Revitalizing the Uchiha clan starts with becoming a Kage.

Only a country like this can make its people feel proud, generate a strong sense of identity, and spontaneously unite them under that flag.

Therefore, in the cleanup work after this upheaval in Kusagakure, Shoji paid great attention to the reconstruction and maintenance of the village's order. His own ninja village was going to completely annex Kusagakure and treat it as part of their own. In the future, Kusagakure would be a branch village of Iwagakure located within the Land of Grass!

This will indeed take some time, but we must set a good example now. In the coming years, we need to gradually get the people and ninjas who originally belonged to Kusagakure to accept Iwagakure and the Land of Earth, and then completely forget their past identities, taking pride in being citizens of the Land of Earth and ninjas of Iwagakure!

It was also because of the presence of Shoji personally overseeing the situation, and the arrival of a large number of Iwa ninja with Akatsuchi, that any disorderly behavior that might have arisen from the war was almost completely eliminated. Under Shoji's orders, the grass ninja who had not participated in the rebellion were mixed with the Iwa ninja who had entered the village, and the village was maintained and patrolled with the Iwa ninja as the main force!

This ensured the village weathered the most unstable period following the war.

By the time the next morning arrived.

The tense atmosphere in the village has eased considerably, and the weather is perfect. It's a sunny day, and in this golden autumn season, the dazzling yet slightly warm sunshine easily dispels the gloom deep in people's hearts!

Although complete stability is still a long way off, the villagers felt somewhat more at ease seeing that the village had not descended into further chaos, and that the Iwa ninja, whom they considered bandits, seemed to be diligently maintaining order. For them, their only wish now was to live a peaceful life, nothing more.

Of course, it's impossible to go out as freely as before. Shoji didn't force the people of Kusagakure to immediately cooperate. Humans always need an adaptation process when experiencing any unfamiliar and chaotic situation.

Jiang Si believed that it wouldn't take much; as long as they could restore the village to its former peace as soon as possible, the people would quickly accept reality. The reason was simple: people always prioritize survival, a choice based on biological instinct.

Based on this consideration, in the report that Tsukasa sent to his own Tsuchikage after quelling the riot, in addition to reporting the casualties of his own people and the detailed process of suppressing the riot, when mentioning the handling of the rebellious Grass Ninja, Tsukasa only suggested lenient punishment for the remaining middle and lower-level Grass Ninja, apart from a few dozen or so former Grass Village high-ranking personnel such as Uryu who truly needed to be dealt with seriously.

Firstly, killing too many people could easily cause unrest within Kusagakure. Many of these Kusagakure ninja have families; what will happen to their families if they are killed? Do they really think such hatred can be eliminated in a short time? If they are also killed, wouldn't that trigger a chain reaction, causing fear and anxiety among the entire village? This is practically forcing them to rebel!

Secondly, they didn't want to lose too much combat power. At the very least, these people could be thrown into mining. Killing them directly would be too wasteful of labor. These people were all ninjas, and their contribution far exceeded that of ordinary people. The mining area in the Land of Wind that their own ninja village had seized had always been short of labor!

Sending these people to mine is ten times better than killing them outright!

Obviously, the experienced Third Tsuchikage would not make such foolish decisions. In fact, when Shoji sent the report, Onoki was already considering how to handle the aftermath. After all, Onoki did not know that Ura could invite two Kage-level powerhouses as helpers. If Shoji did not arrive, the Iwa ninja army led by Akatsuchi and Arai would collapse directly.

Subconsciously, Onoki felt certain that he had successfully suppressed everything, so he naturally started thinking about the aftermath in advance. Moreover, his attitude and methods were almost identical to those of Shoji. When Onoki received Shoji's report later, he was shocked. He really did not expect that the Kusagakure riot would be so chaotic and attract such a powerful person. Onoki could not guess Sasori's identity for the time being, but as for Kakuzu, Onoki could immediately think of the Earth Grudge Fear of Takigakure!

As one of the longest-living ninjas in the current ninja world, Onoki is very familiar with some of the top secrets of the major ninja villages. This is why Onoki is very glad that he did not take it lightly and sent Shoji to provide support. Otherwise, the person who died might not have been just Arai Kenjiro. Although it is a bit of an exaggeration to say that, in Onoki's mind, Akatsuchi's importance is far greater than that of Arai Kenjiro!

