"Just like that... he had them under control!?"
Hyuga Hiashi's mouth hung open as he walked out of the meeting room.
Only then did he realize why Bai Ye had said he would not need Shisui to act.
Bai Ye's Mangekyo Sharingan could actually bring everyone present under his control in an instant and make them act according to his wishes.
In truth, Bai Ye had not changed much of what they thought.
He had merely altered some of their hostility toward him and Konoha.
Then he used genjutsu to make them choose to keep supporting Konoha, just as they had before.
Such a subtle change would ordinarily go unnoticed. Hiashi had taken a look with his Byakugan earlier, though, and he could indeed see it.
The signs were concentrated around their eyes, since they had been subjected to Sharingan Genjutsu.
The Byakugan could detect what was different about these people.
He suddenly realized why Bai Ye had chosen to tell him all of this.
This genjutsu had a weakness. Nothing showed on the outside, and even chakra sensing might fail to detect it.
But the Byakugan could see it.
Now that they were working together, Bai Ye had told him his plan outright.
Naturally, the Hyuga Clan would not put any obstacles in his way.
They had stayed there for a full three hours.
Although he had controlled the Daimyo and the others from the very beginning, they needed to make the whole affair look more convincing.
They had forced themselves to wait inside for three hours, giving everyone outside the impression that negotiations were still underway.
"Shall we head back?"
Hiashi asked.
Everything had been settled now. There was no point in staying.
By this point, Hiashi had also realized that he had been overcomplicating matters.
Sometimes, the real solution really was that simple and blunt.
"You two go ahead. I still have something to take care of. I'll head back once I'm done."
"All right."
Hiashi nodded and did not linger.
The two of them then left first.
Once they were gone, Bai Ye looked toward a patch of shadow nearby and said, "Come out."
No sooner had Bai Ye spoken than Asuma stepped out of the shadows.
His expression grew conflicted when he saw Bai Ye.
He had not originally wanted to meet Bai Ye today.
It would have been impossible to claim he did not hate Bai Ye. After all, this was the man who had killed his father.
But from what he had read in the newspaper, he also knew that, looking at the matter impartially, he could not blame him.
Had he been in Bai Ye's position, he probably would have considered doing the same.
Besides, anyone who killed should be prepared to be killed.
That applied to what his father had done back then, whether to White Fang or to shinobi from other villages.
If the Third Hokage had chosen to fight on the front lines during the Third Shinobi World War instead of remaining safely in the rear, perhaps fewer young shinobi would have died.
Asuma had witnessed the brutality of the Third Shinobi World War.
And what about the people Orochimaru had used in his experiments? Did their families not hate Hiruzen Sarutobi?!
They could have captured Orochimaru back then, but Hiruzen Sarutobi had let him escape.
Besides, this had been a battle that settled their feud.
"I already know what happened with my father. People from Konoha have come to see me, too. But I'm not planning to return to Konoha. I'll stay here and continue serving in the Twelve Ninja Guardians.
"As for what happened between you... just as you said, your feud is settled."
Asuma took a drag on his cigarette, something unreadable flickering in his eyes.
Even if he hated Bai Ye, he was no match for him. If he made a move, he would not be the only one to die.
Even the Sarutobi Clan would face a reckoning once Bai Ye returned.
For now, those four had shouldered everything, and Bai Ye had not held their clans responsible.
Only certain stubborn holdouts would be dealt with.
Asuma understood that even if he did not think of himself, he had to think of his clan.
Likewise, even if he chose not to dwell on this matter,
that did not mean he wanted to return. He no longer wanted to go back to Konoha.
He would treat their feud as truly settled, but he could not go back to the way things had been, even if there were many people in the village he wanted to see.
He admitted that he simply could not face his father's killer every day.
"Fine."
Bai Ye nodded, then turned and walked away.
He did not care whether Asuma returned.
As long as Asuma behaved himself, Bai Ye could treat him as though he did not exist.
He did not actually need Asuma to return, either.
For one thing, Asuma was not particularly powerful. He was not someone Bai Ye absolutely had to bring back.
For another, their relationship was already poor. Wouldn't insisting on bringing him back be asking for trouble?!
The reason he had issued that order
was simply to find out what Asuma was thinking.
