One day later, the ranking report for all the villages in the Black Horn Domain was delivered to the Supreme Leader's office by Uzumaki Mito.
"Interesting."
Uchiha Soren set down his teacup. The liquid inside was a faint, astringent shade of brown.
This was a special tonic painstakingly prepared by the Nara clan from various health herbs, blended with three different medicinal wines and distilled with deer blood.
Just one small packet was enough to keep the Supreme Leader supplied for ten days to half a month.
The taste, however… was best left undescribed.
Soren skimmed the report, then chuckled.
"As expected—old ginger really is spicier."
"The Mist pulled through with a scare, sitting comfortably and watching the Black Horn Domain's little drama unfold."
"Iwa stepped on Suna to rebuild its prestige, provoking the One-Tails jinchūriki Bunpuku into going berserk. After everyone dog-piled him and put him down, Suna was left with Chiyo alone. One person couldn't prop the village up, and she was defeated easily by Hanzo of the Salamander, letting Amegakure rise up from behind."
"Truly an end-of-year blockbuster."
Remembering the detailed images his shadow clone had recorded the day before, Soren put the report aside and turned to Mito.
"They're all in the conference room now?"
"Mm." Mito nodded. Then added, "Chiyo of the Sand is there as well."
"Then bring them in together."
The attendant at the door hurried off to the third-floor conference room.
Not long after, four figures entered the Supreme Leader's office one after another:
The energetic Fourth Mizukage Genji,
The imposing Iwagakure Tsuchikage Han,
The visibly elated new Amekage Hanzo,
And finally, Chiyo of Sunagakure—eyes swollen red, shoulders drooping, her entire presence wilted.
"First of all, congratulations to the three of you for becoming Kage of the shinobi world."
Soren smiled lightly. The three men bowed at once.
"Genji. Han. Do you want to keep your current titles, or change them? And you, Hanzo—do you have anything in mind?"
The first two had already decided and chose to keep their previous titles.
Only Hanzo spoke up with barely restrained excitement and respect.
"Supreme Leader, Amegakure would like to change its name to Amegakure no Sato – Hidden Rain Village, and designate its leader as the Rain Kage."
"Approved."
Just two simple syllables, and the boulder in Hanzo's heart vanished.
He immediately dropped to one knee.
Under Chiyo's shadowed gaze and the sour expressions of the other two Kage, the now-official Rain Kage swore his allegiance to Konoha and to Uchiha Soren.
With that one move, the newly named Hidden Rain had effectively thrown the other three great villages directly onto the grill.
The way they looked at Hanzo was tinged with barely veiled anger.
Hanzo couldn't care less what they thought.
Amegakure's foundations were far too thin. High-end combat power could barely earn them the name of a Kage Village; mid- to low-tier shinobi numbers didn't measure up at all.
At a time like this, they needed to cling to the biggest tree available and survive the earliest, most fragile period of growth.
He could still fight and hustle for another twenty or thirty years.
Once he grew old, he could always come back to Konoha and take a comfortable position, ensuring whoever inherited the mantle of Second Rain Kage had a direct line of communication with the Leaf.
Besides, with Chiyo standing right there, if he brought up the discussion they'd had in the earlier meeting, he had a real concern his "cooked duck" might flap its wings and escape.
"I hope the Hidden Rain can contribute its strength to the development of Konoha and the shinobi world."
After formalizing Rain's allegiance, Soren looked at Hanzo, whose eyes still shone with excitement. His tone dipped, carrying a note of stern warning.
"However, as I said in the meeting: a Kage Village must have at least one hundred jōnin."
"I expect the Hidden Rain to gather that number within three years."
If Rain hadn't submitted, that "three years" could easily have become two years. One year. Even half a year.
Soren was always more lenient with his own people.
"The division of territory will be finalized soon. All of you have plenty of work waiting, so I won't keep you. Go."
Three of the four opted to leave.
Mito also excused herself to return to the General Staff.
Only Sunagakure's Chiyo, who had not said a single word since entering, remained standing in the office.
Soren let his gaze rest on her face for a moment before speaking.
"Clan Head of the Senju, is there something else?"
I'm the Kazekage, not a mere "clan head"…
The whiplash of her sudden demotion knifed through Chiyo's chest.
Her eyes instantly flooded again.
She had already cried herself to sleep under her blankets the night before, and just hearing the word "clan head" made her eyes overflow.
"Crying won't do you any good in here."
The utterly rotten Soren, seeing she actually dared to cry in front of him, immediately pulled a video camera out of his drawer and pointed it at the teary, snotty-faced round-cheeked beauty, clicking away.
"Supreme Leader is bullying me!"
Her mental defenses crumbled completely.
Chiyo's legs gave out and she collapsed to her knees, hands clamped over her face. Tears streamed through her fingers and splashed on the floor in tiny droplets.
Her sobbing grew louder and more miserable, as if she meant to pour out every ounce of grievance and pain she'd bottled up.
Both Kaori Minamoto and Uzumaki Minako sighed in unison.
"Little Chiyo, come rest in the back room with me."
Minako hurried over, helped the girl to her feet, murmured a few words of comfort, and guided the still-sniffling Chiyo into the private rest room.
Kaori folded her arms under her chest and shot Soren a dubious look.
