Clang!
Bang! Bang!
Across nearly a hundred miles of the Forest of Death, the sound of trees being cleared echoed endlessly.
Heavy impacts rang out from time to time.
It had become the main rhythm of Konoha's new industrial district.
More than a thousand Iwagakure prisoners, shackles locked around their ankles, were leveling the land with brute force.
The originally uneven terrain—full of pits and height differences—was being reshaped according to strict plans.
If an area was too low, they used Earth Release to raise it.
If it was too high, they used Earth Release to flatten it.
Back and forth, the land within a hundred miles was rapidly transforming.
Meanwhile, the trees that once covered the forest were being handled by over three thousand Kumogakure shinobi.
They dragged the logs into designated zones and chopped them into construction timber for later use.
Soon—
One Iwagakure ninja glanced around with lifeless eyes.
Then secretly sat down.
He was exhausted.
His whole body throbbed with unbearable pain.
He wanted to escape.
Wanted to use ninjutsu to flee.
But the chakra in his body could only be extracted in tiny strands.
Even casting one jutsu required a long time to recover.
"Why are you daydreaming?!"
"If today's land leveling isn't finished, everyone's dinner gets cut in half!"
A Kumogakure jōnin supervisor shouted loudly.
Spit flew from his mouth onto the face of the exhausted Iwa ninja.
"Damn it! We're both prisoners—why are you higher than me?!"
The Iwa ninja finally snapped.
The Kumogakure supervisor grinned arrogantly.
"Because…"
"I got here before you, idiot."
Kumogakure and Iwagakure had always hated each other.
Their grudges stretched back decades.
Now that he had the chance, he naturally mocked the man mercilessly.
CRACK!
His whip lashed down across the Iwa ninja's back.
Elsewhere—
An Iwagakure supervisor waved a small whip and shouted toward a group of workers.
"The western field isn't cleared properly!"
"Yes, that spot!"
"Get those brainless Kumogakure idiots over here and pull out the tree roots!"
"They have experience!"
The twenty Kumogakure prisoners under him clenched their teeth.
"Damn you…"
But they still obeyed and walked forward.
Scenes like this were happening everywhere in the new Konoha industrial zone.
—
Outside the construction site.
Hashirama Senju stared blankly.
Behind him, the clan leaders of the Pig–Deer–Butterfly alliance had similar expressions.
Finally their gazes shifted to the boy lying nearby, basking in the sun.
In their minds—
He was a devil.
What kind of person could invent such a system?
This was capitalism taken to its absolute extreme.
—
Deep within the industrial zone.
Inside a secret base sealed by multiple barriers.
The air smelled strongly of formalin and burnt flesh.
"Hhh… hehehe…"
A chilling laugh echoed faintly.
Before a massive incubation tank stood Orochimaru, his golden snake pupils glowing with excitement.
Inside the tank was thick dark-green fluid.
Suspended within it—
A nearly perfect male body.
Muscles coiled like steel cables.
Every line of the body flawless.
Except for his darker skin tone—
Everything about him was perfect.
It was the Kumogakure taijutsu elite jōnin Kai had kicked earlier.
Now his chest had been opened.
Inside, organs still twitched faintly, pale veins pulsing around them.
Near the heart—
A small white piece of flesh wriggled slowly toward it.
"The rejection reaction is gone?"
Orochimaru licked his lips.
"Such a versatile host body."
Using a chakra scalpel, he carefully stitched the white flesh into place through the tank.
It was White Zetsu tissue.
Highly adaptable.
Extremely active cells.
Once he obtained the corpse, Orochimaru couldn't resist starting experiments immediately.
Moments later he relaxed.
"Perfect fusion…"
The white flesh began sprouting tiny tendrils.
They wrapped carefully around the heart.
Orochimaru began recording notes.
Host Strength: ↑↑↑
Chakra Conductivity: ↑↑↑
Cell Activity: ???
Activity Duration: ???
"Still unclear in some areas…"
He glanced at other tanks nearby.
Each held different corpses.
Many were incomplete—
But under White Zetsu cells, their tissues were regaining vitality.
Some had already grown pale wooden structures resembling Wood Release.
"Let's test this too…"
Orochimaru lifted a syringe filled with murky green liquid.
"Diluted cells from the First Hokage…"
"With White Zetsu vitality…"
"And these powerful bodies…"
"Perhaps Edo Tensei could create something… different."
The needle plunged in.
Bubbles began rising in the tank.
—
Meanwhile.
Land of Lightning.
The valley known as Valley of Clouds and Lightning.
BOOM!
A bolt of pitch-black lightning crashed down from the sky.
Below, Darui stared at a message scroll.
His brows twisted tighter and tighter.
Finally—
The message crumbled into powder in his hand.
He looked toward Konoha.
His chest heaved violently.
Lightning crackled across his bronze skin.
"Three thousand elites…"
"And two thousand from Iwagakure…"
"All trapped in Konoha…"
His voice trembled.
"The current Konoha… actually has power like this?"
"Lord Raikage…"
"Lord Killer B…"
Soon he gathered the Kumogakure leadership.
Half an hour later—
"Damn it! Attack!"
"We can still mobilize five thousand more elites!"
"To hell with defending the village!"
"Let's crush Konoha!"
Three muscular elders slammed the table, shouting angrily.
This was the mindset of most Kumogakure ninja.
Negotiate?
Negotiate what?
Just fight.
"Silence!"
A bald elder slammed his hand down.
"Three of the Five Great Villages have already failed!"
"You think this is a matter of numbers?!"
"We need strategy!"
"Strategy, you idiots!"
His authority was overwhelming.
The others immediately fell silent.
He snorted coldly.
Then turned to Darui.
"This matter has exceeded what our village can handle."
"Konoha has gone too far."
"Darui."
"Report to the Daimyō."
"Pressure the Land of Fire."
"Either they release the prisoners…"
"Or we escalate."
"To a national war."
Darui blinked.
"Wait… what?"
"Village war to national war?"
"That's your idea of strategy?"
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