Born in Sunagakure, dedicated to antagonizing Konoha for decades

He so wished time could stand still at this moment, a moment when he felt as if he had returned to his peak...

.....

After the welcoming ceremony, when Sunagawa arrived at the Kazekage Tower, the main event began. All the leaders were the same, enjoying the flowers and applause. Reaching the high platform of the Kazekage Tower, Sunagawa first produced a draft he had painstakingly prepared through countless sleepless nights, and then read it aloud to the villagers below with great emotion. However, unlike Hiruzen Sarutobi of Konoha, Sunagawa's draft essentially said that although Sunagakure had lost the war, they had fought with their own spirit and style, and compared to the weaklings of Iwagakure, they had persevered to the end, and were just a hair's breadth away from overthrowing Konoha's hegemonic rule...

Finally, he delivered a heartfelt and inspiring speech to his subordinates, urging them to work even harder in the future, to take this setback as a starting point, strive for excellence, and work together to build a better home, etc.

"Fengying wrote his own manuscript? No way! His writing talent is almost as good as mine! (⊙_⊙)?"

Looking at Sunakawa, who was spewing profanities and seemed completely uninterested in defeating the leader of the opposing side, Masato doubted the author of the article and asked Mada, the Kazekage's bodyguard captain, who had also gone to this war. Mada, after all these years, still couldn't wrap his head around it. Seeing him go out healthy and come back with only one arm, it was clear that he was too immersed in the role and charged too aggressively during his daily battles.

Everyone was just tacitly putting on a show, but this guy, even though he's a father, is still so clueless. Why is he rushing in so recklessly? He's probably retired by now. Ninjas rely on ninjutsu, and ninjutsu requires hand seals. One-handed or foot-based hand seals are common in storylines, but this guy can't think straight. Those fancy tricks are out of the question. He should just go home and raise the next generation with his father. At least he's alive, while the Anbu prince, Roca, is already dead!

320. Handsome Scorpion: This guy can even do hand seals with one hand?

Roca, the current heir of the Anbu, is the son of Shinto's old boss. It's possible his future fourth-generation leader's father was actually killed by his own efforts. This kid has the fate of an Anbu heir but not the luck. Last time, he survived following behind me, but because I got shot, his superiors forgot to look after him. Judging from the numerous large and small wounds all over his body, he definitely charged too recklessly. Mada was lucky enough to only lose an arm and enjoy early retirement benefits, but this kid wasn't so lucky...

The old leader, accompanied by a little boy about the same age as the handsome Scorpion, was sadly looking at Roca, whose body had been well-preserved by his underlings in the Anbu—at least it hadn't gotten moldy. Having been an Anbu leader for many years and accustomed to life and death, even with his own son dead, Rosa only showed a faint sadness in his expression, without shedding tears in public. The little boy, Rosa, contrary to Shinto's expectations, didn't cry or make a scene like other children who had lost their fathers. Instead, he kept a poker face; if it weren't for the tears glistening in his eyes, Shinto would have doubted whether Roca was really his father.

"Old leader, please accept my condolences... At least Roca left behind a little one."

Seeing his mentor and former leader in his dark underworld career so sad, Shinto didn't bother to joke with Mada. Instead, he came over to comfort his former leader. He had already written the retirement report two years ago, just waiting for his son to return in glory. But his son died on the battlefield, causing the white-haired man to bury the black-haired man. People who haven't experienced this kind of pain can never understand it.

“I knew it from the moment he went to the battlefield. This kid isn’t very strong, but he’s very ambitious. In the end… sigh! You’re right, what goes around comes around… It’s good this way, at least he sacrificed himself for the village and got the title of hero.”

Luo Zhen sighed and shook his head slightly as he looked at his son's corpse. He had stopped his son from going to the battlefield more than once. Having experienced war himself, he knew its horrors. His son was just a lowly elite Jonin; several Kage had died in the war. What was a mere elite Jonin? He had only one son, and he had brought him into the Anbu right after he graduated from academy. Why? He hoped this kid would one day take his place. Countless families in the village coveted the position of Anbu chief, but it wasn't a position anyone could easily attain. If this kid went to war and was unlucky enough to die there, not only would he, a white-haired man, bury his black-haired son, but the future Anbu chief position would also be a troublesome matter. And now, his dream had actually come true…

"..."

