Revolution in the Ninja World

Hokage's Office.

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, was reviewing some internal reports from Akakammuri. The more he read, the worse his headache became.

Ever since Akakammuri's founding, Hiruzen had mentally tried to pursue a policy of containment regarding the Kushina-led organization. In practice, however, he felt he'd been rather lenient, perhaps even indulgent, towards her activities.

He felt Konoha's development was slowly drifting off course. More often than not, he felt overwhelmed, unable to keep up. But what could he do? He wasn't forty anymore; he was nearly sixty.

Ah, age...

Ironically, every successor Hiruzen had painstakingly cultivated had gone astray. Those he hadn't put effort into grooming had also gone astray. It wasn't that there were no suitable candidates who stayed true, but... the one who fit the bill was dead.

So, what was the future of Konoha?

It wasn't just the Hokage himself who found the situation difficult; others found him difficult. Konoha's conservative factions felt the Third wasn't conservative enough, while the progressive elements felt he wasn't progressive enough. Moderation wasn't necessarily a bad trait for a ruler, but the real problem was his waning strength that came with age.

Of course, in terms of pure combat prowess, the Third Hokage could still hold his own. Even during the Konoha Crush in the original timeline, he wasn't incapable of fighting. The issue was that many already believed his strength was fading. This stemmed from the drastic change in his demeanor; after Orochimaru's defection, Hiruzen had aged rapidly, leading some to doubt his capabilities and his grip on the village.

And these doubts weren't unfounded. Even Habara would admit that the current Third Hokage increasingly resembled an old man simply waiting for death.

Take the Uchiha Clan, for instance. Their current focus was on Jiraiya, not the Third Hokage. This alone spoke volumes about the decline of the Hokage's former prestige, fueling their restlessness.

Even setting aside someone like Habara – powerful but lacking widespread fame – Konoha still had Kushina Uzumaki. Yet, when calculating combat strength, Kushina was often overlooked. This was partly because she had spent time as a housewife, effectively a "retired" ninja. Furthermore, due to the need to protect the Jinchuriki, she hadn't seen much action during the great wars, so the average person didn't necessarily grasp how formidable she truly was.

In terms of combat experience and history, Kushina seemed even less significant.

Habara also felt that Kushina functioned less like a frontline combatant and more like crucial support personnel. Keeping her behind the lines to manage seals and barriers seemed like the most effective use of her talents. Unless it was a matter of life and death, there was no need for Kushina to be on the battlefield.

On paper, Kushina Uzumaki's combat power was undeniably immense. Such strength was perfect for serving as Konoha's "ballast," especially with the Sannin gone and the Third Hokage becoming increasingly set in his ways. Habara actually quite supported the idea of Kushina taking the helm as Konoha's next leader.

As for contacting Orochimaru about some Konoha Crush plan? That had been a moment of recklessness on Habara's part. If Orochimaru truly came to Konoha, the outcome of any confrontation was far from certain.

Having finished the headache-inducing reports, the Third Hokage efficiently dealt with some routine daily affairs before calling it a day. By the time he left the Hokage Tower, the ninjas in the regular administrative departments had long since gone home. The Hokage truly lived a life of toil.

As night fell, Konoha gradually quieted down.

The Hokage Tower was the heart of the village. Even with the Hokage gone home, numerous ANBU operatives remained, guarding the area. In these peaceful times, it was highly unlikely anyone would stir up trouble in such a heavily secured zone.

However, two factions were secretly keeping watch on this area. Their target wasn't the Hokage, but the small, earthen building just across the street from the Hokage Tower.

Their routine was simple: whenever Kushina Uzumaki finished work and left, these watchers would move in, attempting to pry into the secrets of her small organization. They knew better than to confront Kushina directly; provoking an Uzumaki clan member, especially a sensor ninja of her caliber, was asking for trouble.

Since Akakammuri's three major systems had begun operation, secrecy was no longer truly possible. The group staking out the building was, naturally, Danzo's Root. It was only expected that Danzo would be spying here.

Both Kushina and Daigo had detected the watchers outside on multiple occasions. But Kushina couldn't be bothered with such trivialities. After all, they were just lurking around, looking; they hadn't actually tried to infiltrate the building. Why waste energy on them?

Although the small building lacked ANBU protection at night, it was enveloped in multiple layers of barrier seals. Any attempt to intrude would trigger the seals, instantly "awakening" the Daigo puppet inside. Armed with the Bashosen (Banana Palm Fan), Daigo could easily repel any intruder.

