A storm of shinobi remained held back, yet every non-human being swiftly met their end within moments.
After news spread about the battle between the Ninja Force of the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation and the ninja snakes of Mount Myoboku, the entire Ninja World trembled. All factions reacted with shock and immediately moved to wipe out any snake, frog, or slug-like creatures without caring if it would work.
After all, neither Iwagakure, Sunagakure, nor Kumo had the confidence to confront the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation alone. Even though they harbored deep resentment toward the corporation, these were internal human conflicts that shouldn't involve outside interference—no matter how much those creatures claimed to represent holy places!
It was precisely this sense of human pride that caused immense pain for Jiraiya upon returning to Mount Myoboku.
He just couldn't understand—he'd always tried to act for the sake of the Ninja World's future, so why wouldn't anyone get that? Why was he universally condemned?
Especially when Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi directly returned a messenger frog secretly hidden in Konoha and sent back an arrest warrant through it, Jiraiya's heart nearly shattered.
He pictured Konoha ninja falling dead on the battlefield. He imagined his comrades condemning him. And worst of all, he thought of his mentor cutting him off completely. Each blow struck harder than the last, and Jiraiya could barely take it anymore.
And this was still before the full intervention of both holy lands.
If Mount Myoboku and Ryuchi Cave fully entered the fray, sending summoned beast armies into the Ninja World once more, wouldn't they face unified condemnation from the entire ninja world?
If that happened, would restoring order still hold any meaning?
After all, the ninja community had already made clear its firm opposition to outside forces interfering in ninja affairs.
Moreover, without the full support of elite natives within the ninja world itself, could even the two great holy lands—Mount Myoboku and Ryuchi Cave—stand against the overwhelming power and complexity of the ninja forces alone?
It wasn't just about comparing power on paper—it was a true test of wisdom and willpower.
Jiraiya's thoughts spun like leaves in a violent windstorm, tangled and uncontrollable. Each idea hit like a hammer, pounding his skull until unbearable pain consumed him, nearly drowning him in an endless flood of contemplation. His personal will teetered precariously amidst the chaos, on the verge of collapse.
"Jiraiya!"
Senior Fukasaku noticed Jiraiya's agonized expression and immediately shouted loudly, jolting him temporarily out of his self-pitying mental turmoil.
"I..."
Jiraiya still seemed somewhat dazed.
"Just sleep for now. I'll consult the Great Sage."
Fukasaku's tone softened considerably.
"I will."
After regaining his senses, Jiraiya took a deep breath and walked toward a mushroom-shaped hut.
His mental state genuinely required rest.
Though the Ninja World seethed beneath the surface, Hakone Prefecture city wore a mask of peace while staying quietly on guard.
Hyuga Soushu stopped attending to official duties after forcing Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi to sign the Wanted Notice across the Ninja World, devoting all his attention to Mahiru Uchiha.
The reason was simple—Mahiru-chan's due date was getting closer.
Top Medical Ninjas from the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation had already gathered inside Hakone Prefecture City, just in case. Even Tsunade, whom they had only attempted to invite, agreed to travel north as the ultimate backup medical force.
From a logical standpoint, Soushu preferred not to rely on any of these preparations. But emotionally—and practically—he still stockpiled way more medical resources than needed. Anything less would have left him anxious.
It was perfectly natural for someone becoming a father.
"What an extraordinary city!"
Arriving at Hakone Prefecture City, even experienced Tsunade couldn't help but admire it.
Unlike other cities in the Ninja World, Hakone Prefecture City retained its old name but surpassed native standards in both architectural style and prosperity—it was the headquarters of the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation, after all. To Tsunade, everything around her felt almost surreal.
Wide six-lane roads with carriages neatly lined up and moving orderly according to road signs. Civilians dressed finely with healthy complexions. Fully armed ninjas walking side by side with ordinary people—all sharply contrasting what she knew of the Ninja World.
Even more surprisingly, there were no homeless people, typically common in every city across the Ninja World!
"Tsunade-sama!"
