"Ahem!" ×2
Uchiha Hikaru and Tsunade exchanged a glance and gave identical coughs in tacit agreement.
Finally, Damiyo, who had been lost in his own gossip, caught on. He gave the two of them a sidelong glance—and then a knowing smile crept across his face.
"Well, it seems what I once hoped for has finally come true within my lifetime."
"The Senju and Uchiha... now truly one family."
"Hahaha!"
Uchiha Hikaru didn't care much for the comment. To him, it was only natural for the two most powerful clans to eventually unite.
But Tsunade's face turned beet red. She shot him a sharp glare and pinched his thigh beneath the table—hard.
Hikaru's mouth twitched in pain.
Later, He chatted with Tsunade and Uchiha Hikaru about family matters, keeping the conversation light. The village was barely mentioned.
Eventually, Tsunade couldn't sit still any longer. She stood up and excused herself, saying she needed to use the bathroom.
He watched her exit the room. Now it was just the two of them.
Uchiha Hikaru turned his gaze to the Daimyo, who, in an instant, dropped the facade of a genial elder. His eyes sharpened, and the wisdom of a lifetime revealed itself in his expression.
"Uchiha Hikaru, your visit here today—it's about the matter of succession, isn't it?"
Damiyo didn't waste time on pleasantries. He cut straight to the heart of the matter.
Uchiha Hikaru smiled faintly. He didn't deny it.
"Seems you already know."
"After all, your time is limited."
The Daimyo slowly tore the ceremonial fan in his hands into two neat halves.
"That's right. I'm only alive thanks to medication that prolongs my life. I'm fully aware of that."
"Right now, what I care about most is who will succeed me."
"My eldest son, Luwan, is far too ambitious. He wants to replace Konoha and dominate the entire shinobi world."
"My second son, Lucao, is utterly useless. He wastes his days on pleasure and decadence."
"Only my third son, Reed, has shown any merit. He's inherited a bit of my will. He actually cares about the people of the Land of Fire."
"But he's been suppressed by his older brother for years, and his timid nature makes him unsuited for great responsibility."
"How can I entrust the future of this nation to someone like that?"
Uchiha Hikaru stared at the elderly man in front of him, watching him speak with rare concern for his country's future. It reminded him of the Fire Daimyo from the original timeline.
If Hikaru hadn't arrived in this world, then Reed would likely have inherited the title of Daimyo by default. While Reed had a reputation for being idle, he'd still managed to maintain the Land of Fire's dominance in the shinobi world. His timidity would later be a perfect match for Danzo's political maneuvering.
But that was the original story.
This world had Uchiha Hikaru.
Who could say which way the wind would blow now?
"Then, Lord Daimyo, who do you want as your successor?"
"You've said all this for a reason, haven't you?"
Damiyo nodded. He dipped his fingers into a teacup and began drawing on the lacquered table.
Two sets of circular diagrams appeared.
On the left: a large and a small circle side by side, touching at the edges.
On the right: a small circle completely enclosed within a larger one.
Damiyo pointed to the pattern on the left.
"This represents the current model of the shinobi world: one country, one village. A system Hashirama pioneered."
"It brought peace for over a decade... but once Hashirama passed, so too did that peace."
He then pointed to the right.
"This was my original proposal—one village within one country."
"I wanted shinobi and civilians to coexist more closely. But the power imbalance made that dream difficult."
"Now, I'm less worried about who follows me... and more about whether the shinobi world will ever know peace."
"Hashirama's ideals inspired me once. But I've come to realize now—they were flawed."
"We failed."
As the words left his mouth, it was as though all strength drained from him. His shoulders sagged. His breath grew shallow. He seemed... old.
Uchiha Hikaru remained silent, but a trace of respect rose in his eyes.
So there were ordinary people in this world—not just descendants of the Sage of Six Paths—who still dared to dream of peace.
Maybe that saying from his previous life had some truth to it.
Kishimoto really is just a lousy manga artist. He doesn't understand Naruto at all.
"You don't need to worry, Grandfather."
"Your will won't be lost. There will always be those who strive for peace."
"And even if they fail, they'll keep trying—again and again—until someone finally gets it right."
Hikaru rose to his feet and turned his back on the old man.
Behind him, Damiyo sat frozen. For the first time in a long while, a faint spark ignited in his heart again. Like a dying flame finding dry kindling.
His gaze fell on Hikaru's back, and just for a moment, it was as if he were looking at Hashirama himself.
No... not quite. There was something different here.
In over ninety years of life, meeting countless kinds of people, this was the first time the Daimyo found himself unable to see through someone.
So many words and questions formed in his heart.
But in the end, they condensed into a single sentence.
"The next Daimyo will be Reed."
"I leave to you the unfinished dream of me, Hashirama, and Madara."
Uchiha Hikaru raised a hand, waved behind him without turning, and stepped out of Damiyo mansion.
His pace was unhurried.
As he walked, thoughts of peace and war, of the shinobi world and its endless cycle of bloodshed, swirled through his mind.
Hashirama... Madara... Yahiko... Nagato... Obito...
Each of them had chased peace in their own way. And yet none had succeeded.
Even Naruto—the Naruto—only brought about a temporary lull.
Then came Boruto. A complete farce.
Hatred was magically erased. But the power imbalance still existed.
The same borders remained. The same problems, untouched.
The Land of Wind still suffered droughts.
The Land of Earth was still barren.
The Land of Lightning lacked arable land.
The Land of Water was resource-poor.
And Konoha—Konoha still sat in the most fertile, resource-rich territory. Living in comfort while others struggled.
What real progress had there been?
Sure, a few scientific tools had popped up—but almost none of them made life better for ordinary people.
And that's when the thought struck him.
The Sage of Six Paths is dead. The Heaven rises today.
From this day forward, I, Uchiha Hikaru, will unify the shinobi world. Piece by piece.
"Ding~"
A soft chime echoed in his ears.
It was a sound he hadn't heard in a long time—and his eyes narrowed.
Wait. That wasn't me. Did Reed's mental defense collapse?
That... shouldn't be possible.
And then came the system notification:
"The host's Ninja Path has been detected and established."
"System update beginning."
"Novice support phase: complete."
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Bonus Chapter at 150 Power Stone
Second Bonus Chapter - 300 Power Stones
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