"Madara-sama."
Black Zetsu watched as Madara remained lost in thought and couldn't help but call out to him.
The current Uchiha Madara was Black Zetsu's creator. He was an important pawn for rescuing Mother! Therefore, there must be no mistakes. If he experienced extreme emotional swings and couldn't catch his breath, it would be bad if he accidentally kicked the bucket.
"What is it?"
Phew~, good, he's still alive.
"Should we bring back Madara-sama's eyes? As long as we seize the right opportunity, I believe it will be quite simple."
"No need."
Madara pondered for a moment and shook his head.
"Now is not the time; it is not yet time for us to reveal ourselves. Let him first establish bonds in Sunagakure. The more bonds there are, the more will be destroyed when the time comes, and the greater his hatred will be."
You've got to be kidding; what's the use of bringing them back now? I haven't prepared anything, nor have I found a spokesperson.
Therefore, for the sake of the Ninja World's peace and to prove it to Hashirama, for now... we must absolutely not be discovered!
Caution! Caution! And more caution!
As one of the Five Great Hidden Villages, their strength won't be too weak. Currently, I can only act one more time, so I mustn't move lightly.
"Madara-sama is wise."
Black Zetsu subtly flattered Uchiha Madara; the Uchiha, after all, loved hearing sweet words.
"Go, just continue executing according to my plan. Keep an eye on my eyes and continue searching for a suitable spokesperson."
Having said that, Uchiha Madara fell back into a deep sleep...
"School is about to start soon."
Unaware that Sunagakure was about to attract a wave of White Zetsu, Shayan was currently in the Kazekage's office.
This was Shayan's first day back at work after resting for two days. At this moment, Shayan was at his desk organizing stacks of paper. These were the brand-new teaching materials he had prepared for the upcoming school opening in Sunagakure.
They were all personally written by Shayan.
After all, education is of paramount importance, and this year, Chiyo's grandson, Sasori, was also starting school, which made Shayan take it even more seriously.
There must be no carelessness! Otherwise...
What if an accident happens?
Shayan muttered to himself while writing.
"Morning reading is essential; the whole day's plan depends on the morning! The adults going to work will surely be very happy when they hear the clear sound of reading coming from the school..."
Besides, during such a good time in the morning, the brain memorizes things quickly and firmly. How can it be wasted!
"Daily Taijutsu is also indispensable! Having a strong body is very important! Radio gymnastics? No, you can't treat the children of the Ninja World as just children. Let them first run a lap around Sunagakure, then add stretching, yoga, and all that. They must become the dancing kings of the battlefield!"
"In the future, whether they are Ninjutsu users, Genjutsu users, or puppet masters, as long as they are shinobi of Sunagakure, they must have strong bodies and flexible limbs!"
When the time comes, speakers will be installed all around the village, and the volume must be loud! It will also serve to remind the villagers to get to work and help chase away their sleepiness.
Perfect!
And after-school entertainment... Ninja Battle Royale? That's not out of the question.
The more he wrote, the more he added. A smile couldn't help but appear on Shayan's face, as if he could see the day when the children of Sunagakure would grow up strong and healthy.
But then he seemed to think of something and couldn't help sighing.
"Unfortunately, Sunagakure doesn't have any powerful Taijutsu specialists. Aside from Fūton and Doton, other Ninjutsu are relatively scarce; we can't compare with Konohagakure at all."
I still need to continue bringing in talent. I wonder when Nidaime-sama will wake up; I'll have him find a way to create some Ninjutsu then.
After all, he is the shinobi who developed Jiton (Magnet Release), so developing some other Ninjutsu shouldn't be a major problem.
Then there's Fūinjutsu. It looks like I'll have to find Shukaku, but I also need Shukaku for road construction.
Sigh! Still not enough people, not enough foundation.
Knock, knock~
The sound of knocking echoed.
Shayan snapped out of it and called out, "Come in."
An Anbu member walked in and said, "Kazekage-sama, Nidaime-sama has awakened."
Whoosh~
The papers were blown up by a gust of wind. When that Anbu looked up, the space in front of him was already empty.
Inside a special ward at Sunagakure Hospital.
