The Hokage Secretariat moved fast.
The smaller countries and ninja villages outside the Five Great Nations and the Five Great Villages received Kitazawa's final ultimatum the very next day.
It was presented as two choices, but in reality, there was only one.
The Land of Rain was the first to respond, voluntarily merging into the Land of Fire.
Soon after, smaller countries like the Land of Grass, the Land of Waterfall, the Land of Demons, and the Land of Snow joined one after another.
By the time June arrived, Kitazawa and Shizune walked into Konoha's high-security detention wing—the village prison.
It held the jōnin captured from the four great ninja villages during the Fourth Shinobi World War.
The Fourth Raikage, Mei Terumī, Ōnoki, and Rasa had also been summoned.
Up to this point, Kitazawa hadn't made any arrangements for the shinobi from the four great villages.
First, there were simply too many—he couldn't sort it all out overnight.
Second, they weren't Konoha shinobi, so every decision had to be made carefully.
"Your Majesty," Mei and the others greeted in unison.
Plenty of them were unwilling deep down, but when you're under someone else's roof, you keep your head down—at least on the surface.
Anyone who truly couldn't accept the new reality had already gone to the Pure Land. The ones who remained knew how to read the situation.
"First thing," Kitazawa said bluntly. "Each of your four villages will select five thousand ninja to join Konoha's five ninja corps."
The four leaders couldn't help but be startled.
Konoha's five corps totaled only about five thousand people before this.
If the four great villages each sent five thousand, that meant nearly half of every corps would be made up of former enemy village shinobi.
Good thing it was Kitazawa.
If it were any other Hokage—or emperor—trying to do this, the four villages could've relied on sheer numbers and rebelled the next day.
"Second thing," Kitazawa continued, "is your own assignments."
The four leaders tensed immediately.
But then they were caught off guard.
Because the positions Kitazawa gave them weren't bad at all—some of them even became high-ranking officials within the Land of Fire and Konoha.
The Fourth Raikage joined the Second Ninja Corps, becoming the second-in-command under Uchiha Fugaku.
Mei Terumī, Mabui, and Samui joined the Hokage Secretariat, handling the day-to-day administration of the shinobi world.
Ōnoki joined the Third Ninja Corps, but given his age, he was appointed as an instructor, specializing in teaching Earth Release.
Akatsuchi joined the Engineering Department, responsible for developing "industrialized" Earth Release techniques.
Ao joined the Fourth Ninja Corps, assisting Nara Shikaku.
Rasa joined the Fifth Ninja Corps, assisting Yakushi Kabuto.
Chiyo and Ebizō joined the Ninja Academy as instructors for the "Advanced Class."
Baki became a team leader, with Kankurō, Gaara, and Temari as his students—forming the new Team Eight.
Kurotsuchi and Deidara joined the Advanced Class as well, teaming up with Fū, the Seven-Tails jinchūriki, to form Team Nine under their jōnin leader, Kitsuchi.
As for the other jōnin, most were directly integrated into the five major corps.
A tiny handful received special placements based on their talents.
"If you have questions, ask," Kitazawa said, looking at the four leaders.
"Your Majesty," Mei raised her hand. "Aside from the shinobi joining the corps… do the others need to move to the Land of Fire's capital metropolis?"
Kitazawa nodded.
Just like Konoha, Iwagakure, Sunagakure, Kirigakure, and Kumogakure would become pure military camps going forward.
The reason was simple.
Even though the Five Great Villages were large, they still couldn't compare to the Land of Fire's capital metropolis.
And if people didn't relocate, there was no way to centralize power in the metropolis.
The capital would also be expanded further.
First, to accommodate the shinobi and civilians from the five villages.
Second, to clearly distinguish it from the metropolises of other nations.
"The Hokage Secretariat and Engineering Department will assist with the relocation," Kitazawa said after a pause. "Start now."
"Yes, Your Majesty," they answered in unison.
After handing the matter over to Shizune, Kitazawa returned to the Land of Fire's capital metropolis.
"Your Majesty," Konan said when she saw him, handing him a scroll. "The last small country—the Land of Yū—has agreed to merge into the Land of Fire."
Kitazawa opened the scroll, glanced over it, and nodded in satisfaction.
[Current Mission: Unify the Shinobi World.]
[Reward: Infinite Tsukuyomi.]
[Mission Completed. Reward Granted.]
Kitazawa blanked for a moment, then absorbed the system's injected information.
