Establishing a new nation

At the Land of Waterfalls Daimyo's Residence, Uchiha Mu looked at the daimyo and asked, "Well? Have you made up your mind?"

"This has been passed down through our family for generations..."

"The Five Great Nations have already established shinobi villages. You know Hashirama Senju, don't you?" Uchiha Mu cut off his pointless rambling.

"I do." The daimyo nodded.

"Once Hashirama Senju dies, the Five Great Nations will go to war. I don't need to explain what will happen to a small nation like yours bordering a great nation, do I? Besides, this money will keep your family comfortable for generations. And as long as the nation survives, you'll receive a share every year." Uchiha Mu's voice was like a devil's.

The daimyo of the Land of Waterfalls swallowed. He understood the implications. When the Five Great Nations went to war, Small Countries like his would suffer through no fault of their own. If he had absolute authority, that would be one thing—at worst, he could squeeze the common people harder. But he had political rivals.

If they were dragged into a war, would he spend money to save them, or spend money to save them? It was a false choice. Either way, he would lose a fortune, and that was something he could not allow.

"Also, I'll take your son under my wing and teach him ninjutsu. Shinobi are stronger in that department, so he can give you more descendants." Uchiha Mu was attacking from every angle. Did anyone really think these nobles didn't want to learn ninjutsu?

During the Warring States Period, every shinobi clan hoarded its ninjutsu like precious treasure. Knowing even two or three jutsu was already impressive. Now they could learn ninjutsu from a member of the Uchiha Clan. It was an irresistible temptation.

"Could I learn too?" The daimyo swallowed. He was deeply interested in what Uchiha Mu had said. Daimyo like him were not shinobi, and they had plenty of women.

"Haha, of course." Uchiha Mu knew the deal was secured.

"All right, I'll sell it to you. I'll have someone announce it to the world immediately." The daimyo gritted his teeth and gave his answer.

"A wise choice." Uchiha Mu reached out and shook the daimyo's hand.

He returned to the site where he intended to establish his village. He had already leveled it with Earth Release and built a large number of houses using the Three-Bedroom-and-One-Living-Room Technique, taking advantage of the time before everyone else arrived.

As for how he could build on such a scale, that had to do with his ocular abilities. Unlike Obito, whose abilities relied on special mechanics, he had only one thought when he awakened his Mangekyō Sharingan: to become strong enough to stop wars.

Thus, his left eye increased the power of ninjutsu, his right eye increased the power of genjutsu, and both eyes together strengthened his Susanoo. Combined with his transplanted Hashirama cells, he could easily use Perfect Susanoo even without the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan. That made him the third strongest after Hashirama and Madara.

"Mu, you're back." Hyuga Lingnai appeared with a large group of children.

There were plenty of orphans here, many from the Uzumaki Clan, along with children with Explosion Release from the Land of Earth and Magnet Release from the Land of Wind. He had not visited the Land of Water yet, but planned to make a trip later.

A village needed plenty of Kekkei Genkai, and the Uzumaki Clan was a tremendous boon. With their presence here as a draw, he could intervene when the Uzumaki Clan faced extermination, take in more of its members, and gain their trust.

"With this, our village's initial setup is complete." Uchiha Mu smiled.

"What should we call our village? Takigakure?"

"No, we're calling it a nation. This is the Hundred-Clan Shinobi Nation."

"Isn't that a little too bold?" Hyuga Lingnai was worried. Considering the Kekkei Genkai in their village, wasn't that practically telling everyone they were stealing Kekkei Genkai?

"Lingnai, remember this: even if we keep a low profile, we'll still draw attention once information about the village gets out. We might as well do this from the start. We need to grow strong quickly while Hashirama is still alive."

As the Shinobi World's ambassador for peace, Hashirama deterred the other great nations from recklessly starting wars while he lived. And Uchiha Mu would become the reason those nations still dared not invade after Hashirama died.

"Yes." Hyuga Lingnai nodded in agreement.

"There's no need to worry so much, either. Look at the Uzumaki Clan. They let us adopt plenty of orphans, but didn't give us a single Sealing Jutsu. It's the same with the other Kekkei Genkai. At least those shinobi clans won't fight us to the death."

"First, we'll establish a Ninja Academy. I'll use clones to teach the children, then develop the village to attract civilians and merchants." Uchiha Mu laid out their next steps.

They would not be able to attract shinobi clans, but as long as a few geniuses like Minato emerged, the Hundred-Clan Shinobi Nation would at least have people to carry it on.

"Then, what about us..."

"We'll get married once I turn sixteen." Uchiha Mu gave her his promise.

"All right." Hyuga Lingnai beamed. This was why she had left with Uchiha Mu in the first place. She wanted to be with the person she loved. Was there anything wrong with that?

As development in the Hundred-Clan Shinobi Nation proceeded at full speed, a major event shook the entire Shinobi World: the daimyo of the Land of Waterfalls and the neighboring Land of Frost announced to the world that they had sold their nations to Uchiha Mu.

The great nations and Small Countries alike were shocked, but could hardly object. After all, the daimyo had sold their nations for money, and no one had the right to criticize them. Had Uchiha Mu seized them by force, however, it would have been another matter. They would have pushed the Five Great Shinobi Villages to join forces and destroy him.

The nobles now understood who had taken their missing money. Although the stolen sums were not particularly large for any individual noble, they could not swallow the insult. They promptly issued assassination missions targeting Uchiha Mu.

They could let the money go, but Uchiha Mu had to die. If they did nothing, what would happen when other shinobi followed his example?

The Uchiha and Hyuga who had already reached the capital of the Land of Fire set off for the Land of Waterfalls. They moved faster than anyone else, seizing this chance to complete their mission.

Most importantly, the nobles of the Land of Fire had pooled their money to offer one hundred million ryō. That was an enormous sum.

The Uchiha Clan was stunned. They had never imagined Uchiha Mu had left to do something like this: buy two nations, merge them, and establish a new one. They were proud of him, but their feelings were complicated.

After all, Uchiha Mu had told none of his clansmen when he left and had taken only a Hyuga girl from another clan with him. They believed that the little Hyuga girl with the Byakugan had bewitched him.

The Hyuga Clan's feelings toward Hyuga Lingnai and Uchiha Mu were equally complicated. They had never expected an Uchiha who left Konoha to establish his own nation. And Hyuga Lingnai was involved as well, which meant he had not forgotten her.

That raised a crucial question: should they hedge their bets? In the end, they decided against it. Backing both sides would only alienate both, and their home base was still in Konoha.

However, they had no intention of recalling Hyuga Tenka. If they could not even overcome a challenge like this, they might as well die out there together.

Konoha's other shinobi clans also had complicated feelings about Uchiha Mu. First of all, he was an Uchiha. Shinobi of this era all knew the terror Madara inspired, and they feared the Uchiha.

Still, since the matter had nothing to do with their clans, they paid it little attention. They were busy finding the right place for their own clans in Konoha and securing benefits.

As for the shinobi villages of the other four great nations, they united in opposition. In their eyes, those two had both come from Konoha. If their nation merged with Konoha later, just how vast would its territory become?

Their objections accomplished nothing, however. These were daimyo selling their land and nations. If such sales were forbidden, who could daimyo sell their land to in the future? This was the consensus among the daimyo: the Shinobi World could fight to the death all it liked, but it must not interfere with their interests.

Thus, under the threat of funding cuts, the four villages were silenced. That did not mean they had given up, though. The bordering Land of Earth and Land of Lightning intended to destroy the Hundred-Clan Shinobi Nation first once Hashirama died.