The sixth great nation was thus established during the Third Great Ninja War.
Correspondingly, Rain Village also rose to become the sixth great ninja village in the Ninja World, leveraging the corpses of several smaller nations, with Sand Hidden as its backing and Cloud Hidden Village and Konoha as its stepping stones.
Hanzo crowned himself the First Rain Kage, and his subordinates, Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan, had also made names for themselves through their training over the past year or two.
In the original timeline, Jiraiya could only teach basic things, as he wasn't allowed to teach Konoha's Ninjutsu. But here, Jiraiya was taken over by Hanzo halfway through, and Hanzo had much more to teach.
Hanzo was eager to impart everything he could. Even if he couldn't teach something due to Chakra attribute incompatibility, he would try to acquire that knowledge.
While Yahiko and Konan's natural growth ceiling might not be greatly enhanced by this, their improvement speed was significantly faster. Their current strength still had a gap compared to a Kage, but they were approaching elite Jonin status, making them Hanzo's effective right and left hands.
As for Nagato, the changes were even more profound.
His legs were not blown off, allowing Nagato to successfully learn Hanzo's Water Body Flicker. His massive Chakra reserves also gave his Water Release some of Hanzo's mastery. Hanzo didn't know the full capabilities of the Rinnegan, but with his experience, he could still provide some guidance for Nagato's development of its basic abilities.
This gave Nagato near-Kage level combat prowess even now.
And bigger changes were yet to come.
After the Land of Rain became the sixth great nation, Hanzo handed over the national finances to Kakuzu as a condition, successfully bringing this Kage-level expert, who had five lives and was proficient in all five elemental Ninjutsu, into his faction.
Kakuzu could not only guide Nagato, who was highly talented in elemental Ninjutsu, but he also hailed from Waterfall Hidden, having once single-handedly wiped out its high-ranking officials.
This also allowed Hanzo's Rain Hidden to infiltrate Waterfall Hidden and capture the Seven-Tails.
With Hanzo, Kakuzu, and Nagato—three formidable, high-level combatants—plus over two thousand elite Rain Hidden ninjas seasoned by war, over a thousand collected rogue and wandering ninjas, and over a thousand surrendered troops from smaller ninja villages like Hidden Grass Village, Rain Hidden possessed significant power.
This strength, combined with Sand Hidden's support, was enough for Rain Hidden to temporarily establish itself and secure its position.
If, like when the Five Great Nations were first established under Senju Hashirama's suppression, they could have a decade of peaceful development, enough to train a generation of ninjas, then their ninja count would likely reach seven or eight thousand, even if not ten thousand, and the number of Jonin would be in the tens, if not over a hundred.
By then, Rain Hidden would have sufficient mid-level combat power to truly solidify its position as one of the Six Great Ninja Villages.
Of course, at this moment, Rain Hidden's overall combat strength actually seemed stronger than that of the neighboring Stone Hidden and the Hidden Mist Village in the Land of Water.
This was largely due to how poorly these two great nations performed and how extensively they suffered losses during the Third Great Ninja War.
Stone Hidden lost two Tailed Beasts, leaving only Onoki and Kitsuchi to hold the fort. Fortunately, Stone Hidden was known for its large number of ninjas and their excellent teamwork, allowing them to retain over ten thousand ninjas and barely stabilize their foundation.
As for Mist Hidden, their Tailed Beast was still there, and their Kage was still there, but of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen at the beginning of the war, only Fuguki Suikazan and Juzo Biwa remained. The other five had been completely replaced, with some positions even seeing two replacements.
The ordinary ninjas below, including Jonin, suffered devastating casualties at the hands of Uchiha Fugaku, leaving them severely weakened. It would be impossible for them to recover without at least a decade of rest and recuperation.
...
...
As envoys to the former Land of Waterfalls, Chiyo and Karura finally returned to Sand Village as the New Year approached.
Sand Village had largely finalized the power distribution for its next generation of high-ranking officials. Qingshui would manage political affairs, finances, and personnel, overseeing everything. Rasa would assist Qingshui in overseeing the Anbu, handling matters of the dark side. Pakura would serve as the Kazekage's secretary, managing the intelligence department. Sasori would be in charge of the Puppet Force, and Karura would handle diplomacy and logistics.
Chiyo, the Third Kazekage, and Ebizo had also begun the transition of power, simultaneously mentoring the new generation and having these future high-ranking officials start learning how to handle various affairs.