Shindou raised an eyebrow. Those were the words he'd used to coax his underlings into fighting during the first war; he hadn't expected his old leader to take them as gospel advice...

......

Throughout World War II, Sunagakure suffered the fewest losses compared to other villages, but many still died. Even though Sunagakure's ninja numbers exceeded the village's average at the time, they were still the fewest among the major villages. Among those who died on the battlefield were clan heads, clan heirs, and so on. The highest-ranking among them was Roka, the heir of the Anbu. So after the war, with the departure of the old guard and the rise of the new, there was naturally a lot of open and covert struggle within the village.

Perhaps moved by Roka's sacrifice, the day after his return, Sunagawa took the young boy Rosa as his disciple, as a way of repaying Roma for his contributions to the village. Becoming the Kazekage's disciple elevated his status considerably. If Sunagawa had died that day, and if Sasori had still "abandoned his wife and children" for art as in the original story, Rosa would have been a strong contender for the position of Kazekage. It wouldn't have been like when Shamon died, causing chaos throughout the village as they fought for the position.

"Cheer it up. It's just early retirement, isn't it? I want to retire, but those two bastards won't let me. They just collect a salary without doing any work. You're only in your mid-thirties. If sixty is the legal age, you can still enjoy yourself for decades to come... Drink less. This is Aunt Chiyo's wine, and the old village chief is over there..."

"This guy was forced to retire by Sunagawa yesterday. They even had someone write his retirement report for him. All he had to do was put his fingerprint on it. Even Sunagawa's top star doesn't get this kind of treatment."

However, this guy was forced into retirement and had nothing to do, so he was feeling depressed and wanted to confide in someone. But there were only two or three people in the village who were close enough to listen to him: his former dark force captain, Shindou, and his two teammates, Sasori's father and mother. But now that the war had just ended, Sasori's father and mother were working long hours and had no time to listen to his complaints. So he went to his former captain, who hadn't retired but was bored at home with nothing to do.

The moment he walked in, he grabbed the wine that Masato had bought for Chiyo and started chugging it down. It wasn't the wine that made him drunk; he was already tipsy after just a couple of gulps. Tears and snot were streaming down his face like he was mourning a bygone era...

"idiot......."

The handsome Scorpion, who was studying the wooden figure in the distance, rolled his eyes in annoyance. He'd never seen anyone comfort someone like that before. This guy used to be his underling, and he wouldn't even part with a few bottles of wine...

"Captain, don't you know how to perform hand seals with one hand? Could you teach me...?"

As if he hadn't heard Masato's words, Mada downed another bottle of Chiyo's wine and then turned to look at him with hope. Although the captain rarely used his Magnet Release, he remembered that the captain always used Magnet Release by forming hand seals with one hand. That operation was so flashy that it was unbelievable. He lost an arm, but he could still form hand seals with one hand!

He had been a prominent figure in the workplace for decades, and now he was suddenly retiring. He was really unwilling to accept it!

He wasn't trying to prove how great he was, but rather to tell others that what you lose, you have to take back yourself...

"Huh? This guy can do hand seals with one hand? (⊙_⊙)?"

Handsome Scorpion also looked over curiously. The one-handed hand seal technique is very difficult. It's not just about randomly making a few hand seals with one hand. It's about making the chakra flow of the hand seals made with one hand flow like the hand seals made with two hands. This is difficult in itself. Moreover, it also requires speed. If you can only make two or three hand seals per second, it's completely useless. Without a certain amount of knowledge and practice day and night, it's impossible. He didn't expect that this uncle, whom his grandmother said was an ignorant bastard whose signature was crooked and illegible, could actually make hand seals with one hand?

Could Uncle Mada have misread it?

321. Handsome Scorpion's pretty face is a killer weapon.

"...Ahem, how should I put it? One-handed hand seals...teaching you is no problem, but you're past your prime. And for the past few decades, you've always used two hands for hand seals; it's become muscle memory, and your chakra flow is accustomed to the old pattern. If you want to relearn one-handed hand seals now...frankly, it'll take at least twenty or thirty years to master. But in twenty or thirty years, you'll be in your sixties, and it'll be too late. Are you still planning to fight alongside your son? Listen to the captain's advice: sometimes you have to accept your fate. Perhaps you're not used to your current life yet, but as the saying goes, life is like...since you can't resist it, you might as well close your eyes and enjoy it. Perhaps you'll find that retirement life is actually quite fulfilling. Going to the park every morning to do morning exercises with the old folks is also quite nice. Life is over in the blink of an eye..."

