Rin nonchalantly ate the strawberry, then smiled sweetly and leaned on Kaede's shoulder.
"Kaede, why in that drama yesterday did the women in the Land of Women get pregnant just by drinking the water?"
Kaede glanced at his book and replied casually,
"Probably because the river water contains some kind of life energy."
Rin giggled,
"Wrong. It's because upstream is the Land of Men."
Kaede blinked.
Beside them, Kurenai paused, then blushed faintly, shooting Rin a sharp glare and spitting out a quiet "tsk."
She leaned toward Kaede and whispered into his ear with a warm breath,
"Kaede, should we try a different way to create some life today?"
Kaede silently put down his book, then reached out and grabbed two peaches from the table, one shoved into Rin's mouth, the other into Kurenai's.
"Alright."
"That's enough."
"Even many flirtatious women aren't as persistent as you two."
Kaede muttered, a touch wistful in his eyes.
Back when they were at the Ninja Academy, these girls were so innocent. Now, their appetite seemed insatiable.
It was a shame that even if he could reverse time to make them ten years old again, their awareness wouldn't revert. Maybe the most terrifying curse of time was growth itself?
Suddenly, Kaede realized, perhaps that truly was humanity's greatest enemy.
Though he still felt deeply human emotions now, ever since defeating Uchiha Madara and banishing Kaguya to a parallel space, solidifying his position as the pinnacle of the ninja world, many of those emotions had dulled.
For example, that human drive to strive and improve.
What remained before him now were threats like the Eighth Gate of the Eight Gates, the mysterious technique, and the unresolved threat of Kaguya, which helped keep his resolve intact.
But once he unlocked the Eighth Gate, gaining invincible power, perhaps that would mark the start of his emotional decline.
With the power of the Divine Tree fruit and the Illusory Clock, he was effectively immortal. His Rinnegan ruled life and death, granting others immortality as well.
Decades might pass with little change.
But centuries, millennia...
Maybe then he would slowly turn into someone like Saitama from One Punch Man, losing all remaining human emotions, becoming a so-called "god."
Though that future was still far off, and time yet long, Kaede, now standing at the summit of the ninja world, had to seriously consider it.
His Illusory Clock power had only unlocked the third mark so far.
Judging by current trends, the fourth mark, shrouded in fog, would take at least another decade to unlock, while the fifth and sixth marks remained shrouded in mystery.
Mastering the Illusory Clock fully wasn't just about unlocking its abilities, it was about whether he could maintain himself amidst controlling time itself.
Otherwise,
He'd simply be consumed by time.
"To truly control time... there's still a long way to go," Kaede murmured to himself.
He felt he had found the greatest difficulty and key to mastering time, an instinct, a gut feeling that told him this was it.
Maybe the Illusory Clock's previous owner, after mastering time's power and enduring endless years, had lost their will and broken down.
After that,
The Illusory Clock wandered time and space until it met Kaede, merging with him to become its new master.
Otherwise, it was hard to imagine what force could leave the Illusory Clock so weakened that it needed slow recovery and gradual unlocking of its power.
After all,
Time was a force beyond this dimension!
Some space-based powers might seem to clash with time-based powers, but only because time's power was incomplete, when perfected, they wouldn't even be comparable.
Even now, though Kaede had Six Paths level 3 abilities, rewinding time a single second on himself caused barely any energy drain.
The time energy consumed was always minimal.
In other words,
At the scale of time itself, his current power was trivial. If he could fully master time, he'd wield power above all else.
"I'll go inspect the village."
Kaede closed his book and stood up from the sofa.
"Let's go together."
Kurenai and Rin quickly stood, dashed to their rooms to change, and caught up with Kaede.
He headed to the rooftop of the Hokage building, gazing out over the entire village.
Konoha had nearly doubled in size compared to a few years ago. If growth continued, it might soon become too large for even Pain's Shinra Tensei to completely cover, only partially destroying the area.
To destroy Konoha,
You'd need more than a sack of rice to hold several floors; you'd need several sacks.
"Want to go out for a walk?"
Rin suggested,
"I heard there's a small town nearby that's developed really well recently. It has the best hot springs, lots of nobles and Daimyo go there for trips."
Kurenai, surprisingly agreeing with Rin, glanced at Kaede,
"A hot spring trip sounds nice. What do you think, Kaede?"
"If you want to go, then let's. Nothing urgent now, just consolidating Iwagakure and controlling the Land of Earth. Kakashi can handle that."
Kaede smiled, replying casually.
Rin looked a little surprised,
"Are we going to act against Iwagakure so soon?"
Since Konoha had absorbed the Land of Lightning and Wind, missions had increased, driving village development but keeping Konoha's ninja very busy.
Kurenai glanced at Kaede hesitantly,
"Don't we need to intervene? Iwagakure might put up some resistance."
"No problem. Kakashi can manage."
Kaede replied casually,
"Iwagakure doesn't even have a Jinchuriki anymore. Even if there's some resistance, it's minor. If Kakashi can't handle the Third Tsuchikage, he's not up to par."
Worth noting: Kakashi now was the Jinchuriki of the Eight-Tails, or more precisely, the Eight-Tails was Kakashi's summon.
=============
Completed version available on Patreon.com/Veltoria