Conversation Near the Fire

Hearing Makoto's words, the Iwagakure diplomat's face turned green for a moment then.

This Hokage had really been getting more and more excessive lately, before he had at least taken a bag of laundry detergent to mean something, but now he simply said that he was making it up now.

He was really not even willing to act anymore.

Still... Land of Demons...

Who would be willing to stand up for such a small country?

It was clearly inappropriate to offend Konoha over a small country.

Besides, Konoha clearly wanted to bring him along for the ride this time... In that case, let's hear it first.

Thinking so, the Iwa diplomat nodded slightly, signaling Makoto to continue.

Makoto exchanged a few words with the other four great ninja villages about the energy program.

Because a lot of core secrets were involved, what Makoto said could be said to be a bit incoherent - mainly because of the presence of the Iwagakure.

But this wasn't a big problem, as he'd already greeted the two wives and a cat at the cat's place. The only one who was truly unknown was Iwa.

In fact, for a super big plan like the Energy Program, it would be fine not to bring Iwagakure. However, Makoto deliberated for a long time and finally decided to bring it along.

No matter what, it was still a large ninja village.

If it were to wreak havoc with Makoto, everyone would be in trouble.

Besides... This was also the best chance to tear apart the Iwagakure and the Land of Earth.

The environment can really affect a person's character and even their style of doing things.

For example, Kumo is always a panther.

Kiri, for example, always produces shit-stirrers.

For example, the Suna, there are always poor people.

Konoha, on the other hand, has a lot of master-killers... No, it's the super Konoha who swear to uphold the Will of Fire.

The last thing Iwagakure needs is a stinking diehard.

The wind and sand whistled by, taking away the vigor of life. Yet no matter what blows were dealt, the silent rock stood as unmoving as ever.

Makoto kept Onoki locked up and PUA'd for three years to get him to give in. Trying to get the entirety ofIwagakure to give in is just too hard, too hard...

This ninja village is stubborn, and this country is even more so.

There was even a feeling that the more violent the enemy was, the more resilient they were.

It was good that Makoto had been in the ninja villages for so many times, and had long since realized that in the hearts of almost all the ninja, the ninja village was not equal to the country. Moreover, in the event of a dispute between the country and the ninja village, they would, without exception, choose the ninja village.

With this premise, many things will be very good.

The true separation is really too much trouble, and invites people to hate, which is not as efficient as letting the ninja village and its own country because of the interests of the conflict, and ultimately tear it open.

Makoto believed that the massive profits from the energy program would be enough to turn Iwagakure and Land of Earth on their heads.

This kind of industrial revolution level change will permeate the whole world, even if it is only the initial profit, will make everyone including Makoto greedy.

Makoto didn't believe that the Land of Earth would be able to hold back.

As long as the Land of Earth wants to make a move, Iwagakure will be disgruntled, and then Makoto can go up to the world that has been suffering from precious things for a long time... Why should they share their hard-earned money with those noble things?

In this regard, Makoto absolutely trusted those nobles.

Even if Iwagakure really endured, the nobles would force Iwagakure to come here to the Four Village Alliance.

When it came to underhandedness and viciousness, the nobles never disappointed.

The Iwagakure diplomat obviously hadn't thought about it that much, because he didn't realize just how big this plan was, far surpassing all previous plans.

And it wasn't the first time Makoto had joined forces with other ninja villages to get money together.

In fact, Makoto came up with several big projects every year that could hold people over.

It was at his hands that Konoha began to expand wildly, more than the previous generations of Hokage combined.

One really can't help but wonder how his brain actually grows.

Moreover, he really divides the money.

In this regard, Makoto, who had never been a man of honor, had always been very particular.

The Iwagakure diplomat felt that hostility was hostility, but earning money was still negotiable.

"So, what does your side need from us?"

"As of right now, Iwagakure doesn't need to do anything, just don't object. Because the project is so big, there are some things that can't be rushed... By the time it's necessary, I'd like Iwagakure to provide some necessary technical support."

