A little over a week later, Tōshirō and his three comrades, having completed their mission splendidly, returned to the village. As they reported their mission status and saw the village, their faces all turned grim.
There were broken walls and dilapidated houses, looking as if they had just been bombed.
"This is..."
There wasn't much time for questions. The four immediately rushed to the Hokage's office, found Hiruzen Sarutobi, and asked for an explanation.
Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed, stating the reason.
The gist of it was that the ninjas from the Land of Sky had taken advantage of the Leaf's preoccupation with the front lines and directly air-raided the Hidden Leaf Village, causing severe damage. What Tōshirō and the others had just seen was the aftermath of last night's bombing.
Jiraiya looked like an enraged leader, fuming and declaring, "Those despicable Sky Ninjas! How utterly reckless!"
After he spoke, the other three Sannin all nodded in agreement, stating that the Sky Ninjas had gone too far this time and must be dealt with severely.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression was solemn. "For now, the four of you are to temporarily refrain from going out."
Tsunade asked, "Is it to guard against the Sky Ninjas?"
Although the four of them were young, their strength was extraordinary. Even among the myriad of Jonin, they were considered top-tier. If the Sky Ninjas dared to attack again, the four of them could be very effective.
Hiruzen Sarutobi continued from Tsunade's words. "That's part of it. But more importantly, I want the four of you to wait for orders, and then launch a full-scale invasion of the Land of Sky."
Tsunade looked at him in surprise.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's face darkened. "This time, the Land of Sky not only attacked our Hidden Leaf, but also the location of the Fire Daimyo."
"Although no substantial harm came to the Daimyo, the Daimyo, feeling threatened, has demanded that the Hidden Leaf exact the most severe retribution on the Land of Sky."
Tōshirō narrowed his eyes, deep in thought.
In the original story, the Land of Sky was apparently destroyed by the Leaf.
Now, it seemed he had landed squarely on this historical timeline.
Unless something unexpected happened, the Land of Sky, having provoked the Hidden Leaf, was likely doomed.
The Land of Sky was a mobile fortress, its position constantly shifting. Hiruzen Sarutobi ordering the four of them to wait for orders meant that he would first send people to pinpoint the Land of Sky's exact location, then dispatch the four of them, leading a contingent of Leaf ninjas, to directly obliterate the Land of Sky.
"Understood."
The four received their mission, left the Hokage's office, and went to prepare, ready to execute the mission at any time.
Tōshirō and Tsunade walked side-by-side down the street. Villagers occasionally cast strange glances at them. To this day, it was hard for them to imagine these two ending up together.
However, the two individuals themselves had grown accustomed to it.
Walking along, Tsunade casually asked, "Tōshirō, why do you think the Sky Ninjas attacked our village?"
This question sounded like a rhetorical one, but it wasn't.
If battles were fought on the battlefield, and a truce was called later, there could be mediation. But if a village was directly attacked, the nature of the conflict changed entirely, leading to an endless cycle of hostility, making mediation difficult.
Historically, there were instances of direct attacks on villages followed by diplomatic mediation, but this was limited to great nations dealing with each other, where both sides would weigh the consequences of continued warfare.
However, this wasn't the case between small nations and great nations. On one hand, great nations had the power to directly destroy small nations without fear of retaliation. On the other hand, it also served to demonstrate their hegemonic status to other small nations, showing that it was not to be infringed upon.
So, now that the Hidden Leaf had been openly attacked, they naturally weren't thinking of mediation, but rather of directly obliterating the Land of Sky as a warning to others.
Tōshirō casually replied, "You ask me, who should I ask?"
In this world, there were many crazy people who lacked self-awareness and couldn't be understood through normal thought processes.
For example, in "Fan-fiction Works," the new seven brats from the Hidden Mist planned to ignite the Fifth Great Ninja War with their seven ninja swords, almost making people die of laughter.
How ignorant must one be to do such a foolish thing? If the other six ninja swords were as strong as Samehada, it might be understandable, but the problem was that out of the seven ninja swords, only Samehada was somewhat significant; the other six were purely for show.
It truly confirmed the saying: the more ignorant a person is, the more inexplicably confident they are.
Unconsciously, the two walked to the Uchiha clan compound.
Compared to other villagers, the members of the Uchiha clan were surprisingly open-minded on this matter. They greeted Tōshirō and Tsunade with smiling, amiable faces.
"Oh, you two are a pair again, truly in love."
"By the way, when are you two planning to get married?"
And so it usually began, showing more concern for when these two would marry than for their own children.
Tōshirō awkwardly said, "Marriage is too soon for me..."
The elderly Uchiha woman, who had greeted Tōshirō, frowned. "What do you mean 'too soon'? Let me tell you, when I was your age, I already had a child or two."
"Besides, you're going in and out of Tsunade's place every day. Even if you don't care about your own reputation, you should care about Tsunade's reputation as a girl, right? Listen to your auntie's advice, get married quickly and formalize your relationship, so idle people won't gossip."
Tsunade silently lowered her head, her big, sparkling eyes stealthily glancing at Tōshirō to gauge his attitude.
"You're so concerned, I don't believe you have absolutely no ulterior motives..." Tōshirō changed the subject, deflecting. "Oh? This crab looks really big and fresh, how much is it?"
"Honestly, every time I ask a crucial question, you avoid it." The elderly Uchiha woman put her hands on her hips. "Can't you be a man and be more decisive?"
Tōshirō: ...
The elderly Uchiha woman dropped the large crab into a plastic bag and handed it to Tōshirō, saying gruffly, "It's free."
"Ah, how can I accept this?"
Tōshirō was genuinely embarrassed.
The elderly Uchiha woman retorted, "This isn't for you, it's for Tsunade."
"For Tsunade?" Tōshirō glanced at Tsunade, muttering to himself, How did you two get so close?
Why didn't I know?
The elderly Uchiha woman continued, "You and I are both members of the Uchiha clan, so in a sense, we're related by blood."
"So, consider these large crabs my personal contribution to you two lovebirds, so people stop saying you're living off her wealth."
Me, living off her wealth?
Tōshirō felt a direct jab to his lung, leaping up. "Slander! This is absolutely slander!"
Such rumors had been circulating in the village for more than a day or two.
Without even thinking, he knew it came from Tsunade's secret admirers, an insult to his character.
In the past, Tōshirō didn't care about his character, but it was different now.
He might not care for himself, but he couldn't disregard Tsunade's feelings.
Even though Tsunade wouldn't take it to heart, he couldn't think that way.
This feeling was like when a woman tells her beloved that money doesn't matter when they're together, but the man cannot think that way.
Therefore, even if Tōshirō was genuinely living off her wealth now, he had to strongly refute it and adamantly deny it.
I, Uchiha Tōshirō, do not live off her wealth.
He actually had the ability to completely avoid living off her wealth, but he still chose to bravely embrace it.
What was he aiming for?
Wasn't it to maintain the warmth of his relationship with Tsunade?
One must understand that in a relationship, it's essential for both parties to feel a sense of purpose and need. This increases mutual security and affection.
And choosing to live off her wealth at this point was a good behavior. It would make the woman strongly feel that the man needed her, thereby generating a sense of security.
Outsiders only saw the first layer of living off her wealth. In reality, Tōshirō was operating on a much higher plane.
All to carefully nurture this hard-won relationship.
Tōshirō exclaimed, "Is it easy for me to live off her wealth?!"
(End of Chapter)
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