First Hokage Was Quite Standard at Doing Push-ups!

The setting sun bled like a wound, and the raging wind howled like black crows.

Amidst the cold, dominant black, severed limbs and broken arms formed viscous puddles of blood. An escaping Jonin slipped on the gore, falling to the ground and retreating with a trembling, dragging motion that left a distinct crimson trail.

"No! Don't! Don't kill me!"

He trembled, waving his right hand. Blood gushed from the severed stump of his left arm, making his face appear unnaturally pale.

Thump, thump, thump.

Footsteps approached.

"What nonsense are you spouting?"

A mocking voice rang out as a cracked hand grabbed his Jonin vest and yanked him up.

A handsome, refined face, also covered in cracks, smiled at him. Within his pitch-black pupils, scarlet Sharingan with Three Tomoe flickered slightly.

"Ninja always die."

He said, raising the long sword in his hand. "Look, even though I'm this awesome, I still went to the Pure Land, right?"

The blade sliced lightly across the Jonin's throat. He casually tossed the body to the ground, letting it twitch as it welcomed death. Then, he turned and began to complain, "Are you sick in the head? You Edo Tensei me just to help you clean up this garbage?"

His gaze swept over the annihilated ninja. "Kumogakure, Iwagakure..."

He muttered, "When did these two villages become so friendly?"

A fierce wind swept across the cliff. Scarlet mist slowly dissipated from the black opening of the cliff.

Pitch-black hair danced wildly in the bloody mist. Orochimaru's pale face held a slight smile. "It just so happened that..."

Before he could finish speaking, the other person became displeased and cursed, "Damn it! Orochimaru! I was about to win my card game! I told you not to look for me unless it's important, am I giving you too much face?"

This made Orochimaru even more curious. "You can play cards in the Pure Land? What do you use as stakes?"

The person paused and explained, "There, we don't eat or drink, so we usually do push-ups when we lose. The First Hokage's form is the most standard; he can do over five hundred in one go. The Second is also okay, but he's sometimes a sore loser. Last time, he was really reluctant when I asked him to tell a joke..."

"Hehehe..." Orochimaru chuckled. "It seems your afterlife is quite exciting."

He then explained, "I ended up in this state because of your son. You know, to force Tsunade to bring him out of Konohagakure, I sent all my subordinates to assassinate him. Now it seems none of them will return."

"Damn it! Even after I'm dead, you still won't leave them alone, the widow and orphan! Tsunade must have seen the letter I left. Don't take all the credit yourself!" the person cursed, then added disdainfully, "As for your subordinates, they were all fanatical followers who didn't understand you at all. They're useless, so it doesn't matter if they're gone."

He was silent for a moment, then sighed and asked softly, "Um... is Tsunade doing well now? And my son, Qing Xuan."

Orochimaru's eyes clearly brightened. "Still the same gambling degenerate."

The wind on the cliff gradually softened. The two stood there, chatting amidst a pile of corpses.

"It's just that she spoils that child a bit too much."

The person scoffed at Orochimaru. "He's my own son, what's wrong with spoiling him a little? You're single, you wouldn't understand."

Orochimaru raised an eyebrow. "Your son always calls her Tsunade..."

"The child is a bit rebellious." The person coughed lightly, seemingly having anticipated this. "It's understandable."

"I always feel like you and your son have some secret you're hiding from me..." Orochimaru's gaze deepened as he stared at the Sharingan. He had felt this way when talking to Qing Xuan.

"Do I?" The person feigned ignorance. "Don't look at me like that, Tsunade will misunderstand."

He said, sticking his ninja sword into the ground and waving his hand. "Are you done with me or not? If not, I'm going back. The Third Kazekage and Third Raikage are watching. If I don't hurry back, they'll try to take my position."

"Is it easy to play a game of cards?" he complained.

Orochimaru's snake-like eyes stared at the other person, lost in thought. After a while, he asked, "By the way, you didn't kill the Third Raikage, did you?"

"That old geezer, why would I kill him for no reason? Though he did die quite miserably."

The person waved his hand, and pieces of gray dust disintegrated like falling leaves, spreading upwards from his feet.

"Take care of Konohagakure for me. Make sure the cleanup is done. As for Uchiha, you don't need to worry about them. My elder brother knows what to do." He instructed.

"Then what about the promise you made to me? Don't forget it!"

"Don't worry!"

A gust of wind swept through, scattering the remaining ashes. Only the voice continued to echo softly.

Meanwhile.

Vast yellow sands, the wind carrying the afterglow of the setting sun, raged across the desolate land.

Sunagakure lay prostrate in the folds of the Land of Wind, like a giant scorpion that had shed its skin. Day after day, the scorching sun baked the sandstone houses a russet red. The layered roofs trembled slightly in the heatwaves, like dried scales. Wind-eroded rock pillars stood like dead bones at the village entrance, wrapped in faded talisman strips, rustling in the ceaseless sand wind.

At dusk, after the afternoon sandstorm had passed, fine golden dust floated on the village paths. The sand dunes began to exhale the heat they had swallowed during the day. On the ruins of the Shukaku Temple, the sealing jutsu carved by ancient monks glowed faintly in the twilight. The evening breeze swept past the withered poplar forest outside the village. The sound of dry bark peeling off and the clatter of kunai from the training grounds resonated crisply in the cooling air.

Ninja wearing conical hats hurried through the jagged shadows cast by the eaves. The airflow stirred by their leg wraps awakened sand lizards curled up in pottery urns. The outer wall of the tall, circular Kazekage office building was covered in spiral patterns, appearing from afar like a giant conch shell half-buried in the sand. The bronze mirror on the top-floor observation deck reflected sunlight as a warning signal.

Under the market stalls, the aroma of roasted scorpions wafted. The hawkers' cries became rough, mixed with sand. An elder wearing a Sunagakure forehead protector sat in a tea house, pouring cactus wine into a coarse ceramic bowl. A film of sand immediately formed on the surface of the murky liquid. Children chased each other through the maze-like alleys. Their bare feet stepped on sandstone heated by the sun, their soles calloused.

Laughter and playful shouts echoed from a small plaza surrounded by tall clay buildings.

A gentle breeze swept across the ground, carrying a hint of residual heat, brushing past the swings at the edge of the plaza.

"Creak, creak..."

A boy holding a teddy bear sat on a gently swaying swing. He sat there quietly, looking with a weak gaze at the children playing soccer in the plaza, a hint of... greedy longing for something in his eyes.

Inside the reception room of the Kazekage's office.

Ebizo and Chiyo sat silently behind the Fourth Kazekage, scrutinizing the young woman in her twenties before them, who was fearlessly meeting their gaze.

She sat bathed in the afterglow of the setting sun, her golden hair like molten gold, tied high at the back of her head, its ends flying freely in the evening breeze. Her features were sharp as a knife, and the depths of her amber eyes held the honed edge of time, yet they also exuded a captivating laziness at times, possessing a beauty that dared not be looked at directly.

"Welcome to Sunagakure, Konohagakure's Tsunade!"