- In Marvel: I Start by Marrying Scarlett Witch [Complete]
- MWM Chapter 411
“Maybe he never intended to kill us from the start.”
Once everything had settled, the Kage looked at Nagato, who was using his ninjutsu to release all the captured ninja, and suddenly a realization dawned on them.
From the start of the Fourth Ninja War to the occupation of the other villages, Nagato had captured everyone alive without delivering any killing blows. That was already unusual.
After witnessing Nagato and Leo’s battle, they finally understood that even if they had refused Nagato’s terms and survived a fight with White Zetsu, the remaining twenty percent of their forces wouldn’t have been able to intervene effectively. One casual attack from Nagato or Leo could easily wipe out that surviving twenty percent.
Perhaps Nagato’s actions were simply to avoid unnecessary internal strife.
Maybe Nagato’s true goal from the start was to make everyone abandon the borders between nations, the divisions between villages, and establish a peaceful, unified world.
Of course, if they had refused his final terms, he might have just destroyed the world as well.
“It seems you’ve realized—he’s not really a bad person.”
At that moment, Leo approached the group of Kage.
“I plan to appoint Nagato as the Grand Minister of the Empire, to oversee both me and all of you. I hope we can work together to build a truly peaceful and prosperous world.”
“We agree.”
The Kage thought for a moment before nodding in agreement.
Although they trusted Leo’s character, he was still the former Hokage of the Leaf, and there was always a chance he could show bias. Having Nagato act as a supervisor didn’t seem like a bad idea.
Leo’s lips curled into a slight smile.
The idea of Nagato overseeing him was, of course, nonsense—Nagato was already his subordinate. The real purpose of this arrangement was to give Leo an excuse to delegate the empire’s affairs to Nagato. They had only heard the part about overseeing him, but had forgotten that Nagato would also be supervising them.
If any of the Kage tried anything after the empire was established, Nagato wouldn’t hesitate to act.
Once the empire was stabilized and the villages were fully integrated, the concept of “villages” would be discarded. That wouldn’t be an easy transition, and conflicts were bound to arise. In situations where Leo couldn’t take harsh action himself, Nagato would handle it.
Leo’s goal was to quickly bring the Ninja Empire into a stage of stable development, allowing him to step away. Like the Wizard Empire, he could occasionally return every few months, check on things, and gather newly developed jutsu.
Speaking of jutsu development, one person came to his mind.
“Orochimaru… seems like it’s time to recruit that guy.”
With all the ninja villages united, there were roughly 100,000 ninjas, plus nearly 100,000 White Zetsu. The foundation of the Ninja Empire was solid.
Next, he needed to deal with the daimyo, decide on the location of the imperial capital, and finalize various matters.
The daimyo wouldn’t be much of a problem. Like the Kage, they had no real choice between unification or extinction. With the Kage in agreement, they had no room to object.
And so, after a month of busy preparations, Leo ascended to the throne in the new imperial capital—the bustling and prosperous capital of the Land of Fire.
The Ninja Empire was officially established.
The calendar was reset to the first year of the Empire.
Since Leo had previously been a Hokage, and the title of “Kage” was revered as the highest rank in the world, the court officials proposed a title for him: “Shadow Emperor.”
Leo couldn’t help but feel speechless at the title, but he didn’t oppose it either. A name was just a name. And given the grand drama he had orchestrated, calling him the Shadow Emperor wasn’t too far off.
The first order of business as emperor was to establish the empire’s first library, collecting every jutsu ever created in the ninja world.
This was one of his main reasons for forming the empire—to collect and master all jutsu, using his multiple shadow clones to expedite the process. In the future, every jutsu from the various villages would be at his fingertips.
The second task was to build numerous ninja schools. For the empire to prosper, education was essential. Only by training more outstanding ninjas could better jutsu be created.
The third task was sending Nagato to capture Orochimaru.