This time, Chiyo brought Karura along as a diplomatic envoy to mediate the war.
"Hanzo plans to relocate Rain Village to the border between the northern part of the former Land of Rain and the Land of Grass early next year. That location is closer to the current center of the Land of Rain, allowing him to better leverage the former Land of Rain's foundation to stabilize newly occupied territories like the Land of Grass and the Land of Waterfalls. He's probably also using this relocation as an opportunity to formally declare the establishment of the sixth great ninja village.
The Kage of the various great nations will be invited to Rain Hidden to witness it, and... Hanzo wants to purchase a Sealing Jutsu from us that can stably suppress Tailed Beasts."
In the Kazekage's office, Chiyo spoke slowly, holding a steaming cup of tea.
"A Sealing Jutsu that can suppress Tailed Beasts? That old Hanzo sure has some nerve."
Rasa couldn't help but scoff.
Before the destruction of Uzushio Village, only Konoha Village possessed a Sealing Jutsu that could stably suppress Tailed Beasts. Sand Hidden hadn't been able to participate in the spoils of Uzushio Village's destruction at the time, not even getting a taste. It wasn't until after the Second Great Ninja War that they acquired some Sealing Jutsu from Konoha and later developed the Grand Funeral Seal.
Every great ninja village had gone through immense hardship to obtain Ninjutsu of this caliber. Unless Hanzo offered something truly valuable in return, even as an ally, Sand Hidden would never share such a high-level seal with Rain Village.
The Third Kazekage spoke up:
"What price did Hanzo offer for this Sealing Jutsu? If the price is right, it might not be out of the question. Qingshui recently improved the Grand Funeral Seal, developing the Heavenly Funeral Seal and the Blood Funeral Seal. The Grand Funeral Seal can now be phased out within the village.
While the Grand Funeral Seal is effective and sufficient to suppress Tailed Beasts, its difficulty is not low.
Even if we gave Rain Hidden this level of Sealing Jutsu, they lack sufficient knowledge in Sealing Jutsu and the talent to learn such a high-level seal. They certainly wouldn't be able to use the Grand Funeral Seal in the short term. Considering the time required for a Jinchuriki to develop normally, they might not be able to train a qualified Jinchuriki within twenty years.
As for twenty years from now... I believe Qingshui will have reached his true peak. Even if Rain Hidden has a Jinchuriki then and our relationship changes, I don't think it would matter much to Sand Hidden at that point."
"I wasn't aware you had developed two more Sealing Jutsu, Qingshui."
Chiyo looked at Qingshui with a hint of surprise.
She hadn't heard anything about it before.
Previously, the only Sealing Jutsu masters in Sand Village were her and Qingshui. Besides them, Sasori and Karura could each be considered half-masters.
Sasori was highly talented. To research his new Puppetry, which was based on Sealing Jutsu and Chakra, he had self-studied some Sealing Jutsu and even created things like Chakra Capacitors and Chakra Diodes by hand. Although he wasn't currently focusing on high-level Sealing Jutsu, his fundamentals were solid. If he dedicated some time away from his Puppetry research, he would definitely become a Sealing Jutsu master.
Karura, on the other hand, was very dedicated to her Sealing Jutsu research. To one day be able to undo the seal on Rasa, she studied tirelessly. Her current Sealing Jutsu level was second only to Qingshui and Chiyo in Sand Village.
Qingshui nodded slightly at Chiyo:
"Yes, the Blood Funeral Seal and the Heavenly Funeral Seal were both derived from the Grand Funeral Seal. The former simplifies the sealing difficulty while retaining as much of the sealing effect as possible.
However, to maintain the seal's strength, it requires a large amount of the caster's blood, containing their Chakra, as a sealing medium. It can generally retain ninety percent of the Grand Funeral Seal's effectiveness, which is enough to suppress a Tailed Beast.
As for the Heavenly Funeral Seal, it's an enhanced version of the Grand Funeral Seal. Besides being more difficult and powerful, it also requires the caster's blood as a medium."
While it's said to be based on the Grand Funeral Seal, these two sealing jutsu actually draw more from the sealing and suppression aspects found in magic and talisman arts. Then, using a supercomputer paired with Artificial Intelligence, various feasible solutions and their outcomes are calculated, forming a prototype. Qingshui then personally reviews and filters these, confirming viable results and using AI to initiate the next round of calculations.
