Chapter 196: The Sage of Six Paths Conducts a Formal Inspection of Konoha! The Third Great Shinobi War is Imminent!
"How was this achieved?"
The Sage of Six Paths was profoundly astonished.
With both Indra and Asura's chakra having temporarily returned to the Pure Land, the shinobi world was still undergoing a massive paradigm shift.
This indicated that the ingenuity of future generations had finally begun to take effect!
This was the very reason he had sworn to watch over the shinobi world in the first place.
A millennium had passed. The Sage of Six Paths had long abandoned any genuine expectation that his two sons could enact meaningful structural change across the shinobi market.
Though he never voiced it aloud, having monitored dozens of reincarnation cycles where the exact same tragic operational loop played out over and over, who would still possess the bandwidth to care?
As their elderly father, he practically had the script memorized.
If the Sage of Six Paths were familiar with modern corporate slang, he likely would have groaned: "You two have absolutely exhausted your operational runway!"
"I must audit this. I need to review the data."
The Sage of Six Paths felt a sudden surge of revitalization. Tapping his shakujo staff against the ethereal floor, he manifested a colossal viewing sphere before him.
At first glance, it strongly resembled Hiruzen Sarutobi's Telescope Technique, upgraded to a premium Six Paths-tier administrative dashboard.
"Wait... is that the Box of Ultimate Bliss?" A sliver of dread flashed across the Sage's consciousness.
A similar anomaly had occurred once before. Back then, the Sage had also assumed the shinobi world was undergoing a revolutionary cultural shift.
Instead, he discovered an operative had acquired the Box of Ultimate Bliss and was indiscriminately siphoning negative emotions to cast a localized Blissful Tsukuyomi, lobotomizing the regional populace into grinning, vegetative husks.
That incident had nearly caused the Sage's ancient composure to shatter.
His original design for the Box was for it to serve as an emotional buffer and exhaust valve. He had never intended for it to be weaponized into mass-producing White Zetsu-like anomalies, replicating Kaguya's catastrophic playbook!
"The Box of Ultimate Bliss truly resides within this village, yet it remains completely unactivated." The Sage pinpointed the artifact's coordinates, a gleam of genuine delight sparking in his eyes.
To possess an asset as volatile as the Box of Ultimate Bliss and exercise the executive restraint to not abuse it—while simultaneously managing a hidden village to such an extraordinary degree of prosperity—was a compounding dividend of good news.
The Sage of Six Paths was fully energized now. A true administrative mastermind had taken the helm of the shinobi world.
He had not paid close attention to the mortal plane over the past several decades.
The last time the Sage had conducted a thorough geopolitical audit was during the era of Hashirama and Madara. That marked the first instance in a millennium of endless warfare where the reincarnations of Asura and Indra had actually engaged in a cooperative joint venture.
Objectively, they had terminated the Warring States chaos and established the One-Village-One-State franchise model. It was, undeniably, an upward metric.
Yet he had never anticipated the corporate synergy would collapse so rapidly. Within a few short years, the friction resumed, escalating to the point where Madara—Indra's reincarnation—actually hijacked a portion of Asura's power and awakened the Rinnegan!
Furthermore, while the One-Village-One-State framework had lowered the absolute mortality rate compared to the Warring States era, the macro-environment remained locked in a perpetual state of warfare. Even within individual villages, horrific internal cannibalization was the norm.
The Sage of Six Paths had failed to identify a sustainable, profitable future in that model.
If the baseline "Hope and Positive Emotion Index" at the founding of the hidden villages was a ten, the metric had been in a steady, catastrophic free-fall ever since.
Except for Konoha.
Konoha had hit the market floor and rebounded with a vertical, bullish surge, leaving the rest of the shinobi world in the dust.
"Allow me to download the current geopolitical patch notes."
The Sage of Six Paths waved his hand, absorbing vast quantities of data into his consciousness through an esoteric bandwidth channel.
Though he was an ancient relic, the Sage routinely updated his cognitive software to comprehend modern shinobi events, jutsu architectures, and contemporary corporate terminology.
After an indeterminate period, having aggregated a sufficient data lake, the Sage methodically decompiled and cataloged the intelligence into his personal reserves.
It could only be said that a shinobi's obsession with intelligence gathering wasn't purely a tactical necessity; it was inherited straight from their genetic root.
"It appears the inflection point materialized during the Second Great Shinobi War."
"Prior to that, standard operational parameters applied. Indeed... after Indra and Asura's chakra returned to the Pure Land during the inter-war period, I distinctly remember running a diagnostic on Madara's status."
"But following that window... Konoha began undergoing a radical corporate restructuring."
The Sage's eyes suddenly lit up. Reviewing the "Shinobi World Emotional Heatmap," he identified a massive anomaly.
Amegakure—a micro-cap hidden village directly bordering Konoha—was also reflecting an extraordinarily high positivity index, heavily influenced by its neighbor's economic radiation.
This was a virtually unprecedented phenomenon.
Historically, whenever a minor shinobi collective shared a border with a superpower, their regional emotion index was defined by constant, suffocating terror and instability.
Operating a mutually beneficial, bilateral trade and defense pact was a continental first!
Was this not the exact geopolitical paradigm Ninshu had originally advocated?
