The world I hear is completely different from yours.

Like a sand ball struck by a heavy hammer, Shukaku didn't even have time to utter a defeated cry like "I'll be back! You better watch out next time!" before it was completely flattened. Its body was instantly pulverized into the purest sand grains and returned to the desert.

The giant soldier withdrew his clenched fist and looked at the spot where Shukaku had stood. Now there was only a deep crater, and at the bottom of the crater lay an unconscious middle-aged monk.

"At the last moment, he used all his chakra to protect his jinchūriki's life? It seems Shukaku quite approves of this kind-faced monk."

"To be considered a friend by Shukaku, this monk must be a pretty good person at heart. In that case, I'll let you go. It wouldn't be good if it accidentally affected Gaara's future appearance. At least until I have the ability to defy the fate of the Naruto world, I shouldn't do anything that goes too far against the plot."

After thinking for a moment, Tian Qing had the Colossus retract its fist. Then, while dispelling the Colossus's summoning spell, he summoned the Freedom Gundam again. During the time Tian Qing was fighting, the automated repair puppet in the laboratory had cleared all the sand and dust from the Freedom Gundam's joints and crevices, restoring its ability to fly. After that, Tian Qing piloted the Freedom Gundam and soared into the sky. After circling above several boulders, it flew away.

"She's already gone?" Maki cautiously crawled out of the shadow of the boulder and asked in a low voice, afraid of attracting the attention of that female fiend. She was a fierce person who could smash Shukaku with one punch. If he were to be discovered by accident, he would be dead.

"She had already discovered us, but probably thought we were insignificant, so she let us go." The black-haired Sand Ninja said expressionlessly, his heart filled with humiliation. As a genius of the Sand Village, he felt powerless for the first time when facing someone who had brutally beaten a Tailed Beast!

"Maki, go retrieve the Jinchuriki. This mission is over; let's return to the village. It seems this Konoha female ninja's actions were merely a show of strength to force us to surrender and withdraw from the war. That's why she didn't engage in widespread slaughter in the village before, and she didn't kill any Jinchuriki this time either. Otherwise, if she had summoned that blue giant in the village as well, the outcome wouldn't have been just the death of the Second Kazekage!"

Maki shuddered, clearly imagining the horrific scene that would ensue if Tensei were to unleash his full power in the Sand Village. He shook his head violently, banishing the terrifying thought from his mind, and ran towards the monk Bunpuku in the center of the battlefield.

After watching Maki run away, the black-haired Sand Ninja slammed his fist hard on a nearby rock. Although he had spoken calmly before, he was actually filled with rage! The enemy had come to his village, killed his leader, the Kazekage, and he was supposed to be thankful that the enemy hadn't gone on a killing spree?! How could this be?!

However, as the superior, he could not show such emotions in front of Maki, because the situation facing Sand Village was very serious. They had to withdraw from the war as soon as possible to heal their wounds. That's why he analyzed the intention of Tianqing's operation in a calm tone in order to quell the desire for revenge among his subordinates. Only in this way could they unify the opinions within Sand Village as soon as possible and end the war at an early date.

Then, the black-haired Sand Ninja calmed himself down, turned around and walked towards the Sand Village, with Maki carrying the Jinchuriki and respectfully following behind him.

Maki knew that his master, as the only elder who had mastered the Sand Control Technique at the same time as the Second Kazekage, had been designated as the Third Kazekage after the Second Kazekage's death. He believed that with his master's bloodline limit, he would definitely become the strongest Kazekage in the history of Sunagakure.

Just thinking about that powerful woman from before, Maki couldn't help but hesitate. Could his master really defeat such a terrifying enemy in the future?

P.S. This is the second update, making up for the missed monthly tickets and rewards. More will come later.

Chapter Seventeen: War is not a transaction of love; you can't just come and go as you please.

Three days later, when news of the Second Kazekage's unexpected death spread throughout the world, the Land of Wind used the excuse of mourning the Kazekage to demand a ceasefire from the other warring nations.

