Uchiha Gen intended to expand his harem, but he had no interest in seeking out unfamiliar beauties. He only accepted women who appeared in the original timeline.
Hinata, Ino, Karin Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, Tenten, Temari, Kurotsuchi, Samui, Mayumi, Yugito, Tsuchigumo Hotaru, Tayuya, Guren, Sara, and several others were brought into the palace. Those who had not yet come of age were formally registered, to be welcomed into the harem once they were adults, such as Hanabi.
The benefits of joining the imperial family were considerable, and clans like the Hyuga accepted the situation readily. If Konoha clans were already so willing, the enthusiasm from clans of other villages was even greater.
Hyuga Hiashi was delighted. Before an empress had even been chosen, the Hyuga Clan already had two women in the palace. If the clan continued working hard to support the new Empire, surpassing the Senju and Uzumaki Clans to become the most honored clan below the imperial family no longer seemed impossible.
Among so many women, a few refused to enter the palace, either due to personal preferences or because they already had someone they loved. Their opinions changed nothing. Pressure from every direction pushed them into compliance. Uchiha Gen had no intention of playing matchmaker or granting romantic exceptions.
He had not come into this world to build democracy or offer everyone personal freedom. After reaching the throne, his goal was not to consider others but to make others consider him. He had brought lasting peace to the world. That alone, in his eyes, was already a contribution few could rival.
He did not take these matters to heart. For an emperor, outstanding achievements overshadow everything else. Personal indulgence rarely enters the historical record. History naturally conceals for the ruler. Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin, had crossed many moral boundaries, yet remained revered as one of the most enlightened monarchs in history. If an emperor were immortal and retired on his own terms, the world would gossip even less.
After establishing his harem, Uchiha Gen turned his attention to state affairs alongside his senior ministers. The first tasks were selecting the capital and determining an era name.
Most officials agreed immediately on using Konoha as the capital. The clans that had built their lives there shared deep emotional ties with the village and had no desire to move. With that, Konoha began preparing for massive development, with repeated expansions placed on the agenda. The change promised tremendous opportunity for both ninja and civilians, creating prosperity over time.
Ensuring the welfare of ordinary people and establishing Konoha as the political center strengthened the foundation of the newborn empire.
The era name required careful thought. Since the Ninja World lacked any unified calendar system, the chaos was noticeable. Because few people understood how era names worked, Uchiha Gen chose one himself. He named it Taiwa. The founding year of the empire became Taiwa Year One. [T/N: Taiwa means Great Harmony.]
During the day, he handled administration, and at night he visited his new consorts, beginning with Hinata and moving forward one by one. First the new, then the old, then old and old, then new and old, then new and new. Life was colorful and satisfying.
Others lived well too. With peace came construction, and with construction came opportunity. Even though the world had not reached the point where people could leave doors unlocked or trust lost items to return to them, official ninja and the Akatsuki Organization continued to suppress every lingering threat.
Those threats came from many places. Loyalists of former clans and nations, remnants of defeated factions, wanderers, underground groups, gangs, and mountain bandits. Many of these issues were rooted in the past behavior of ninja villages. Bandits had been allowed to persist because eliminating them completely reduced missions and caused ninja income to collapse. Now that mission volume was no longer the backbone of survival, those lingering dangers could finally be dealt with.
As long as the economy developed and raised the standard of living for the lower classes, many destabilizing forces would naturally disappear with time.
Yet the greatest threats were not bandits or soldiers. They were the Ōtsutsuki. Isshiki was already lurking in the world. Kinshiki, Urashiki, and Momoshiki would likely appear sooner or later. These enemies were far beyond what normal ninja could handle.
Uchiha Gen never forgot them. While governing and enjoying his life, he prepared in secret for the day he would face them.
Ten years passed before anyone realized it. Through the careful governance of Uchiha Gen and his most capable ministers, the Daien Empire stabilized completely. The world experienced sweeping changes and entered an era of unprecedented vitality.
Universal prosperity was still distant, but even the poorest commoners could eat, dress warmly, and pursue paths to improve their families' futures. Society settled into three main classes: commoners, ninja, and cultivators. Cultivators held a unique status, while commoners and ninja had several subdivisions.
A commoner who climbed high enough could approach the status of a top tier ninja. As the years passed, the memory of former nations and scattered ninja villages faded. The idea of a united world took root.
The Imperial Capital, known as Konoha City or Bagua City, stretched across hundreds of miles. Grand, imposing, and awe inspiring, it resembled a colossal beast lying across the land. Travelers from every direction could only stare in amazement.
Inside the Imperial City, within the Palace City, deep in a secluded chamber beneath the harem, a young man sat cross legged on a futon. He wore a black brocade robe adorned with fire dragon patterns and gold trim. This was the First Emperor of the Daien Empire, Uchiha Gen.
He exhaled slowly, tension visible in his shoulders.
"Everything depends on this attempt. If it fails, I will have to rely on the orthodox path of merging with the Dao."
He raised his right sleeve. Two Rinnegan emerged from within and floated before him. These were Uchiha Madara's original eyes, taken from Nagato. Nagato now had replacements, and his leg injuries were healed through the combined efforts of Tsunade and Orochimaru.
Uchiha Gen whispered the name of his technique.
Yin Yang Release Fusion.
He had developed this art himself, drawing inspiration from Black Zetsu's method of mental fusion and the properties of Yin Yang Release, refining them through his own knowledge.
Forming seals, he released two interwoven beams of black and white light from his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. They wrapped around the Rinnegan. As the beams intensified, the Rinnegan dissolved and transformed into two small purple spheres. The beams then reversed, guiding the spheres into his eyes.
A sharp cry escaped him as he clutched at his face. His body trembled, but after a long struggle, he steadied his breathing.
With a faint gesture, water vapor gathered into a smooth mirror. He leaned closer.
The red color of his pupils remained, but the patterns had become golden, and the white of his eyes carried neat vertical rows of purple ripples.
He closed his eyes briefly to sense the changes. When he opened them again, laughter erupted.
"Hahaha... I did it. I succeeded."
"With this special Samsara Sharingan as a medium, I have an eighty percent chance of merging with the Pure Land."
"After merging with the Pure Land, I will use it as a bridge to merge with the entire world. By that point, I will become the will of Heaven for this world."
"With the Soul Soul Fruit's power, once I merge with the Dao, I can split my soul to control the Pure Land and the world separately."
"And I will remain the emperor of the Daien Empire."
"Heaven, earth, and the Pure Land united. I will become the Lord of the World."
"And I will be a Lord of the World free from the world's constraints, able to roam the universe and pursue the Great Dao."
After a long stretch, he slowly calmed down. A quiet smile formed on his majestic face.
"Once I become the Lord of the World, I will go to the moon to capture Ōtsutsuki Kaguya. Then I will eliminate Ōtsutsuki Isshiki."
"Oh, and I also need to visit the Pure Land. I will take Ōtsutsuki Kaguya with me when i go there as well."