"Konoha, is it?"
Mulling over the brand name, the Sage of Six Paths filtered out the other hidden villages, focusing his high-resolution optics exclusively on the Leaf.
And upon looking closer, the Sage's jaw dropped slightly in sheer astonishment.
At the Valley of the End, the colossal monumental statues of Madara and Hashirama—the reincarnations of Asura and Indra—had been structurally realigned. They now stood side-by-side, smiling and forming the Seal of Reconciliation!
According to the data the Sage had just downloaded, the original architectural blueprint had them locked in the Seal of Confrontation.
Staring at the towering stone monoliths, the Sage of Six Paths felt a momentary wave of emotional vertigo. It was as if he were looking at his two sons, finally standing together, having buried their millennial grievances.
"Madara co-founded Konoha, but didn't he aggressively divest his shares and defect?"
"To retain such pristine institutional prestige within the village..." The Sage's curiosity peaked.
Through an invisible, gentle frequency, he began extracting the localized intelligence residing within the minds of Konoha's populace.
"Who is the chief executive orchestrating this?"
Moments later, the Sage isolated a name: The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi!
"He does not possess the bloodline of the Senju, the Uzumaki, nor the Uchiha. He is not even a descendant of Kaguya or the Hyuga."
"A completely unenhanced mortal, engineering a superpower to this level of prosperity?"
The Sage's fascination deepened. He expanded his audit across Konoha's civic infrastructure. He witnessed Academy students enjoying nutrient-dense, heavily subsidized meals; instructors projecting warm, supportive pedagogies; and parents radiating absolute confidence in the administration.
He audited the pension sectors, observing elderly, retired operatives receiving comprehensive medical care, regularly visited by junior shinobi dispatched on official public-welfare missions to ensure their comfort.
"These high-ranking executives... they are designated as 'Konoha High Commissioners'?"
"Yet they actively solicit feedback from the lowest-tier personnel, methodically logging their grievances and operational bottlenecks?"
The specific scenario the Sage was auditing involved an elderly civilian—a woman previously rescued by Yashiro Uchiha—relentlessly chattering to Elder Isshin about Yashiro's heroism, demanding the administration award him further commendations.
Even though this elderly woman had been repeating the exact same story for months, Isshin sat and listened with absolute, unwavering patience, happily allowing this organic PR campaign to bolster the Uchiha's public brand.
Beyond Isshin, other High Commissioners were actively executing their civic duties.
Veterans like Kosuke Maruboshi, Shikayama Nara, and Sakumo Hatake were engaged in deep dialogues with Chunin and Genin, auditing their supply chain needs and field concerns.
"Apex predators deliberately pausing to comprehend the perspectives of the weak? And this is not an isolated PR stunt, but a systemic, institutionalized governance framework?" The Sage quietly repeated these modern administrative terms, adjusting to the corporate dialect.
Every time he awoke, the shinobi market had undergone massive cultural shifts. To maintain communication with Asura's future reincarnations, the Sage had trained himself to rapidly assimilate contemporary linguistics.
"This is magnificent! Is this not the exact definition of 'Mutual Understanding' that Ninshu originally hypothesized?"
"This village, Konoha..."
"Not only have the ideologies of Madara and Hashirama achieved synthesis, but the operatives of the Senju, Uzumaki, and Uchiha operate as integrated corporate partners! These descendants of Indra actually possess an abundance of love and loyalty in their hearts!"
"Oh? Is this the localized policy distribution hub? They call it a 'Bulletin Board'?"
Much like any foreign operative infiltrating Konoha, the Sage of Six Paths found his attention immediately hijacked by the Uchiha-managed public bulletin boards, meticulously reviewing the posted policies.
Death benefits, hazard pay subsidies, public treasury audits, and formal commendations for high-yield operatives.
This quarter's featured asset was Tomie.
Upon integrating into the Root Division, Tomie had explicitly declined the standard protocol of operating under an anonymous alias.
Consequently, the Konoha Administrative Department had leaned into the momentum, launching a massive PR campaign to elevate her as a high-profile public hero, allowing her to bask in the village's adulation.
"A descendant of Indra... universally celebrated as the hero of a hidden village protected by Asura's reincarnation?"
"And that operative named Yashiro... also a descendant of Indra."
The more the Sage audited, the more staggered he became.
The Senju and the Uchiha had engaged in hostile, zero-sum warfare for nearly a millennium. Even when Hashirama and Madara engineered a joint venture to found Konoha, the two factions had never truly achieved corporate integration; the foundational structural bugs remained unpatched.
"It appears my previous strategic assessments were fatally biased. The absolute, uninhibited pursuit of kinetic power is a universal bug across all shinobi. It is not exclusively Indra and his lineage who lose their psychological stability to it."
"Asura's descendants are equally susceptible... in fact, some have executed operations far more depraved!"
"They even stooped to hijacking the sovereign souls of the Pure Land!" The Sage let out a heavy, weary sigh.
He distinctly remembered awakening once, absolutely horrified to discover a shinobi had engineered a protocol to breach the firewall of the Pure Land, utilizing live biological sacrifices to reboot terminated souls back into the mortal server.
The Sage had been floored. What kind of absolute degenerate engineers this?
