January 28th.
After several requests by Hiruzen, the high-ranking officials of the Alliance finally approved Konoha's request to send a delegation to Pokémon Island to observe the Battle Tournament up close.
In truth, the Navy and Grimp Armies were mostly opposed to the idea, being rather isolationist.
The success of Sarutobi's request was largely due to Dak's influence.
The Pokémon Alliance needed some fresh blood from the ninja world, as did Pokémon Island itself.
While the ninja world's population wasn't that large, there was no reason not to "shear the wool" a bit—after all, why bother opening up that world if nothing was to be gained from it?
At this moment, inside the main branch of the Breeding House, an internal meeting was underway.
Breeding House meetings involved Dak, Monet, Tesoro, and the rest, excluding the Navy and Grimp Armies.
These meetings were held once a month.
The purpose wasn't for everyone to report on their monthly work but rather to propose the next steps in the Breeding House's development.
"The urban area of Yggdrasil should be completed right after the Battle Tournament ends. The outskirts only need a little modification, which won't take much time," Iceburg began, looking at the team. Then he turned to Dak, "We can start advertising and recruiting residents."
This task had always been handled by Tom, but since Tom wasn't part of the Breeding House and was affiliated with the Alliance, he wasn't present for the meeting.
"Don't rush. For a city to thrive, specialized industries and entertainment are essential. Let me make some modifications first," Finance Minister Tesoro quickly waved his hand.
Whether or not a city could open to the public was something he had to review.
Modifying cities and boosting their GDP was also part of the Finance Department's duties.
"The Fossil Resurrection Machine research is almost complete. We can start testing now. Is it okay to use the fossils stored in the warehouse for the trials?" Monet now looked the part of a proper scientist.
This was largely thanks to the scientific knowledge acquired from the Alliance's operations, which had gathered research from shady scientists such as Caesar and Queen. Monet had learned from these resources and was now fully capable of leading the Research Department.
"Yes, that's fine."
Dak nodded.
The fossils Monet mentioned were obtained from one of Dak's lucky draws from the Wonder Wheel, some of which had never been seen in the Pokémon world.
Using them for Monet's experiments was a fitting use for them.
"We've developed four Peacekeepers. Should we deploy them at sea for testing?"
Vegapunk's research had also borne fruit.
The Peacekeepers were essentially the robotic "Kuma" units from the original story, which had fought against the Supernovas at Sabaody Archipelago.
However, the Peacekeepers now had a different appearance.
The four completed Peacekeepers were modeled after Dragonite, Garchomp, Metagross, and Hydreigon.
"Yes, have them guard the branch stores in the pirate world. It's time for Lapras and the others to return."
Dak nodded.
Given the current state of the pirate world, there was no longer any need for Lapras and the others to remain stationed there, wasting time.
Moreover, the Alliance's presence at sea was strong enough that even without Peacekeepers guarding the branch stores, nothing significant would happen.
Wherever there were Pokémon, there were Alliance inspection forces.
And where there were branch stores, there were even more military forces stationed.
"Recently, the high-ranking members of Konoha have been holding frequent meetings. The clans are also gathering war supplies, and it looks like they're preparing to launch an attack," Gin suddenly brought up an interesting topic.
"Oh? Against the other villages?" Dak asked.
"Yes, it seems so," Gin nodded.
He had noticed that Konoha had become more arrogant recently.
Just a few days ago, emissaries from the Hidden Cloud visited Konoha to negotiate some business deals, which were essentially disguised attempts at extortion.
Typically, Sarutobi would have conceded, but this time, he stood firm and dismissed the emissaries when he saw that the deal offered little benefit to Konoha.
As the Cloud emissaries returned home, they often encountered Konoha's ninja training with their Pokémon, showing off various elemental techniques that left the emissaries terrified.
The next day, rumors spread across the ninja world that Konoha had acquired a large number of summoning beasts. For a moment, Konoha's reputation soared to heights not seen since the end of the Second Great Ninja War.
"Isn't this just going to make the other villages unite against Konoha? What are they thinking?" Sugar couldn't understand.
"Konoha has always pushed the idea of 'peace,' so they can't just start a war. They need a reason, and the best reason is 'being forced to fight back, being forced to destroy villages.'"
