__________ POV Narration __________

The Samurai and the Cloud Duo did indeed help the brotherhood with housing.

They were by no means a professional construction crew. But they did have a lot of hands in the form of the Samurai, and a lot of strength in the form of B and the Raikage.

They ended up using a few of the cut-down/collapsed trees to build dozens upon dozens of cabins upon the scorched earth in front of the collapsed compound.

The cabins were built on the crater where the Tailed Beast Bombs had first clashed with the Rashomons that the Blades summoned. The crater was of course filled using a few earth-style jutsu.

The Blades and the Children helped with that, but once again, the Raikage did most of the work, as most of the members within the Brotherhood were too tired. He didn't outright specialize in Earth Release, but he still knew a large variety of jutsu, as any respectable kage would.

Ken also helped in that aspect, as much like the Raikage, his knowledge was sufficient to assist with putting out the fires within the forest and filling in craters.

The Samurai also helped with the clean-up process, they dealt with the corpses and carted them away for incineration and proper burials.

Despite their overall distaste for Shinobi and their endeavors, they still respected the dead, which was also why the shrine that Ken had built for his fathers had remained untouched for all that time.

The Samurai that had passed were also carried away, but a bit more ceremoniously. They were, after all, samurai who had served their country with their lives on the line, and dutifully followed orders until the very end.

The epitome of what all samurai aspired to be. It was only natural for them to receive the greatest honorifics and burials as heroes.

Their families were also to be heavily compensated and set for life. But that was business that Mifune was going to deal with after his return.

For now, the wood log cabins were put together with concern for longevity and sturdiness.

They were quite simple, but Ken had already arranged for a large construction team to arrive and help them rebuild.

Cleaning up the Debris was rather labor intensive, but it was all done within 3 weeks. They had even managed to scavenge a lot of doors and furniture from the collapsed buildings, which was going to be quite useful.

And it was at that time that Mifune and the Samurai that remained also departed.

The Raikage and B also left, of course with a promise to stay in contact.

Their 'Three Corners Alliance' was still very much active and on the table. It was only a matter of making it official and known to the world.

But what the world learned about first was the details of the war and assault on the Dark Brotherhood and their compound.

It helped further cement the Dark Brotherhood as an entity on par, if not greater to than the 5 Great Villages.

It also became a well-known fact that they received help from the Land of Iron, the Cloud Village, the Leaf, and the Whirlpool.

The Whirlpool and the Cloud were no surprise to the world, as Ken was touted to be quite close to both sides.

But the Leaf took many by surprise. Upon investigation from the Daimyō of the Land of Fire, more details were revealed.

And the information guild, which had agents all over the world, was also able to pick up on the matter.

They, like always, profited a lot from spreading that information by giving it to the highest bidder.

In the end, it became known within the Shinobi World that the Leaf was involved due to one of their own getting involved in the assault.

The Leaf took it upon themselves to assist the Brotherhood to prevent a larger conflict from occurring between the Leaf and the Dark Brotherhood.

At least that was the explanation that was provided to the Daimyō of the Land of Fire.

As they had not yet decided to go public with their alliance, it was only natural for Hiruzen to make up a cover story for his and the Leaf's involvement.

It was also technically true, as one of the biggest factors in his decision to mobilize so many people was because he knew Danzo was involved.

That and the fact that Jiraiya had pleaded with him to assist the Brotherhood. The Sannin had even gone as far as to claim that, if Hirzuen was not going to do anything, then he was going to go rogue and help them himself.

Of course, the God of Shinobi tied his student upside down and essentially grounded him, but he still took his student's opinion into account.

Jiraiya was, at the end of the day, a perceptive person. He had a talent for understanding others, which was why Hirzuen trusted him to start building on the Leaf's information network.

Joining the Three Corners Alliance was a bit of a jump in the Hokage's opinion, but it was also felt necessary at the time.

The Whirlpool Kage had likely felt the same.

After all, had they refused, the alliance would've still happened. The only difference was that the founding members were going to be just from the Brotherhood, the Cloud, and the Land of Iron.

Those three parties were already more than enough to pose a significant threat to any other nation. The Three Corners Alliance would've still been, in fact, powerful enough to pose a threat to every nation even if they were to somehow scramble and band together.

So, instead of being swept up and forced to agree to the terms that the would-be Alliance wanted like the rest of the world, it was much smarter to just be part of the founding members of the alliance.

That way, at the very least their opinions mattered, and the safety of their villages was assured.

That was exactly why Hiruzen didn't feel any resentment towards Ken, who was the obvious mastermind behind everything.

Much like Mifune, the Hokage realized that Ken had decided to reveal his age knowing that it would 'come back to bite him'.

After all, the Blind Child Assassin could have simply kept quiet until he grew to the point where no one in the world would've even dared to face him.

