"Now I announce that the Konoha reconstruction project is officially completed!"
Kairen, wearing a foreman's safety helmet, put a full stop to Konoha's reconstruction.
"Great!"
The surrounding villagers cheered and danced. Now that they had houses to live in, they didn't need to sleep on the streets tonight.
More importantly, Kairen's civil engineering team was not simply wooden craftwork; it was also mixed with all sorts of bright colors.
After all, colorfulness is the mainstream of the times.
Wearing a Hokage robe, Tsunade smiled. "Everyone, move in!"
With a light word from her, laughter instantly burst forth.
Then came waves of cheers: "Thank you, Fourth!"
After the crowd dispersed.
Tsunade looked at Kairen gratefully. "Kairen, thank you!"
Because of Kairen, she took back the village that belonged to the Senju, and recovered the youth that belonged to her.
Kairen smiled and pointed at his own cheek.
"Come on, give me a kiss!"
To thank someone always requires paying a price, not just empty words.
Tsunade glanced around. No one was looking at her anymore, so she quickly pecked Kairen on the cheek.
"You little lecher, tonight I will serve you properly!"
Hearing this, Kairen's blood boiled, youth doubled.
Tsunade thought her little move had not been seen by anyone, but unexpectedly, the two zombies on the Hokage Rock saw it.
Hashirama scratched his head.
"Is little Tsunade really treating Kairen as her younger brother?"
Tobirama chuckled.
"I'm afraid not. The two of them are very close—maybe they're lovers."
Hashirama was instantly shocked.
"This… the age gap is way too big. Little Kairen is losing out!"
Tobirama sneered. "Why do you care so much? It's not our Senju family that's losing out anyway!"
Hashirama smiled quietly. "Ah, true! Tsunade is already that old—if she can trick one, that's one. Besides, little Kairen is quite handsome. Our Senju family really made a profit."
Tobirama glanced at the man beside him—still as cheerful as ever, as if nothing could stump him.
"Big brother, do you still long for peace that much?"
Hashirama nodded. "That's a must. Heaven granted me the life-filled Wood Release, so I should bring life to the earth."
"Only today did I realize that my Wood Release is more suited to helping others, not burying them."
In the recent carpentry experience, Hashirama truly saw the joy that comes from helping.
Tobirama joked, "You might as well open a tree-planting company! The Land of Wind would worship you every day."
Hashirama took the joke seriously. "That works too! If I planted trees all over the Land of Wind, they would give up war!"
Tobirama shook his head. "Wars in the ninja world aren't just about individual needs, but also the desires among the daimyōs. Just like Kairen said, there are too many heads in this world—it needs centralization."
"Perhaps!"
Hashirama said no more, quietly looking down at the youth laughing and chatting with Tsunade.
Kairen loudly announced to those around him,
"Whole village party! I, Moku Kairen, am paying!"
Looking down from the Hokage Rock, there was a huge building in the very center, almost taller than the Hokage Rock.
Red lights and green wine, full of decadent sounds.
At a glance, it was clearly not a proper building.
This was the entertainment city Kairen spoke of, specially built to bring joy to villagers with monotonous lives.
Inside were bars, dance halls, hot spring houses, and also gambling houses.
As a hidden village deep in the mountains and forests, of course the simpler life is the better—temptation from nowhere would lead ninja toward depravity.
Tsunade hesitated a long time about building such a temptation-filled place, but in the end, the gambling house broke her defenses.
Hashirama's face was full of excitement. "Come on, Tobirama, let's go gamble a bit."
Tobirama was speechless, staring at the towering building below.
"I really ought to flood it with a great deluge—otherwise at this rate the whole village will be ruined."
Hashirama shook his head. "You're exaggerating. It's just a little entertainment."
With that, Hashirama turned and walked down from the Hokage Rock.
Tobirama followed helplessly behind, complaining,
"You're in such a rush just to give them your money?"
Hashirama immediately became unhappy.
"Do you really look down on me that much?"
Tobirama shook his head and said nothing more.
Hashirama's gambling skills were unbelievably bad, yet he possessed a mysterious confidence, believing himself highly skilled.
But despite such awful gambling skills, he ended up winning the Warring States.
"Big brother, we don't seem to have money!"
"Don't worry, I'll have Tsunade's money as my capital."
"That—(⊙_☉)"
...
Night.
In a corner of Konoha's cemetery, a white python burrowed out of the soil, and then spat out a slime-covered monster.
Orochimaru wiped off the slime all over his body and took a deep breath.
"Finally I can get some fresh air!"
Orochimaru was neither a sage nor a flying, burrowing pangolin. At the time, he had only taken advantage of a momentary oversight from Tobirama and the others to burrow into the ground.
He'd honestly stayed buried in the mud the whole time, not even daring to escape, afraid leaking chakra would get him discovered.
Only when night came and no one was above did he crawl out to breathe.
Orochimaru looked at the newly added tombstones in Konoha Cemetery and sneered.
The victor becomes a martyr after death, while the loser can only be dried bones on the ground, ignored by all.
"Where to go next?"
