No Regrets, The End

Perhaps this is what Leaf Village wanted to convey to them.

There will never be another Senju Hashirama to play the "we're all family" game with everyone.

The two Susanoo vanished before everyone's eyes, and when Uchiha Shingen and Uchiha Madara stood before them again, everyone bowed their heads.

"Fifth Hokage, I'm going back now." Uchiha Madara didn't want to see these people at all. It wasn't that he had never recognized the Five Kage system from the beginning, but the current Kage disappointed him.

Although he criticized the First Kazekage, Uchiha Madara still regarded the First Hokage of that era as real people.

Yeah, treat it like a serious beating from life.

But now, he feels like he's wasting his Chakra even when he's fighting.

"Alright, Clan Chief Madara, you go back first. I'll take care of the rest." Uchiha Shingen was very understanding of Uchiha Madara's eagerness to return home. This Leaf Village Asura truly loved children, which was no secret in Leaf Village.

Uchiha Madara is the only Kage Level ninja in Leaf Village to date who would accompany children to amusement parks. Senju Hashirama never did that; he specifically took his best friend to parade around in the streets.

Uchiha Madara, then used Kamui to disappear from the spot.

His departure seemed to warm the air considerably.

Of course, this might have been Uchiha Shingen's imagination, because everyone else still felt a chill in their hearts and stared blankly at the sky.

They were still reeling from the moonrise ceremony.

Even a counterfeit celestial body is enough to cause a significant impact on the most powerful people in the world.

There are still quite a few people in this world who believe that the sky is flat and the earth is square.

It is a world forcibly matured by Chakra, packaged with seemingly advanced production technology, yet it remains a feudal society.

Uchiha Shingen clapped his hands, waking them up.

"Gentlemen, stop staring. It's over." Uchiha Shingen once again flashed his very approachable smile at the group. "Let's go back to the meeting room. For the future, the five great ninja villages must work together."

Chapter 153 No Regrets, The Grand Finale

When the new moon appears, peace reigns throughout the land.

This is not a joke, but a fact.

For the general public on this continent, it doesn't matter where the moon in the sky comes from or whether it is eternal. These people, who need to rely on hard work to earn a living, have no interest in exploring this. They only care about whether it exists or not.

Even if they look a little different, as long as they're there, that's enough. It proves that they're still living in their familiar world, and that alone is enough to put their minds at ease.

For the upper-class nobles who control the administration of various countries, this is also a very clear signal.

There have been invincible figures in this world before, and wherever such figures lived, that country would enjoy peace; war would only break out when they needed it.

But nobles read history, and they were also responsible for compiling it.

Therefore, it is clear to everyone that neither Uchiha Madara, the Shura of Konoha, nor Uchiha Shingen, the Fifth Hokage, were people like Senju Hashirama.

The God of Shinobi enjoys peace. As long as the ninjas stop fighting, he's fine with anything because he believes people yearn for peace, and he's willing to whitewash the truth for this reason.

Leaf Village Asura, on the other hand, is an extremely impatient person who wants to finish all the battles in one go.

In contrast, the Fifth Hokage was a very secular ninja leader who did not have a fixed inclination.

When the new moon is high in the sky, the undercurrents that swept across countries due to the disappearance of the old moon vanish completely, as if they had never existed.

The Land of Fire is ushering in an era of unprecedented prosperity since its founding.

The reason why samurai were eliminated by ninjas was not only due to the difference in their Chakra techniques, but also because of their different attitudes toward national institutions.

Ninjas didn't participate in these things at all; they were only interested in the military system. Samurai, on the other hand, were far more interested in politics than in military matters. They were interested in things like overthrowing superiors, ruling from behind the throne, respecting the emperor and expelling barbarians, and even using organizational succession to carry out peaceful evolution. The more chaotic the Warring States period was, the more elaborate the samurai's games became.

Indeed, human affairs change, the past and present come and go, but the landscape retains its scenic spots, which we, the younger generation, once again ascend.

The Ninja Village era brought good days to the ninjas and was also a boon to the lords. They no longer had to worry about waking up one day to find their property taken away. They willingly paid a large sum of money to the ninja village every year, euphemistically called government funding. In the past, even paying money didn't guarantee a sense of security, as there was always the chance that the generals below would call for a rebellion one day.

Freed from military affairs, the lords had ample energy to devote to developing their territories, which in turn made the country wealthy.

Except for those small countries sandwiched between major powers and used specifically to compete for supremacy, everyone is satisfied.

