Chapter 399: Once a general, always a general

The biting wind carried yellow sand, ruthlessly eroding everything it reached, adding a bit of desolation to the already barren land. But in this lifeless yellow hell, a touch of emerald green appeared so precious.

A figure in a cloak stood before the vibrant oasis, eyes filled with undisguised joy, as well as a trace of worry hidden deep beneath his eyelids.

"Who are you?"

Two guards dressed as soldiers held kunai, looking with vigilance at the mysterious person who had broken into their forbidden area. If the other party showed any improper movements, they would immediately sound the alarm.

The mysterious person didn't show the slightest panic. Instead, he looked at the two dutiful guards with great interest, the look of gratification on his face flashing by. He slowly pulled off the cloak covering his head, revealing a ferocious green dragon.

"Good vigilance, worth praising."

Having come home specifically to inspect Shamon, his usually serious face wore a rare smile. When the two guards saw him, they hurriedly hid their kunai behind their backs and stood at attention in unison, cold sweat seeping out uncontrollably from their bodies.

"Greetings, Kazekage-sama! We small ones didn't know Kazekage-sama had arrived; we deserve to die!"

"No matter. It was I who broke in privately; you are just doing your duty. What crime is there?"

Shamon shook his head, signaling these two new recruits not to panic, and turned his gaze to the forest behind him, asking.

"Has anything major happened in Loulan recently?"

"Reporting to Kazekage-sama, everything is well, it's just..."

Facing Shamon's inquiry, the two guards naturally didn't dare to be slow and immediately nodded in agreement, but soon showed a difficult expression.

"Just what?"

"It's just that Loulan's current carrying capacity is not enough. The newly migrated residents are still in a state of being homeless."

"Didn't the Daimyo already allocate funds to build new residential areas?"

Shamon frowned upon hearing this. How could he let the elders and fellow villagers be displaced?

"The funds arrived, but it's still a drop in the bucket. Too many refugees join every day, and the construction speed can't keep up at all."

The guard showed a bitter smile and explained the reason.

"I understand. Is the City Lord here?"

Shamon, having roughly understood the reason, nodded and didn't continue to question the two soldiers about this matter, turning instead to ask about the situation of the Loulan City Lord.

"He is!"

The Loulan City Lord was a red-haired man of similar age to Shamon. At this moment, he was flipping through the documents in his hand with a distressed expression. The series of red figures on them gave him a headache, and his rugged face carried undisguised exhaustion.

"Creak~"

"Didn't I say not to disturb me while I'm working!"

Suddenly, the tightly closed door of the office was pushed open violently. The Loulan City Lord frowned and reprimanded without even raising his head.

"Father~"

However, the soft, glutinous voice made the City Lord's angry expression instantly break. With a face full of tenderness, he raised his head and saw a red-haired little girl of about five or six years old leaning timidly against the door, her watery eyes full of worry.

"It's little Sana. Come over quickly, let Daddy give you a hug~"

The City Lord beckoned to the little girl with a smile, and the sternness from just before vanished without a trace.

"Tap, tap, tap~"

The little girl named Sana ran over with her short legs and plunged into the City Lord's arms.

"Father, you haven't been home for several days. Mother and I miss you so much."

"After I finish this period of time, I will accompany you well."

Because of the recent financial tightness, the City Lord had to work overtime to repeatedly check every payment, eating and living in the office, let alone going home.

"You're not allowed to lie!"

Sana in his arms puffed her small face into a bun and stretched out her finger, wanting to hook pinkies with him.

"When has Father ever lied to you? After I'm done, I'll take you to the Land of Fire to drink Mixue Bingcheng."

"Yay!"

Hearing the words "Mixue Bingcheng," Sana's eyes were instantly filled with little stars. She raised her small fist high, dancing with excitement.

"I want to eat lots and lots of sundaes!"

"No problem!"

"Bang, bang, bang~"

Suddenly, a knock on the door interrupted the rare parent-child time. The City Lord frowned again, just about to reprimand, when he saw a familiar bald head resting his hand on the door, looking at him with a teasing expression.

