Ryosuke faced the sun, moon, and stars, traveling across mountains, rivers, and seas, truly using his own feet to measure the ninja world.
In the blink of an eye, more than a month had passed. The notebook he had specially prepared for this trip was already more than half filled, with many photos he had taken pasted inside.
Now Ryosuke had entered the territory of the Land of Wind. If he continued westward and crossed the Land of Wind, he would be able to set out across the sea and return to the Land of Water, bringing this journey to an end.
"According to the map, Gorin City is to the southwest, less than seventy kilometers away… should I go there?"
Ryosuke hesitated for a while, then gave up.
First, Gorin City was no less familiar to Ryosuke than Kirigakure or Kyoto, and there wasn't much worth investigating there.
Second, if Ryosuke dared to show his face in Gorin City, City Lord Tokugawa would definitely show up with a huge stack of documents to drag Ryosuke into meetings and discussions.
"Better go next time."
Thinking this, Ryosuke tossed the last croissant into his mouth, shook the instant coffee in his hand, and was about to gulp it down to finish this simple lunch.
Just as he raised his hand, he noticed Otsutsuki Isshiki's gaze.
"You want some too?" Ryosuke asked.
Isshiki snorted with a laugh. "Coffee? I only drink hand-brewed coffee, and it has to be beans from the southern part of the Land of Earth."
"This is also what I don't understand about you."
"With your physical body, you no longer need to eat, so eating has gone from a physiological need to a physiological enjoyment."
"Since it's enjoyment, there should naturally be certain standards and requirements. You, on the other hand… heh."
Isshiki's tone was full of disdain.
Ryosuke gave Isshiki a strange look.
Ignoring Isshiki's complaints, Ryosuke continued walking through the desert. The afternoon sun was extremely fierce, and the air over the desert twisted and shimmered with heat.
When passing through uninhabited areas, Ryosuke simply took one step. Under the resonance of ripples, spatial displacement occurred, a spatial slingshot landed beneath his feet, and when his step gently touched the ground, he had already appeared dozens of kilometers away.
At around two in the afternoon, Ryosuke encountered a small village with fewer than a hundred people.
He took out his notebook from the ghost room and was about to make his routine records and ask the villagers about the local situation, when he saw several familiar figures wearing gray robes.
The "rats" of Gorin City?
Ever since Gorin City came under Ryosuke's command, most of the "rats" had long since moved from underground to the surface, and their income was enough for them to afford better new clothes.
However, the gray robes had already become their symbol, something they took pride in.
Ordinary people felt reassured the moment they saw the gray robes, practically the Naruto version of the neighborhood committee's red volunteer vests.
Four rat members were explaining to the villagers how to use modern farming tools and what to pay attention to during maintenance. After finishing, they invited the villagers to come up and touch them themselves, to get a feel for them.
One of the rat members, parched from talking, took a sip of water. When he looked up, he saw Ryosuke walking toward them. His mouth fell half open as he froze in place, and the water in his mouth poured down his chin, soaking his clothes.
"Boss Ryosuke!"
One of the rat members jogged over. "Y-you… why are you here?"
"I'm just taking a walk," Ryosuke said.
"A walk?"
'A walk all the way to this godforsaken little village?'
Ryosuke smiled and didn't explain much. "What are you doing here?"
"It's Sister Iwamine's request. She had us form teams of four to rotate through the villages around Gorin City on a regular basis. City Lord Tokugawa bought a lot of farming tools and distributed them to the villages, and even sent people to teach them, but, "
The rat member shrugged.
"Everyone's acceptance of this 'science' stuff is still a bit slow. They're afraid to use it, and afraid of breaking it. We're just here to see if there's anything we can help with."
"Boss Ryosuke, are you here to find Sister Iwamine?"
The rat member pointed in a direction.
"Go that way, cross two mountains, and you'll see a village. She's there."
What a coincidence. He thought that by not going to Gorin City this time, he wouldn't see Iwamine, but it turned out she was outside anyway.
Ryosuke nodded to him, said thanks, turned around, and left.
———
Ryosuke found Iwamine in a classroom that leaked wind from all sides.
She was teaching a group of children ranging from seven to seventeen years old.
When she saw Ryosuke come in, Iwamine froze for half a second. Her eyes flickered, and Ryosuke placed his index finger to his lips, sat down in the back corner, and gestured for her not to mind him.
Iwamine smiled gently and continued teaching.
More than ten minutes later, the lesson ended. The children ran out noisily to play in the "playground", which was really just an open space piled with clutter.
"Long time no see."
Iwamine walked over holding her books.
The last time the two of them met was when Gaara was attacked and Rasa died.
They had only briefly crossed paths while chasing Uchiha Itachi, then separated again.
In terms of time, it hadn't been that long.
But in that interval, so much had happened to both Ryosuke and Iwamine that when events fill time, they invisibly stretch its length.
Ryosuke said, "You look much more energetic."
Ever since leaving Kirigakure and coming to the Land of Wind, Iwamine had remained in a state of mental tension.