Seeing that even the handsome Sasori was looking over with curiosity, Masato seriously spouted nonsense. He said, "What do you know about one-handed hand seals? Creating the lion's head is just the power of the Float-Float Fruit. Making hand seals with one hand is just for show. His real skill is that he can make one seal per second with both hands. Where would he find a way to teach Masato one-handed hand seals? It wasn't even mentioned in the anime. This kind of skill is only for characters in the story. And everyone who can make one-handed hand seals ends up dying a bad death. Haku was killed by Wu Wu Kai. The two perfect ninja brothers, Minato Namikaze and Itachi Uchiha, one was killed by the Nine-Tails' barrel, and the other was even more tragically killed by his own brother. Jiraiya, who used his feet to make hand seals, survived for a long time, but his end wasn't much better."

This motor barely survived the battlefield. Even if he knew how, he wouldn't dare use it. What if it accidentally died one day...?

...

Mada left, carrying a mix of resentment, relief, and a touch of drunkenness.

"Hey..."

Shindou shook his head helplessly as he watched Mada Hanshan's retreating figure. He had thought that Sunagawa and Ebizo would never approve his retirement, but even though someone else had already written his retirement report, this guy was still unhappy about it.

"You really can perform hand seals with one hand?"

At this moment, Handsome Scorpion walked over and asked. Being as smart as he was, he naturally didn't believe the nonsense spouted by this illiterate and scoundrel uncle. One-handed hand seals are a skill, and his scoundrel uncle obviously relied on his physical talent for a living. He wouldn't know how to do one-handed hand seals at all.

"Didn't your grandma tell you? I'm exceptionally talented. I never need to practice those messy basic skills. I can swing a gun with one hand, and I can form hand seals with one hand..."

After saying that, Masato shrugged. He wasn't going to fight his way up from position one to position five, so why bother practicing that stuff? There's nothing that can't be taken down in one strike. If one strike isn't enough, then two, three, four, or five...

"........"

The handsome scorpion, who had no answer, nodded in understanding and then went back to studying his wooden doll.

As expected, an idiot is still an idiot. I knew it! Even he couldn't pull off a one-handed hand seal; how could this idiot uncle possibly...?

"Wait, what does this kid mean? (⊙_⊙)?"

Shinto finally realized what was happening and looked at the handsome Sasori, who was still studying the wooden figure, with a questioning expression. He saw disdain in Sasori's eyes...

"Lord Shinto, Lady Chiyo sent me to invite you to the back mountain..."

A low-ranking member of the sealing squad suddenly appeared beside him and said in a low voice.

"Did the One-Tailed Beast go berserk, or did the Seven-Tailed Beast escape? (⊙_⊙)?"

Upon hearing Chiyo ask him to go to the back mountain, he immediately thought of the two tailed beasts. Few people in the entire Sunagakure village knew where the One-Tailed Jinchuriki and the Seven-Tailed were sealed. Chiyo had always been in charge of matters concerning the tailed beasts. Even the Hokage Sunagawa and the Minister of Military Affairs Ebizo knew that the two tailed beasts were sealed in the back mountain.

"This... the little girl from the Uzumaki clan is ready. Lady Chiyo said it's time to seal the Seven-Tails inside her, but she's worried about what might happen if the Seven-Tails comes out, so she's asking you to come over..."

Shinto glanced at the ANBU underling from the sealing squad with surprise. He hadn't expected him to know so much. Very few people knew that Karin's mother had become a Jinchuriki. This masked guy must be a squad leader or at least a captain in the ANBU!

"What? The young lady agreed?"

As Masato spoke, his eyes drifted towards Sasori's toy house. He hadn't expected this kid to be so amazing. He hadn't even seen him do anything, yet Karin's mother was completely captivated by his handsome face. When the girl first arrived, he had mentioned becoming a Jinchuriki to her. Although the girl had been learning sealing techniques from Chiyo for the past few years, she was still very resistant to the idea of ​​becoming a Jinchuriki. After all, if she became a Jinchuriki, she wouldn't be able to roam around as much as she did now, except for studying. But now, only three or four years later, the girl had changed her mind.

