Hoshiyomi's match against Kozaburo ended in a narrow win for the Konoha Genin, triggering enthusiastic applause from the entire crowd. It wasn't that Kozaburo was hated or anything like that—it was simply that the villagers of Yugakure were very aware of the vast gap between their own village and a major shinobi village like Konoha.
The fact that Kozaburo had held his own until the final moment before falling to a Konoha shinobi had made him a hometown hero in their eyes.
After Hoshiyomi's match came the battles of Tsunade and the others. With their skills already near or even at the level of Special Jōnin, they all secured easy victories.
Interestingly, out of the ten matches in the third round, only Shinku ended up facing a Kumogakure ninja.
The other four Konoha participants faced fellow Konoha shinobi, while the four remaining Kumogakure participants conveniently matched against the four weakest Genin of the fourteen who had passed the previous round. As expected, all four Cloud ninja advanced.
While the ordinary villagers of Yugakure remained blissfully unaware of the political maneuvering behind the match-ups, the participating shinobi understood the unspoken arrangements. Still, no one complained. This was politics—it was only fair to let everyone get a piece of the pie.
After all, Kumogakure was one of the Five Great Ninja Villages. You couldn't just humiliate them on an international stage.
No matter how you looked at it, this Chūnin Exam ended on a very smooth and satisfactory note, politically speaking. Everyone came out smiling, and that was what mattered most.
Especially during the final peace treaty signing ceremony, when the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi shook hands with the Third Raikage A. That moment was instantly hailed as a historic scene.
At the start of Konoha Year 20, Gekkō Hoshiyomi and the others were promoted to Chūnin, and a formal ceasefire agreement was signed between the Third Hokage and Third Raikage in Yugakure.
With this, the First Great Ninja War, which had lasted nearly six years, finally came to an end.
———
Because this Chūnin Exam also symbolized the end of the war, Hoshiyomi and the others had to make a detour to the Capital of the Land of Fire with the Hokage to report their achievements.
This trip would take around three to five days. Despite the delay, no one in the escorting shinobi group asked to return to the village early.
After all, who didn't enjoy flowers and applause? Especially for teenagers—they craved recognition.
They were the ones who had witnessed and taken part in the conclusion of the Great Ninja War. If you rounded things up a bit, you could call them heroes of peace. Their names would probably go down in the updated history textbooks of the Ninja Academy.
So obviously, none of them were in a rush to leave.
When Hoshiyomi and the others arrived at the capital, they immediately experienced what it was like to be national heroes. The moment they stepped through the city gates, they were met with thunderous cheers from the citizens. Not even Hoshiyomi, who had lived two lives, had ever experienced something like this.
The excitement continued all the way into the Daimyō's estate. Even after they were inside, they still felt a bit dizzy from all the attention. As Konoha's top youth representatives in the Chūnin promotion, they were granted the rare honor of meeting the Daimyō of the Land of Fire himself.
To be honest, the current Daimyō didn't look all that impressive—just a small, ordinary old man. But then came the moment that shocked Hoshiyomi and the others.
"Grandfather Daimyō."
Tsunade stepped forward and gave a respectful bow. The Daimyō, seated on his throne, immediately smiled and waved her over, pulling her into a warm embrace and looking her up and down.
"It's been so long. Little Tsunade's grown into a fine young lady."
Watching their affectionate interaction, Hoshiyomi suddenly remembered something he'd read in old forums in his past life—Tsunade likely didn't carry the Senju surname because she was Hashirama Senju's granddaughter through his daughter, not his son.
In other words, Hashirama and Mito had a daughter who married into the Daimyō's family. That would make Tsunade's maternal grandfather the previous Daimyō, and her current grandfather this very man.
Hence, Tsunade didn't inherit the "Senju" name and was instead known as Tsunade-hime.
Seeing the scene unfold before him, Hoshiyomi was convinced—this theory had to be true.
While Tsunade chatted with the Daimyō, she didn't forget to introduce Hoshiyomi and the others. But it was obvious the Daimyō wasn't particularly interested in the young shinobi—his main concern was the end of the war.
After a brief meeting, Tsunade and the rest were escorted out. It was time for the Third Hokage and the Daimyō to have a private discussion. The younger shinobi had no place in that room yet.
Once outside, the group considered going out to explore and try some local snacks. But Tsunade dragged them instead toward the inner courtyard of the Daimyō's estate—a place not just anyone could enter.
They were stopped after only a few steps, but Tsunade revealed her identity and successfully brought them inside.
After several turns, they arrived at a grand residence deep within the compound. Tsunade explained that this was the home of her parents.
Just as Hoshiyomi had speculated earlier, Tsunade's mother was Hashirama's daughter—but not a shinobi herself.
Tsunade spoke vaguely about this part, implying there was some hidden story. But Hoshiyomi could guess why. During the Warring States era, Hashirama and Madara had many enemies. If they couldn't defeat them directly, targeting their children wouldn't be unheard of.
This might even explain why the Senju Clan later faded into obscurity and dropped their family name altogether.
As for Tsunade's mother, she had eventually married the Daimyō's second son and settled into the estate. Though she had no claim to inheritance, it seemed to Hoshiyomi that their life was a happy one.
Tsunade herself had been born here. But with Tobirama having no children of his own and Hashirama aging, her emerging talent in ninjutsu prompted her to be brought back to the Senju Clan to be raised as an heir.
The group met her parents here.
Her mother, Moka, was a soft-spoken woman with flowing black hair—entirely different from Tsunade's brash personality.
They also briefly met Tsunade's father, a middle-aged man with an artistic air and charming manner. No wonder he'd managed to win over Hashirama's daughter and bring her to the capital.
He did, however, look a bit pale and frail—his health wasn't the best.
From Tsunade's tone, it seemed she wasn't particularly close to him. Hoshiyomi guessed that her father probably had other wives or children besides Tsunade and Moka, which explained the distance.
Still, her parents warmly welcomed Hoshiyomi and the others—grateful, perhaps, that their daughter had reliable friends.
During their conversation, the group learned something shocking: Princess Moka was pregnant again.
That meant Tsunade would have a younger brother in ten months.
Hoshiyomi took this news to heart. In the original timeline, Tsunade had always been alone. Her brother Nawaki had been raised in Konoha, and Moka had likely met a tragic end.
As her friend, Hoshiyomi felt it was his duty to gently remind Tsunade to look out for her mother's health in the coming months.
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