After the disaster of the Night of the Nine-Tails, Konoha suffered unprecedented damage.
The Root was almost completely wiped out, with only a few ninjas who were on missions elsewhere, such as Tenzō and Sai, surviving.
The Shimura Clan, Utatane Clan, Mitokado clans were all wiped out. Although most of the Jonin of the Sarutobi Clan survived, almost all of the Chunin and Genin were wiped out, forcing them to shrink their territory.
The days when high-ranking officials monopolized safe and lucrative positions in the administration and mission departments are over. Iori has given these positions to ninjas who lost their combat abilities during missions.
They are highly decorated and experienced, making them the perfect candidates to handle auditing and other related tasks.
The council of elders disbanded after the war, Hiruzen Sarutobi, the only survivor, also gave up his position as an elder and began to live a secluded life.
The Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze, resigned after the disaster and became Anbu specifically to guard the Jinchuriki, in order to atone for his mistakes.
With no leader in sight, Uchiha Iori, on the strong recommendation of the Senju, Uchiha, Ino-Shika-Cho, and Aburame Clan clans, embarked on the journey to the capital of the Land of Fire.
He was preparing to gain the approval of the Daimyo and become the Fifth Hokage.
After leaving Konoha, Iori and Tsunade walked towards the capital.
The outline of Konoha gradually faded into the distance, replaced by barren fields and dilapidated villages.
The villagers were pale and emaciated, and their hunched backs looked particularly desolate under the scorching sun.
Their hands were calloused, and sweat dripped from their foreheads onto the cracked earth. Their hard work could not earn them enough food to fill their stomachs.
The figures of bandits always appeared around the roadside, and the corpses of farmers by the roadside silently testified to the bandits' atrocities.
Meanwhile, those domineering nobles, with their carriages running rampant on the roads, turned a blind eye to the suffering around them.
What was once a commonplace scene now seemed particularly irritating to Tsunade.
Ideals are a poison; faced with Iori's proposal of a world of universal harmony, the Uchiha and Senju ninjas simply could not resist the temptation.
Tsunade pulled the Kunai the bandit's corpse and asked, somewhat bewildered, " Iori, how long will it take us to eradicate the bandits within our territory?"
This was the third group of bandits that Tsunade and Iori had dealt with, as the ninja villages had a backlog of missions due to the Fourth Ninja World War.
In the year following the end of the war, the ninjas began frantically clearing up the backlog of tasks.
However, for now, C-level missions like clearing out bandits and robbers have a very low priority unless they are located in the center of a trade route.
"It will take about one or two years. At least until I sort out the internal affairs of the ninja village and break free from the Land of Fire's patronage, I can officially start eliminating the bandits."
Iori said with a hint of helplessness.
"Is that so? This is damn politics." Tsunade turned furious upon hearing this, and she threw a punch, knocking down a nearby tree.
The leaves drifted in the wind, as if telling of her anger and helplessness.
Tsunade naturally understood why the bandits could never be dealt with in the past.
On one hand, there was the oppression of the nobles; on the other hand, the ninja villages also allowed bandits to live freely. Ninjas were not allowed to suppress bandits without a mission.
With high-level missions scarce, the ninja village's survival depends on the seemingly trivial but numerous C-level missions: escorting caravans, suppressing bandits, and protecting important personnel.
If all the bandits are killed, who will hire ninjas then?
Iori always felt that the existence of ninjas was abnormal, and that's why.
Despite being the nation's armed force responsible for protecting its citizens, they are still charged extra fees and even have to support bandits to maintain their own power in order to have sufficient funds.
It must be said that this was truly difficult for Iori to understand.
After killing the bandits they encountered, Iori and Tsunade went inside the house and rescued the woman who had been captured.
In this era, the Fate of women captured by bandits was often more tragic than death.
Corpses lay strewn around the cage. The sole survivor had been tortured to the point of delirium; her eyes had lost their former luster, replaced only by deep fear and despair.
Iori sighed as he looked at her expression and activated his Mangekyō Sharingan: "Look into my eyes."
As the power of her eyes invaded, the woman's recent memories began to blur. Her pain and fear seemed to be shrouded in a thin mist, becoming less real, as if she had just had a dream.
With the help of Iori's Genjutsu, she gradually regained consciousness and looked at the two ninjas in front of her, her eyes filled with gratitude.
Seeing Iori and Tsunade, she knelt down and said excitedly, "Ninja-sama, thank you for saving us."
Iori asked the woman where she lived, and then, together with Tsunade, escorted her on her way home.
They arrived at the village where the woman used to live. She stood at the door of her house, hesitant to go inside for a long time, her heart filled with fear and hesitation.
The old man inside seemed to sense something, and went outside. Seeing the woman outside, he said in disbelief, " Xiao Mei?"
Xiao Mei could no longer hold back her tears, which streamed down her face like broken beads. She rushed over and hugged her father tightly, and the two of them wept bitterly in each other's arms.
The old man didn't ask Xiao Mei what she had gone through; he simply comforted her silently, gently stroking her back with his trembling hands.
After Xiao Mei calmed down a bit, the old man led her to kneel down and thank Iori and Tsunade.
But Iori gently stopped him, calmly saying, "No need, I just happened to run into you."
Just as the old man was about to say something, Iori and Tsunade vanished from the spot in an instant.
Unable to express his gratitude, he could only kneel down and kowtow several times to the spot where Iori had been standing, as a sign of his thanks.
Iori continued onward with Tsunade. Initially, due to family ties, Tsunade hesitated regarding Iori's plan to control the nobles and daimyo.
But during this journey, she witnessed too much suffering and injustice. These experiences, like raging flames, burned away all her hesitation and doubt, leaving only her unwavering pursuit of her ideals.
"I agree to your plan. If the one-country-one-village system isn't broken, this distorted world will continue to exist."
As Tsunade walked, she expressed her determination to Iori.
"The order established by my great-grandfather in the past is no longer suitable for the new era. If the daimyo becomes an obstacle to peace, then let's eliminate them as well."
Tsunade spoke without a trace of hesitation. After shedding her identity as a ninja, she discovered that the world was utterly rotten.
"If my great-grandfather were still alive, he would definitely support me too."
She said it with absolute certainty.