"Darling, if you're not satisfied, you could just kill Chiyo. Why bother bullying her like that?"
"She's pretty and cute enough to count as top-tier, looks-wise. You're not planning to use your power to force her into being your lover, are you?"
"Hey now. Don't talk nonsense. I'm not that kind of person."
"Really?"
Kaori eyed his so-called "protest"—face earnest, words sincere, aura screaming incorrigible lecher.
She knew her man's base nature far too well to trust that at face value.
But directly questioning him would be hard on his pride, so she changed tack.
"Then what about Sunagakure? What's your plan?"
"Looking at Chiyo, her mental defenses are completely broken. If it's to protect her village, she'd probably agree to anything you ask."
"I'm the one who set up this whole system. If I turn around and break it myself, wouldn't that be slapping my own face?"
There were more than enough beauties in the world to fill several palaces.
Soren alone simply didn't have the bandwidth.
Back home he already had three powerful jars of vinegar; the storm with Rei in the New World hadn't even detonated yet, and he had no intention of adding more flowers to juggle.
Besides, even a certain part of his anatomy needed rest.
At this rate, the skin might actually start tearing. Using Flesh Regrowth Jutsu on that was an insult to Tobirama's legacy.
"Sunagakure has its own road to walk. I have no interest in micromanaging it."
Soren waved a hand, tone cool.
"If Iwagakure can rise again, Suna can do the same—as long as they're willing to work."
"Based on the territorial division, Suna will have to give up half its lands. Add the continental teleportation array, and realistically, it'll be very hard for them to keep pace with the other Kage Villages."
Standing as a detached observer, Kaori shook her head slightly after running the numbers.
"The One-Tails jinchūriki probably won't last many more years either. Suna will only get weaker and weaker. Chiyo's in for a rough time."
"Nothing to worry about."
Seeing her sympathy for Chiyo, Soren couldn't help elaborating.
"Right now, Sunagakure has only two real options."
"First, fully submit to Konoha."
"Second, move to the New World."
"The richness of that world's resources isn't something Suna can match."
Ever since Konoha seized the kingdom of Re-Estize, the word "New World" had become the centerpiece of daily conversation in the village.
More and more shinobi and wealthy merchants were stepping into the continental teleportation array and emerging directly in the fortress city E-Rantel.
Kaori's own heart itched.
But aware that the New World housed terrifying beings like the True Dragon King, she had held herself back, not wanting to worry Soren by asking to "go see for herself."
At the same time, the tide of ninja power had already washed over that world, becoming a storm that would reshape everything.
"The New World isn't perfect everywhere."
Soren explained patiently.
"But in the kingdom we've taken over, the resource density easily matches Konoha, and the variety of species already surpasses us."
"If Suna wants to overtake other villages on a curve, there's no hope on the shinobi continent."
"Only the New World might give them that chance."
Having answered her unspoken questions, Soren stood up and wrapped his arms around Kaori's waist, pulling her close to steal a kiss from her cherry-red lips.
"Darling, people could walk in at any time."
Kaori pushed at him half-heartedly, cheeks pink, finally managing to escape the wolf's jaws.
Her small fist thumped lightly against his chest with all the power of a feather.
Soren's voice softened.
"Kaori, I'm still too weak. I can't let you roam freely through every world."
His apologetic tone made her brows knit.
The blood-red jewels of her eyes flashed with displeasure.
Looping her arms around his neck, she whispered,
"I don't want to hear you say that."
"My Darling is the strongest in the shinobi world now, and will be the number one in all worlds in the future."
"Six Paths Sage, Dragon Emperor—none of them will be your match."
"That much is beyond doubt."
To really drive the point home, she added with great emphasis:
"Just like how it's beyond doubt you're a lecher reborn."
Soren's touched expression collapsed instantly into a bitter gourd face.
He retaliated by planting a few fierce kisses on her neck and collarbone, leaving a spray of red marks, before finally letting her go.
"Since Kaori has that much faith in me, let's fix a time limit."
He hooked an arm around her waist, a crooked grin tugging at his lips.
"Within one year at the latest, the New World will be Konoha's back garden."
"So in this one year, I'll have to trouble my dear wife—who married a lecher in his past life—to give me a cute, obedient little baby."
"Don't say embarrassing things in the office…"
Blushing furiously, Kaori still nodded.
Then she dropped the bomb that made Soren's heart lurch.
"Darling, since I can't go to the New World myself, I'll send the Personal Guard instead."
"Each of the three army districts gets one squad garrisoned with them, and the last squad will quietly gather information for the clan."
Kaori glanced helplessly at the man who caused her so much work, then gathered her long hair forward over her shoulders to cover the hickey marks on her neck.
By sheer coincidence, she missed the fleeting stiffness on Soren's face.
"Eh… isn't that a bit much?"
"What's 'much' about it?"
She smoothed out her hair and kimono as she replied.
"They don't have anything urgent to do on the shinobi continent anyway."
"Going to the New World as combat shinobi—or as deep explorers—will sharpen their skills far more."
"And they are Uchiha. The craving for battle is etched into their blood."
"Especially now that they have Blaze Release and Lava Release—they all want to reach Kage-level too."
Soren was struck speechless.
Internally, he had already begun bracing himself for the day his Star-Fury power was inevitably exposed.
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