But no, he had taken the opportunity to bait out his enemies and used the situation to get rid of many of them in a manner that was both decisive and gave way to the formation of the Alliance.

Hirzuen felt a bit of disappointment in himself that he hadn't managed to untangle the webs before reaching the remains of the Dark Brotherhood compound that day.

He, and everyone there, had essentially gotten played by Ken.

The best part? The Hokage couldn't even be mad about it. Even if he knew the truth, and that he had been essentially manipulated, he still couldn't hold any resentment.

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It was, at the end of the day, only going to benefit the Leaf.

Yorihhiko had also likely reached a similar conclusion. Hiruzen knew the Uzumaki Clan Leader well enough to understand his thought process.

'At this point, we just have to wait for a bit for things to settle down. The war has already slowed down due to all sides being exhausted, so there is no hurry in that regard...

The only reason it hasn't been declared as over already is because the Noble families won't agree to ending it so easily.'

In the end, the Hokage decided to simply call on his Shinobi to play defensively from that point on.

Yorihhiko and the Raikage did the same, but at a different pace so as to not cause the world to suspect that anything more was happening.

To prevent even further discussion, the Cloud and the Whirlpool even decided to stage a few small-scale conflicts, and only reported fake casualties on paper.

They knew that they weren't going to have to keep up that facade for long, so they didn't fear any future investigation by the Nobles of their respective lands.

And whilst that was being set up and happening, Ken was still in the process of rebuilding the compound.

He had achieved a lot in that war, not only in terms of getting rid of future nuisances but also forming the alliance that was going to be crucial in achieving his end goal.

Other than that, the invasion had also served as a good test for their defenses and preparedness against real conflict.

And Ken was rather pleased with the results. Not only had their barrier plan worked out, but it had worked out spectacularly.

Saburo reported that, by his calculations, had he not interfered in breaking down the barrier himself, the opposing army would have never managed to break it down before Ken arrived.

And under normal situations, Ken would have simply been summoned within the barrier too, so really, it was a complete success.

The children had also performed beyond all expectations. Ken had already made arrangements for Saburo to break the 'betrayal' facade early if any of the children were in true danger, but it wasn't even needed.

Instead, it seemed that all of their training had paid off. And even the most careless amongst them, like Yue, had taken the situation with absolute seriosity.

The member with the biggest kill count was, predictably, Tatsukio. The One-Legged Assassin relied on his speed a lot and could use a bit more mastery over more Ninjutsu, but his results were still astounding.

He had incapacitated or killed between 200 to 300 shinobi, and those were just confirmed numbers.

Morita, the second strongest amongst the children, had barely gotten to around half that number before he was injured a bit and tired out.

Yue herself only managed to get around 30, which was a bit disappointing to her, but she did help the younger siblings a lot.

Children like Ume were, after all, not allowed to join in the fight too actively. The older children formed a protective circle around them for a while, and Yue was part of that circle.

They needed to hold that up until Tosho showed up to help them.

And then the Raikage also appeared. From that point on none of the younger children were in any danger at all.

Even when resting, the Raikage plucked off plenty of heads at speeds that the children present could barely even comprehend.

It was safe to say, however, that the largest kill count belonged to the Tailed Beasts. They used large-scale moves with reckless abandon, and many died just because they found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time.

This was, of course, all compounded into results by Saburo, who was observing the ongoing situation whilst hidden with a few of his clones.

Some of his clones were hidden underground all across the battlefield, prepared to jump up and help the Brotherhood if needed. And some of them did die to the Tailed Beasts as well, which was regrettable.

But the Strawman was more than okay with losing all of his clones. Especially since he was delivered with a lot of materials/corpses to mummify and use to make new ones.

Ken was, quite pleased with the metrics received as some would expect. It allowed him to understand more about the way that Tailed Beasts were used in the field and the dangers they possessed to people who weren't him.

Though that was only natural. They were considered weapons of mass destruction for a reason. But it was rather ironic that they caused more damage to their own people than to the enemy.

As Ken 'looked' over those metrics and statistics within the wooden cabin that now served as his office, he couldn't help but raise his head towards the door, which opened up in the next second.

"Tosho... Great to see you. Well, not see exactly. But you get my point." Ken nodded toward the First Blade, who walked over, pulled up a wooden chair, and sat down right in front of Ken's desk.

"We need to talk sir." The First Balde spoke in a resolute tone, causing the Blind Monster to just sigh in contemplation.

'Figured this conversation would come at one point or another... No point in postponing it.'

"Of course, as always, speak freely." Ken nodded and crossed his arms, leaning back into his chair as his hair pressed against the torn cushion of the backrest.

"Well then... Would you mind telling me why exactly you didn't trust me or Akira enough to let us in on the plan you concocted with Saburo?"

