The Villager Chat remained filled with messages long after Koga’s explanation appeared on the Sky Screen, and for once, the usual excitement had been replaced by something much more personal, because the villagers were no longer discussing the mysterious strongest Overlord as some distant existence above them, but as someone who had given them an opportunity that many of them had never believed they would receive.
Villager Chat
Toma, Farmer: Inuzuza Koga, thank you! I thought I would spend my entire life carrying crops and watching the Ninjas protect us from monsters, but now I can finally become one of them!
Mira, Weaver: I feel the same! My entire family has lived as ordinary villagers for generations. If this dungeon really allows us to gain chakra, then my children will have a chance that I never had!
Daren, Shopkeeper: I don’t even know what to say. I was complaining about the Sky Screen yesterday because I thought all these rewards would only belong to the Clans, but now ordinary people like us have been given the same opportunity!
Old Haku, Retired Farmer: Young man, whoever you are, I hope you can hear this. I am already old, but I will still enter that dungeon. Even if I can only become a low ranking Ninja, I will be satisfied.
Mira: Old Haku, you are seventy!
Old Haku: So what? Seventy is not dead!
The Villager Chat immediately exploded with laughter.
Daren: Hahaha! That’s true!
Old Haku: And if I become a Ninja, I will finally be able to scare my grandchildren when they misbehave!
Toma: You already scare them!
Old Haku: Then I will scare them professionally!
The laughter continued, but beneath it was genuine gratitude.
Lena, Farmer’s Daughter: Koga, if you really gave this dungeon to everyone, then I promise I won’t try to discover who you really are.
Daren: Same here.
Mira: Same.
Toma: You gave us something enormous. The least we can do is respect your wish for peace.
Old Haku: Whoever you are, young man, live quietly. Let us deal with our own lives. We don’t need to know everything about you.
The Ninja Chat soon became just as busy.
Inuzuza Kyoji, Genin: I never thought I would say this, but I agree with the villagers. If Koga wanted everyone to investigate him, he could have kept the dungeon for himself.
Karasu Shin, Chunin: Exactly. Someone who gives away something this valuable probably wants something simple in return.
Yukiju Ren, Chunin: Peace.
Kuma Goro, Jonin: And considering what happened when our Clan Head challenged him, I have no desire to discover what else that man can do.
Inuzuza Kyoji: You still don’t know how he won.
Kuma Goro: Exactly!
The message immediately received a flood of replies.
Karasu Shin: Hahaha!
Yukiju Ren: That’s actually a terrifying reason.
Kuma Goro: I am being serious!
Inuzuza Kyoji: We know.
Kuma Goro: Then stop laughing!
Even the Clan members who had once been eager to locate Koga began to reconsider. The strange thing was that nobody had ordered them to stop investigating him. They simply stopped.
Perhaps it was because Koga had done something that made their lives better without asking for anything in return.
Perhaps it was because the image of the mysterious strongest Overlord did not fit the person who wanted nothing except peace.
Or perhaps everyone simply understood that if someone had enough strength to sit at the top of the ranking and still chose to help ordinary people instead of controlling them, provoking that person was an unnecessary risk.
Koga watched all of this from his room, staring at the messages with an expression that slowly became more complicated.
"What the hell?"
He scratched his cheek.
"They’re actually thanking me."
His eyes moved across the screen.
"And they’re saying they won’t investigate me?"
Koga leaned backward against his chair and stared at the ceiling.
"Maybe I really was overthinking everything."
He had spent so much time imagining assassins hiding outside his window, Clan spies tracking his movements, foreign Ninjas infiltrating Koyagakure and secretly searching every record for Inuzuza Koga. Yet the reality was much quieter.
In the original story he remembered from his past life, the village had been infamous for its internal schemes, rivalries and dangerous individuals who constantly manipulated one another, but this world was not necessarily the same as the story he remembered. The other Ninja villages might have their own schemes, certainly, but Koyagakure itself was not filled with people plotting against him every second.
Koga slowly sighed.
"Maybe I’m just paranoid."
He looked toward Fenfyr, who was sleeping in its wolf form.
"And maybe you two are making me paranoid."
