"Same as now."
"Huh?"
Kurotsuchi who had been expecting Makoto to reveal some earth-shattering information, froze.
She frowned deeply.
Those three words sounded like something a low-level scammer would say to brush off a mark. It was too ambiguous.
"Your Iwagakure is currently suffering from a severe talent drought, right?" Makoto continued, ignoring her skeptical expression.
"Huh?" Kurotsuchi snapped back to attention, surprised.
"You've even collected intelligence on that?"
'So it wasn't ambiguous.'
Makoto actually understood Iwagakure internal crisis.
"It's because during the Third Great Ninja War, the Third Raikage went on a rampage and killed ten thousand of your ninja, right?" Makoto curled his lip.
Actually, all Five Great Nations had experienced a massive reduction in combat power.
Kumogakure was slightly better off; they mainly lost just one Kage, but their core forces remained intact.
Kirigakure had their Bloodline Clans persecuted and wiped out by their own people.
The Seven Ninja Swordsmen were reduced to a joke after Dai kicked half of them to death.
Sunagakure had their funding cut repeatedly by their Daimyo—they were the poorest Great ninja village right now.
As for Konoha, needless to say, they were running on fumes and nostalgia.
In the future Fourth Great Ninja War, the "Shinobi Alliance" army facing the reanimated Second Mizukage was mostly composed of fodder from Iwa, Kiri, and Suna.
And they were slaughtered.
"Yes," Kurotsuchi admitted, her face full of worry. "Could it be that even after twenty years, Iwagakure still hasn't recovered?"
"Want to know the reason?" Makoto asked.
"It must be because I'm too incompetent," Kurotsuchi sighed, her tone full of self-blame.
"It can't be because of the old man, right? He's ancient. How many more years can he possibly live? Sigh..."
Kurotsuchi was a confident kunoichi who rarely faced setbacks. Finding out she failed as a leader was one of the few things that could defeat her spirit.
"It must be because I'm too incompetent. It can't be the old man's fault, right? He's already ancient; how many more years can he possibly live? Sigh..."
Kurotsuchi's tone was heavy with self-blame.
She was a confident kunoichi who, much like Konohamaru, had rarely faced setbacks growing up. There were very few things that could make her feel this defeated.
"Actually, Ōnoki is quite long-lived—he survives for about another twenty years."
"Huh?"
"Then it must be that old man's fault! That stubborn old fossil! I knew it! There's no way I could be the reason Iwagakure fails..."
Hearing that Ōnoki was still alive in that future, Kurotsuchi performed a face-changing act worthy of oscar , instantly blaming her grandfather without a hint of shame.
"Actually, neither of you are much better than the other."
"..."
"Could it be that I've become an old fossil too? No, wait, even twenty years from now, I still won't be old."
Kurotsuchi began to doubt herself all over again.
"Due to the decline in talented personnel, Ōnoki eventually chose to create artificial humans to protect the younger generation of Iwa ninja.
One artificial human named Kū was created using Ōnoki's own cells and could use Dust Release. There was another called Sekiei, made from Deidara's cells, who could use Explosion Release."
Makoto recounted Ōnoki's future schemes casually.
"What?! That old man dares to defile my art?!"
Deidara, who had been listening on the sidelines and enjoying Kurotsuchi's embarrassment, suddenly bristled.
He didn't care about the politics, but hearing that his cells and his explosive art had been ripped off?
Unforgivable!
"Don't worry. Those artificial human quickly went out of control and died. Ōnoki also perished alongside his own Dust Release copy."
"Oh."
Deidara instantly lost interest.
As for whether Ōnoki died or not, he couldn't care less.
The old man had lived long enough anyway—it was about time he kicked the bucket.
"That's good, then. That so-called Artificial Human project must have been stopped by my future self, right?"
Kurotsuchi breathed a sigh of relief.
She didn't seem particularly concerned about Ōnoki's death either.
"It was stopped," Makoto confirmed. "But do you think that was a good thing?"
He looked at Kurotsuchi calmly.
"Huh? Isn't the Artificial Human project kinda immoral?" Kurotsuchi was puzzled by his question.
"At that time, Konoha had secretly developed Scientific Ninja Tools, and Orochimaru, whom they supported, had also perfected clone technology similar to the artificial human.
Technology itself isn't right or wrong—only its users can be.
Ōnoki failed because he was too old. He lacked the energy to scrutinize every detail and fell into someone else's trap...
Kurotsuchi, would you like to know what 'great deeds' you accomplished as the Tsuchikage in the future?"
As he spoke, Makoto produced a scroll he had prepared before their departure.
"What's this?"
"Some things need evidence to be convincing. You should see the proof for yourself."
Makoto unrolled the scroll, revealing clippings from several newspapers from Konoha and the wider Shinobi World.
"After the Fourth Ninja World War and before the arrival of new enemies, the Shinobi World enjoyed a period of peace, during which the Five Great Nations signed a treaty.
However, the Earth Daimyō decided he wanted to invade a small nation called the Land of Flowers.
He demanded military support from Iwagakure. As Tsuchikage, even though you knew this violated the peace treaty, you still chose to obey the Daimyō's command.
To claim the moral high ground and avoid being labeled a warmonger, you proactively picked a fight with the Hokage of that era, accusing them of developing Scientific Ninja Tools in secret.
Unfortunately, the enemy's strategist noticed your unusual behavior. After uncovering the truth, he had the Fire Daimyō convene a summit.
The other four Daimyōs collectively pressured the Earth Daimyō. In the end, to settle the matter, the Land of Earth even returned previously occupied territories."
While Makoto narrated, Kurotsuchi scanned the newspapers.
The articles weren't as blunt as Makoto's summary, but she didn't doubt his words.
As the granddaughter of the Tsuchikage—and a future Kage herself—she understood the political subtext.
Some things simply couldn't be printed openly.
The newspapers reported Ōnoki's death and incidents involving the artificial human, yet none mentioned Ōnoki's mistakes.
It was likely a move to give her grandfather a dignified end.
The same applied to the Earth Daimyo's blunder.
The reports only mentioned diplomatic spats between the Tsuchikage, Mizukage, and Hokage, followed by a Daimyo summit where the Earth Daimyo left looking disgruntled.
No specific details were given.
This was standard procedure.
With a fragile ceasefire in place, they couldn't exactly broadcast news about someone preparing to tear up the treaty.
It was just like how Onoki hoped that Makoto and the others wouldn't tell ordinary people about the "deterrence" matter—it was all to avoid causing panic.
"Then... then what should I do?"
Kurotsuchi handed the newspaper back to Makoto, her eyes staring ahead in confusion.
Why was this so different from what she had imagined?
She thought knowing the future would allow her to change things, seize opportunities, and pave a better path.
But now, it felt like there were no choices at all.
Maybe... she just shouldn't become the Fourth Tsuchikage?
"Are you thinking that, even with this foreknowledge, you're powerless to change anything? That perhaps you shouldn't inherit the title of Tsuchikage at all?"
Makoto looked at her dejected expression and chuckled lightly.
"How did you know?"
Kurotsuchi turned to him in surprise. She hadn't expected him to read her mind so easily.
"It's not that there's no way to change things," Makoto said with a smile.
"How? By trying to persuade the Daimyō?"
Kurotsuchi's face fell. She knew how stubborn those nobles could be.
"Kill the Daimyō."
"Huh?"