The dust and smoke finally settled.
The Valley of the End was in ruins.
Even the colossal statues of Madara and Hashirama had been mostly destroyed, their once-majestic forms reduced to broken stone.
Madara's gaze lingered on Hashirama's shattered likeness, and he sighed inwardly.
He had lost at the Valley of the End once again—utterly and completely.
In their last battle here, he had relied on Izanagi to come back from death.
This time, he hadn't even had that option. He was already dead, sustained only by Edo Tensei.
After all, Edo Tensei was never true resurrection.
"Madara."
Kitazawa walked up to him.
Nagato followed close behind, his eyes fixed on Madara.
"What is your relationship with Hashirama?" Madara asked, turning his gaze to Kitazawa.
Kitazawa froze for a moment.
That was a hard question to answer.
He understood what Madara was thinking—Madara believed he was a member of the Senju clan.
But in truth, he wasn't.
However, given his current relationship with Tsunade, there was nothing wrong with claiming to be of the Senju.
"I'm of his grandson's generation," Kitazawa replied after a brief pause.
Tsunade was Hashirama's granddaughter.
By calling himself of the grandson's generation, he wasn't lying.
"I see." Madara didn't question it. Instead, he praised him. "Being able to fight you makes this trip worthwhile."
"Praise from you needs to be accepted," Kitazawa thought to himself, quietly impressed. As expected of Uchiha Madara, he had the bearing of a great hero even in defeat.
"Nagato, I'll tell you the whole story now."
Accepting his loss without struggle, Madara began to lay out the schemes he had woven around Nagato.
He spoke of Nagato's parents.
Although he hadn't killed them with his own hands, he had planted suggestions in the nearby Konoha jōnin, guiding them to do it.
Then he spoke of Yahiko.
White Zetsu and Black Zetsu had fanned the flames from the shadows, assisting Hanzō in secret. Because of them, Hanzō had been able to capture Konan and force the situation that led to Yahiko's death.
If Yahiko had lived, Nagato would never have fallen into darkness.
And a Nagato consumed by darkness was easier to control.
"That's how it happened," Madara concluded. "I've told you what you wanted to know. Release the Edo Tensei."
The Eye of the Moon Plan had failed, and he had been defeated by Kitazawa. Remaining in this world any longer would only invite further humiliation. It was better to return to the Pure Land.
Snapping back to reality, Nagato formed the seals and released Edo Tensei.
Madara's body crumbled away and vanished.
Silence fell over the Valley of the End once more.
Nagato stood there, dazed.
Even though he had prepared himself, hearing the truth still tore at his heart.
And now, he had no way to take revenge.
Uchiha Madara was already dead.
"Let's go back."
Nagato took a few deep breaths, forcing his emotions down.
The past was the past.
Now, he needed to move forward for Yahiko's dream—to realize peace in the shinobi world.
Kitazawa nodded.
After everything that had happened, Nagato had grown.
From this moment on, he would fully become a shinobi of Konohagakure.
Kitazawa activated the Flying Thunder God.
In an instant, he and Nagato reappeared inside the Hokage Building.
"Nagato," Kitazawa reminded him, "send some ANBU to notify the Engineering Department. Have them repair the Valley of the End."
"Alright."
Nagato nodded and headed toward the Anbu base.
Kitazawa watched him leave, then turned and walked into the Hokage Building.
"Hokage-sama."
Ninjas greeted him all along the way.
Only when he reached the Hokage's office did the noise finally die down.
There was no helping it; this was the price of becoming Hokage.
And compared to the power and authority that came with the title, this was a small price to pay.
"Hokage-sama."
Konan approached and said, "Iruka Umino was just here. This is the scroll he left for you."
Kitazawa reached out, slid his hand beneath her body-hugging skirt to squeeze her black-stockinged thigh, then took the scroll from her hand.
The contents were simple: a reminder for him to attend the Ninja Academy's opening ceremony tomorrow and deliver a speech.
Kitazawa rubbed his chin.
He didn't care much for speeches, but he still had to say a few words at the ceremony.
At that moment, he realized just how convenient the Will of Fire could be.
In a situation like this, rambling about the Will of Fire was undoubtedly the easiest option.
Once he had a rough idea, he took out a blank scroll.
He planned to write a draft for the speech.
But as he wrote, his mind was working at high speed, and he needed a way to cool it down.
He looked over at Konan.
Understanding him all too well, Konan knelt down in front of him.
Her red lips were moist like water, offsetting the chill in her expression perfectly.
A new day dawned—September 1st.
The Ninja Academy was unusually lively.
Part of it was because it was the first day of school; the rest was because of Kitazawa.
