Only three days had passed since Rokuro spoke with Mabui when she was released, along with over a hundred Cloud ninja who had survived.
On a small hill, Uchiha Izumi watched the remnants of the Cloud Village forces before turning to Rokuro.
"Just let them go like this? Especially that Mabui… her combat ability isn't extraordinary, but her threat is far from negligible. Are you sure this is safe?"
Rokuro smiled faintly.
"Izumi, with your current strength, if I sent you alone into Cloud Village to assassinate Mabui, do you think you could actually do it?"
Izumi chuckled confidently.
"In Cloud Village's prime, that would've been difficult, but now… piece of cake!"
Rokuro shrugged.
"Then that's settled. If she continues to oppose us, you can simply take her head off."
"Don't worry… the smarter someone is, the easier they are to control. The smartest people think rationally—they won't act recklessly when defeat is certain. Mabui is an extraordinarily intelligent ninja. She knows full well the gap between Cloud Village and us Uchiha. If she doesn't want the last remnant of her village's legacy destroyed, she won't betray me."
"Besides, we need her as a middleman. She will help us open up the Land of Lightning's business network much faster. Keeping her is incredibly useful."
Since they had taken control of the Land of Hot Water, the Northern Forces did not return immediately to Konoha. Instead, a thousand ninja were left to garrison the region, with Rokuro remaining as overall commander.
This past year had been relentless for the Land of Hot Water. First, it was invaded by the Land of Lightning; the local Yukigakure village was destroyed, leaving the nation defenseless.
Then the Lightning-Fire War erupted within the country, leveling buildings and devastating the population—some died, some fled.
A peace treaty was signed, but within a year, war broke out again.
Fortunately, this latest conflict concluded within days, minimizing losses. Locals, learning that the Uchiha would now station ninja permanently, felt both shocked and a strange sense of security.
"Have you heard? The Uchiha are replacing Yukigakure, protecting our country now."
"That sounds like a good thing. I heard they have a genius among them, unmatched in strength. With him here, no one would dare attack us again."
"Hmph, I wouldn't be so sure. Didn't you hear? Our daimyo died, and now our land is likely being absorbed into the Land of Fire. That means the Land of Hot Water might cease to exist."
The speaker was an elder, deeply attached to his nation. In his eyes, the Uchiha were no different from Cloud Village—invaders.
"Elder, why should we care if the daimyo lives or dies? When he ruled, outsiders constantly bullied us, our businesses suffered, and we paid taxes without knowing why. Now the Uchiha are here—yes, we still pay taxes, but at least we won't be bullied anymore!"
"Exactly. For ordinary people, it doesn't matter who is the daimyo or whether the nation remains independent or merges with the Land of Fire. What matters is personal safety. Personally, I think the Uchiha are more reliable than Yukigakure."
National loyalty requires a government that governs well, protects its people, and safeguards their property. Without these, expecting citizens to love their country is impossible.
Throughout history, there have always been "collaborators," but that doesn't necessarily make them traitors. Sometimes, they even see invaders as liberators—usually because their own government has been corrupt or incompetent.
Every person has their own moral scale. When a nation is invaded, and the citizens refuse to resist, the rulers should reflect: have they treated their people like tools or livestock? Expecting citizens to risk everything for a corrupt regime is absurd.
When the Land of Hot Water's daimyo lost trust in his own ninja and drastically cut funding, the state was doomed. Its downfall was inevitable, and the people had long since lost faith. Even if the daimyo had survived, he likely couldn't have governed effectively.
In this climate, the Uchiha quickly allied with local nobles and merchants, integrating them into their coalition.
Within just a month, order was restored, and even the hot spring tourism industry began to recover.
During this same month, the Land of Lightning also underwent massive changes. Uchiha business agents, with Mabui discreetly mediating, successfully brought many Lightning nobles into the Uchiha commercial alliance. The process was remarkably smooth.
Even in stable times, business in a fragmented, competitive world is difficult—you need powerful allies. The strongest ally at this time was the Uchiha. After Cloud Village had been crushed, refusing their support was unthinkable.
Mabui served as the intermediary but felt uneasy witnessing the nobles' easy surrender.
Even more troubling were the Cloud Village hardliners still clinging to delusions.