Orochimaru asked himself.
He couldn't stay in Konoha anymore, yet didn't know where to wander.
More importantly, he hadn't gained anything from this conflict. The two zombies he'd worked so hard to dig up had been taken by someone else.
This didn't fit Orochimaru's nature of always taking advantage when there is one.
Orochimaru walked slowly through Konoha Cemetery, quietly thinking about his future plans.
Today he saw the Sage of Six Paths descend, and those two gigantic Susanoo were like gods of destruction—his heart was filled with yearning.
Yet the Sage of Six Paths appeared only for a brief moment—Kairen was the true sage of this era.
If he wanted to obtain immortality, he would have to find a breakthrough from Kairen.
But Orochimaru had made so many plans, not one had succeeded.
"Threaten the people around him!"
Orochimaru muttered softly, then shook his head.
Kairen was already on guard once, and definitely wouldn't let the people around him fall victim a second time.
Orochimaru suddenly noticed an inconspicuous tombstone. The name on it made his pupils shrink.
"Damn, how could I forget him? Moku Kairen's dad—Tarōmaru!"
When mentioning Kairen, people subconsciously ignored his former relatives, but they too were people, also crawled out of graves.
Orochimaru searched carefully around again and found Kairen's mother and grandfather.
He grinned darkly. "Kairen-kun, I'll reunite your whole family—you should thank me well. I, Orochimaru, am such a kind person."
Then Orochimaru began digging up Kairen's family graves.
...
Paradise on Earth.
Just from the name, it feels earthly—and can make you happy enough to fly.
Of course, it didn't provide cannon services. After all, although Kairen was a king of cannons, there was no need to preach and spread liquid.
After a hearty meal, Kairen and Tsunade accompanied Hashirama and Tobirama to the gambling house.
The gambling house was big and could easily hold 500 people.
It had just opened tonight, and it was already packed.
It seemed that no matter where you are, there are never few people yearning to get rich in one wave—everyone has a mysterious confidence.
Today they would defy fate!
The casino was opened by Kairen, so many games from his previous life appeared.
Fight the Landlord, Texas Hold'em, Show Hand, Mahjong…
Macau sexy dealers dealing cards online!
A very rough vibe. This decadent atmosphere directly made Tsunade and Hashirama excited.
Both were big gamblers. Seeing such a grand scene for the first time, of course they had to gamble to their hearts' content.
Kairen led the way in front, introducing all kinds of games to Tsunade and Hashirama.
Feeling a lot of chakra within the casino among the gamblers, Tobirama asked Kairen,
"This is a ninja village, and many gamblers are ninja. Aren't you afraid you'll lose even your underwear?"
Kairen smiled. "My underwear is very thick. Just from raiding the daimyō's mansion during the day, I got hundreds of billions. Even if they gamble for a whole year, they can't make me lose much!"
"Besides, I have my shadow clones in the casino—all the dealers are my shadow clones transformed. So, wins and losses are under my control."
That last sentence was whispered into Tobirama's ear, without letting the two gambling addicts Tsunade and Hashirama hear it.
Tobirama said calmly, "You're controlling the field?"
Kairen nodded and spoke of the casino rules.
"That's basic operation for running a casino. If you lose money all day long, who would still open a casino?"
"Let them win happily the first time. The second, the third time as well—make them feel gambling is fun. When they truly lose, they won't be able to quit!"
"From the moment they step into the casino, everyone is leeks."
Tobirama fell silent. Humans are emotional creatures—once addicted to something, without the resolve to cut it off, they can't quit.
"You're not short of money, so why open a casino?"
Kairen smiled. "I may not lack money, but I lack pleasure."
"Look at this venue—some people are full of confidence, thinking themselves favored by heaven, feeling they'll win big in one go."
"Some plan and calculate, skilled in strategy, deducing their opponents' moves."
"All living beings are gathered here. Heaven and earth are one big gamble—and I… am the market maker!"
Tobirama listened silently, shocked by Kairen's intentions.
Rather than saying he was controlling the casino, it was more like he was slowly controlling the ninja world; everyone was becoming his chips.
Tobirama glanced meaningfully at Kairen.
"Where exactly will you lead the ninja world?"
Kairen smiled. "Who knows? Maybe to a land of ultimate bliss."
Sometimes strange thoughts arose in Kairen's heart.
On a whim, castrating all men in the ninja world—then having civilization reproduced by him alone—wouldn't that be wonderful?
Tobirama shook his head.
"Whether it becomes a Pure Land of Bliss or a ghostly hell—it has nothing to do with me, a dead man."
His grave had been dug up already. As a dead man, he no longer cared about the world's development.
"But!"
Tobirama looked at Kairen seriously.
"You must treat little Tsunade better—don't bully her!"
The dirty business between Kairen and Tsunade had been seen by her two grandfathers.
Tobirama had spoken; Kairen dared not be careless.
He immediately nodded. "Don't worry! I will treat Tsunade well!"
Tobirama nodded in satisfaction.
The two of them continued to watch the two who dominated the casino.
