Marvel: Raising — Chapter 141 - All Have Dreams? Send Them to the Company!

"Iwagakure, disband!"

"Kumogakure, disband!"

"Sunagakure, disband!"

...

First, the daimyo were killed.

Then came word of Naruto's technological breakthrough, and with it the revelation that beyond the shinobi world lay a far vaster realm.

Shinobi. Hidden villages.

Dregs. Garbage. Naturally eliminated.

Every faction moved as one, converging on Konoha to seek seeds, technology, and a path to the outside world.

Conflict, hatred, jinchuriki...

Up against progress?

None of it meant a damn thing.

The entire world fell into step and entered a peace no one had ever seen before.

This moment shook Konoha for ten thousand years.

What every Hokage in history had died trying to achieve, Naruto pulled off without breaking a sweat.

And then.

Naruto took Sasuke and, right next door to Konoha, opened a new village.

With a sign posted at the entrance:

[Konoha Villagers and Dogs — Keep Out.]

[Thank You for Your Cooperation.]

[Violators will receive a daily Flying Thunder God pat on the head.]

A triumphant homecoming. And a knife straight through the heart.

Watching NaruSasu Village grow and change by the day, the people of Konoha went so red with envy their eyes nearly bled.

And there was nothing they could do.

Any Konoha villager who so much as wandered nearby got ostracized, mocked, cursed at, and beaten.

A fully immersive experience of Naruto's happiness.

Anyone thinking of making a move against NaruSasu Village?

The people who'd already reaped the benefits would never allow it.

Besides.

Flying Thunder God Naruto. Tech-Mangekyou Sasuke. Across the entire shinobi world, who could reliably take them both down?

And on top of that.

Naruto had someone behind him. He had backing.

Fight them? Impossible.

Avoid them? Also impossible.

Pure psychological torment. Hee hee.

"Amitabha."

Having witnessed the most inconceivable peace in history, Asuma's spirit simply broke. He didn't even have the will left to avenge Sarutobi Hiruzen.

He walked straight into a monastery and became a monk.

Yuhi Kurenai: "..."

She, at least, didn't take the monastic route.

But with her shinobi identity gone and missions no longer an option, Yuhi Kurenai drifted through her days at home with nothing to do.

Until she saw them — visitors from beyond the sky. Ashley had arrived with an engineering crew to set up a company.

Yuhi Kurenai went over out of curiosity.

She found she wasn't alone. Plenty of former shinobi had shown up looking for work.

"Name? Abilities?"

Ashley asked.

"Yuhi Kurenai. Specializes in genjutsu."

"Report to the film production unit."

"Haruno Sakura. Uh... specializes in being obsessed with Sasuke."

"Girl group. Report for intensive training."

"Hyuga Hinata. Has Byakugan. Adores Naruto."

"Adoration is the furthest thing from understanding. Girl group for you too — you're learning to sing, dance, and rap."

"I'm Ino..."

"Girl group."

"I am Terumi Mei, from the Village Hidden in the Mist. I want to grow."

"Good presence. You can join the wuxia production unit, wear the knight-errant costume, and become a new face of the company."

"I'm Tsunade! I specialize in losing at gambling!"

Then a big golden-haired, blue-eyed mark walked through the door.

Ashley played a few rounds with Tsunade and cleaned her out with ease, all the way until Tsunade signed the contract.

"I'm Kurotsuchi..."

"Nice legs. Signed."

"I'm Neji. I want to overthrow the main family and destroy the Caged Bird!"

"Short-form video is everywhere right now, and the bitter-hatred protagonist type is out of style. Your audience is limited, your goal is too niche, and there's no buzz potential."

"The company won't have many resources for you."

Ashley gave her honest assessment.

Neji: "?"

He didn't get it.

Neji walked out with a completely blank look on his face and tripped over a tree branch on the way, getting impaled by it.

Then in came the deeply depressive Gaara.

"Gaara, I... heh heh heh!"

Poisoned by Shukaku, sleepless, mentally unraveling, Gaara managed two sentences before going off the deep end entirely.

Ashley subdued him on the spot and had him sent to the Abnormal Human Research Center the company operated.

Normally, the facility housed superpowered individuals whose brains had been thoroughly consumed by superhero obsession, along with the cloned Blue Hawks in storage.

Accommodating a genuine mental patient wasn't much of a stretch.

Next, she slotted Might Guy and Rock Lee, both enthusiastic grins and zero complaints, onto the construction crew. Kakashi got assigned to review and rate videos and films.

The straightforward Kisame was appointed the company's official ocean ambassador.

Ashley decided it had been another highly productive day.

...

Meanwhile.

Somewhere dark.

The Akatsuki was holding a meeting.

They were getting anxious.

Hard not to be. The Akatsuki had been ostensibly collecting tailed beasts while actually angling to seize power, and in the time it took to blink, the era had flipped on them, and now there wasn't even an opening left to make their move.

So sudden. So utterly out of nowhere.

"Regarding Naruto and Sasuke. The new era. The world outside."

"What do you all think?"

Pain spoke.

The dead man, the paper person, the puppet person, the aloe person, the immortal, the five-hearts person, the snake-skin person, and Obito hiding in the shadows with his Hashirama cells,

after everyone had their say,

they all turned to look at the one physiologically normal person in the room.

Uchiha Itachi.

"..."

He had possessed the Will of Fire thinking since youth, had slaughtered the Uchiha clan in a one-versus-many, and right now, he too had gone quiet, sinking into thought.

Mostly because peace had arrived in such an absolutely unhinged fashion.

Under the pressure of Flying Thunder God Naruto:

The Hokage, dead. Danzo, dead.

The daimyo, dead.

Every major village had announced its dissolution and abandoned the shinobi system.

All it took was a little common sense.

Everyone could have a bright future.

Which left Uchiha Itachi, the double agent, without an organization to report to and without any idea what to do next.

"How about... we have Hidan go open a blood donation station?"

Uchiha Itachi said, his brain short-circuiting.

...

Still editing and revising the earlier sections, everyone, we're basically at Baby Bus levels now.

Thanks for the gifts!

➤ Next: The Akatsuki Captured