At the center of Yomi Castle stood the Shogun's Residence.
It was the place where ninja and samurai who had mastered chakra jutsus gathered. At the same time, it was also the residence of Yayoi, the Shogun of the Land of Night.
Unlike the ninja village system of later generations, after Yayoi destroyed the governments of the Land of Waterfall and the Land of Iron, the system he implemented in the Land of Night was a bakufu, with the position of shogun established at its head.
If one insisted on comparing it to the later system of one nation, one village, Yayoi could be regarded as a daimyo who had also absorbed the military power of the ninja village, completely directing the will of the state and fully unifying politics, economics, and military power.
Within that system, the ninja and samurai who controlled the nation's violence naturally occupied the leading position.
When Yayoi founded the Land of Night, he quickly established a national defense organization called the Military Department.
Under this organization, he created six divisions.
The Operations Division, Logistics Division, Intelligence Division, Education Division, Research Division, and Medical Division.
Across the country, there were more than six hundred ninja and over four thousand samurai.
Within the Shogun's Residence, two hundred ninja and one thousand samurai were stationed year-round.
Yayoi divided this large number of ninja and samurai according to their abilities and traits, assigning them specific functions so that each person could be used where they were most useful.
Compared to the overly bloated Operations Division, which was responsible for combat, the other five divisions could not really be said to be operating normally. It would be more accurate to say they had barely been established.
After all, compared to combat talent, people skilled in other fields were what gave Yayoi the greatest headache.
Take the medical ninjutsu that Yayoi specialized in, for example. Among the several hundred ninja under his command, there were fewer than ten medical ninja. Half of them were also only half-trained.
Once war broke out, one could easily imagine how enormous the pressure on the Medical Division would become.
Much of the treatment work still relied on Yayoi alone.
Without him as shogun, this country would fall apart sooner or later.
Fortunately, the most difficult period had already passed. With the alliance between the Senju and Uchiha, the ninja world would enter a period of relative peace for some time in the future.
He had to use this period to reform the Land of Night's national defense power from top to bottom.
Within that plan, the Medical Division was not what Yayoi cared about most.
The establishment of the Education Division was the true foundation of everything.
That was why, from the moment the Land of Night was founded, the Education Division had been the area Yayoi paid the most attention to.
The development of every other division would depend on the Education Division feeding it new blood in the future.
If not for that, he would not have more than six hundred ninja under his command.
One had to know that with this number of ninja, setting quality aside, just the quantity alone was something even the powerful ninja clans of the ninja world could not match.
Within a ninja clan, most members were still ordinary people who did not know chakra techniques.
Even powerful clans like the Senju and Uchiha had only had close to four hundred ninja at their peak.
Most of the time, a ninja clan capable of maintaining three hundred ninja could already be considered a top-tier clan in the ninja world.
Most ninja clans could not even maintain one hundred.
Training a ninja consumed a great deal of resources.
Ninja clans often took mercenary work. Even if they consciously wanted to strengthen the clan further, they were restricted by all kinds of factors and found it difficult to expand.
Because of that, the current most common development model among ninja clans was to train a small number of elites.
For example, the Hagoromo clan that Yayoi had destroyed had still maintained around sixty ninja even after being defeated in the Land of Fire and forced into exile. Among them, more than ten had reached jōnin level.
At their peak, the Hagoromo clan had only been ranked as a first-rate clan in the Land of Fire, and even among first-rate ninja clans, they had not been the strongest. After their defeat in the Land of Fire, they had fallen to a second or third-rate clan.
Judging from that, the proportion of jōnin-level ninja among the Senju and Uchiha, who stood at the top of the Land of Fire and even the ninja world itself, was probably even more astonishing.
After reaching adulthood, their members might all be capable of growing to the jōnin level.
Because this era forced everyone to grow quickly and equally.
Weakness meant death and elimination.
So, setting aside Yayoi himself as shogun, the current Land of Night did not even have the qualifications to step onto the main stage. It would only become a backdrop for those ninja clans.
"Father, would you like to rest for a while? You look very tired."
Irori, dressed in a blue kimono and looking like the image of a graceful Yamato nadeshiko, carried over a cup of hot tea and placed it on the desk. Her voice was soft as she spoke to Yayoi.
He had been working from morning until afternoon. At noon, he had only hurriedly eaten two rice balls and drunk some water. This made Irori very worried about his health.
Especially since this was not just one or two days.
Ever since returning after capturing the Seven-Tails, Yayoi had been in an intense working state for more than half a month.
Working seventeen or eighteen hours a day, then spending the remaining time resting and eating, had practically become routine. Staying up late had become a daily occurrence.
"It is fine. This level of fatigue is nothing worth mentioning to me."
