The Ninja Village Era Has Dawned, This Is the Best of Times, and It...

It would also be the worst of times!

On the day Uchiha Makoto made up his mind to blow the Tulip Bubble across the Ninja World, he sent Kazuma as an envoy, accompanied by Darkness, toward the Capital of the Land of Fire.

As for why he did not have Kazuma bring Aqua and Megumin along, well, everyone who knows, knows. Who knew what kind of trouble these two hopeless disasters would cause if they went along?

Uchiha Makoto himself stayed behind at the ninja village headquarters, as he had more important matters to attend to.

For example, recruiting ninja clans. This was one of the key projects at present.

However, the process was not going smoothly.

In the ninja world

Uchiha Clan and Senju Clan were both incredibly prominent clans. The thousand-year feud between them was common knowledge among ninjas. Now that these two clans had suddenly joined hands, formed an alliance, and established a ninja village, every ninja clan, large and small, was paying close attention.

Clan alliances were not particularly unusual in the Ninja World.

Take the famous Ino–Shika–Cho Three Clans, for example. To strengthen their alliance, they had moved their clan lands together and arranged them in a triangular formation.

Not only that, the Ino-Shika-Cho Three Clans had their younger generations live together from an early age, cultivating their bonds and teamwork. They even arranged for members of all three clans to carry out missions together.

But that was all it amounted to.

The concept of a ninja village promoted by Hashirama Senju was far broader than a clan alliance. It could be called an ambitious undertaking.

There were obvious benefits to ninja clans continuing to exist in the form of ninja villages. Their ability to withstand risks would rise greatly. The Ninja World had plenty of small clans with only a dozen or so members. A single ninja war could leave a clan's younger generation depleted, plunging it into a vicious cycle until the clan eventually declined completely.

Of course, there were drawbacks as well.

Ninjas had always been renowned for discipline and obedience to orders. Once a ninja clan joined a ninja village, its members would face a question: Should they obey the clan head or the leader of the ninja village?

Joining someone else's ninja village meant that a clan had to make the necessary compromises and surrender some of its independence.

Moreover, during the Warring States Period, the various ninja clans were all competitors for missions. They could fight each other senselessly over high-paying assignments. As grudges large and small accumulated over time, who did not have a few enemies? The longer a clan had existed, the more enemies it had. Living under the same roof of a ninja village as those enemies made it hard not to sharpen one's blade in the dead of night.

Now that Hashirama Senju had been the first to propose the concept of ninja villages, many ninja clans were taking notice. Some particularly perceptive clans had already keenly sensed the changing times.

It seemed that struggling through the Ninja World as individual clans was no longer viable. They had to unite as much as possible. After all, to make it in the world, one needed connections and power.

These two clans, practically colossal behemoths, had already joined forces. Could their clans really continue surviving in the Ninja World alone?

Can you fight?

So what if you can?

Even if you are strong, can you defeat the Uchiha Clan and the Senju Clan? They have joined forces!

Although the ninja clans of this era were known for being rigid and stubborn, when faced with matters concerning their survival, they could also become flexible and shrewd. Pragmatism was worth trying!

The era of ninja villages had begun.

The powerful great ninja clans were ambitious. They wanted to follow the example of the Senju Clan and the Uchiha Clan by establishing ninja villages and taking the initiative in the future Ninja Village Era.

The small ninja clans lacked the strength to establish ninja villages, so they waited for the best offer. First, they wanted to sell themselves at a good price and secure a bright future for their clans.

"Rejected again!"

"Hyuga Clan, you just wait!"

"Ino-Shika-Cho, you wait too!"

"Sarutobi Clan, Shimura Clan, Mitokado Clan, Utatane Clan. Konoha F4, is that it? You wait too!!"

"."

Uchiha Makoto's efforts to recruit ninja clans were not going smoothly.

With an attitude of trying everything at least once, he had sent invitations to every ninja clan he was familiar with, inviting them to join his ninja village.

To give the ninja village a better image, Uchiha Makoto had even given it a pleasant name—Akatsuki!

The name Akatsuki Ninja Village carried a wonderful meaning: the rising dawn!

The purpose of Akatsuki Ninja Village was to unite the ninja clans, build a community with a shared destiny among them, and achieve peace in the Ninja World through mutual benefit and assistance!

Although all of this was plagiarized, modified, and copied by Uchiha Makoto, there was no denying that he was genuinely devoted to painting his grand vision, spreading positive energy throughout the Ninja World bit by bit. For the sake of peace in the Ninja World, please join Akatsuki Village!

But these ninja clans were all very practical.

At first, when they heard the name Uchiha Makoto, they had shown extraordinary enthusiasm. Uchiha Clan?

Could this be a ninja village established by the Uchiha Clan and the Senju Clan, sending someone to write and invite their clan to join?

They absolutely had to seize this opportunity, join the ninja village family as soon as possible, and make their own contribution to peace in the Ninja World!

As another clan renowned for its ocular techniques—the Hyuga Clan, the one with the Byakugan—they had immediately sent someone to Akatsuki Village for an on-site inspection.

But

After making some inquiries,

they learned that Uchiha Makoto had left the Uchiha Clan long ago and chosen to establish a ninja village independently.

"Uchiha Makoto, aren't you deceiving people?"

"I admit that your strength is indeed impressive. Even three or five elite jōnin working together might not be your match."

"But... the Hyuga Clan can add a zero to the number of elite jōnin like that."

That was what the Hyuga ninja was thinking. He then decisively rejected Uchiha Makoto's invitation.

"Leader Makoto, the Hyuga Clan appreciates your kind intentions. As for the matter of our clan joining your ninja village, we will continue considering it for some time."

Of course, his outward attitude was still quite good. At the very least, he was courteous and displayed the proper bearing of a bloodline-limit clan.

"Consider it for some time."

The meaning behind this rejection was obvious. Even if the deal fell through, there was no need to ruin the friendship. Both sides could preserve a little dignity.

Although Uchiha Makoto was very unhappy with how practical the Hyuga Clan was, he only cursed them verbally for the satisfaction of it. In his heart, he could understand them.

Even if you were going to enter a factory and work like a beast of burden, you would still consider the factory's treatment, hourly wage, social insurance, housing fund, whether you had weekends off, and whether working on holidays came with triple pay. Although most of those things probably did not exist when working like a beast of burden, you could still choose not to go.

The Hyuga Clan was the same.

The question of which ninja village the Hyuga Clan would settle in concerned the clan's future for the next hundred years. How could they decide casually? They had to find a ninja village whose strength and benefits matched the Hyuga Clan's status.

The notion that love could make one content with nothing but water

was probably something one could only entertain in dreams.