The world I hear is completely different from yours.

As a new force in Konoha, once the returning expeditionary force has rested, they will follow the expeditionary force to the front lines and go to the battlefield to support their comrades who are still fighting bloody battles in the Land of Lightning and the Land of Water.

...........

PS: Bonus chapter added. Please continue to add to your favorites and recommend.

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

P.S. This volume is a bit longer than expected; it's about time to switch to a different theme.

Interlude, Brother Jie, please! Obito Uchiha's ending!

Tick-tock! Tick-tock! Tick-tock! Tick-tock!

Amidst the seemingly endless dripping sound, Obito Uchiha gradually regained consciousness. He then strained to open his eyes, only to be met with a pitch-black sewer. In the past, Obito could clearly see everything in the dark simply by activating his Sharingan, but now he had no chakra left and could only barely make out his surroundings by the faint light from the sewer.

The silent sewer was deserted, and everything was exactly as it had been before he lost consciousness. The pipes above his head were still dripping sewage, and the ditch next to him emitted a foul stench. Occasionally, one or two fat rats would dart across the floating filth.

"Am I still in the sewer where I was hiding? Does that mean those people haven't found me yet?" Obito muttered to himself, his parched throat beginning to ache. "How long have I been unconscious? Looks like I need to drink some water to replenish my strength."

Then, he tried to move his body to stand up, but his body did not respond. He felt nothing in his limbs, as if these organs did not exist in his body. Only then did Obito realize that he could not even turn his neck or head.

"Was the nerve in my cervical spine that controls my paralysis caused? I can't believe I've woken up like this?" Obito thought helplessly. But how much longer could he live? The huge wound on his body was still bleeding profusely, staining the sewer floor red.

Then, Obito recalled the weapons that the Uchiha assassins had swung at him before. Those were truly terrifying and precise attacks. If it weren't for his father's desperate intervention at the last moment, his head would probably have been chopped off. He was only able to hide in this filthy and smelly sewer thanks to the opportunity his father had given his life for.

"I never thought my family would still not let me go in the end. On the run, everyone died one by one—Father, Mother, Sister..." Images of his loved ones dying tragically flashed through Obito's mind, and a wave of sorrow washed over him. Then, a wave of dizziness washed over him, the final warning from his body after severe blood loss. "It seems I'll soon be joining them in the afterlife too. I wonder how Kakashi and Minato are doing now?"

In the very end, Obito vaguely saw that figure deeply etched in his heart: "Rin... I wonder if you're still safe? Minato-sensei should be able to protect you, right?"

Rin turned around and revealed the smile that Obito would never forget.

Obito's eyes were glazed over, his face grew increasingly pale, and his thoughts began to freeze: "I'm so... sorry... I've dragged you all into this..."

Amidst the goddess's smile, Obito Uchiha breathed his last.

After a long while, a rat with blood-red eyes cautiously crawled over and tentatively bit Obito's finger to see if the big guy in front of it would react. If there were no surprises, it was ready to take the opportunity to have a feast.

Crack! Suddenly, a piece of stone broke off from the sewer wall, fell to the ground with a crisp sound, and startled the rat, which squeaked and ran away.

Crack! More and more rubble fell down, revealing a crack in the wall that grew larger and larger. Gradually, the crack widened and eventually expanded into an opening that could be used by humans.

"Finally, we've dug through!" A person dressed entirely in white jumped out of the hole, then immediately covered his nose: "Huh? What? It's a sewer? And a sewer with an extremely foul stench at that!"

"Shut up! You stupid groundhog! And you call yourself the best digger among White Zetsu!!!" Another White Zetsu emerged from the hole, looking disgusted. "Eh? What did I step on?"

"It looks like a human corpse? Judging from the family crest on its clothes, it's from the Uchiha clan. Should we take it back with us?"

"You stupid groundhog! Why did you bring him back?"

"He's from the Uchiha clan, you know. He's from the same clan as Madara Uchiha. Maybe Madara will take a liking to him after we take him back? Maybe Madara will then have us repair this Uchiha brat's body, teach him ninjutsu, help him awaken the Mangekyou Sharingan, and finally have him carry out our plan in Madara Uchiha's name?" The White Zetsu who was digging the hole said with a wild imagination.

"Heh, do you think Uchiha Madara is such a saintly fool?"

"But what if..."

"You stupid groundhog! Take a closer look. This Uchiha brat is already dead. Madara can't revive him now. Do you think Madara would be interested in a corpse? Hurry up and drag him out and throw him away. This is a passage we'll be passing through frequently in the future. Do you want this thing to rot here and stink us to death?"

"Should we just cut off the Sharingan...?"

