"What a sleazy expression! Could it actually be that the current Hokage behaves like this behind closed doors?"
"I don't think so. He's the Hokage now—surely he wouldn't act like that, right?"
"Just look at Kazekage's image—it's practically flawless. The creator perfectly captured its essence. I suppose the Hokage's must be nearly as good."
"That makes sense, though the Hokage's—"
"Cough cough, for the sake of our friendly alliance with Konoha, we still have to put on a bit of an act, right?"
"I agree!"
"We must praise the Hokage's sculpture when the time comes. We need to show Sand Village's hospitality!"
"Big brother really thinks big!"
From the discussions of over thirty thousand people, Third Hokage extracted these highlighted dialogues.
The content was simply horrifying. It made his vision darken instantly, and his body couldn't help but tremble.
He looked up at Hagoromo's Ship as it circled around once more and returned, instantly feeling a dull throbbing in his head.
"This kid is truly my greatest headache," thought the headache-inducing monster, making the exact same decision as a great schemer would.
Meanwhile, Shen—who had just finished delivering warmth—saw there were no attacks from below, and finally returned with peace of mind.
"Are the people of Sunagakure always this harmonious? They dropped down an unidentified object, and didn't even launch an attack?"
What he didn't know was that a certain headache monster had been aggressively promoting him to the villagers of Sunagakure the moment they saw Hagoromo's Ship.
"It seems like we could deepen cooperation with Sand. Such a kind customer shouldn't be exploited too harshly." Shen decided to offer some concession; customers this good weren't easy to come by.
His idea had barely surfaced when it suddenly launched the Third Kazekage—who was still on the ground floor just moments ago—into the stratosphere (and beyond), where he could reach out and touch outer space itself.
Wen and Wu brothers both felt furious about his distracted behavior of talking to himself.
Yet neither of them dared to erupt. After all, the Hagoromo's Ship was still four or five hundred meters above the ground. Who knew whether falling would cause an explosion?
Several minutes later, after another loop around, Hagoromo's Ship finally landed stably.
"Wuzhe Brother, I can't hold back anymore!" Seeing their safety secured, Wenzhe immediately rushed toward the driver's seat.
Shen turned around coolly and said, "Lately, our family paper hasn't run any major headlines..."
"!!!"
Wu stepped forward and grabbed his younger brother's shoulder firmly. Without needing to think, the news was definitely going to be about the two of them.
Upon hearing those words, Wen calmed down and, feeling the firm grip on his shoulder, instantly slipped back into his usual emotionless poker face.
Behind these two brothers, could there actually be some unknown secret? Well, of course not.
Wenzhe could swear on the heavens—there was absolutely nothing he enjoyed more than Wuzhe's chakra aura.
As for taking baths together... they're just close brothers. Would anyone really expect them to break into a sword fight on top of a mountain or something?
(Author's Note: Not my ship, not my problem.)
With that, the three stepped joyfully out of Hagoromo's Ship to greet the grand and enthusiastic cheers waiting outside.
The moment Shen stepped onto the sand, he instinctively raised his gaze in a specific direction.
That surge of resentment from the leader immediately sent a chill down his spine. "You guys gotta keep me safe, ya hear? I'm the last and only hope of the whole Uchiha clan!"
"Tch, not like you're gonna kick the bucket," Wenzhe muttered coldly.
"Don't worry, Shen. A person must weather storms to see rainbows." Wenzhe, the martial artist, offered with a philosophical tone.
Just a moment ago, Shen felt slightly reassured, but this sentence completely shattered his composure.
At this moment, he decided firmly that he must never bring these two guys out again next time—especially not Wenzhe.
"Whoosh!"
A figure rapidly appeared before the three of them.
The Third Hokage placed his left hand on Shen's shoulder while vigorously ruffling his head with his right. "Good kid! You did great on this mission!"
His tone was quite thought-provoking. That clenched-teeth expression combined with what sounded like praise was absolutely convincing.