"Shamon! Why are you here?"

Seeing the visitor, the City Lord stood up in surprise.

"Why, don't you welcome an old friend?"

Shamon squeezed his eyes awkwardly.

And the little girl in the City Lord's arms blinked in confusion, her small hand touching her chin, her delicate brows furrowed into a "chuan" shape, as if she were trying hard to think about something.

"You are... Big Baldy Uncle!"

After about ten seconds, she showed a look of sudden realization, pointing at Shamon's shiny bald head and greeting him loudly.

"Little Sana, long time no see."

Not angry because of the little girl's impolite address, Shamon instead stepped forward with a smile and touched her little red head, his voice exceptionally gentle.

"Little Sana, you go home first. Daddy has to start working."

The City Lord looked at the smiling Shamon and put down his little daughter, telling her not to disturb the conversation between adults.

"Goodbye, Father. Goodbye, Big Baldy Uncle~"

Sana pouted aggrievedly. Although she was somewhat unwilling, she still left politely and obediently.

"Little Sana is just so sensible, unlike my own brat, who is naughty every day and has recently taken a liking to playing with snakes."

Looking at Sana's retreating back, Shamon nodded with some envy, then thought of his own son and became furious. Sure enough, one shouldn't compare too much.

"Hmph~ Little Sana is the cutest in the world!"

For Shamon's praise, the City Lord accepted it calmly.

"Drink some tea."

After exchanging views on education, the City Lord got up and rummaged through the tea cabinet for a long time, finally finding a pile of remaining crumbs. Without being particular, he brewed it directly for Shamon.

"Has it become this tight?"

Shamon looked at the coarse tea in front of him with an unbearable expression. As a dignified City Lord, he didn't even have tea leaves that were presentable. How great a crisis was Loulan facing?

"It's not bad to have something to drink. This is what I saved for myself to savor. When ordinary people come, I only give them white water."

The City Lord sat down in front of Shamon boldly. Seeing that he dared to mock him, he rolled his eyes instantly.

The Guardian Clan of Loulan and the City Lord's lineage had a friendship spanning thousands of years, and Shamon and the Loulan City Lord were close friends who had grown up together.

Back when Shamon was still in Loulan, besides serving as the Guardian of the Dragon Vein, he also concurrently held the post of Loulan's City Defense Commander.

According to the address at the time, Shamon was Loulan's Mighty General.

However, Shamon, who should have dedicated his life to Loulan, left his hometown under the coaxing of a certain unprincipled curly-haired guy and chose to venture out. Fortunately, he made a name for himself, otherwise, he would have become a joke to the Loulan people.

The two close friends, who had met only a handful of times over these years, entered the main topic after a simple exchange of pleasantries.

"Is the money allocated by the Daimyo really not enough to spend?"

Taking a sip of the tea full of crumbs, Shamon cast his gaze on the documents piled up like a mountain.

"Not enough. Loulan is just a town, not a country. It can't digest so many new refugees all at once, and infrastructure construction is always a beat slow."

"Then restrict entry."

"I can't do that. These people are coming specifically for Loulan, so how can I turn them away?"

Facing the cruel solution proposed by Shamon, the City Lord shook his head and refused.

The people coming to join Loulan now were mostly sand people living in the desert. They had lived a wandering life for generations and had no savings themselves, usually relying on simple labor to survive.

Their joining couldn't bring the economic benefits Loulan imagined; instead, it became a burden on the city's development.

But the Loulan City Lord was a generous person and couldn't bear to see these sand people who had come from afar be displaced, so he opened the city gates wide to let them settle down.

However, with more and more refugees joining, the space in Loulan, which was not spacious to begin with, was squeezed again. They could only grit their teeth and carry out large-scale expansion projects. The Daimyo's special allocation was not enough to fill this loophole, and Loulan could only tighten its belt to live.

"It's all my fault."