Infinite Tsukuyomi was a genjutsu—but when paired with the God Tree, it wasn't "just" a genjutsu anymore.
Using the moon as a medium, it could cast the entire shinobi world into an illusion.
Inside the illusion, people would live out their deepest wishes.
But it was still an illusion.
If it wasn't released in time, the God Tree would turn those trapped within into White Zetsu.
In the original story, Kaguya Ōtsutsuki used Infinite Tsukuyomi for exactly that purpose: converting everyone into White Zetsu.
And White Zetsu could serve as her weapons—her soldiers—to fend off the Ōtsutsuki who hunted her.
Kitazawa quickly realized a problem.
He didn't have the Rinne Sharingan.
If he used Infinite Tsukuyomi, he couldn't use the moon as the medium.
In other words, in Kitazawa's hands, Infinite Tsukuyomi became an ultra-wide-area genjutsu—but it couldn't cover the entire world.
Still, that didn't really matter to him.
He could still use the God Tree to transform those caught in the illusion into White Zetsu.
"Have someone notify Itachi and let him handle what's left," Kitazawa said, setting the scroll down.
The meaning was straightforward:
Have Uchiha Itachi use genjutsu suggestions on the nobles and officials of the newly absorbed small countries.
He'd done it more than once already—this was practically routine for him.
"Yes, Your Majesty," Konan replied with a nod.
She changed into Anbu attire and left the Hokage's office.
Kitazawa lifted a hand and tapped the Hokage's desk lightly.
There was still plenty to do across the shinobi world, but it was all a matter of time—sooner or later, it would be done.
He had already laid down the basic framework.
Even if he delegated everything, the shinobi world could continue developing on its own—just not as quickly.
Kitazawa looked up, staring out at the sky beyond the window.
At this point, there were only two remaining "crises" in the shinobi world—two people.
Kaguya Ōtsutsuki and Isshiki Ōtsutsuki.
The former was sealed on the moon.
The latter was living as a parasite within Jigen.
Jigen had been hiding somewhere in the shinobi world all this time.
With his strength, finding him wouldn't be easy.
Kitazawa had already tried—Byakugan and Tenseigan couldn't locate him.
So the only hope was a system task triggered by Kaguya's release.
But before unsealing Kaguya, there was someone else he needed to meet.
The Sage of Six Paths—Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki.
Still, he wasn't in a rush.
After all, he still had one system task left.
Kitazawa raised an eyebrow and withdrew his gaze.
He stood and walked to the door.
When he opened it, he saw Yamanaka Ino peeking around suspiciously.
Her long blonde hair swayed as she moved.
"K-Kitazawa-sensei!" Ino met his eyes, smiled awkwardly, and hurried to greet him.
"What is it?" Kitazawa lifted a hand and flicked her forehead.
"I just think the missions lately are kind of boring," Ino said immediately, clinging to his arm and blinking at him.
Ever since the shinobi world was unified, high-difficulty missions were rare.
Most assignments were either escort jobs, protecting clients, or clearing out bandits and rogue wanderer-nin.
"Then do you want to be a Hokage secretary?" Kitazawa asked, struck by a sense of déjà vu.
"That's exactly why I'm here! I want to become a Hokage secretary too—like Hinata!" Ino nodded hard.
There was another reason, of course.
Sakura Haruno had become an attending medical ninja at Konoha's hospital.
Compared to that, Ino felt like she had nothing to show.
If she became a Hokage secretary, she could go brag to Sakura.
"Come with me," Kitazawa said, ruffling her hair, then led her to the Hokage Secretariat next door.
The Secretariat had expanded a lot by now—more staff, larger scale.
Even so, it still felt short-handed.
They weren't just managing Konoha anymore—they were managing the entire shinobi world, and the workload had exploded.
Still, at least there would be no more wars.
In other words, there were fewer true emergencies and major crises.
"Kitazawa-sensei," Hinata Hyūga said as she noticed him, jogging over.
"Hinata," Ino said with a bright smile. "From now on, we're coworkers. Looking forward to it."
Hinata blinked, then understood—and she was genuinely happy.
Before this, she'd been the only intern in the Secretariat.
And with her personality, she often had no idea what to talk about with the other secretaries.
With Ino joining, she finally had a familiar friend.
"Hinata," Kitazawa said after a brief thought, "perfect timing. Take Ino to see Shizune-senpai."
"Okay, Kitazawa-sensei," Hinata nodded.
"Bye, Kitazawa-sensei!" Ino waved, then left with Hinata for Shizune's office.