Moreover, regarding the suggestions that Shoji made later, Onoki not only did not think that Shoji was being redundant, but also felt that Shoji was becoming more and more strategic and was more qualified to inherit his position!

Without Onoki even fully realizing it, he was already gradually leaning towards Shoji inheriting the position of the Fourth Tsuchikage. It was just a matter of time. After all, Shoji had only been in Iwagakure for less than two years, and it would be more appropriate for him to wait another three or four years.

In that case, the people and ninjas in Iwagakure will have a higher level of acceptance of Shoji. By then, Shoji will be over 20 years old, which is a very good time.

'He's truly an outstanding young man!'

While inwardly feeling gratified, Onoki relayed his orders to Kusagakure as quickly as possible.

The order almost entirely agreed with Shoji's suggestion regarding the handling of the Grass Ninja involved in the riot. The ringleaders were all to be executed, and the remaining Grass Ninja would be sentenced to life imprisonment and sent to mine. It can be said that almost all the captured Grass Ninja would survive, and many of them could regain their freedom if they behaved well during their torture.

This point was not only made clear to the grass ninja, but also Shoji deliberately announced to the entire village on the morning of the third day, so that the families of the grass ninja could rest assured. In particular, for those who were to be sent to the northern region of the former Land of Wind to mine, Shoji also provided an extra family meeting before their departure, in order to calm their hearts as much as possible and prove that the people of Iwagakure were not cruel.

Furthermore, they directly announced that once people gained their freedom, they could choose to join the Iwagakure ninja or return to civilian life. This step-by-step release of goodwill further eased the tense atmosphere in Kusagakure caused by the turmoil of that night!

Especially after that special meeting deliberately arranged by Shoji ended, some of the people in Kusagakure finally dared to step out of their homes again. From that moment on, Kusagakure gradually returned to its former peace.

It was also during this opportunity.

Iwagakure officially annexed Kusagakure, announcing that Kusagakure had become history. The Kusagakure ninja who participated in the riots were left out and remained neutral. The Kusagakure ninja who later participated in suppressing the riots were all transformed into Iwagakure ninja. It can be said that, on paper, Iwagakure directly increased its fighting strength by seven or eight hundred people at once!

Of course, the reliability of these people still needs further verification. In any case, at least in the first year or two, it is necessary to pay special attention to these former Kusanagi ninja who have just joined Iwagakure!

Moreover, the organization of these people must be disrupted from the very beginning.

Then they were dispersed into the regular defense force of Iwagakure. However, in order to reassure these former Kusanagi ninja, their defense missions would not go as far as the territory of the former Kusanagi. On the contrary, most of the people like Shiya and Soul Chain were transferred to Iwagakure's homeland by Onoki's decree. They certainly wouldn't settle scores with them later!

On the surface, Onoki has assigned these people to mid-level positions with some authority, which certainly won't give them the same real power as they did in Kusagakure. But from Iwagakure's perspective, Onoki has already done his best. As for whether these people will be satisfied or make some irrational choices in the future, that depends on whether they know what's good for them and how sensible they are!

Shoji himself decided to stay a few more days at the newly established branch village base of his own ninja village. All these matters had just been settled, and his presence would help to reassure everyone. Although he was fairly certain that Sunagakure, Konoha, and Kumogakure wouldn't take advantage of the situation to cause trouble, it was still necessary to be cautious. Who knew if there might be someone out of their mind?

Once this period is over and the cycle returns to normal, things can settle down. After a few more years of transition, Iwagakure can be said to have truly and completely annexed Kusagakure.

These former Kusanagi ninja will gradually accept their Iwagakure identity, provided that high-ranking officials like Onoki, Shoji, and Kyoto can truly treat everyone equally and without discrimination (at least outwardly). Furthermore, they should strive to make these ninja feel that their lives as Iwagakure ninja are several times better than before, so that they genuinely share the honor and disgrace of Iwagakure! (Gu Wu)

In that way, these former grass ninja will be completely transformed into qualified Iwa ninja. This is the key task that Onoki, Shoji, and Kyoto, the leaders of Iwagakure, will focus on promoting over the next three to four years!