So far, no one had attempted to break in. But given the circumstances, it was only a matter of time before someone tried.

Habara wasn't in Konoha at the moment. He had taken the Red Gourd to the Nameless Mountain Hidden Domain, arriving just as dusk settled.

Upon entering the hidden domain, several Summoning Animals quickly approached him. Although they had initially been reluctant to form summoning contracts – you couldn't just make them agree – their attitude had changed once they started receiving Habara's chakra crystals. So fragrant...

Habara couldn't shake the feeling, though perhaps it was just his imagination, that the ninja cat who had settled here relatively recently also carried a familiar chakra signature... Maybe it was because the summons here had all become acquainted, getting along well.

After greeting the Summoning Animals, Habara carried the Red Gourd up the long flight of stairs, passing through one Torii Gate after another, until he reached the cave he had previously cleared out.

Inside the cave, Habara placed the Red Gourd onto the pedestal. The Three-Tails was long gone from beneath it, of course, but now there was an underground Chakra Cable running all the way from Konoha.

"Daigo, how does it feel?" Habara asked after connecting the receiving formula.

"Let me try," Daigo's voice responded.

As she spoke, her chakra rapidly extended back towards Konoha. Moments later, her body in Konoha – well, her puppet body – opened its eyes.

"There seems to be a slight delay. Hold on... let me convert the chakra to Lightning Release... Oh, much better."

Habara: "..."

Alright, so the underground cable had plenty of bandwidth and negligible latency. A mere hundred kilometers was nothing, after all.

"We should probably station a few puppets here too," Habara mused aloud. "But... Konoha lacks the ability to create puppet visual systems. So, it's best to use corpses to make humanoid puppets. Problem is, I don't have any suitable bodies on hand."

The topic felt a bit morbid, but Daigo genuinely needed a few puppets. Her main body lacked sight; she could only perceive the world through others' eyes.

Konoha understood puppetry but wasn't proficient in it. Habara could neither create puppet eyes nor simply gouge someone's eyes out and stick them into a puppet's sockets. Therefore, using corpses was the only viable option.

If anyone could create perfectly lifelike puppet bodies, it would probably be Sasori of the Red Sand. Physical suffering, mechanical ascension. Whether Sasori had already achieved his own "ascension" or not, Habara believed he would soon possess the technology to do so.

Having settled Daigo's main body, Habara didn't leave immediately. Night had fallen, but instead of sleeping, he took out a scroll and began studying. Learning led to progress, after all, and learning brought joy.

To further convert his chakra into practical combat power, Habara planned to learn various common elemental ninjutsu. Building on that foundation, he intended to develop his own Five-Element Combination Ninjutsu.

Since he already functioned somewhat like a Kekkei Genkai user, he wasn't concerned with developing other chakra combination bloodline limits; he knew he lacked the aptitude for that. Compared to coveting other Kekkei Genkai, focusing on Five-Element Combination Ninjutsu seemed more promising. Habara's unique Magnet Release was powerful, but its drawback was that all his techniques dealt physical damage. If possible, he needed some "elemental spell damage" options as well.

Learning conventional elemental jutsu, developing Five-Element Combination Ninjutsu, mastering true Sage Jutsu... Habara still had much to do.

The night passed uneventfully. The next day, Habara prepared to return to Konoha.

However, just as he was about to leave the hidden domain, a small, unexpected event delayed his departure.

Daigo now controlled the protective barrier around Nameless Mountain, making the hidden domain truly hidden. Unauthorized entry or exit was impossible without her permission. As Habara easily passed through the inner layers of the barrier and neared the outermost edge, he casually glanced up and saw a familiar face.

Sara, the former queen-turned-village-chief, appeared in his line of sight.

Why is she here? Habara frowned, then recalled: the settlement of the Rouran refugees wasn't far from this area.

Just as Habara spotted Sara, she saw him too. Her initially somewhat downcast expression instantly brightened. This sudden shift made Habara wonder if she had gotten lost.

Perhaps Sara was genuinely lost, because upon seeing Habara, she immediately started running quickly towards him.

"Slo—"

Habara started to call out a warning, but before the word fully left his lips, Sara stepped within the boundary of Nameless Mountain's barrier. In the next instant, her figure abruptly vanished from the spot.

"—w down..."