Shamon looked at the exhausted Loulan City Lord and spoke with some self-reproach.

"It has nothing to do with you."

"No, it's all my fault. If it weren't for those oases, Loulan would still be that stable border town."

Attributing all the mistakes in front of him to the oasis planted by Senju Hashirama, Shamon shook his head with a bitter face.

"Nonsense! The oasis is the residence every person in the Land of Wind yearns for most. How can you blame the oasis?"

He had thought Shamon had some high insight, but he didn't expect it to be such narrow-minded thinking. The City Lord was instantly furious and questioned him with a very serious expression.

"But..."

"No more 'buts'. If you still care about the elders and fellow villagers, then get some more money for Loulan."

Seeing Shamon's hesitant appearance, the City Lord waved his hand, stopping his speech, and then showed a mercenary expression.

"Uh... Sunagakure doesn't have any surplus grain either~"

He hadn't expected his old friend to actually moral-kidnap him. Shamon showed a very difficult expression. Although he was the Kazekage, the village's financial power was still in the hands of the Retired Emperor Reto.

And the village's funds were all used to consolidate the military and protect the Land of Wind; they couldn't squeeze out any money to help Loulan.

"Forget it. I see you're still as unreliable as before. If there's no money, putting in some effort is fine too."

The City Lord's request for money before was just a joke. Looking at Shamon, whose complexion wasn't very good, he changed his thinking.

You said you came, so you have to leave something behind, right?

"I'm just passing by. There are still government affairs to be busy with in the village~"

"Get lost!"

"Don't be like that! It's almost the winter solstice, and I miss the dumplings Sister-in-law makes~"

"Sure enough, you baldy still have evil intentions!"

Looking at Shamon's cheap expression, the City Lord was so angry that his fists hardened, and he wished he could crack open his bald head.

"Haha, just kidding. I'll leave in a while."

Seeing the City Lord's posture of rubbing his hands, Shamon laughed from the bottom of his heart, then waved his hand, indicating that he didn't have much time left.

"Eh?"

The City Lord was stunned upon hearing this, a flash of inexplicable color on his face.

"It wouldn't be too late to stay for a simple meal before leaving, and don't you want to go see the Dragon Vein?"

"It wouldn't be too late to eat the meal until the New Year. As for the Dragon Vein..."

Facing his friend's retention, Shamon, who had a heavy responsibility, refused painfully. When mentioning the Dragon Vein, he appeared thoughtful, touched his heart, and added a sentence with an inexplicable tone.

"... it has always been by my side."

Outside Loulan City.

Shamon, wearing a cloak, walked with the City Lord. Along the way, they could see many sallow-faced but bright-eyed sand people, dragging their families and carrying only their assets, walking toward Loulan without hesitation.

The sand people of the Land of Wind spent their whole lives chasing oases, and Loulan, full of oases, was the supreme holy land in their hearts.

"I will find a way."

Shamon, who had been silent all the way, suddenly spoke at the moment of parting.

"No need. You just be a good Kazekage and don't lose face for the Loulan people."

The City Lord looked at Shamon's determined expression and felt gratified in his heart, but he still shook his head and refused.

They couldn't let Shamon become a corrupt official in Sunagakure because of them. It was hard for the village to produce a talent; he couldn't go down the wrong path.

"Sigh~"

Shamon sighed, looking at the yellow sand beneath his feet, and suddenly had an absurd thought.

If his Magnet Release maneuvered gold sand, how good would that be~

"Don't sigh. You were Loulan's Mighty General before, bring out your general's momentum!"

"General... truly a nostalgic title."

Listening to the familiar yet unfamiliar title, Shamon was somewhat dazed. His gaze crossed his friend and landed on Loulan, surrounded by lush greenery. His gaze changed from confusion to determination.

"That's right, I am the general who guards everything. The Dragon Vein, Loulan, Sunagakure, the Land of Wind—all will be guarded by me!"

Drip~

Drip~

"Am I dead?"

