The war raged on for three long years, three full years. There were a few times when it seemed that it might come to an end. Yet, before peace could return, the fighting resumed.
It was during this time that I saw Zetsu's hand—or rather, his work. I never saw him in person, but I noticed a bit of my chakra on someone.
Clearly, he was still being careful, hiding away from the clans themselves. Yet, he was still playing his little games from the shadows, using his, or rather my, chakra to manipulate people and ensure the war would go on.
I slowly started to see some pieces falling into place around the world, questions being answered one at a time.
However, even as Zetsu tried to keep the war going, it was impossible to keep it going for too long. With the current level of power the two clans held, it was just too devastating to have them going at it like this.
Even the tailed beasts were paying attention, they hadn't acted yet, likely not wanting to pick a side between the two clans of their father.
Someone who did act was the Hagoromo clan, which wished to stay out of the fighting but also found themselves unable to do so since the Senju clan was family. It was funny how quickly they had forgotten that the Uchiha were just as closely connected.
Nonetheless, they tried to broker peace a few times, but failed, mostly thanks to Zetsu. It wasn't until the Hyūga Clan stepped in and had everyone sit down for a discussion that peace finally returned.
Under their lead, everyone sat down and talked about their differences, and while they hardly managed to solve any of that, they all at least agreed that the fighting they had been doing, the deaths, had all been meaningless.
They could agree that they were fighting for no real reason. And while everyone wanted revenge for their dead family and friends, they also still had much to lose.
However, honestly, I didn't understand why it seemed like the Senju acted so unwillingly to accept the idea of peace. The Uchiha were really generous in their desire to end things. After all, they were winning.
After all, the Uchiha clan only grew stronger as they fought. While their blood was pure enough to awaken the later stages of the Sharingan easily enough, the war and deaths following that did allow for even more Mangekyō Sharingan to awaken.
Currently there were sixteen people able to unleash the horrid might of Susano on their enemies, and while only eleven of them fought in the war, it was still enough to crush the Senju if they went all out.
And that includes even if the Hagoromo clan were willing to enter the war. In fact, them standing around on the side was likely the only reason that the Uchiha hadn't taken that final step yet.
Still, as unwilling as they might be due to their pride, the Senju ended up accepting the peace agreement between all the clans, even if the Kaguya clan was only willing to go along with it due to the threat of all the other clans attacking them.
And with that, the war came to an end, and peace returned to the land. Though the war had left its mark, one that wasn't easily forgotten, not with Zetsu making sure it wasn't.
One of the significant changes this war caused was how the normal people saw the clans. There was far more fear in their eyes. Having witnessed the power they held, compared to normal people, those of the clans didn't even seem human.
The single exception was the Hyūga Clan, which, due to acting mostly from far away, hadn't been seen in a negative light. All the normal people knew was that they had kept their lands safe.
The other clans did take note of this change, though their reactions were different. The Inuzuka Clan didn't care much; they had few people under them. They cared more for their canine companions than anything else, working hard to strengthen themselves and protect their territory.
The Kaguya clan, much to my disappointment, cared the least; they saw none clan people as less than dirt, mere animals; if they didn't like the looks they got, they would kill people. Already now, they were bloodthirsty.
And that was before they would really start inbreeding, I didn't like the fact that these people were the ones carrying my name, but I couldn't do anything about it.
At first, the Uchiha clan was unsure how to deal with the situation. Their leader was smart; he could see it was a problem, yet he also couldn't solve it. The hard truth was that those who had my blood in them were different from normal humans.
In the future, once their blood grew thinner and others learned to master the secrets of chakra, the difference wouldn't be as great. But right now, the difference was like that of a Kage and a Genin, and not Naruto.
Eventually, the Uchiha ended up doing as I expected of them. Their pride did not allow them to try to soothe their subjects' worries and fears; instead, they appeared cold in their future dealings with them, further building a wall.
Yet even as the relationship between clan people, or rather, between people who used chakra to fight and others, worsened, many still wished to reach the level of a clan.
The next was the Aburama clan.
I honestly wasn't surprised, they just felt right for an ancient clan… not that they were any less creepy.
I hated bugs, and they sure loved them, letting them nest inside their bodies like that. If I could, I would shiver in disgust.
Yet they had stuck to themselves mostly, getting through the last war without much damage, and now, in this new age of peace, they were ready to make their move.
And what a move they made.
The Inuzuka had just gone to the Uchiha, but clearly, the Aburama sought a more balanced approach.
They first sent people to the Inuzuka and then to all the other clans, paying their respects and bringing gifts.
