Fusing with the Hōgyoku required time, more energy, and... "desire."
Countless images surfaced in Liuyu's mind.
Konoha, Iwagakure, Kumogakure, Sunagakure, Kirigakure...
The Five Great Nations, the Shinobi World, the Pure Land, the moon...
At last, they settled on a pair of eyes.
The Rinnegan.
And the Ōtsutsuki Clan.
"It's still not enough..." Liuyu murmured. "I still need... more..."
He closed his eyes again, focusing all his efforts on guiding his fusion with the Hōgyoku.
The purple light swallowed him completely.
Time slipped quietly by.
Three months passed.
The Las Noches Settlement had begun to take shape.
White towers rose everywhere, a Reishi Barrier enveloped the entire territory, and the streets were clean and orderly.
Fear no longer showed on the civilians' faces, only fanatical devotion to "Lord Liuyu."
On the surface, the Shinobi World was peaceful.
Every nation was secretly gathering strength and devising countermeasures.
Konoha had paid six billion ryō in reparations, Iwagakure had sold off vast quantities of mineral resources, and Kumogakure had curbed all its expansion efforts.
Everyone knew this was the calm before the storm.
Las Noches was like a Sword of Damocles suspended above the Shinobi World, and no one knew when it would fall.
Meanwhile, in Konoha.
Uzumaki Kushina sat in her courtyard, basking in the sun with her belly swollen.
She gently stroked her abdomen, a tender smile lighting her face.
Her due date was next week.
Namikaze Minato crouched before her, pressing his ear against her belly, his eyes brimming with happiness.
"He moved! He moved again!"
"Idiot, be gentler." Kushina laughed and gave Minato a light tap on the head.
Sunlight spilled over them, warm and lovely.
But deep in Minato's eyes lurked a trace of barely perceptible worry.
He looked up toward the Land of Rain.
There, dark clouds