The world I hear is completely different from yours.

This is also why the Third Kazekage relied so heavily on Maki during his lifetime. No matter how much torment and anger filled his heart, Maki was still able to keep his mind rational and calmly think about the next step of the plan.

The ability to remain calm and composed under no circumstances should extreme emotions be swayed by any situation; this is a fundamental quality of a commander!

I remember in my past life, there was a game that trained a nerdy guy's mental fortitude, turning him into a commander. In the game, the nerdy guy would play the role of a naval commander, leading ship girls into battle. No matter how many doujinshi were made of the ship girls he admired, or how many times they were defeated and captured, the commander, whose hat was turning purple with green, must always keep a calm head and continue fighting to achieve final victory and become a qualified commander.

Never letting extreme emotions cloud your judgment—that's a fundamental quality of a commander! I'll say it again!

After finishing his soldier's rations, while his comrades rested, Maki took out the letter he had read countless times from his pocket. It contained a few short lines written in lively cursive script:

Dear careless Sand Ninja, your lost Kazekage has been found by a kind person. Please go to Valley No. XX in the Valley Country to collect it from the staff. — Respectfully submitted by Mr. Uchiha Madara, a kind person who wishes to remain anonymous.

A small fragment of the Third Kazekage's clothing was also found among the paper.

"Uchiha Madara?" Maki muttered to himself, "Wasn't he long dead? What is this letter sender trying to do by impersonating him?"

"No matter what, we'll see when the time comes!" Maki subconsciously glanced back in the direction of the Land of Wind. At the same time they set off, the Land of Wind had already assembled an army of over a thousand near the Land of Valleys. Upon receiving Maki's signal, they would immediately cross the border and annihilate the Land of Valleys. To find the missing Third Kazekage, the Sand Village was even willing to launch a war of annihilation.

"Achoo!!!" Yekura, who was facing the wall, suddenly sneezed. "Strange, did I catch a cold? Or is someone missing me?" Then, Yekura, who had been engrossed in waiting for Pain, suddenly remembered the letter she had written to the Sand Ninja. She quickly ran out of the cave: "Oh no, I'm going to be late! I wonder if those Sand Ninja will be furious and start a war after being stood up?"

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

PS: Bonus Chapter

Chapter Sixteen: Minato Namikaze: Actually, I'm also Madara Uchiha

"I hate waiting for others, and I hate being waited for," Scorpion muttered to himself as he sat alone on a large rock.

Although according to the information given by Yekura, a fairly large Konoha caravan would pass through the small valley in front of Sasori in the next few days, after Sasori waited alone here for two days, not a single ghost appeared in the valley in front of him.

At this moment, Scorpion suddenly felt that he could understand how Yekura felt when she was lying on the table, poking at the cake and shouting "She didn't come!"

Of course, Sasori would never admit this to Yekura, otherwise that silly woman would definitely burst into laughter and shout things like "You've finally met your match!" So, to prevent that woman from becoming arrogant, Sasori felt it was better to keep this a secret.

Time ticked by, and looking at the desolate valley ahead, Scorpion finally couldn't help but mutter, "They still haven't come."

However, the Konoha caravan had already arrived, but on a small hill some distance from the valley, the Konoha caravan stopped. Then, the people in the caravan worked together to gather the caravan's wagons together, erect a fence, and prepare to set up camp.

"What happened, Minato-sensei?" Amidst the sounds of people working, Nohara Rin opened her eyes and asked. Having been on duty not long ago, she had just managed to catch a nap. "It's still early, isn't it? Why did it suddenly stop?"

Minato Namikaze looked at his three students with a serious expression and began to assign tasks: "Genin Kakashi Hatake, Obito Uchiha, and Rin Nohara! I now require you, as the Jonin leading the team, to begin carrying out the secret mission assigned by the Hokage!"

Seeing the unusually serious expression on their usually gentle teacher's face, the three genin straightened up, waiting for the next instruction.

"Kakashi, after I leave, you will be in charge of the squad. During the time I'm gone until I return, you will be responsible for the safety of the entire caravan, understand?! If necessary, I will allow you to use that thing!"

"understand!"

"Obito, Rin, you two will disperse into the caravans and be responsible for reassuring the caravan's owners. Follow Kakashi's orders and be ready to assist Kakashi at any time."

"Yes!" Even though Obito usually competed with Kakashi, at this moment, the instinct of a ninja to obey orders and the high degree of organization and discipline immediately appeared. Obito had no objection to Minato's order and immediately acknowledged Kakashi's leadership position.

"You have three hours. If I haven't returned in three hours, you'll have to take the caravan back." After saying this, Minato Namikaze looked at the three students' worried eyes and added with a smile, "Don't worry, I'll be back on time."