In the deep darkness, Shamon opened his eyes with difficulty. Looking at the space where he couldn't see his fingers in front of him, he subconsciously thought he had fallen into the Pure Land, waiting for the Six Paths' reincarnation.

"Hehehe... Baldy, I didn't expect you to be so brave!"

Suddenly, a familiar sharp voice rang in his ear, pulling his consciousness, which was about to dissipate, back a little. Shamon turned his head and found a pair of "lanterns" like copper coins in the darkness.

"Sorry, Shukaku, for letting you die with me. But you should still be able to resurrect. Next time, remember to find a more reliable partner."

Recognizing the teasing light emitted by the "lanterns," Shamon shook his head bitterly, his tone carrying sincere apology.

"..."

"Bai Chi."

Shamon's unexpected statement made Shukaku, who had accumulated a stomach full of trash talk, somewhat at a loss. After holding it in for a long time, it spat out a word with minimal lethality.

"You're right, it really is stupid enough. The other party is Uchiha Madara, and Uchiha Madara merged with the Nine-Tails. How did I dare to do that."

Recalling his last feat "before death," Shamon sighed with some emotion, but there was no regret on his face.

At least he dared to face it.

"I don't like hearing you say that. Do you mean I'm not as strong as that stinky fox?"

Shukaku, who had become taciturn, suddenly roared excitedly after hearing Shamon's muttering.

"I didn't mean that."

"You did mean that!"

"I didn't... Alright, I did mean that. But you can't blame yourself. Facing an opponent stronger than yourself, cowardice is normal."

Shamon, who had originally wanted to explain, suddenly thought that he was already gone, so he simply stopped being polite with Shukaku and started telling the truth.

"Who said that stinky fox is stronger than me? I was just worried..."

Shukaku was instantly furious upon hearing this, actually daring to say it was afraid of that stinky fox Nine-Tails. If it weren't for Indra's consciousness chakra being there, it would have already fought the Nine-Tails.

"Alright, alright. At this point, saying anything is too late. Thank you for coming to send me off. We'll meet again if fate allows."

Facing the furious Shukaku, a free and easy smile appeared on Shamon's face. He waved at the fat tanuki that had been his partner for many years, waiting peacefully for the opening of the Pure Land gate.

"Bai Chi! Bai Chi! Bai Chi! You idiot baldy! So annoying!"

Looking at Shamon with a look of relief, Shukaku suddenly became irritable. It felt a palpitation in its chakra origin, and an inexplicable emotion was born in its heart.

"By the way, after you resurrect, take a look at Loulan for me. I hope everyone can live better."

"Bai Chi, if you want to see, go see for yourself!"

Shukaku gritted his teeth, his coin-like eyes staring straight at Shamon, though his voice lacked some of its former tyranny.

"Ha?"

"Roar!"

Just as Shamon was confused, a deafening dragon roar suddenly rang out behind him. The dark space around him was gradually dispersed by purple light.

"Dragon... Dragon Vein?"

Turning around hesitantly, Shamon saw the familiar giant dragon. That was the incarnation of the Dragon Vein power that his clan had guarded for generations.

"Baldy, although you look dead, you're not dead yet. It was this guy who pulled you in at the last moment."

Shukaku, whose expression had returned to calm, served as a commentator beside Shamon. Pointing at the Dragon Vein radiating mysterious aura, it continued.

"This guy's background is not small. You kid have found a treasure."

The Dragon Vein power was born from the residual power at the base after the Sage of Six Paths removed the God Tree. It not only had chakra comparable to a Tailed Beast but also had the magical ability to reverse time and space.

"You mean, I'm still alive now?"

Shamon looked at his semi-transparent body and scratched his bald head in confusion.

"Barely surviving, but..."

Shukaku shook his head; Shamon outside was about to be beheaded by Uchiha Madara, but the Dragon Pulse had pulled him into a space-time-detached dimension the instant before his death, allowing the two of them to have a brief exchange.

"But what?"

"You still have to die when you go back. That red-eyed guy has been infected by the Nine-Tails' malice and doesn't know how to hold back."