However, although the official explanation from the Land of Wind was that the Second Kazekage died from overwork due to his busy schedule managing the village, the massive explosion that occurred in the Sand Village late that night, the Kazekage Building that was blasted into pieces, and the hundreds of meters deep crater left behind clearly showed that the Sand Village's announcement was a blatant lie—even the residents of the Sand Village themselves wouldn't believe such a fabricated reason.

That night, almost everyone in Sunagakure, except for the blind, witnessed everything the Konoha invader doing in the sky. Among them were, of course, many spies sent by various major powers and infiltrated Sunagakure. Therefore, while many village leaders gloated over the death of the Second Kazekage, they were also frantically reinforcing their villages' anti-air barriers to prevent any Konoha aerial attacks from taking place within their villages.

Regardless of how other countries mocked the Land of Wind's pathetic state, they unanimously agreed to accept its request for a ceasefire. After all, although the Land of Wind's rear base was bombed, it lost a large number of puppeteers stationed on the border, and its Kazekage, the village leader, was dead, it was still a formidable force. If the Sand Village was truly pushed to the brink and launched a suicidal attack with its elite troops, the attacked country would still suffer considerable losses.

Konoha also needs the Land of Wind, a powerful ally, to counterbalance other nations. Although this subordinate is disobedient, frequently rebels, and has hands stained with the blood of Konoha ninja, harboring deep-seated hatred towards many, national political interests disregard personal feelings; only naked self-interest matters.

Of course, the Land of Wind had to pay a considerable price for the ceasefire. War isn't something you can start and stop at will, especially when it's a ceasefire that the Land of Wind was essentially surrendering. Naturally, they had to offer substantial reparations to the victors of the war.

In the end, the Land of Wind not only had to give back all the benefits it had gained from the Land of Rain in the early stages of the war, but it also had to pay off a large amount of wealth and ninjutsu knowledge accumulated over the years as reparations to various major powers in exchange for their promise not to take advantage of the situation to start a war. It was a complete and utter defeat, leaving it destitute and unable to fight for at least the next few decades.

According to Tianqing's private gossip—as the strongest contender for the next Hokage in the village, many Konoha officials have been intentionally or unintentionally leaking information to Tianqing and conveying goodwill to her—at the internal peace negotiation meeting, the Sand Village elder in charge of the negotiations fainted on the spot after seeing the final compensation amount agreed upon by the various victorious nations. In the end, others had to support the Sand Village elder's hand to press his fingerprint on the contract.

As the main adversary of the Land of Wind and the biggest victor in the war, Konoha received the largest slice of the Sand Village's reparations, making a fortune. It's said that the head of Konoha's finance department, who was previously worried about budget overruns, became overjoyed upon seeing the amount of the Sand Village's reparations. From then on, he became a staunch advocate for war, constantly talking about finding another easy target to plunder.

"So war really is the quickest way for a country to get rich?" Tian Qing murmured to himself after hearing the news.

In my past life, after the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, Japan relied on the more than 200 million taels of silver in reparations from China to complete its military construction and leap into becoming one of the modern great powers. The United States not only received a large amount of reparations in World War I and World War II, but also made a fortune by selling arms, which enabled it to accumulate huge wealth and become the world's number one power.

Collecting reparations and selling arms have always been the most profitable businesses in the world, bar none.

Tian Qing herself deeply understands this point. The powerful puppets that Tian Qing designed herself—Giant God Soldier, Freedom Gundam, and Little Red Riding Hood—all require a large amount of precious materials. In addition, considering the barrier spells engraved on the outer shell, the production of various automatic puppets, and the energy replenishment, the amount of money required is simply astronomical. If it weren't for the continuous flow of money brought by the puppet weapons she invented, how could Tian Qing have such strength at such a young age?

That old saying is so true: Money isn't everything, but you can't do without it.