(Cough) Yeah, convincing in showing resentment toward that troublemaker brat.
Right now, Shen felt extremely miserable. His head was being aggressively tousled, and his right shoulder was held down, preventing him from exerting any force. He wanted to sneak away, but couldn't manage it.
"Hokage Uncle, is this gift warm enough for you?" He firmly refused to yield to tyranny.
When the Third Hokage heard this, his smile became even more twisted. "Warm? It's definitely warm enough!"
As he spoke, as if afraid the boy might escape during a moment of distraction, both hands increased their pressure even further.
"Sigh...Hokage Uncle, can I borrow your bird for a few days? I really miss it."
"Bird? You mean my Ninja Hawk? What do you need it for?" The Third Hokage immediately recognized this as an attempt at distraction, so he increased the pressure from his left hand by another third.
Shen felt the incredible force against his shoulder and angrily declared, "That idiot bird's got some nerve! Dropped crap on my head while delivering your message! I've decided to take it off your hands and personally teach it how to be a proper Ninja Hawk."
"Oh? So your day has finally come too. Come on, let Uncle see where it hurt you!" As the Third Hokage spoke, the intensity of his rubbing increased once more.
This heartfelt moment touched more than thirty thousand onlookers. Never would they have guessed the current Hokage could be this big-hearted.
They hadn't pursued revenge against the creator of the sculpture at all; instead, he was genuinely concerned about the sculptor's injuries. This guy truly was a great person.
Meanwhile, Konoha's side looked rather delighted, especially Danzo. His previously gloomy face had already brightened significantly. Someone unfamiliar with the situation might mistake it for having found himself a girlfriend.
"Just you wait, old man. I'll make you eat those words one day!" Shen, who was currently losing the struggle against the Third Hokage, secretly noted this grudge for future vengeance.
For a moment, the air around Sunagakure village's east gate became lively and cheerful.
After over a month of slow travel, one particular survivor had finally returned here—Amegakure village.
"Lord Hanzo, our plan has failed!"
"Boom!"
A clap of thunder followed those words.
Hanzo stood with arms crossed, eyes tightly closed. "Where did things go wrong?"
The Amegakure Captain rose and pulled off his bandages. "Our allies were all traitors—they didn't appear at the designated time point!"
Hanzo's eyes snapped open upon hearing this.
The numerous wounds covering the other's body, along with the inflammation and blisters caused by improper treatment, would likely leave lasting aftereffects even if fully healed.
Looking at these injuries, Hanzo asked coldly, "Exactly what happened?"
The Rain ninja Captain gave his earlier speculation: "It must be that they've made a pact with the Uzumaki clan. Rain ninjas had barely entered when they encountered numerous devastating explosive traps!"
"What about our casualties?"
Upon hearing this question, his whole body began to tremble—his lips quivered as well: "Wiped out completely! Their traps were simply—"
As Hanzo listened to him complain about the enemy's various underhanded tactics, a flicker of impatience crossed his face.
When his patience finally ran out, he raised his hand to interrupt and calmly stated, "No, not completely wiped out yet—there's still one here."
Then he swiftly moved forward, appearing right in front of the Rain ninja Captain before instantly returning to his original position.
"Now they're truly wiped out."
Hanzo hated those who abandoned their comrades even more than he hated his enemies. While it wasn't entirely wrong for this man to survive and report back, his actions were unforgivable.
Even bringing back just one comrade would have been better. Thinking self-righteously that betraying allies might grant oneself a sliver of hope—this kind of behavior was undoubtedly despicable.
"Kumo, Iwa, Kirigakure, Takigakure…"
"Crack!"
Another bolt of lightning struck down.
Although a flash of bright light obscured Hanzo's expression, the latter half of his sentence rang clearly:
"…and Konoha as well!"
Immediately after he finished speaking, another lightning bolt crashed down outside the window.
Without a doubt, the Demigod of the shinobi world would never let any villages responsible for Ame's losses escape unscathed.
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