If Asuma intended to make a move, Bai Ye would eliminate him sooner rather than later.
If he behaved himself, Bai Ye would let him be.
From the look of things now, Asuma seemed to fall into the latter category.
Watching Bai Ye walk away, Asuma could not help breathing a sigh of relief.
He had a fairly accurate grasp of the current situation.
He understood one thing very clearly: it was not so much that Konoha needed the Land of Fire as that the Land of Fire needed Konoha.
Without Konoha, the other nations would carve up the Land of Fire's territory and resources in an instant.
Konoha was different. If it could not get what it wanted by asking, couldn't it simply take it?!
So when the Daimyo had asked whether he needed to take Asuma's feelings into account,
Asuma had said no.
Now that everything had gone so smoothly, he could not help feeling relieved.
At the very least, he did not want to see internal strife between Konoha, which his father had protected for most of his life, and the Land of Fire, which he himself protected, giving other Ninja Villages and nations an opening.
Outside the Land of Fire's capital.
Hiashi and Shisui gave Bai Ye surprised looks. "You settled it that quickly?!"
"Yes, there weren't any real issues. Let's head back first. Once the documents arrive, we can take our time planning what comes next!"
The Land of Fire's internal affairs had now been settled.
Expansion was the next step.
Konoha lay at the center of the continent, with several small nations surrounding it.
Among those nations, the Land of Rain currently had the Akatsuki.
There was no need to clash with them for the time being, but the other small nations could all be annexed.
For now, however, they needed to come up with suitable pretexts.
When they first deployed their forces, they could not let others become too aware of their intentions.
They would certainly need to plan this out once they returned.
While Bai Ye and the others were on their way back to Konoha, the Land of Fire's official documents reached the village ahead of them. The news then spread through newspapers to the surrounding regions.
The announcement itself did not contain much.
Essentially, it stated that the Land of Fire had gained a clear understanding of the situation within Konoha.
It respected Konoha's internal decision and formally recognized Uchiha Bai Ye as the Fifth Hokage.
Their existing cooperation would continue unchanged.
When this announcement appeared, many people who had been waiting to watch the drama unfold were stunned.
Seriously?!
Unless they remembered wrong, hadn't the Land of Fire taken a very hard line before?
How had Bai Ye settled everything as soon as he got there?!
Konoha.
Many of those who received the news could not help breathing sighs of relief.
A falling-out between Konoha and the Land of Fire would not have been good for the village.
Now, though, Bai Ye had managed to reach an agreement with them.
This benefited both sides, especially the Uchiha.
With an agreement reached with the Daimyo, his position as Fifth Hokage was now set in stone.
For the Uchiha, who had always longed for a Hokage of their own, this finally put their minds at ease.
"I knew that boy could do it!!!"
A look of deep emotion crossed Uchiha Hui's face.
Reading the news in the newspaper, he found himself remembering that night.
Back then, he had doubted whether Bai Ye could lead the Uchiha to greater heights.
He had never expected him to actually pull it off!
Now that they had the Land of Fire's official endorsement, Hui felt that the final obstacles had all disappeared.
"He's amazing! That's Bai Ye for you!"
Uchiha Izumi propped her head on her hands as she read the newspaper.
Everything happening now was something she had once dreamed of.
She had never imagined that one day, a member of the Uchiha Clan really could become Hokage.
Or that they could receive the respect they deserved within the village.
"Yes. In a few more years, you'll be all grown up too, Izumi!"
"Mm-hmm. What's on your mind, Grandpa?!"
"Nothing. I was just thinking that you really are growing up. You could spend more time with him from now on. There's not much of an age gap between you. In a few years, if things work out, I'll go speak to Bai Ye."
Hui's words were practically an outright suggestion.
Izumi had understood from the beginning. Girls in the Hokage World matured early, after all, and she was no longer all that young herself.
Naturally, she understood these things.
Besides, Hui had spelled it out afterward.
Bai Ye...
There were probably plenty of people with their eyes on him now.
And plenty of girls in the clan probably liked him.
He was handsome, powerful, and the Uchiha's first Hokage. Even their forebear Madara Uchiha had never managed that.
How could she compete with those girls?!
And it probably wasn't just girls within the clan. There were likely plenty outside it, too.
