The Gods of a Thousand Years Ago

With his identity finally acknowledged, Hiruzen Sarutobi let out a sigh of relief and prepared to discuss the next steps with Tsunade, only to see her stand up abruptly, clearly intending to leave.

"Tsunade, what are you doing?" Hiruzen Sarutobi asked in a hurry.

Tsunade placed a hand on her hip, looking quite bold as she declared, "Returning to Konoha to prove your identity and beat that bastard Danzo to a pulp!"

Tsunade spoke with great confidence, and she certainly had the credentials to back it up.

As the granddaughter of the First Hokage, a princess personally titled by the Daimyo of the Land of Fire, the founder of the comprehensive medical ninja system, and a medical prodigy who had saved countless Konoha shinobi.

Tsunade's reputation in Konoha, and indeed the entire ninja world, was at the very pinnacle.

Therefore, it wasn't just about returning to the village to expose Danzo's conspiracy and prove Hiruzen Sarutobi's current identity; even if Tsunade were to return and shout that she wanted to be Hokage, countless ninjas and clans would rally behind her, forcing the current Third Hokage to "gracefully" abdicate and pass the position to her.

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at Tsunade with a mix of gratification and complex emotions, lamenting in his heart that if not for the successive sacrifices of his younger brother and his lover, Tsunade would have been the most suitable successor for Hokage.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Tsunade tapped her fingers on the table, snapping Hiruzen Sarutobi out of his daze. "Old man, why are you still standing there? Get ready to move!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi regained his senses and stood up, but just as he was about to leave, a hint of hesitation rose in his heart.

Before receiving Tsunade's help, the "defector" Hiruzen Sarutobi had been filled with hatred for Danzo, desperate to return to Konoha immediately to set things right and expose Danzo's conspiracy.

But now, with the backing he needed, Hiruzen Sarutobi's restored rationality made him feel less urgent.

"Not now."

Tsunade looked at her teacher in surprise. "Old man, have you been angered into confusion?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head calmly. "The village is currently at war with Hidden Cloud. The frontline forces led by Jiraiya have already gained a massive advantage and will soon be able to defeat Hidden Cloud completely."

"If we return to the village now to expose Danzo's conspiracy, it will trigger chaos within the village and could even affect the operations on the front lines, giving Hidden Cloud an opportunity to exploit."

Hearing Hiruzen Sarutobi's words, Tsunade's expression shifted slightly, and the faces of her younger brother and lover involuntarily surfaced in her mind.

Whether it was the Hokage position or the village itself, what kind of magic did they possess? How could they make these people sacrifice so much, even their lives?

"Do whatever you want, it's not like I'm the one in a hurry!" Tsunade's mood suddenly soured. She sat down abruptly, grabbed the sake flask from the table, leaned back against her chair, crossed her legs, and began to drink heavily.

"Tsunade, don't drink too much." Hiruzen Sarutobi sat down slowly, speaking with concern for his student.

After taking a deep gulp, Tsunade wiped her lips with the back of her hand and glared fiercely at Hiruzen Sarutobi sitting across from her.

"I don't need you to worry about me, you annoying old man!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't get angry, nor did he continue to persuade her. Instead, he stood up silently, went to the counter, ordered another flask of sake and some side dishes, and finally returned with two cups.

"Pour one for me, too!" Hiruzen Sarutobi sat back down and pushed the two cups toward Tsunade.

With flushed cheeks, Tsunade looked at her teacher in astonishment. "You're going to drink with me?"

"It's Danzo's body anyway; if I don't put it through some trouble, it's a waste."

After Hiruzen Sarutobi finished speaking, he instinctively reached into his inner pocket, wanting to pull out a cigarette. Only after touching empty air did he realize that he hadn't smoked once since swapping souls with Danzo.

"Smoke it!" Tsunade tossed a pack of women's cigarettes onto the table.

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at the cigarettes in front of him, stunned, and looked up at Tsunade.

"I bought them to try when I was feeling troubled, but I found them too hard to smoke." Tsunade's tone became a bit dejected.

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at his student, a flash of pain and pity in his eyes. Finally, he reached out, picked up the pack, pulled out a thin cigarette, and ignited it with a flicker of flame from his fingertip.

Hiruzen Sarutobi took a deep drag, exhaled the smoke slowly, and looked at Tsunade again.

"Tsunade, after the war ends and we return to Konoha, you should stay in the village!"

"Tch!" Tsunade crossed her arms over her chest, causing her two peaks to heave, and let out a disdainful snort.

"My dream is to win at every gambling den in the world; the village is fine with you people there."

"That truly is an unreachable dream." Hiruzen Sarutobi joked intentionally.

Bang!

Tsunade slammed the table, leaving a handprint on the thick wood, and glared at the old man in front of her.

"Old man, if you don't know how to talk, just shut up! I won a huge amount of money today!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head with a smile.

In the Land of Rain, in an underground space fifty kilometers from the six o'clock direction of Amegakure, Shiraishi stood within the "ancient ruins" he had personally crafted.

These ruins were balanced around a center, with most of the surrounding walls collapsed, leaving only a palace in the middle standing firm.

Inside the palace, the walls on both sides were covered in murals. One side told the story of gods descending to the world, imparting civilization to humanity and guiding them to establish a unified, prosperous empire where people lived in peace and abundance.

The mural on the other side told of a falling star, and the appearance of a massive, heaven-piercing God Tree on the earth. People initially thought this was a miracle sent by the gods and began to offer sacrifices around the great tree.

But soon, the God Tree's evil nature was revealed; it was constantly devouring the vitality of the surrounding land and the lives of humans.

Those who discovered the truth viewed the God Tree as a Demon Tree, and the imperial government dispatched a great army, preparing to fell the Demon Tree.

When the imperial army arrived beneath the Demon Tree and prepared to cut it down, a white-haired Goddess suddenly appeared and easily destroyed the army; the surviving soldiers and civilians fled in all directions.

Facing the powerful female Demon God, humanity had no power to resist and could only pray to the gods who had brought them civilization and guided their progress.

The gods appeared in response to the people's prayers and defeated the female Demon God.

Just as the people began to cheer and celebrate the victory of the God, that Demon Tree transformed into a terrifying monster and launched an attack upon the God.

The defeated Goddess also seized the opportunity to break free from the God's restraints, joining the monster to attack the God together.

In order to protect humanity and defeat the Demon God and the monster, the God exhausted all of Their power, sealing the Demon God and the monster away.

That massive seal ascended into the sky, transforming into the moon above.

And the God, having depleted all power, fell into a deep slumber.

Following this divine war, the empire lost the guidance of the God, and with the military having suffered heavy losses during the conflict, it gradually lost control over the regions, fracturing into various nations of different sizes.

At the end of the mural, a prophecy was left behind that could only be seen by those with the Rinnegan.

The God shall awaken after a thousand years, and the divided empire shall be reunified once the God awakens, bringing a prosperous age of peace back to the human world.

The stories on these two walls were prepared by Shiraishi specifically for the Akatsuki, and also served as the new identity he had readied for himself once he obtained a true new body.

In the very center of the palace, a massive and magnificent statue sat enthroned.

The appearance of the statue was a fusion of Shiraishi's own soul and the image of the Yama Emperor as recorded in the heritage of the Nine Nether Sect.

The statue's face was majestic and inviolable, with a look of compassion in its eyes, symbolizing that divine grace is as vast as the sea and divine might as immovable as a mountain.