I became Hokage in Tokyo

Chapters 354 and 355: Ninja Recruitment

"I think I heard a dog barking? Or is it just my imagination...?"

Naruto Uchiha, who was engrossed in his book, looked up and glanced thoughtfully at the door, but then dismissed it.

A huge map of Japan was spread out on the desk, and Uchiha Naruto was marking cities by drawing circles based on the investigation report submitted by Shiranui Yui.

"Nara, Kobe, Yokohama, Hiroshima... are these dozen or so cities among the Japanese cities with the richest natural energy?" Uchiha Naruto put down his pen, looked at the map, and stroked his chin.

Japan is a long and narrow island nation that stretches from northeast to southwest, spanning 25 degrees of latitude, with significant differences in climate between the north and south.

Naruto Uchiha had his organization investigate the concentration of natural energy in the ley lines of cities across the country, which was, of course, a targeted effort.

The first reason is to plan ahead.

Fifteen years after the Heisei era, Naruto Uchiha was born into this world, and unprecedented demons and evil spirits appeared as well. However, for fifteen years until 2022, such celestial anomalies as the Crimson Moon never occurred.

Within two months of Uchiha Naruto awakening his system and gaining chakra power, the Crimson Moon appeared three times. However, during the three years that Uchiha Naruto lay low and endured under the pretext of "Severed Heavenly Connection," it never appeared.

The Crimson Moon's period of activity completely overlapped with that of Uchiha Naruto.

The reasons behind this are terrifying to contemplate.

Even before the Sekiji Tenshou, Naruto Uchiha was already certain that he had an inseparable bond with the Crimson Moon.

Are they an inseparable pair? Or are they mortal enemies, it's really hard to say.

Naruto Uchiha had a vague premonition that the more frequently he caused trouble, the stronger the power his main body would use, and the frequency and intensity of the Crimson Moon's appearance would also increase, eventually leading to his complete resurgence.

To use a somewhat inappropriate example from a cultivation novel I read in my past life, it's like an old monster who should have ascended to the celestial realm but stubbornly stays in the mortal world. As a result, the laws of heaven and earth will send down a heavenly tribulation to obliterate him. The more magical power the old monster uses, the stronger the heavenly tribulation becomes. Therefore, in order to escape the heavenly tribulation, the old monster can only suppress his own power and live in seclusion.

For this reason, Naruto Uchiha tried his best not to personally intervene or use his main body's power during these three years.

As it turned out, his hunch was correct.

With Uchiha Rei's retreat, the moon also became more subdued.

If they continue to cause trouble at the same pace as in 2022, the final battle will probably be upon us in less than a year.

Naruto Uchiha was wary of the Crimson Moon's true identity, which was unknown, so he decided to play it safe and develop his strength cautiously for the time being.

However, with the vigorous crackdown by the Japanese government, the Twelve Gods Generals, and other organizations in recent years, most of the monsters on the Japanese islands have been wiped out, leaving only a few that have escaped by hiding in the deep mountains and forests or possessing special concealment techniques.

Thanks to the efforts of his subordinates, Uchiha Naruto successfully raised his rank to 'Kage level'.

After entering 2025, Japan suddenly became peaceful, and the number of Ninja Orbs that Uchiha Naruto could harvest gradually decreased.

Is it time for the Crimson Moon to reappear?

However, before that, Naruto Uchiha needed to make the first move.

That's a barrier ninjutsu.

The entire ground and sky above Konoha Village are shrouded in a huge spherical barrier that can sound an alarm for intruders. Pain's invasion of Konoha Village was detected.

If Uchiha Naruto could spread this kind of sensory barrier throughout Japan, he could easily capture all the strange creatures within the country.

Unfortunately, even though Naruto Uchiha's barrier ninjutsu had reached LV4 (max), he was still unable to create a super barrier that could cover the entire territory of Japan.

Unless one reaches the level of the Sage of Six Paths.

Therefore, Naruto Uchiha planned to take a different approach and use the advantages of the terrain, that is, natural energy, to achieve this.

Natural energy is an energy that exists independently of chakra, existing between the earth and the atmosphere.

Beneath the ruins of Loulan in the Naruto world flows a vast, almost limitless energy—the Dragon Vein.

The power of the dragon vein is so great that it can enable multiple people to travel through time and space.

Earth has natural energy, but the natural energy flowing in the earth's veins is completely incomparable to that of the Naruto world, let alone as strong as the Loulan Dragon Vein.