"We don't need this kind of thing, so hurry up and throw it away!"

"Oh..." White Zetsu, who was digging the hole, scratched his head, picked up Obito's corpse, climbed out of the sewer, and threw it into a clump of grass.

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

After a while, flies appeared, and soon after, wild dogs, vultures, and other scavengers would arrive one after another, completely erasing everything from nature.

Suddenly, a young ninja wearing a headband made of hot springs limped over and fled in panic toward the bushes.

Whoosh! A kunai flew by!

With a scream, the young ninja collapsed to the ground in agony, blood gushing from the spot on his leg where the kunai had struck him.

Then, his pursuers appeared. They were a group of people dressed in strange clothes, who looked like typical cult members, as if each of them had "We are bad guys" written on their faces.

Young Tang Ren struggled and begged for mercy, "Your Excellency, no, please, please let me go! I really didn't see anything!!"

“Hidan, to be able to sacrifice yourself for His Highness the Evil God is an unparalleled honor. We would kill for it. How can you shirk this great mission?” The bishop waved his hand. “Take him back.”

Seeing the group of people approaching, Hidan screamed in terror, "Genius, no! Genius! Didn't you say you were bringing me here to see the hot spring goldfish?"

Amidst Hidan's screams, the bishop suddenly spotted a leg emerging from the bushes: "Huh? There's an Uchiha corpse here? Perfect, let's take it back and offer it to the Jashin-sama. Perhaps the corpse of an elite clan will please the Jashin-sama greatly!!"

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

P.S. I need to revise the outline for the next volume, so there will only be one update today. Please add to your favorites and recommend!

Chapter 1: Good cooking skills are a warm man's asset

As dawn broke, the vibrant sun once again illuminated the sky above Konoha Village, and many ninjas gradually emerged from their homes to begin their morning training.

Senju Nawaki didn't go out, but instead packed his luggage alone in his room, preparing to head to the next battlefield. The expeditionary force that had returned victorious from the Land of Wind had been resting in Konoha for some time and would soon be assembled and setting off for the Land of Water and the Land of Lightning to support their allies who were still fighting the enemy.

Despite the impending life-or-death battle, Senju Nawaki showed no fear or unease about stepping onto the battlefield; instead, she displayed a hint of anticipation and excitement.

"Finally, I can see Brother Shisui again! I wonder how Brother Shisui's Triple Speed ​​Divine Skill is progressing? I can't wait!"

As a devoted fan of Uchiha Shisui, Senju Nawaki visited Uchiha Shisui several times after returning to Konoha. However, at that time, Uchiha Shisui was busy with Minato Namikaze dealing with the reconstruction work after the internal strife of the Uchiha clan, so he naturally had no time to communicate with Senju Nawaki.

However, with a major battle imminent, it is likely that a master like Uchiha Shisui will once again step onto the battlefield to make contributions to Konoha.

Thinking this, Senju Nawaki secretly made up her mind: "I'll go find Sister Tensei later and ask her to use the Hokage's authority to put me and Brother Shisui in the same combat team! This time, I must learn Brother Shisui's triple-speed drifting and triple-speed slashing techniques!"

Suddenly, a commotion outside interrupted Senju Nawaki's daydream of becoming the king of PUBG.

"What's going on? Why is the clan's territory so lively today?" Senju Nawaki grumbled, heading towards the door to see what was happening outside.

Before he could even reach for the doorknob, the door was flung open, and a blonde female ninja with a magnificent figure stood outside, looking at him with the kind of gaze a mother gives when checking on her teenage son to see if he's secretly hiding pornographic books in his room to masturbate.

"Sister? Weren't you supposed to stay in the Land of Wind to oversee the ceasefire and peace talks with the Sand Ninja?"

"It's all settled. But you, where are you planning to pack your things and go?" Tsunade asked.

"I'm making preparations for the expedition, planning to set off to bring glory to the Senju clan!" Senju Nawaki naturally knew what to say at this moment. If he dared to say that he was going to the battlefield to follow his elder brother Shisui, Tsunade would probably teach him a lesson with her fists the next moment.

"Hmm, very good, that's ambitious!" Tsunade smiled with satisfaction, but secretly she was thinking about whether she should go to Tensei later and ask her to use her Hokage authority to arrange Senju Nawaki in a safer position within the expeditionary force.

"Oh, right, there's one more thing." Senju Nawaki suddenly recalled the message that a Konoha ANBU member had come to report earlier, "Sister Ame is coming here for lunch later, the ANBU member just said so."

Immediately, the siblings looked at each other and smiled, without saying a word.

........

At noon, Tian Qing arrived at the Senju clan's territory right on time, intending to have lunch there.