Tsunade, one called the fat sheep of gambling, and one called the God of Gambling of the Warring States.
The two were killed to the point of losing helmet and armor, all their chips slowly ran out.
Kairen was truly speechless watching this.
"It's just a game of betting big or small, can't you two stop betting on the same side?"
"You bet big, she bets small, it's impossible for the dice to all be shaken to pieces, right!"
Hearing Kairen's words, Tsunade and Hashirama thought carefully.
"Makes sense, I didn't expect you to be so good at gambling!"
Hashirama patted Kairen on the back and praised.
"Little Tsunade didn't misjudge the person!"
"Grandpa!" Tsunade was shocked, her underground relationship with Kairen had been discovered.
Tobirama scolded Tsunade with a glance: "Would we not know you? Can you really hide it? Luckily someone still wants you, otherwise the Senju family would truly die out!"
"Grandpa, I—"
Tsunade wanted to say something but swallowed the words back.
What she actually wanted to say was that she once had a man.
But Dan's shadow was growing lighter and lighter in her heart, her maiden heart was occupied by Kairen, deeply entrenched by Kairen.
She could no longer see the shadow of Dan Kato.
Hashirama laughed on the side: "Alright! Alright! We're all people already in the earth, no need to worry anymore."
"Keep gambling, keep gambling, this time I bet big, Tsunade bets small, someone should win."
Tsunade nodded.
The two big gambling addicts placed their bets again.
The dice rolled out without being exaggeratedly all shattered, Hashirama won a round, making him laugh cheerfully.
Tobirama snorted: "Placing the same kind of bet, neither losing nor winning, isn't this just wasted effort?"
Hashirama suddenly realized: "Right!"
He and Tsunade adjusted the size of their bets and opened another round.
The one with more chips instead lost, the one with fewer chips instead won, adding it up they still lost.
Hashirama refused to believe this bad luck: "Again!"
Tsunade and Hashirama tested it more than ten times again, every time the same, the one with more chips lost.
Kairen complained: "Looks like… heaven doesn't want you to win! Better quit gambling!"
Tsunade and Hashirama shook their heads together: "Impossible, even if we starve to death in this life, we will never quit gambling!"
Tobirama cast Kairen a pitying look from the side.
With a woman like this, no matter how big the family fortune, it would be squandered.
And this had factual basis.
Hashirama and Tsunade gambled twenty-some rounds.
The surrounding gamblers also discovered the pattern on the two: if one side placed a large bet, that side would definitely lose, as if all the world's misfortune was on them.
Kairen's sexy dealers also couldn't control the scene, directly bleeding losses.
Tsunade and Hashirama played for a while again, and in the end the whole casino came to watch the two of them play.
Their unlucky streak directly made everyone laugh, and finally everyone followed the trend, wanting to make Kairen lose so much he'd have to pay with his wives.
Kairen ignored any industry rules, tore off all pretense and used the Mangekyō Sharingan, forcibly making the winners lose, perfectly demonstrating table control.
Night was deep, Tsunade and Hashirama were both tired of playing.
"Let's go! That's it for today!"
Walking out of Paradise on Earth, Hashirama felt totally refreshed.
"The human world is really nice, pity! Pity!"
Kairen suddenly looked seriously at Hashirama and Tobirama.
"Do you want me to resurrect you?"
He revealed his Six-Tomoe Rinnegan. Although it didn't contain the Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique, as long as seriously developed, it would eventually.
The two were silent for a moment, and Tsunade even closed every pore of her body.
Life, the excitement of blood flowing, the feeling of leaping upon the earth…
In the Pure Land, there is no sensation at all, just like a vegetative person.
"Hahahaha…"
Hashirama suddenly let out a burst of baffling laughter.
The three looked at him, puzzled.
Hashirama answered with a face full of hearty smiles: "No need, birth, aging, sickness, and death are part of the cycle of mortals. I have experienced death, only then am I complete."
"Also, if the dead can be resurrected, then this world would fall into chaos!"
Hashirama and Tobirama were people of the Warring States era; those of their age had all died, even if alive they would find no confidants.
More importantly, if they were greedy for life and accepted resurrection, then they would endlessly have Kairen resurrect their relatives.
In the end, the world would be replaced by a group of immortal people connected by nepotism.
Sons would not die, grandsons would not die, and finally what you get is a stagnant society.
Tsunade reached out to try to persuade Hashirama: "Grandpa—"
Hashirama shook his head: "Say no more, little Tsunade, the eternity of life is a kind of pain. Watching those around you die one after another, you cannot make your heart as cold as bedrock."
"We are already people in the earth; being able to see the human world once more is already a blessing. There's no need to crave more. Isn't that right, Tobirama!"
Tobirama nodded, though in his heart he was cursing.
Big brother, I want to be resurrected!
Tobirama was someone who loved doing research.
Just like Orochimaru, he also wished to have a long life to study the truths of the world, otherwise he would not have developed such an evil technique as Impure World Reincarnation.
But Hashirama had already said this much; if Tobirama still wanted to live, wouldn't that be very embarrassing? The juniors would all look down on him.