Tsunade believed that Kyoichi's research ability was no weaker than Orochimaru's—
in many cases, he was even more reliable.
Not because he was overwhelmingly more talented, but because Kyoichi had a sense of balance.
He clearly understood what could be researched, what belonged to forbidden domains, and always maintained proper restraint.
Orochimaru, on the other hand, would do anything for the sake of completing an experiment—completely ignoring methods or consequences.
Of course…
Another reason was that Kyoichi constantly came up with ingenious ideas.
Many of the projects in the Research Division were concepts he had casually proposed—
he simply didn't have the time to execute them himself.
Or perhaps…
He was just being lazy?
Tsunade couldn't be sure.
After all, the man had indeed been busy dealing with Uchiha Madara until recently.
But now that Madara was dead, he couldn't use the excuse of "Ōtsutsuki descendants" forever.
The ninja army continued clearing various battlefields while gradually withdrawing from the Land of Iron.
Some even helped rebuild villages and walls destroyed during the conflict.
The main forces assisting reconstruction were Konoha and Iwagakure.
Iwagakure handled construction with Earth Release;
Konoha used Wood Release to green and rebuild structures.
On the way back, the village leaders saw the ninjas restoring the damaged fortifications—and were stunned.
"These are…?"
"Hokage, is that the Wood Release of your First Hokage?"
"Didn't expect to see it again in this lifetime…"
Naturally, the most shocked was Ōnoki.
He had witnessed Hashirama's Wood Release in person.
No exaggeration—
those legends were not exaggerated.
If anything, they were understated.
Now, seeing Konoha's Wood Release again…
There seemed to be a hint of mass-production.
"Don't get the wrong idea. This barely counts as Wood Release—
it might look similar, but at best it's 'Grass Release.'
Useful for building houses, but nothing more."
Tsunade downplayed it heavily.
The other Kage fell silent, unsure what to say.
Even a "weak" Wood Release…
was still Wood Release.
The fact that Konoha had several people using something similar meant they had already cracked certain aspects of the bloodline—
and knew how to rapidly train it.
That alone was terrifying.
After all—
Wood Release was a Kekkei Genkai.
Which village didn't consider its bloodline inheritances priceless, something many couldn't master even in a lifetime?
Konoha truly was frightening.
Mifune, however, didn't care about whether Konoha mastered Wood Release or not.
Konoha was simply different from other villages now.
With Danzō dead, Konoha's hardliners were basically gone.
The leaders in power now leaned toward peace.
So—
The stronger Konoha was,
the longer the shinobi world would stay peaceful.
What Mifune cared about was Konoha's use of ninjutsu.
To most people in the Land of Iron, ninjutsu equaled combat.
Just as swordsmanship equaled combat.
So they never saw much value in it beyond fighting.
But—
Kyoichi taught them a lesson.
Ninjutsu wasn't only for fighting.
It could build, repair, restore.
The Land of Iron should've suffered massive losses as the main battlefield.
Instead—
Konoha and Iwagakure restored more than half the city in almost no time.
Other damaged areas remained, but nothing unmanageable—
the locals could handle the rest.
As for civilian casualties:
The Land of Iron was internally stable.
Even though the battlefield was here, the civilians still felt strong loyalty and stayed, throwing themselves into reconstruction.
Seeing ninjutsu like this…
The Land of Iron wanted it too.
Mifune felt his heart itch—but he was well aware:
Developing ninjutsu from scratch required enormous research.
While the Land of Iron practiced chakra control, they never trained nature transformation or jutsu.
Starting from zero would be extremely difficult.
He sighed internally.
"We'll begin the Five Kage Summit in my residence—and end it here as well.
Does anyone want to sit and talk?"
Upon returning to the capital, Tsunade moved to the main topic.
The fighting was over—
time to discuss the aftermath.
Before, everyone united against Madara and White Zetsu.
But now that both were gone, external pressure had vanished.
Even though Black Zetsu was sealed above them, complacency was creeping in.
This was precisely when problems arose.
So negotiating post-war arrangements was inevitable.
Everyone knew—
Kyoichi would definitely attend this meeting.
They entered Mifune's residence.
Kyoichi was already there waiting.
Yahiko looked around quietly, not seeing Nagato—but knowing Kyoichi was present meant Nagato was surely fine.
Maybe he was… with their teacher?
That was Yahiko's guess.
Inside the hall, Mifune cleared his throat.
"Kyoichi, sorry to keep you waiting."
"Not at all. I arrived early."
Kyoichi stood to greet them.
When everyone sat down, he took the seat beside Tsunade.
Technically, he wasn't Konoha's leader and shouldn't sit beside the Hokage.
But—
Who dared say that aloud?
This was the man who fought Madara head-on
and created a second moon.
"Hahahaha! Kyoichi, where did you run off to earlier? Thought we'd bump into you over there."
Fourth Raikage greeted loudly.
"I sensed a chakra signature and chased it. Unfortunately, the target vanished later, so it led nowhere. I decided to wait here instead."
Kyoichi replied calmly.
Another chakra signature?
Tsunade's heart skipped—
but her face remained calm.
Everyone else exchanged uneasy glances.
"Wasn't that thing sealed already?"
"Mm. The 'Chibaku Sphere'… well, that sphere up there. We're calling it Chibaku Sphere for now. What's sealed inside is Madara's creation.
But what I sensed… didn't feel like Madara. It felt like something from the moon."
Kyoichi pointed upward.
Truthfully…
Few believed him.
They thought Kyoichi was simply using the unknown as leverage—
to pressure them into following Konoha's lead.
Kyoichi understood, so he offered:
"I know you may doubt this. So let me explain a bit."
He began giving a gentle lecture on the weight of the name "Ōtsutsuki."
The God Tree.
The Ten-Tails.
The Sage of Six Paths.
Ōtsutsuki Kaguya.
Even someone as brash as the Fourth Raikage fell silent, unable to find words.
If they believed it…
It sounded absurd.
But if they didn't…
Kyoichi's explanation was so detailed, so logically linked, with no obvious flaws, that dismissing it felt reckless.
They were stuck between belief and disbelief.
Finally, Yahiko spoke:
"So Madara's ultimate plan…
was to release Ōtsutsuki Kaguya?"
"I don't know.
I think Madara only wanted to use Kaguya. But his plans are stopped now. However, since Madara could create beings like those… I'm worried Kaguya may also have some contingencies."
The Sage of Six Paths possessed Rinnegan.
Naturally, Kaguya did too.
If Madara's creations were already such a problem—
Then hers…
Would be far worse.
A collective headache filled the hall.
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