Many parents had heard he would be attending, so they stayed behind to take part in the opening ceremony.
At nine in the morning, Kitazawa stepped onto the stage and began his speech.
Konan stood not far away, quietly watching him.
Kurenai, Kakashi, and the others didn't come; they had their own business to handle.
Besides, they were no longer Academy instructors, so there was no need for them to attend the opening ceremony.
Half an hour later, Kitazawa finished his speech and stepped down from the stage.
"Hokage-sama."
Konan walked up and handed him a bottle of water.
"Thanks."
After taking a sip, Kitazawa headed toward Hiruzen, Iruka, and the others.
He chatted with them for a while, then left the Academy.
After all, he didn't recognize a single one of the new students.
[Current Mission: Help Uchiha Sasuke unlock Perfect Susanoo.]
[Mission Reward: Amaterasu.]
[Host has completed the mission; reward issued. ]
Kitazawa raised an eyebrow.
It seemed Sasuke had mastered the Yin Release Chakra Mode.
Only with that level of chakra could he unlock the Perfect Susanoo.
Kitazawa returned to the Hokage's office.
Sitting behind the hokage's desk, he stretched lazily, then began going through the documents piled on top.
In less than half an hour, he was done.
How should he put it?
They were all trivial matters.
Whether it was Konoha or the entire ninja world, it was the same everywhere.
Right now, it was the calm before the storm.
The Five Great Ninja Villages were all secretly preparing for the Fourth Great Ninja War, so everything on the surface seemed very quiet.
Kitazawa suddenly thought of the Daimyo of the Land of Fire.
That was the only unstable factor.
Once the Fourth War began, it was entirely possible the Daimyo would worry that Konoha couldn't win a one-against-four and would end up dragging them down.
"Konan, go call Itachi here," Kitazawa said.
"Yes, Hokage-sama."
Konan changed her clothes, then turned and left.
Not long after, Itachi pushed the door open and stepped inside.
"Itachi."
Kitazawa looked up at him and asked, "What do you think of the Land of Fire?"
Itachi paused for a moment, slightly taken aback.
He had never seriously considered that question before.
But since Kitazawa had asked, he had to answer.
"They are Konoha's employers," Itachi said after thinking it over.
"Calling them employers isn't wrong." Kitazawa smiled, then continued, "But why should shinobi, who are so powerful, be subordinate to employers who can't even truss a chicken?"
Itachi froze.
What did he mean by that?
Did Kitazawa intend to break away from the Land of Fire?
"I'm giving you a mission," Kitazawa said, cutting through his confusion. "Go and take control of the Daimyo of the Land of Fire."
Itachi's pupils narrowed sharply.
So it wasn't about breaking away from the Land of Fire but about controlling it?
This was completely unprecedented.
Even in the chaotic Warring Clans Period, it had always been the Daimyo who ruled their countries, not the shinobi.
So why was Kitazawa trying to do this?
"There are many shinobi who long for peace in the ninja world," Kitazawa said, noticing his confusion. He spoke almost casually as he asked, "So why do ninja wars keep happening?"
Itachi thought for a moment, then shook his head.
He didn't know the answer.
"The cause of ninja wars isn't the hidden villages themselves, but the nations behind them," Kitazawa explained. "We aren't truly fighting for the sake of the villages."
Itachi went still, unconsciously sinking into deep thought.
In other words, only by controlling the Five Great Nations could the Five Great Hidden Villages be made to stop fighting.
To him, that perspective was completely new.
But it wasn't his fault. Even people like Jiraiya and Nagato were bound by the thinking of their era; none of them ever directed their gaze toward the Five Great Nations themselves.
"I understand, Hokage-sama," Itachi said, taking a deep breath.
"Don't let anyone notice for the time being," Kitazawa added after a short pause, reminding him.
"Yes, Hokage-sama."
Itachi bowed slightly, then turned and left.
With his orders given, Kitazawa returned to his training in Yin–Yang Release.
Halfway through September.
The calendar turned to September 15th.
Hyuga Clan compound.
Hyuga Hiashi, usually calm and composed, was visibly anxious. He kept pacing back and forth, glancing between Hinata and Neji.
Only when Kitazawa appeared out of thin air did he hurry forward.
"Hokage-sama!"
Hiashi greeted him immediately.
Kitazawa nodded, then walked over to stand in front of Hinata.
He reached out and placed his hand on her forehead.
Chakra flowed from his palm into her eyes.
"Very successful," Kitazawa said with a small smile.
Hiashi finally let out a long breath of relief, his face quickly shifting to open excitement.
By contrast, Hinata remained surprisingly calm.
Kitazawa reached up and carefully removed the bandages covering her eyes.
