Rōran Strikes Back

Fortunately, only Rōran changed, and everything else remained the same; otherwise, he would have been truly devastated.

This is like in a strategy game, you painstakingly build a great empire, only to find the screen is black when you come back from the bathroom.

Fortunately, the black screen was just a screen problem, not a problem with the computer itself.

Otherwise, wouldn't we have to start all over again?

"What's wrong, brother? Why are you so panicked to see that Rōran still exists? But so this is the world sixty years from now? It doesn't seem like much has changed!"

As someone who had traveled through time, Reiko looked at Rōran in front of her and felt somewhat disappointed.

"It's only been sixty years, so of course there haven't been any major changes. Alright, enough of this nonsense, let's go home!"

Ye Liangnai is now eager to return to Kirigakure and find out exactly how much his time travel has changed the Shinobi World.

Kirigakure!

"How much longer will it be before Xiao Ye comes back? The Chunin Ninja Exams are just around the corner. If he doesn't return, people will be restless!"

In the Mizukage's Office, Mei Terumi looked sullen.

His departure suddenly created many undercurrents in the Shinobi World, and also led to many major events.

The most attention-grabbing event in the entire ninja world was undoubtedly the Akatsuki's sudden move to capture the Tailed Beast Jinchuriki.

Currently, the Jinchuriki of the Four-Tails, Five-Tails, and Seven-Tails have been captured!

It is said that the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki of Kumogakure was also captured, but apart from the Raikage Kumogakure a furious declaration of war, nothing further happened in Kumogakure, which is quite abnormal.

The only one who was anxious was Iwagakure, the Third Tsuchikage of Ōnoki!

His target was Kirigakure!

It is said that Kirigakure hired the Akatsuki to cause trouble, attempting to unify the ninja world by force by collecting all the tailed beast jinchūriki!

Mei Terumi naturally wanted to say that this was nonsense, but Kirigakure had carried out a lot of expansion while Ye Liangnai was still alive, invading many countries in terms of economy, culture and politics, just like she had the idea of unifying the Shinobi World.

Therefore, Mei Terumi knew that Ōnoki's words were deliberately provocative and aimed at Kirigakure, but she couldn't find a way to refute them.

Faced with Kirigakure's inability to defend itself, many small countries immediately followed Iwagakure's lead, waving flags and shouting slogans, as if they wanted to conquer Kirigakure and flatten the Land of Water.

With Iwagakure making such efforts, Kumogakure, having suffered greatly at the hands of Kirigakure in the past, naturally wouldn't let this opportunity pass.

Even Sunagakure is the same; only Konoha has remained silent for the time being, but sometimes silence is the best answer.

Suddenly, Kirigakure found itself directly on the opposite side of the Shinobi World, feeling as if it were about to be attacked by all sides.

The Kirigakure and even the entire Land of Water were shrouded in the panic of war.

Many people are looking forward to Ye Liangnai's appearance, hoping that he will rebuke the heroes, look down on all living beings, and protect the peace of the Land of Water.

Every day, numerous wealthy individuals request an audience with the Mizukage, asking her to summon Ye Liangnai to alleviate the current situation.

But Mei Terumi had a bitter pill to swallow. If Ye Liangnai were here, would she still need to be so restrained?

If he were here, how could the other ninja villages dare to be so arrogant?

They dared to be so arrogant because they had already guessed that Ye Liangnai might not be in Kirigakure.

Do you really think those small countries can so brazenly wave their flags and shout slogans? Isn't it because those few big countries are secretly using them to probe the enemy's strength and weaknesses?

Normally, other forces would have already begun to experience internal crises during such a period of internal instability.

In particular, the Land of Water has a lot of vassal states.

Moreover, the Land of Water, the leading nation of the alliance, is now so precarious, shrouded in the shadow of war, that everyone is living in fear and has essentially lost its ability to govern its vassal states.

Anyone with ambition will likely seize this opportunity to launch a rebellion and then switch allegiance to a wise ruler.

Fortunately, Ye Liangnai was ruthless enough. The system of vassal states he had built over several years had already brought the economies and cultures of many allied countries under the control of the Land of Water.

Furthermore, with Ye Liangnai's influence still lingering, the vassal states of the Land of Water dare not act recklessly, nor do they have the ability to do so, until the very last moment.

They were all afraid that Ye Liangnai would suddenly appear and settle scores with them later.

Moreover, if they were to leave the Land of Water, their economic system would collapse, and then the daimyo of those countries would be the ones to cry.

But Mei Terumi knew that this kind of thing couldn't be dragged on for long!

Because within the Land of Water, some people have already started to have their own ideas.

Some people want to break the Shogunate's rule and restore the daimyo's power!

This really gave Mei Terumi a headache!

Only after Ye Liangnai left did she realize how important Ye Liangnai had been when she was around!

She shouldered almost all the external pressure single-handedly. Mei Terumi only needed to handle the internal affairs of Kirigakure.

"Luckily, I listened to you and expanded the staff; otherwise, we really wouldn't be able to function properly!"

After finishing processing a document, Mei Terumi sighed and said with a worried expression.

Now that Ye Liangnai is gone, although she sees that the series of systems established by Ye Liangnai can stabilize the situation, she knows that once the four great ninja villages have figured out the truth, they will immediately launch a war.

Mei Terumi isn't worried if it's just two of the ninja villages!

With her current strength and the level of Kirigakure, she could easily handle any two ninja villages at the same time. But four of them together would be a different story!

Not everyone has the kind of heaven-defying strength that Ye Liangnai.

"Oh dear, what's wrong, beautiful lady? What has happened that's causing you so much distress?"

Just then, Mei Terumi suddenly felt a darkness before her eyes, and a slightly teasing voice rang out, causing Mei Terumi to freeze in her tracks and stare wide-eyed at the sound of her voice.

Ye Liangnai stood in front of her with a grin and her hands in her sleeves.

"Xiao... Xiao Ye, you're back!!!"

Mei Terumi jumped up and rushed to Ye Liangnai's side, pinching Ye Liangnai's cheek hard. After confirming that this was not an illusion, she smiled with relief, her eyes instantly reddening. She said, "Thank goodness, thank goodness, you're finally back. This isn't a dream, is it!"

Ye Liangnai raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. "Of course not. How could a living, breathing person like me be dreaming, sister!"

"That's true! And who is this?" Mei Terumi suddenly noticed Reiko peeking out from behind Ye Liangnai and asked with a strange expression.

"Xiao Ye, is this your little girlfriend?"

Mei Terumi said with a mix of amusement and satisfaction, secretly marveling that her own scoundrel had finally learned to steal the cabbage.

"Ahem, sister, what are you talking about? Don't overthink it. Her name is Reiko, my adopted sister. Reiko, come out and say hello to Mei Terumi!" Ye Liangnai said to Reiko behind her.