"Now, when things are critical, why has the daimyo cut our funding? How are we supposed to build strength and strike back at Konoha?"
A dark-skinned Cloud ninja shouted. With the leadership gone and many Jonin dead, the remaining ninja were mostly incompetent, lacking any sense of strategy.
"The problem isn't the daimyo. I heard some nobles have secretly allied with the Uchiha. We're no longer needed."
"Again the Uchiha! We'll fight them!"
A few hotheads shouted, but few joined. The Uchiha's strength had been forged in the blood of Cloud ninja. Those who survived only had luck on their side, having not yet entered the battlefield.
"We can't just let this slide. We can't beat the Uchiha now, but we can take out a few nobles."
"Calm down. Attacking the nobles will destroy any foothold we have in the Land of Lightning."
"Continuing like this won't secure us anything. I suggest killing one as a warning to others—show them that while the Uchiha are strong, they're not invincible. Business in the Land of Lightning still relies on us Cloud ninja!"
"Agreed. That could work."
Mabui said nothing, her eyes cold as she watched these fools dig their own graves.
Afterwards, she found several silent Jonin from the meeting and conspired with them.
Later, at home, Mabui used summoning jutsu, calling forth a ninja cat. She handed it a scroll, then dispelled the summoning.
Three days later, outside a noble's estate in the Land of Lightning, a battle was taking place—though it was more of a massacre than a fight.
The attackers included Cloud ninja, making up the majority, though their strength was average. The real balance shift came from twenty Uchiha, each with Three-Tomoe Sharingan, seasoned veterans of two Lightning-Fire Wars.
Both their stats and experience overwhelmingly surpassed the Cloud ninja. The outcome was never in doubt.
A few hundred meters away, Rokuro and Izumi watched coldly from a tree, not intervening.
"Watching your own people slaughter each other… back in ninja academy, I couldn't even imagine this. But after graduation, I've seen it several times. No wonder some nobles call ninjas mad dogs," Izumi half-muttered, half-joked.
Rokuro remained calm.
"It's no big deal. Mabui and her allies simply made the correct choice. If she hadn't warned me, those hotheads would have acted—and Cloud Village would have been destroyed. Sure, the Uchiha would have suffered heavy losses, and Konoha might have doubted us—but she couldn't accept total annihilation."
"That's why she made this decision—sacrificing the fools to preserve the last ember of Cloud Village. In my view, it's ultimately meaningless, but she sees it as necessary."
Seeing Izumi contemplative, Rokuro smiled.
"Human nature is fragile. Some are passionate, fearless, or proactive. Others are cowardly, selfish, or retreat at obstacles. In victory, these weaknesses are hidden—but in adversity, they emerge."
He gestured toward the dying Cloud ninja, still cursing even as they were slaughtered.
"They can't understand why fighting for their village's future means facing friends' blades. To Mabui and the others, these hotheads act with good intentions but lead everyone to ruin. Eliminating them is self-preservation."
"The Uchiha are the same. Under Fugaku, the clan had surrenderists, radicals, and neutrals. Everyone had their reasons; no one could convince another."
"Now, these three factions remain. But with the two of us as the top fighters, all opposition is suppressed. One day, if we fall, the first threat will not be from enemies, but from our own clan's betrayal."
Izumi, a pacifist by nature, understood this well. Those unwilling to face impossible odds would always put others in danger.
Even as long as Uchiha power remained unshaken, Cloud Village would inevitably become a vassal to the Uchiha. At this moment, Cloud Village was effectively erased from the Five Great Ninja Villages.
"Ultimately, it all comes down to having invincible power, right? By the way, Rokuro, I've discovered something recently… maybe… the Chakra Constancy Theory you mentioned back then is true."
Rokuro turned to her, his expression serious.
"How do you mean?"
Uchiha Izumi pointed to her eyes.
"For some time now, I've noticed that my ocular power has stopped increasing. Even if I expend a lot of chakra, after recovery it returns to the same level. Previously, even without using my ocular powers, they would increase slightly every day. Could it be… I've already reached my chakra constancy value?"
In the Uchiha, ocular power is derived from the bloodline chakra. If ocular power no longer increases, it means the total chakra is stagnating.
"How long has this been happening?"
Izumi tilted her head, thinking.