However, by utilizing natural energy, Naruto Uchiha's actions in setting up barrier ninjutsu can be made twice as effective.

Along a line from north to south, large-scale sensory barriers are set up in major cities across Japan, and then these barriers are connected to form a closed loop.

A super-sized land-transformation array was thus completed.

Theoretically, this is more feasible than creating a super barrier so large that it could cover Japan.

However, this plan is currently only in theory, and it will certainly be very difficult to actually achieve it.

Even if we take a step back and assume the worst, using this kind of barrier technique to protect a region is still not a problem.

In short, start by practicing in one city.

As for whether it will succeed or not, we'll see when the time comes.

Besides that, Naruto Uchiha had another matter to attend to, so he took care of it at the same time.

"Ninja Recruitment, Initiated!"

Naruto Uchiha snapped his fingers, and ripples spread through the study. One after another, shadowy figures appeared, filling the study, which could easily hold more than a dozen people, to capacity.

Each time you level up, the system will unlock new features.

Promoting to Chunin unlocks the item shop, while reaching Jonin unlocks the Master-Disciple Assistance system, and reaching Jonin unlocks the Secret Realm dungeon; and this year, advancing to Kage unlocks the 'Ninja Recruitment'!

Although the newly unlocked system features sound extraordinary, in reality...

"Tsk, even though it's called a ninja recruitment, is this all they can summon, just a shadowy figure?"

Naruto Uchiha frowned, his eyes opening and closing, the black three-tomoe jade slowly rotating in his eyes.

These figures were shrouded in thick black mist, making their faces completely unrecognizable and even their body outlines almost entirely obscured.

However, with Naruto Uchiha's Sharingan's perception and his past memories, he was still able to call out the names of the shadowy figures one by one.

"Mizuki."

"Iruka".

"Moonlight Gale".

"Daimaru."

……

Naruto Uchiha's eyes, and several dark shadows in the horizontal corner.

"Even obscure figures like Seimei from the Craftsman Village and Hokuto from the Star Village exist."

When Naruto Uchiha first unlocked the ninja recruitment, his heart was pounding.

If we could summon the characters from Naruto into reality, that would be truly incredible.

But upon closer inspection, I was greatly disappointed.

These figures, shrouded in black mist, were lifeless, rigid, and dull. They didn't even have a physical form; they weren't living people at all, nor even undead.

It was like the shadow of an evil spirit, the remnants of a burned soul, or a spirit like a ninja's shadow.

Let's just call them Shadow Ninjas for now.

Although they lack physical form and will, these shadow ninjas are not entirely useless.

When Uchiha Naruto casually captures a Shadow Ninja, he can read through it like turning the pages of a book, extracting a wealth of information from it.

Naruto's combat experience as a ninja, his extremely complex emotions and obsessions, and his fragmented memories were all poured into his consciousness.

However, Naruto Uchiha's Sharingan had reached the Mangekyou Sharingan level, making him a master of Yin Release chakra nature transformation and possessing some knowledge of mental manipulation. He decisively cut through the chaotic information and was naturally completely unaffected.

At this moment, Naruto Uchiha couldn't help but wonder what the true nature of these Shadow Ninjas was.

Could it really be the remnants of ninjas' souls...?

Or is it a memory clone created by the system based on information about the prototypes of Naruto characters...?

Putting those doubts aside for the moment, Uchiha Naruto immediately realized the purpose of these Shadow Ninjas.

They are capable of mass-producing cannon fodder, and high-quality cannon fodder at that.

Although Uchiha Naruto could bestow extraordinary power upon others, for ordinary people who had lived in peace for a long time, it would still take a considerable amount of time to go from nothing to becoming a qualified warrior.

Even if modern civilians are forcibly conscripted to the battlefield, they still need to undergo a few months of training, and even then, they often make a complete fool of themselves on the battlefield.

Needless to say, it's not easy for extraordinary individuals to become combatants.

If a shadow ninja is attached to a physical body, "resurrected," then by utilizing the shadow ninja's intelligence, combat experience, and mental will, a killing machine with strong spirit, cold will, and rich combat experience can be cultivated in an instant.

Kaguya Otsutsuki was able to mass-produce an army of White Zetsu using the Divine Tree, and Naruto Uchiha was also able to recruit ninjas to form an even more powerful army of ninjas than the White Zetsu army—the Shadow Legion!