Fenfyr opened one eye.
"Don’t look at me like that."
The wolf closed its eye again.
Koga smiled.
"Yeah, yeah. Go back to sleep."
That night, the dungeon became crowded. Villagers entered in groups, some carrying weapons, some carrying supplies, and some barely knowing how to hold themselves like fighters. Older men and women stepped through the portal beside teenagers who were trembling with excitement.
"I can feel something!"
"Is that chakra?"
"I think so!"
"Don’t waste it!"
"How do I control it?"
"Ask the Ninjas!"
"Which Ninja?"
"Any Ninja!"
The dungeon became chaotic almost immediately.
Some people struggled through the forest and discovered strange fruits that restored their stamina. Others encountered the small insect beasts that had frightened the first groups away.
"They can’t bleed!"
"Keep attacking!"
"Don’t stop!"
"Wait, their bodies are weakening!"
"Keep going!"
Soon, they discovered another secret.
"Wind technique!"
The insect beast was thrown backward.
"That worked!"
"Bird attacks work too!"
"Then don’t use fire!"
"Why?"
"Because fire isn’t doing much!"
"No! It’s more effective than wind!"
The villagers learned through trial and error, slowly adapting to the strange dungeon.
Some returned exhausted. Others returned stronger. And some returned with companions.
"Is that a melipeddle?"
"No, it’s mine!"
"You tamed it?"
"I think it tamed me!"
"Hahaha!"
A young woman returned with a small beast insect following behind her, while another villager arrived with a strange insect companion perched proudly on his shoulder.
The dungeon had become more than a place to obtain chakra. It had become a place where ordinary people could discover their own potential.
Weeks passed. Then months. Koga watched the village change.
The transformation was astonishing.
People who had once been ordinary farmers could now circulate chakra through their bodies. Young villagers who had dreamed of becoming Ninjas were now reaching peak Genin strength. Some had even crossed into Chunin level.
The beasts changed too.
Inuzuza wolves grew larger and stronger.
Kuma Clan bears became more powerful.
Karasu vultures became faster.
Yukiju leopards developed sharper senses.
Even some of the strange spiritual insects brought from the dungeon had grown into formidable ninja Chunin level companions.
Koga stood quietly on a hill overlooking the village.
"That’s..."
He stared.
"Actually pretty impressive."
Below him, a group of young Ninjas were training together.
"Again!"
"Use your chakra properly!"
"Don’t let your wolf get ahead of you!"
"My wolf doesn’t listen!"
"Then why did you tame it?"
"I don’t know!"
Koga laughed quietly.
For once, he felt strangely satisfied.
Nobody had discovered his identity.
Nobody had come demanding that he reveal his supposed overwhelming power.
He had even managed to become an honorary Ninja without exposing himself.
"Maybe everything really is fine."
Ignilion, still disguised as a wolf, sat beside him.
Fenyfr remained nearby, also looking like an ordinary Inuzuza wolf.
Koga rubbed Ignilion’s head.
"We’re safe."
The little wolf looked at him.
"We’re actually safe."
But even while saying it, Koga could not completely suppress the strange feeling in his chest.
Something was brewing.
He did not know what.
He only knew that the outside world had become increasingly interested in Koyagakure since the appearance of the Sky Screen. And eventually, something was bound to happen.
...
Several months later, on the outskirts of Koyagakure, three Ninjas moved silently through the forest.
They wore the standard clothing of Koyagakure patrol units, their eyes constantly scanning the surrounding trees.
One of them suddenly stopped.
"Wait."
The other two halted.
"What is it?"
"Someone is there."
Three figures stood several meters away.
They had not been there a moment earlier.
The lead Ninja narrowed his eyes.
"You three."
The tallest stranger raised his hands slightly.
"We don’t want trouble."
The Ninja’s hand moved toward his weapon.
"Then explain why you’re inside Koyagakure territory."
The second patrol member stared at them carefully.
"Who are you?"
The third Ninja took one step forward.
"And why are you here?"
The three strangers remained silent.
The forest became completely still.
Then the lead patrol Ninja spoke again, his voice much colder this time.
"Who are you?"
"And why are you in the territory of Koyagakure?"