In Konoha: I will spread the will of conquest throughout the ninja world.

Hidden Rock Village.

"Old Purple!"

"Onoki!"

Tsuchikage's office.

The two men, of equal height, glared at each other, neither willing to yield. Their imposing presence was so strong that the guards outside dared not turn around and stood ramrod straight.

Standing on his specially made office chair, Onoki roared, "Are you trying to stage a coup, you bastard?!"

Roshi scoffed, "Onoki, that's all the cunning you've got. Everything I'm doing now is for the sake of Iwagakure!"

He sneered.

"Onoki, your days of issuing orders to Iwagakure from above and treating people like expendable resources are coming to an end!"

"Consumables? Those are necessary sacrifices for the prosperity of the village! They are the embodiment of the will of stone!" Onoki's face was as black as the bottom of a pot.

Although I do give orders for the village's ninjas to use suicide charges, those are necessary sacrifices for victory!

Subsequent events proved how correct their decision was, with Iwagakure achieving victory after victory.

That damned old Zi, how dare he spout such nonsense about himself!

"It's just a manifestation of your incompetence."

Onoki went crazy.

"You bastard who made the village spend so much money to redeem you, how dare you say that! Do you know how much the village sacrificed for you! If that money had been used for the construction of Iwagakure Village..."

Before he could finish speaking, Old Zi interrupted him rudely, scoffing, "Use it for village construction? I wouldn't even dare to hear you say that!"

He knew this dwarf better than anyone. First, he admitted that Iwagakure had indeed spent a lot of money on him and the tailed beast on him. Second, if that money were still in Iwagakure, Onoki would not have used it for public welfare construction, but would have invested heavily in mass production of troops.

This has been Onoki's consistent strategy since he took charge of Iwagakure.

If there aren't enough geniuses, cannon fodder will fill the gap.

It would be worth sacrificing five hundred ninjas if we could take down the genius on the other side!

Onoki was furious and kept rambling on about how his strategy was the most suitable for Iwagakure, the path to defeating Konoha and reaching the pinnacle.

"So, did we win?" Old Purple retorted. "When have we ever won against Konoha in a direct battle? Your strategy is completely useless! A waste of funds!"

Inhale, exhale.

Onoki felt that if things continued like this, he would have a heart attack.

Damn it, what's wrong with this bastard? His brain works so fast.

He realized with a start that he absolutely couldn't follow his lead!

"And what about you? What have you done for the village? You've even wasted a lot of the village's resources!"

Old Purple looked at him with a strange expression: "I am the Jinchuriki of the Four-Tails, and I can skillfully wield the power of the Tailed Beast."

I won't argue with your point of view on anything else, but as I stand here, do you dare say I'm wasting a lot of the village's resources?

If you've got the guts, try pulling out the four tails. If you can do that, I'll lie down on the ground and wait for you to do it.

"Hmph, in any case, my will will not change. Iwagakure must change. I will use my will to oversee Iwagakure, urging everyone to persevere without slackening!"

Old Zi issued an ultimatum.

Such scenes have frequently played out in the Iwagakure office over the past two years.

The ninjas of Iwagakure noticed that Rōshi had changed completely since he returned from Konoha.

He began to pay close attention to children who were bullied from a young age, especially orphans, and even the descendants of fallen heroes suffered discrimination and bullying in the ninja world.

Looking back at history, he discovered that when Hashirama Senju, the first Hokage and God of Shinobi, was still alive in Konoha, none of the other four great ninja villages dared to start a war.

At that time, the four major ninja villages even formed an alliance in practice, tacitly resisting the pressure from Konoha.

That was the most peaceful time in the ninja world.

Finally, he came to a conclusion.

As long as there is a will above everyone else in Iwagakure, anyone who disagrees will be eliminated or forcibly instilled with that will.

Indiscriminate attacks on everyone.

Once a goal is set, everyone's attention will be drawn to it, and a certain degree of peace can be achieved!

He was weak and could not achieve the terrifying power that the God of Shinobi once possessed, which influenced the entire shinobi world. However, his strength was still among the top in Iwagakure, especially after his transformation and return to Iwagakure from Konoha.

In the entire Hidden Stone Village, only the Tsuchikage can surpass him in terms of raw strength. If they were to fight, even the Tsuchikage would not be able to defeat him.

This is also why Onoki was helpless against him.

I fought it, but not completely.

They could only watch helplessly as he unleashed the Will of Conqueror that he had comprehended in Iwagakure.

As it turned out, his theory was correct. For the past two years, most of the attention in Iwagakure has been focused on him. Those who were keen on bullying others had all been taught a lesson by him to some extent, and all eyes were now on him.

But that's not enough.

He knew that as long as the weaknesses of Iwagakure remained, this situation would be broken when he grew old or someone surpassed him in strength.

So he needs money, lots and lots of money! Money to improve the village!

Therefore, while spreading his will of dominance throughout the village, he also ordered the ninjas gathered around him to conduct a major investigation into the nobles of the Land of Earth.

In a few blinks, they arrived at the steep cliffs behind Iwagakure Village, gazing at the distant green beyond the village.

silence.

In terms of talent and strength, he was far inferior to that child whose talent surpassed everyone in the ninja world. Over the past few years, he had often heard rumors about him.

His greatest strength and age were his advantages, followed by his methods with the nobility.

Everyone was speculating about how much money he had gotten from the nobles.

He was curious too.

So, for the sake of the village, for that future where everyone sees themselves as a goal to surpass, approach, or overthrow and replace, Igogen-kun! I will learn from you little by little!

"Four-Tails, help me."

"You've said too much."

Inside the sealed space, the carefree Four-Tails grinned: "Besides, I'm also very curious about the future you described."

For the past thousand years, the tailed beasts have been free, and any humans who dare to disturb them are crushed into dust and mincemeat.

Only two outliers emerged in the last era; otherwise, the Tailed Beasts' carefree days could have continued.

Later, it was captured by humans and stuffed into the stomach of a so-called human jinchūriki, which made it quite agitated for a while.

Although the situation is still the same, life is much more interesting than before.

Now it understands why some humans enjoy cricket fighting and rhinoceros beetle fighting. These little gadgets are really fun. Who researched them?

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Grass Hidden Village.

Sakumo Hatake frowned, his brows furrowing and his facial muscles shrinking like a dehydrated orange.

As a traditional ninja who is not so traditional, it is understandable that Isogen is too bloodthirsty, as long as he does not attack the villagers.

Even if they attack the villagers, as long as no one dies, everything is fine.

They can maintain contact with ninjas from other ninja villages.

To be honest, if this person wasn't Isogen, he would have reason to suspect any other Jonin in the village.

But the fifty strings... can only be described as universally acclaimed.

Even so, he was still worried that Isogen might be deceived, after all, ninjas were combat personnel who specialized in intelligence work.

"No, he's a really nice guy. He even gave me some local specialties from the Land of Earth. I'm planning to go there and get some local products later."

Orochimaru's eyes lit up when he heard "local specialties".

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.