Though it was clear that they considered the Uchiha to be the most important, the gifts given there were by far the grandest.
And without much fanfare, or maybe with a lot of it, another new clan was born.
Even in this time when clans weren't seen in the same light as they had before, being one still meant being a ruler of land rather than just another commoner.
Being a new clan and one that hadn't really caused much fear during the last war, the first reaction to them was positive.
Most of the people now living in their lands seemed happy enough to turn to them for help.
That didn't last long.
The many bugs quickly caused people to distance themselves. And so another clan with a bad name was born.
It was disheartening to see how all their efforts had been for nothing. Yet it was clearly the trend of things; clans were powerful, but feared. Nothing surprising there, I too had been feared for my power, even though I did so much good.
That was just the way of things.
The weak feared the strong.
The fear bred new strength, which would overthrow the strong.
And the new strong person would then be feared.
It had been the same with me and my children, and now it was the same with their descendants.
Still, it was only mildly entertaining to watch ants scurry around. The only really interesting thing I could see was the invention of jutsu.
And so I watched as the clans slowly emerged, as chakra was mastered, utilized, and transformed into rare Kekkei Genkai.
I watched it all, and I did my best to learn. I had time on my side. I could watch the steps they went through to invent the bloodline, and the steps to pass them down. With my eyes, I saw their chakra move around their bodies, evolve, and change.
I watched, I learned, and I too evolved, it wasn't true evolution, my own chakra couldn't move, couldn't evolve, but my mind expanded.
All I needed was to get out of this cursed seal, and I could use everything I learned. Yet, nothing I learned gave me any hope of getting out. So Zetsu remained my best hope.
But that remained almost a thousand years away.
Still, time continued to flow like water in a stream, and seasons came and went. Years passed by mercilessly, and bit by bit, I saw the world change once again.
More and more clans continued to appear, and they weren't all on the same level. In particular, the Senju was very eager to grant the title of clan to just about anyone.
While the Uchiha demanded that each clan possessed a special skill or something that set them apart from everyone else, the Senju had no such standards.
They were the ones who granted clans such as Shimura, Sarutobi, Akimichi, Nara, and Yamanaka their titles. Each clan honestly had nothing special going for it, not yet at least.
And while three of the clans would find their special niche, the other two would never really do so.
Still, with the birth of more and more clans, their special status also decreased. After all, while the first few clans were direct descendants of my children, and had my blood in their veins. The rest didn't, so their strength lagged massively behind.
Due to people's fear of clans due to their strength, most clans took a more hands-off approach to power, allowing others to collect taxes and other duties on their behalf.
And each passing year, slowly eroded the clans' power as those chosen to handle rulership on their behalf, slowly took power into their own hands.
It was slow, barely noticeable, I only noticed it happening because I knew it would happen.
After all, in the following age, the Warring Clan period, the clans were no longer in power. So I knew this would happen, and I saw it happening.
I was honestly amazed that it happened, given the former position clans had, it seemed unlikely that they would ever allow this, but with generations passing, and clans changed, so did their nature.
They had the strength, and they were slowly informed about the problems they needed to solve. And the people who told them of these problems also provided them with money.
Over time, I guess it felt like they were being paid to deal with issues. And that then became the truth.
Among the clans born in this time, there was one that drew more of my attention than any other, and more so than pretty much all other clans combined.
Even watching the tailed beasts became second in line compared to this once clan.
That clan was the Uzumaki Clan.
The clan of Naruto, but more importantly, the clan that would pretty much invent the school of sealing jutsu, while they didn't invent the concept, or the first seals.
They would be the ones who understood them as second nature, and who would invent some impressive ones. Including one able to summon the Shinigami itself.
Which was surprising in its own way.
I had been the goddess ruling this world at one point. Yet I knew nothing of the Shinigami. No tales, no legends, nothing. Back then, the concept didn't seem to exist. So where did it come from?
It was all very interesting, though the main reason I watched them was to learn about seals, I wanted to learn everything, learn enough that I might be able to understand the one holding me.
If I could do that, then I would have a chance at escaping.
And the first thing I learned was that my seal was horrible; it was so very simple, compared to the ones they played around with. Mine was primitive, yet it was also countless times more powerful.
(End of chapter)
Alright, here we go, things are happening, more clans are born, the landscape is starting to look like the one we all know from the anime, indeed, things are progressing.
It won't be long before we reach the end of the clan's era, and enter the age where they fight, where their strength gets drained, and villages will be born.
As for Kaguya?
She sees hope now.