In order to ensure a peaceful transition of power, the executions of high-ranking Grass Ninja, including Puru, were carried out in secret. No order to hunt down Mammoth was issued directly. The task was carried out by the Tsuchikage's direct ANBU. The key was to avoid making a big fuss. Of course, before executing these Grass Ninja, the aim was to make the most of their value and role. The most direct way was to see if any valuable information could be extracted from their minds.

Especially regarding the information concerning Kakuzu and Sasori, Shoji was very concerned about how Ura got involved with the Akatsuki organization. Whether there was a conspiracy by Nagato or Obito was the point of greatest concern for Shoji.

In fact, it proved that Shoji's worries were unnecessary. The reason why Kakuzu and Sasori appeared on the battlefield was the result of Ura spending a lot of money. Although it was said that Kakuzu came to him personally, considering the series of preparations before the Akatsuki's tailed beast capture plan officially began in the original work, especially considering Kakuzu's own attributes.

This was indeed a purely mercenary mission.

This relieved Shoji. Although he was about to obtain the Eternal Eye, the difference in level between it and the Rinnegan was still quite obvious. Of course, Nagato was not the original owner of those eyes. He had only just entered the Super Kage level. If he obtained the Eternal Eye and could further adapt to it and unleash stronger eye power, he might be able to fight. But the risk was still quite high, unless he could master Sage Mode at the same time.

Then Shoji was indeed confident that he could confront or even suppress Nagato head-on!

The Rinnegan's effectiveness also depends on who is using it.

If Nagato hadn't been a member of the Uzumaki clan, he would have been drained dry by those Rinnegan long ago. Bloodline limits are extremely exclusive, let alone the highest level of eye techniques—the Rinnegan!

Even so, Nagato's current power is not something that Shoji can directly confront head-on. He also has to consider Obito and Black Zetsu, those two old bastards. It would be best if the timeline were the same as in the original work, so that he could have more time to develop and allow himself, as well as Itachi, Deidara, Kabuto, Kurotsuchi, and others below him, to truly grow up!

Therefore, the information obtained from Pulu's brain made Jiang Si breathe a slight sigh of relief, but another piece of information surprised him a little.

That is the 'Box of Bliss'!

This also instantly eliminated the slight sense of unease that Jiang Si felt.

No wonder the leader of Kusagakure dared to launch such a direct counterattack. It turns out that he not only had external helpers, but also possessed the power of the Box of Bliss. Previously, we had overlooked the fact that this ultimate weapon from the time of the Sage of Six Paths was now recalled by Shoji from the original work.

Yes, the Box of Bliss has indeed always been a secret weapon hidden by Kusagakure. The timeline in the original work is eleven or twelve years different from this life, so it's understandable that there are differences in the plot.

But the only thing that puzzled Jiang Si was...

Why didn't this leader of the Uryu clan summon the Box of Bliss that day? If Shoji remembers correctly, the Box of Bliss sealed a monster whose strength was indeed comparable to a tailed beast—Satoru!

It seems to be a monster born from the accumulation of negative human emotions.

If Uryu had actually released that thing, Shoji would definitely have exhausted his eye power and might not have been able to suppress it. In most cases, he would have had to retreat with Akatsuchi and the other Iwa ninja, and the outcome for Kusagakure would have been even worse. Shoji doesn't remember the plot of the original work very clearly, but the only thing he can remember is that Naruto entered Sage Mode and, together with the Eight-Tails Gyūki, they finally defeated this monster.

The current commanders cannot reach that level.

To put it bluntly, this time it really was a case of luck reaching its peak.

With this same question in mind, and following the information obtained from Pulu's brain, Si led Akatsuchi and some specialists into that deep, giant underground chamber. However, they did not find the Box of Bliss inside.

"Are you sure the information in Pulu's brain indicates this is the correct location?"

Looking at the empty scene before him, even though he knew very well that his intelligence personnel would not and could not make a mistake, Jiang Si couldn't help but ask the Iwa ninja in the intelligence squad beside him.

"Yes, Lord General, the scene shown in the intelligence we obtained is right here!"