In the short ten minutes or so after leaving the caravan, Minato Namikaze quickly traveled a distance and then walked alone into the small valley.

It was already evening. Under the full moon, Minato Namikaze looked up at the red-haired boy sitting alone in the moonlight.

"Only one person? It seems the information Ye Cang received was a trap!" Scorpion stood up, dusting himself off. "But you dared to come alone, which takes some guts. What's your name? After all, I'm too lazy to name my next puppet."

Minato Namikaze squinted at the red-haired boy wearing a rogue ninja headband and said, "To tell you the truth, my name is Uchiha Madara."

scorpion:"........."

Although Sasori refrained from unleashing a torrent of abuse at Minato to avoid lowering his own fashion sense and maintaining his expert demeanor, a torrent of curses ran through his mind. "What the hell! Using a fake name is one thing—everyone uses a stage name to cover their tracks sometimes—but this is way too perfunctory! How dare you casually claim to be Uchiha Madara? If you're Uchiha Madara, then I'm Senju Hashirama!"

"So there's still no reaction?" Minato Namikaze secretly checked a special instrument in his hand. The instrument's feedback indicated that everything underground was normal, and no unusual objects were detected.

This was another special mission that Amemori gave to Minato Namikaze, called the "Uchiha Madara Exploration Project".

Based on the timeline of the original story, Madara Uchiha should be quite old by this point and actively seeking a replacement. Since he was able to find Obito Uchiha as his substitute in the original story, it's possible he'll do the same this time. That's why Tensei devised this plan and entrusted it to Minato Namikaze to execute.

The instrument in Minato Namikaze's hand was specially made for this purpose. Konoha's research department, under Ame-haru's orders, spent several years developing it. Its sole function is to scan the surrounding hundreds of meters underground with a perspective even more detailed than the Byakugan, to confirm whether any special life forms are lurking underground.

Minato Namikaze's job was only one thing: whenever he encountered an enemy, he had to reveal his identity and tell them that he was Madara Uchiha. If White Zetsu was really lurking around, it would definitely be psychologically affected by Minato's words.

While the device might not be able to detect anything unusual when Bai Jue is fully focused on hiding underground, it should be able to detect when Bai Jue's inner energy is leaking out.

Unfortunately, nothing unusual was found this time either.

"Then I'll have to carry out the mission of protecting the caravan first!" Minato took out a kunai and shot it at Sasori opposite him.

"A routine test?" Scorpion looked at the kunai flying towards him, a cold smile appearing on his lips.

Red Secret Technique * Eighteen Naked Men!!

A bald man with a strong, muscular physique appeared next to Sasori, casually punched the kunai away, and then charged towards Minato Namikaze along with seventeen other muscular men.

"These are the eighteen naked men from the caravan rumors?" Minato Namikaze looked at the charging puppets and unrolled the scroll in his hand. "You didn't leave any other puppets to protect yourself. It seems you're different from other puppeteers. You're very confident in your close-combat abilities."

The next second, a golden light flashed!

Saint Cloth activated! Aquarius Gold Cloth!

Then, Minato Namikaze, dressed in his Gold Cloth, charged straight into the enemy's encirclement like a god descending to earth!

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

Chapter Seventeen: Young man, let me teach you how to fight.

How strong was the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze? Many people have debated this question, and opinions vary from various perspectives, ranging from the weakest Hokage to someone who could easily defeat the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju. It seems that everyone has a different assessment of Minato Namikaze's strength.

The reason for all this is that Minato Namikaze's skill set can only unleash its full power when used tactically in battle. Therefore, his strength cannot be judged solely by the power of his moves. Or, to use a gaming analogy, Minato Namikaze is a hero who requires skillful maneuvering to truly shine.

Take, for example, a popular hero named Lee Sin. If you can play him skillfully and make him look amazing, he's the ultimate kung fu master, the jungler monk, easily carrying the whole game; if you can't play him well and make him look bad, he's just a clueless, feeding mess.

To elaborate further, unlike the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, who relied on his powerful Sage Mode to summon a giant wooden doll and charge into battle against enemies, Minato Namikaze was an ultimate assassin who used the Flying Thunder God Technique to teleport infinitely, searching for enemy weaknesses and waiting for the right moment to unleash a Rasengan to instantly kill them.

Therefore, if we only consider these two different fighting styles, when facing enemies weaker than himself, the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, was better at crushing weaker opponents and had a higher damage resistance than Minato Namikaze.

