At the center of the Night Kingdom, inside the Shogun’s residence.
This was the gathering place for ninjas and samurai who had mastered chakra techniques, and it was also the home of Oda Yayoi, the Shogun of the Night Kingdom.
Unlike the later ninja village system, after destroying the regimes of the Land of Waterfalls and the Land of Crystal, Yayoi had introduced a shogunate system into the Night Kingdom and established the position of Shogun.
Compared to the future “one country, one village” system, Yayoi could be regarded as a daimyo who had absorbed the military power of ninja villages, completely dominated the nation’s will, and achieved comprehensive unification of politics, economy, and military.
Among them, the ninjas and samurai who held the nation’s violence naturally occupied dominant positions.
When Yayoi founded the Night Kingdom, he immediately established a defense organization called the “Military Department.” Under this organization, six departments were created: the Executive Department, the Logistics Department, the Intelligence Department, the Education Department, the Research Department, and the Medical Department.
More than six hundred ninjas and over four thousand samurai were scattered throughout the country.
The Shogun’s residence was guarded year-round by two hundred ninjas and one thousand samurai.
He assigned specific roles to these many ninjas and samurai based on their abilities and characteristics, utilizing them to the fullest.
Compared to the combat-focused Executive Department, the other five departments could hardly be said to function normally — they were barely operational.
In the end, compared to the combat field, talent in other fields was what troubled Yayoi the most.
For example, consider the medical ninjutsu that Yayoi excelled at.
Among the hundreds of ninjas under his command, there were at most around ten medical ninjas, and half of them were still inexperienced.
One could only imagine the pressure the Medical Department would face if war broke out.
Most of the treatment was handled by Yayoi alone.
Without their Shogun, this country would have perished sooner or later.
Fortunately, the most difficult period had passed.
Thanks to the alliance between the Senju and Uchiha clans, the ninja world would enjoy a relatively peaceful state for a while.
He had to use this time to completely transform the Night Kingdom’s defense capabilities.
Among all these matters, the Medical Department was not Yayoi’s top priority.
The establishment of the Education Department was the most fundamental issue.
Therefore, ever since the Night Kingdom was born, education had been Yayoi’s most important concern.
From now on, the development of other fields would depend on financial support from the Education Department.
Without it, he would not have been able to bring more than six hundred ninjas under his command.
To understand the significance of this number of ninjas — quality aside — even the most powerful ninja clans in the ninja world could not maintain such a large number.
Within ninja clans, the majority were ordinary people who did not know chakra techniques.
Even the strongest Senju and Uchiha clans had only around four hundred ninjas at their peak.
In most cases, a clan that could maintain three hundred ninjas was considered a top-tier ninja clan in the ninja world.
Most ninja clans struggled to even maintain a hundred members.
Training ninjas required vast resources.
Ninja clans often engaged in mercenary work.
Even if they consciously tried to expand their clan, they were constrained by various reasons and found it difficult to grow.
Therefore, the method of training a small number of highly skilled elites had become the most common training model among ninja groups today.
For example, the Hagoromo clan that Yayoi had destroyed still maintained around sixty ninjas even after being defeated and expelled from the Land of Fire, of which more than ten were jōnin-level.
Even at its peak, the Hagoromo clan was only considered first-rate in the Land of Fire, and not the strongest among first-rate clans.
After the fall of the Land of Fire, they had fallen to second- or third-rate status.
Based on this premise, the proportion of jōnin-level ninjas in the Senju and Uchiha clans — which stood at the pinnacle of the Land of Fire and even the entire ninja world — was probably even more astonishing.
They could likely reach jōnin level almost as soon as they became adults.
This was because everyone in this era was forced to grow equally and rapidly.
Weakness meant death and elimination.
In other words, setting aside his position as Shogun, the current Night Kingdom did not even have the qualifications to stand on stage — it would only serve as background for ninja clans.
“Father, why don’t you rest for a bit?
You look very tired.”
Irori, dressed in a blue kimono reminiscent of a Yamato Nadeshiko, placed a teacup filled with hot tea on the table and spoke to Yayoi.
He had been working from morning until afternoon, and for lunch he had only eaten two rice balls and drunk a little water.
Irori was very worried about Yayoi’s health.
This was not something that had happened just one or two days ago.
For more than half a month since capturing the Seven-Tails and returning, Yayoi had been in a state of high-intensity work.
Working seventeen or eighteen hours a day, with the remaining time spent on rest and meals, and staying up late had become his daily routine.
“It’s fine.
This level of fatigue is nothing to me.”
Yayoi paused for a moment, then resumed working at his desk.
