Konoha: Offer your heart to the Hokage!

Ze Mu remembers it very clearly.

He had only wanted to protect his family and friends, until that masked man suddenly showed up, beat him up, and recruited him into the Akatsuki. From that moment on, he rose from the second-in-command of the Akatsuki to the position of the First Hokage.

It's like a dream.

He later learned that the masked man's name was "Zhu".

Before attending the Five Shadows Conference, Lord Zhu specifically instructed that his existence must never be revealed to anyone.

"Haha, the title of God of Shinobi is just something the world recognizes." Hashirama Senju laughed and patted Sawaki on the shoulder. "In that case, in my opinion, you also deserve the title of 'Demigod of the Shinobi World'."

"This...this is really too much to ask."

Zemu quickly declined, but he was even more flustered inside.

He knew his own limitations perfectly well. Even Lord Zhu had never called himself a demigod, so how could he dare to accept that title?

Hashirama looked at him intently:

"Demigod does not refer to the power of a ninja, but to the pursuit of the ideal of peace. As long as you persist on the path of protecting peace, you are worthy of the title of demigod."

Hashirama, pleased with the gesture, immediately said, "If you encounter any problems during the process of sealing the Four-Tails, you can post a request in Konoha, and I'll give you a 50% discount."

"Yes……"

The God of Ninjas bestowed the title of "Demigod" upon the leader of the Akatsuki ninjas.

And the future Sound Ninja demigod might bestow the title of "Sannin" upon Hashirama's granddaughter.

Back and forth, these titles have formed a perfect Möbius strip.

……

The preparations for this Five Shadows Conference lasted a full two weeks.

With everything settled, Shen and Hashirama Senju set off back to Konoha. Just as they were about to reach the village, halfway there, Hashirama stopped and mysteriously said to Shen:

"Shen'er, I have something to do, so I won't go back to the village yet. You go back first."

Gambling is depressing...

That's normal.

In just six months, Hashirama had accomplished one feat after another: the final battle at the Valley of the End, the capture of the Tailed Beasts, and the preparation for the Five Kage Summit. Now that everything was finally settled, Hashirama wanted to find a place to relax.

Shen Er nodded: "Take your time playing."

He then returned to Konoha alone.

The first thing they saw was Tobirama Senju, who was handling government affairs, explaining the results of the Five Kage Summit.

"Have the Tailed Beasts already been given to them?"

"The Hokage has already given out the summoning scrolls. Right now, they're probably trying to find a way to seal the tailed beasts."

After saying that, Shen Er placed a heavy sealed scroll on the table.

Inside the scroll was a huge sum of 4 billion ryo, which various countries had handed over to Konoha.

Even Tobirama, who was usually calm, composed, and never showed his emotions, couldn't hide his excitement after sensing the wealth inside the scroll: "Great! With this money, the village won't have any funding problems for at least twenty years!"

Twenty years?

It happened right around the time of World War II, and Tobirama's judgment was remarkably accurate.

Shen Er smiled and said, "The Gospel Hospital costs 500 million taels of silver, and a lot of its medical equipment needs to be replaced and upgraded."

Of those 500 million taels, at least 30% would be secretly misappropriated for his own use.

Tobirama readily agreed and, with a wave of his hand, transferred the funds to the Gospel Hospital's account.

"The Ninja Academy also needs 500 million ryo, and many teaching facilities need to be updated. This plays an indispensable role in cultivating excellent ninjas for the village."

While he may seem to be fighting for funding for Chiri, he is actually doing it for himself.

The more outstanding and powerful a Konoha ninja is, the higher the quality of the hearts and experimental materials they will be able to obtain in the future.

"Okay, okay! You can have them all!"

The four billion ryo he had just received was immediately divided up by one billion. Tobirama felt a pang of regret, but he also understood the importance of medical care and education to Konoha, so he readily gave away the money.

After finishing our business.

Tobirama asked curiously, "Where is my older brother?"

"They probably... went to Tanabata Street."

...

Konoha 12th year.

Two years have passed since the Five Shadows Conference ended.

During these two years, the ninja world was generally stable.

With Hashirama Senju's overwhelming power in sweeping away the tailed beasts as a deterrent, and a brand-new peace treaty as a precedent, the major ninja villages dared not be so shameless as to provoke war again.

At most, there will be some minor frictions at the border.

Local conflicts occasionally break out between the smaller ninja villages that did not receive a tailed beast.

Because of all these factors, the entire ninja world gained a chance to recuperate and entered a rare period of rapid development. Among them, Konoha, which received 40 billion ryo in special funds for tailed beasts, developed the most rapidly.

Walking on the street gives me a feeling of being in a different world.

It was as if we had sped from the backward Warring States period to modern society. Utility poles and streetlights rose up on both sides of the streets, and electricity, once a luxury, began to enter every household.