Hashirama Senju could leap into a massive horde of enemies like Lu Bu, unleashing his devastating attacks. Relying on his incredibly high defense and massive health, he could withstand enemy assaults, hacking his way from one end of the battlefield to the other without breaking a sweat, then back again, leaving his enemies screaming in despair. Minato Namikaze, on the other hand, lacked Hashirama's defensive capabilities. Despite his high damage output, he couldn't withstand damage, forcing him to rely on his Flying Thunder God Technique to dodge attacks. Therefore, he wasn't as efficient at easily defeating weaker enemies as Hashirama.

Therefore, in the ninja world, Hashirama Senju, who could withstand thousands of troops single-handedly, was the "God of Shinobi," while Minato Namikaze was merely the "Yellow Flash."

However, when facing opponents stronger than himself, Minato Namikaze's ability to withstand pressure and harass is better than Hashirama Senju's.

When faced with an enemy stronger than himself, and unable to defeat them head-on, Hashirama Senju rarely had a chance to turn the tide, finding himself in an awkward situation where he couldn't win a fight and couldn't escape. Minato Namikaze, on the other hand, could utilize the Flying Thunder God Technique's superior mobility to wage guerrilla warfare and endurance battles. For example, against the resurrected Madara Uchiha, Hashirama couldn't withstand the direct confrontation and was quickly defeated and suppressed, while Minato was able to use the Flying Thunder God Technique to dodge and weave, managing to exchange blows and even showcase his Nine-Tails Mode in subsequent attacks. From this perspective, Minato's ability to challenge stronger opponents was superior to Hashirama's.

Therefore, in general, regardless of the opponent, Minato Namikaze, possessing space-time ninjutsu, was always in a superior position, able to fight or retreat at will, possessing an absolute strategic advantage. In the original story, if Minato hadn't been protecting his wife and children, how could he have been ambushed by Obito?

However, before the Third Shinobi World War broke out, Minato Namikaze was just a Jonin with little fame. Sasori naturally did not know the strength of the Konoha ninja in front of him, let alone how much Minato Namikaze's combat power had been enhanced by the Aquarius Gold Cloth.

So when Sasori saw Minato Namikaze charge straight into the encirclement of the eighteen puppets, he sneered inwardly and immediately manipulated the puppets to surround Minato. These puppets were all handpicked by Sasori; each possessed unique ninjutsu and power. Although it was a small team of multiple puppets, under Sasori's control, they moved with the perfect harmony of a single person!

In an instant, they all launched an attack on Minato Namikaze simultaneously. Fists, kicks, weapons, ninjutsu, genjutsu—attacks of different types and at different distances came at Minato Namikaze at the same time.

We won! As long as the opponent is still a human with two hands and two feet, there's absolutely no way they could block so many attacks at once! At the very least, we can break through their Saint Cloth! Sasori thought to himself.

The next moment, all the attacks from those puppets hit nothing but air, while Minato Namikaze appeared right next to Sasori!

Flying Thunder God Technique! The kunai that Minato Namikaze shot at Sasori at the start of the battle, only to be knocked away by the puppet's punch, was a specially made kunai engraved with the Flying Thunder God Technique formula! Then, using the spatial coordinates provided by this kunai, Minato Namikaze instantly escaped the puppet's encirclement and teleported over!

"Rasengan!!" Minato Namikaze unleashed a whirlwind in his left hand, gathering a large amount of chakra into a sphere radiating a blue aura, which he then slammed down fiercely towards Sasori!

However, the Rasengan didn't hit Sasori's face. At that critical moment, Minato Namikaze disappeared from Sasori's side again, dodging an iron sand spear that pierced from behind Sasori!

The Third Kazekage's puppet Magnet Release: Sharp Spear!

After disappearing from Sasori's side, Minato Namikaze instantly teleported to the side of one of the puppets of the "Eighteen Naked Men." It turned out that in the brief moment when he rushed into the encirclement formed by the eighteen puppets, Minato Namikaze had secretly left the Flying Thunder God mark on the back of this puppet to facilitate his teleportation!

Boom!! The Rasengan that Minato Namikaze was originally going to smash into Sasori's face changed its target and smashed into the back of the human puppet. Instantly, the Rasengan's enormous destructive power tore the human puppet into pieces!

"That was close! I almost died!" Sasori felt a wave of fear after seeing the puppet's fate after being hit by the Rasengan. If he hadn't habitually left the Third Kazekage behind him to protect himself and hadn't timely manipulated it to use Magnet Release: Sharp Spear to force back Minato Namikaze, who had teleported over to launch an attack, Sasori would have been instantly killed by the opponent's Rasengan in that instant!

Scorpion underestimated his opponent in this battle! In a battle between masters, one cannot be careless or underestimate the opponent for even a moment, otherwise, it is easy to be defeated in a moment of carelessness.