At this moment, even the Jonin from the intelligence squad frowned. Not to mention Shoji and Akatsuchi, he himself began to doubt himself. How could something so big just disappear like that?

"If the information in Pulu's brain is correct, this so-called Box of Bliss must have been secretly moved by someone else. In the coming period, we must pay close attention to some special areas within the Land of Grass. Report any unusual situations immediately, understand?"

Shoji looked at his special Jonin from the intelligence squad and said in a deep voice.

"Yes, Sir General!"

The special jonin from the intelligence squad also suddenly lowered his head and replied.

The reason it is referred to as the former Grass Country region is that, with the merger of Kusagakure into Iwagakure, the daimyo of the Land of Earth accelerated negotiations with the daimyo, high-ranking officials, and nobles of the Grass Country. Almost the day after Kusagakure became history, the Grass Country also quickly became history. The daimyo of the Grass Country was taken to the capital of the Land of Earth, and in this ninja world, the destruction of the Grass Country, a country with a medium national strength, was officially announced!

This also caused unrest among the small countries surrounding the Land of Earth. Although the annexation of countries has never stopped, it has not happened once in the last two or three decades. The destruction of the Land of Grass has truly sounded the alarm for the monarchs and leaders of these small ninja villages!

War between major powers will not only affect them, but could even lead to their annihilation if they are not careful. The Iron Country, a samurai nation that has always claimed to be neutral, has also held an emergency secret meeting of its high-level officials. They have reason to believe that in future wars, other countries will follow in the footsteps of the Grass Country. To avoid this, they not only need to strengthen their own power, but also need to learn to form alliances. And most importantly, they must maintain a certain balance of military power among the five major powers!

Only in this way can these small countries have a chance to survive.

Small countries are so apprehensive.

The major powers simply have different attitudes.

Konoha Village remained indifferent, while the Daimyo of the Land of Fire enjoyed peace.

The Fourth Kazekage of Sunagakure was very envious of Iwagakure's continuous territorial expansion, but due to his own strength, he could only passively choose to stand by and watch, which was the complete opposite of Konoha!

As for the only village with both strength and ambition, the Hidden Cloud Village, it has recently been immersed in digesting the gains from the previous great war.

Including the most important Byakugan, the Fourth Raikage was indeed considering transplanting it himself as long as there was no rejection. This could greatly enhance his own power. With the Byakugan combined with ninjutsu, his strength would definitely reach a new level. Of course, whether he could break through the limit of the Super Kage level was still a big question mark.

385. After returning to the village

If it were up to Shoji to judge, he felt it wouldn't work. The difference in ninjutsu and taijutsu skills between the Fourth Raikage and his father, the Third Raikage, was too obvious. It wasn't just in terms of attack; the gap between father and son was too significant in terms of speed, defense, and other overall qualities. If the Third Raikage were to transplant those Byakugan, Shoji felt that he would most likely experience a leap in growth!

To put it simply in gaming terms, if two people have the same attribute multiplied by 2, the difference between someone with a base attribute of only 1 and someone with a base attribute of 10 will be very obvious and significant!

From Shoji's perspective, the difference between the Third Raikage and the Fourth Raikage lies here. If the Third Raikage had been the one among the Five Kage who fought Madara in the original work instead of the Fourth Raikage, then with the support of Onoki's Super Light-Heavy Rock Technique, although the Third Raikage would most likely still not be Madara's match, he could definitely have lasted longer and performed more spectacularly on the field!

However, this is just Shoji's opinion. The Fourth Raikage himself certainly wouldn't think so. He himself believes that as long as he transplants these Byakugan, his strength will definitely catch up with his father, the Raikage, and he will become the strongest Kage in the world!

Of course, before that, the Hidden Cloud Village needs to focus on whether it can replicate the Hyuga clan's bloodline with these Byakugan and Hizashi's corpse. The value of a pair of Byakugan is certainly very high, but if the purest Hyuga clan bloodline can be cultivated, then the Hidden Cloud Village can have as many pairs of Byakugan as it wants in the future!

Therefore, although the reasons are not the same, like Shoji, the Fourth Raikage A also postponed his Byakugan transplant surgery, which is the most important task that Kumogakure needs to focus on at present.

