Konoha: Offer your heart to the Hokage!

The moment he saw the face clearly, Tobirama's pupils contracted sharply. He recognized the ninja wearing the Sand Village headband and exclaimed, "Ebizo? And... the First Kazekage's puppet?!"

Two corpses and a puppet lay silently on the ground.

At that moment, Tobirama was deeply shocked.

Ebizo was no ordinary ninja. He was the younger brother of Chiyo, a high-ranking official in Sunagakure, and the brother-in-law of the First Kazekage. In Konoha, his status was roughly equivalent to that of Mito Uzumaki. Although not a nominal elder, he possessed weight and influence comparable to an elder.

The puppet of the First Kazekage is of extraordinary significance. Putting aside its symbolic meaning as a spiritual totem of Sunagakure, it is the strongest puppet in Sunagakure.

The fact that Sunagakure would go so far as to send out ninjas of this caliber to assassinate Jinji demonstrates their determination to break out of the desert.

But that's not the key focus right now.

The crucial point is that this heavyweight ninja actually died at the hands of the couple, Shen and his wife.

This is probably the highest-ranking ninja to have died in battle since the war between the four great nations began.

What couldn't be done on the battlefield, was accomplished off the battlefield.

"The night before last, Ebizo from Sunagakure, Rashi from Kumogakure, and Onoki from Iwagakure launched a surprise attack on us. Except for Onoki, who was a clone, the other two were killed by Chiri."

Upon hearing this, Tobirama's mind raced with a multitude of thoughts...

These two corpses undoubtedly have extremely high utilization value.

If we were to use the extreme methods of the Warring States period, we could simply cut off their heads, string them on long poles, and display them on the front lines to intimidate the enemy and crush their morale.

However, after entering the era of ninja villages, war requires civility and adherence to bottom lines, and such barbaric and brutal behavior is somewhat inappropriate.

While Tobirama was pondering, he even released the Heavenly Compassion Thread and, right in front of Tobirama, used the Heavenly Compassion Thread to connect to and operate the First Kazekage puppet.

His actions drew a surprised look from Tobirama: "You can control puppets?"

"Yes, puppeteers use strings to control their puppets, and my bloodline limit happens to be a type of string, which is a natural counter to puppeteers. Actually, that night, I killed Ebizo alone. His cause of death was insufficient intelligence gathering on me."

"..."

Tobirama said sincerely, "I really should have sent you to Sunagakure as the commander-in-chief."

He never expected that Tian Ciyu could be used in this way. The seemingly ordinary bloodline limit was turned into something amazing by Shen Er.

Although Jin is a medical ninja, he possesses extremely high combat intelligence, in no way inferior to him. Just as the Uchiha clan is a counter to Kumogakure, Sunagakure's proud puppet techniques and poison techniques are rendered useless in front of Jin.

At this moment, Shen Er spoke up: "I have an idea."

"Oh? Tell me about it."

A dangerous glint flashed in his eyes:

"Tobirama, for the sake of Konoha, use the Impure World Reincarnation on Ebizo!"

Chapter 144 Not even afraid of being splashed with cold water

Use the Impure World Reincarnation technique on Ebizo!

Tobirama Senju smiled knowingly; he and Senju had the same idea.

The method of beheading is too barbaric and lacks dignity. Even if they win the war, Konoha's barbarity will be criticized. Tobirama's brother's ideal was to make Konoha the most civilized village in the ninja world, and he naturally did just that.

Since that's the case, we'll use ninja methods to revive Ebizo and send him to intimidate Sunagakure.

But...did they really think alike?

Even though Edo Tensei could also be used, they deliberately had Tobirama do it. When Edo Tensei Ebizo appeared on the battlefield, Tobirama would be the only ninja known as inherently evil.

No one would associate it with him.

Shen Er analyzed, "Sunagakure suffered heavy losses in this battle. A large number of their ninjas were killed by the Edo Tensei ninjas that night. Sending Edo Tensei Ebizo again now... will probably greatly affect their morale."