"Cough, cough... You did the right thing. If we had continued fighting, we would have definitely lost, and we would have been dragged down to defeat by our own people."
The recently awakened Second Kazekage, Shamon, lay on the bed and spoke calmly to Shayan. Since Sunagakure has already gained benefits from the Second Great Ninja War, there's no need to step back into the vortex of war.
"Hehe, I thought you would blame me when you woke up—blame me for why I stopped the war," Shayan said with a smile.
"No. Starting the war was my idea, and because of my impulsiveness, Sunagakure was nearly plunged into the abyss. It was you who pulled Sunagakure back."
During this period of wakefulness, Shamon had completely calmed down.
Previously, he had become increasingly conceited. By studying Shukaku, developing Jiton, improving the Kugutsu (Puppet Technique), and developing Sunagakure, he had forcibly raised the strength of the historically weak village by a significant margin. He looked down on everyone in the world, and as a result, he nearly died.
Now, he had truly been beaten awake. He was just an ordinary Kage-level shinobi, not skilled in combat at all. Only his scientific research was somewhat noteworthy.
"Indeed, if it weren't for me, grass might have already started growing on your grave, Sensei."
Shayan joked unceremoniously, leaving Shamon with a face full of dark lines.
Damn, why does this kid have to have such a mouth? Shamon thought frantically.
Sigh~, thinking back to the original story, if it weren't for Shayan, the word 'tragic' wouldn't even begin to describe Sunagakure during this period.
"Please rest well for now; I'll still need you later."
Shamon did not refuse. After all, as someone who had been the Kazekage, no one knew the hardships and shortcomings of Sunagakure better than he did. Therefore, Shamon knew Shayan needed him.
After visiting Shamon, a weight was lifted from Shayan's heart. At least there was one more person to help him share the pressure.
He returned to the office to finish the remaining teaching materials.
Sigh~, I wonder how production is going over on Sasuke's side; he hasn't even written a letter to report. Too much. He doesn't respect me as the Kazekage at all...
Land of Rain.
"Jiton: Satetsu!"
A shinobi in deep blue was forming hand seals, the chakra in his body depleting rapidly.
Soon, a large amount of black particles surged from the ground, gathering into a vast expanse.
"Sasuke-sama is truly amazing. In just a few short minutes, he can mine so much iron ore."
"Exactly. Sasuke-sama alone is worth a week's output from a large mining team."
"If you ask me, Kazekage-sama is the most impressive for actually coming up with this method."
"Yes, yes. Who would have thought Ninjutsu could be used like this?"
Listening to the conversation of the other shinobi, Sasuke's face was already darker than the iron ore.
"Damn that Shayan. How did I fall for his big scam? He said it would increase my strength, but I'm just here to be a miner!"
Half an hour later, Sasuke, whose chakra was nearly exhausted, finally stopped releasing the jutsu.
"Alright, this iron ore is enough for three days. I'll come back in three days."
Sasuke finished speaking with a dark face and left immediately, not wanting to spare another look at this place.
"Sasuke-sama, wait." The mine manager walked tremblingly toward Sasuke and said, "Sasuke-sama, the No. 2 mining area also needs you to extract some more. Recently, the scale of the war has intensified, and orders over there have increased, so the iron ore is running a bit low."
"I know."
Sasuke's face grew even darker.
As expected, it would be better if this damned Ninja World was just destroyed. Damn that Shayan!
...
Sunagakure had built a total of three factories here. They were the iron ore smelting factory, the Ninja Tool manufacturing factory, and the extra-long steel cable manufacturing factory.
All three factories were guarded by shinobi, but if a Sensory Type were to sense from close range... they would discover that most of the high-end combat power was in the third factory.
That is, the extra-long steel cable manufacturing factory.
Because this factory was crucial to whether Sunagakure's first five-year plan could be successfully implemented, and whether Sunagakure could break out of its isolation and attract more merchants.
After all, Shayan was a transmigrator and knew the principle that "to get rich, one must first build roads."
Currently, Sunagakure could only rely on funding from the Land of Wind's Daimyō and commissions from missions. Of course, this was also the main source of income for most Ninja villages.
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