But the horror show hadn't ended there. The Sage watched in morbid fascination as this operative weaponized the regenerative mechanics of the Edo Tensei, deceiving his targets into lowering their guard before detonating them with localized Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags!
He even used the reanimated souls for extortion!
And the culprit was the biological brother of Asura's reincarnation!
That incident had forced the Sage of Six Paths to conduct a brutal, centuries-long internal audit. He realized that cleanly tagging Asura's lineage as "good" and Indra's lineage as "evil" was a catastrophic analytical failure.
The Uchiha possessed operatives yearning for peace, and the Senju possessed operatives who were naturally, unrepentantly evil!
"What was that operative's designation again?"
"Ah, correct. Tobirama Senju." The Sage visualized the white-haired executive's face, his expression souring with profound distaste.
Even Tobirama himself could never have calculated this outcome.
Through absolute, silent efficiency, he had become a premier celebrity within the Pure Land's administrative logs. Even the Sage of Six Paths had him flagged on a watchlist.
"Yet I suppose even that is a valid iteration of shinobi evolution."
"If I were to forcefully intervene and enforce a patch, how would my governance differ from Kaguya's or Indra's tyranny? My ultimate objective is for the shinobi themselves to organically unite, pursuing market peace through the philosophy of Ninshu... and optimally, elevating their baseline combat metrics along the way."
The Sage shook his head.
If Madara were present, he would realize his current ideological framework aligned almost perfectly with the Sage of Six Paths.
Both executives believed that to justify one's continued existence, an entity first had to demonstrate operational competence.
A system that survived solely through perpetual external bailouts or sheer statistical luck possessed zero long-term viability.
The only divergence was scope: The Sage analyzed the macro-stability of the entire shinobi plane, while Madara optimized exclusively for the Will of Fire.
Yet the underlying algorithmic logic was identical.
This was precisely why the Sage of Six Paths, upon detecting Tobirama's deployment of the Edo Tensei, had not unilaterally patched the Pure Land's firewall to block the exploit. He simply pretended he hadn't seen it.
This was also why he had ignored Madara summoning the Gedo Statue and detecting Black Zetsu's corrupted signatures.
The shinobi world could not be treated as a fragile greenhouse asset; it had to demonstrate genuine, resilient vitality.
Otherwise, the entire philosophy of Ninshu would be nothing more than a hollow theory sustained by his own overwhelming kinetic force.
And that would render him structurally identical to Kaguya and Indra.
Completing his macro-audit, the Sage expanded his sweep across the broader Land of Fire. He observed that even the feudal nobility—historically hostile to shinobi corporate autonomy—exhibited virtually zero friction with the current administration.
"He even resolved that bottleneck?"
This time, the Sage of Six Paths was genuinely, profoundly shocked.
But he maintained his patience, methodically reviewing every sector of interest. His satisfaction with the corporate entity known as Konoha reached unprecedented heights.
This wasn't a matter of the Sage lacking geopolitical exposure.
It was simply that his two idiot sons had squandered nearly a millennium of operational runway, converting a profound philosophical debate into an endless sequence of catastrophic, bloody corporate failures.
It had reached the point where even he, as their father and original founder, had run out of excuses for them.
In a sense, Asura and Indra had spent a thousand years aggressively burning through the Sage's cosmic credit score. And after a millennium, that credit was essentially bankrupt.
The Sage occasionally wondered: if the shinobi world ever actually achieved permanent market peace, how would future historians audit his legacy?
"Let us review the daily operations of this Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi." The Sage composed himself.
Like saving the most exquisite delicacy for the final course.
The Sage found himself surprisingly tense, adjusting the frequency of his "Six Paths Crystal Sphere" and tuning directly into the "Hiruzen Channel."
The moment the feed established a connection, the Sage of Six Paths burst out laughing.
Because at this exact moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi was seated behind his executive desk, a warm, contented smile on his face as he puffed his pipe, gazing deeply into his own Crystal Ball.
Within the crystal sphere, Hiruzen was methodically auditing the streets, academies, and commercial districts of Konoha, nodding in quiet satisfaction.
A profound, unexplainable light flashed in the Sage's eyes.
This posture... it was an exact, micro-scale replication of the geopolitical audit the Sage himself had just conducted.
Furthermore, both executives were literally utilizing the exact same "Crystal Ball Jutsu" interface!
"Fascinating! This Hiruzen Sarutobi is incredibly fascinating!"
Hiruzen had immediately secured a flawless first impression with the Sage.
"Like recognizes like"—for an entity as ancient and isolated as the Sage of Six Paths, that was the absolute highest tier of executive validation.
At that moment on the feed.
Orochimaru entered the Hokage's office. Moving with the relaxed familiarity of a son returning home, he knocked briefly, took a seat, poured two cups of tea for himself and his Sensei, and casually opened Hiruzen's desk drawer to extract a pouch of dried jerky, chewing on it comfortably.
"You've arrived?"
Hiruzen spared Orochimaru a brief glance, picking up his teacup for a sip.
He paid zero mind to Orochimaru's casual scavenging, keeping his eyes locked on the surveillance feeds within the Crystal Ball.
