'For the rest of my life...'
Aka was stunned.
'As a servant, isn't it natural to serve one's master for a lifeti?'
'Why would Master ask such an unnecessary question?'
But she imdiately understood, her small face rapidly turning red like steam.
"Hmm~"
The sound was very soft, as faint as a mosquito's hum.
But Ryuji heard it clearly, a smile unconsciously appearing on his face.
"Once I finish dealing with worldly matters, I'll resign from all my positions. Then we'll find a quiet, beautiful place where no one disturbs us and live happily together."
"Hmm!"
Aka's voice was even softer, more endearing.
Ryuji instinctively wanted to embrace Aka, but when he raised his hands, he realized he was a head shorter than her. Not that Ryuji was short; he was about 180 cm tall.
But compared to Aka, who was around two ters tall, he seed quite short.
Sensing her master's awkward situation, Aka couldn't help but chuckle softly. As Ryuji felt embarrassed, she embraced him in her arms.
"Protecting Master is all I need to do!"
Ryuji didn't hear; he was already lost in the pink, gentle embrace filled with her clear fragrance.
…
The sunlight completely dispelled the night, shining upon the earth, revealing the battlefield littered with debris, smoke-filled, and strewn with corpses.
The joy and elation of victory faded, and everyone fell silent.
The Third Kazekage, along with Sunagakure's higher-ups, stopped about ten ters to Ryuji's right.
He looked at the two embracing each other, remained silent for a mont, then finally asked, "...The prisoners have all been secured. What should we do next?"
The Third Kazekage's words were filled with anticipation, his burning eyes brimming with ambition.
All forces in the Shinobi World had been defeated. By simply advancing now, they could unify the Shinobi World without effort... No leader of any power could resist such a temptation.
Ryuji's body stiffened; he sensed Aka did the sa. The two, imrsed in a sweet atmosphere, seed to have montarily forgotten themselves.
Ryuji let out a light laugh and as if nothing happened separated from Aka. He straightened his clothes, coughed twice, then looked towards the group of high-ranking officials led by the Third Kazekage. "That depends on what kind of future you, or the village, wants."
"What do you an?"
The Third Kazekage asked, puzzled.
"If the village still wants to be a Shinobi Village, and everyone still wants to live as Shinobi, then we should follow the rules of the war ga: demand reparations and release all prisoners..."
"Wait..."
Chiyo interrupted Ryuji's explanation, questioning, "Why must we demand reparations and release them if we want to continue living as Shinobi? Can't we unify the Shinobi World?"
"Of course, we can..." Ryuji smiled. "Given the current situation, it seems there would be no obstacles to easily unifying the Shinobi World. And then what?"
"And then?" Chiyo asked, perplexed. "After unifying the Shinobi World, Sunagakure could monopolize all mission requests from every country, growing into an unprecedented behemoth."
"Will it really be that easy?"
"Are there other problems?"
"Let ask you, what is the most common elent in Shinobi's missions?"
"Huh?"
Seemingly not expecting Ryuji to ask this, Chiyo paused for a mont, then began to ponder deeply.
Not just Chiyo, the others also lowered their heads to think about this question.
"It's enemies!"
Before they could reach a conclusion, Ryuji provided the answer.
"Enemies!?"
Looking at their exchanging glances and speechless expressions, Ryuji continued, "Whether it's common bandits, Rogue Shinobi, or Shinobi from other villages, the most frequently encountered problem in missions is enemies."
"But if one village unified the Shinobi World, there would no longer be Shinobi from other villages appearing as enemies."
"Secondly, unification of the Shinobi World implies lasting peace. People would live happily, public security would rise dramatically. Common bandits and Rogue Shinobi would gradually decrease until they disappear..."
Here, Ryuji paused.
He looked at the Sunagakure's higher-ups who seed to have thought of sothing, a half-smiling expression appearing on his face.
"It seems you've also realized. That's right. Once there are no enemies, there would be no need to commission missions."
Shinobi are rcenaries, a profession that takes money to solve problems for others.
This profession isn't as glamorous or noble as portrayed in ani. Besides bodyguard missions, there are also invasion, plunder, and assassination missions.
Therefore, those who are invaded or targeted for assassination hire Shinobi to protect themselves.