Outside the Hokage Building, Shinji was eating ramen at Ichiraku Ramen.

In a peaceful ninja world, there is actually little room for an ambitious person like him to maneuver.

My life is a monotonous routine.

He wandered back and forth between the Zen Institute, the Hokage Building, the Gospel Hospital, and the Ninja Academy.

This is his seventh year in Konoha.

The owner of Yile looked much older, transforming from a young and vigorous man into a middle-aged man. Looking at Shen'er, he couldn't help but sigh, "Shen'er, you haven't changed at all."

"Ah."

In two years, he even had three more heart replacements, two of which were of the special Jonin level.

According to news from Uchiha Yan, a group of rogue ninja coveted the Four-Tails held by Akatsuki and launched a brazen attack on the village. The outcome was predictable: the entire group was slaughtered. This battle also showed the ninja world that Akatsuki was not a pushover to be bullied.

Two special Jonin died silently, without making a ripple.

Their hearts were naturally sent to Shen'er's body as well.

To this day, Shen Er possesses two Fire Release techniques, as well as one Wind Release, one Earth Release, and one Lightning Release technique; his strength levels are one Kage-level, one Jonin, two Special Jonin, and one Chunin.

The overall quality of chakra has been greatly improved, and lifespan has been extended once again.

If I could see the horns, I'd probably be so envious I'd cry.

Finish this bowl of noodles.

Then they headed to the Hokage Building.

...

After Tobirama's style of doing things matured, Hashirama Senju gradually delegated all power to him, while he himself stepped down to the sidelines and even visited the Hokage Building less often.

On weekdays, he either spends his time playing cards in Tanche Street or mingles with the villagers, living a carefree and leisurely life.

Hashirama would only appear without fail when important meetings were being held.

Today is such a moment.

In the conference room, Tobirama was presiding over a seminar on information about the Tailed Beasts.

Nara Taro gave the report:

"According to the latest intelligence, Sunagakure sealed the Three-Tails Isobu into an unknown Jinchuriki. Using the Three-Tails' power, they created an oasis lake, greatly improving their water supply problem. Meanwhile, Kirigakure, with the help of the One-Tails Shukaku, is using sand to reclaim land from the sea, continuously expanding their land area..."

Hashirama was the first to remark, "That's wonderful. Everyone's lives are getting better and better. There probably won't be any more wars in the future."

Hard to say.

Tobirama frowned, harboring a view completely opposite to that of Hashirama.

Ordinary people might think that when life gets better, they just want to live a peaceful life; but ambitious people think differently. The improved situation only allows them to accumulate advantages, and when they reach a certain point, they will turn to war to further expand their interests.

With the Sand Village solving its water problem, its ninjas can focus on training, leading to a stronger military; with the Mist Village expanding its landmass, its population and resources grow simultaneously, resulting in a similar increase in its strength...

After all.

These two ninja villages are merely converting the tailed beasts from military to civilian use. Once the people's livelihood issues are resolved, the civilian tailed beasts will be converted back to military use, which will pose a threat to Konoha.

You can't help it.

The two brothers were polar opposites: one extremely optimistic, the other extremely pessimistic.

Nara Taro's report continued:

"Besides Akatsuki and Yugakure requesting assistance from Uzushiogakure to seal the beasts, Takigakure, Kusanagi, and other villages have all completed the sealing of the tailed beasts using their own methods."

"The Hidden Village of Uzushiogakure has shared information with us. The Jinchūriki of the Hidden Village of Hot Springs is named Masaki, and the Jinchūriki of the Hidden Village of Akatsuki is named Tomoaki."

The sealing techniques of the Uzumaki clan are stable and reliable, and have a remarkable effect on tailed beasts.

However, other ninja villages with sealing techniques were unwilling to issue requests to the Uzumaki clan.

The reason is also very simple.

For a village, the existence of a Jinchuriki is a top secret. If the Uzumaki were to be asked for assistance, the details of the Tailed Beasts and their Jinchuriki would be exposed, increasing the village's defensive risks.

Then there's the cost.

The reward for entrusting the Uzumaki clan with the task of sealing the tailed beasts is enough to be equivalent to dozens of regular S-rank missions.

This has made many countries envious of the Whirlpool Clan.

However, due to their alliance with Konoha, they dared not have any other ideas.

"The Eight-Tails Jinchuriki of Kumogakure went berserk a month ago, causing large-scale destruction to the village. It was only after the First Raikage intervened that the Eight-Tails' rampage was suppressed. Many witnesses said that Raikage A was struck down by the Eight-Tails more than once during the battle."

"The Five-Tails' rampage also broke out in Iwagakure, and it was only through the intervention of the Tsuchikage, Tsuchikawa, that it was suppressed."