Women are indeed creatures easily swayed by love, especially in this appearance-obsessed era. Sasori's handsome face is a deadly weapon; he perfectly inherited the genes of Chiyo, the "Flower of the Ninja World." Aside from his somewhat aloof personality, his good looks alone are enough to make a living in the ninja world...

......

"Shuri, although I know why you agreed to become a Jinchūriki, you should think it over carefully. My nephew's personality is too wicked. Although I shouldn't say this as his uncle, that kid is indeed not someone I can entrust with anything... cough cough, sir. Once a Jinchūriki is sealed, it will be too late to regret it. Although the Seven-Tails is a bit of a boon, it is still a Tailed Beast. If you are influenced by it and do anything detrimental to the village, I will take action against you too..."

In a cave in the back mountains, when Masato arrived, various barriers had already been set up around him. Sunakawa and Ebizo had also arrived. How could such a large-scale event be complete without the two of them? However, after Masato arrived, he spoke earnestly to Karin's mother, who had a resolute expression.

Although it might sound hypocritical, as one of the main culprits behind the annihilation of the Uzumaki clan, he actually felt quite sorry for this little girl. She lost her country and her clan, barely managed to escape, and then even lost her mother. Now she's fallen in love with someone she shouldn't have...!

Masato felt a sense of shared misery with her... He was the one who suggested it in the first place, but now that the girl had agreed, he actually felt a pang of guilt...

322. When did the Seven-Tails become so powerful?

"......-_-||"

Sunagawa and Ebizo exchanged a glance, wondering what had gotten into this guy again. He was the one who suggested making the girl a jinchūriki in the first place, and now that everything was ready and all the right conditions had been met, this guy was trying to dissuade her. Wasn't he just messing with their mentality?

Or is this kid just pretending to be a good person?

"Lord Masato, I'm ready for the village, come on!"

The little girl's facial expressions changed constantly as Shinto spoke, and finally, with a resolute expression and a determined look, she nodded. Her decision to become a Jinchuriki wasn't entirely because of Sasori. She had heard her mother talk about what life was like for the Uzumaki clan when she was very young, but she couldn't remember it anymore. Her earliest memories were of being in a small, dark room in Kusagakure, where countless ninjas would bite her and her mother every day. If she hadn't been brought to Sunagakure, she might have died like her mother. These past few years in Sunagakure had been the happiest and most joyful time of her life. There were no dark rooms here, and no one would bite her. When someone was injured, the first thing they thought of was going to the hospital instead of coming to bite her. So she truly loved this village. During the years she studied sealing techniques with Chiyo, she also knew that the village was threatened by the Tailed Beasts. Although Lord Shinto was very powerful, every time he left the village, various barriers were set up at the sealing sites of the Tailed Beasts, for fear that the Tailed Beasts would break free and destroy the village.

She had thought about becoming a Jinchūriki for a long time before deciding to do so, so Masato's words did not discourage her. Instead, the somber atmosphere around her made her even more determined.

"Your perseverance has moved me. Release the Seven-Tails..."

Shinto nodded at Karin's mother, whose expression was resolute, and then gave instructions to the sealing team.

The others stepped back, leaving the time to a group of sealing squad members. One of the ANBU members, a squad leader, brought out a sealing ninja tool resembling a water jug ​​from the deepest part of the cave. He ceremoniously walked to the center of the ground, which was covered with densely packed symbols that Masato couldn't understand, placed the sealing ninja tool on the ground, and then stepped back to form a circle with the other nine ANBU members of the sealing squad, their hands clasped together in various complex hand seals.

Sealing tailed beasts isn't inherently this complicated. If it were a member of the Uzumaki clan, one would suffice, given their abundant chakra reserves. However, it's much more difficult for others. Just breaking a single seal requires ten elite Jonin, and sealing subsequent tailed beasts would likely require even more. Furthermore, if the Jinchuriki's chakra isn't sufficient to maintain the sealing array within their body, the tailed beast, while not completely detached, could easily wreak havoc. This explains why, even with Konoha's complete sealing technique, the One-Tailed Shukaku could still cause trouble. Once knocked unconscious, without Bunpuku's chakra to sustain it, the sealing array immediately crumbled under Shukaku's onslaught. Moreover, Bunpuku had to remain constantly conscious, enduring Shukaku's relentless barrage of attacks while simultaneously maintaining the sealing array with his chakra.

