The middle-aged Sasuke had been closely observing Naruto's every move.
He never expected the Naruto of this world to have changed so drastically.
It wasn't merely that he was different from the Naruto of their world—he felt completely unrelated.
Naruto was far too powerful and far too mysterious.
But what puzzled Sasuke the most was this:
Naruto had actually established a ninja village.
"What is he trying to do?"
Sasuke held the intelligence report he had obtained from the exchange office, lost in thought.
Could it be that the Naruto of this world harbored some grand ambition?
…
The news of Naruto establishing a ninja village quickly spread throughout the shinobi world.
What's more, Naruto had even sent invitations to many ninja villages, inviting them to attend his so-called inauguration ceremony as village leader.
No one knew what he was plotting.
Land of Fire — Konohagakure.
"Lady Tsunade, what should we do about this?"
Sakura Haruno asked aloud, but in truth, she was struggling to suppress the smile tugging at the corners of her lips, which were practically about to reach her ears.
Why?
Naruto had established a ninja village and invited Konoha to attend a ceremony.
No matter what kind of ceremony it was, that part wasn't important.
What mattered was that Konoha had to send someone.
And who would that be?
As Hokage, Tsunade was buried in official duties.
Although it wouldn't be impossible for her to attend personally if she wished…
Sakura Haruno felt that she could very well handle this matter on her behalf.
Tsunade glanced at Sakura's barely concealed excitement and shook her head helplessly.
"Sigh… that brat really never stops causing trouble."
Sakura immediately replied, "It's no trouble at all! I can go in Lady Tsunade's place."
Seeing how eager Sakura was, Tsunade sighed again.
"…That's probably the best option."
Still in Konohagakure.
Hiashi Hyūga also received the news.
Inside the main hall of the Hyūga clan compound, Hiashi gathered the clan's high-ranking members.
"What do you all think?"
Hiashi spoke in a low voice.
"Uzumaki Naruto has already left Konoha, but his strength is undeniable. Moreover, the bond between him and my daughter could become an important fallback for the Hyūga clan."
An elder nearby hesitated and said, "But he invited Konoha, and the Hokage will definitely send someone. If we go as well… wouldn't that—"
Before he could finish, Hiashi interrupted him firmly.
"I believe that maintaining our relationship with Uzumaki Naruto is more important. Even if Lady Tsunade becomes suspicious, we must go. What do you all think?"
On one hand, this was due to Naruto's overwhelming strength.
Everyone knew the fate of Kumogakure.
Tsunade wouldn't openly clash with the Hyūga clan over such a small matter.
After a moment of silence, a member of the Hyūga main family spoke up.
"We can attend under a different identity."
Land of Wind — Sunagakure.
"What should we do?"
Rasa stared at the intelligence report handed to him by his subordinate, his brows tightly knitted.
Originally, he had believed his daughter had some sort of relationship with Naruto.
Perhaps he could even keep Naruto in Sunagakure.
But he hadn't expected Naruto to turn around and establish his own ninja village—and even invite Sunagakure to attend a ceremony.
Rasa had known for some time, through internal intelligence, that Naruto might leave Konoha and establish a village of his own.
But now that it had actually happened, Rasa couldn't help but feel cautious.
After all…
If things went poorly, his own daughter might end up staying there.
And Temari was a rare talent within Sunagakure.
No—
To be more precise, among the entire village, only his children truly had any talent.
The rest…
Well, that didn't need to be said.
If Temari chose to stay with Naruto, it would undeniably be a loss for Sunagakure.
Rasa thought for a long time, then finally shook his head helplessly.
Forget it.
Let things take their course.
At least Sunagakure's current relationship with Naruto was good—they wouldn't suffer for it.
Land of Earth — Iwagakure.
"Kurotsuchi, what exactly is that brat trying to do?"
Ōnoki stared at the document in front of him, irritation rising immediately.
Unlike the previous Kage, Ōnoki was an old-school Kage.
He could tell at a glance that Naruto was clearly using the ceremony as a pretext to gather representatives from all the major ninja villages.
As for the true purpose—
Ōnoki didn't know.
It couldn't possibly be to unify the shinobi world, could it?
If Ōnoki hadn't interacted with Naruto before and known that he didn't seem to possess such ambition…
He might already be panicking.
"Grandpa, we have to go," Kurotsuchi reminded him.
Ōnoki glanced at his granddaughter and suddenly felt a strange sense of loss.
Before, the matter between Kurotsuchi and Naruto had given him the illusion that he might be able to use his granddaughter to lure Naruto into settling in Iwagakure.
But now…
It felt like the bait had been eaten, yet the fish had never been reeled in.
Land of Water — Kirigakure.
"I heard he's also harboring Zabuza," Ao said in a deep voice.
"Whether it's the Kubikiribōchō or other matters, we must make him give us an explanation."
Mei Terumī listened to Ao's reminder, but her expression remained calm and indifferent.
Her gaze lingered on Naruto's photograph on the desk, her thoughts drifting.
Such a handsome young man…
Why did he have to be so troublesome?
Damn it, it's giving this big sister a headache.
Unlike Ao, Mei had already begun thinking about how to extricate Kirigakure from this mess.
Naruto could destroy Kumogakure.
Naturally, he could destroy Kirigakure as well.
Harboring Zabuza meant Kirigakure couldn't save face.
Yet giving up the Kubikiribōchō would be tantamount to kneeling and begging for mercy before Naruto.
In addition to the Four Great Shinobi Villages, many smaller ninja villages also received invitations from Naruto.
After all, unifying the shinobi world didn't just mean unifying the Five Great Villages.
The smaller villages were the real key.
That was also why Naruto didn't bother visiting them one by one.
There were simply too many—it was too troublesome.
It was far easier to let them come on their own.
Now that Naruto had a fearsome reputation, even the Great Villages were sending envoys.
If a small village didn't come, wouldn't that be seen as blatant disrespect?
This was Naruto's open scheme.
Anyone with eyes could see that he intended to stir up trouble using this opportunity.
One of the Five Great Shinobi Villages that did not receive an invitation—
Kumogakure—
also learned of the situation.
The Eight-Tails and Killer B were dead.
Most of their ninja had suffered heavy casualties.
The Two-Tails was severely injured.
Kumogakure was now barely being propped up by the Raikage and a handful of elite ninja.
"That brat really does have ambition!"
Inside a temporary building erected atop the ruins, Raikage A stared at the intelligence report, his expression twisted with fury.
These past days, Kumogakure's status had plummeted.
Ōnoki next door had become increasingly aggressive.
If not for the financial support from the Land of Lightning's Daimyō Manor, Kumogakure wouldn't have lasted this long.
"We have to go too!"
Raikage A made the decision without hesitation.
"But Raikage-sama," someone beside him cautioned,
"That man didn't invite us."
Raikage A snorted coldly.
"That bastard will definitely cause trouble. When the time comes, we'll expose his actions and make him an enemy of the entire shinobi world!"
"And my fallen comrades—"
"I'll use this opportunity to avenge them!"
Although he didn't dare confront Naruto head-on…
Opportunities like this—where he could make Naruto uncomfortable—
Were exceedingly rare.
Raikage A had no intention of letting it slip.
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