Tsunade gazed at the young man before her.
Despite his youth, there was a strange duality in him—his demeanor carried a rare maturity, yet beneath it still lingered traces of boyish naivety. And more dangerously, there was a pull about him, an allure she could not easily ignore.
She knew exactly what it was.
But what unsettled her more than his presence was his ideology.
This Uchiha, Ryosuke, thought much like Madara once did: that strength and force could forge lasting peace.
Tsunade, a descendant of the Senju, understood better than most the flaw in such thinking. Force might silence enemies for a time, but it bred resentment in the shadows. Hashirama—her grandfather, the First Hokage—had known this well. Despite being the strongest shinobi of his era, he had insisted on dialogue, compromise, and understanding.
Only through mutual understanding could true peace ever exist.
Yet standing before her was another Madara in the making, and unlike the past, this age had no second Hashirama to check such power.
Ryosuke was terrifyingly young, yet already possessed strength unmatched across the ninja world. No one alive could truly stop him.
And so, as a proud daughter of the Senju, Tsunade felt it was her duty to step forward. If Ryosuke could not be stopped with power, then she would restrain him another way—through herself.
She saw his desire for her, and she intended to use it.
If she became his woman, she could slowly correct his dangerous ideology, bend his path away from destruction. It would be a heavy sacrifice, but one only she could make.
Straightening her posture, Tsunade's amber eyes hardened.
"Very well," she said, voice resolute. "I will agree to become your woman. In return, the Uchiha will withdraw from the Fifth Hokage election, and the hatred between our clans will be dissolved once and for all."
Yet even as she spoke the words, another thought burned in her heart: she would not merely be submitting to him. No, she would conquer him, bend this arrogant Uchiha to her will until he obeyed her. She had confidence, and the strength of character, to tame him.
Ryosuke's heart leapt with triumph. He had not expected Tsunade to yield so quickly. He had braced himself for resistance, even the possibility of forcing the matter, but now—now she had willingly agreed.
Joy spread across his face. A system task tied to Tsunade was about to be completed, and with it, rewards he knew would be extraordinary. After all, she was a Kage-level shinobi.
That night passed.
When dawn arrived, Tsunade looked at him again, her face calm but her eyes serious.
"Remember your promise," she said firmly.
Ryosuke's lips curved into an easy smile.
"Of course. I always keep my word. You'll have your Hokage's seat."
And he meant it. Unlike Danzo or the Third Hokage, he was not one to suppress the Uchiha out of paranoia. Granting Tsunade the Fifth Hokage's position posed no threat to him. After all, if he had the power to give, then he had the power to take back whenever he wished.
His confidence in his strength dwarfed any concern.
Hearing his reassurance, Tsunade felt a small weight lift from her chest. This young man was immensely strong, but he did not strike her as someone who would break his word lightly.
Her desire to become Hokage was not only about keeping Ryosuke in check—it was also about steering the village itself.
For years, she had despised the ways of Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo: the lies, the manipulations, the human experiments conducted in the shadows. Such things were devoid of humanity and utterly beneath the ideals Konoha was meant to represent.
The great wars were over. There was no longer any need to chase forbidden power through cruel experiments.
She would change things. She had to.
As her thoughts drifted, memories of her past surfaced—Dan, her beloved, and her brother Nawaki, both lost to the cruelty of war. For so long, their deaths had left her drowning in grief, unable to move forward.
But now, perhaps, she saw a new path. Perhaps Dan, wherever he was, would want her to take this step, to live her life again instead of clinging to sorrow.
For the first time in years, Tsunade felt an unfamiliar lightness in her heart.
Her heavy eyelids drooped. Slowly, unconsciously, she closed her eyes—allowing herself a rare moment of peace.
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