Even while eating, sleeping, or talking, there was always a taut string within her.
Now, she had finally changed into a plain-colored long dress. Her long hair was casually tied up, and there was an added sense of calm and ease in her eyes.
"Thank you for the compliment, Lord Ryosuke, but…"
Iwamine covered her mouth and smiled lightly. "Who describes a woman as 'energetic'?"
Ryosuke was left speechless.
"You know that's not what I meant. I meant..."
Iwamine gently waved her hand. "I understand."
"You understand?"
"Of course."
She put her hands behind her back, tilted her head slightly, and smiled at Ryosuke. "I've always understood."
She didn't dwell on the topic and instead explained why she was out here this time.
"Gorin City has gradually stabilized, and there isn't much that needs us there anymore, so I decided to head out instead."
Iwamine raised her wrist and glanced at her watch.
"After school, the children help the adults with farm work. I usually go help as well. Since you're out walking around and taking a look… would you like to come along?"
Ryosuke naturally didn't refuse.
These past few days, the villagers had been busy digging a new well. Everyone in the village, young and old, was pitching in.
Ryosuke didn't use any powers at all. He simply took off his shirt and dug earth alongside the village men, copying their methods, feeling the soil's moisture, and guessing the direction of the underground river.
This sight made many of the young women and wives in the village light up, collectively swallowing quietly.
They worked from afternoon until dusk, when water suddenly gushed up from the bottom of the well.
"Water! There's water!"
A voluptuous woman shouted and, riding the joy, tried to throw herself at Ryosuke. Iwamine quickly pulled her back and stood in front of her with a smile.
The woman laughed awkwardly, muttered something about mistaking him for someone else, and turned to hug her own husband, only to meet her husband's speechless expression.
Digging a new well was a major event for a small village living deep in the desert. The old village chief waved his hand grandly and declared that tonight must be celebrated.
For a village that barely had enough to eat, so-called celebration meant lighting a bonfire in the center of the village. Each household cooked food, brought out their bowls to eat together, chatted while eating, and after finishing, sang songs and danced before calling it a night.
Ryosuke's dinner was personally cooked by Iwamine, chilled millet jelly, vegetarian buns, and a steaming cup of goat milk tea, simple, yet more than sufficient.
Of course, in Isshiki's eyes, it was "pig feed that wasn't fit for eating."
After dinner, Ryosuke sipped his milk tea one mouthful at a time.
Iwamine was pulled by several laughing children to dance by the bonfire. Her dance wasn't complicated, far less exquisite than when she had been a courtesan.
But when the firelight washed over her brows and eyes, her slender figure and the joy rippling in her eyes were more captivating than any elaborate dance steps.
"I get it now!" Isshiki suddenly spoke.
Ryosuke was startled. "What do you get?"
Isshiki glanced sideways at Ryosuke. "I get why you're not picky at all about food and clothing anymore, you're picky about women!"
Whether it was Samui or Iwamine, even in Otsutsuki Isshiki's eyes, they were exceptionally dazzling women.
Ryosuke shook his head, too lazy to respond to Isshiki.
"But there's one thing I don't understand," Isshiki said.
"You come out to investigate and put on a people-friendly image, so why don't you carry out corresponding publicity?"
"Without publicity, how would the commoners know, 'Ah, Lord Ryosuke cares so much about us,' and how would they…"
"…offer you their loyalty?"
Ryosuke held the milk tea with both hands and looked at the dancing crowd.
"I don't need anyone to offer me loyalty."
"People only need to be loyal to their own interests. As long as I stand beside the people, that's enough."
Isshiki sneered. "You've said this kind of thing too many times. Do you really think you're the same as them?"
"Life is born and dies, leaving behind bits of interesting or boring stories, repeating in cycles, like startled deer in a pond, making 'thump, thump, ' sounds over and over again."
"You can say the sound of the startled deer is pleasant, but on the scale of history... ordinary lives are utterly meaningless."
Otsutsuki Isshiki quietly stared at Ryosuke. "You are also someone walking the path of evolution, Ryosuke. You've evolved your body to the limit, like a blade polished to extreme sharpness. That's impressive."
"But if you want to walk the universe, a delicate, sharp knife isn't enough. You need to be hard enough, strong enough, and that strength comes from immense energy."
"Only by absorbing lower life forms and becoming a predator can one become a true ruler, only then does one qualify to create history."
Otsutsuki Isshiki spoke at length. Ryosuke wasn't surprised, Isshiki often brought up such questions and viewpoints.
Along the way, their debates had gradually become a habit between them, and also a way for Ryosuke to understand the Otsutsuki clan.
Ryosuke gently shook his head.
"Humanity itself is the creator of history."
Otsutsuki Isshiki snorted. "Don't joke. There has never been a major event in the world that wasn't led by elites, even when people rush to grab dropped fruits and vegetables in a market, there's always some old lady who charges in first."
"Humans, or rather, primitive life forms, are like this."
"As long as one person goes left, a whole group will follow left."
