One Dragon Tail Kick will shatter your Susanoo dream!

Clumps of iron sand began to form cone shapes near Jiraiya. Since the puppet was damaged anyway, only parts needed to be replaced. Sasori planned to use the Third Kazekage's puppet to test Jiraiya's killing moves.

"As expected of the Legendary Sannin of Konoha, they can still unleash such power. Let me test the limits of Dragon Vein Number One!"

The giant puppet's eyes gradually glowed red. As both sides roared together, Jiraiya used Reverse Summoning Technique to teleport away, while Sasori's attack was powerful but ultimately ineffective, and he awkwardly retracted the machine.

Once Naruto had returned to normal, he helped Toneri Otsutsuki up and tilted his head to ask.

"That bastard, he's dead?"

"No... they escaped!"

"I never expected the Legendary Sannin of Konoha would choose to escape this way. It's truly unexpected..."

Upon hearing this, Naruto's eyelids rolled back, a reaction comparable to the Byakugan's bloodline limit.

"You've been scammed, why are you pretending to be an expert..."

"Hmph ╯^╰Hmph..."

Sasori then led Naruto's team back to Kusagakure, and later returned to Roran. This time, he had a brief battle with Jiraiya, and he also had new ideas for improving the puppets.

Using the remaining dragon vein power, Scorpion plans to enhance the mobility and destructive power of his three puppets!

Time flies, and several years have passed in the blink of an eye. Gradually, the position of Kusagakure in the ninja world has become more and more stable, and the other villages have also gained something.

Since the Kusagakure village was ruled by a daimyo who also served as the Kage, and given the fate of the daimyo of the Land of Wind, the other daimyo all felt a sense of crisis.

To prevent this from happening, the daimyo of the five great nations have all begun to consciously suppress Kusagakure and have also changed their attitudes toward their respective ninja villages. Some have significantly increased their military spending to support the ninja villages, while others have become more wary and are trying to establish new powers to replace them!

Especially in the Sand Village, which is weak in national strength, with the full support of the Daimyo of the Land of Wind, the ninja quality education that should have been available to only a very small number of people has now been gradually extended to the entire village!

In order to quickly build up the fighting capacity of Sunagakure, the Daimyo of the Land of Wind even had the children in his own capital city undergo aptitude tests, and those who met the standards were all sent to Sunagakure for training!

Sunagakure was also happy about this, frantically recruiting talent and taking the opportunity to imitate the business model of Kusagakure in the capital of the Land of Wind, acquiring some industries. Although they were not self-sufficient, they were still somewhat useful.

On the Iwagakure side, the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, received more financial support than in previous years and devoted himself to cultivating outstanding young people in the village. He even created a special demolition site for Deidara, the bomb maniac, to train.

The daimyo of the Land of Earth had only one request: to launch a war against Kusagakure at the right time!

Onoki wasn't stupid. He collected money to develop the village, and as for launching a war, the timing was up to him!

Meanwhile, on the island nation of Kirigakure, which is far away at sea, things seem unchanged on the surface, but under the cover of darkness, turbulent waves are raging, and its own nobles are frequently attacked and killed!

The mastermind behind it all was Mei Terumi, who had become the Mizukage, and she pulled it all behind the scenes!

Having taken control of the village's power, she discovered that her daimyo, for some time now, had not only reduced the village's military spending on construction but had also been trying to establish his own ninja force. So she simply slaughtered some nobles who had conflicts and grievances with Kirigakure.

She then elevated the pro-village faction to high positions. As for whether they would eventually replace her, Mei Terumi would not consider it until a leader with outstanding governing abilities had been cultivated, because that would only cause greater turmoil!

Mei Terumi, draped in the Water Shadow Cloak, gazed into the distance through the glass of the now-taller, rebuilt Kazekage Building, and murmured to herself.

"Zabuza, take your men and take care of the newly appointed Oshiro of Kumamoto!"

"Our Hidden Mist Village is clearly responsible for national security, yet we've created a Minister of Defense. The village's economy isn't even at the point where it can be completely self-sufficient yet!"

Zabuza, carrying a large sword on his back, tapped his chin and teased.

"Your ruthless approach reminds me of an old friend. Back in the day, if the military funds of the Great Ming were even a day late in arriving, that guy would come straight to their door and burn a few idiots to death..."

Mei Terumi smiled and then sat back down in the main seat.

"No matter who it is, anyone who obstructs the development of Kirigakure will pay the price, even if it means following the example of that person from the past!"

Within the Land of Lightning, in the capital city, the Fourth Raikage's eyes were slightly red. Opposite him, in the main seat, sat the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning, who pushed a scroll toward A in a gentle tone.

"It's been a few years since I last saw Killer Bee. If you have any difficulties, feel free to ask. This is the military budget for the next quarter. I've added some of my own money so that everyone in Kumogakure can have a few more good meals!"

The Fourth Raikage's eyes were filled with emotion. Although he understood that the Great Naruto was trying to win him over, he was still deeply moved. Thinking of his brother whom he hadn't seen for many years, he slammed his fist on the table in anger.

"They actually used Killer Bee as a human battery. Wait until the next generation of children in Kumogakure grows up, and I'll make the Kusakage and his village pay the price..."

Seeing that Ai's hatred seemed genuine, the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning offered a perfunctory consolation while promising to provide the full support of the nation should a war break out!

The two spent the long night in the company of a group of songstresses, until late into the night...

On the other hand, the situation in Konoha was completely different. Hiruzen Sarutobi happily accepted the increased military spending from the Daimyo of the Land of Fire, and whenever the other side mentioned launching a war against the Kusakage, the Third Hokage would pretend to be ignorant.

After repeatedly failing to win over Hiruzen Sarutobi, the daimyo of the Land of Fire gradually came together with Danzo Shimura.

In a luxurious restaurant, Shimura Danzo, dressed in a magnificent suit, personally received the daimyo's envoy. After receiving a heavy scroll, he vowed that he would replace Hiruzen Sarutobi as Hokage as soon as possible and then launch a punitive attack on Kusagakure!

Of course, within just a few hours, the money reached Caozhi through special channels and became funds for the construction of Caoyin Village.

Inside the Kusakage Building, Kusakage lay on the sofa, calmly looking at a list. This list contained the locations of mineral deposits and related permits that the Daimyo of the Land of Fire had gifted to Shimura Danzo.

Adding to the gold and silver treasures piled up in the office, White Zetsu excitedly patted the object, revealing half its head.

"Excellent, excellent! Azo truly lives up to his reputation as our village's deepest-hidden spy. Kusagakure will remember his contributions over the years!"

After speaking, Cao Zhi turned around, took out a notebook from the drawer, and threw it to Bai Jue.

"Tell Azang that this is the new generation of Grass Will personally written by his beloved Grass Shadow, and tell him to study it carefully!"

"Once we unify Konoha, I will personally critique him!"