Land of Waterfalls

Three days passed in the blink of an eye. Sunlight finally shone upon the land of the Land of Fire, as though it had also dispersed the century-old gloom weighing on everyone's hearts.

Beneath a cliff in the Land of Fire, craftsmen were energetically building houses. A large clearing had been cut from the once-dense forest, and rows of foundations had been neatly driven into the ground. Relaxed smiles hung on everyone's faces, creating a scene of flourishing prosperity.

Atop the cliff, two figures stood silently in loose kimono, gazing solemnly down at the busy scene below.

"Brother, we received intelligence that the Uchiha Clan left the Land of Fire this morning. Their exact destination remains unknown."

"Mm." Hashirama merely nodded absentmindedly. He was clearly disappointed that he had not been able to fulfill his childhood dream alongside his dear friend.

Seeing this, Tobirama said irritably, "Brother, are you still thinking about Uchiha Madara? Do you know what that Uchiha Enkō took from us? Six entire ninja techniques, two of them even S-rank super techniques. We should have kept all of them here back then!"

"Tobirama, the war is already over. Let some things stay in the past." Hashirama shook his head, though the disappointment had vanished from his face. "But you are right about one thing. Now that we have our own ninja village, I will not allow anyone to destroy it again—even if that person is Madara!"

Seeing that his elder brother had finally come to his senses, Tobirama, despite being the younger sibling, revealed a relieved expression. His tone softened greatly, though a trace of wariness appeared in his eyes. "There is one more matter. Sarutobi Sasuke is dead. I had only intended to ask him to fight Uchiha Enkō, but he was killed by him instead. That man is even more dangerous than Izuna. A powerful enemy is not frightening; what is frightening is his vision and his mind."

"Madara truly had two good younger brothers." Hashirama thought for a moment. "By the way, did Sasuke have a son?"

Tobirama recalled, "Ah, I think his name was Sarutobi Hiruzen. I saw him once at their clan grounds before. He seemed quite talented. Why are you asking, Brother?"

"What do you think about taking him as our disciple?" Hashirama's voice carried guilt. "Sasuke died because of our Senju Clan, after all. I want to do something to compensate him."

"Fine. Consider it a way to appease the Sarutobi Clan." Tobirama nodded. "I have also negotiated matters with the Daimyo Palace of the Land of Fire. They have agreed to let us establish a ninja village and will provide a certain amount of material support. At the same time, they will grant every village leader the title of 'Naruto.' Then, Brother, you will be the First Naruto. As for the name of the ninja village, you should choose it."

"A name?" Hashirama raised his head and watched the green leaves dancing through the air. It was as if he saw himself and Madara standing atop this cliff together as children once more. He murmured, "What do you think of calling it the Hidden Leaf Village?"

During the Warring States Period, aside from the five great nations, the surrounding smaller nations also burned in the flames of war. However, because their resources were far less abundant than those of the great nations, it was generally second- and third-rate small clans competing for territory. There were, however, two exceptions.

One was Whirlpool Country. Though it was a small island nation, it possessed the mighty Uzumaki Clan.

The other was the Land of Waterfalls, located between the Land of Fire and the Land of Earth. Its unique geography gave the entire country the natural advantage of being easy to defend and difficult to attack. It was also rich in resources, making it an excellent small nation second only to the five great nations.

For this very reason, war within the Land of Waterfalls had continued for nearly a century. The forces led by the Shemu Clan and the Riverflow Clan, two top-tier second-rate clans, had fought one another to this day. Yet the originally even balance had shifted dramatically after the Shemu Clan unexpectedly obtained a treasure known as Hero's Water.

Empowered by that treasure, the Shemu Clan had once beaten the Riverflow Clan back relentlessly. Not long ago, they had even pressed their advantage and dealt the Riverflow Clan a fatal blow.

Just when the Shemu Clan believed the outcome was decided and that they could unify the ninja of the Land of Waterfalls, a group of oddballs appeared from nowhere. They fought their way into the Land of Waterfalls from the outskirts. After taking territory, they did not occupy it—they captured one area, then abandoned it, as though they had come purely to fight.

The crucial part was that these oddballs were extremely formidable. Their defenses were astonishing, and they fought without fear of death. Ordinary ninja were utterly helpless against them. In just three days of fighting, the Shemu Clan had lost nearly forty percent of its territory. The crippled Riverflow Clan had also seized this chance to rise again, turning what had been a certain victory into a baffling mess once more!

"Damn it! Where the hell did these lunatics come from?!"

Inside the Shemu Clan camp, the current clan head, Shemu Xin, furiously slammed a fist onto the desk before him. With a muffled bang, every ornament on the desk jumped into the air before crashing heavily back down.

The clan members below fell silent as cicadas in winter. No one wanted to add fuel to the fire at such a critical moment.

After venting his anger for a while, Shemu Xin finally turned to his deputy. "What is the situation now?"

The deputy looked equally grim as he carefully replied, "It is not good. Our eastern territory is nearly completely lost. We have only barely held back the invaders' offensive with the aid of Hero's Water. Meanwhile, the remnants of the Riverflow Clan in the west have begun resisting in full force. It will be difficult to eradicate them in the short term."

"Have you identified those lunatics?"

"We have. If we are not mistaken, they should be the Taketori Clan from the Water Country."

"Huh?" Shemu Xin stared at his deputy in disbelief. "Are you kidding me? The Water Country is separated from here by the Land of Fire. Did they come all this way just because they had nothing better to do than wage war?"

"Uh..." In truth, the deputy had found it equally unbelievable when he first received the news. But after thinking it over, he suddenly considered a possibility. "Clan Head, do you think the Riverflow Clan knew they had no chance of winning, so they spread word that we possess Hero's Water and drew the attention of the great nations?"

Shemu Xin frowned. "But even then, the clans from the Land of Earth and the Land of Fire, which are closest to us, should have come first. No matter how you look at it, it should not be the Water Country."

"Clan Head! Bad news! Another clan has entered the Land of Waterfalls!"

At that moment, a burst of frantic footsteps approached from afar. A ninja came running over in panic. "Clan Head, according to intelligence from the front lines, another clan entered the Land of Waterfalls a quarter of an hour ago!"

"What?! Another one?!" Shemu Xin finally could not hold himself back and rose to his feet. "Who is it this time?"

"We do not know. They have not displayed any clan banners identifying themselves, but judging by their numbers, they are clearly not a small clan."

"Damn it! Could the Riverflow Clan really have leaked the news about Hero's Water?" Shemu Xin lowered his head in thought for a moment, a ruthless glint flashing through his eyes. "Bastards. Do they all think we are easy to bully? We cannot let this continue any longer. We must make an example of them with thunderous force, or this will never end!"

"The drawbacks of Hero's Water are far too obvious. First-rate clans would never be interested in it. The ones coming can only be second- or third-rate small clans." Having figured this out, Shemu Xin gave a sweeping wave of his hand!

"Gather every clan member. We will take down this newly arrived clan first, then surround and eliminate that Taketori Clan. I will make sure no one ever dares look down on our Shemu Clan again!"

"Yes!"