News that Yayoi had an heir quickly spread throughout the Land of Night.
First Nightview City, then the other towns. The people of the Land of Night learned one after another that their general had a direct heir, further stabilizing the situation within the country.
However, Yayoi's series of actions left the other nations completely baffled.
After being stabbed in the back by Konoha last year, the Land of Night was one of the few countries that still maintained trade with Konoha.
Most absurdly, Yayoi, as the general, had not focused on expanding military armaments or preparing troops to guard against a possible surprise attack from Konoha. Instead, he had put his energy into other fields. He had not even stationed ninja or samurai forces along the border to guard against an attack Konoha could launch at any time.
And now, at such a tense moment, he had publicly revealed that he had a direct heir... Was that really something worth reporting across the entire nation?
While having an heir was certainly important, shouldn't he have paid more attention to the tense international situation?
The only proper course was to quickly strengthen their forces, form an alliance with the others, and launch an all-encompassing encirclement of the Land of Fire.
Was this man really not afraid of Konoha?
Or had he obtained some kind of inside information from Konoha?
After all, the Land of Night had continued trading normally with Konoha throughout this period. The whole matter was deeply suspicious.
The calmer the Land of Night remained, the more foolish the other nations appeared.
At this moment, in the Hidden Leaf Village.
Hokage Rock—the enormous statue of Hashirama, symbolizing the Hokage—had already appeared upon the towering mountainside.
That massive head could be seen even from far away.
Compared to Hashirama's actual appearance, the face on Hokage Rock was undoubtedly more stern and serious, carrying an imposing authority that needed no anger to inspire fear.
Below Hokage Rock, another iconic Konoha structure—the Hokage Building—had likewise been fully completed.
Last year, only a crude main structure had been built. Now, many details and supporting frames had been added, and its colors were far more vivid, making its extraordinary nature obvious at a glance.
Apart from Hokage Rock and the Hokage Building, numerous buildings of all sizes had also been completed one after another.
Each ninja clan had followed its own customs, building suitable new territory on the land it occupied around the Hidden Leaf Village.
It was not only ninja clans. Thanks to its formidable reputation, the Hidden Leaf Village had also attracted many ordinary outsiders to settle there.
For the first time, the village had gained something new beyond the ninja clans, becoming increasingly full of everyday life rather than merely a military institution that nurtured ninja.
The Hokage Building beneath Hokage Rock.
"Gahahaha! This General Yayoi is quite an interesting man. Tobirama, I heard you say that he seems to be an impressive medical ninja as well?"
In the office, Hashirama wore the Hokage's ceremonial robe, with a conical hat bearing the character for fire placed before him. Upon reading the intelligence sent back from the Land of Night, he could not help bursting into hearty laughter, displaying an openness and cheerfulness unlike most people.
"Yes. When it comes to Medical Ninjutsu, he might even be comparable to you, Brother."
Tobirama leaned against the window, gazing at the clouds in the sky. Hearing Hashirama's question, he turned and replied.
"Then that really is remarkable. He's younger than I am now. In the future, he may even surpass me in Medical Ninjutsu."
Hashirama spoke with sincere admiration.
Though he was often humble, he also knew that many of his abilities were beyond the reach of ordinary ninja.
Medical Ninjutsu was one of the fields he took pride in.
"Perhaps, but that isn't the point."
"Then what is?"
"The Land of Night's actions over the past few months make it seem as though they've seen through Konoha's pattern of operations. While the other nations are trembling with fear over it, the Land of Night has no such concerns at all."
Tobirama frowned in thought.
"Are you saying intelligence from our Konoha High-Level Conference has leaked?"
Hashirama stroked his chin, following Tobirama's line of thought.
Tobirama shook his head.
"No, it hasn't gone that far. What I mean is that this general of the Land of Night has grasped the heart of the matter from Konoha's series of actions. That is why he has continued cooperating with Konoha while leaving his defenses open... His perception is a little too terrifying."
As he spoke, Tobirama's expression involuntarily turned solemn.
"That's what's bad about you, Tobirama. You always use the most malicious assumptions to speculate about other people's motives. Maybe his thoughts aren't that complicated at all. Maybe he simply wants to cooperate with Konoha?"
Hashirama waved a hand, feeling that Tobirama was overthinking things.
"..."
Tobirama sighed wearily.
A man who had built a powerful nation second only to the Five Great Nations from nothing in little more than a decade, then cold-bloodedly dealt with every rebel and their family... Simple?
That word should never have been associated with him.
"Tobirama, now that General Yayoi has an heir, shouldn't we send him a gift as well?"
Hashirama began considering the matter.
Honestly, Madara's actions last November had completely disrupted his various plans, causing many of his ideas to die before they could begin and creating tremendous trouble for both him and Konoha.
As a result, Konoha now needed to remain quiet and slowly dispel the suspicions of the other nations.
Therefore, after losing trade with the other nations last November, Konoha's development had become much less smooth.
Among those nations, the Land of Night was the only one that had maintained a good relationship with Konoha.
Thanks to the Land of Night's assistance, along with the conveniences provided by the Land of Fire's daimyo, Konoha's development had not stagnated and had instead continued progressing steadily.
To be honest, Hashirama was deeply grateful for the Land of Night's help.
So, after learning that Yayoi had an heir, he thought they should send a congratulatory gift as repayment for the other side's support of Konoha over the past few months.
"This..."
Tobirama could not help pondering it as well.
Just as Hashirama had said, regardless of what Yayoi's intentions might be, the Land of Night's help to Konoha was real.
With Yayoi having an heir, sending a return gift was only natural.
"I remember that you have quite a few Chakra Crystals in your collection, Brother. Choose a good one and send it over."
