When Namikawa Yū chose to confirm, it felt as though the entire world had been overturned.
Heaven and earth began to spin backward. The world before his eyes gradually turned pitch-black, and all light disappeared.
Namikawa Yū felt his thoughts being slowly pulled away before he sank into darkness.
Only in the next moment did his world become bright again.
When he opened his eyes once more, the scene before him had changed.
He was in a grand hall. Everything looked magnificent and splendid, yet there was also a strange sense of age and shabbiness, as though it had not been repaired in a long time.
Namikawa Yū instinctively stood up, then realized that his appearance had changed as well.
He was now about ten years old, several years older than his original body.
After thinking for a moment, he stood before a mirror and looked at his current appearance.
His reflection appeared in the bronze mirror.
He was only about ten years old, with delicate features and a long robe draped over him. His overall appearance was dignified, clearly marking him as someone extraordinary.
Just from his appearance, it was obvious that he was a noble, far beyond an ordinary commoner.
His exterior was sufficiently splendid, but his body was much weaker instead.
"My chakra..."
Feeling his frail body, Namikawa Yū could not help frowning.
This body was about ten years old. Although it was several years older than his original body, it had instead become much weaker.
The main reason was its lack of chakra.
There was not the slightest trace of chakra in this body.
A moment earlier, Namikawa Yū had instinctively tried to refine chakra, but he had failed all the same.
"The Land of Ancestors? That's a completely unfamiliar name too."
Namikawa Yū lowered his head and pondered.
Memories surged through his mind, but to him, they held not the slightest trace of familiarity.
The Five Great Nations from his memories did not exist in this world at all. In their place were names such as the Land of Ancestors and the Land of Them.
As for the profession of ninja, it did not exist here either.
The military strength of the various countries now rested with the samurai class.
Moreover, even the samurai seemed to possess no ability like chakra whatsoever.
There were all kinds of legends about demons in the outside world. Supposedly, they caused trouble from time to time and devoured many lives.
Overall, there was not the slightest similarity to anything in Namikawa Yū's memories.
"Where the hell have I ended up?"
Namikawa Yū felt a headache coming on.
This situation was completely different from what he had imagined.
Fortunately, because his original body still existed, even if he died in this world, he would not truly die. He would merely return to his original body.
Furthermore, the options provided by the Reincarnation Panel were genuine.
His current name was Tianzi, and he was the Daimyo of the Land of Ancestors.
The so-called Tianzi was not a status but merely a name.
His status as Daimyo, however, was entirely genuine.
His predecessor's father had died in battle some time ago, allowing him to inherit the status of Daimyo of the Land of Ancestors and become its new Daimyo.
Unfortunately, although it was called a country, it was not very large in Namikawa Yū's eyes.
It could not compare with the Five Great Nations of later generations. Even compared with a small country like the Grass Country, it was probably inferior.
The entire country had a small territory and a limited population, while constantly facing the strategic threat of an enemy nation.
Its people were impoverished and generally made their living through farming. It was beset by difficulties both at home and abroad.
"Ah, this is not a very smooth start."
Recalling the situation before him, Namikawa Yū smiled unconsciously. "Still, it is interesting."
He had thought this reincarnation would allow him to undergo a long period of cultivation. He had never expected this world not even to possess the power of chakra.
Since that was the case, treating this reincarnation as a realistic nation-building game did not seem bad either.
"Then from here on, I'll start farming."
Thinking this, he rose to his feet.
Outside the Land of Ancestors, the current situation was actually quite terrible.
The poverty of the people could be set aside for the moment. Beyond the country's borders, there was also the threat of the Land of Them.
With the previous Daimyo having just been killed in battle, the Land of Them might launch a large-scale invasion at any moment.
Faced with this situation, Namikawa Yū decisively chose to lower his head and keep a low profile.
In the name of a junior, he personally wrote a letter to Tianzi of the Land of Them, expressing his willingness to submit, voluntarily offering an annual tribute, and hoping to establish a marriage alliance with the Princess of the Land of Them.
After all this, the Land of Them was very satisfied with the Land of Ancestors' tact.
With the external threat removed, Namikawa Yū began dealing with internal affairs.
He took money from his private treasury, recruited samurai on a large scale, and adopted orphans. After spending two years cultivating his own private force, he began a sweeping transformation.
In Namikawa Yū's eyes, the Land of Ancestors was quite primitive. The entire country relied mainly on agriculture, and not only ordinary commoners but even the nobles were impoverished.
For him, however, this was precisely an advantage.
The poverty of the nobles meant that resistance to domestic reform would be reduced.
With external pressure weakened and a private army under his command, it made little difference whether this resistance existed or not.
He reformed commerce, abolished the various privileges of the country's nobles, reduced the number of checkpoints, and lowered taxes such as transit fees.
In agriculture, he distributed land and absorbed new inhabitants, directly finding pretexts to eliminate the country's major landowners.
After several years passed, the entire Land of Ancestors had undergone tremendous changes.
Populations multiplied throughout the various regions, and people from other countries were drawn there.
The towns flourished, commerce prospered, and public order greatly improved.
Tax revenue increased, attracting many samurai and nobles and greatly strengthening the country as a whole.
That year, Namikawa Yū turned seventeen.
Without realizing it, he had spent several years burying himself in development.
Just as he was preparing to make his next major move, an incident drew his attention.
In a region in the southern part of the Land of Ancestors, a God Tree suddenly appeared.
The God Tree had begun emerging the previous year. At first, it was not much different from an ordinary tree.
But after only a year, it had grown vigorously, surpassing a hundred meters in the blink of an eye.
This astonishing growth rate attracted the attention of many people.
Gradually, the tree came to be known as the God Tree, and its fame began to spread far and wide.
It was at this time that Namikawa Yū took notice of the God Tree.
At that point, he had not sensed anything unusual.
Although this world lacked the power of chakra, other supernatural powers still existed.
Demons ran rampant in the outside world, and there were also some shrine maidens who supposedly possessed a unique form of Senjutsu.
Among the samurai, quite a few people also possessed unique skills that allowed them to slay demons.
Namikawa Yū had investigated these matters thoroughly and had recruited many such people under his command, so he was naturally no stranger to them.
In his view, this so-called God Tree was probably some kind of demonic object and was not particularly remarkable.
Nevertheless, the thing was located within the Land of Ancestors.
Out of curiosity, he still set out at once for the place where the God Tree stood.