Year 53 of Konoha.
The Konoha Anbu suddenly invaded the Land of Wind's borders, attacking Sunagakure and officially igniting the Fourth Great Ninja War. Initially, Konoha called this battle the "Final Unification War."
The tides of war shifted constantly. During the fierce conflict between Konoha and Sunagakure, Nagato, under Kabuto's control, released a massive army of Edo Tensei reanimations, launching surprise attacks on the major ninja villages one by one. They fell in turn: Iwagakure, Sunagakure, and Kumogakure, all lost their tailed beasts.
Ultimately,
Uchiha Madara was resurrected, gathered the power of the tailed beasts, revived the Ten-Tails, and gained the power of the Sage of Six Paths, intending to dominate the entire ninja world.
At that moment, Konoha's Fifth Hokage, Kaede Hataki, intervened. He crushed the Edo Tensei army attacking Sunagakure, and then defeated Madara himself, shattering Madara's ambitions to dust.
The truth about Kaguya was kept secret.
Yet even with the information stopping at Madara's defeat, the news spread throughout the shinobi world, leaving everyone stunned,
This news wasn't confined to ninjas. Thanks to Konoha's careful dissemination, it quickly reached ordinary civilians, igniting widespread excitement.
Most civilians knew little about ninjas.
Only the Five Great Nations, the Five Kage, and legendary figures like Madara Uchiha and Senju Hashirama were widely recognized. Lesser-known shinobi hardly had any presence in the common folk's stories.
But because Madara's name had become legendary even among civilians, often featured in books and tales, the outcome of this war deeply shook countless people.
Kaede Hataki's name echoed throughout the shinobi world!
Not only among ninja but also civilians, he became known as a legendary shinobi!
After the war,
Sunagakure, devastated by the conflict, became a subordinate village to Konoha. Three months later, it was fully incorporated into Konoha's administrative system, with over half of its ninja relocated to Konoha.
The remaining few combined with nearly a thousand Konoha ninja to form Konoha's First Division, rebuilding the old Sunagakure site.
During this period,
Some resistant Sunagakure shinobi who refused to submit were ruthlessly executed on Kaede's orders; these acts were neither publicized nor recorded.
Unification always comes with blood and darkness; a bloodless unification does not exist, and even if it did, it wouldn't be stable.
With Sunagakure turned into Konoha's branch, the Land of Wind's Daimyo capital fell, and the Land of Wind officially surrendered to the Land of Fire, becoming its vassal.
In the next two months,
The vast territory of the Land of Wind was absorbed into the Land of Fire.
During this time, Kaede used Wood Release on a massive scale to drastically transform the Land of Wind's environment, turning a once harsh land of sandstorms into a fertile country lush with vegetation and abundant resources.
This astonished the people of the Land of Wind, who hailed Kaede as a legendary figure comparable to the Sage of Six Paths, and rapidly stabilized the nation.
Two months later,
Kumogakure surrendered to Konoha.
Kumogakure had suffered even more brutally during the war than Sunagakure, but its ninja were known for their fierce pride. The unification of Kumogakure was baptized in blood and fire, with the Fourth Raikage killed by Kakashi Hataki.
With Kumogakure's surrender, the Land of Lightning was absorbed into the Land of Fire.
Controlling three major nations stretched Konoha to its limit. Kaede refrained from further expansion, opting to maintain this status quo and focus on development.
In truth,
Even without Konoha's intervention, the remaining Land of Earth and Land of Water were trembling with fear. Their Daimyo frantically poured funds into Iwagakure and Kirigakure, trying to speed up their development.
But everyone knew it was a futile effort.
Konoha's inaction was due simply to the difficulty of managing the unrest from merging three large nations. The recruited Sunagakure and Kumogakure ninja still required surveillance, draining Konoha's manpower.
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Time flew by.
Four years passed. During this time, Kaede waited patiently for Kaguya's return, but she never reappeared, seemingly lost forever.
But Kaede was certain she would come back sooner or later.
In truth, with his current power, he could seek out another leyline in the ninja world and use his Rinnegan along with the Ten-Tails' power as a guide to pursue her.
But Kaede didn't do this. The risks were too great. He might end up in a parallel world, or worse, trapped in a chaotic space.
Although the Yomi no Birasaka would guarantee his return, being sent too far away would still cost much time to come back.
It wasn't necessary.
So Kaede's approach was simple: wait.
Over these four years, he lived well. Besides dedicating four hours daily to taijutsu training, he spent the rest of his time signing documents, watching the latest TV shows, playing games, and occasionally creating life.
Creating life was one of the Rinnegan's abilities.
It was somewhat like an evolved version of Ryuchi Cave's senjutsu, where one technique, "Inorganic Reincarnation," could temporarily animate inanimate matter like water or stone.
But that was only temporary control, not true life.
By comparison,
The Rinnegan's Life Creation was genuine, imbuing a stone with a soul, transforming it into a unique creature like a tailed beast.
Over these four years, Kaede created many such lifeforms and placed them about a hundred miles from Konoha, in a mountain range. Some were purely water-based, others made of stone, fire, lightning, and more.
Their strengths varied, some strong enough to trouble Jonin, others easily handled by Genin.
The strongest five were empowered with senjutsu and represented the five basic elements: Wind, Lightning, Water, Fire, and Earth.
After being imbued with senjutsu, these five could absorb natural energy on their own and even split into smaller entities.
Kaede estimated that even without his intervention, these elemental beings could evolve within decades into legendary sages like the White Snake Sage or the Great Toad Sage.
Of course,
Creating these lifeforms wasn't a mere experiment or hobby.
All of them could sign summoning contracts with ninja, becoming powerful summon beasts. Due to their strength, they were highly coveted by Konoha ninja.
Only Chunin or above could enter the "Elemental Valley" and contract with these beings, and each ninja could only contract with one elemental creature.
Not everyone could summon such powerful beings.
In short,
Kaede's "Elemental Valley" rapidly grew in just four years to become the fourth great sacred site, on par with the Shikkotsu Forest, Myoboku Mountain, and Ryuchi Cave.
Worth mentioning,
All nine tailed beasts now gathered in Konoha. The Nine-Tails still preferred to stay inside, spending his days gaming and watching shows. The others had their own hobbies, some found compatible Jinchuriki, others lived in the Elemental Valley.
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Konoha.
In a spacious living room.
"Kaede, try some of the snacks I made."
"Have some fruit first."
"No no no, if you eat fruit first, the snacks lose their flavor."
Kurenai sat to Kaede's left, holding a delicate snack, offering it to him. Rin sat on his right, skewering a strawberry and presenting it to him.
Kaede rolled his eyes and tapped both their foreheads with his fingers simultaneously.
"Let me quietly read my book!"
Since four years ago, the girls vying for his attention had become increasingly bold, there were even incidents of walking into the wrong room after a bath, or slipping him drugs.
With such outrageous behavior, he eventually gave in.
After that,
The others didn't ease up. They only got more daring, which made Kaede think,
So you're all just after my body, huh?
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Completed version available on Patreon.com/Veltoria