Kitazawa watched them go, rubbing his chin.
He was thinking about what to do next.
For today, everything was basically wrapped up.
Then he thought of Tsunade.
He immediately used Flying Thunder God.
In the next instant, he appeared in Konoha's casino.
These days, Konoha's casino wasn't in Konoha Village anymore—it had been moved to the Land of Fire's capital metropolis.
Business was even better than before.
The reason was simple: the capital now had an enormous population.
Kitazawa quickly spotted Tsunade.
She sat at a gambling table with a gloomy face, radiating "don't talk to me."
Kitazawa couldn't help smiling as he walked over.
"Why are you here?" Tsunade asked, her expression easing a little.
"Nothing special. Just came to take a look," Kitazawa replied.
"Fine, but don't cause trouble," Tsunade warned, then looked back toward the casino floor.
"Me? What trouble would I cause?" Kitazawa sat beside her, speaking casually.
Tsunade snorted and ignored him.
Kitazawa glanced around.
Forget it—too many people. He wouldn't take advantage of her here.
His eyes drifted to the table.
His thoughts wandered, and he suddenly thought of online casinos.
Of course, it wouldn't just be casinos online.
The problem was, the shinobi world didn't have an internet yet.
They already had computers.
Normally, it wouldn't be until the Boruto era that the internet appeared.
But Kitazawa could accelerate it.
Now that the world was unified, he could gather talent from across the entire shinobi world.
With his unlimited support, both computer adoption and the birth of the internet would happen far faster.
He glanced at Tsunade, then stood and walked into a corner.
Before he even spoke, Konan—wearing an Anbu mask—appeared beside him.
Kitazawa smiled.
He pulled her into his arms, lowered his head, and kissed her once on her snow-white skin.
If he couldn't take advantage of Tsunade, he'd take advantage of her instead.
Konan felt a heat bloom in her chest, her body growing restless.
"I have a task for you. Send someone to notify the Science Department," Kitazawa said, lifting his head from her soft embrace, one hand brushing over her hips as he brought up the subject of the internet.
"Mm," Konan replied immediately.
But her voice sounded a little more syrupy than usual.
Kitazawa met her gaze.
Cool and distant—yet threaded with desire.
He knew exactly what his personal Anbu wanted as a reward.
"Tomorrow," Kitazawa said. "That's when I'll reward you."
He gave her soft flesh a squeeze, then let go.
Konan looked a little disappointed, but even more excited about tomorrow.
She took a step back—and vanished.
As the sun dipped westward, Tsunade—having lost all day—stood up in a foul mood.
Kitazawa grabbed her wrist and used Flying Thunder God.
The two of them returned home.
Tsunade froze slightly, realizing something was off.
Because they had appeared in her bedroom—not the living room.
She was about to speak, when Kitazawa bit down on her soft, red lips and tasted them.
She let out a muffled sound, but didn't push him away.
"They won't be back for a while," Kitazawa said, breathing out.
Tsunade shot him a glare.
And then, her sleeveless top slid open on its own, falling to either side—exposing大片 snow-white skin to the air.
Kitazawa swallowed instinctively.
"Sit down first," Tsunade said abruptly, as if she'd just thought of something. "Consider this your reward for unifying the shinobi world."
Kitazawa was confused, but he did as she said.
As soon as he sat, Tsunade knelt on the floor.
She lowered her head, leaning her whole body against Kitazawa's thighs.
Kitazawa's breath hitched.
The scene he'd been wanting for so long was finally happening.
Kitazawa closed his eyes.
He felt like he was sliding from the peak of a snowy mountain, all the way down—until he reached the abyss.
Only when the sound of a door opening rang out did Tsunade cover her mouth and nose and rush to the bathroom.
A blush had also spread across her chest.
A month passed in the blink of an eye.
During that time, the shinobi world developed at a rapid pace.
But it was all still in the early stages.
Many changes needed time to truly take shape.
The internet, for example.
And Kitazawa also completed his final system task.
[Current Mission: Help Uzumaki Naruto become a perfect jinchūriki.]
[Reward: 20% Senju Hashirama-style physique.]
[Mission Completed. Reward Granted.]
Feeling a massive surge of chakra pour through his body, Kitazawa couldn't help smiling.
Next was unsealing Kaguya Ōtsutsuki.
But before that, Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki would definitely try to stop him.
And Kitazawa had been wanting to meet the legendary Sage of Six Paths for a long time.
~~~
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