At the end of the Fourth Ninja World War, Konoha had received a large amount of Iwagakure secret passages as war reparations.

But as a matter of course, the most core secret traditions and technologies would of course not be leaked out.

For example, the Iwagakure's Bioroid technology had been hidden away - in the Boruto generation, this technology ultimately killed Onoki.

Now that Makoto had opened his mouth, it was only natural that the technology he demanded...

Regardless of the ninja village, this was an absolute taboo.

The kind that Makoto couldn't even do anything about.

The Iwaki diplomat's face changed slightly, but after being a diplomat for the past few years, his ability to control his emotions had long since grown by leaps and bounds.

"I believe in Hokage -sama's sincerity, but if it's..."

"I will offer Kitsuchi a price that cannot be refused."

"If that's the case, then I understand."

Makoto would have loved to finalize everything in a few minutes, but he knew in his heart that such a thing was absolutely impossible. This meeting could only be considered an intention at best.

There were simply too many details involved, and all aspects were at stake. To be able to produce results in a month or two, it could be said that they were full of sincerity towards each other, and that the soldiers were quick.

-This is not an ordinary project, it is the world's industrial revolution!

... ...

The ninjas of this era generally disliked long speeches, and since the five families had already worked together more than once, the meeting quickly yielded the answers they all wanted.

Seeing that it was almost time, Makoto announced that the meeting was adjourned.

As the guardian of the meeting, Hyuuga Hiashi also took the elite of his family, as well as his own good daughter, Hinata, and returned to the Hyuuga mansion.

This time, the job was easy and nothing went wrong, so it was supposedly a perfect end. But Hyuuga Hiashi's face, always have a few worries.

Mrs. Hyuuga, who was waiting at home, came out with the baby Hanabi in her arms. She originally looked expectant, but when she saw her husband's solemn expression, she also felt relieved.

"Hokage-sama he..."

"Hinata, you go ahead and eat."

For some reason, the eldest daughter of the Hyuuga clan, who was obviously petite and soft and appeared to be a standard loli, had an enormous appetite, making one wonder if she was the wrong child to carry with the Akimichi clan when they were in the hospital.

-But there was absolutely no mistaking that trademark blank stare.

One could only say that people were born with different physiques.

After Hinata had stood on the side of the road for a while earlier, blowing in the wind, Hiashi figured she should be hungry again, so he told her to go ahead and get something to eat.

"Yes, otou-sama."

Hyuuga Hinata couldn't understand her father, but hearing that there was something to eat, she took off on her short legs and went happily.

Although the child was a good eater, the Hyuuga clan wasn't so bad that they couldn't afford to feed her.

Konoha had never had a decent war in the past two years, and Makoto had resisted almost everything that required a fight. And Hyuuga had always followed the Hokage closely, and had indeed made a lot of money in investments.

Investment income had even exceeded traditional mission income.

With Hyuuga's current family fortune, he could afford to raise a thousand Hinata, not to mention one.

He had added a lot of income to the clan in the past two years because he had followed Makoto closely, and had also gained the adoration of many young Hyuuga ninja - however, this was also the source of his growing apprehension.

It was because of the Tenseigan of the Godaime Hokage.

He shouldn't have betrayed the Hokage, in all reason, and he didn't have that in mind himself. But the elders used the righteousness of the bloodline to suppress it, and he likewise had no way to refute it - how many years had it been since Hyuuga had produced the Tenseigan! If this bloodline could be stabilized, then overwhelming the Uchiha would no longer be a dream...

"It worked, Hokage-sama did pick up Hinata on the way, giving Hinata a reason to stay close to him. But..."

Hiashi picked up his second daughter, Hanabi, in his wife's arms, worried.

-As a lady of the house, not having a male child was an inherent fault. His wife, for the past two years, had been under tremendous pressure. It just so happened that there was no war for the past two years, so the couple worked overtime, and after their eldest daughter, Hinata, they soon had their second daughter, Hanabi... though still female.

