As expected, the Rouran Queen was a clever woman.
After recognizing the situation, she agreed to sponsor two hundred million ryo in the name of supporting the Sand Village's construction, and promised to provide the Sand Village with annual tasks worth no less than twenty million ryo.
This was essentially paying protection money.
Seeing that the Rouran Queen was sensible, Qingshui and his group naturally didn't want to resort to drastic measures.
Based on their estimates of Rouran's population and economy, twenty million ryo a year was close to the limit.
Rouran might still have a few million ryo left over each year to continue its development, but if more trouble arose and affected Rouran's economy and people's livelihoods, they might not even get twenty million ryo a year.
At the very least, the Rouran Queen still had enough skill to keep Rouran prosperous. If someone else were in charge, they might not do better than the Rouran Queen, not to mention that the local Dragon Vein also needed the Rouran Queen to suppress it. Her cooperation was good news for the Sand Village.
The only impact might be that Rouran's short-term development speed would inevitably be affected, but the Sand Village didn't care, and neither did the Rouran Queen—she seemed more interested in having the Sand Village as Rouran's backing, which could also bring some benefits to Rouran's future development.
Once the Sand Village's dispatched stationed ninjas arrived in Rouran, Qingshui and his three companions immediately returned to the Sand Village.
The current time was precisely the end of Konoha Year 38.
Most of the Sand Village ninjas, including the Third Kazekage from another battlefield, had already returned to the Sand Village a day before Qingshui, after concluding the joint naval exercise with Konoha.
This might be the Sand Village's most lively New Year, as this long-lasting war had already ended prematurely for the Sand Village.
The profits from the external war would ensure that the Sand Village's financial budget for the next few years would be quite abundant.
After returning to the village, it was already midnight.
Qingshui first rolled into bed and had a good night's sleep, not waking up until late afternoon the next day, close to evening.
After washing up, he spaced out for a bit, checked the time, and then pushed the door open and left.
Puppet Force base, Sixth Division station.
"Oh, you're all here."
Qingshui pushed open the station's main door and looked inside.
Ishido, Jianye, and Jianxue were gathered around a table, seemingly playing cards.
Sasori, wearing a brand new Chunin vest, wasn't interested in the card game and was simply sitting on the other side tinkering with a Puppet.
Hearing Qingshui's voice, everyone turned around.
"You finally made it."
Sasori tried to put on a calm expression and said to Qingshui.
"Haven't seen you in over a year, you've grown quite a bit!"
Jianxue's eyes lit up. She threw her cards onto the table, walked over, and patted Qingshui's shoulder.
After this New Year, Qingshui would soon be thirteen years old. He was now nearly 1.6 meters tall, close to an adult's height.
His body would continue to develop rapidly over the next two to three years, and reaching 1.8 meters before adulthood shouldn't be a problem.
"I knew you were about to lose and would try to cheat."
Jianye looked at the messy card game on the table, messed up by Jianxue, and couldn't help but grumble.
"Jianxue, long time no see, and Sasori and Jianye-senpai, congratulations."
Qingshui smiled at Jianxue, then congratulated Sasori and Jianye.
Sasori occasionally entrusted the logistics and transport teams to send letters to him and Chiyo. Earlier in the year, he had mentioned in a letter that he had placed first in the Chunin exams mid-year and successfully been promoted to Chunin.
As for Jianye, he had been on the battlefield with Qingshui and his group, just in a different squad, so they occasionally had opportunities to meet.
Also in the middle of this year, Jianye, who had just turned eighteen, was promoted from Special Jonin to a true Jonin.
"I heard you were promoted to Special Jonin, congratulations."
Sasori said to Qingshui with a serious expression.
"Is there really a need to keep a straight face when congratulating someone?"
Qingshui looked at Sasori's poker face and couldn't help but laugh.
Sasori ignored Qingshui's comment and simply continued:
"I also heard from some people who returned from the front lines to recover that you're as strong as a true Jonin now. Once my Crow is repaired tomorrow, let's spar again."
Qingshui followed Sasori's gaze to a large Puppet standing in the corner.
That Puppet was also about two meters tall, wrapped in tattered cloth, with four thick arms extending from its side.
Qingshui was slightly taken aback.
This seemed different from the Crow he remembered from his previous life. From its design, he could vaguely tell that this version of Crow had incorporated some structural elements from Fatty.
Was this also a change I brought about?
Qingshui smiled and nodded at Sasori.
"I'm looking forward to seeing your current strength."
Sasori pursed his lips, seemingly wanting to say something, but didn't.
"Hey! You two, stop chatting! Everyone's here, let's go! It was so hard to reserve a private room at the Golden Desert restaurant tonight, ahhh! I heard they have grilled fish recently, and I've hardly ever had grilled fish in my life!"
Jianxue gently pushed Qingshui and Sasori out the door.
...
...
DC Universe.
Gotham City, Bristol Township.
A luxurious, modified car pulled up in front of a supermarket building.
The cashier at the supermarket entrance glanced at Qingshui, who was striding into the store, then calmly continued to tally accounts, discreetly pressing a button inside the counter with their left hand.
Qingshui merely cast a fleeting glance at the cashier, then reached up to adjust his collar, revealing a black pin on his chest.
The pin bore a small emblem, engraved with the image of a burning demon's head.
He calmly walked towards the innermost elevator, which always seemed to be out of order. First, he pressed the button for the basement level, then, as if entering a password, he pressed a sequence of numbers before finally pressing the close door button.
The elevator rattled and groaned, descending to an unknown depth.
When the elevator doors opened, two rows of ninjas, clad in black bodysuits, were kneeling neatly before him. They looked at Qingshui, then uniformly bowed their heads.
The inconspicuous pin Qingshui wore on his chest was given to him by Ninja Master. The demon's head on it symbolized Ninja Master's identity as Demon's Head.
The emblem represented rank: black signified Ninja Master's deputy and heir, representing a high-ranking member of the League of Assassins; there was also a bronze version, representing important allies of the League of Assassins.
Ordinary members of the League of Assassins, however, had tattoos on their arms, with different tattoos indicating different ranks.
"Someone who can speak, come explain this place to me. The rest of you, go about your business."
Qingshui scanned the room and spoke.
"Yes, sir!"
The ninjas uniformly stood up again, and a masked assassin at the very front quickly stepped before Qingshui.
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