The Hokage's preferred method of unwinding between grueling cultivation sessions was simply to observe the daily, peaceful operations of his village.
It was the living manifestation of his life's work.
"Sensei, Hiruko recently executed his Kekkei Genkai integration protocol. He integrated two distinct architectures simultaneously," Orochimaru reported conversationally.
Much like Hiruzen enjoyed monitoring the crystal ball, Orochimaru experienced cognitive fatigue from endless R&D sprints.
One of his preferred methods for psychological decompression was dropping by to chat with his Sensei.
"He utilized the Steel Release and Swift Release genetic material secured from the Second Hokage's legacy vault."
"Why those two specific natures?" Hiruzen took a sip of tea and tapped his pipe against an ashtray. "Those two do not synergize with his established combat doctrine. I recall his operational profile favors indirect, asymmetric engagement."
"Why the sudden urgency? Is he experiencing anxiety regarding his combat metrics?" Hiruzen frowned, genuine concern bleeding into his voice. "Raw materials can be acquired gradually. We can allocate budget to purchase them if necessary. Chasing short-term gains at the expense of stability is a catastrophic error."
Hiruzen worried that Hiruko's psychological architecture had regressed—that the insidious, deeply-rooted inferiority complex that had once plagued him was resurfacing.
In the shinobi world, resolving deep-seated psychological trauma typically required multiple therapeutic cycles before achieving permanent stabilization.
"Ah, it is nothing of the sort, Sensei."
Orochimaru waved his hand dismissively. "He possesses crystal-clear self-awareness regarding his operational placement. Even if he pivoted entirely to a kinetic combat track, he knows he could never compete with pure, unhinged martial brutes like Fugaku."
"Hiruko is profoundly aware of the institutional protection you extend to him. He understands his primary value lies in the R&D vertical. The sole reason he initiated the integration of those two specific bloodlines is because he intends to transplant Steel Release and Swift Release into Asuma."
Orochimaru shrugged lightly. "Executing a dual-Kekkei Genkai transplant is an unprecedented clinical milestone. Nagato's integration was organic and structural, offering minimal actionable data for surgical grafts. Therefore, Hiruko resolved to serve as Patient Zero. He felt that deploying an untested surgical protocol on Asuma would be an egregious dereliction of his duties as a mentor."
"Furthermore, Hiruko is quite satisfied with those two bloodlines. As an R&D executive, he requires zero apocalyptic offensive output. He merely needs sufficient baseline durability and evasion to survive an extreme ambush scenario."
Hiruzen was stunned into silence. He did it for Asuma?
"Oh, for heaven's sake... my slacker of a youngest son does not warrant this level of risk."
Hiruzen shook his head, a complex wave of emotion washing over him.
But the die was cast. Once Asuma secured the Steel Release integration, tossing the boy onto the pavement would likely just result in a loud, metallic clatter.
"Moving forward, when you, Tsunade, and Jiraiya come to the estate for family dinners..."
"Ensure Hiruko is included in the invitation."
"Tell him to drop by my office to chat more often. Tell him I miss his company. The only reason I do not summon him regularly is because I fear disrupting his laboratory workflow."
Hiruzen issued the directive after a moment of quiet reflection.
Orochimaru smiled warmly. "When Hiruko receives that message, I guarantee the entire R&D division will hear about it by nightfall. His emotional attachment to you is extraordinarily profound."
Upon accepting Asuma as his formal disciple, Hiruko's initial ecstasy had rapidly morphed into paralyzing anxiety. He was terrified of underperforming and failing to properly cultivate the Hokage's own flesh and blood.
He didn't even trust Kakuzu's oversight. Consequently, he had specifically prepared Steel Release and Swift Release—the two most structurally robust, foolproof defensive bloodlines in existence—to graft onto Asuma.
It wasn't that Hiruko believed Asuma shouldn't face the harsh realities of the shinobi world, but as his mentor, his operational posture had to be absolute.
In corporate governance, attitude frequently supersedes raw capability.
Hiruzen felt a heavy, profound warmth in his chest.
The profound, unconditional devotion the shinobi of this village directed toward him served as his ultimate motivational fuel, ensuring he never slacked in his own brutal cultivation regimens.
The cunning and the pure-hearted sincerity of a shinobi often coexisted in a state of extreme, quantum duality.
Watching the feed, the Sage of Six Paths nodded slowly, his own ancient heart stirred by the display.
A millennium ago, when he presided as the supreme leader of Ninshu, he had commanded this exact tier of universal, unquestioned adoration from his followers.
It was only when Asura and Indra initiated their catastrophic schism that the infrastructure became corrupted.
Regardless of the specifics, it was his own administrative negligence that had permitted Asura and Indra to derail the system.
"This operative is named Orochimaru. He is Hiruzen Sarutobi's direct disciple."
The Sage cross-referenced the intelligence he had extracted. "Their interpersonal dynamic is exceptionally robust. Nominally master and student, but functionally father and son. There are logs indicating a period of ideological friction between them, but they achieved rapid, seamless reconciliation."
The Sage of Six Paths felt a sudden, intense pang of envy.
In truth, the Sage harbored his own "Ultimate Fantasy."
A reality where Asura and Indra achieved the ultimate reconciliation of the century, operating as a unified, loving family, pooling their talents to advance the world under a banner of true filial piety.