As soon as she heard this but, Mrs. Hyuuga instinctively knew it was bad, but she asked anyway.

"Was it rejected by Haku-san, or by Kazehana-sama... Could it be by Naho-sama?"

These three lolitas were wary of girls with the same attribute.

Temari-san was fine on the contrary.

Because Temari-san was slow to react.

By the time she reacted, all twelve of the others' fetuses had been born.

"No, it's not the problem of a few ladies, it's Hokage-sama who..."

That's right, this chance encounter between Hyuuga and Makoto was actually deliberately planned by Hyuuga Hinata.

The Hyuuga clan's desire for Tenseigan was something that outsiders could not understand.

To them, it was not only power, but likewise honor and responsibility.

Because they are truly the younger brother of Sage of Six Paths, the descendants of Otsutsuki Hamura.

Not being able to use strong-arm tactics against Hokage, they tried to take advantage of his lolicon nature and tried to shoehorn Hinata into his side... Though this guy has also gone after mature women like Terumi Mei... It's hard to say if this guy is simply horny, but he does have a lot of lolitas around him...

But what I didn't expect was that the lolitas didn't resist in general, but Makoto instead...

"He said he likes Hanabi."

"...Huh?"

Taking a look at her second daughter, who was still in her swaddling clothes, Mrs. Hyuuga's entire body went numb.

Hinabi was indeed cute, and Mrs. Hyuuga was sure that she would be a girl as beautiful as her sister in the future. But I don't think anyone but a scum would like a girl at that age...

Even Hokage would have to be dragged out for ten minutes of target shooting with that kind of hobby, huh?

But it's a good thing that Mrs. Hyuuga is a female and has been fighting in the wife's group for years, so she's naturally a bit more sensitive.

"Could it be that this is just a pretext that Hokage-sama already knows what's on our minds, but can't be bothered to reject us explicitly, so he's using it?"

Hyuuga Hiashi pondered for a long time, and also felt that this was more likely - after all, taking a shot at Hanabi was just too much of a ghostly thing to do.

"If that's the case, then we'll just have to give up... but to just give up..."

Not to mention the Elder Group, even he himself was upset.

"Can we think of something from Naruto?"

As cruel as it was, it was basically impossible for the girls of the Hyuuga Clan to fall in love freely, and there was nothing Mrs. Hyuuga could do to stop that.

The only thing she could do was to try to find a man of her choice for her daughter.

There weren't many boys who would be a good match for the Hyuuga Clan's daughter, and Naruto was one.

The boy was cute, and as cunning as the Godaime, he looked like he could be a great man.

In fact, the Uchiha clan's eldest boy, Uchiha Itachi, was also considered one, but the two great clans could never be joined in marriage even if they were hostile every day... They were really afraid that Hokage would misunderstand.

"Naruto is indeed a cunning child, but he has already settled on Sarana of the Uchiha clan... This may be Hokage-sama's means of balancing the Konoha, so it's better if we don't disobey indiscriminately."

Rumor has it that the Godaime Hokage had very good feelings for the Uchiha, and even left a letter of entrusting the orphaned Uchiha if he died in battle during the Fourth Ninja World War.

Outsiders do not know whether it is true or false, and there is no way to judge. But it is not difficult to see from the many means of Godaime of purpose, he is intended to let the Uchiha stay in the decision-making level.

A number of years later, out of the Uchiha line of Hokage, also yet to be known.

What was going on here was very complicated, and Hyuuga wasn't going to get involved anyway.

They knew very well that as long as they didn't do anything to kill themselves, they would be able to sit firmly in the position of the second family of Konoha - Senju and Uchiha were the two founding teams of Konoha, while Hyuuga was a powerhouse stockholder who had been invited by both!

Now that Senju has faded out of the ninja world, as long as Hyuuga doesn't actively make mistakes, there's nothing anyone can do about them.

Mrs. Hyuuga was also hesitant for a while.