Gin offered his speculation.
Ever since leaving Bellamy's side and leading a world inspection team on his own, Gin had grown much more insightful.
"Won't that result in many deaths?" Stella looked at Tesoro with concern.
"Isn't death in war normal? The pirate world had plenty of death," Reiju waved dismissively, showing little concern for the lives of those people.
"Complete unification is the only way to bring true peace. And considering how small the ninja world is, unifying it shouldn't be too difficult. With Konoha's current strength, as long as they don't fight all the villages at once, they should be able to conquer the ninja world within ten years."
Dak, having the clearest understanding of Konoha's strength, chimed in.
In about a month...
Konoha's first batch of Pokémon would reach the strength of mid- to upper-tier jōnin, and the second batch of Pokémon would have matured out of their infancy, reaching the level of a genin.
At first glance, it might not seem like much of a power boost.
But it was all about numbers.
The first batch of Pokémon was small, perhaps only a hundred or so, but even if only ten of them reached the strength of jōnin, that would already be significant.
The second batch was even more formidable, consisting of nearly three thousand Pokémon, effectively equivalent to three thousand genin.
Just the sheer number of Pokémon could shift the balance on a battlefield.
Moreover, while Konoha's freshly graduated genin typically only knew the basic three techniques, many Pokémon were born already capable of using elemental techniques, making them stronger than the average genin.
With these Pokémon bolstering Konoha's forces, their overall strength would increase by at least half.
Previously, Konoha already had the power to wipe out any other ninja village if they committed fully. Now, they could likely take on two villages at once.
The only caveat was that Tsunade and Jiraiya would need to return to Konoha to bolster the village's top-level combat strength.
Pokémon grew quickly in the early stages, and by around level 40, they could match the power of a jōnin.
However, it would still take at least six months to reach that level, and only the most talented and hardworking Pokémon would likely reach it.
Beyond that, growth would slow down.
To reach the level of strength Konoha's Sannin displayed when they fought Hanzo, it would likely take at least a year of growth.
"They're rushing it. If it were up to me, I'd say wait a year or two before starting a war," Tesoro shook his head.
He felt Konoha's actions were reckless.
"The other four great ninja villages won't just sit by and watch Konoha develop for another year or two. As the number of Pokémon grows, their existence will inevitably be exposed to the other villages, and they won't stand idle."
Gin, who had spent time in the ninja world and occasionally ventured out of the village, had a good grasp of the situation.
He understood that this war wasn't something Konoha could decide at will. It wouldn't be fought on Konoha's terms but rather based on the other villages' decisions.
The worst-case scenario would be if all four great ninja villages united and launched a swift attack on Konoha. In its current state, Konoha wouldn't be able to withstand such an assault, as the Pokémon hadn't matured yet.
But such a scenario was unlikely.
The four great ninja villages had their own rivalries, particularly between the Hidden Cloud and Hidden Stone. There was no way they would cooperate fully in a war.
They would undoubtedly engage in underhanded tactics, trying to weaken each other while also fighting Konoha.
If any step in this process went wrong, one of the great villages might even switch sides and join Konoha, turning the tide of the war.
"In about two weeks, Alliance City will be fully open to the public. During that time, I'll head over to the ninja world. You all can continue with your work."
Dak raised his hand to calm everyone.
This situation didn't have much to do with the Alliance. They wouldn't intervene in the ninja world's political affairs.
However, if the ninja world were to unify, that would be the best outcome for Dak.
It would mean a better life for the Pokémon living there, free from war and death.
The Alliance wouldn't interfere with Konoha's plans to unify the ninja world; Konoha would have to bear the consequences of its actions.
However, there were certain individuals Dak couldn't ignore.
The Akatsuki, Black Zetsu, and the Ōtsutsuki clan.
These three would need to be dealt with in turn.
Without addressing these threats, peace in the ninja world would be impossible.
As for the remnants of the Sage of Six Paths, Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki's chakra, Dak had no plans to intervene.
After all, the Sage was dead, and his chakra only served to protect the ninja world. As long as no major upheavals occurred, that chakra wouldn't appear, so there was no need to meddle.
(End of Chapter)
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