"By the way, Sensei, have you reconsidered initiating a Kekkei Genkai integration for yourself?" Orochimaru mused thoughtfully. "Mathematically, it represents a significantly faster yield curve than manual cultivation. The consensus across the executive board is that the Hokage is absolutely entitled to prioritize village resources for personal optimization."
"Or, if you require specialized logistical support from the R&D division, you must issue the mandate."
"You continuously deploy capital to elevate everyone else. The rank-and-file operatives have raised this concern to me on multiple occasions."
This exchange caused the Sage of Six Paths' ears to perk up instantly.
Keyword flagged!
The fundamental ideological divergence between the Sage of Six Paths, Kaguya, and Indra was rooted in resource distribution. The Sage firmly believed that kinetic power could not be infinitely concentrated into a single, isolated apex entity. Doing so inevitably corrupted the host's psychology, driving them toward unhinged extremism.
Only through the stabilizing presence of comrades and peer bonds could a god-tier entity retain their "humanity."
Yet Orochimaru's statement explicitly validated that Hiruzen Sarutobi had completely bypassed this trap.
"That will not be necessary. My biological framework is highly anomalous."
Hiruzen smiled, exhaling a plume of smoke. "I have integrated a vast portfolio of forbidden jutsu. My physiological architecture has diverged significantly from a standard shinobi's. Conventional surgical grafts are highly unlikely to take root."
"Rather than engineering a bespoke, highly volatile surgical protocol exclusively for me, those resources yield a vastly superior ROI when distributed among the broader shinobi corps. Equipping the collective with the strength to defend the Will of Fire is the optimal strategy."
"I shall not monopolize public resources. Should I encounter a specific operational requirement, I will issue the requisition. Do not harbor anxieties regarding my combat readiness."
Orochimaru was rendered speechless.
His Sensei's moral architecture was almost incomprehensibly grand.
However, what Orochimaru failed to comprehend was that Hiruzen was speaking the objective truth.
When Konoha's shinobi scaled their power, Hiruzen's power scaled in tandem.
Why squander a resource package that could elevate two distinct assets by forcefully funneling it into himself?
Furthermore, Hiruzen's physical vessel had already transcended standard mortal parameters. His internal network contained the "Myriad Seals Body Integration Mark" functioning as a secondary, high-output heart, interlaced with ethereal, composite Kekkei Genkai chakra filaments.
Once the sealing matrices for the remaining three elemental natures were finalized, he would deploy multiple Four Symbols Seals to act as localized structural pillars, wrapping the chakra filaments around them to construct a complete, indestructible internal grid.
Recklessly introducing foreign biomass like the Chimera Technique into this delicate ecosystem would be entirely redundant, and the Fuinjutsu's absolute suppression properties would likely reject the graft anyway.
"Orochimaru, have you given no thought to integrating a bloodline limit yourself?"
Hiruzen asked curiously. "Logically, this vertical should align perfectly with your R&D interests."
"I have no need for it. I am aware, Sensei, that you are currently engineering a supreme jutsu architecture—or rather, a monumental experimental framework."
Orochimaru carefully selected his corporate terminology: "A grand synthesis. In summary, I am waiting for your clinical trials to achieve total stabilization. Once your architecture is finalized, I will adapt your methodology for my own cultivation."
"I will lightly dabble in Senjutsu to ensure my combat metrics remain on parity with Jiraiya. Beyond that, I harbor zero urgency."
Orochimaru smiled faintly. Ever since he had formally abandoned his campaign for the Hokage seat, his desperation for immediate combat scaling had vanished. He was playing the long game, aiming strictly for the absolute theoretical ceiling.
Because in Orochimaru's geopolitical assessment, for the foreseeable future, absolutely no one on the continent wanted Hiruzen Sarutobi to vacate the executive office. Therefore, Orochimaru had zero need to aggressively patch his short-term tactical vulnerabilities.
"Very well. I will brief you the moment I secure actionable data."
Hiruzen chuckled: "You're a shrewd operator. Always waiting to poach the finished product!"
"Authorize the division to operate with maximum autonomy. Provided safety compliance is maintained, scale their power as high as theoretically possible. Without overwhelming kinetic force, how can we possibly underwrite market peace?"
Orochimaru nodded: "Your quote to Jiraiya—'If peace is brought by one man, it can be taken away by one man'—has been adopted as the primary motivational doctrine for countless operatives across the village."
Hiruzen felt no particular vanity regarding the quote.
But the Sage of Six Paths felt a profound, seismic tremor in his soul.
That statement resonated with his core philosophy on a molecular level!
To think that after a millennium of Asura and Indra thoroughly corrupting the shinobi market, an operative had finally emerged whose ideology and Ninja Way perfectly synchronized with his own!
This was an astronomically rare statistical miracle!
The Sage of Six Paths permanently locked Hiruzen Sarutobi into his highest priority watchlist.
"The aesthetic layout of your executive suite projects immense historical gravitas, Sensei."
"The battle-armor of Lord Madara and Lord Hashirama, and a stone monument allegedly bequeathed by the Sage of Six Paths..." Orochimaru audited the room, nodding in deep approval.