But very quickly, she came up with an idea.

Being born in such a family, many things were born out of one's control. Since she had gained power, she would likewise have to pay obligations. Mrs. Hyuuga couldn't go against the wishes of the elders, but she could fight for something more for her daughter given her limited conditions.

"Since Hokage-sama said he likes Hanabi, let Hanabi go around more... Just as there's no way for Temari-sama to throw out her arch-rival, Haku-sama... We grew up together and have a deep bond, so it's hard to break it off, right?..."

Having grown up around the Godaime Hokage, it was clear that Hanabi was not something that the Hyuuga Elders could interfere with. Hokage wouldn't be interested in Hanabi at this age, but Hokage had always been kind to his own people, and Hyuuga had always been deferential, so he must be able to give Hanabi a relatively good future...

Whether it's helping her marry out to someone she likes, or ultimately keeping it to herself.

For the sake of her daughter, Mrs. Hyuuga could be said to have exhausted her mind.

She carefully looked at her husband, Hyuuga Hiashi's stern face made it impossible for her to conclude if he had seen through her little scheme.

But eventually, Hyuuga Hiashi loosened up.

"Maybe... we could try."

... ...

Naho enjoyed spending time with Makoto, because it was only when she was around Makoto that she felt like a person, not some sort of... tool.

Even though she was still young, Naho actually knew all along that she was a tool for bonding.

Not to mention that she was only a concubine, but even her full-blooded sisters had to end up like that.

Marrying the son of some important minister, or some noble who needed a marriage. Go to their homes, breed heirs for them, and harmonize the relationship between the two families.

This state of being on both ends of the spectrum is obviously not going to be pleasant.

Not to mention the harsh mother-in-law and the uncontrollable husband.

Naho's sisters sounded honorable and married into famous families like the Seika clan, but none of them were really happy.

They didn't care about her feelings.

But the Godaime Hokage... was very special.

He thought differently from this era, he was very powerful and had the highest regard from Naho's father, but he was so young and... willing to treat Naho like a normal little girl.

Naho loved spending time with him.

...She had been secretly taught by her sisters when she came to Konoha that if he wanted to do such and such to her, she couldn't refuse.

For it was the will of the Daimyo of the Land of Fire.

She didn't reject it, because it was her destiny... in any case, she was a princess, and was already countless times better than those poor little girls who fell to their deaths in corners no one knew about.

Since there was no way to change it, let's just accept it.

It was just that in his mind, she always seemed to be a little girl, not a member of the opposite sex who could bring a great deal of benefits...

Naho was both joyful and filled with bitterness.

After saying goodbye to Makoto, Naho returned to her room alone. She took off her little moccasins and, as usual, began to write a report for the daimyo of the Land of Fire.

That's right, Naho was actually still acting as a spy.

She was still very young, but that was precisely why Konoha wouldn't be too wary of her. Intentionally or unintentionally, she was given access to a lot of important information - Naho actually knew that the Land of Fire Daimyo didn't actually trust anyone. He was just constantly balancing between the benefits and losses.

He never believed only half of the information submitted by other intelligence agencies. And the other half, it came from Naho.

But...

"Naho is not an idiot!"

Naho had been ignorant before, but after meeting Mazehana Koyuki and seeing that book "Harnessing Husbands Record" from her, which was made by countless noblewomen's blood, she understood a lot of things like a thunderbolt.

That's why, since a long time ago, she had been writing fake information for her father.

For example, today, the Godaime Hokage had held the Five Kage Summit, and although Naho hadn't really participated in it, the event itself could have been reported, but she hadn't written about that, only about such insignificant trivia as Makoto's preference for cheap candies to go with his brandy when he drank it.

"Hohoho... I'm not an idiot either!"

... ...

After the meeting with the other few ended, the girls said their goodbyes.

They were really going back.

The Land of Water was still fighting a civil war, and Terumi Mei would of course support Makoto's energy plan, but for the next while her focus would be on the civil war.

