"So then, why are you coming along with me? Didn't I already say this is just a routine reconnaissance mission? Its difficulty doesn't exceed BC class at most—in objective terms, I'm merely going to investigate the local 'customs and culture.'"
Haseo looked somewhat speechless at Tsunade who was walking behind him. By now, they had already left Hidden Leaf Village together, proceeding along a forest path.
That's right, Haseo's mission team had expanded from one person to two. When she didn't know how else to stop Haseo from carrying out his next task, Tsunade's only remaining choice was to volunteer herself directly into the operation.
Yet for Haseo, this felt like nothing more than adding an extra burden to his mission.
What frustrated Haseo was that Tsunade had suddenly joined him without any warning—and her reasoning for it was completely beyond him. He couldn't help but wonder if it had something to do with one of those times...
Even more frustrating was that Tsunade hadn't even left a detailed explanation. She simply informed the village's gatekeeping ninja that she intended to go on a mission with Haseo before departing the village decisively, not even caring whether the message would reach Third Hokage.
Such "unsanctioned action" would undoubtedly be considered a grave offense for ordinary ninja, possibly even classified as Rogue Ninja status by the village itself.
After all, Ninja Villages are extremely strict militaristic organizations.
However, such "strictness" was hardly ever enforced when it came to Tsunade. Even if the Third Hokage learned about her leaving Konoha immediately, what could he do? At most, he'd simply sigh and murmur to himself, "Girls grow up too fast."
Although Haseo could sense anxiety coming from Tsunade, he failed to grasp its origin, since he really was only heading out for an ordinary mission—what danger could there possibly be in that?
The possibility of encountering peril must surely be much lower than getting struck by lightning.
Haseo genuinely had no intention of looking for trouble during this trip. At worst, he'd casually look into traces of Zetsu's activities—several years ago, after all, he had encountered White Zetsu while visiting the Land of Whirlpools alongside Mito Uzumaki.
Therefore, Haseo believed it wise to determine at that time how frequently White Zetsu were operating, to better assess the intelligence capabilities of these entities over the entire world, and further speculate whether their interference might accelerate certain events within the ninja world.
In theory, such actions wouldn't pose much danger. This was just something he intended to look into casually—if anything popped up along the way, great. If not, then it wasn't worth stressing over; the Zetsu were still far from being fully active anyway—Haseo wasn't foolish enough to consider charging straight into Madara Uchiha's lair.
Even though the current Madara was significantly weakened—as he'd been heavily beaten by the First Hokage some time ago—his condition likely wouldn't rival even that of present-day Mito Uzumaki. Perhaps he'd grown so weak that he could be brought down with ease.
Still, an aged beast remains dangerous. Haseo wasn't naïve enough to think he could casually collect a valuable head.
And recently, Haseo's fortune had been rather favorable. There was no way Haseo could be going through Mercury retrograde bad luck and run into Madara Uchiha, right? That would truly be too unfortunate. However, what Haseo didn't realize was that maybe his perception of having good fortune was itself an illusion all along.
Who could say for sure how coincidences and anomalies worked in reality… Female intuition was always some mysterious, unfathomable thing.
Regardless, because Tsunade was staying by his side, Haseo had to give up on some of his "extra plans."
Madara Uchiha…
Though living in Konoha, Haseo rarely interacted with the Uchiha Clan—his contact was even less than with the Hyūga Clan. Therefore, the mighty Uchiha were like a background presence impossible to ignore yet still merely a backdrop, since they'd never really crossed paths with him.
As for Madara Uchiha—the Uchiha clan leader who had betrayed Konoha—his strength was unquestionable. Yet in Haseo's eyes, Madara was simply not all that bright.
The First Hokage also seemed somewhat slow-minded, but many times he was actually someone whose wisdom appeared foolish at first glance but proved profound later. More importantly, he had a clever younger brother. But Madara? Haseo believed his lack of smarts wasn't due to being tricked by Black Zetsu and becoming nothing more than a pawn, since such an informational disadvantage wasn't his fault.