"But at least those who can be recruited are ninjas. If we recruit ordinary people like Ichiraku and Ayame, then they won't even be qualified to be cannon fodder," Uchiha Naruto chuckled.

However, since the Shadow Ninjas are only spirits and have no physical form, it is necessary to prepare a suitable object for them to possess in order to make them a fighting force.

The question now is, what exactly should be the physical entity that a Shadow Ninja possesses?

Naruto Uchiha's Mangekyou Sharingan, Tenyu Shou, can create almost lifelike illusions, making it the perfect vessel for a Shadow Ninja.

However, Naruto Uchiha receives opportunities to recruit ninjas every day, and over time, the number of Kage ninjas in his encyclopedia has grown to hundreds.

If Naruto Uchiha intends to keep the Shadow Legion in the real world as a standing army, then the power of his Mangekyou Sharingan will definitely not be enough.

"So, the only remaining option is the living?" Uchiha Naruto pursed his lips and pondered.

However, this is not a good thing for the object being possessed.

In this extraordinary era, with the Twelve Divine Generals as role models, countless people are eager to stand out and forge their own path to success.

Indeed, if possessed by a Shadow Ninja, one could ascend to the heavens in one step and become an extraordinary being.

However, the Shadow Ninjas carry a wealth of information, fragmented memories, and emotions, which will undoubtedly impact, or even overwrite, the thinking of ordinary people, allowing them to empathize with the Shadow Ninjas' "life experiences."

One could easily develop a mental breakdown or lose their sense of self, allowing the information and intelligence of a shadow ninja to take over the body.

In some cases, it is a genuine case of resurrection through possession.

Naruto Uchiha didn't want to use such a simple and crude method to create the Shadow Legion.

"Let's try it out first, one body with two souls, or a spirit from behind to possess it... Wait, isn't that just a typical cheat code with a portable old man? If we release hundreds of 'old men' at once, then the extraordinary will be too worthless. Let's find a city to test it out first."

After much deliberation, Uchiha Naruto decided to try a gentler approach first.

With the issue of reliance resolved, the next problem is energy supply.

Even after advancing to the Kage level, Naruto Uchiha's chakra reserves are already at the level of a humanoid tailed beast like Kisame Hoshigaki. However, if he were to supply his chakra to hundreds, or even potentially thousands, of Kage ninjas in the future, he himself would be completely drained.

Using the natural energy from the earth's veins to support the Shadow Ninja's actions is a good option at this time.

In the Naruto world, the Centipede lurked in the ancient Loulan Kingdom, using the energy of the dragon vein to mass-produce puppets, and even further elevating the puppets.

Setting up a barrier is like building a dam to raise the water level, further accumulating the natural energy in the earth's veins, which is more than enough to supply magic for a few shadow ninjas.

With the hardware issues resolved, the next step is the software.

"The Shadow Ninja can't just be released and possess ordinary people like that. We have to proceed step by step and adapt him into an identity that fits the current era."

"A celestial being, or a transcendent being from the Heian period, reincarnated a thousand years later, making a comeback? Or perhaps their obsession lingers in the mortal world until they meet their destined one and awaken?"

"Anything is fine. In short, the information about the Shadow Ninja must be drastically revised to align with the world view I previously created."

"Releasing only one or two Shadow Ninjas doesn't seem very interesting. It would be better to release several at once. This would allow for examination from multiple angles. However, this would test my scriptwriting skills. Or should I improvise and then leave it to its own devices?"

It had been a long time since he had handled such a big job, and Naruto Uchiha felt that his skills were getting a bit rusty, but at the same time, he was itching to try it out.

"What kind of story should we tell the world this time... and who should be the mastermind behind this plan? Akatsuki, or Abe no Seimei?"

Naruto Uchiha pulled out a notebook from the drawer and began to write and draw on it, repeatedly deleting and rewriting, carefully considering and refining his plan. The initial setup alone filled an entire page.

"That's about it for now. We'll add the details later. Let's start choosing the stage now."

Half an hour later, Uchiha Naruto closed his laptop with satisfaction.

"Let me see which city will be so lucky."

After glancing at the dozen or so cities circled on the map, Naruto Uchiha closed his eyes and casually tossed a kunai into the air.

Duang!

Naruto Uchiha opened his eyes, glanced at the location on the map where the kunai had pierced him, and raised an eyebrow.

"It's Kobe."

(End of this chapter)