The radiance of the new moon could even reach small countries, and no one in the world dared to speak lightly of war, because those who opposed it only needed to point to the sky.

Moreover, when everyone starts praising Leaf Village, praising Leaf Village is no longer a shameful thing, but a very normal thing, just like people need to eat and drink. People who don't praise Leaf Village are the odd ones out.

"A raging fire and splendid flowers" perfectly describes the current state of Leaf Village.

Alone and desolate, this perfectly describes the other ninja villages today.

In the third year since the new moon began to hang in the sky, Leaf Village, Iwagakure, and Sand Village began to formally absorb the remaining forces of Amegakure.

Uchiha Shingen personally went to the Land of Rain.

A few days later, the Akatsuki, which had persisted for several years, announced its disbandment.

Having lost Akatsuki, the last influential banner, the Land of Rain withdrew from the ranks of ninja nations. The ninjas within its borders scattered, mainly joining the three major ninja villages of Leaf Village, Iwagakure, and Sand Village.

When Uchiha Shingen returned to Leaf Village, he brought back a group of former ninja from the Land of Rain, including Nagato and Konan, as well as a coffin containing Yahiko.

A slightly older Jiraiya greeted Nagato and Konan. Looking at Yahiko's coffin, he thought of how the young man had dared to ask him for food, and with mixed feelings, he thanked Uchiha Shingen.

Nagato and Konan joined the Uzumaki Clan, and the Uzumaki Clan and Uchiha Clan made a pact that the Rinnegan would be returned to the Uchiha Clan after Nagato's death.

No one dares to embezzle this money; the original owner of this body is alive and well.

In fact, Nagato, would have died from exhaustion if it weren't for Isshiki Chakra implanting Ōtsutsuki Isshiki in his body and modifying it to some extent.

Uchiha Shingen pulled him out of his fate as a vessel, and he used the technique taught to him by Kaguya Otsutsuki to transfer the Karma seal on Nagato's body to... a passing wild boar.

Then he slapped the wild boar to death with a backhand.

The last trace of Ōtsutsuki Isshiki in this world was also erased.

As for Nagato, he was completely disheartened or rather, he gave up, because the world was now at peace thanks to the power of Uchiha Shingen and Uchiha Madara. In the end, persuaded by Konan, he disbanded Akatsuki and went to Leaf Village with Uchiha Shingen.

It's much better than what happened to him in his original timeline.

Having settled the last unstable element, Uchiha Shingen never left Leaf Village again.

In the blink of an eye, another decade has passed.

That year, the Ninja World's attitude of following Leaf Village's lead had become a common practice.

After the formation of a single dominant power, the way the various ninja villages interacted with Leaf Village also changed.

Genuine communication has replaced the previous open and covert struggles and even mutual probing.

Techniques from different ninja villages were also introduced to Leaf Village.

The application of electricity in Cloud Village and the Chakra mechanisms in Sand Village both first appeared in Hidden Leaf Village under these circumstances.

The Cloud Village and the Sand Village had no choice. At least after they contributed a portion of their technology, the Hidden Leaf Village would give them a share of the profits in accordance with the rules. In the words of the Fifth Hokage, they were contributing their technology as equity.

This is an important supplement for the two ninja villages that lost many mission slots due to Leaf Village's strong ability to generate revenue. After all, they can also use the technological achievements resulting from this, but they will have to pay Leaf Village a fee in proportion.

In this situation, some people jokingly say that each ninja village has practically become a branch of Leaf Village, because their ninjas would rather partner with Konoha Ninja to make money than compete with Konoha Ninja for missions.

"So, I guess I've succeeded?"

On the Hokage Rock, a person sat cross-legged on the head of the great Second Hokage in a rather unrefined posture.

Sitting here, looking down at Konoha Ninja Village, it looks very different from what it did ten years ago.

The Hidden Leaf Village of today is truly the most prosperous and developed city in the world.

The mechanical technology derived from Puppet Technique has replaced animal power in many places, and electricity has been applied to all aspects of the city.

The person sitting in the Second Hokage has a thermos and a stack of nuts at their feet.

He picked up the thermos, opened the lid, smelled the aroma of tea inside, and took a satisfied sip.

Then he casually grabbed a few nuts, tossed them into his mouth, chewed them a few times, and frowned.

"This one doesn't taste good at all," he muttered, then grabbed another handful without stopping.

People kept passing by the viewing platform under the Hokage. Most of these people were residents of Hidden Leaf Village. After seeing the person sitting on the Hokage, they would pretend not to see him and not disturb him.

