The entire Hoshigakure came together to forge enchanted ninja tools, and with the addition of the mountain god's divine blessing, both Uchiha Kirin and the unborn mountain god profited immensely.
Even the Scythe of Death was nearly refined into a golden hue, and the mountain god's incubation progressed faster than expected. Within a few years, it was projected to manifest on its own.
When that time came, they might even gain some unique abilities related to forging and craftsmanship thanks to this newfound faith...
Of course, behind the explosive development of Hoshigakure, there were those with sinister intentions.
With enchanted ninja tools now dominating the market, many ninjas—especially those already reliant on tools or taijutsu—found themselves unable to keep up without spending money.
As a result, a large number of ninjas began exchanging their accumulated paper money for rare metals—primarily gold, with chakra metal as a secondary choice.
An enormous amount of cash flooded into circulation.
But due to the fragile administrative systems of the great nations and the overissuance of paper currency to ninjas, once that money hit the open market, there was no way to reel it back in.
In the end, the paper currency devalued massively.
The daimyōs and nobles, unwilling to part with their stockpiles of gold and silver, refused to allow conversion of hard currency for those "dirty" ninja. Real hard currency simply stopped circulating.
Trying to preserve their own wealth, the daimyōs made a joint decision:
If a huge amount of paper money had entered the market and was devaluing noble assets, but they were too stingy to release precious metals, then why not issue higher-denomination banknotes?
Crank up the printing presses and turn 1 ryō into 1,000 or even 10,000 ryō!
Wouldn't that effortlessly restore their wealth to previous levels, while also strengthening their control over both ninjas and civilians?
And so, both old and new bills became nothing more than worthless scraps...
Some even began coveting Hoshigakure's new technologies, trying to reverse-engineer the weapons they had acquired. But unfortunately for them, melting down the tools would erase the mountain god's blessings, which were infused with faith-based power—rendering any deep analysis impossible.
Those who failed to crack the tools' secrets ended up joining forces with bankrupt nobles, forming a front that sought to either destroy Hoshigakure by force or take control of it through subterfuge.
Unfortunately for them, every assault organized by this coalition of broken nobles and envious rivals ended in crushing defeat.
After all, Hoshigakure had foreseen this from the very start of their transition into ninja tool production, and had long prepared contingency plans.
Against Star Shinobi warriors clad in chakra metal armor and armed to the teeth, even Jōnin had no hope of victory.
Those who attempted to infiltrate the village and learn the secrets found that the techniques they picked up were no different from standard ninja tool forging—completely lacking the bizarre effects seen in the enchanted tools.
Some tried stealing chakra metal ore from the village and refining it on their own in hopes of replicating the effects, only to find themselves writhing in agony, corrupted by the residual Star Power within the ore...
Eventually, the master crafters of ninja tools from various villages and towns gave up. Seeking superior techniques, they voluntarily joined Star Shinobi.
With that, Hoshigakure rose to fame across the shinobi world and was no longer a target of envious eyes.
...
With these affairs settled, the existence of Hoshigakure ensured that Uchiha Kirin's weapons would always have a steady supply of faith power as raw material.
At the same time, the unexpected birth of the mountain god continued its stable incubation and growth...
Uchiha Kirin's journey abroad also came to an end.
Returning to Water Curtain Cave, he looked down at the noisy troop of monkeys left behind by the white-furred ape sages, and they gave him a splitting headache.
He thought about it—since in the script written by the sages, Enma had already made his appearance and faded from the stage along with the death of Hiruzen Sarutobi...
Before long, a batch of monkey brains and weapons from the white ape sage's clan appeared in the black market for summoned beasts run by the Ninja Cat Clan, heavily discounted for quick sale.
As previously agreed, all islands near Water Curtain Cave were to be vacated. It was time for the Ninja Cat Clan to move in.
Meanwhile, Uchiha Kirin compiled his insights into training with his Kekkei Genkai and handed them over—along with a basic version of the Breathing Art of the Sage Path—to the Boss Black Cat, tasking him with spreading the techniques within the clan to boost their power.
As for Kirin himself, he needed to focus on absorbing the Star Core and researching the Mysterious Peacock Method.
Only then could the power of his world grow once again.
...
After a round trip to outer space, Uchiha Kirin returned with the Star Core and placed it deep within the Dragon Vein beneath Water Curtain Cave.
He then activated Kamui to absorb the core into his World Prototype.
A swirl of black vortexes appeared, and Kirin, along with the Star Core, entered the Kamui-linked space.
As soon as the Star Core entered, it pushed away the artifacts orbiting the core—giant Tenseigan, sacred relics, and other miscellaneous items—while drawing in the natural energy surging from the Dragon Vein.
It settled into the core of the "Heaven-Reversing Devour" vortex and stabilized!
With the largest chunk of the Star Core now fused, Uchiha Kirin felt the space within subtly improve in profound ways.
The space became more solid, gravity formed underfoot, and the once sluggish Rule Power now flowed smoothly and freely.
With every breath he took, the entire world frantically absorbed natural energy from the Dragon Vein, striving to balance its internal forces.
Eventually, Kirin's miniature world kept expanding—until it grew to nearly half the size of the shinobi world—only then did it reach its limit.
At this point, the space could finally be rightfully called a "small world" in every sense of the word.
Within the Heaven-Reversing Devour vortex, with the Star Core as its heart, something seemed to be taking shape. The giant Tenseigan, sacred relics, and power from the external Dragon Vein continued flowing in, even after the expansion ceased.
Inside Kirin's body, the pitifully small and once unusable world power now began to slowly circulate, guided by the breathing method.
Realizing this was an opportunity not to be missed, he immediately set up a barrier around himself and assigned the Ninja Cat Clan to maintain it.
Then, he fully immersed his spirit into the evolution of his new world!
...
In the outside world, time flew by—year after year.
In his quest to uncover the truth behind his clan's extermination and to seek revenge against his brother, Sasuke followed the path of fate and defected to Orochimaru.
Naruto and the rest of the Konoha rookies pursued him. Although they defeated many ninja from the Sound Village, they still failed to bring Sasuke back.
Even so, Tsunade, who had returned to the village to serve as Hokage, didn't classify Sasuke as a missing-nin. Instead, she officially listed him as a kidnapped person taken by missing-nin.
On the other hand, the Hyūga Clan—despite possessing top-tier tracking jutsu—dared not send ninjas out of the village alone.
The main house members were vulnerable to being hunted, and without their oversight, the branch house couldn't be trusted. After Neji's earlier escape, they became even more cautious.
As a result, Neji was branded a missing-nin and slapped with a bounty exceeding ten million ryō, posted at exchange centers across the land.
But by now, Neji had secretly become the disciple of Mifune and had even met the Old Sword Saint himself. He was now being trained as a prime candidate for successor.
To outsiders, he still maintained his blind swordsman persona. With this setup, unless the Hyūga Clan personally ventured out and scoured a powerful neutral country, they had no hope of finding him...