Having lived in Sunagakure for decades, Masato had never actually met this old monk Bunpuku. He really wanted to meet this old monk and ask him how he managed to go decades without sleeping. Such a person's willpower was truly incredible!

Trying to reform a stubborn cat with the destiny of a leader but not the luck of one is harder than reforming the Nine-Tailed Fox. Back in the day, mathematics wasn't even a subject; the first to appear was assumed to be the leader. Who knew the first one would be the weakest, unable to even defeat a two-tailed creature? This stubborn cat, it seems, was born lost. This accumulated resentment, anger, and bitterness of thousands of years are far beyond what an old monk like him could reform. Unless its biological father, the Six Paths Elder, or a chosen one is born, Shindou never expected this old monk to reform this stubborn fat cat with his half-baked talk. He still has no way to deal with that stubborn fat cat. He might be able to subdue the Two-Tailed to Eight-Tailed Foxes, but the One-Tailed Fox and the Nine-Tailed Fox are the most difficult to handle. In another ten or twenty years, after Bunpuku reaches the end of his life, sealing the One-Tailed Fox, Shukaku, will be the real trouble…

"boom!"

"Roar!! You despicable bastards, how dare you seal me away for so many years! I'll kill you all!!! (-"-Rage)"

As the ten-person sealing team finished their operation, the small teapot inside the barrier shattered, and the enormous seven-tailed ugly monster filled the entire space. Perhaps it had been sealed for too long and had no one to talk to, causing its brain to malfunction. As soon as the seven-tailed monster came out, it didn't even look at anyone, but started to talk nonsense first, staring at the humans below, who looked like tadpoles in its eyes, and roaring wildly.

Time has passed. Back when it was beaten up, Masato was a handsome teenager; now he's a blond, disheveled middle-aged man. It's normal that it doesn't recognize him. Anyway, in its eyes, these humans are all trash if it weren't for this damned barrier...

"Be careful...!"

The moment Shichimata appeared, an overwhelming aura swept over him. Sunagawa quickly stood in front of Ebizo, forming hand seals as if facing a formidable enemy and ready to fight at any moment. Tiny specks of iron sand floated around him in the air.

Ebizo: (⊙_⊙)?? ? ? I can still fight...

"This is... the Seven-Tails? (⊙_⊙)?"

The handsome scorpion's father, who had just brought people here, looked at the Seven-Tails, which filled the barrier, with a question mark on his face. He had seen the Seven-Tails more than once, but in his memory, the Seven-Tails was the big beetle that his older brother had beaten to a pulp and made him roll on the ground looking for his mother. But looking at the big beetle now that it was roaring and majestic, this image was completely different!

When did the Seven-Tails become so powerful?

"Minister, is this the Seven-Tails? It's...it's huge!! Σ(⊙▽⊙a)"

Following in, the puppeteers were also terrified by the giant monster that had appeared in front of them. To be honest, it was just too big. They couldn't even compare to a single fingernail of this monster. Could humans really handle such a monster?

"Ouch, this giant beetle hasn't been beaten up in a long time. Don't be afraid, don't be intimidated by its size, it's just a coward. Open the barrier, I haven't exercised in ages either, let's loosen it up..."

Masato watched as the little girl's lips trembled slightly as she stared at the giant beetle, her face pale. She was clearly terrified of the beetle, a far cry from her earlier resolute demeanor. It wasn't surprising; even the toughest girl would be afraid of shelled insects, like... cockroaches?

Chiyo hadn't even noticed that he'd already tiptoed up behind his precious son...

323. Seven-Tails got beaten up by his father again.

"Lord Shinto, this..."

The class leader of the sealing class was stunned by the big boss's words. He stopped what he was doing and stared blankly at this usually unreliable big boss. Release the barrier? What does he want to do?

Are we really going to have to fight the Seven-Tails hand-to-hand?

They'd all heard the story of Lord Shinto's one-on-one battle against the Seven-Tails, but those were just legends from over a decade ago. Few of those who witnessed it are still alive today. Who knows if it's true? What if something goes wrong if this village legend really goes to fight the Seven-Tails...?