The command center of the shinobi world's premier corporate superpower ought to project exactly this level of dominance.
The Sage of Six Paths' eyes glinted.
The operative who had successfully liquidated the millennial friction between the Uchiha and the Senju, and engineered the ideological reconciliation of Hashirama and Madara, was self-evident.
The Sage possessed the capability to passively extract intelligence from lower-tier shinobi across the continent from within the Pure Land, completely bypassing their sensory detection.
However, this remote extraction failed against high-tier operatives. This was not due to a lack of power on the Sage's part, but because the Pure Land was fundamentally partitioned by a massive, cosmic barrier.
He could bypass the barrier with active, concentrated effort, but that required a notable expenditure of energy.
Furthermore, it was structurally unnecessary. The Sage had zero desire to aggressively micromanage the mortal plane. His intelligence gathering was merely to construct a comprehensive psychological profile of Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"The public consensus surrounding Hiruzen Sarutobi is overwhelmingly positive."
"But who was his actual mentor?"
"The data is fragmented. Some claim it was Tobirama Senju. Others insist it was Hashirama Senju. An anomalous minority even suggest it was Madara Uchiha?"
This conflicting intelligence completely baffled the Sage.
The philosophies of Asura, Indra, and the "Evil Senju" successfully synthesized into a single executive platform?
This was a genuinely unprecedented historical first.
"By the way, Sensei, does the methodology inscribed upon that stone tablet possess empirical validity?" Orochimaru asked with professional curiosity.
"It yields marginal operational utility." Hiruzen deflected smoothly, as he was still actively mapping the cultivation vectors.
"However, ever since I mounted this monument, visiting feudal nobles have taken to claiming I am operating under the divine aegis of the Sage of Six Paths. They spout rhetoric about the ancient Ninshu being resurrected within Konoha, and how the Will of Fire perfectly aligns with the Sage's original doctrine."
Hiruzen chuckled in amusement.
To curry favor with the Hokage, feudal diplomats who spotted the historical monument naturally unleashed torrents of sycophantic praise, desperate to rebrand the Hokage as the literal reincarnation of the divine.
It was standard, traditional political theater.
"It is not an entirely inaccurate comparison. Certain foundational elements of Ninshu do share striking architectural similarities with the Will of Fire you codified," Orochimaru noted casually. "What is your professional assessment of the Sage of Six Paths, Sensei?"
"The architect of the shinobi arts. The ancestral grand-master of our entire profession. He is, naturally, worthy of our utmost, unconditional reverence."
A tactical thought flashed through Hiruzen's mind, prompting him to lay down some positive PR: "I hold his philosophy of Ninshu in extremely high regard. It serves as a beautiful, aspirational blueprint for the future we are building."
Hiruzen was obviously unaware that the Sage of Six Paths was currently monitoring the feed. However, he operated under the confirmed knowledge that Deus ex machina entities existed in this universe.
The concept of "gods watching from three feet above" wasn't merely a quaint idiom in the shinobi world; it was a highly probable operational reality!
Playing it safe and maintaining perfect corporate diplomacy was the optimal strategy. Who could say? Perhaps the Sage of Six Paths was actually listening.
"Outstanding young man!"
The Sage of Six Paths threw his head back and laughed heartily. "Resembles Indra? Resembles Asura? Or that white-haired scoundrel? Nonsense. This man's operational philosophy is a direct reflection of me. No wonder I find his executive style so profoundly satisfying."
At that exact moment, the dormant chakra of Asura and Indra stirred.
They detached from their spiritual anchors, drifting slowly out of the Pure Land.
It was worth noting that Indra was fully aware the Pure Land was his father's sovereign territory. Yet in every reincarnation cycle, his chakra deliberately returned to this specific sector to recuperate. It was an act of profound, petty spite.
It was as if he were daring the Sage of Six Paths to actively smite him, seeking to prove once and for all that his father was irreparably biased!
But the Sage of Six Paths refused to take the bait, allowing this absurd, passive-aggressive standoff to persist for a millennium.
The Sage watched in silence as the chakra departed.
Asura's chakra locked onto Naruto's coordinates. Indra's chakra locked onto Sasuke's.
"Hiruzen Sarutobi's developmental talent is staggering..."
The Sage observed for an extended period, a look of genuine, profound astonishment crossing his face. The Rinnegan upon his brow pulsed with a faint, ethereal glow.
"It possesses an architectural framework strikingly homologous to Kekkei Mora. Although it remains a rudimentary prototype, and the elemental fusion is relatively baseline... for an operative entirely devoid of an inherited Six Paths bloodline to achieve this threshold?"
"Let alone lacking the chakra of Indra or Asura."
The Sage of Six Paths was legitimately awestruck.
If the fusion of Indra and Asura's chakra resulted in the Rinnegan, and leaping a massive theoretical chasm beyond that yielded Kekkei Mora... Hiruzen Sarutobi was essentially a mortal executing a standing long-jump directly toward godhood.
Even if the structural parallels were merely superficial, and his developmental vector was slightly skewed...
To engineer even a functional prototype of this concept was evidence of an intellect bordering on the divine.
Geniuses naturally gravitated toward one another.