Only a few tourists were stunned by what they saw. When they notified the nearby Konoha Ninja and were told who the person was, they were completely dumbfounded.

Then join the ranks of those who say, "I didn't see anyone up there."

Those who were essentially ignored watched with great interest, occasionally muttering things like, "Aren't the people from the Land of Wind wearing such thick clothes?" and "Wow, that girl from the Land of Earth has such pretty clothes."

As he made his enthusiastic assessment, the air began to swirl around the First human-faced statue next to him.

"Uchiha Shingen!"

Amidst a cold shout, the former Leaf Village Asura, whose attire had drastically changed, stood atop his best friend's head, staring coldly at the Fifth Hokage.

The reason it is described as "before" is because the current Hidden Leaf Village has entered the Sixth era.

During the Fifth Hokage's reign, Uchiha Shingen firmly held the power to approve early retirements, ensuring that no one could retire earlier than him.

Until he approved a sum of money for himself.

"Oh my..." Uchiha Shingen turned around and exclaimed in surprise, "Isn't this the great Sixth?"

No kidding, Uchiha Madara really did become the Sixth Hokage through a proper election, and all of this happened three years ago.

He no longer frightens children by helping them up.

His murderous aura has been left behind in the old era.

Uchiha Madara didn't even attend the speech, since he didn't even know he'd been nominated.

By the time he found out, he was already the Sixth.

The excited Daimyo of the Land of Fire practically sped to Leaf Village because Uchiha Madara was his idol when he was young. Although he had been intimidated by Uchiha Madara back then, after he came to his senses, he thought his idol was indeed very cool.

When Uchiha Madara became Hokage, he said on the rooftop, "What are you looking at? Haven't you ever seen anyone Hokage before? If you're bored, go to work!"

It is said that this sentence inspired the creation of an entire book.

After all, many people genuinely believe that as one of the founders of Leaf Village, Uchiha Madara must have been a highly skilled speaker; such influential figures are often concise yet profound in their words.

If you can't see the subtlety behind it, then you're definitely too inexperienced.

"That's not funny," Uchiha Madara said coldly. "You remember you're the Hokage Advisor, right?"

"Speaking of which, I have to have a word with you, Sixth." Uchiha Shingen was wide awake at this point. "I'm already retired, isn't it a bit inappropriate to bring me into the advisory team?"

"You know I'm actually over a hundred years old, right?" Uchiha Madara expressionlessly. "You can nominate a hundred-year-old for Hokage, so is there anything unreasonable about me appointing someone under fifty as Hokage Advisor?"

"That's different. You get a sense of accomplishment when you become Hokage, but I don't," Uchiha Shingen reminded him. "Our experiences are different."

"That's right." Uchiha Madara nodded, then pointed to himself, "But look at me, do I look like I care about your experience? You get back to work!"

After pointing at Uchiha Shingen, Uchiha Madara stormed off using Kamui.

"This is really irritable..." Uchiha Shingen sighed regretfully, but showed no intention of moving. He slowly finished eating all the nuts, took a sip of tea, and then slowly stood up.

"Your best friend is a real handful, but he's actually perfect to be Hokage; he can work even more overtime than the Fourth Hokage."

Uchiha Shingen looked at the human-faced statue of Senju Hashirama.

Senju Hashirama genuinely wanted Uchiha Madara to First Hokage, because he felt it was the best way to save his best friend.

Senju Hashirama guessed the outcome correctly, but he didn't guess the process correctly.

It's a pity he can't see what Uchiha Madara like now.

Uchiha Shingen wanted to show many people Leaf Village was like now, but that was impossible for the Yamato and second eldest sons, since both of them had clearly stated before leaving that they would never return.

Both brothers are very stubborn.

Most of the brothers who fought alongside me during my first playthrough could not be found at all.

Life can never be perfect.

Uchiha Shingen clapped his hands, tidied up the dishes and thermos, and disappeared from the Hokage Rock.

When he reappeared, he was already on a busy main road.

Time changes, years change. This road used to be very narrow, only wide enough for pedestrians to pass through, and it would become muddy and impassable on rainy days. Now, after several major renovations, this muddy road has been transformed into a smooth cement road.

As more and more high-rise buildings appear in Leaf Village, people are living in increasingly comfortable conditions, while single-story houses and tiled houses are becoming fewer and fewer, or even disappearing altogether.

Birds flew freely over the rooftops, planning to fly south to the warmer south before the cold winter arrived.

Uchiha Shingen walked through the crowd and returned to his home.

The wall surrounding the Uchiha Clan's territory, facing the village, has been demolished.