This was especially true against Minato Namikaze, known for his speed, the "Golden Flash," where victory and defeat were decided in a mere instant, and life and death were determined!

This time, Minato Namikaze taught Sasori a good lesson!

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

P.S. Bonus chapter! Have a great weekend, dear readers!

Leave

There were some things going on today, so there will be no update for now. I apologize to all my readers.

There were some things going on today, so there will be no update for now. I apologize to all my readers.

There were some things going on today, so there will be no update for now. I apologize to all my readers.

There were some things going on today, so there will be no update for now. I apologize to all my readers.

Chapter 18 Scorpion: Pay-to-win is the strongest martial art!

Making mistakes in battle is not shameful, but it is truly shameful to refuse to correct them when the enemy points them out, simply because you are too proud to admit it.

So when Scorpion realized he had made the mistake of being careless and underestimating his opponent, he immediately took action and corrected this mistake that could have cost him his life.

"Saint Cloth activated! Heavenly Shame Star Saint Cloth!" He immediately revealed his trump card, unleashing his full power!

Now, Sasori no longer cares whether the damage to his Celestial Cloth from the previous battle with the Third Kazekage has fully healed, no longer cares about the enormous depletion of his puppet reserves from fighting at full power, and no longer cares about whether going all out will attract unnecessary enemies. The only thing he is considering now is the battle in front of him!

The enemy he is facing now is a formidable foe with enough strength to take his life, so Scorpion must go all out!

The moment the Saint Cloth covered Sasori's body, the puppets on the field suddenly became much more agile. Originally, they were controlled by Sasori using chakra threads, but with the help of the Heavenly Puppet Saint Cloth, Sasori was able to control the puppets using magnetism. Since he no longer needed to use his fingers to operate them, there was no limit to the number of puppets he could control, and the puppets' agility also increased significantly.

"How did you get that Saint Cloth?!" Minato Namikaze was shocked when he saw the Heavenly Star Saint Cloth worn by Sasori. Wasn't this the Saint Cloth of the Root organization that the Third Hokage, Tensei, had allocated to Danzo? How could it appear here, and on the body of a rogue ninja from the Sand Village?!

Sasori didn't answer Minato's question at all, but instead untied the scroll on his back.

Crimson Secret Technique: Summon Poison Explosion Bugs!

One! Ten! A hundred! A thousand! In the night sky, under the full moon, thousands of red-robed puppets appeared instantly! These thousands of red-robed puppets, named "Poisonous Explosion Insects," floated in mid-air under Scorpion's command, clustering around him and completely surrounding him from all sides, preventing any enemy from approaching their master. At the puppeteer's mere thought, this unstoppable torrent would pounce on any enemy without hesitation.

"Now my surroundings and the sky above me are filled with poisonous insects. If the opponent teleports over and touches any of the puppets, it will cause a huge explosion. I can use the Third Kazekage's Magnet Release to protect myself in the explosion, but the opponent cannot protect himself in the explosion. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been knocked back by a Magnet Release: Sharp Spear! In other words, as long as I surround myself with poisonous insects, he will not be able to teleport over and attack my main body directly!"

Then, with a thought from Sasori, nearly a hundred Venomous Insects rushed out of the main force and crashed into Minato Namikaze! The remaining Venomous Insects, like landmines buried next to the base, spread out in layers around Sasori and in the air above him.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! As expected, the nearly one hundred poisonous insects that rushed towards Minato Namikaze missed their target and exploded in mid-air, creating a series of huge explosions.

Flying Thunder God Technique! Minato Namikaze teleported to the other side of the valley, frowning as he looked at Sasori, who was heavily protected by the Poison Explosion Bugs.

"Wait a minute! Those self-destructing golems can actually emit poison gas!" After easily dodging the attacking poisonous insects, Minato Namikaze was surprised to find that as the self-destructing golems exploded, they also sprayed a large cloud of dense green poison gas into the surrounding air, enveloping the area where the golems exploded.

"So, the other side wants to use these poisonous gases to restrict my teleportation?" Minato Namikaze immediately understood Sasori's plan. The other side had no way to deal with his teleportation, so he simply planned to use the poisonous gas emitted by the poisonous insects to seal off the space of the battlefield and constantly squeeze his room to move around. After all, he couldn't teleport into the poisonous gas, could he?

"I need to make one thing clear first: this poison gas was just concocted by me, and I'm the only one in the world with the antidote. And even if you don't breathe air, just a tiny bit of this gas on your skin will poison you!" Sasori looked at Minato Namikaze, a cold glint in his eyes. "Now let's see where you can run to?"