Now that it was nearing its end, it was only natural that it was time to make a clean break.

Both cared about each other, but both understood in their hearts that the village was equally important to them.

Things were already much better on Kumo's side with the additional financial support from the Land of Lightning. If the Land of Lightning Daimyo had sent those funds earlier, perhaps Kumogakure would have been able to resist Makoto's mediation.

But there were no ifs in everything.

Kumo had betrayed the Land of Lightning, and Yugito would continue to feed the enemy for the next little while.

-She would toss and turn with the infiltrated Akatsuki organization while getting more funding from the Land of Lightning.

Suna, on the other hand, was even busier.

For Sage of Six Path's scenario involved the ravaging of natural energies, which had been a major concern for Suna.

For the other ninja villages, it was a money-making project, while for Suna, it was the best chance to get rid of their accumulated poverty and weakness.

Even Pakura had to go back.

Makoto wasn't going to just let the three sacred land immortals contribute, he wouldn't let go of the major ninja villages either.

This project, it was just too big and too great, it simply wasn't something that a few people could accomplish in a short period of time.

It would require the combined efforts of everyone throughout the ages.

Konoha couldn't do it either, even Makoto himself felt that Konoha would be considered successful if it could master the core part of the technology.

...The reason why Pakura was forced to go back was perhaps because his father-in-law was worried that Pakura had stayed in Konoha for too long and really had a child with him, thus challenging Temari's position.

The position of Kage and father are in conflict a lot of the time.

Naruto gets complaints from Boruto, not to mention a guy like his father-in-law who isn't good at showing his heart.

There wasn't really much he could do...

"So, what exactly are you going to do about the Land of Demons?"

"Are we going to claim that the other side has some kind of horrible weapon, just like the Land of Grass last time?"

After the other villages had gone, what was left was, of course, a meeting of their own people.

It was much easier to talk to one's own people, and Tsunade came in and asked directly.

-Now the theoretical foundation of the project is not even laid and the completion rate is very low, but Makoto still wants to do the experiment. Because the Sage of Six Paths made it very clear that only theoretical simulations could be done there in the Pure Land, and that if they really wanted to conduct research, it would still have to be in the present world.

There was no way to escape from some mistakes, one could only keep moving forward through them.

Just as for new life, genetic mutations could cause death. Yet it was also the constant mistakes and changes that forged this beautiful world of constant evolution.

Even if he knew it would fail, Makoto had to conduct countless experiments.

The reason why they chose the Land of Demons was precisely because the natural energy circulation here was very special... They could get the most useful data with the least amount of loss.

But the Land of Demons was populated.

Among them are monsters called sprites.

Of course, monsters have nothing to fear. These little things can be dealt with by little Naruto, so what is he afraid of?

When the time came, it would just be a matter of testing its brain with a Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion to see who was tougher.

Makoto has always been able to use Golden and Silver Wheel, it's just that he lacks blue... Big deal, bring Rebi.

If you can't, bring more fuinjutsu masters.

It's all just minor stuff.

The theatrical version had most of the masters offline in order to reflect Naruto - like Gai, who is always missing when something goes wrong - and a lot of the targeted powers aren't available.

But they're not the theatrical version.

The inhabitants of the Land of Demons, though, that's a problem.

After all, it's hard to leave their homeland, and even if they wanted to, there's not much of a good place to go... The Rohingya are still floating on water even now.

T/N: Rohingya people are a stateless Indo-Aryan ethnic group who predominantly follow Islam and reside in Rakhine State, Myanmar

In any case, it's no longer the warring states era, everyone has a national concept.

And the priestess of the Land of Demons would surely stop them from experimenting on their country...

The priestess of this time is still Miroku, not her daughter Shion.

This was an adult, not a gullible little girl.

"It's okay, the all-damned Pain will step in."

Makoto folded the letter Naho had written to the Land of Fire's Daimyo last month into a paper airplane and threw it into the fireplace.