Just as she was lost in thought, a servant ninja hurried over, politely bowing before reporting, "Lord Soushu would like to meet with you."
"Too formal," Tsunade muttered, raising her eyebrows slightly.
The servant ninja's humble attitude took her completely by surprise. Previously, public opinion often described ninjas affiliated with the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation as arrogant and domineering.
"If you are available, please follow me," the servant ninja said, making a gesture signaling the way.
"Lead the way!" Tsunade naturally had no objection.
Truthfully, one of her own motivations for coming north was precisely to voluntarily interact with Hyuga Soushu and understand his position and intentions.
Besides, she had already contacted the Slug Sage of Shikkotsu Forest beforehand. The Slug Sage clearly stated it wouldn't interfere in Ninja World affairs like the Toad Sage and White Snake Sage had done, which gave Tsunade the confidence to come here personally.
"Apologies for not greeting you sooner."
Led by the servant ninja, Tsunade arrived at Soushu's headquarters mansion. Soushu himself stood waiting at the entrance. Upon seeing Tsunade arrive, he immediately stepped forward to greet her.
"Not at all," Tsunade replied politely with a reserved nod.
After all, officially, Soushu currently served only as the head of the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation and the so-called overall chief of the Hyuga Clan. He also nominally held the title of Warlord commanding Konoha's border defense forces—a string of identities from various sources that left Princess Tsunade unsure what title to use.
"Now that Princess Tsunade has arrived, I am now completely reassured."
Hyuga Soushu gestured politely and led Tsunade into the mansion.
In Tsunade's perception, this relatively small mansion was teeming with densely packed chakra fluctuations. The level of security had reached an extreme degree.
Even during wartime, she had never seen such a gathering of jonin assigned for guard duty.
"How is Mahiru-chan's condition?"
Tsunade asked first.
"For now, everything seems fine," Soushu replied, then hesitated slightly before continuing somewhat awkwardly, "but… it's my first time being a father, after all."
"I understand completely," Tsunade said neutrally before asking directly, "Then in that case, may I examine her now?"
"Of course! No problem at all!"
Needless to say, Hyuga Soushu was more than happy to agree.
After thoroughly examining Mahiru, Tsunade reached essentially the same conclusion as other medical ninja: "The mother's physical condition is somewhat weak but nothing serious—she should be able to give birth naturally. However, the fetus' physical strength is surprisingly high; it could probably match a genin already. This clearly shows its exceptional talent as a ninja!"
"Is that so? Thank you so much!"
Soushu couldn't help smiling broadly.
After all, what parent wouldn't feel delighted hearing praise for their child?
"In about twelve hours," Tsunade estimated, "for now, the most important thing is to replenish energy and rest well."
"I will do that." Mahiru Uchiha, whose face looked somewhat pale, also nodded gently with a smile.
"Twelve hours…"
Although the conclusion itself didn't differ from those of other medical ninja, hearing it from Tsunade—who was universally recognized as the top expert in Medical Ninjutsu across the entire Ninja World—it finally allowed Soushu to breathe a sigh of relief.
"You shouldn't waste any more time here," Mahiru urged, "Rather than staying idle, you ought to hurry and make proper arrangements. It's already time for the Organization to reassess its strategy."
"I understand."
Soushu lowered his head to gently kiss Mahiru's forehead before reluctantly departing.
Representatives from various ninja clans across the Ninja World had already been waiting in Hakone City for quite some time. Upon receiving meeting notifications from the Servant Ninja, they immediately came before Hyuga Soushu and silently awaited further orders.
This defeat marked the first loss ever suffered by the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation since its founding—an emotional blow no one could easily accept.
However, their enemy was an outsider who hadn't established any concrete power within the Ninja World. Thus, despite wanting retaliation, they found themselves unable to strike back effectively.
"Did Fugaku-san not have time to come personally?"
After scanning everyone present, Soushu asked somewhat curiously.