When something like Black Zetsu, which had existed since the dawn of time, wanted to manipulate someone, how could that person stand a chance?
Haseo simply thought of Madara as someone who became increasingly dramatic and pretentious with age. Ninety percent of that so-called "kingly aura" was pure cringey drama queen energy. Shouldn't that whole cringe phase have faded by your twenties? During their lifetimes, the Uchiha never defeated the Senju, nor did Madara defeat Hashirama. And now, having been resurrected, suddenly he was the strongest in the world?
If anyone were to stand before Haseo and say, "I'll call you the strongest," he'd snap back immediately, "I, Haseo Yu, hereby declare you my dad."
Boom—instant mood boost.
Yet he would only dare respond with words—he still couldn't afford to provoke someone powerful like that, and he was perfectly aware of it.
Tsunade didn't respond to Haseo's question. She remained silent, and thus the two walked forward quietly together… Perhaps she had realized by now that her earlier actions had been rather inappropriate.
Why had she rushed out behind Haseo anxiously? It felt strangely odd—was it really just because of some vague, inexplicable feeling?
Now, though, that feeling had vanished without a trace, leaving Tsunade wondering if it had all just been an illusion from the start… Which made her own behavior seem even more absurd.
What reason was there for her heart to race so anxiously? Calm down, missy.
After walking silently for another distance, the two reached the end of the path. Continuing forward would mean stepping off a cliff several dozen meters high.
At this point, Tsunade finally managed to regain her composure. The method she used to recover from uneasiness was shockingly simple: total, unapologetic give-up mode.
There was no point in regretting it now—they were already out here. As Haseo had just said, they might as well treat this trip as a chance to observe the local customs and landscapes of nearby countries.
Thinking like that, Tsunade felt herself relax a little.
After all, it was only Haseo by her side—no one else.
Standing at the edge of the cliff, she looked down at the lush jungle below. That deep green stretched seamlessly into the clear blue sky far away, making the world seem as if it contained only this tiny space.
And within that space were only Tsunade and Haseo.
The vast view and crisp air hit her all at once, instantly easing the tension in her body. Without thinking, Tsunade arched her back and stretched her arms wide with a yawn.
"What exactly are you looking at?"
Soon enough, Tsunade noticed Haseo's gaze and quickly straightened up.
Slightly embarrassed, Haseo scratched his nose and tried to act natural... Well, he couldn't very well say this part of the scenery was better than the rest, could he?
Seeing him avoid answering, Tsunade shot him a particular kind of look—one that clearly translated to:
"I'm pretty stacked for a middle schooler." - Tsunade.jpg
Unfortunately, Haseo didn't catch the hidden meaning in her glance—apparently, they weren't quite on that wavelength yet.
"Cough," Haseo cleared his throat. "Let me explain our mission then. Our first stop will be the Land of Rivers. Just in case, we'll need to conceal our identities… Alright, so here's the deal—we're cousins. I'm your cousin, and you're my cousin too. We're magicians from a circus called Ren's Infernal Circus. My name is Xiaya, and yours is Xiyao...
Not good enough? Fine then—I can be Xiyao, and you can be Chipho. That should work... I guess?"
Was he trying to change the subject?
As for Haseo's suggestion, Tsunade shook her head once, then shook it again. Instinctively, she sensed something wrong with what he had said, and immediately replied, "Then better I be Xiaya instead."
Haseo: "..."
Her intuition was almost supernaturally sharp. How did she spot the kind of trap even Earthlings wouldn't notice?
"Never mind then, I take back my previous proposal."
See? She won.
Ultimately, Haseo was simply someone who kept things inside—he approached anything involving himself with unusual caution. If he hadn't sorted through his thoughts properly beforehand, he would just end up babbling nonsense.
Or more straightforwardly, due to numerous concerns, he'd halt entirely without daring to move forward even a single step.
In other words…
Yep—he was just a total chicken.
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