In the capital city of the Land of Iron...
"Just my luck. He brought back two more girls," Yukihime muttered, rolling her eyes hard at Nagi. Because Nagi had returned, and he had brought two more girls with him, even if they were just children.
Honoka, however, didn't seem to mind. She took Karin's hand with a warm and enthusiastic expression. The girl's red hair and the faint sense of her chakra gave Honoka a feeling of deep kinship.
"Nagi-nii, is Karin also from the Uzumaki clan?"
"Of course. I went to the Village Hidden in the Grass specifically to get her. You can tell by her red hair."
"That's wonderful!"
Only Karin was bewildered. She asked curiously, "Big sister, are you also from the Uzumaki clan?"
Honoka smiled and nodded. "Yes, I am. My name is Uzumaki Honoka. You're Karin, right? The Uzumaki clan was destroyed many years ago. It's probably just the two of us left now. We could be sisters, if you don't mind."
"Really? Is that okay?" Karin could feel the joy and sincerity in Honoka's heart, and she also felt a strange sense of closeness to this red-haired big sister.
"Of course! Come on, your clothes are too dirty. I'll take you to get a new set. Oh, and you, the child over there, come with us," Honoka said, turning and waving at Amaru in the distance.
As Honoka led the two girls away, Kimimaro finally spoke up, his curiosity getting the better of him. "Sensei, why have you suddenly taken in so many people? First the orphans in the Land of Iron, and now from another village..."
Kimimaro was just short of calling him a child-napper. Taking in orphans in the Land of Iron, where they were living, was one thing. But going out of his way to other places... that was a bit much.
"Yes. I'm planning to establish a village in the Land of Iron, just like Orochimaru. I'll build a school and recruit students from all over," Nagi explained.
Yukihime chimed in curiously, "Will the Daimyo of the Land of Iron agree to that? For so many years, the Land of Iron has remained neutral and untouched by war, partly because they didn't get too involved in the Great Ninja Wars, and partly because they never established their own hidden ninja village like the other countries."
"Establish their own village? Will the Daimyo really agree?"
Nagi smiled. "Don't worry. He will."
The next day, the Daimyo of the Land of Iron received a notice. Uchiha Nagi wished to discuss the establishment of a ninja village. The letter argued that the reason the Land of Iron was treated like a pushover, with the Raikage coming and going as he pleased, was because the samurai here all served different masters and fought their own battles. That was why Mifune had died fighting alone. It was suggested that a village be established to protect the Land of Iron from foreign invasion.
"That guy! I knew he was trouble! Now it's happened! He wants to take control of the Land of Iron and become its Kage!" The Daimyo of the Land of Iron paced anxiously, his ministers kneeling below him.
I wonder who it was that said they wouldn't feel safe without a powerful warrior to guard the country, afraid the Raikage would come back, and insisted on hiring him to stay in the Land of Iron, the ministers grumbled internally, though none of them dared to say it out loud.
"Ahem, Your Excellency, this might be a good thing," one minister ventured softly. "Uchiha Nagi is incredibly powerful. And once the village is established, others will be even more reluctant to attack the Land of Iron. Just like Hanzo the Demigod back in the day, when a person becomes powerful enough, their very name makes all the other countries wary."
"Hmph! So what if one person is powerful? Wasn't he still unable to protect the Village Hidden in the Rain, which ended up becoming a battlefield for the great nations?" the Daimyo retorted with a sneer.
"Your Excellency, we are different from the Village Hidden in the Rain. For one, we are not situated between the great nations; their wars don't reach us. For another, we have always been a neutral country. Others have no reason to attack us. Establishing a ninja village will only benefit the Land of Iron."
"A ninja village? The people of the Land of Iron are all stubborn blockheads. How many of them have learned ninjutsu? They all learn the sword!"
"And benefits? What about the money? Don't tell me you don't know how much a ninja village costs to run each year. Won't it all have to come from the Daimyo's treasury?" The Daimyo's face was full of resentment. To be honest, he was quite content with his comfortable little life. During the several Great Ninja Wars, the outside world had been beaten to a pulp, but the Land of Iron had remained peaceful. While increasing their strength a little was a good thing, he was reluctant to spend so much money on a ninja village every year.
Just then, a guard rushed in, stumbling halfway and finally kneeling before the Daimyo, his voice filled with terror.
"Your Excellency! It's bad! Outside... there's a huge thing outside!"
"...!?"
"A huge thing?"
While the ministers were still looking puzzled, the sky outside suddenly went dark.
"Strange. There was no rain forecast for today."
"You idiot! Go out and see for yourself!" the Daimyo of the Land of Iron snapped, his anger flaring. Did these foolish ministers still not realize what was happening?
The Daimyo, leading his ministers, walked out of the building and into the courtyard. Their jaws dropped in shock.
