In the blink of an eye, ten years hurried by, and the Shinobi World remained peaceful throughout.
Konoha had completed its reforms. Compared to ten years ago, its area had grown several times over, and its population had surged tenfold. Naturally, its number of Ninja increased by the day as well, firmly securing its position as the Number One Great Shinobi Village. It was also the only Ninja Village open to everyone.
Konoha's prosperity and strength made the other Ninja Villages green with envy, and they began following its example.
However, various internal problems caused most of the Ninja Villages' reforms to fail. Rather than increasing, their overall strength even declined somewhat.
Kumogakure, on the other hand, achieved considerable success. This was mainly thanks to the Fourth Raikage's decisive approach. His word was law in Kumogakure, and the villagers strongly supported him, conditions the other villages lacked.
Perhaps for that very reason, Kumogakure actually never made another move against Konoha, let alone abducted little Hinata. This turned Ye Feng's prophecy into a lie. Fortunately, no one in the Hyuga Clan brought it up again, and Ye Feng pretended to have forgotten it too.
Akatsuki quietly built up its strength and searched for the Tailed Beasts. It had confirmed the whereabouts of all the others, but the Three-Tails alone remained nowhere to be found, leaving Black Zetsu utterly distraught.
In the end, Black Zetsu sought help from his uncle-the Sacred God. But how could the Sacred God, Ye Feng, possibly tell him? Until Ye Feng's Five Elements Origin reached the perfection realm, he would not release the Three-Tails.
Thus, Ye Feng sent Black Zetsu away with the excuse that this world was deliberately concealing the Three-Tails and that he needed a long time to unravel it. He also told Black Zetsu