"Furthermore, with the Three-Tails defeated by me and its poison ninjutsu rendered ineffective, Sunagakure has no more cards to play."

"If they know what's good for them, their best option is to surrender to Konoha."

In just over a month, Sunagakure was defeated and forced to surrender...

Before the intelligence came back, if anyone had told Tobirama these things, he would never have believed it. But unexpectedly, just because Shinji went to the front lines, so many changes occurred, turning the impossible into possible.

Shen Erzhen is truly the most unpredictable ninja in Konoha.

But after thinking it over, Tobirama poured cold water on Jin's hopes: "I also hope so, but I'm afraid it's not that simple."

"The Sand Villagers, who live in the desert, are actually very patient and not afraid of being discouraged. This victory only served as a cold shower for them, cooling down their ambitions but not extinguishing them."

"Unless the other two also show signs of surrendering, Sunagakure will most likely continue to fight Konoha to the death. However, their strategic objective will shift to containing Konoha, which will reduce the pressure on our defenses."

Tobirama's words pulled Jin from his reverie.

The war must continue, but the winds of victory are already blowing from the desert.

“I’ll throw buckets of cold water on them,” Shen said.

He wanted to end the war with Sunagakure as soon as possible, and he wasn't concerned about the casualties in Konoha; those were not his considerations. As long as it wasn't a battle he was involved in, the more ninja who died, the more responsibility Tobirama would have to bear after the war.

The real purpose was to get Chiyo to focus her energy on developing the Reincarnation technique in order to revive her brother.

But after Tobirama's analysis, even he felt that the war wouldn't end so quickly.

After concluding their discussion about Sunagakure, Tobirama spoke to Jin about his upcoming plans:

"However, even if Sunagakure does not surrender, the battle lines will cool down. I plan to transfer some ninja units to support the Iwagakure battlefield, where the situation is critical. I will have Hiruzen Sarutobi lead the team, along with my Shadow Guards."

The inevitable has arrived: Hiruzen Sarutobi has been dispatched to the battlefield.

This was probably his first time leaving the village to carry out a war mission.

She even feigned concern, asking, "After the Shadow Guard was transferred, are you doing alright?"

"What could possibly happen to me while I'm stationed in Konoha?" Tobirama said with great confidence. "Besides, in terms of self-defense, even Onoki from Iwagakure, who can fly, is no match for me. Right now, no one in the ninja world can pose a threat to me. Having the Kage constantly guarding me would only be a waste of their strength."

As long as there is no target to protect, the Flying Thunder God Technique is virtually unbeatable for survival. Apart from ultimate genjutsu like Infinite Tsukuyomi, which has no blind spots, it is hard to think of any ability that can control the user of the Flying Thunder God Technique.

Tobirama said with a headache, "Onoki's ability is indeed very troublesome. At this stage, the Edo Tensei ninjas do not have the ability of powerful body sleight of hand, so they are just targets in front of his Dust Release. They have no way to get close and will be swept away by Dust Release."

There is probably a relationship of mutual support and restraint between ninja villages.

The Dust Release technique, which Iwagakure excels at, clearly counters Konoha's Fire Release and Impure World Reincarnation; the Cloud Village, relying on the superior mobility provided by Lightning Release, can also counter Iwagakure's fighting style; while Konoha's Uchiha and Hyuga clans respectively exert pressure on Cloud Village and Kirigakure...

Under this restrained relationship.

Konoha committed the most resources to the Iwagakure front, yet still failed to gain the upper hand.

Shen Er is naturally aware of this.

The future Legendary Sannin of Konoha were nearly wiped out by Iwagakure, with Minato ultimately saving the day thanks to his exceptional mobility. Konoha's most humiliating defeat came when Iwagakure brought them to their doorstep, culminating in the infamous Battle of Kikyo Mountain.

But we can deduce the process from the result.

In the original timeline, Hiruzen Sarutobi was able to become Hokage smoothly not only because Tobirama appointed him, but also because he had made contributions. If Tobirama's arrangements for him did not change, it means that he had made contributions on the battlefield in Sunagakure.