The First Blade got straight to the point, causing the Blind Leader to sigh once more.

'Sometimes I wish that he liked beating around the bush, it'd give me more time to think about things...'

"It wasn't about trust here, Tosho. It was merely about efficiency and risks.

Telling the two of you ran us the risk of your acting not being as realistic, which would have definitely alerted the ones watching the Brotherhood."

Ken decided to be straightforward as well. His reasoning was simple after all.

But that didn't mean Tosho had to like it.

"Sir, with all due respect. I trust you with all of my soul, you are the sole reason why I was able to put my life back together, to put my talents to good use and give my existence meaning...

I understand not trusting Akira to act accordingly, as he is a bit mentally unwell. But why couldn't you trust me?"

His concerns were also quite well-founded.

Tosho had been the one closest to Ken for the longest time. He was Ken first official student, the very first member of the Dark Brotherhood, and the First Blade.

He was the first to comprehend and master Ken's techniques, and he was the one to pass on that information to the children with varying degrees of success.

He had done a lot for Ken's sake, and he had not compromised one bit to ensure that the best outcome was achieved for his master.

So why...

'Why does he 'trust' Saburo more than he trusts me?'

But as he thought further and spoke more and more, he couldn't help but feel that he was also blowing things out of proportion.

He felt as if he was cornering Ken, and acting too childish, unbecoming of someone in his position. But he couldn't help it, for the first time in years, he felt helpless, outside of the circle.

A circle that he had helped Ken build from the ground up. It simply didn't feel right, even if Ken's reasons were sound.

Ken's senses seeped deep into the First Blade's soul. He felt the raging emotions within him, the frustrations, anger, hurt and also... envy.

"Haah..." The Blind Monster could only sigh, cursing himself internally for not taking Tosho's feelings into consideration with his plans.

The Blind Monster had done a lot to distance himself from emotions when planning things. He had done his best to avoid doing so after the situation with the 7 Swordsmen, he knew that nothing good came out of it.

But it seemed that by mistake, he had stopped considering not only his emotions but also the ones of those around him.

'As we grow, we learn... I guess I still have plenty of growing to do.'

The silence in the cabin seemed to be unnerving, Tosho was starting to feel more and more frustrated and anxious, so Ken decided to finally speak up after thinking things more thoroughly.

"Tosho..." The First Blade's ears perked up for a second as if he was startled when the silence was finally broken.

"I am sorry." But Tosho was certainly not expecting an apology right off the bat.

"I didn't take your feelings, or the children's feelings into consideration. I went ahead with a plan that put everyone in danger.

Even though I had made preparations for their safety, I still did everything without your, or their knowledge, so the distress you and the children felt is very much real."

Ken's voice, for the first time in a while, sounded a lot less robotic, and a lot more human, and Tosho's eyes couldn't help but widen as he continued to listen.

"I... I will try and work on this, to prevent such a thing from happening in the future. I am still new to this, to having a family that you can trust fully..."

Ken's life was a rather tumultuous mess after all. And whilst it was true that in his current life he's had a family for a few years, he had never quite opened up fully to anyone.

Not even to the ones that raised him. He was starting to open up, but then they died. And he retreated back into his shell.

It was the children of the Brotherhood, Tosho and Akira, bonds that he had made, which were slowly prying him out of that shell.

Key word, slowly.

After all, what were a few years compared to the decades he had spent deprived of all genuine human connections in his past life?

"You are right, you of all people did have the right to know. And from now on you won't be kept in the dark about anything else."

The First Blade couldn't help but tremble slightly when hearing those words, his eyes also felt watery.

But he refused to cry. He didn't want to appear weak, not in front of his leader, not after hearing his honest words.

He didn't want his tears to blur the sight that was in front of him. The sight of Ken, the Leader he idolized so much, admitting to his faults and pledging to improve himself.

"I- I accept your apology." After taking in that scene for a few seconds, Tosho finally spoke up again.

"The children weren't upset at you in any way, they trust you completely... I was just being irrational."

Tosho's shoulders seemed to sag for a second, as his tone became a bit dark. Despite being moved, he still felt as if he had acted in an unbecoming manner.

"Now, now. Let's not call your very real concerns about my trust issues and misgivings irrational. You are fully in your right to be mad at me for what has happened."

Ken sighed once more as his finger slowly tapped on the arm of his chair.

"... Thank you sir. For everything." Tosho nodded before turning around.

"I will go and attend to the children as well... Please take care." The First Blade nodded and started walking off.

Ken only nodded back as he watched the man leave the room, and close the door behind him.

And as soon as he left, Ken slowly rested his head on his desk.

'What a mess... Maybe catching a wink of sleep would help... It's certainly been a while.'