The Sage of Six Paths was an absolute prodigy in his own right, requiring only a single breath to achieve perfect mastery over Natural Energy, and engineering the sealing matrix capable of neutralizing Kaguya.
While he had executed that feat alongside Hamura, Hagoromo had indisputably supplied the overwhelming majority of the kinetic force.
"Konoha."
"Hiruzen Sarutobi."
"Asura, Indra. A geopolitical paradigm shift unprecedented in a millennium." The Sage pondered the variables in deep silence.
"I have no intention of actively intervening to artificially tip the scales. I remain an objective, impartial auditor."
"However, remote telemetry from the Pure Land yields insufficient data resolution. A physical, on-site inspection is required to acquire accurate granular intelligence."
"I have remained isolated in the Pure Land for an eternity. An extended deployment to the mortal plane is entirely justifiable. I shall execute this via an autonomous avatar." The Sage closed his eyes, his primary consciousness returning to a low-energy hibernation state.
Yet a single wisp of chakra, manipulated through unfathomably advanced Yin-Yang Release, rapidly materialized into physical form. It assumed the appearance of an affable, middle-aged man, descending from the Pure Land directly into the shinobi world.
"Hmm."
"Let's evaluate... I shall adopt the cover identity of a traveling merchant."
"That ramen shop proprietor in Konoha radiates exceptional positive energy. I will establish that location as my primary entry point."
"If the operational environment is favorable, I may even inject venture capital and secure equity in the establishment. It will serve as an ideal forward operating base to audit Konoha and Hiruzen Sarutobi." The Sage's avatar finalized his operational plan.
For this deployment, he would assume the role of an executive investor named "Ichiraku"!
Consider it a divine entity conducting grassroots market research.
The Sage, now operating under the alias Ichiraku, planned to leverage his investment to build rapport with Teuchi.
He commenced his journey at a leisurely pace, first arriving at the current logistical and commercial hub of the shinobi world: The Land of Rain.
"The latest masterpiece from the author of Shinobi Shattering the Firmament, Master Jiraiya! Saving Elite Jonin Yashiro!" A bookstore proprietor shouted with aggressive marketing zeal, surrounded by dense rings of shinobi.
"Wait, is this a sequel to Shinobi Shattering the Firmament?"
"Intelligence suggests there are hidden easter eggs! Let's audit the text!"
"Negative, it exists in an entirely separate continuity. But it is an absolute masterpiece of serious geopolitical literature! A mandatory purchase!"
Sitting quietly apart from the chaotic mob of consumers was a man dressed in the humble robes of a monk, silently reading a copy of the text. His serene presence immediately captured the Sage's attention.
The man was Roshi, an elite operative of Iwagakure.
In his earliest incarnation, the Sage of Six Paths had also operated as a monk, granting him a natural, baseline affinity toward Roshi. More importantly, his sensory suite instantly flagged Roshi as an active Jinchuriki.
"Son Goku, is it? Sigh..."
The Sage shook his head faintly, approaching Roshi. He spoke in a mild, conversational tone: "Brother, does the text offer compelling reading?"
Roshi lifted his head, auditing the friendly, middle-aged visage of the Sage, and nodded slowly: "It is exceptionally compelling. It details a geopolitical utopia that defies conventional shinobi logic. However, my analytical assessment classifies it as high-grade Konoha propaganda. It lacks empirical realism."
"Yet even as a theoretical construct, it possesses immense literary value."
The Sage nodded: "I appreciate the insight."
Roshi shrugged indifferently. Deep within his core, however, the Four-Tails narrowed its massive eyes, rumbling softly: "This human's chakra signature... it triggers a profound, ancient familiarity."
"Familiarity? That is well within standard statistical variance." Roshi replied internally. "The Land of Rain has evolved into an international free-trade zone. It serves as Konoha's primary export terminal for grey-market goods and commercial logistics. Now, they are aggressively pivoting into cultural exportation."
Roshi looked down at the novel in his hands. "Reviewing this literature genuinely instills a desire to conduct a physical inspection of Konoha. Unfortunately, that is highly improbable. Statistics suggest I will likely encounter their forces on a live battlefield in the near future."
As an active Jinchuriki, Roshi harbored intense, mounting dissatisfaction toward Iwagakure's draconian, hyper-restrictive containment policies regarding their strategic assets.
It was a completely inhumane administrative framework!
After Roshi successfully achieved synchronization with the Four-Tails' power, Onoki had briefly extended a modicum of executive respect. However, the Tsuchikage's inherent paranoia quickly reasserted itself, and he resumed aggressive micromanagement of Roshi's operational parameters.
Consequently, Roshi had formally requisitioned a long-term "reconnaissance" mandate. Operating similarly to Jiraiya's previous status, he roamed the continent as an autonomous asset, immune to direct administrative recall, yet retaining his official Iwagakure shinobi registration.
He was only contractually obligated to return to the village during a declared state of war.
The narrative Jiraiya had crafted, operating under Hiruzen's specific editorial directives, provided a comprehensive, localized recounting of the Yashiro Uchiha incident. It heavily emphasized the ideological friction between the Will of Fire and rigid, traditional shinobi doctrine.