Elsewhere.
Among the delegation that had come to Konoha from Amegakure, Konan learned that Konoha and the Land of Fire had reached an agreement.
A flicker of surprise crossed her eyes.
"This doesn't seem quite like what Nagato said. I wonder whether coming here this time was a good idea or a bad one..."
Konan had spent a long time discussing this meeting with Nagato before he finally agreed to let her come as a shinobi from the Land of Rain.
At first, she had planned to infiltrate the village. But after thinking it over, she decided she might as well come openly.
After all, she was only visiting Konoha to gather some information first.
She did not particularly trust Zetsu or the Masked Man to begin with.
And this time, the Masked Man had brought Uchiha Itachi back with him. With the Uchiha having won such a sweeping victory, Itachi had actually left the village.
How could Konan not be suspicious of that?!
She had already submitted a request for a meeting. Since Bai Ye had gone to the Land of Fire, Shikaku and the others were temporarily handling Konoha's administrative affairs in his place.
Amegakure might have been a small Ninja Village, but its delegation had come to discuss cooperation with Konoha. Naturally, they could not refuse.
Inside the Hokage's Office.
Shikaku was dealing with the administrative work before him, and he was genuinely starting to feel overwhelmed.
He now seriously suspected that Bai Ye had rushed off to the Land of Fire
because he wanted to leave all this accumulated work for Shikaku to handle.
There was too much!
Far too much!
He couldn't possibly get through it all!
And although only one shinobi from Kirigakure had come since Bai Ye became Hokage,
that still meant a visit from a Ninja Village belonging to one of the Five Great Nations.
According to the documents submitted, representatives had come from two villages: Kirigakure and Amegakure.
For now, Amegakure seemed to have come simply in the hope of cooperating with Konoha.
Kirigakure's intentions, however, were another matter.
This was far too outrageous. Shikaku certainly did not dare agree on Bai Ye's behalf.
All he could do was get her settled first, then wait for Bai Ye to return and let him decide whether to go.
Besides, the current situation in Kirigakure was utterly baffling.
They had already sealed themselves off, yet they had actually sent someone over to discuss something like this?!
So Shikaku did not dare make the decision.
Meanwhile, Mei Terumi was strolling around Konoha.
Only after arriving in Konoha did she realize that other villages were not merely much better off than Kirigakure. The difference was like night and day.
Although Mei Terumi had been on missions and knew other villages were not like Kirigakure, she had never expected this.
Only when she actually entered one of those villages did she discover just how good things could be.
Compared with Kirigakure, the Bloody Mist Village, the people living here truly had lives to envy!
"If only Kirigakure could be like Konoha someday!"
A wistful look crossed Mei Terumi's face. Her mission was to speak with the Hokage and, ideally, get him to visit Kirigakure.
She knew the invitation was absurd. She had no idea why she had been given such a mission in the first place.
Mei Terumi did not even believe Bai Ye would go to Kirigakure.
Go to Kirigakure himself to discuss cooperation?!
It was not as though there had been no cautionary precedent!
Back then, the Second Hokage had gone to Kumogakure for peace talks, only to be killed outright by an elite unit led by Kinkaku and Ginkaku.
Yet the Fourth Mizukage had actually assigned her a mission like this.
She did not even know what to say.
Still, a ninja's priority was completing the mission.
She could only do her best.
She had already been in Konoha for two days. Since Bai Ye had gone to the Land of Fire, she would remain in the Land of Fire until she received a final answer.
Although she was under surveillance, she at least felt quite at ease here.
She had even begun thinking that if she were the Mizukage, she would change Kirigakure and make it a village like Konoha.
But...
Everything would have to wait until Bai Ye returned.
"Lord Hokage, we're almost there, but there seems to be something happening up ahead."
Not far from Konoha, Shisui watched the path ahead warily.
There was movement up ahead, seemingly signs of a ninja.
And judging by the situation...
His senses suggested that whoever it was was coming toward them.
When he saw someone run up to them, Shisui narrowed his eyes and tightened his grip on his kunai, only for Bai Ye to stop him. "There's no danger."
Bai Ye looked at the person before him, a flicker of surprise crossing his eyes.
It was her?!
Before you continue