When Haseo woke up again, the first thing he felt was an indescribable burning sensation coming from his abdomen. A sharp wave of pain immediately caused fine beads of sweat to form on his forehead.
He opened his eyes and stared blankly at the ceiling for a while. Slowly, he began to remember what had happened—and where he was now.
The battle against Madara Uchiha was over—and he had won.
Right now, he was in Shikkotsu Forest.
So it turned out to be smart to build a dedicated medical room on the second floor of that treehouse—this was exactly the reason for doing it.
Then, Haseo barely lifted his head slightly and noticed Tsunade lying beside the bed on the right side. She seemed asleep.
Instinctively, he wanted to reach out and stroke her head, but... oh, he no longer had a hand on this side. Well then, never mind.
However, Haseo's slight movement still woke Tsunade up. Sleepy-eyed and visibly exhausted, she looked about as bad as he felt.
"Wha... What time is it now?"
After adjusting slightly, Haseo managed to voice this question, though his tone sounded unusually hoarse and strained.
"Three days have already passed, Haseo."
"So I was unconscious for three whole days? Seems my stamina isn't all that impressive after all."
To fall unconscious for three entire days following a single battle—at his age, that really wasn't easy to justify… Luckily, it wasn't a full week.
Haseo's injuries were purely external; blood loss primarily hampered his recovery of consciousness. In fact, he should've regained consciousness almost the same day. However, everyone agreed that letting him rest quietly for a few more days would be better—there was no need to clarify that to him.
"What condition am I in now, doctor?"
"You're mostly fine now. Emergency treatments have been completed. All that remains is continued treatment and adequate rest. It's just..."
"The arm issue? That doesn't matter much. Paying some price becomes inevitable when engaging in such a battle." Regarding the injury to his right arm, Haseo himself didn't seem too concerned.
For a ninja, losing an arm was hardly "just a small price"—especially for someone like Haseo who heavily relied on compound techniques.
This was something that would impact both his career and everyday life.
At this moment, Tsunade should have questioned Haseo harshly about why he had undertaken such a dangerous mission while completely concealing details from others. Yet she didn't do that—the Uzumaki shinobi must've already fully informed her of everything concerning Madara Uchiha while Haseo was unconscious.
But just because she didn't ask didn't mean explanations weren't necessary from Haseo... Either way, hiding things entirely from Tsunade had been inappropriate—it was Haseo's mistake.
In fact, this even touched on the issue of mutual trust between them as a couple.
"In the end, throughout one's life, standing firm within oneself always matters most. To put it bluntly, what I did this time was essentially nothing more than 'self-fulfillment'—everything else was just embellishment or empty pomp."
The enemy was none other than Madara Uchiha.
If there existed another world, and if someone were to ask Madara Uchiha after his death how he died, and Madara Uchiha could reply "killed by a ninja named Haseo," then that would be my goal.
And if Madara Uchiha could add that he had been trying to take over the world when he was stopped—that would be even better."
At this point, Haseo let out a faint chuckle.
Indeed, this was nothing more than self-satisfaction. The idea of fulfilling the Hokage's duty or maintaining peace in the world were merely excuses Haseo made up to sound convincing and persuade others.
Haseo's approach was a kind of reckless selfishness, yet for Tsunade… it somehow turned into an advantage.
His explanation had been vague, but Tsunade understood every word clearly and completely.
So just like that, he was forgiven.
In any case, Haseo had already achieved his life's goal. He was among the greatest shinobi the world had ever seen.
The battle with Madara should have theoretically been his final fight, so he didn't really care about his injured arm anymore.
Now that Madara had been defeated and Haseo had fulfilled his dream of fighting against the "strongest man," was he really going to engage in petty battles with other shinobi afterward? What sense did it make to stay in the Ninja World farming rice season after season—this was how Haseo felt, believing a peaceful retirement was finally beckoning him.
"I promise you, nothing like this will ever happen again. That's not only a 'promise' but also a 'pledge.'"
"I'll believe you for now, but what I want isn't just promises. Just... at least inform me beforehand."
Haseo got the message. The meaning behind Tsunade's words was clearly "don't let it happen again."
Haseo managed to talk himself out of trouble.
"Cough... You've been here in Shikkotsu Forest the whole time. Is everything okay on the Front Line?"
"It doesn't matter."
Tsunade replied. To be honest, her mind was nowhere near the Battleground; whether things went well or not simply didn't concern her.
As Haseo was about to say something, someone knocked on the door. After permission was given, Sannai walked in... When they left the Land of Earth, most members of the Uzumaki squad temporarily gathered in Shikkotsu Forest.
"Lord Haseo, you've regained consciousness."
"Hmm..." Haseo sighed inwardly. This time around, he really owed his life to the Uzumaki, "...Thanks to all of your help, otherwise I definitely wouldn't have made it out alive. I never imagined I'd end up in a state where I couldn't even use Summoning Jutsu..."
"Lord Haseo, it's our duty."
Although the Uzumaki hadn't taken part in the battle directly, their timely return afterward did save Haseo's life.
"What happened to your arm? Did a dog bite it... Never mind, forget I said anything."
While relieved that the Uzumaki hadn't been caught up in the fighting, Haseo suddenly noticed the bandages wrapped around Sannai's arm, which caused him to blurt out something crude... Fortunately, he caught himself in time.
Sannai: "..."
Ah, foot-in-mouth moment—not quick enough to stop myself either.
Still... if something like this had to happen again, Haseo hoped someone would take a bite out of a softer spot — it was just a matter of comfort. At least Sannai's shoulder hadn't been the one taking the hit.
But he couldn't afford to make that kind of joke, or he'd die on the spot.
"Lord Haseo, should we report the current situation to Lady Shikou?" Sannai had entered the room specifically to ask about such matters.
"Just send a message saying everything went smoothly and the mission is completed. No need for detailed explanations."
"...Understood, Lord Haseo."
That kind of half-baked message probably wouldn't cut it. Just Tsunade suddenly bailing on the battlefield was more than enough to raise some red flags.
"Oh, by the way, has the battlefield been handled properly?"
"Yes. Madara Uchiha's corpse has been completely burned away. As for other matters... since the activated Nine-Tails technique is still running, Ka-jin and Mokkō will continue keeping watch until it ends."
The Jutsu Haseo used to ignite the Nine-Tails' Chakra was a sustained one. The sheer amount of Nine-Tails' Chakra that had been set ablaze couldn't burn out in just a short time.
"Got it. Well done."
Now that even Madara Uchiha had been reduced to dust, Haseo could feel completely reassured.
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