"It's still so desolate here." Looking at the empty Thousand Hands Clan territory, Tian Qing always felt a strange sense of emotion. He watched the high-rise buildings rise, the guests arrive, and the people leave. This kind of family history of extinction always makes people feel the great power of time.

In the past, Tensei often came to the Senju clan to freeload lunch. It wasn't because Tensei wanted to get on good terms with the future Fifth Hokage Tsunade, nor was it because she planned to add herself to the Senju clan's household registration. The reason was simply because Uzumaki Kushina was currently living there as well.

Yes, although in the original story Kushina Uzumaki moved to a separate building after marrying Minato Namikaze, she actually lived in the Senju clan's territory before that. The reason is simple: the Senju clan's territory contains many jutsu personally set up by the First and Second Hokage, which can effectively help Kushina Uzumaki control the Nine-Tails within her.

Similarly, these techniques can also effectively limit the power of the Nine-Tails, preventing the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, Kushina Uzumaki, from accidentally going berserk. It's obvious that Konoha wouldn't allow a nuclear weapon-like force like the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki to reside freely in the village's core area. If the Nine-Tails were to go berserk and unleash a Tailed Beast Bomb attack on the village's core, the losses to the entire village would be catastrophic!

Therefore, every now and then, Tensei, as the Hokage, would use the excuse of freeloading to visit the Senju clan and check on Kushina Uzumaki to see how the Nine-Tails was doing.

Of course, Tianqing had to admit that Minato Namikaze's cooking was indeed very good, with a taste comparable to that of a five-star hotel chef, which was one of the reasons why she often came to freeload.

Minato Namikaze was indeed very considerate. Even when he was busy with work, he would always make time to use Flying Thunder God Technique to arrive at the kitchen at noon and prepare lunch for Kushina. I wonder what kind of expressions the ninjas who worked with Minato Namikaze would have when they saw him teleport back a moment later, covered in the smell of cooking oil?

It seems that good cooking skills are indeed a must-have for a warm-hearted man. Maybe that's why Kushina fell for Minato Namikaze? Tianqing sat at the dining table, listening to the sounds of Minato Namikaze fiddling with pots and pans in the kitchen, and couldn't help but think to herself.

"Tianqing, why do you always assign so much work to Minato? He's been incredibly busy these past few days!" Kushina said, pouting as she handed him tea, clearly dissatisfied.

“Young people, they always have to work overtime, especially capable young people like Minato,” Tianqing replied slowly, taking a sip of tea. Overtime work is indeed inhumane, but the problem is, for a young person aspiring to climb the ranks, how can they gain respect if they don't take on more responsibility and achieve more? Especially for a commoner ninja like Minato Namikaze, without any background, he needs to put in twice the effort to surpass his well-connected rivals and win the position of the next Hokage. You know, how many ninjas desperately want the Hokage to assign them more tasks and give them more opportunities to prove themselves?

Of course, Kushina wouldn't pay attention to these things, or rather, being always smart, she subconsciously ignored them and focused only on her boyfriend.

Is this what they mean by women in love being blind? Tianqing took another sip of tea: "Kushina, why isn't this tea sweet? Did you forget to add sugar?"

"Yes, I added it. I just added a spoonful."

So that's how it is. So this is the bitterness of being single? Tian Qing thought to herself speechlessly.

...........

Chapter Two: As long as you don't call me back, anything is negotiable!

Seeing Kushina Uzumaki standing aside, secretly fuming for her boyfriend, Ame decided to add fuel to the fire by bringing her more bad news. Of course, this was definitely not revenge from a single person against a sweet couple who were constantly showing off their affection.

"By the way, Kushina, although Minato has almost finished dealing with the Uchiha clan's affairs, he can't be idle afterward. After all, the village is still short-handed, so he will soon leave the village to continue fighting on the front lines."

"Eh? You're sending Minato away from the village on another mission?" Kushina Uzumaki pouted so much her lips could hang a large oil bottle, looking utterly displeased, like a typical red-haired tsundere princess from an anime, practically screaming "Wulusai! Wulusai!" at Ame-chan. After all, Minato Namikaze had been incredibly busy these past few days, leaving Kushina, who secretly harbored feelings for him, feeling quite helpless.

"Relax, this time it's not about giving him any missions. This time, I plan to make Minato Namikaze the commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force." Ame finished her tea in one gulp, then handed the cup over, gesturing for Kushina to refill it.

"Huh? Commander-in-Chief? Is this really okay, Tenmei?" Kushina was very surprised, and didn't even bother to refill Tenmei's teacup. "Is it really okay to suddenly give Minato such a high position? Won't people say you're showing favoritism?"