As Shogun, he reviewed various documents that required his approval and the country’s future development plans.
Even though the country could operate autonomously, Yayoi could not afford to relax even slightly when it came to controlling the overall direction.
Yayoi himself was a little surprised that he was working this hard.
In his previous life, he had never been this motivated when going to work.
This might be the difference between working for oneself and working for someone else.
Fortunately, his ninja aptitude was strong enough, and his special chakra gave him considerable vitality.
He also paid attention to his health in daily life.
Barring any unexpected events, living healthily until the age of one hundred should not be a major problem.
For a leader, a healthy and long-lived body was more important than anything else.
Knock knock.
Yayoi took a sip of the hot tea Irori had offered.
Just then, a knock sounded at the door.
“Come in.”
As soon as Yayoi finished speaking, a man dressed as a samurai with long hair tied in a single ponytail entered.
Unlike ninja attire, he wore multiple layers of heavy, dark-colored armor, fully armed from head to toe.
He appeared to be in his thirties, with a black-hilted sword at his waist.
His sharp gaze made him look like a blade waiting to be drawn.
Only when he looked at Yayoi did he show a faint hint of respect.
“Lord Yayoi, I have returned.”
“You’ve had a hard time, Kurobe.
Did you encounter any danger on the way?”
Yayoi smiled faintly as he watched the exhausted samurai return.
Like Kakuzu, Kurobe was one of the elders who had followed him from the very beginning.
Born into a samurai family in what was once called the Land of Crystal — now destroyed — he could manipulate chakra techniques.
His explosive speed was so great that even a ninja’s Body Flicker Technique struggled to keep up.
By combining powerful swordsmanship with chakra techniques, he could easily bisect a ten-meter-tall rock.
Furthermore, his ability to grasp battlefield situations during combat was astonishing.
During the war that led to the founding of the Night Kingdom, he had killed hundreds of elite warriors from the Land of Crystal in just two years.
Although he was not a ninja, his true power surpassed even Kakuzu’s.
He was the strongest among Yayoi’s subordinates.
Kurobe was so fast that many ninjas were killed by a single swing of his sword before they could even activate their ninjutsu.
Even Kakuzu, who had hardened his body with Earth Release, had not been able to avoid being cut by Kurobe.
“The journey went smoothly.
There were some minor troubles, but overall it was successful.
The Hyuga clan agreed to Lord Yayoi’s conditions, but the Aburame clan is still hesitant.
As for the other ninja clans…”
Kurobe reported the results of his trip to Yayoi in detail.
Yayoi listened quietly to Kurobe’s words, occasionally furrowing his brows and occasionally nodding.
Based on several ideas, Kurobe had recently been dispatched by him to the Land of Fire to handle some matters.
In other words, he was trying to bring several ninja clans from the Land of Fire into an alliance.
It was unavoidable.
This was currently an era where ninja clans competed for hegemony.
Even if she did not want to admit it, Yayoi had no choice but to acknowledge this undeniable fact.
Even if Irori acted alone, she would obtain the Seven-Tails, and the Night Kingdom’s military power would increase dramatically.
Yayoi did not have the courage to go against this rule.
If he had not understood the vastness of the world, he might have considered challenging the mainstream trends of the time.
However, after witnessing true power, many of his clever ideas had vanished before they could be realized.
In the face of the turbulent currents of the era, accepting the status quo was the only way to survive.
But because of that, Yayoi had come up with many new ideas.
Since the trend of the “one country, one village” era could not be stopped, they had to ensure the maximization of benefits.
While Konohagakure was still in its dawn and many ninja clans were wary of the Senju-Uchiha alliance, he also needed to accumulate sufficient resources to establish his own position in the future ninja world.
Thus began Kurobe’s journey to the Land of Fire.
Above all else, the most important thing was to build connections with the Hyuga clan — in other words, to form a political marriage alliance.
Then they would take action to win over ninja clans that inherited secret techniques and bring them into the Night Kingdom.
The reason he prioritized a marriage alliance with the Hyuga clan was not only because he needed the Hyuga clan’s support, but also because he needed a stable line of succession.
Unlike the selection of the Five Kage in the future ninja villages, the shogunate system he had built in the Night Kingdom was still a despotic monarchy based on blood relations.
Therefore, whether he had a blood-related successor was extremely important for the inheritance of the Night Kingdom and was also the key to stabilizing the people’s hearts.
Furthermore, any ruler needed a strong and stable team to solidify their rule.
This team could consist of early members who had followed you from the beginning, or descendants with blood relations to you.