"About a month. At first, I thought it was because I focused too much on genjutsu training and neglected taijutsu, so I spent more time on physical strength. It didn't help. Then I abandoned taijutsu entirely, devoting myself fully to genjutsu—but still no progress."
She looked at Rokuro anxiously, hoping for good news, but…
"To be honest, my own ocular power growth has also slowed recently. It hasn't stopped completely, but if your case isn't a fluke, it means that soon, I too will reach my chakra constancy value."
"Could your Chakra Constancy Theory really be true? Is the total chakra in the ninja world fixed? That the maximum chakra each person can reach is determined from the moment they're born?"
Rokuro would have liked to say no, offering some comforting platitudes about determination and effort, but in the ninja world, bloodline rules all. Chakra ultimately originates from Ōtsutsuki Kaguya.
In other words, all the chakra currently in humans comes from Kaguya's original chakra—a legacy of Hagoromo and Hamura's descendants passing it down.
Seeing Izumi's anxious expression, Rokuro gently ruffled her hair.
"Even if the Chakra Constancy Theory is true, there's a way to break through."
"How do we break through?"
Rokuro held up two fingers.
"As I see it, there are two methods."
Izumi's large, bright eyes widened, eager for an answer.
"One is to learn Sage Techniques. The essence of Sage Techniques is using ninjutsu with senjutsu chakra—chakra infused with natural energy. If a ninja's chakra is capped, acquiring senjutsu chakra can increase their total chakra to some degree."
Izumi had studied senjutsu before, so she knew how difficult it was to master.
"But you've always said senjutsu isn't practical. That until the chakra of senjutsu is fully analyzed, I shouldn't train in it, right?"
Rokuro nodded slightly.
"That's still my view. So I suggest another approach: don't worry about chakra quantity, but improve its quality. The method is to train using taijutsu under extreme physical stress, passively enhancing chakra quality. This idea is inspired by the Eight Gates technique."
Izumi immediately frowned.
"You're not suggesting I run around Konoha all day in tight green clothes like Might Guy, are you? No way—I'm not wearing that! I'd never run around like a clown—it's humiliating!"
Rokuro looked at Izumi's flat, athletic frame and tried to imagine her in a tight suit… he shivered at the mental image.
"What are you thinking?!"
Izumi flicked his forehead, face red with embarrassment.
"Nothing, I just mean… you're still young. In a few years, you'll naturally develop. No need for body anxiety."
"I… am not… anxious… about my body!"
Seeing Izumi almost losing it, Rokuro quickly surrendered.
"Alright, enough jokes. The Eight Gates technique is a way to improve chakra quality. But it's too primitive. Recently, I've been studying the Six Paths ninja tools and made a small breakthrough. I've developed a new tool. Want to try it?"
Rokuro pulled out a scroll and unsealed it—but surprisingly, another scroll appeared from inside.
"You sealed a scroll within a scroll? Is this some kind of Russian doll thing?"
Rokuro scratched his head.
"Coincidence. I named this tool the 'Map of Mountains and Rivers of the Nation.' It can trap a person inside its independent space—it's amazing. Want to step in and see?"
"Now?"
Izumi glanced at the ninja cleaning the battlefield in the distance.
"Don't worry about them. These things are no longer our concern. As you said, maintaining Uchiha dominance requires invincible power—so increasing your strength is what truly matters."
"Alright… how do I get in?"
Rokuro unfurled the Map of Mountains and Rivers and infused it with chakra.
"Don't resist—just follow the pull and jump in."
A suction force emerged from the map. Izumi felt herself being drawn in.
Following Rokuro's instructions, she instinctively activated Susanoo for protection and jumped.
As she neared the map, her body suddenly shrank until she was no larger than a fingertip, fully absorbed into the map.
Rokuro laid the map flat on the ground. At two meters long and half a meter wide, Izumi was barely noticeable, the size of a fingernail.
"So, Izumi, it's self-contained inside?"
"Indeed, it has mountains and rivers… but what's the use? Could it really be a sealing scroll that holds living people?"
Rokuro chuckled.
"Want to experience its uniqueness? Brace yourself."
He lightly tapped the map. In the next instant, the entire scroll turned a deep green, and inside, Izumi's terrified scream echoed.
"It's so heavy?! My body feels suddenly weighted down several times over, like a mountain is pressing on me!"
END OF CHAPTER
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