Yayoi paused for a moment, then continued bending over the desk to work. All kinds of documents needed his approval, and the future development plans of the country also required him, the shogun, to personally review them one by one.
It could be said that although the country was capable of operating on its own, Yayoi did not dare slack off in the slightest when it came to controlling its overall direction.
Yayoi himself was a little amazed that he was working so hard. In his previous life, he had never been this motivated at his job.
Perhaps this was the difference between working for oneself and working for someone else.
Fortunately, a ninja's physical condition was strong enough. His special chakra also provided him with tremendous vitality to a certain extent, and he normally took care of his body properly.
As long as he did not suffer an accident, living healthily to a hundred years old in the future would not be a major problem.
For a leader, a healthy and long-lived body was more important than anything else.
Knock, knock.
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Yayoi picked up the hot tea Irori had handed him and took a sip. Then a knock sounded at the door.
"Come in."
After Yayoi spoke, a man dressed as a samurai walked in. His long hair was tied into a single ponytail.
Unlike ninja clothing, he wore dark-colored layered heavy armor that fully protected his body.
He looked to be in his thirties. At his waist hung a samurai sword with a black hilt. His entire person was like a sword waiting to be drawn, and his gaze was sharp. Only when he looked at Yayoi did a trace of respect appear in his eyes.
"Yayoi-sama, I have returned."
"You worked hard this time, Kurobee. Did you encounter any danger on the road?"
Looking at the travel-worn samurai who had returned, a faint smile appeared on Yayoi's face.
Kurobee, like Kakuzu, was one of the old retainers who had followed him from very early on.
He came from a samurai family of the former Land of Iron that had long since been wiped out. He understood chakra jutsus, and when he burst into motion, even a ninja's Body Flicker could hardly keep up with his speed.
His powerful swordsmanship, combined with chakra attachment jutsus, allowed him to easily split apart a ten-meter-tall boulder.
In battle, his sensitivity to the battlefield was also astonishing. During the war that established the Land of Night, he had killed several hundred elite samurai from the Land of Iron over two years.
Although he was not a ninja, his true strength even surpassed Kakuzu's by a little. He was the strongest person under Yayoi's command.
Kurobee's speed was too fast. Many ninja would be cut down by his blade before they could even release ninjutsu.
Even if Kakuzu used Earth Style to harden his body, he would still not dare let Kurobee slash him once.
"The road was fine. There were some complications, but overall, the trip went smoothly. The Hyūga clan has already agreed to Yayoi-sama's conditions. The Aburame clan is still hesitating. As for the other ninja clans..."
Kurobee reported the results of his trip to Yayoi in detail.
Yayoi quietly listened to Kurobee's account, sometimes frowning, sometimes nodding.
Because of certain plans, Kurobee had recently been dispatched by Yayoi to the Land of Fire to handle some matters.
Namely, to draw some of the Land of Fire's ninja clans into an alliance.
There was no helping it.
This was an era ruled by competition between ninja clans.
Even if Yayoi did not want to admit it, he had to accept this ironclad reality.
Even after allowing Irori to act autonomously and obtaining the Seven-Tails, which greatly increased the Land of Night's military power, Yayoi still did not have the courage to challenge that rule.
If he had not understood the immensity of heaven and earth, perhaps he would have entertained the idea of challenging the great trend of the age.
However, after witnessing true power, many of his clever little ideas had died before they were ever born.
Faced with this surging tide of the era, accepting the current situation honestly was the only way to survive.
But because of that, Yayoi had developed many new ideas.
Since the trend toward the one nation, one village system could not be stopped, then he had to ensure that his benefits were maximized.
Taking advantage of Konoha's initial founding, while many ninja clans were worried about the alliance between the Senju and Uchiha, he also needed to accumulate enough capital to ensure he could stand firm in the ninja world of the future.
Thus came Kurobee's trip to the Land of Fire.
First, and most importantly, he needed to establish ties with the Hyūga clan.
A political marriage with the Hyūga clan.
After that, he would try to recruit ninja clans that inherited secret jutsus and have them join the Land of Night.
As for why the marriage alliance with the Hyūga clan had been placed first, aside from needing the Hyūga clan's assistance, Yayoi's side also needed a stable line of succession.
Unlike the later ninja village system, which selected the Five Kage, the bakufu system Yayoi had established in the Land of Night was still an autocratic monarchy tied together by bloodline.
Therefore, whether he had a blood-related heir was extremely important to the succession of the Land of Night. It was also key to stabilizing people's hearts.
Moreover, every ruler needed a firm and reliable group to consolidate his rule.
That group could be the old retainers who had followed him from the beginning, or it could be descendants connected to him by blood.
After weighing his options, the Hyūga clan had entered Yayoi's sights.
As for whether the Hyūga clan would agree...