Hinata felt the light pressing against her eyelids.
She didn't open them right away. After keeping them narrowed for a moment, she slowly lifted them.
"Thank you, Kitazawa-sensei!"
Looking at him, Hinata's lips unconsciously curved upward, a quiet joy welling up in her chest.
"Try your Tenseigan," Kitazawa said, patting her head lightly.
At his words, Hinata's eyes trembled.
Her formerly milky-white pupils became dazzling, shining with a brilliant purple light.
Kitazawa then moved to Neji and removed his bandages as well.
After Neji activated his Tenseigan, what shone out from his eyes was a deep blue light.
But that was normal.
Neji had awakened his Tenseigan with the aid of Ōtsutsuki Toneri's chakra.
In the original story, Ōtsutsuki Toneri's Tenseigan was blue.
Hinata's was purple, since her ocular power came from that massive purple Great Tenseigan.
Kitazawa nodded to himself.
This was perfect.
One purple, one blue—easy to tell apart at a glance.
[Current Mission: Help Hyūga Neji and Hyūga Hinata unlock the Tenseigan.]
[Mission Reward: Ōtsutsuki Clan bloodline concentration increased by 30%.]
[Host has completed the mission; reward issued. ]
Staring at the three lines of glowing text in front of him, Kitazawa calmly forced down the surge of restless chakra rampaging through his body.
If Hiashi and the others noticed anything off, it would be hard to explain.
"Neji."
After watching the two pairs of Tenseigan for a while, Hiashi couldn't hold back any longer. "Spar with me right now."
He was eager to see for himself just how powerful the legendary Tenseigan really was.
Neji instinctively glanced at Kitazawa.
"There's no harm in giving it a try."
Kitazawa replied as he pulled Hinata back by the wrist, guiding her out of the way.
Neji stepped into the center of the courtyard to face Hiashi.
"Be careful, Neji!"
Hiashi activated his Byakugan. Veins bulged at his temples as he sprang forward, both palms thrusting out in a flurry.
He moved at full speed, his figure leaving faint afterimages in the air.
But in Neji's Tenseigan, every motion looked slow.
He slipped past the twin palms with ease and immediately launched a counterattack.
The two closed in on each other, trading blows with Gentle Fist at point-blank range.
As the exchange continued, Hiashi grew more and more shocked.
He was clearly at a disadvantage—no, he was being completely suppressed by Neji.
In terms of Gentle Fist alone, his experience and mastery should have surpassed Neji's.
He had decades more training, after all.
But Neji's Tenseigan utterly eclipsed the Byakugan in dynamic vision.
Every movement Hiashi made was read and countered.
"Neji, does the Tenseigan have other abilities?"
Hiashi withdrew, opening some distance between them, and asked in barely contained excitement.
"Yes."
Neji nodded.
The moment he awakened the Tenseigan, some knowledge had naturally surfaced in his mind.
Chakra Orbs.
Neji raised his hand.
A glowing sphere of chakra shot out from his palm, hurtling toward Hiashi.
"Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm!"
Hiashi immediately struck forward, unleashing an invisible shockwave of air.
But as soon as the air wave touched the orb, it was drawn into it, and the orb's speed surged even higher.
"What?"
Startled, Hiashi hurriedly dodged to the side.
At that instant, Neji's eyes narrowed.
An invisible gravitational pull wrapped around Hiashi's body.
Hiashi's expression changed as he suddenly lost control, his body yanked straight toward the Chakra Orb.
At the critical moment, he unleashed Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms.
But the instant his palms struck the orb, he felt the chakra in his body being drained away.
In that brief moment of shock, his movements stalled, and the Chakra Orb pinned him in place.
Seeing this, Neji quickly dispelled the orb and drew it back.
"Excellent!"
Hiashi couldn't help but exclaim, "As expected of the Tenseigan!"
Neji had just awakened it, yet he was already able to overpower him.
Once Neji became fully accustomed to it, he would undoubtedly surpass him completely.
The same would be true for Hinata.
But instead of feeling bitter, Hiashi was delighted.
The Hyūga Clan finally had two top-tier powerhouses.
Of course, he understood that all of this was thanks to Kitazawa.
"Hokage-sama!"
Hiashi bowed deeply. "Thank you for your help to the Hyūga Clan!"
"It's nothing."
Kitazawa shook his head, then added, "Neji, Hinata, you two should first familiarize yourselves with the Tenseigan. If there's anything you don't understand, you can ask me."
"Yes, Kitazawa-sensei."
Neji and Hinata answered in unison.
"I'll be going now. See you next time."
Kitazawa smiled and vanished from where he stood.
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