Externally, just like Iwagakure, they began to gradually erode Yugakure. Before the next great war, they wanted to completely integrate the Land of Hot Springs into their own territory and make Yugakure a complete part of Kumogakure. Even a small amount of meat is still meat, and the Fourth Raikage could not afford to miss it!

Therefore, at least for the next year or two, Kumogakure will not launch any more military operations. Moreover, given Kumogakure's current appalling behavior, which is almost as terrifying as Iwagakure's, those small ninja villages simply cannot trust Kumogakure. Who knows if they will be swallowed up by Kumogakure the moment they finish resisting Iwagakure!

As for Kirigakure, it was still in the midst of endless chaos. Although after more than a year of turmoil, some people within the village had begun to subtly doubt their own Mizukage, he was still the Kage of their own village. A slight doubt was not enough to bring about a qualitative change. In the original story, it was only when Genji, the most prestigious person in Kirigakure, made a firm decision and had Ao risk using his Byakugan during a meeting with the Fourth Mizukage that he discovered the abnormality of the Fourth Mizukage!

In this life, without external interference, it's highly likely that the final decision will have to be made by Master Genji. Don't be fooled by the fact that the main characters seem to be Ao and the beautiful Fifth Mizukage, Mei Terumi. In Kirigakure right now, all that's left is the mature and steady Master Genji. And Kirigakure, under such circumstances, has no time to care about any external affairs. Therefore, the disappearance of the Land of Grass and Kusagakure in the ninja world can be described as completely calm, at least on the surface!

If the four great ninja villages have this attitude, then there's no need to expect the daimyo of the four great nations to react in any way. The unique nature of this world dictates that ninjas are the dominant force in everything, and the daimyo and nobles can only do so much.

Moreover, aren't the five major powers now the result of annexing smaller countries one after another? There's really no question of who can blame whom.

Thus, the Land of Earth's annexation of the vast Land of Grass, and the complete incorporation of Grass Village into Iwagakure Village, proceeded smoothly. Shoji deliberately lingered for an extra week, waiting for Onoki to send other villagers to temporarily govern this branch village. After seeing that the situation had completely stabilized, Shoji embarked on his journey back to Iwagakure Village.

It would be a lie to say that Shoji had no interest in the mysteriously disappeared Box of Bliss. After all, it was an important treasure passed down from the time of the Sage of Six Paths, and it had high research value. Shoji's order for the Iwa ninja in the intelligence squad to search for it was proof of that. But that was ultimately a secondary objective.

At this moment, the most important thing is to improve one's own strength as soon as possible. Besides, the research on one's own Wood Release cells and Sharingan has not yet really gotten to the point. Where would one have the leisure to study other things!

Therefore, this was just a brief thought in Shoji's mind. Afterwards, Shoji's focus returned to the Mangekyou Sharingan transplant surgery. This time, back in the village, Shoji was going to actually start his eye transplant surgery.

Although the previous concerns that Kakuzu and Sasori suspected Obito and Nagato of starting their plans ahead of time turned out to be unfounded, the plot has already changed drastically, and it is difficult to guarantee that the future development will be the same as in the original work. Gaining more power in advance is the most important thing. The Eternal Eye and Sage Mode are the minimum requirements.

He returned to Jiangsi in the village without stopping.

His first priority was to go to the Tsuchikage's office to report the details of the incident, especially regarding the Box of Paradise. There were two suspects: Mammoth and the Akatsuki organization. In the original story, during the Five Kage Summit, it was mentioned that Iwagakure, or Onoki, was the village that hired the Akatsuki the most among the five great ninja villages. In this life, it was only the end of Konoha 51. As for the specifics, Shoji would definitely need to discuss it with his Tsuchikage!

Onoki was clearly very interested in the so-called strongest treasure from the time of the Sage of Six Paths, as well as the sudden appearance of two Kage-level powerhouses. Judging from the current level of power in the ninja world, these were beings who could influence the changes in the ninja world's landscape.

"A treasure from the time of the Sage of Six Paths? And you suspect its disappearance is related to that so-called Akatsuki organization, is that right?"

Onoki frowned slightly as he spoke.

"If this organization were even slightly larger, it wouldn't need too many people. If a few more joined, the danger level of this organization would be quite high!"