To be honest, Yayoi was not too worried about that.
The previous daimyo of the Land of Lightning had once promised the position of concubine to the daughter of the Chinoike clan head in order to form a political alliance.
Although that political alliance later collapsed due to certain events, and the Chinoike clan fell into decline, it was still enough to show that in the eyes of ninja clans, the status of a nation's daimyo carried significant political weight.
Because ninja needed to temper their strength, and because their systems were closed off, they were unusually weak in areas such as economics. Yet on the other hand, they still needed to communicate with the outside world. The daimyo and great nobles who ruled countries naturally became their best partners.
In terms of status, Yayoi naturally could not compare to the daimyo of the Land of Lightning, one of the Five Great Nations.
Even so, he was now the ruler of a country, and the territory he controlled was not small.
Under his management over the years, the Land of Night had been thriving. Yayoi believed the Hyūga clan would also gather this information and make a clear judgment about the situation.
Furthermore, the marriage alliance he wanted did not require the daughter of the Hyūga clan head. It was enough for them to marry off a woman from the main family.
And unlike the position of concubine that the daimyo of the Land of Lightning had offered the Chinoike clan, Yayoi was offering the position of legal wife, which showed much greater sincerity.
One had to know that before its decline, the Chinoike clan, which had lived in the Land of Lightning for generations, was not necessarily weaker overall than the current Hyūga clan.
"So, the Hyūga clan has already decided to select the daughter of one of their elders and marry her into the Land of Night. Is that correct?"
After learning the result, Yayoi felt slightly relieved.
As he had predicted, this marriage alliance with the Hyūga clan was basically complete.
"Yes. However, they still need to discuss which elder's daughter will be married off. As for the Aburame clan, they are also leaning toward joining the Land of Night, but there are still some voices within the clan opposing it. They do not want to leave the Land of Fire."
Kurobee explained each matter one by one.
As for the remaining ninja clans, their attitudes were clearly firm. They would not leave the Land of Fire.
Even though the alliance between the Senju and Uchiha had made the situation in the Land of Fire more dangerous than before, they had not retreated even half a step.
With an attitude of "if it comes to it, we will sink with the Land of Fire," they continued to stay on the ancestral land where their families had lived for generations.
"We need to continue increasing the offer to the Aburame clan. Conveniently, now that I have captured the Seven-Tails, there are basically no dangerous existences left in Blacksteel Forest. After this, continue lobbying the Aburame clan. If they agree to join the Land of Night, I can let them establish a base in Blacksteel Forest to raise their insects."
Yayoi thought for a moment, then decided to use the recently cleared Blacksteel Forest as a bargaining chip to invite the Aburame clan into the Land of Night.
Blacksteel Forest was an untouched primitive forest. Its resources were extremely abundant. In particular, there were also many rare species of insects there. For the insect-controlling Aburame clan, this was a temptation that would be difficult to refuse.
Although the Land of Fire was rich in resources, there were too many powerful ninja clans there. The resources occupied by the Aburame clan were neither especially abundant nor especially poor, just enough to barely keep the clan running.
If they wanted to take another step forward, they would need to open up new resource points.
But every other place already had an owner.
The Land of Night's overall resources were far inferior to those of the Land of Fire, but it had many undeveloped regions. The weak ninja clans that had refused to submit had either been eliminated by Yayoi or forced into exile abroad.
As long as the Aburame clan came, the resources they enjoyed would absolutely surpass what they had in the Land of Fire.
"Yes."
Kurobee accepted the order and left, planning to rest at home for a few days before heading to the Land of Fire again to negotiate with the Aburame clan.
With the benefits Yayoi had offered, Kurobee believed the Aburame clan would most likely soften their stance and migrate to the Land of Night.
Occupying a small resource point in a powerful country, or occupying a much larger resource point in a weaker country.
As long as they abandoned the pointless pride that hindered the clan's development, this was not a difficult choice.
"Father, will I have one more mother in the future?"
After Kurobee left, curiosity appeared on Irori's face.
"Ah, yes. I hope she will be a woman who does not cause trouble for me."
That was what Yayoi hoped.
As for appearance, he believed the Hyūga clan would not find some ordinary woman to fool him.
He was not only the ruler of a country, but also a ninja who possessed great power.
In this era, strength was the only standard worthy of respect.
Aside from that, his only requirement for his future partner was character.
As long as she did not cause trouble or hold him back, his demands were not high.
He did not ask for a godlike companion, so he did not need a pig-like teammate either.
After that, Yayoi called Kakuzu over and had him go to the Hyūga clan to handle the marriage negotiations.
At the same time, Kakuzu was to see what sort of betrothal gifts the Hyūga clan required, so Yayoi could prepare them in advance.
After developing for so many years, he had still accumulated quite a bit of wealth.