Blueprint

Naruto turned to Minato Namikaze and said, "Dad, take them to find a spot so they can start setting up their living quarters."

Minato Namikaze nodded with a smile and walked over to the group of workers, then began speaking with the foreman.

A moment later, the foreman turned to the workers and waved, shouting, "Don't rush to unload the supplies yet, just follow this boss."

The group then followed Minato Namikaze in a grand procession toward the distance.

Seeing this, Naruto turned to Kushina Uzumaki and asked, "Mom, how is the research going?"

"I've looked over the array diagrams you gave me. The formations inside are truly miraculous, but since time was short, I only managed to learn one defensive array," Kushina Uzumaki replied.

Naruto smiled upon hearing this and said, "That's already quite impressive. Mom, could you apply this defensive array to the construction project?"

"That's no problem at all. The blueprints are already in my mind; I'll draw them out in a moment," Kushina Uzumaki said with a hint of pride.

Naruto nodded and said, "Then thank you for your hard work, Mom."

Kushina Uzumaki didn't say anything more; she nodded at Naruto and headed toward the Council Hall.

Before long, Minato Namikaze returned and walked over to Naruto, saying, "I've led them to the area that hasn't been planned for construction yet. They can set up their quarters today and should be able to start work tomorrow."

Naruto nodded and replied, "No rush on that. Let's wait until Mom finishes the blueprints before we have them start."

"Then we might need to go prepare some stone materials first. Your mother and I discussed it last night; if we want to integrate that defensive array into the entire building complex, wood alone won't suffice," Minato Namikaze said.

Naruto asked, "Dad, is the stone from the Land of Earth better, or is the stone from the Land of Wind better?"

Minato Namikaze pondered for a moment and said, "I've been to both countries. The stone in the Land of Wind is constantly weathered by sand and wind, making it inconvenient to quarry, so we should go to the Land of Earth."

Naruto asked again, "Dad, you should still have Flying Thunder God marks left in the Land of Earth, right?"

Minato Namikaze nodded and said, "I left a few behind when I passed through there back in the day."

"Then let's head to the Land of Earth. Let's call the Pervy Sage and Shisui Uchiha, and then we'll set off," Naruto said.

The father and son walked into the Council Hall and arrived at the Altar. By this time, Jiraiya and Hinata had finished their training. Hinata was preparing breakfast, while Jiraiya and Shisui Uchiha were standing next to Kushina Uzumaki, staring at the blueprints she was drawing.

Seeing this, Naruto waved at the two men. They noticed him and walked over. Naruto told them about the need to go to the Land of Earth, and both agreed. After changing their clothes and putting on masks, they followed Minato Namikaze to the Land of Earth.

Unlike the Land of Fire, there were very few vast forests here; the land was covered in rocky mountains.

After choosing a location, the group quickly made their way there. After some selection, they picked out stones with particularly hard textures and prepared to quarry them.

Once they confirmed which stones to extract, the group began their work. Moments later, piece after piece of stone was struck and placed in the clearing.

By noon, a sharp shout reached their ears: "Who are you? Why are you destroying the territory of the Land of Earth?"

The group turned to see a man wearing an Iwagakure headband, holding a katana and glaring at them.

Seeing this, Naruto instantly flashed forward, a chain extending from his back to bind the man tightly. He then asked, "How did you get here? Are there any others?"

Although the ninja kept shouting after being captured, Naruto immediately gagged him and ignored him, simply telling the others to speed up the quarrying.

The place where they were quarrying was not far from Iwagakure. This ninja had been patrolling near the village and had rushed over after sensing strong chakra fluctuations.

He had originally assumed that Deidara, the disciple of the Tsuchikage, had returned, as Deidara often liked to cause explosions near the village. He had intended to investigate and report back to Kitsuchi Onoki.

He hadn't expected that upon approaching, he would see several strangely dressed people destroying their country's land, so he had spoken up to stop them without a second thought.

To be fair, Naruto and his group did look quite strange. All four were wearing black robes and masks.

Shisui Uchiha, on the far right, even had a black eyepatch over his right eye, making them look like bandits from afar.

Naruto and the others didn't care; they simply activated their sensory abilities and continued quarrying, while Naruto thought to himself, I've become a bit complacent since officially leaving Konoha. I didn't even think to activate my sensory abilities this time. Luckily, it was just an ordinary ninja.

By the afternoon, the group, who hadn't eaten, stopped. Feeling hungry, Naruto looked back at the quarried stone and nodded, saying, "That should be enough. We can head back; if it's not enough, we can come back later."

Minato Namikaze then used the Flying Thunder God to take a portion of the stone back to the Land of Whirlpools. Naruto used his spiritual energy to wrap up the remaining stone, retracted his Adamantine Sealing Chains, and then disappeared from the spot with Jiraiya, Shisui Uchiha, and the pile of stone.