"What the Otsutsuki clan does is simply turn these blind lives, along with their futures, into the fruit of the God Tree, swallow them, and let them evolve together with me."
"By your logic, what if I kill you?" Ryosuke asked in return.
Isshiki said, "That would mean you're stronger than me. I would regret it, I would despair, but in terms of reason, that's how it should be. History is written by the strong. Just like how only heroic epics are passed down, no one remembers the names of a warrior's servants."
This time, Ryosuke was silent for a long while. He quietly stared at the bonfire, as if thinking, or perhaps at a loss for words.
Otsutsuki Isshiki revealed a victorious smile.
"Because of fear."
Ryosuke's words froze Isshiki's smile.
"Do you remember the villagers we saw today, learning to use technological farming tools?"
"Those tools are actually very simple. When many people can't learn them, it's not because they're stupid, but because deep down they feel fear toward technology and machinery."
Just like many older people using smartphones, clearly the prompts are right there in front of them, yet they can't see them, and can only, with a hint of anger, ask their children for help over and over again.
"Heroic epics are the same."
"In the past, ordinary people feared the responsibility that came with bearing history. They felt they couldn't do it, and could only keep yearning for heroes and warriors to make choices for them."
"This isn't the people's fault. It's the fault of those in power who blinded their will, but..."
Ryosuke pointed at the dancing crowd, and at the children reading by firelight.
"They are 'awakening.'"
As long as they awaken, people will realize, it's just machinery.
It's just smartphones.
It's just… bearing history. What's so hard about that?
Are kings and nobles born different?
This time, it was Isshiki's turn to fall silent.
Until the bonfire burned out and laughter turned into snoring, he didn't say another word.
———
Ten days later, Ryosuke finished a journey of nearly two months and arrived in Kyoto City late at night.
He had filled thick notebooks, taken more than a hundred photos, and visited over two hundred cities and villages. Compared to before he set out, Ryosuke seemed unchanged, but the doubts and uncertainties in his heart had been completely swept away.
As he entered Kyoto City and made his way to the daimyo's residence, he heard the sound of a shakuhachi flute.
Ryosuke remembered this piece.
"Wind."
The favorite piece of Oda Ieyasu's late wife, Saito Ayame.
Following the music, Ryosuke found Oda Ieyasu sitting in a bamboo pavilion. Seeing Ryosuke arrive, Oda Ieyasu slightly turned his head, wiped away the tears at the corner of his eyes, and "complained", "You… at least you could've said hello."
Ryosuke sat down across from Oda Ieyasu.
"You were thinking about Saito Ayame?"
"Of course. How could I not?"
Oda Ieyasu smiled and said, "Putting family aside, she really was a very good woman. The irony is… only after she died could I truly set family aside and think of her wholeheartedly."
If Saito Ayame were still alive, Oda Ieyasu would have had to consider the influence her family had on her.
He waved his hand, unwilling to dwell on the topic, and put away the shakuhachi.
"I've been guessing when you'd come. You're a bit later than I expected."
"Yeah. There was too much to see and record. Fortunately..."
Ryosuke took out a thick notebook from the ghost room, pulled out a thin sheet of paper, and handed it over.
"There were gains."
Oda Ieyasu smiled and took the light sheet of paper. After reading the first line, his brows furrowed, and the hand holding the paper shifted from one hand to both.
[Direction of Reform]
[1. Abolish the Five Great Nations and change them into five major administrative regions, unified under a single management system, and establish a Human Federation Government.]
[2. Disband the ninja villages and establish a "Ninja Public Service System," reclaiming resources monopolized by clans.]
[3. Advance industrialization and basic medical care to ensure that within one year, the entire ninja world can eat their fill and afford medical treatment, the lacking resources will come from points one and two.]
[4. Make awakening ideology a compulsory course in the ninja world. Establish "History Memorial Halls" to objectively record the trauma of war and inscribe all those who have been sacrificed along the way.]
There weren't many words, but the more Oda Ieyasu read, the more alarmed he became.
"You... you…" His lips went dry. "Isn't this too radical?!"
Oda Ieyasu knew Ryosuke wanted everyone to live good lives. It was precisely because of this grand ambition that he had been willing to follow Ryosuke wholeheartedly.
But this… it was too much.
Oda Ieyasu wanted to argue, wanted to raise many objections, but when he looked at Ryosuke sitting opposite him, travel-worn, yet with eyes shining with light, all his words failed him.
Ryosuke reached out and lightly tapped the thin sheet of paper.
"Interesting, right?"
Oda Ieyasu took a deep breath. "Far too interesting."
This was a truly earth-shattering change to the long-standing structure of the ninja world.
After unifying the world, Ryosuke had finally begun to "make a move" on it.
But a true man living between heaven and earth, wasn't he meant to do these interesting yet difficult things?
Thinking of this, Oda Ieyasu's blood surged. The many difficulties he had considered before began to unravel, and solutions emerged one after another.
"Then… do it?"
Ryosuke grinned. "Do it!"