"Ah, this..."

Shamon now knew his situation. The Dragon Vein only temporarily gave him time to explain his last words; it was truly thoughtful~

"Roar!"

The Dragon Vein let out another dragon roar. Shamon felt something in his heart. Looking at the giant dragon staring at him, his tone was somewhat uncertain.

"Are you trying to let me try again?"

The giant dragon condensed from chakra nodded.

Although it was just a mass of chakra, after the baptism of years of time, it had also given birth to simple wisdom. The Guardian Clan's thousands of years of protection had always been seen by the Dragon Vein, so it naturally wouldn't abandon Shamon's life or death.

"Thank you so much."

Shamon stepped forward excitedly and bowed deeply to the Dragon Vein he had worshipped for many years.

This scene, falling into Shukaku's eyes, instantly made this petty tanuki feel extremely unbalanced.

"Hmph~ Relying on just it, I'm afraid you'll be a one-round tour in the second week."

Snorting coldly, Shukaku curled its lips with disdain.

"What do you mean, you tanuki? Don't slander Lord Dragon Vein."

"Ha? You call it Lord Dragon Vein, but call me 'you tanuki'?"

Shukaku pointed at itself with indignation, and a look called "grievance" actually appeared in its eyes, which made Shamon extremely confused.

"What exactly do you want to express?"

Shamon, who didn't want to exert effort to guess a tanuki's thoughts, went straight to the point.

"If you call me Lord Shukaku, and kowtow to me a few times, I might be able to help you too~"

Shukaku crossed its paws over its chest and struck a haughty expression.

"Hehe."

Shamon had long lost trust in this two-faced tanuki, so he sneered twice and stopped speaking. Then he turned his head and said respectfully to the Dragon Vein.

"Lord Dragon Vein, I'm ready!"

The Dragon Vein nodded, and its power began to condense.

"Ah! Wait! Just kowtow once, once is fine, right?"

Waiting for a long time without waiting for Shamon's three bows and nine kowtows, Shukaku looked at Shamon, who was preparing to accept the gift of Dragon Vein power, with astonishment, and hurriedly lowered its conditions.

"Hehe~"

"Don't be like that, just doing it for show is fine too!"

"..."

Shamon turned his head directly, not giving Shukaku any good face.

"Ah! You baldy, saying a soft word should be fine, right?"

"The moment you played dead, we had nothing left to say."

"Ha?"

It turned out Shamon was still holding a grudge about Shukaku abandoning him.

"Hmm..."

Shukaku looked at Shamon, who was about to merge with the Dragon Vein, gritted its teeth, and spoke with difficulty.

"I apologize to you, that should be fine, right?"

"Oh?"

Shamon turned his head in surprise, looking at Shukaku, whose large face showed a look of grievance, and made a confused sound.

"I'm sorry! I shouldn't have escaped. No matter who it is, I'll help you beat them to a pulp!"

The deafening voice echoed throughout the space. Shukaku's words made Shamon show a smile. Looking at this large tanuki, which was sharp-tongued but simple-minded, he slowly raised his hand.

"Let's go! Let's go take revenge!"

"You detestable baldy, were you playing with me just now?"

"That's right, who told you to sell out your teammate at a critical moment."

"Roar!"

After the human and beast reached an understanding, the Dragon Vein's urging sound rang out again. Shamon and Shukaku looked at each other, their eyes full of surging fighting spirit.

"Since the power of a ninja cannot defeat him, then I will challenge him again as a general."

"Stinky fox! Don't think that just because you've latched onto a big shot, you can do whatever you want. Mocking me? I'll let you see who the real Tailed Beast King is!"

"Roar!"

"Our theme this time is revenge!"

Shamon, Shukaku, and the Dragon Vein stood together. With consistent beliefs, they turned into three rays of light that began to intertwine and merge, finally turning into darkness as deep as the space itself, and disappeared from where they stood.

【Avenge】 (End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 400 =====