After much deliberation, the Hyuga clan had caught Yayoi’s eye.
As for whether the Hyuga clan would agree… honestly, Yayoi was not too worried.
The previous daimyo of the Land of Lightning had promised to marry the daughter of the head of the Chinoike clan to be his concubine, thereby forming a political alliance.
This political alliance later collapsed due to several events, and the Chinoike clan also declined, but it was enough to show that the position of daimyo held considerable political importance for ninja clans.
Ninjas needed to hone their strength, and they were in a closed system that was extremely fragile in various fields, including economics.
At the same time, they needed contact with the outside world, so the daimyos and nobles who ruled the countries became the best partners for them.
In terms of status, Yayoi was naturally not as high as the daimyo of the Land of Lightning, one of the Five Great Nations.
However, at this point, he was also the ruler of a country and controlled considerable territory.
Under his rule, the Night Kingdom had continued to prosper for many years.
It was believed that the Hyuga clan would also be able to gather this information and clearly assess the situation.
Furthermore, the marriage partner he desired had to be not just any daughter of the Hyuga clan head, but a daughter of the main family.
Unlike the concubines the daimyo of the Land of Lightning had given to the Chinoike clan, the position of principal wife he offered was more sincere.
Notably, the Chinoike clan, which had lived in the Land of Lightning for generations, was not necessarily weaker than the Hyuga clan even before their decline.
“In other words, the Hyuga clan has decided to marry one of the elders’ daughters to the Night Kingdom?”
Upon learning the result, Yayoi felt a slight sense of relief.
As he had expected, the marriage alliance with the Hyuga clan was now complete.
“Yes, but we still need to discuss which elder’s daughter will marry.
The Aburame clan also tends to join the Night Kingdom, but there are still voices within the clan opposing it and not wanting to leave the Land of Fire.”
Kurobe explained everything.
The attitude of the remaining ninja clans was clearly firm — they had no intention of leaving the Land of Fire.
Even when the Senju and Uchiha clans joined hands and the situation in the Land of Fire became more dangerous than ever, they did not retreat even a single step.
With the belief that “in the worst case, we can sink the Land of Fire,” they continued to stay in the Land of Fire, the ancestral homeland where they had lived for generations.
“We need to increase our bargaining chips with the Aburame clan.
Fortunately, since we captured the Seven-Tails, the Black Steel Forest is basically safe now.
After that, continue persuading the Aburame clan.
If they agree to join the Night Kingdom, we can allow them to establish a base in the Black Steel Forest and cultivate insects.”
After careful consideration, Yayoi decided to use the Black Steel Forest — from which he had just removed the danger — as a bargaining chip to invite the Aburame clan into the Night Kingdom.
The Black Steel Forest was a pristine primeval forest rich in resources, especially rare insect species, which held irresistible appeal for the Aburame clan, who manipulated insects.
The Land of Fire was rich in resources, but there were too many powerful ninja clans.
The resources held by the Aburame clan were neither too many nor too few — just barely enough to sustain the clan.
To advance further, they needed to develop new resource sources, but such places were already occupied.
The overall resources of the Night Kingdom were far inferior to those of the Land of Fire, but there were many undeveloped areas and weak ninja groups that had not submitted after being destroyed or expelled by Yayoi.
As long as the Aburame clan came, the resources they would enjoy would undoubtedly surpass those of the Land of Fire.
“Understood.”
Kurobe accepted the order.
Before heading to the Land of Fire to negotiate with the Aburame clan, he planned to rest at home for a few days.
With the benefits Yayoi was offering, the Aburame clan would probably fold and migrate to the Night Kingdom.
Whether it was securing a small resource base in a strong country or a large resource base in a weak country, as long as they discarded useless pride that hindered the family’s development, the choice was not difficult.
“Father, does that mean I’ll have a mother from now on?”
After Kurobe left, a curious expression appeared on Irori’s face.
“Yeah.
I just hope she’s a woman who won’t cause me trouble.”
Yayoi hoped so.
Regarding his appearance, it was unlikely that the Hyuga clan would send an ordinary woman to deceive him.
He was not only a monarch but also a ninja with immense power.
In this era, strength was the only standard for earning respect.
Other than that, the only condition he sought in a future partner was character.
As long as they did not cause trouble or get in his way, his demands were not high.
He was not looking for a god-like companion, so he did not need a pig-like one either.
After that, Yayoi called Kakuzu and asked him to go to the Hyuga clan to discuss the marriage and investigate what kind of betrothal gifts the Hyuga clan required, so they could prepare in advance.
Over the years, he had accumulated considerable wealth.