As a Jinchūriki, Kushina naturally hoped that her boyfriend could become Hokage. As the ultimate weapon of a country, Jinchūriki have always been monitored and managed by the highest leader of the village: the Hokage. In other words, if Minato Namikaze did not become Hokage, then his marriage with Kushina would probably have little hope. After all, how could the new Hokage of the village let a Jinchūriki fall into the hands of an outsider? What if something happened to the Jinchūriki under the instigation of an outsider?

Although Kushina had always hoped that her boyfriend could ascend to the Hokage throne as soon as possible, she still did not expect that Tensei would give Minato Namikaze such a high position so quickly. After all, the village was full of talented people. Tsunade and Orochimaru, two of the "Legendary Sannin", were in the village. Not to mention that Tensei himself had just led the team to a great victory. How could it be that Minato Namikaze, a Jonin, was chosen as the commander-in-chief?

Tenqing gestured towards the teacup—Kushina then realized what was happening and quickly added tea—before Tenqing explained, “Actually, in terms of reputation and strength alone, Minato, who just perfectly handled the Uchiha clan's post-war affairs on behalf of the village, is now barely qualified for the position of commander-in-chief. As for seniority, he is indeed inferior to Tsunade and Orochimaru. But that doesn't matter, because this expeditionary force will be divided into two. One army will be commanded by Orochimaru to support one battlefield, while the other army will be commanded by Minato to support the other battlefield. Tsunade will stay in the village to support me and won't leave. Therefore, after ruling out other capable candidates, the decision to make Minato the commander-in-chief won't raise any questions.”

"Really?" Kushina was overjoyed, her face beaming with joy. "Then I'll go tell Minato the good news right away!" But then Kushina seemed to remember something and immediately changed her mind. "No, no, you should tell Minato. It's not appropriate for me to do it."

Heh, you scheming woman! Tianqing immediately saw through Kushina's thoughts. She was worried that if she told Minato the good news herself, Minato might mistakenly think that Tianqing promoted him because of his girlfriend Kushina. Kushina was afraid that this would hurt Minato's pride, so she changed her mind and hoped that Tianqing would convey the good news.

Hmm, she really is a thoughtful girlfriend. But why don't I have such a thoughtful girlfriend? Tian Qing suddenly felt the tea in her cup becoming more and more bitter, and the resentment of being a single dog grew deeper and deeper.

Then, when Tianqing saw Namikaze Minato carrying a plate of food out of the kitchen, she suddenly had a wicked idea. She decided to play the victim and tell Namikaze Minato that it was because she couldn't resist his girlfriend Kushina's persistent pleading that she decided to bend the law and order Namikaze Minato to become the commander-in-chief of a Konoha reinforcement army.

Hehe, sorry Kushina, as your best friend of many years, I'm going to show you what a fake friendship is. This is the resentment of being a single dog!

Unfortunately, before Tianqing could speak, Minato Namikaze chuckled and said, "Then thank you very much, Hokage-sama. I will definitely perform well this time, make meritorious contributions, and strive to return as soon as possible to marry Kushina."

The plan to falsely accuse someone first was instantly thwarted! Tianqing covered her face speechlessly. Damn it, I forgot that ninjas have very keen hearing, especially for powerful ninjas like Minato Namikaze. Seeing in all directions and hearing in all directions is not a problem. So how could Minato Namikaze, who was cooking in the kitchen, not hear Kushina and Tianqing's conversation?

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

In a basement somewhere, Yekura looked solemnly at the letter in her hand, which was an order she had just received from the Akatsuki organization.

"This is bad. Could it be that Pain has remembered me?" Ye Cang frowned bitterly, feeling the light letter in her hand become unusually heavy. After all, she had changed the mission without permission, causing many Akatsuki members to die. Now, Ye Cang had a guilty conscience and was afraid of everything.

"Does this order mean I have to go back and meet Pain?" Ye Cang's mind flashed back to the image of Pain, who wore an Ultraman mask and exuded an aura of dominance as if he were a god descending to earth. His brainwashing style, which could brainwash people at the drop of a hat, had scared Ye Cang so much that he didn't even have the courage to meet Pain.

What if, after meeting, Payne says, "Young man, you're quite good. Come learn to drive an excavator with me!" Wouldn't I immediately become an excavator driver, vowing to dig flat the continent, dig to the Earth's core, dig through the world, and finally dig to the stars and the sea?

Immediately, Yekura began to think about where she could hide if she betrayed Akatsuki, and at the same time, she also considered the feasibility of joining the Allied Shinobi Forces and becoming a glorious guide.