Tsunade had been having dreams recently—dreams that were incredibly bizarre.
As the Fifth Hokage of Konoha, she was busier than ever, constantly overwhelmed with work. Every day, after finishing her mountainous workload of official duties, she only had a few hours left to rest.
In the past, at this time every night, Tsunade would return home, take a relaxing bath first to refresh herself, then fall asleep comfortably.
Thanks to her Senju Clan heritage, she always woke up the next day full of energy and clear-headed.
But lately, things had changed.
Every night as soon as she fell asleep, she started having weird, surreal dreams.
In these dreams, she returned to her twenties. Except unlike in her memories, instead of exiling herself due to losing both her lover and younger brother and wandering across countries gambling everywhere, she remained in Konoha and even received the title "Goddess."
She even defeated all the great ninja villages and was on the verge of becoming the Fourth Hokage, unifying the shinobi world.
Then appeared a man named Uzumaki Heiyan. Before everyone's eyes, he took her away to a place called Penglai, where they began living together intimately.
It felt strangely surreal.
Tsunade had lived a solitary life. When she was young, she briefly had one lover, but quickly lost him. She'd never experienced any intimate relationship with a man.
Yet now, within her dreams, she discovered the wonderful sensations unique to womanhood.
These intimate dreams embarrassed her, yet she couldn't help but revisit them again and again—even while working at the Hokage office during daylight hours, causing her to space out frequently during the day, her face suddenly flushing for no apparent reason.
Uzumaki Heiyan.
This handsome dream man with flowing white hair and a pair of horns on his head nurtured Tsunade's heart, filling her inner emptiness and making her life feel more complete.
Suddenly, like a lightning strike through her mind, she recalled this name.
Several months ago, when Team 7 went to the ruins of Loulan chasing Rogue Ninja Bazu, they accidentally traveled to a parallel world encountering precisely a youth named Uzumaki Heiyan.
Could it possibly be the same Uzumaki Heiyan they encountered?
Realizing this, Tsunade suddenly remembered—the timing of her very first dream occurred the night right after visiting a hidden room and touching that kunai gifted by Uzumaki Heiyan to Naruto.
Tsunade couldn't understand this phenomenon.
But drawn by an inner longing, she found herself returning to the hidden room more and more often, unable to resist touching that kunai time and again.
Each night, she traveled to another world and was with that man—Uzumaki Heiyan.
Initially, these strange dreams left Tsunade mentally exhausted and weary. Yet later on, she gradually became addicted, indulging herself in those pleasures which felt illusory yet unusually real—she simply couldn't stop.
Truthfully, she had never truly wanted to become the Fifth Hokage.
The sole reason she returned to Konoha was due to her sense of duty and the pressure from Jiraiya's and Naruto's trust in her—responsibilities that often left her feeling overwhelmed.
Now, however, every night she could escape to another world, living an entirely different life—one filled with happiness and fulfillment.
Thus, Tsunade became addicted.
Inside the Hokage office, all the curtains were drawn shut, leaving the room dimly lit.
After returning from the hidden chamber, Tsunade leaned back in her chair, closing her eyes for a brief rest. Dazed, she saw once again that man known as Heiyan—the two of them playing on the beach—only to find herself recalling things far more intimate than just innocent fun.
Unfortunately, Tsunade's pleasant dream was soon interrupted.
"Tsunade-sama, Tsunade-sama?" she repeated urgently.
A familiar voice called beside her ear, snapping her back to reality.
Dazed, Tsunade slowly opened her eyes and found Shizune standing beside her, watching her with deep concern.
"Shizune, what is it?" Tsunade instinctively asked.
"Tsunade-sama, your face is very red. You feel like you have a fever. Have you been pulling too many late nights lately? Maybe you've come down with something," Shizune said as she stretched out a hand, placing the back of her palm against Tsunade's forehead, feeling an unmistakable burning heat.
"Cough cough, I'm fine," Tsunade replied, covering her embarrassment with a cough and quickly making up an excuse. "Maybe the air in this office is too stuffy—it's making me feel flushed. Could you please open the windows and pull the curtains?"
"Alright."
Shizune immediately complied, opening the window for fresh air.
Curiously enough, as a cool breeze drifted into the room, the color in Tsunade's cheeks did indeed fade away fairly quickly.
"That's really strange..."
Seeing this, Shizune murmured under her breath in confusion.
She had studied Medical Ninjutsu under Tsunade for years and had become a skilled medic herself. Still, she couldn't shake the feeling that something seemed off about Tsunade today.
"By the way, has there still been no movement from the Akatsuki organization?"
Tsunade changed the topic abruptly at this point, frowning slightly and regaining her usual dignified expression.
"No."
Shizune didn't think much of it and shook her head.
"Oh?"
Frowning more deeply now, Tsunade steepled her fingers beneath her chin, falling into thought.
Ever since Sage Fukasaku had returned with the intelligence report delivered at the cost of Jiraiya's life, Konoha had been both racing to decode the message and mobilizing forces in preparation for a potential large-scale invasion by Akatsuki.
Yet months had passed, and Akatsuki remained eerily inactive.
"Maybe… because they got scared after we deciphered the intel about the Six Paths of Pain?" Shizune speculated.
"No way," Tsunade shook her head firmly, declaring, "Based on Akatsuki's past conduct, would a man who sees himself as a god ever get scared? There must be another reason."
As Tsunade sat deep in thought, a knock suddenly sounded at the door. Moments later, an Anbu ninja hurried inside.
"Hokage-sama, this is the latest report from the front line."
The Anbu spoke while handing over a document. "Regarding the Dragon Vein of Louran you mentioned earlier, it suddenly vanished not long ago. According to eyewitnesses we found, this incident may very likely have been caused by members of the Six Paths of Pain."
What?
At this news, Tsunade was visibly shocked. As she took the file, she discovered several attached sketches inside—clear depictions of several members from the Six Paths of Pain.
So Pain didn't come to attack Konoha. Could he have crossed over into a parallel world?
Would those Akatsuki bastards end up crossing paths with Uzumaki Heiyan in that world?
This was what went through Tsunade's mind.
Only then did she realize—subconsciously, her first instinct had been to think of Uzumaki Heiyan, worrying about the possibility of him encountering Akatsuki.
What was wrong with her?
Tsunade shook her head hard, trying to shake off those messy thoughts from her mind.
She decided not to return to that hidden room or lay hands on that cursed kunai again. For now, she had to focus on village affairs and confronting Akatsuki directly.
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