"The Lady of Fugaku-sama is about to give birth, so he currently has no opportunity to attend himself. Therefore, he delegated me to represent him on his behalf," the acting representative from the Uchiha clan stood up immediately and respectfully answered.
"I see. Then please extend my congratulations to Fugaku-san."
Soushu gave a slight nod.
He clapped his hands sharply twice, signaling the start. Instantly, the Servant Ninja began distributing the prepared documents to everyone present.
"Our efficiency is really low!"
While the leaders or representatives of various ninja clans were looking through the meeting materials, Hyuga Soushu added, "Although we have unparalleled advantages in economic production and logistics, due to issues with the organizational structure, our military response still has serious shortcomings."
And this was exactly the problem this secret meeting aimed to solve.
The clan leaders looked at the so-called proposal in the documents with mixed expressions.
"Therefore, I plan to establish a unified military organization atop the current corporate system, serving as a coordination body for each family,"
Without paying attention to the reactions of the others, Hyuga Soushu continued, "I intend to name this organization after the ancient Shogunate system from the Warring States era!"
Shogunate!
In other words, an institution holding ultimate military authority, where all campaigns are launched from!
Currently, the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation nominally only maintains a relatively small Standing Ninja Army that's fully professionalized, with its personnel drawn from various ninja clans who respond to conscription calls.
Apart from this, groups like the Shinsengumi and the Instructor Corps were originally private armies established by Hyuga Soushu himself. However, since the Hyuga Clan and the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation were practically synonymous, these forces generally operated as if they were one and the same.
Yet, in addition to these, most other ninja clans also maintained their own private ninja forces.
They would only obey orders from their respective clan leaders, and any military action required prior coordination; thus, when facing large-scale operations, Soushu often had to first mobilize through the Ninja Clan Assembly and obtain authorization before summoning those private forces.
While this system was somewhat slow, it did protect each clan's interests to a certain extent. It ensured the ninja clans' strength wouldn't be easily exploited for high-risk missions.
However, establishing a shogunate would be different.
As clearly stated in the meeting documents, the Standing Ninja Army would aim to expand its scale to six thousand within three years—approximately double its current size. Furthermore, wartime command authority and temporary emergency response rights would be centralized under the Shogun—the head of the shogunate.
In other words, this meant that each ninja clan must allocate even more manpower into this organization.
But this wasn't necessarily entirely bad.
After all, the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation itself—an anomaly—had already become somewhat ill-suited to this era, where the old "one village, one nation" system (where each hidden village functioned like an independent nation-state) had completely collapsed.
A purely economic organization couldn't efficiently handle military tasks, and because the Standing Ninja Army wasn't very large, it was constantly on the move with no time to rest—this gradual overexertion began to wear down its combat effectiveness.
"The Uchiha Clan will wholeheartedly support every order issued by the Shogun!"
The first one to stand up and voice support was the temporary representative appointed by the Uchiha Clan.
Before setting off here, Fugaku Uchiha had specifically instructed him: no matter what decision Soushu made, the Uchiha, as a close political ally through marriage, must express approval immediately—even if it might harm the Uchiha's own interests.
After all, once Mahiru Uchiha bore a child of Soushu's, the alliance between these two Dojutsu noble houses would become unshakable forever!
"We stand firmly behind this plan!"
"Agreed!"
Seeing the Uchiha Clan take a stand, the undecided clan leaders quickly jumped in one after another, each trying to outdo the others in enthusiasm!
After all, under such circumstances—especially after a defeat—the Ninja Clan Capital Corporation was naturally expected to act. Moreover, Hyuga Soushu had always been trustworthy; therefore, the Clan Leaders temporarily believed his intentions wouldn't harm the interests of various ninja clans.
"We'll need to consult with our families before deciding."
The only ones who didn't declare their positions right away were the Ruling Four Ninja Clans, who also owed loyalty to Konoha—yet even the Ino–Shika–Cho triad was pounding their chests, vowing obedience to the Shogunate's command!
"Understood. No rush is needed. The most important thing is speed!"
Hyuga Soushu showed no sign of impatience.
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