If there's only one power in the Shinobi World, one side hires the village to assassinate, the other hires the village's Shinobi for protection... Setting aside whether the village would be cruel enough to accept missions where their own Shinobi kill each other, even if willing, employers wouldn't dare!
Knowing the enemy hired Shinobi from this village to assassinate them, who would dare hire you for protection?
What if they pay less than the enemy, and the protector turns into the assassin?
Similarly, the other side would have similar concerns.
Besides assassination, there are war missions between countries, business competition missions, caravan escort missions... If there are no other Shinobi as enemies, there's no need to hire Shinobi as bodyguards.
And the village's major inco unfortunately cos from these C-Rank and above missions where encounters with enemies are possible.
Without these, even if monopolizing all mission requests worldwide, they'd only be chores like moving things, helping farrs farm, cleaning the city, delivering letters – tasks genin can complete... Forget about developing into an unprecedented behemoth; supporting the current scale of Shinobi would be questionable.
Therefore, if they want to continue as a Shinobi Village and live as Shinobi, the Shinobi World cannot be unified.
After hearing Ryuji's explanation, everyone had a sudden realization.
The Third Kazekage let out a long sigh, sighing, "No wonder the First Hokage and Uchiha Madara, possessing the power to unify the Shinobi World back then, never considered such a thing. So this factor was at play."
'No, I think they simply never thought of this layer,' Ryuji retorted internally.
The First Hokage might have been purely unwilling to invade others. Madara, though more violent, also thought about subduing other villages, not destroying other powers.
Simply put, though their personalities differed, both Madara and the First Hokage had a morbid longing for peace.
"If you want to remain Shinobi, follow the war ga: demand reparations and release prisoners. If you don't want to be Shinobi, then along with the Daimyo's Courts, destroy them all, accomplishing the great feat of unifying the world."
"But then, everyone would beco ruled subjects. Even if problems arise needing help, there would be no hiring. Instead, it would be rulers protecting the ruled, and the ruled paying taxes to rulers... Hmm, they should be called new Daimyos, ministers, soldiers."
"This..."
"Take your ti to consider the specific choice!" Before others could voice their opinions, Ryuji continued, "But no matter what you choose, I will support you to the end. However, if you choose to continue as Shinobi, I will establish a departnt to oversee all villages, preventing frequent wars. After so many years of war, I am tired of it. The following war will be the last one I participate in. Consider carefully!"
After speaking, Ryuji walked past them.
Aka carried Black Zetsu, following behind.
…
Inside the portable laboratory, Kana pointed at two body halves soaking in dicinal jars. "Mukai's body was twisted in half. Fortunately, the twist was at the waist; he didn't die instantly. After ergency dical Ninjutsu, his life was barely sustained."
"This guy was overconfident!"
Ryuji looked at Mukai in the jar, mocking, "You clearly have such strong power and the Sage Cloth I gave you. You could have completely crushed them with absolute strength, yet ended up in this pitiful state."
Mukai's Taijutsu was of the highest caliber... Different from Duy or Guy, he was pure technique style. Even Madara or Ryuji wouldn't surpass him in pure Taijutsu.
With such power, if he had entered Sage Mode from the start, it would have been like a Master crushing a Platinum match.
But he had to show off, and ended up failing spectacularly, resulting in a mutually destructive outco with the enemy.
"I couldn't help but hold back when I saw they were just kids." Mukai's voice ca through a speaker nearby.
But Ryuji pursed his lips and continued mocking, "Was it really because they were young that you held back? I recall the report ntioned there were two adults in the infiltration team."
Hearing this, Mukai fell silent.
Indeed, it wasn't their age that made him hold back, but because they were Konoha's Shinobi.
Though he had betrayed Konoha, he had grown up there and still held feelings for that place.
Even after betraying it and firmly resolving to live as a Sunagakure's Shinobi, feelings such things don't vanish or surge based on personal will.
Deep down, he still harbored attachnt to Konoha.
Looking at Mukai's complex expression, Ryuji lost interest in teasing him and sighed, "Forget it, I won't pursue this matter further. I'll make you a new body tomorrow."
"Thank you, Ryuji-sama!"