So Tianqing silently lit a candle for Shukaku, whom she had previously defeated: You know, if you want power, the poor rely on mutation, and the rich rely on technology. Who told you not to know how to make money and buy equipment? If you, Shukaku, knew how to be like that black dragon, covering your body with steel bars and armor, and adding an iron chin, maybe you could also dominate the whole world, unleash a cataclysmic disaster, and then stand in the center of the world shouting: Under my claws, everything will turn to ashes!

Unfortunately, given Shukaku's pathetic intelligence, he probably wouldn't even think of this. So, a beast is a beast; it has absolutely no experience as a villainous boss. How can it ever amount to anything? No wonder it was later portrayed as the worst tailed beast.

Tianqing couldn't help but shake his head and sigh, feeling sorry for Shukaku's lack of understanding. He began to secretly imagine that if he were to transmigrate into Shukaku's body, he would first unify the Sand Village, taking all the female Sand Ninjas into his harem. Then, donning armor, he would seduce all the other Tailed Beasts, beating them all to a pulp before making them his underlings. After that, he would command the world, wielding his pen with passion, and unify the land, taking all the beautiful female ninjas, both named and nameless, into his harem. Finally, he would gather the ninja power of the entire world and set sail towards the stars!

Then, the maid behind her spoke up in time to interrupt Tianqing's daydreaming: "Your Excellency Tianqing, we are about to reach the Uchiha clan's territory. When you meet with the Uchiha clan, please straighten your posture and don't get distracted."

"Uh... okay." Tian Qing blushed slightly, then quickly straightened her face, putting on a "I'm going to be your boss in the future" look.

This was a week after the Land of Wind surrendered. Ameharu returned to the village to report to the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, who had already returned to Konoha. Then, as the soon-to-be Third Hokage, Ameharu needed to visit the various ninja clans within Konoha.

P.S. Shukaku's ambition, a harem journey to unify the world, was a plot I once considered, but then I thought, Shukaku can't grow to the size of a human, right? Then what's the point of having a harem? So I gave up on it.

Dancers of the Uchiha clan during the interlude

It was nearing noon, and the sun shone lazily on Konoha. The good news of an unprecedented victory in the war against the Land of Wind had spread throughout the village, and an atmosphere of excitement and joy permeated the air.

The largest VIP reception room in the Uchiha clan's compound had been cleaned spotlessly in advance, with brand-new tatami mats and tea tables installed, and magnificent screens and expensive furniture placed around it. The entire room was completely transformed and appeared exceptionally grand.

The room was packed with people. Almost all the core members of the Uchiha clan had gathered here. Led by the clan leader, Uchiha Kagami, everyone sat upright with serious expressions, silently waiting for the appearance of the future Third Hokage.

"These clothes are really uncomfortable. Can't everyone just wear their usual clothes?" Uchiha Haruno, dressed in formal attire, knelt next to the elder. However, she was clearly not used to this posture and clothing, so she twisted her body to loosen her muscles.

"Cough! Cough!" Uchiha Moying coughed lightly and glared at Uchiha Haruno.

"Damn it! That annoying old fox! Does he not let people live?" Uchiha Haruno cursed inwardly, but dared not raise any objections. Like a wronged daughter-in-law who had been given the cold shoulder by her mother-in-law, she dared not disobey her mother-in-law's wishes and could only endure the physical discomfort and obediently remain motionless.

"Tianqing, why aren't you here yet? I've been kneeling here for almost half an hour, and my thighs are practically numb. I've never been this tired even when I ran hundreds of miles on missions before!" Uchiha Haruno wailed inwardly. She had never imagined that anything in this world could be so unbearable. Compared to that, her previous life-or-death missions were nothing! At this moment, she desperately hoped that her former teammates would appear soon to save her from this predicament.

"Respected Heavenly Sun God, please appear quickly and save this humble woman!"

The girl is praying.

Sorry, the object of your prayer is currently daydreaming, envisioning Shukaku's ambitions and harem adventures, and is not answering your prayers. Please try again later.

