Inside the screening room, the images on the screen continued for several hours.
At first, Uchiha Madara watched calmly, maintaining the composure he had shown upon entering.
The Xia Dynasty laid the foundations, establishing the beginnings of a state.
The Shang Dynasty revered the gods, its oracle bones recording rule through divination;
The Zhou Dynasty established rites, making patriarchal hierarchy the foundation of society;
The Qin Dynasty unified the realm, standardizing writing, road gauges, and measures under central authority;
The Ming Dynasty stood firm, its emperors personally guarding the nation's gates; the Qing Dynasty closed itself off, and the lingering glory of Kangxi and Qianlong gave way to the end of imperial rule.
As the footage moved into the modern era, his gaze never left the screen.
The continuous images of roads connecting, ports expanding, and cities taking on new shapes during industrialization were like a thread slowly unraveling, linking the fragments he had seen earlier into a path he could trace.
Then came the final segment-how the nation emerged from foreign blockades and domestic hardship, rebuilt its industrial system, and restored its coastal ports.
As it endured humiliation and hardship to reconnect with global trade networks, Madara rested his fingers on the armrest, leaving them motionless for some time.
When the screen went dark, the screening room returned to quiet illumination.
Madara leaned back in his chair and drew his gaze away from the now-dark wall.
Turning toward Tianyi, he said, "The history of this continent really is fascinating. In some respects, it bears a strong resemblance to the history of the Ninja World.
"The process by which Hashirama Senju and I established the Land of Fire had a great deal in common with those first few segments."
His voice was steady, as though he were sorting through