Furthermore, the text bravely documented internal executive conflicts, highlighting the political friction between the Konoha High Commission and Orochimaru during his tenure as Acting Hokage. This inclusion of institutional vulnerability massively amplified the narrative's authenticity and emotional resonance.
Roshi was completely captivated by the text. It allowed him to vicariously experience Konoha's evolution from a traditional, dogmatic military junta into an infrastructure that genuinely valued the humanity of its operatives.
"So Onoki's intelligence briefings were accurate... the systemic violation of traditional Konoha Shinobi Regulations occurred because the Hokage completely lost control over his grassroots operatives. Yet this text implies the breakdown actually catalyzed structural progress?"
"Comprehensive insurance policies, hazard pay, medical chakra scrolls..."
"I recognize this text is heavily subsidized PR, artificially inflated for maximum psychological impact. But if even thirty percent of these policies have achieved physical implementation, Konoha's long-term operational ceiling is terrifyingly high."
Roshi tilted his head, gazing into the sky. Occasional squads of Rain shinobi zipped through the clouds, piloting advanced flight-wing ninja tools.
"They have already achieved mass production of Soragakure's aerospace hardware?"
"Their reverse-engineering pipeline is operating at a velocity that completely shatters Onoki's macro-forecasts."
"Never mind. Regardless of my personal sentiments, I remain a registered asset of Iwagakure. I am obligated to return and submit a formal intelligence debrief." Roshi carefully stowed Jiraiya's masterpiece inside his robes.
Before initiating his extraction, Roshi cast a final, evaluating glance toward the Sage, who was currently waiting in line to purchase the book. A bizarre, inexplicable intuition rippled through his mind.
A familiar face?
Yet Roshi's sensory suite could not detect a single millimeter of chakra flow within the man's network.
One month later.
Teuchi's ramen shop officially onboarded a new venture capital partner. His name—distinct from Teuchi's colloquial moniker—was legally registered as "Ichiraku." His cover identity was meticulously established as a wealthy merchant from the provincial borders of the Land of Fire.
The Sage of Six Paths had engineered a flawless, deep-cover identity, complete with backdated, verifiable logistical paper trails.
Simultaneously, Konoha welcomed an explosive wave of next-generation assets.
Under the discrete counsel of the Nine-Tails, the beast decided to allocate a specialized dividend of its own chakra to Naruto. This grant was intended to serve as a foundational catalyst, allowing the infant to initiate symbiotic cultivation of the Myriad Seals Body Integration Mark from birth.
To facilitate this protocol, recognizing that Naruto lacked the cognitive capacity to construct complex sealing matrices, Minato and Kushina formally petitioned Shio Uzumaki, securing her agreement to serve as Naruto's early-development mentor.
Within the Uchiha compound.
Fugaku executed an identical maneuver, formally petitioning Tomie to accept his newborn son, Sasuke, as her direct disciple.
Fugaku's strategic calculus was a masterclass in corporate hedging:
Between Seisui (mentoring Itachi) and Tomie (mentoring Sasuke), regardless of which operative ultimately secured the vacant Konoha High Commissioner seat...
His portfolio suffered zero downside!
Both were blood-sworn members of the clan, and both served as the direct mentors to his own children!
Absolute, unbreakable corporate synergy!
As for his previous anxieties regarding securing political leverage within the Hokage's inner circle, or his paranoid delusions that Seisui's bloodline was inherently compromised by his association with Danzo's faction...
The moment Hiruzen Sarutobi had personally bestowed the honorable name "Sasuke" upon his youngest son, Fugaku permanently purged those anxieties from his hard drive.
That gesture represented the absolute, highest-tier executive validation achievable in the shinobi market.
At this juncture, Konoha silently and seamlessly transitioned into an entirely new operational epoch, crossing the threshold into the next generational cycle.
Shikamaru, Choji, Rock Lee, Tenten, and Shino all successfully entered the demographic registry. However, while Konoha's subsidized family-planning initiatives successfully stimulated birth rates across both civilian and clan demographics...
The rival hidden villages, desperate to match the population surge, found that only their executive leadership possessed the capital to actually afford having children.
Meanwhile, on the far side of the continent.
A-Huo was submitting his latest intelligence briefing to Madara Uchiha: "Lord Madara, Konoha's demographic boom has concluded its primary cycle."
"Understood." Madara nodded slowly. "Transmit an operational directive to the White Zetsu cells embedded within Kirigakure. Instruct them to deploy active-camouflage protocols, infiltrating diverse political factions across the village."
"I want the public discourse and internal friction within the Mist escalated to critical mass within forty-eight hours. I require absolute systemic chaos. Force them into a posture where launching an external war against Konoha is their only viable method for resolving internal pressure!"
Madara had no need to deploy ocular genjutsu to directly hijack the Third Mizukage's cognitive functions.
By artificially manufacturing suffocating political pressure and irreconcilable factional conflict across every sector of the village, the Mizukage would be organically forced to seek a pressure-release valve.
And for Kirigakure, the most frictionless administrative solution was initiating a foreign war.
Their designated target: the deceptively vulnerable Konohagakure.
"The Third Great Shinobi War..."
Madara stared intensely at the continental holographic map, his voice dropping to a lethal whisper: "Commence operations! Hiruzen... how beautifully will you dance?"
☆☆☆
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