"Damn it! He's still not here! I've been waiting for almost ten minutes now, Tianqing, why aren't you here yet?" Uchiha Haruno looked aggrieved, secretly shedding tears while biting her handkerchief, exuding the air of a resentful woman who had been confined to the cold palace for hundreds of years.

Fifteen minutes later, Tian Qing entered the conference room and, guided by a waiter, sat down at the front of the room.

"Speaking of which, what's with Yuan Ye's expression? When she sees me, it's like Xia Yuhe, who's ten months pregnant, is staring longingly at the long-lost Emperor Qianlong. Didn't we go shopping together last time? Does she miss me that much?"

Of course, although she thought this in her heart, Tian Qing would never ask in this situation. Instead, she smiled and glanced at the Uchiha people present: "I apologize for keeping you all waiting."

Then, Tianqing looked at Uchiha Kagami, the Uchiha clan leader sitting next to her, who was also her former rival: "Kagami, it's been a long time. How have you been?"

Uchiha Kagami smiled and nodded in response: "Lord Tianqing, thank you for your concern. We, the Uchiha clan, welcome your arrival."

In such an important political setting, former comrades addressed each other in distinct ways, each carrying a different meaning.

As the future Third Hokage, Tensei's direct address of Uchiha Kagami by his name signifies his closeness and trust in the Uchiha clan, indicating his continued commitment to their reliance and reliance upon assuming the position. While Kagami also addresses Tensei by his name in private, here, as a representative of the Uchiha clan, he uses the formal "Your Excellency" to signify a consensus within the clan, welcoming and supporting Tensei's appointment.

After exchanging these two seemingly meaningless polite remarks, both parties gained a basic understanding of each other's attitudes and confirmed that they were friends, not enemies.

The core members of the Uchiha clan, who were originally sitting in the conference room, as well as the Konoha ninjas who came with Tianqing, breathed a sigh of relief after hearing the two sides exchange a few pleasantries, and their faces showed a more relaxed expression.

For the Uchiha clan, after their former clan leader, Madara Uchiha, betrayed them and even attacked the village with his tailed beasts, the Uchiha clan collectively decided to exile Madara and cooperated with the village to repel his attack. However, many people in the village still harbored suspicion and distrust towards the Uchiha. Later, when the Hyuga clan, whose strength was not as great as the Uchiha's, emerged to compete with them, the biased attitude of many ninjas towards the Hyuga clan further alarmed the Uchiha clan.

Therefore, determining the next Hokage's attitude towards the Uchiha clan is extremely important for them, as it relates to the future development of the entire clan. Although their new clan leader, Uchiha Kagami, and Ame-no-Kage are old acquaintances who have fought side-by-side on the battlefield, what does such a small amount of camaraderie matter in the face of the interests of the entire village? That's why the Uchiha clan is holding such a grand welcoming ceremony this time to observe the Third Hokage's attitude.

The friendly attitude shown by Tianqing reassured the Uchiha clan a lot. At least this was not a Hokage who was hostile to the Uchiha. Considering that this Hokage could use Hashirama Senju's Sage Mode and had the background of the Senju clan, it was already a very rare thing for the Senju, who had fought against the Uchiha clan for generations, to be friendly to the Uchiha clan.

"Huh? Why did everyone relax a lot after hearing Lord Kagami and Tensei's greeting?" Uchiha Haruno secretly glanced at everyone in the conference room, wondering to himself. Now, everyone in the conference room was no longer kneeling upright with stiff faces, but seemed much more relaxed, and many people had even started to twist and move their bodies.

Uchiha Haruno glanced furtively at Uchiha Moying again and saw him secretly rubbing his lower back, completely devoid of his previous seriousness: "That annoying old fox! He was so relaxed himself, yet he dared to glare at me just now! And with so many people moving around, why didn't you cough to remind them? Are you deliberately targeting me?"

Instantly, Uchiha Haruno's anger flared up: "Damn it! This wicked society! Today I'm going to rebel! I'm going to dance wildly! And I'm going to dance to my heart's content!"

