression changed slightly.
Those people from Konoha really were the tumor of this world.
And Senju Hikaru, the man destined to destroy the world, was even more unforgivable.
"Hmph. A dog can't stop eating filth. These great nations only know how to wage war in small countries."
Nagato snorted coldly.
Clearly, he was filled with hostility toward the conduct of the great shinobi villages.
Across so many wars, every time the great villages fought, the ones who suffered were always the small countries.
Those pitiful small countries were always buffers for the great nations.
They were always the battlefields of the great nations.
Nagato shook his head, took a deep breath, and continued.
"Kumo must have failed. After all, Senju Hikaru is the owner of the 'Eye of Destruction.' Even I, the owner of the Rinnegan, lost to him.
Even with a tailed beast, Kumo's people probably couldn't resist him."
"Indeed."
Black Zetsu nodded, then sighed as he continued.
"At first, Senju Hikaru pretended to be weak.
Although he dealt with quite a few Kumo troops, he never displayed overwhelming power.
After all, very few people know his true strength. You are one of them.
Kumo knew nothing about this.
Because of that, they were deceived by Hikaru and began constantly adjusting their forces.
In the end, they arrived at a plain.
And on that plain, Senju Hikaru used his full power.
He annihilated the entire Kumo army of eight thousand, including the Fourth Raikage and the Eight-Tails jinchūriki.
As things stand now, both the Fourth Raikage and the Eight-Tails jinchūriki are missing, their fates unknown.
And in that war...
There were no survivors."
Black Zetsu stopped there.
Nagato's fists had already clenched unconsciously.
He truly had not expected that while he was recovering, Senju Hikaru, that destroyer, had already acted.
Not only had he destroyed peace, he had killed so many people in one strike.
Eight thousand shinobi had been wiped out under that man's attack.
That was unbearable.
It was also powerless.
That damned man truly was the destroyer of this world.
He was also the destroyer of peace itself.
Thinking of this, Nagato suddenly felt pain in his heart.
If only he had been stronger, could he have stopped this?
"I killed them."
Nagato spoke with pain in his voice.
"Hah?"
Black Zetsu froze.
He had no idea what madness this man was suddenly spouting.
Who had he killed?
"Senju Hikaru is my destined enemy. But because I was injured, I couldn't stop him."
Nagato's voice was heavy.
He looked furious, and his body trembled slightly.
"I killed those eight thousand Kumo shinobi.
It was my fault.
I failed to stop him!"
Black Zetsu stared at Nagato in stunned silence.
For a moment, he did not even know what to say.
If Hikaru were here, he would probably ask without hesitation: Who the hell are you? Why are you acting like you were supposed to protect those Kumo shinobi?
In truth, Black Zetsu's thoughts were probably similar to Hikaru's, though expressed differently.
But that did not stop Black Zetsu from being genuinely dumbfounded.
At that moment, he suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of relief.
Perhaps this man's arrogance, his unwavering belief that the Rinnegan belonged to him and that he was a god walking among men, was not entirely a bad thing.
Thinking of this, Black Zetsu immediately showed a hint of sorrow.
"This is not your fault. You do not need to blame yourself too much.
But you must remember this lesson."
At this point, Black Zetsu paused slightly, then spoke with absolute seriousness.
"There will inevitably be a destined battle between you and him.
Only you can oppose him.
And only you can break the fate between you.
You have recovered now. You have the ability and the means to catch up to him, even surpass him.
After all, you are the one who possesses the Rinnegan.
You are the Sage of Six Paths' agent in the mortal world.
Do not forget your mission.
And do not forget your destiny.
You are the one who will bring peace to the shinobi world.
You are the hope of this world!"
"I understand!"
Nagato took a deep breath.
At that moment, his emotions settled again.
That was right.
He was a god.
Although he acknowledged Hikaru's power, in his eyes, Hikaru was a demon who would destroy the shinobi world.
In a war between a god and a demon, the god would inevitably emerge victorious.
But to achieve complete victory, he still needed to keep working hard.
And he still needed to bring peace to the shinobi world.
His plan also had to continue.
Thinking of this, Nagato took another deep breath.
He knew his mission was extremely heavy, but he also felt unusually fulfilled.
He now had a clearer goal.
He would collect the tailed beasts and force the shinobi world to never dare wage war again.
He would deal with Hikaru.
He would eliminate the greatest threat in the shinobi world.
And while Nagato was indulging in those delusions, Hikaru silently appeared in a hidden forest somewhere in the Land of Fire...
[special note] last 35 chapters of this fic are being uploaded on my patreon now, dont miss out!
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ Read 60 chapters ahead on P@treon: patreon.com/KageNaruto