A war fortress as massive as a small mountain was floating a few hundred meters above the Daimyo's residence, its shadow plunging the entire estate into darkness.
And it was worth noting that on the fortress stood a man, looking down on them with an air of indifference, his crimson eyes fixed on him.
The Daimyo was so startled by those red eyes that his legs began to tremble uncontrollably. Although he was a Daimyo, he was just an ordinary person. How could he withstand the pressure of a Kage-level warrior?
Several loyal samurai immediately leaped in front of the Daimyo, their faces tense as they looked up at the... god descending from the heavens.
At that moment, in the eyes of some, Uchiha Nagi was like a god, descending slowly from the sky.
"Greetings, Your Excellency, the Daimyo of the Land of Iron. I wonder if you have received my letter? Regarding the establishment of a ninja village in the Land of Iron, what are your thoughts?"
After landing on the ground, Nagi asked flatly. He showed no disrespect to the Daimyo, but he also showed no fear. The so-called Daimyo were just a product of the old era, before the rise of the ninja villages. If Hashirama Senju hadn't been so benevolent and had left them in place after making his agreement with the ninja world, they would have been swept out the door by the leaders of the various hidden villages long ago.
"This... this... the Land of Iron is a permanently neutral country, so..." the Daimyo stammered. He hadn't even finished his sentence when Nagi glanced at him, and he was so scared he immediately shut his mouth.
"Your Excellency, please rest assured. After the ninja village is established in the Land of Iron, it will absolutely abide by the principle of permanent neutrality. It will not initiate a war against any country, unless they attack first. Then we will only be defending ourselves. As for the strength to defend the Land of Iron... please, believe me. Look over there."
Nagi paused mysteriously, pointing in a certain direction. The Daimyo of the Land of Iron followed his finger...
"Hmm? There's nothing there..."
Before he could finish, he saw the largest chakra cannon on the Sky Fortress floating above his head suddenly light up, shining as brightly as a small sun. Then, a massive beam of light shot out towards the distance.
BOOM!!
After an earth-shattering explosion, a mushroom cloud slowly rose into the air. Rubble and dirt flew everywhere. A few large rocks flew a great distance and landed in the pond in the Daimyo's courtyard, giving him a huge fright.
"Well, Your Excellency? Do I have the strength to protect the Land of Iron?" Nagi turned his head, looking at the Daimyo with satisfaction.
"Yes, yes, yes! Your Excellency's strength is absolutely sufficient! The matter of establishing a ninja village is absolutely no problem! It's just that this is a country of samurai..."
"Swordsmanship will be taught as well. Who do you think the fundamental Breathing Style was passed down from a while ago?" Nagi replied flatly.
"Then... then there's no problem," the Daimyo of the Land of Iron said, wiping the sweat from his brow. "As long as the village, once established, continues to adhere to the principle of neutrality and does not wage war on other countries..."
Nagi stared silently at the Daimyo for a moment. Just as the Daimyo and his ministers were about to collapse from the cold sweat pouring down their backs, he suddenly broke into a smile.
"Of course. The principle of the Land of Iron's permanent neutrality will absolutely not change."
Phew.
The ministers and the Daimyo finally breathed a sigh of relief. They had been terrified that Nagi would, in a fit of pique, order a massacre or blast them to smithereens with his Sky Fortress.
After Nagi had flown back up and piloted the Sky Fortress away, the Daimyo finally couldn't hold on any longer. He collapsed to the ground, a large wet patch spreading across his trousers.
Aboard the Sky Fortress, Nagi looked down indifferently at the Daimyo's residence below.
Establishing his own village was both a whim and a necessity. He had too much to do, and one person's energy was limited. He had to do research, train his body, practice his Sun Breathing swordsmanship, and he still hadn't even started on the sage arts he had traded for from Orochimaru. He hadn't made any headway with the Magnet Release and electromagnetism he had copied from the Kazekage either. And he had to find time to research the fusion of Uchiha and Hashirama cells to complete his own genetic makeup and successfully awaken the Eternal Mangekyo.
With so many things to do, he still had to worry about making money, because without money to support his research, everything was just empty talk. So, Nagi had thought of establishing a village, just like Orochimaru. Once it was established, he could start cultivating his own talent. He could delegate some of the research to others. The matter of making money could also be handed over to the village's ninja, or he could openly take money from the Daimyo of the Land of Iron and pocket half of it. Under the guise of building the village, it was perfectly logical to embezzle half of the construction funds.
As for what the Daimyo of the Land of Iron would think later... Nagi planned to wait until he had a firm foothold, then find someone to assassinate him and get rid of the parasitic existence of the Daimyo altogether.
What should he call this new village? The Land of Fire had Konohagakure, the Village Hidden in the Leaves. So, should the Land of Iron have... Kenshigakure, the Village Hidden by the Sword?