"... ... People of Lou Lan, here, I want to express my sincerest apologies to everyone. For a long time, we have suffered the enslavement of Sand Ninja, enduring countless hardships and torments. I am deeply ashamed, because as your Queen, I failed to protect everyone and allowed you to suffer so much pain."
Queen Sara stood on a high platform, her voice low and firm, filled with deep self-reproach and pain.
Beside her, Uchiha Tenxiu also stood quietly at this moment, his figure tall and majestic, giving an undeniable sense of presence.
His gaze swept over the crowd below, as if silently guarding the Queen and all of Lou Lan.
"However, fortunately, with the help of Uchiha Tenxiu, our Lou Lan has finally returned to peace.
He, with his powerful strength and fearless courage, repelled the Sand Ninja invaders and brought us freedom and tranquility."
Queen Sara's words revealed her gratitude towards Uchiha Tenxiu, and even more, her own admiration for him.
Then, Queen Sara took a deep breath and continued, "To express my apologies to everyone and my gratitude to Uchiha Tenxiu, I have decided to take a series of measures to improve everyone's lives.
First, I will increase investment in people's livelihoods to ensure that every Lou Lan resident can live a prosperous and happy life.
Secondly, I will strengthen exchanges and cooperation with other countries to create more opportunities for Lou Lan's development.
Finally, I hope everyone can unite and work together to make our Lou Lan more prosperous."
"In addition, to thank Uchiha Tenxiu for saving our Lou Lan, from today onwards, Uchiha Tenxiu will be our Lou Lan's Supreme Minister, responsible for all of Lou Lan's external affairs and for protecting Lou Lan's safety!
Let us cheer together! Thank this beautiful moment for coming..."
Queen Sara's speech earned thunderous applause and cheers from the people below.
People raised their hands, shouting Queen Sara's name, their eyes sparkling with tears.
This was not only because of the Queen's sincere apology but also because they saw that Lou Lan's future was full of hope.
Of course, behind them, there were also the puppets that once belonged to Minister An Lushan, protecting them.
Sunlight poured through the clouds, and its warm glow shone on everyone, as if bringing them new life and vitality.
At this moment, the people of Lou Lan felt an unprecedented warmth and happiness.
They believed that under the leadership of Queen Sara and Uchiha Tenxiu, Lou Lan would surely usher in a better tomorrow.
"Could it be that I am actually very suitable to be a Queen, and everyone recognizes me so much?"
Sara's face was flushed as she looked at the cheering people below, feeling a wave of honor and pride, and she secretly thought, "From now on, I must develop the country well and make the people happy!"
Below, countless people cheered while looking at the puppets they had once produced.
A small number of people had eyes full of apprehension and disdain.
Not everyone was so broad-minded and accepting of Queen Sara's apologies.
Compared to verbal apologies and future promises, these people focused more on reality.
When they glanced at Uchiha Tenxiu, the powerful figure guarding the Queen, and then at "Sand Ninja" Hyakuzu, who was also the former Lou Lan Minister An Lushan, now mostly turned into an immobile puppet, hanging in a bound posture for everyone to see in front of the high tower, they, as ordinary people who were once enslaved and controlled by An Lushan, couldn't even deal with An Lushan.
Now facing the Queen's apology, even if there were still complaints and grievances in their hearts, how could they question her in front of the Ninja beside the Queen and the puppets surrounding them?
Wouldn't that be asking for trouble?
Sara, who didn't understand this principle, left the high tower amidst the cheers of the crowd after a speech.
Below, the crowd, which had originally been dispersed by officials, now stopped and looked up at the puppets that surrounded the entire Lou Lan City.
These puppets, after a fierce battle, surprisingly began to patrol as usual again.
Although Sand Ninja Hyakuzu had been defeated before, the puppets he left behind did not disappear with him.
They seemed to have a life of their own, still sticking to their posts and performing their patrol duties.
Surprisingly, even without the support of the Dragon Vein's power, these puppets could still operate normally under the clever arrangement of a brand new Chakra energy control room meticulously crafted by Uchiha Tenxiu.
This was from the Chakra battery storage technology researched by the Da Zhou, which relies on storing a large amount of Chakra on a daily basis for large-scale Chakra machine puppets.
Facing Lou Lan's defense issues, Uchiha Tenxiu also directly utilized it.
Not only that, but even the puppet factory that Hyakuzu had left behind would continue to operate in the future.
Although the other party was a rogue Ninja, the puppet factory he created was quite clear and was the true path for Lou Lan.
Therefore, this factory seemed to be unaffected.
Under Uchiha Tenxiu's arrangement, in the subsequent time, workers were still busy going in and out, and the roar of machines rose and fell, everything seemed so natural and ordinary.
Everything seemed to have changed, and yet not much had changed.
Although Hyakuzu was defeated, the citizens still needed to enter Lou Lan's factory, but there was now something called wages.
The temporary state of mind of the Lou Lan people, although still very confused, did not show too many doubts.
At least, compared to Hyakuzu's 996 behavior, now they at least had five days on and two days off.
...
"Hiruzen, the Sand Ninja are collecting food on a large scale, which is clearly preparation for war!
The intelligence from the Hidden Stone Village spies directly states that they are collecting wartime supplies worldwide.
Not only that, but Hidden Cloud Village and Kirigakure also have frequent movements.
The Third Shinobi World War is already imminent, you still hesitate?
We absolutely cannot sit and wait for death, we must strike first!"
Danzo Shimura was full of anger, his emotions extremely agitated, he slammed the table fiercely, making "bang bang" sounds, as if the entire room was shaking with him.
His forehead was tightly wrapped with thick bandages, one eye completely covered, only the other eye exposed.
However, this exposed eye was like a burning flame, staring intently at his old friend Hiruzen Sarutobi, as if wanting to see his true thoughts through his calm exterior.
The cane he leaned on was also held tightly, showing his inner turmoil.
Danzo Shimura really couldn't understand why, with all the intelligence collected, the other party still chose such cowardly behavior.
"Teacher, his choice to pass on the Hokage to you was the biggest mistake," Danzo Shimura secretly hated.
Hiruzen Sarutobi, however, appeared exceptionally calm.
He slowly smoked his pipe, and the smoke slowly rose in front of him, forming a thin mist that enveloped his already wrinkled face, making it difficult to discern his expression.
Seeing this scene, a flame of anger burned fiercely in Danzo Shimura's chest, this flame constantly surged into his heart, making his emotions increasingly difficult to control.
He secretly cursed in his heart, "The position of Hokage should clearly belong to me!
If I were to become Hokage, I, Danzo Shimura, would definitely do a hundred times better than him!"
"No, we can't do that!"
After a long time, Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head and refused.
His eyes were filled with fatigue, as if in his mind, the consideration of this matter had gone through a long deliberation, consuming most of his thoughts.
Seeing Danzo Shimura's confusion, he still explained, "It was not easy to sign a peace treaty in the Second Ninja World War.
If we are the first to break it, then we will definitely be hostile to all Ninja villages and become the target of the so-called national Ninja villages.
Conversely, as long as we don't make the first move, we can try to win over some of the Ninja villages to change their stance!"