Tianqing glanced at Uchiha Haruno out of the corner of her eye, who had suddenly started dancing wildly, and wondered, "Huh? What's wrong with Haruno now? Is he having a seizure? Or is he suddenly planning to dance for everyone to liven things up?"

Of course, Tianqing still didn't dare to ask, because the faces of the Uchiha clan members present were full of embarrassment. Under these circumstances, Tianqing felt it was best not to ask.

Soon after, the members of the Uchiha clan unanimously agreed that Uchiha Haruno would become the clan's dancer, required to dance for no less than two hours each day. "Let you dance to your heart's content!!" the elders declared.

.......

P.S. Despite my clumsy writing skills, I'm still shamelessly begging for votes. If I calculate carefully, I only owe about five chapters so far. This debt ratio is not a problem at all. Compared to those big shots, I still have a lot of room for improvement.

.......

Also, dear readers, I'd like to ask: which is more popular, Bloodborne or Dark Souls? Which one is more likely to attract attention? This is a very important question.

Chapter 18 The Third Master of Konoha

When Ameharu concluded his "friendly and cordial talks" with the Uchiha clan and stepped out of their compound, not only did he breathe a sigh of relief, but the Konoha officials who accompanied him also breathed a sigh of relief.

The Uchiha clan fears both sides when trying to fight a wolf; they worry that Konoha might be a threat to them, but conversely, Konoha is also worried about the Uchiha clan's power.

The Uchiha clan is no longer like the increasingly weakened Senju clan. At present, it is at its zenith, with nearly 500 Jonin, of whom no less than 100 are elite Jonin who have awakened the three-tomoe Sharingan. At the same time, it also has nearly 1,000 Chunin and Genin of various kinds. Moreover, most of these people are veterans who have experienced the First Shinobi World War and have extremely strong combat power.

Such formidable military strength allows the Uchiha clan to easily annihilate many small countries on its own. If they were to have internal conflicts with a village and truly break off relations and fight, even the currently powerful Konoha would not dare to underestimate them.

Although under the careful tutelage of the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, Kagami Uchiha grew into a new-era ninja with a heart devoted to Konoha and a magnanimous spirit, and became the new head of the Uchiha clan with his formidable personal strength, and was determined to lead the Uchiha clan to become the protectors of Konoha and contribute to the modernization of Konoha, theoretically eliminating the possibility of betrayal by the Uchiha clan.

However, the clan head is not a dictator of the clan, and he alone cannot defy the collective will of the entire clan. Even someone as powerful as Madara Uchiha, with such terrifying strength and military achievements, ultimately could not resist the collective will of the Uchiha clan and had to step down in disgrace.

Therefore, although Uchiha Kagami, as a disciple of the Second Hokage, had accepted Tensei's identity as the future Third Hokage in a private meeting with Senju Tobirama, it remains unknown whether most of the ordinary members of the Uchiha clan would agree to and acknowledge Tensei.

After all, when the Senju and Uchiha clans formed Konoha, both the First and Second Hokage were from the Senju clan. Therefore, if the Third Hokage wasn't chosen from the Uchiha clan, it would likely provoke opposition and protests from them. As the saying goes, "The emperor's throne rotates, tomorrow it's my turn." The Senju and Uchiha clans joined forces to conquer the land; why should the First and Second Hokage be from the Senju, but the Third Hokage not be from the Uchiha?

However, judging from the reaction of the Uchiha clan members just now, Tianqing felt that the Uchiha clan was quite satisfied with his becoming the Third Hokage. After all, his strength and reputation were undeniable, and there was no one in the Uchiha clan who could rival him. Moreover, the serious mistakes made by Uchiha Madara in the past had also hindered Uchiha Kagami's path to becoming Hokage.

Therefore, at least for now, the Uchiha clan has no intention of betraying the village. Instead, they intend to remain under the protection of Konoha and are willing to accept Ameyoshi as the Third Hokage.

