Confused Hiruzen Sarutobi.

The Third Shinobi World War ended today.

When Orochimaru ordered Minato to return to the village, and Minato replied that he had to remain vigilant against Kirigakure, Orochimaru knew what Minato's choice was.

The two sides were locked in a stalemate.

Orochimaru held a tight grip on the families of the frontline shinobi and the logistics operations.

If Minato chose to hide out there and refuse to return, there was nothing Orochimaru could do about it.

The situation had become that dire.

In the early hours of a certain morning, just as the sky began to brighten, Zhengyi quietly took the Anbu and slipped back to the village.

Konoha in November.

With the end of the war, taxes began to slowly decrease, though the inheritance tax remained in place specifically to curb the momentum of the shinobi clans.

The infighting among the high-ranking officials did not affect the atmosphere within the village.

Ever since Orochimaru became Hokage, the villagers' lives had visibly improved.

Orochimaru moved everything from his former underground laboratory that could be brought into the light into the open, naming it the Konoha Experimental Bureau. He recruited openly and drew research funding directly from the village's accounts.

Previously, the villagers had many complaints about such labor-intensive and costly projects, but once Orochimaru produced results, those complaints vanished in an instant.

News drifted out of the laboratory from time to time.

Today, Orochimaru successfully bred dairy cows, causing milk production at the Konoha Farm to rise significantly.

Today, Orochimaru conquered the problem of fatigue; there is a bean called a coffee bean that contains something called caffeine. When shinobi consume it during missions, it allows them to immediately perk up, find their combat rhythm, and reduce physical exhaustion.

And so on and so forth...

Under Orochimaru's suggestion, the people of Konoha began eating meat, eggs, and dairy regularly, along with various vegetables and natto according to their needs! They discovered it was truly effective!

As expected of the Yellow Flash!

Long live Lord Orochimaru!!

"A bicycle? Does the teacher really need to be bothered with something as simple as this?" In the laboratory, Orochimaru listened to Zhengyi's description today and wondered if this student of his was a bit slow.

Do this, then do that—wouldn't a bicycle just be finished?

Add a bit of chakra or use electricity, and wouldn't a bicycle that doesn't require pedaling be born?

Although he didn't say it out loud, Orochimaru could tell that Zhengyi often looked down on him for being slow, thinking he was foolish for being hoodwinked by the Third Hokage for so long.

To that, Orochimaru could only say that dialectics are truly wonderful; everyone has their own strengths, and you cannot compare what others excel at with what I excel at.

The path he excelled at was exploring the truths of the shinobi world.

In less than half an hour, Orochimaru hand-crafted a bicycle for Zhengyi to play with.

The master and apprentice were not afraid of Minato's army; at most, it would just be a mutual destruction.

Orochimaru tossed the bicycle aside and went back to researching ninjutsu. His research topic for today was ninjutsu! He arranged his time very strictly: fifteen hours for researching ninjutsu or technology, one hour for eating slowly and chewing carefully, and the remaining eight hours for sleep.

"Ah! It's Lord Zhengyi."

"Greetings, villagers."

Zhengyi rode a bicycle through Konoha, nodding one by one to the villagers who greeted him.

He felt that Konoha's style was very disjointed, a mix of semi-feudal and semi-modern.

This semi-modern feel was only there because his teacher had ascended to the position of Hokage, causing the people of Konoha to start valuing science.

Relying solely on his teacher's research was still too difficult for Konoha.

A person's energy is limited.

Physics must be researched by the teacher.

Biology must be researched by the teacher.

Ninjutsu must be researched by the teacher.

Everything had to be researched by the teacher, which was why Konoha's development was particularly slow! It was completely outside of Zhengyi's expectations.

Konoha should be a place where a hundred flowers bloom; technological progress should be an explosive, fountain-like development.

Thus, the Zhengyi Prize was born.

Lin Zhengyi and the Zhengyi Brand under his command had reached a certain scale, and he planned to divert a portion of the profits to support the development of Konoha.

As long as one contributed research to Konoha and achieved major breakthroughs in important fields, they could receive funding based on the circumstances.

There were also the Zhengyi Literature Prize and the Zhengyi Peace Prize.

Zhengyi did not intend for these prizes to be limited to Konoha; he planned to open them to the entire shinobi world.

It was just that his wallet was a bit stretched thin.

If he opened it to the entire shinobi world, it might not be enough.

The bicycle made its debut and immediately took the Land of Fire by storm, becoming the favorite mode of transportation for all its citizens.

It was faster than walking and less exhausting than running!

They declared the bicycle the greatest invention in the world.

It was impossible to find one for sale on the market.

It was said that the Feudal Lord of the Land of Fire was so obsessed with it that he had the thresholds of the Feudal Lord's Mansion sawed off just so he could ride his bicycle around.

Zhengyi looked at the bicycles becoming popular on the streets of Konoha, and a sense of vibrant, flourishing life appeared before his eyes.

Village Celebration Day.

A portion of Minato's group returned.

For such a major holiday, Shikaku insisted they must not give Orochimaru any excuse to strike at them first, suggesting it would be better to return to the village proactively.

This was to prevent Orochimaru from making a move on them within the village.

Minato and his group walked through the main gate with gongs and drums, wishing for all of Konoha to know they had returned.

They succeeded.

"It's the Yellow Flash!"

"You're finally back! Isn't it better at home?"

The entrance to Konoha was packed with people welcoming their heroes, all scrambling to offer their regards to Minato and the others.

This scene was something Orochimaru would remember for a long time.

If Minato was not eliminated, how much longer could he remain Hokage? One year? Two years?

Yet, he could not possibly launch an attack on Minato and the others during the Village Celebration Day.

He had even prepared a banquet to reward the heroes of Konoha.

They dared not eat; they absolutely dared not eat.

At the dinner table, Minato only dared to eat the rice balls Kushina had made for him.

This was the 47th Year of Konoha.

Orochimaru and Minato were wary of each other, constantly on guard, neither trusting the other.

No one knew what the future of Konoha would look like.

The upper echelons were filled with unease, yet the villagers were oblivious to this, unanimously believing that life would only get better.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was being kept in a quiet, rural area in the Land of Fire. Because Orochimaru had not done anything despicable lately, the Third Hokage felt he had been tired his whole life and decided to relax.

He could only learn about the state of Konoha through newspapers.

The recent newspapers had become increasingly metaphysical.

They claimed that following the diet provided by Orochimaru could extend one's average lifespan by twelve years.

Not only that, but as people reached a certain age, their chakra would rapidly decline; following Orochimaru's dietary method could reduce the rate of that decline.

Was my unwavering choice of Minato as Hokage right or wrong?

During these quiet days, Hiruzen Sarutobi pondered this himself, yet he seemed unable to find an answer.

Could Orochimaru have done better?

He did not know either.

The Former Konoha F4.

Hiruzen Sarutobi had been sent off to retire.

Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura had been relegated to idle positions by Orochimaru.

Only Danzo had successfully picked a side and remained in Konoha's political arena.

What was absurd was that this gloomy fellow had been invited by Orochimaru to take center stage.

Orochimaru had no one else to use; picking the best among the mediocre, Danzo was a veteran with sufficient ability, so he had no choice but to utilize him more.

The damp, shadowy old man returned to the surface once again, and as the dazzling sunlight scorched him, he found himself somewhat unaccustomed to it.

With the sun overhead, Danzo felt completely uneasy. Clearly, what he had dreamed of in the past was the arrival of dawn, but why was it that now that the dawn had come, he felt afraid instead?