Konoha's official recognition and abundant resources were like injecting stronger fuel into the high-speed train that was Taoyuan Village. Under the joint leadership of Duanmu Ci and Tsunade, the entire "special zone" entered an unprecedented period of rapid development, bursting with new vitality every day.
Construction Boom:
Konoha Second Medical Center/Medical Ninja Academy: Under Tsunade's direction, this area became the heart of construction. Massive foundations were quickly laid, while enormous wooden beams personally grown by Duanmu Ci with Wood Release—specially treated against fire and decay—formed the main framework, rapidly raising a grand initial structure. The planned surgical wing, inpatient department, pharmaceutical research building, teaching area, library, and other sections were clearly laid out. Shizune led a large number of recruited craftsmen and medical ninja in working day and night, while advanced medical equipment streamed in continuously from Konoha and elsewhere. Tsunade personally designed the curriculum as well, preparing to impart everything she had learned throughout her life, along with Taoyuan Village's unique medical philosophy—combining Yang Style and life force applications—without reservation. This place would become the sacred ground of medicine in the future Shinobi World.
Expansion of the Core Residential District: Building on the existing foundations, Wood Release was used to efficiently produce lumber, and neatly planned residential neighborhoods of a unified style—blending traditional Konoha elements with nature—rose one after another. The homes were sturdy and spacious, equipped with simple running water and sewage systems built through the cooperation of Earth Release and Water Release ninja. The streets were widened, lined with ornamental evergreen trees and flowers grown by Duanmu Ci. The central plaza was expanded, and an Azure Dragon Wood Carving symbolizing protection was erected there, personally carved by Duanmu Ci.
Guard Garrison and Training Ground Upgrades: The guard garrison was relocated to a more open area on Taoyuan Village's outskirts, where sturdy fortress-style barracks, tactical drill grounds, ninjutsu target ranges, and a large comprehensive physical training field containing all kinds of obstacle facilities were built. Duanmu Ci personally drafted a stricter training program and began selecting promising civilians and orphans to expand the guard force. What he taught was not merely combat skill; he also emphasized teamwork, the conviction to protect others, and Taoyuan Village's laws. An elite force of strict discipline and unquestionable loyalty was gradually taking shape.
Workshop and Agricultural Districts: The area near the river was designated as a workshop district. Blacksmith shops, carpentry workshops, textile mills, pottery kilns, and more were established one after another, beginning to produce tools, furniture, clothing, and other necessities for Taoyuan Village's own use, with plans for future trade. The fertile plains were opened into farmland, irrigated with river water and planted with high-yield crops and medicinal herbs. The orphanage and elementary school overseen by Yakushi Nonō also moved into larger, brighter new buildings.
Reinforcement of the Defensive System: At critical points around Taoyuan Village's perimeter, Duanmu Ci incorporated the terrain and planted more "living defense points" grown from his Wood Release Cells. These points normally resembled ordinary trees or rocks, but once triggered or remotely activated by Duanmu Ci, they could rapidly grow into sturdy wooden barricades or release binding vines. Combined with the existing barrier and guard patrols, they formed a three-dimensional defensive network.
The entire Taoyuan Village was like a precise, efficient machine, rumbling forward under Duanmu Ci's blueprint and Tsunade's overall direction. Everyone was filled with enthusiasm, because they knew that what they were building was not merely a place to live, but a home that carried peace and hope.
Hinata and Sakura's Bond:
Hizashi Hyuga kept his promise and often brought Hinata to stay in Taoyuan Village for short visits. Five-year-old Hinata had shed much of her initial timidity. In Taoyuan Village's peaceful, harmonious, and kind atmosphere, she had become far more cheerful. Her pure Byakugan and gentle nature made her beloved by everyone.
Other than the flowers in the medicinal garden, which Duanmu Ci had nurtured with gentle Wood Release until they bloomed with exceptional brilliance, her favorite place was the edge of the training ground whenever Duanmu Ci occasionally instructed the guards in basic training. She would sit quietly to the side, watching Duanmu Ci with worshipful eyes. When Duanmu Ci finished training and walked over to gently ask about her Gentle Fist practice, or simply patted her head, Hinata's little face would turn bright red. Yet her eyes would shine with incomparable light as she nodded vigorously. In her heart, Duanmu Ci was a powerful, gentle, omnipotent guardian deity—the "Lord Duanmu" she admired and depended on.
With her parents' support—Haruno Arashi and his wife were deeply grateful to Duanmu Ci—Sakura also became a frequent visitor to Taoyuan Village, practically half a resident. She threw herself into the soon-to-be-completed Medical Ninja Academy area and became its youngest "unofficial apprentice." She displayed astonishing talent as a top student and remarkable Chakra control, eagerly absorbing Tsunade and Duanmu Ci's teachings. She was no longer merely Duanmu Ci's little fangirl. Instead, she aspired to become a medical ninja as powerful as Lord Tsunade, so that she could help Lord Duanmu in the future. She studied with extraordinary diligence, often pestering Shizune with questions or practicing precise Chakra manipulation on her own at the training ground, such as trying to thread needles with Chakra Threads or control water into specific shapes. Her effort and persistence earned the admiration of both Tsunade and Duanmu Ci.
The two little girls—one gentle and reserved like moonlight, the other passionate and determined like the morning sun—gradually grew close through their shared admiration for Duanmu Ci and the special place that was Taoyuan Village. Hinata would quietly watch Sakura practice, while Sakura would openly pull Hinata into conversation and share the "new knowledge" she had learned. Between them, a budding friendship, innocent and unformed, was taking root.
Undercurrents and Omens:
Beneath the surface prosperity, shadows had not vanished entirely.
Danzo's Watch: Although Sarutobi's strict orders had kept Root's overt activities away from Taoyuan Village, Danzo had not given up. Through more covert channels—bribing traveling merchants, planting informants among the refugees entering Taoyuan Village, and even using intelligence brokers from certain minor shinobi villages—he continued gathering information on Taoyuan Village, especially any clues regarding Duanmu Ci's Gravity Secret Technique and the deeper applications of Wood Release. Like a venomous snake lurking in the shadows, he patiently waited for the moment his prey exposed a weakness.
The Rinnegan's Stirring: While devoting himself to building Taoyuan Village and preparing for the wedding, Duanmu Ci had not relaxed his own training. His control over the Rinnegan's basic abilities—Shinra Tensei and Banshō Ten'in—had grown increasingly refined, while their consumption and backlash had been greatly reduced. Yet recently, he often felt an inexplicable palpitation. Especially in the dead of night, or when he sank his spiritual power deep into the Rinnegan to sense its depths, he could faintly perceive a distant, immense source of Chakra filled with chaos and malice, as though it were unconsciously "calling" or "resonating" with something. The sensation was extremely vague and intermittent, like looking through a thick pane of frosted glass, but each time it appeared, his Rinnegan gave the slightest imperceptible tremor, as though a sleeping beast had been disturbed. It left him faintly uneasy, reminding him of the major event that was about to occur in the original story—the Nine-Tails Incident! Obito... or rather, Black Zetsu and Madara behind him—had they already begun to act? Was this palpitation an early warning from the Rinnegan in response to power of the same origin—the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path? The Ten-Tails' Chakra?
He kept this unease buried in his heart and did not tell Tsunade, lest she worry. But in secret, he increased the frequency of his Sage Jutsu sensing toward Konoha, particularly around Kushina's residence. He also instructed Nonō's intelligence network to watch for every unusual development within Konoha, especially anything concerning the Jinchuriki's safety.
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