After dealing with the troublesome Uchiha clan, Tianqing's schedule became much simpler and easier.

The remaining ninja clans, such as the Hyuga, Sarutobi, Yamanaka, and Nara clans, are not a major problem. They are all major customers of Tensei's puppet weapon shop and have very close business ties. Therefore, they deeply understand Tensei's importance to Konoha. In addition, Tensei is now recognized in the village as the second strongest ninja after the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, so it is reasonable for him to succeed as Hokage.

After all, the current Tianqing is no longer the ordinary genin she was at the end of the First Shinobi World War.

The battle in the desert, a battle at the level of a Tailed Beast, triggered a sandstorm and gale-force winds that raged for dozens of miles around the battlefield. Such a natural disaster could not escape the eyes of those who were paying attention. The unconscious Jinchuriki who was carried back after the battle announced a fact that terrified all the Sand Village ninja and delighted the Konoha ninja—Konoha had produced another powerful ninja capable of single-handedly confronting a Tailed Beast. Such combat strength directly left the "Hero of Ninja," Hiruzen Sarutobi, far behind.

Therefore, the scene of Tianqing's meeting with these ninja clan forces was unusually relaxed and pleasant. Basically, Tianqing led her people into their homes, and with a "friendly" smile, asked, "From now on, I am your third-generation Master. Do you have any questions?"

All the ninja clans shook their heads in unison: "No problem! Master, you say who to cut down, and we'll cut down whoever you say to cut down. You say to crush chickens, and we'll never hunt rabbits. We will resolutely obey Master's orders, defend the territorial integrity of Dongmu City, unite around Master, and cut down all the trash that stands in our way!"

Okay, nice! The oath agreement without the need for a spell is complete! The Third Master of Konoha has gained several more supporters!

..................

After Tian Qing gained the support of most of the ninja clans in the village, all that remained was to go through the usual procedures of a vote of trust among all the Jonin in the village and to report to the Daimyo for approval.

However, since ninja clans make up more than half of the total number of Jonin in Konoha, as long as Tensei gains the support of most of the ninja clans, passing the village's Jonin trust vote will be no problem at all. As for reporting to the Daimyo for approval, there is no need to worry about the Daimyo refusing.

Regardless of the era or world, the class that wields the strongest violence always holds the greatest say. Therefore, the ninjas, who possess the world's strongest martial arts, are the highest class in this world, while the daimyo are merely nominal leaders who can only occasionally exploit the internal conflicts within the ninja class to make some moves, but can never truly become the masters of the ninjas.

Therefore, it is highly unlikely that the Daimyo would reject Tensei's Hokage appointment application. If he dared to reject it, this audacious Daimyo would probably disappear in a few days, and someone else would take over the responsibilities of the Daimyo and stamp the reports of the ninjas.

After that, Tianqing didn't need to be busy with anything anymore. She could just stay at home leisurely and continue her puppet research in the laboratory in her spare time, waiting for the Konoha army in the Land of Rain battlefield to withdraw, and for the Jonin in the other Konoha army stationed on the border to return to Konoha Village. Only then could she officially hold a vote of trust for all the Jonin in the village.

"Finally, I can get a good night's sleep! These past few days have been filled with meetings, big and small, and I've had to constantly concentrate on scheming against those old foxes. Even when I was working overtime on documents in my previous life, I wasn't this tired!" After dinner, Tian Qing went straight to her soft, warm bed to catch up on her sleep.

Don't tell someone who's incredibly sleepy that eating and then going to sleep right away is bad for their health. Sleep is the most important thing in the world. Doesn't anyone know that the blanket has a magical power? I remember in the legends of Tianqing's past life, every blanket was engraved with a magic circle by some magicians when it was manufactured, so that everyone would be unconsciously attracted to the blanket and fall asleep. So it's not that I'm lazy; I'm just another victim of the "blanket magic" (serious face).

..............

P.S. First update. There will be another update today. Please continue to vote!

Chapter 19 Orochimaru who wants to go back to the past