Tobirama recalled that Hashirama's collection contained many uncarved Chakra Crystals. Even the least valuable ones, no larger than a fingernail, could sell for hundreds of thousands of ryo.
Among them was even a one-of-a-kind Chakra Ore from the Ninja World. Whether for practical use or collection value, it would fetch an astronomical sum at auction—perhaps enough to buy several mountains.
Naturally, they would not be sending a Chakra Crystal of that grade. But Hashirama also had second- and third-tier Chakra Crystals in his collection.
"You mean those things? Personally, I feel that..."
A rare look of hesitation appeared on Hashirama's face, as if he could not bear to part with them.
Seeing his hesitation, Tobirama said, "Whenever you lose money gambling, you take some out to sell anyway. Rather than doing that, you might as well use them for a proper purpose."
Hashirama: "..."
Could he not bring up gambling? He made it sound as if Hashirama was always losing money.
At least show some respect for the First and Konoha's Gambling God!
◎
Ever since Kicho gave birth to his child half a month ago, Yayoi had remained in a good mood.
And once the news spread, congratulatory gifts began arriving at the General's Residence from all across the country, whether sent sincerely or with ulterior motives.
Not only from the Land of Night—even many countries beyond its borders sent gifts befitting their status in the name of their nations.
Even two of the Five Great Nations, the Land of Fire and the Land of Earth, sent congratulatory gifts in their nations' names.
Likewise, the Hidden Leaf Village and Hidden Rock Village, which represented the military forces of those two nations, also sent valuable gifts. The names of the gift-givers were marked upon them: the First, Hashirama Senju, and Mu, leader of the First Tsuchikage's guards.
The gift sent by the First, Hashirama, was a fist-sized Chakra Crystal that shimmered with an emerald luster.
Though Yayoi did not know its exact value, considering Hashirama Senju's collection, it was surely no ordinary item.
He knew that in the original story, the necklace Hashirama had passed down to his granddaughter Tsunade had been forged from a Chakra Crystal. It was a unique ore from the Ninja World, worth three mountains. It had even displayed a powerful suppressive ability during the battle against Pain, restraining Six-Tails State Uzumaki Naruto.
As for Mu's gift, it was Chakra Metal, something that could stand alongside Chakra Crystals—and it was no ordinary Chakra Metal.
It was entirely red and emitted an incomparably strange luster. Moreover, an unusual energy fluctuation was contained within the metal. When Yayoi lightly touched it with his fingertip, some of the Chakra within his body was drawn into the red metal and fused with its internal energy, causing the sheen on its surface to become even more dazzling and brilliant.
The red metal was not small in quantity, amounting to several fist-sized pieces.
Though it contained some impurities, removing them would produce a perfect piece of Chakra Metal. At that point, the enhancement it provided to Chakra would become even more terrifying.
Clearly, Mu had been willing to offer such a treasure because Yayoi had previously saved him with Medical Ninjutsu.
In terms of economic and practical value, it surpassed the Chakra Crystal Hashirama had sent.
"Sure enough, it's best to make as many friends as possible..."
Yayoi played with the Chakra Crystal and Chakra Metal, and the corner of his mouth curved into a smile.
His friendly relations with Konoha and Hidden Rock Village might not last forever. Perhaps in the distant future, conflicts and battles would break out between nations for all kinds of reasons, and even friends would inevitably turn their blades against one another...
But for now, maintaining good relations with these countries brought enormous benefits to both him and the Land of Night.
Besides, expecting nations to remain friendly forever was fantasy to begin with.
"If I refine this metal, melt down the Kusanagi Sword, add other precious materials, and then cultivate it with my Active Chakra, perhaps I can forge a Chakra weapon whose performance surpasses the Kusanagi Sword... Should I give it a try?"
Yayoi thought of the Lightning-Attribute Kusanagi Sword he had obtained after wiping out the Kusanagi Clan last year.
He had kept that Kusanagi Sword in storage all this time, with no opportunity to use it. He instinctively wanted to melt it down and forge a new weapon.
After all, leaving such an excellent weapon in storage to gather dust was truly wasteful.
Waste was what he disliked most.
And as the general of the Land of Night, not having a divine weapon as his personal sword was rather unbecoming.
However, Yayoi could not think of a workable plan for the moment, so he decided to deal with it later.
Next, Yayoi put away the various gifts on the table one by one.
Apart from the precious Chakra Crystal and Chakra Metal, most of the gifts people had sent were actually rather unremarkable.
Their lack of distinction was not about their price, but about their uselessness to ninja.
Luxurious gold and silver jewelry and clothing made up a large portion of them, and there were also quite a few baby supplies.
The baby supplies would naturally be kept for the child. As for the beautiful jewelry and clothing, Yayoi planned to distribute them among Irori, Kicho, Aoi, and Rinko.
"That will be all for today, Irori."
Though it was not yet dark outside and only evening, Yayoi planned to finish work for the day and return to rest.
Well, he mainly wanted to see his child, so he had been ending work early every day lately.
"Please take care, Lord Yayoi."
After what had happened that day, the knot in Irori's heart had completely disappeared. Her complexion had improved greatly—no, it was more like she had been reborn, radiant and filled with drive.
At times, Yayoi could also sense a slight change in the way Irori looked at him. On the surface, she remained as gentle and considerate as before, but there was now an aggressiveness that had not existed in the past.
*(I want to give the protagonist a personal sword, but there aren't many suitable candidates at the moment.*
Because the sword itself is only secondary. The beautiful sword spirit inside it is the real main character.
*After all, a divine weapon without a beautiful sword spirit does not deserve to be called a divine weapon!)*
Before you continue