"Don't thank yet!" Ryuji raised a hand. "I can understand your feelings..."
Pausing briefly, Ryuji continued, "If you truly can't let go of Konoha, I'll give you a chance to choose again. But if you choose Sunagakure and continue like this, don't bla for being heartless. Think it over carefully."
"I understand."
Seeing this, Ryuji nodded and walked towards the other side of the laboratory.
As his power surged, the Portable Space also expanded greatly, from about a hundred square ters to the size of ten football fields.
After walking for two minutes, Ryuji arrived at an operating room. Inside were seven beds, on which lay the seven Jinchuriki, including Killer B.
"Hmm, condition is good." Ryuji glanced at the monitoring equipnt's information and nodded slightly.
If a Jinchuriki has their Tailed Beast extracted, they die within a short ti, the duration depending on the Jinchuriki's vitality.
When Ryuji arrived, he conveniently froze their vitality to prevent life from fading. All this was to ensure they would wake up unhard afterward... This was part of Ryuji's deal with the Tailed Beasts.
The Tailed Beasts would help him, and he would guarantee the Jinchuriki's safety.
Although not every Tailed Beast liked their Jinchuriki, nor did everyone demand saving their Jinchuriki, the situation at that ti was uncertain, so Ryuji conveniently froze everyone.
As for why make a deal with the Tailed Beasts instead of using force to make them submit... That was because conditions didn't permit it.
Ryuji absorbed the Ten-Tails into his body, then separated the Ten-Tails and the Tailed Beasts within his body, allowing the Tailed Beasts to enter the God Tree's Seeds parasitizing inside him, causing them to grow rapidly.
This way, he still possessed peak Six Paths-level combat power, while the descending Kaguya faced separation of her Chakra, allowing Ryuji to easily secure victory in the Sea of Consciousness.
Otherwise, if Kaguya were in complete state, even fighting in the Sea of Consciousness, a 100% win rate would beco a fifty-fifty chance.
"After dealing with the Otsutsuki Clan, I'll save you."
Reviving the Jinchuriki is simple; just return the Tailed Beasts to them.
But Ryuji currently still needs the Tailed Beasts' power, so he can't return them yet.
"Next, it's the Otsutsuki Clan."
…
By assimilating Kaguya's mories, Ryuji mastered the thod to contact the Otsutsuki Clan in the cosmic starscape. The plan to lure them all to Earth was already prepared.
However...
"To be on the safe side, it's best to first eliminate the Otsutsuki mber left on Earth, Isshiki!" Ryuji looked at Aka. "Still no trace of Jigen?"
"We are conducting a carpet search. I believe we'll get news soon."
Jigen was a monk.
But countless years ago, Otsutsuki Isshiki and Kaguya descended to Earth and planted the God Tree.
To make the God Tree grow rapidly, Isshiki decided to use his attendant, Kaguya, as fertilizer for the God Tree... This didn't an killing Kaguya.
The Otsutsuki Clan had the Kama ability. By in advance planting a Kama on a suitable vessel and transferring consciousness before being consud, they could revive in the vessel.
The Otsutsuki Clan used such pairs when colonizing planets in the universe and planting God Tree.
But what Isshiki didn't expect was that Kaguya also possessed a Ten-Tails and rged with it. Kaguya took him by surprise, ambushing Isshiki from behind, using him as fertilizer for her God Tree, leading to the subsequent story.
However, at the critical mont, Isshiki used his ability to shrink his body, escaping with half his body. Before dying, he found an unsuitable vessel... a monk nad 'Jigen'.
Jigen could barely withstand the Kama but couldn't bear Isshiki's power. Therefore, he lurked in the shadows, seeking a new, suitable vessel.
If they don't eliminate this guy, summoning the Otsutsuki from space to Earth would add another threat.
"Either way, the enemy is in the dark, we are in the light. With the enemy unaware of the situation, finding a living person should be relatively simple for us." Aka said.
Scarab puppets were already spread throughout the Shinobi World. Unless the target was sothing like a White Zetsu, they couldn't possibly remain unfound.
"Then keep searching. I can't wait to lure the Otsutsuki Clan's mbers to Earth one by one and nibble away at them bit by bit."
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