At least the situation wasn't allowed to deteriorate further. In the end, the Mizukage and Tsuchikage exploded, allowing Konoha to reap the benefits and declare victory.

The battle for the Third Hokage begins now.

Shen Er believed he was in a superior position in every aspect, but he was cautious by nature, and if he were to travel to a Western fantasy world, he would be a cautious hero.

Since there was no way to change Tobirama's mind and make him leave Hiruzen Sarutobi in the village to serve as a member of the Shadow Guard, he had no choice but to take another precaution.

Bringing her thoughts back to the present, she looked at Tobirama and said, "Tobirama, I plan to expand the scope of Root's operations, recruit talented research-oriented ninjas, crack puppet techniques, and create puppets belonging to Konoha."

"This Kazekage puppet represents the technological pinnacle of Sunagakure's puppetry. It utilizes the latest technologies, and if we can reverse engineer it, Konoha's overall military strength will be greatly enhanced."

As he spoke, he fiddled with the Wind Shadow Puppet, his intentions being quite clear.

Tobirama Senju nodded and said, "You're right."

The two reached a high degree of consensus on this matter.

Tobirama immediately pledged to fully cooperate with Shinji's new project, prioritizing the supply of manpower, materials, and financial resources.

Shen Er never intended to monopolize the puppetry technique from the very beginning.

This matter is of great importance and cannot be kept from Tobirama.

If Sunagakure can't retrieve the puppet on the battlefield, they'll resolve the issue through diplomatic channels the next day. For example, they might send an envoy to demand the Kazekage puppet back. Even if they deliberately conceal it, Tobirama will eventually find out about it from outsiders.

Furthermore, it must be admitted that Asura was right.

Human energy is limited; if we let Shen Er break the puppet technique on his own, who knows how long it would take. Many hands make light work; concentrating Konoha's resources on major tasks will be much more efficient.

Moreover, researching puppets is very expensive, and it is difficult for an individual to afford it; the ninja village must cover the costs.

After Sasori joined Akatsuki, he was supported by Kakuzu and Konan, who were like two money-printing machines.

Shen Er said, "This research needs to be conducted in secrecy, preferably only between you and me, without revealing any information to others. No matter whether Sunagakure is coercing or bribing us, we must stick to our guns and not admit it."

Tobirama understood immediately: "I understand, I understand."

Konoha is already strong enough; their Impure World Reincarnation technique is the most disgusting disruptor on the battlefield. If the four great nations were to learn that Konoha is still secretly cracking Sunagakure's core puppetry technique, they would surely be wary and would do anything to obstruct and sabotage their research.

It might escalate the war again, or even become the trigger for the Second Shinobi World War.

Even if they ultimately fail to reach Konoha's homeland, they will likely take the diplomatic route of the Daimyo, issuing a threat from a secular perspective to force the Daimyo of the Land of Fire to order a halt to the research.

Konoha is not afraid of external threats, but it fears internal pressure.

At this point, Tobirama, the Hokage, still has to play the bad cop.

Only by quietly completing the research and producing results, and waiting for everything to settle down, will other countries, even if they are full of dissatisfaction, no longer be able to interfere.

If your enemy launches a war on the grounds that you suspect you are developing a secret weapon, you'd better actually have one.

The research project on puppetry was listed as a core village strategy of Konoha.

Tobirama offered a suggestion: "Researchers can be selected first from the Dark Bureau, and if that's not enough, we can recruit from outside."

"I have recently developed a new seal that can be planted behind the tongue, preventing the target from revealing specific information in any form. This seal can be used to recruit researchers later."

Seemingly worried that Shinji might have a moment of maternal instinct, Tobirama added, "As compensation, the reward can be more generous."

The seal that eradicates tongue-related calamities was actually developed by Tobirama.

Shen Er was somewhat surprised.

Originally, he had established the root of the flavor, but because it lacked the root of the tongue, it was always a bit lacking.

With Tobirama's help, the little one was able to get up with just a scratch.