The ninja whom Naruto had released was stunned, his mouth hanging open as he stared at the direction where they had vanished.

A moment later, he snapped out of it and ran toward Iwagakure, arriving at the Tsuchikage Building.

After explaining his purpose, one of the guards at the entrance immediately took him to the Tsuchikage Office.

After knocking on the door and hearing a voice tell them to enter, the two walked inside.

In the Tsuchikage Office, an elderly man with a short stature and a large nose was pacing back and forth. When the guard brought the ninja in, he stopped and asked, "What is the matter?"

The guard replied, "Lord Tsuchikage, the ninja responsible for patrolling the village today has something to report."

This small man was none other than the Tsuchikage of Iwagakure—Kitsuchi Onoki.

Hearing the guard's report, Kitsuchi Onoki looked at the ninja behind him and said, "I remember you're called San-chi, right? Tell me what happened."

San-chi, standing behind the guard, hurriedly said, "Yes, Lord Tsuchikage. I was patrolling the village today. After reaching the east side, I sensed a strong chakra fluctuation in the distance and rushed over. Upon arriving, I found four people destroying our territory. When I tried to stop them, one of them used a chain to bind me. A short while ago, those people disappeared with a large pile of stone."

Kitsuchi Onoki asked, "What were the characteristics of those four people?"

San-chi thought for a moment and said, "They were all wearing masks. One had white hair, one had black hair, and the remaining adult and the child had golden hair."

"How did they disappear?" Kitsuchi Onoki asked urgently.

San-chi replied, "I didn't see them make any moves; they just vanished into thin air."

Kitsuchi Onoki's pupils contracted upon hearing this. In his mind, the image of that man who had been like a nightmare during the Third Great Ninja War surfaced.

"In which direction specifically?" Kitsuchi Onoki asked again.

After San-chi pointed out the location where Naruto Uzumaki and his group had been mining stone, Ōnoki pushed open the window of the Tsuchikage Office and flew out.

He arrived there shortly after, and upon seeing the small mountain that had been nearly hollowed out and the pockmarked ground, Ōnoki descended with a gloomy expression.

After a brief investigation, Ōnoki failed to find any useful clues, so he returned to the Tsuchikage Office filled with questions.

"That man has been confirmed dead; perhaps I am overthinking things," Ōnoki muttered. He then fell into a long, silent recollection.

On the other side, after Naruto Uzumaki and his group returned to the ruins of the Land of Whirlpools, they headed back to the Altar.

By this time, Kushina Uzumaki's blueprints were nearing completion. After grabbing a quick bite to eat, the group sat nearby, watching her in silence.

A long while later, Kushina Uzumaki dropped her pen, picked up the blueprints, and looked up, saying, "Hahaha, I really am a genius!"

The group behind her immediately stepped forward to her side.

Seeing this, Kushina Uzumaki stopped laughing, placed the blueprints on the table, and began to introduce them to everyone.

"I've integrated that defensive formation into this. Since we lack those special materials, I've replaced the parts that required them with a small formation capable of gathering spiritual energy."

The group looked on, seeing that the blueprints were already filled to the brim.

Centered on the Council Hall, a vast expanse of buildings extended outward. The slightly larger building in the top-left corner was labeled with the word "School," while the building in the bottom-right was labeled "Hospital."

The space around these three buildings had been left open, as if to create a wide thoroughfare, forming a circle that enclosed all three.

Beyond the circle lay a massive complex of buildings; because they were so dense, Kushina Uzumaki hadn't labeled them all individually. It was clear that these structures were separated by eight paths extending from the circle.

Within each district, there were various passages between the buildings, leaving enough room for travel between the houses.

Once everyone connected all the routes, they realized the entire complex formed a massive Bagua.

Kushina Uzumaki had marked all the details on the blueprints, such as the scale and which symbols represented which types of buildings.

The perimeter of the complex was also a circle, which Kushina Uzumaki had labeled as a defensive wall, with a sentry tower placed at regular intervals.

Pointing to the sentry towers, Kushina Uzumaki said, "These sentry towers are where the Spirit Gathering Formations will be placed. Since the materials used for construction are just ordinary wood and stone, they don't naturally possess the ability to gather spiritual energy. By placing many Spirit Gathering Formations around the perimeter, we can draw spiritual energy toward us."

The Spirit Gathering Formation could not only draw in spiritual energy but also concentrate Wood Spirit Qi. This meant that once the entire formation was completed, not only would the village have a higher concentration of spiritual energy than anywhere else, but Wood Spirit Qi would also constantly converge there.

Even ordinary people living in the village would become strong and healthy, rarely falling ill.