After numerous repetitions, the truly effective results that could be understood and learned by people in the Ninja World were the Blood Funeral Seal and the Heavenly Funeral Seal.
Of course, Qingshui himself doesn't need to use blood when employing these two sealing jutsu. Even for someone with a Perfect Demonization body who can produce as much blood as they want, in these two Sealing Jutsu, blood serves a purpose similar to cinnabar ink when drawing talismans. For Qingshui, who has mastered the Tongtian Lu, it's still as simple as drawing with a wave of his hand.
"Furthermore, although Rain Hidden's foundation is still shallow, don't forget there's a member of the Uzumaki Clan with the Rinnegan there. With the power of the Rinnegan, he probably doesn't even need the Grand Funeral Seal to directly suppress a Tailed Beast. If I had to guess, Rain Hidden will likely make Nagato the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki. A flying Tailed Beast combined with the Rinnegan—you can imagine the power Nagato will possess."
Qingshui's assessment was unanimously approved by the high-ranking officials of Sand Village.
In some legends, the Tailed Beasts were created by the Sage of Six Paths. As the Sage of Six Paths' eye, the Rinnegan might truly be able to suppress Tailed Beasts.
At the very least, it's a widely accepted fact in the Ninja World that the Sharingan has the power to restrain Tailed Beasts, so the Rinnegan might not be an exception.
"So Hanzo is preparing for the future? Is that guy thinking that far ahead already?" Pakura blinked and asked.
Ebizo shook his head.
"Probably not. In this old man's opinion, if Nagato can suppress a Tailed Beast with the Rinnegan, then it's highly probable that Hanzo will start by asking for a high price. Later, if he changes to a lower demand, perhaps our ally won't want to lose face and will agree. After all, what they need right now is just a usable Sealing Jutsu, and its strength can be supplemented by the Rinnegan."
The high-ranking officials exchanged glances and nodded.
This indeed seemed to be the most likely outcome.
"So, what are Rain Hidden's conditions?"
"They intend to exchange money and Hero's Water. It's likely something they snatched from Waterfall Hidden's reserves when they attacked it and captured the Seven-Tails. They're offering a full two billion ryo, which isn't a small amount. We're still unsure about the Hero's Water, but they have at least seven or eight jin on hand. I think they can spare two or three jin. However, on our way back to the village, Elder Chiyo and I also got two jin. Here, take a look."
Karura pulled out a small jar from under the table and displayed it to everyone.
Chiyo immediately spoke:
"Regarding this Hero's Water, this old woman's advice is to temporarily seal it for research and not use it directly. Based on what this old woman witnessed, I deduce that Hero's Water excessively drains the body's life force, exchanging lifespan for a large burst of Chakra in a short period. It can provide some increase in power, but for ninjas who already possess a large amount of Chakra and are strong, its effect should be quite limited."
If Hero's Water truly had such a powerful effect, capable of significantly boosting the strength of Jonin or Kage-level individuals, then Waterfall Hidden wouldn't have suffered such a tragic fate.
After all, in the early days of the hidden villages system, before Kakuzu stole the Earth Grudge Fear and slaughtered the village's leadership, Waterfall Hidden Village still had some strength.
Can it stimulate the source of life? Could it be related to Innate Qi or Natural Energy?
Just then, Ebizo spoke up:
"Then this old man believes we should still provide a basic Sealing Jutsu. With Rain Hidden Village's current capabilities, it wouldn't be particularly difficult for them to diligently acquire a reasonably strong Sealing Jutsu. If we're willing to provide one, at least we can get two billion ryo."
Two billion ryo was not a small sum. When the Second Great Ninja War ended, Konoha paid two billion ryo as compensation when signing the peace treaty with Sand Hidden.
Even though Konoha disguised it as a purchase of mineral rights, two billion for Sand Hidden's meager mineral deposits was an exorbitant price.
Hanzo's willingness to pay two billion showed some sincerity, but it also indicated that he likely had a good amount of money on hand.
Aside from the money and supplies Sand Hidden provided during past wars, Hanzo must have profited considerably. Just Waterfall Hidden alone brought him significant gains, not to mention other villages like Grass Village.
Furthermore, Rain Hidden's newly established political system largely mimicked Sand Village's existing structure. Even if the tax system wasn't fully set up yet, the treasuries of the smaller nations' Daimyo had surely fallen into Hanzo's pockets.
"Qingshui, what are your thoughts?" The Third Kazekage looked at Qingshui.
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