Rising Sun Organization

Just as Yamanaka Chujiu had expected, the first time you neared your limits was also the best chance to break through them.

He had successfully established a faith, broken through his own limits, and elevated his life to an entirely new level.

A smooth, golden orb had appeared in his mind, radiating boundless light and heat.

That was the golden core of an immortal, the divine spark of a god, the spirit crystal of a hive, a seed of the laws, a mark of reincarnation, a sacred-domain crystal, a divine treasure...

What it became depended on which path Yamanaka Chujiu chose in the future.

For now, it was merely a seed condensed from faith.

Compared with the process of becoming a god through faith, as Yamanaka Chujiu understood it, the step he had taken was far too easy.

There had been no earth-shaking good deeds, no faith passed down through the ages. And yet he had succeeded with the faith of just over fifty children.

If it hadn't been for his intuition at the last moment, rather than long-term planning, Yamanaka Chujiu might not have dared to take this step today.

No matter how you looked at it, he had made it through.

From now on, he would have no so-called upper limit to his strength, only endless potential to build upon.

Even now, Yamanaka Chujiu's strength had increased by an amount that couldn't be ignored.

His mental energy had at least tripled, allowing him to draw far more chakra from his cells.

And when his mental energy spilled beyond his body, it no longer dissipated uselessly as it had before. Instead, it persisted within the boundaries of the Heart Severing Realm and drew chakra from thin air.

Yamanaka Chujiu was certain that it didn't come from anyone's chakra. It came from living things like trees, grass, insects, fungi, and bacteria.

It even came from the soil, from the very ground beneath his feet.

It was truly unbelievable!

Yamanaka Chujiu had assessed his strength in an instant, within his mind.

When he came to, the children—no, his followers—were still immersed in their excitement.

Uchiha Itachi, the child who "thought like a Hokage," was the first to recover, thanks to his clever mind and his faith in Yamanaka Chujiu.

He brought up the question of putting their ideals into practice. "Senior Chujiu, you finally agree with my views on the Third Hokage. Can you tell me how to end his rule and make Konoha great again?"

Yamanaka Chujiu first quieted the children, then answered Uchiha Itachi. "Whether it's ending the Third Hokage's rule or making Konoha great again, both are political goals."

"And to achieve a political goal, you have to start by resolving the most important question."

"That is: who are our enemies, and who are our friends?"

"Until you answer that question, all your thoughts and efforts are like riding a blind horse along a cliff in the dark. You have no hope of success."

The answer was too abstract. Most of the children were utterly confused.

They didn't have enough life experience to understand.

But Uchiha Shisui, Uchiha Itachi, and a few naturally clever children understood.

To the children who understood those words, they were like a thunderclap, exploding in their minds.

In an instant, lightning illuminated the whole world, and the children saw the road ahead.

Uchiha Itachi in particular couldn't help murmuring after grasping what enemies and friends meant. "They were wrong. My father and the others were all wrong!"

"What should we do to find out who the Uchiha's enemies are and who their friends are?"

Itachi hadn't framed his question around Konoha, and Yamanaka Chujiu laughed with satisfaction. "That's a good question. The best way to find out who your enemies and friends are is to investigate for yourselves."

"Investigate the family wealth, sources of income, goals, and past actions of everyone in Konoha."

"Find common traits in that information, then group people with shared traits according to their positions. From there, analyze the competition and alliances of interest between different groups."

"When you've gathered enough detailed information and your analysis is clear enough, the answer to who your friends and enemies are will reveal itself."

Yamanaka Chujiu didn't need to explain the specific methods of investigation. Uchiha Shisui shared the methods and techniques he'd learned in his ninja training instead.

The children listened, enthralled, feeling that they had learned a great deal.

As dusk fell, Yamanaka Chujiu announced that they could go, but the children were reluctant to leave.

They felt even closer to Yamanaka Chujiu, and their friends seemed like family—even more so than their own families.

Working together, sharing the fruits of their labor, and keeping a shared secret all strengthened the bonds between people.

Add the resonance of their ideals and faith, with Yamanaka Chujiu as their central link, and a small group had formed around him.

The next day, Yamanaka Chujiu led the children in harvesting all the crops.

They dried and processed the millet, then distributed it among the children according to how much each had contributed, filling the rice jars in their homes.

They sold the vegetables and beans for cash and distributed the money among the children.

As the price of letting Kazamatsuri Harume reveal her Wood Release, Yamanaka Chujiu personally took part in every sale to cover up the unusually abundant harvest.

As he haggled face-to-face with the merchants, he gained a full understanding of their desire to drive down prices and seized the opportunity to slip in threads of thought, using them to control their minds.

His greatly increased strength let him hypnotize the merchants in an instant, making them believe they'd gotten a fantastic deal. Then, invoking the common principle that one shouldn't flaunt one's wealth, he persuaded them to keep the transactions secret.

Konoha's Hokage-led political system was extremely crude. There was no dedicated commerce department, or even a professional tax department, and its ability to monitor the market was nonexistent.

When both sides of a transaction did their best to keep it secret, no matter how hard the Anbu Ninja tried, they couldn't discover what an incredible feat Yamanaka Chujiu had accomplished.

After a great deal of effort, Yamanaka Chujiu successfully kept the secret of Kazamatsuri Harume's Wood Release, safeguarding it within their little circle.

Uchiha Itachi followed Yamanaka Chujiu the entire time, watching him haggle with the merchants, distribute the money among the children, and witness the joy of their parents as they saw hope.

In his eyes, Yamanaka Chujiu had stayed true to his ideals and was genuinely striving to bring hope to Konoha.

He sincerely admired Yamanaka Chujiu and wanted to build an even closer relationship with him.

So Uchiha Itachi suggested, "Senior Chujiu, why don't you give us a name?"

Yamanaka Chujiu couldn't help but pause at Itachi's request.

"Us? You mean everyone who worked together yesterday?"

Uchiha Itachi nodded. "Yes, us."

"With a name, we'll be different."

Yamanaka Chujiu agreed with Uchiha Itachi's judgment. The children had already transformed into his followers. Their convictions were aligned and their organization was tightly knit, so they really did need a name.

Yamanaka Chujiu smiled. "That's a good suggestion, Itachi."

"My teacher said: 'The world belongs to the old, and it belongs to the young, but when all is said and done, it belongs to us.'"

"He also said: 'We young people are full of energy, like the sun at eight in the morning. The hope of leading the world toward the light rests on our shoulders. So...'"

"We are the Rising Sun!"