Though it might seem excessive to send Nagato for such a task, considering Orochimaru’s expertise in the *Edo Tensei* technique, it was necessary. If Orochimaru raised past Kage and powerful figures from different eras, ordinary ninjas wouldn’t be able to handle it.
While Orochimaru might not be as powerful as he was in the original story, due to Leo’s influence and the resulting butterfly effects, who knew how strong he had become now.
Sure enough, Leo’s hunch was correct. Because of his earlier intervention, the Third Hokage hadn’t used the *Reaper Death Seal* to seal Orochimaru’s hands, and Orochimaru hadn’t succeeded in luring Sasuke away.
In the past two years, Orochimaru had focused on mastering the *Edo Tensei* and learning Sage Mode from the Ryuchi Cave, significantly increasing his power, much like Kabuto in the original timeline.
Jiraiya, who accompanied Nagato on the mission, was unable to handle the many powerful reanimated ninjas Orochimaru had summoned, and it was only Nagato in Six Paths Mode who managed to subdue Orochimaru.
Faced with such overwhelming power, Orochimaru realized his path had been wrong. He willingly agreed to join the empire, bringing Kabuto with him to become the empire’s chief researcher.
With those three tasks completed, Leo left a shadow clone to attend court daily and manage governmental affairs. In truth, it was Nagato who handled most of the administration, while Leo’s clone was just a figurehead.
Meanwhile, other shadow clones spent their days immersed in the empire’s library, studying various jutsu.
As for Leo’s true self, he dedicated his time to rigorous training, using the spiritual energy converter to cultivate and work toward awakening the Seventh Sense.
During this time, he returned to the main world twice—both times to briefly appear in the Wizard Empire before quickly returning.
After nearly a year in the Naruto world, Leo found himself walking invisibly through the newly expanded imperial capital, which had grown four or five times larger. As he observed the vibrant shops and the smiling faces of the people, a sense of accomplishment welled up within him.
Although his main goal was to increase his own strength, the fact that he had also brought peace and happiness to his friends and the people of this world was a gratifying bonus.
Along the way, he saw Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru reunited, chatting and drinking tea together. He saw Itachi and Sasuke reconciled, Neji and Tenten walking together, and Naruto and Hinata as well.
Many ninjas who would have died in the original story were now alive and thriving, with bright futures ahead, destined to marry and start families.
“It’s about time I return to finish the main quest.”
After touring the imperial capital, Leo found Nagato and instructed him to have White Zetsu disguise himself as Leo to attend court, while he removed the time anchor from the Naruto world and returned to the main world.
Nagato had always managed the empire’s affairs, and now White Zetsu could replace the shadow clone in maintaining appearances.
After spending a year in the Naruto world, Leo felt that he was now very close to awakening the Seventh Sense and advancing from the Golden Core stage to the Nascent Soul stage.
He believed that to fully awaken the Seventh Sense, he needed a fierce, intense battle to trigger the breakthrough—just as Saints in *Saint Seiya* typically sought breakthroughs through combat.
The upcoming main quest seemed like the perfect opportunity for that.
As for advancing from Golden Core to Nascent Soul, he knew that while his energy was sufficient, what he lacked was insight. The breakthrough could happen in a matter of days or take years—it was hard to say.
And as for the Divine Tree’s fruit, that would have to wait another two years.
The Three-Tails would only revive in two years, and the Ten-Tails would need to fully absorb it to become complete. Only then could it consume an Otsutsuki to transform into the Divine Tree capable of producing the fruit.
In the meantime, he needed to secretly locate the Otsutsuki Isshiki, who would serve as food for the Divine Tree.
Two years from now, once the Three-Tails revived and Isshiki was fed to the Ten-Tails, he could absorb Yggdrasil’s energy, allowing the fruit to form and pushing his power to a whole new level.
Two years wasn’t that long, considering he had deactivated the time anchor in this world. Whether he spent time in the main world or other small worlds, time in this world would flow simultaneously.
Returning to the main world, Leo resumed his usual routine of training and daily life.
With twenty days remaining before the main quest began.
(End of Chapter)