Haseo slowly paced across the grass beneath the treehouse, gripping his cane with his right hand as though he had just risen from a wheelchair.
His left and right hands appeared perfectly coordinated, externally no different from those of an ordinary person.
After Madara Uchiha's weapon had been modified into a "sword hidden within the staff," it naturally better suited Haseo's preferences, since he'd never specifically trained in using weapons like sickles. However, this meant he lost the chance to become a "Kagenami scythe-wielder" and could only settle for becoming a "Kagenami staff-wielder."
Tsunade was leaning against the big tree, watching Haseo walk around.
The Uzumaki ninja had already returned to Konoha ahead of time, while Haseo delayed his departure slightly. Yet the one-month mission duration he'd given upon leaving Konoha had now nearly expired.
"How's your body feeling today, Haseo?"
After walking around a few laps, Haseo returned to Tsunade's side.
"Not too bad. My injuries have mostly healed. As long as I don't do anything strenuous—like push-ups or stuff like that—I don't feel any pain at all.
As for my right arm and hand, after practicing these past days, everyday movements aren't a problem anymore. Maybe I even have some talent for Puppet Technique.
I just still lack precision and speed when forming hand seals, so I'll need more training... Although maybe not really necessary anymore. Probably won't get many opportunities to perform jutsu in the future anyway."
Saying this, Haseo tucked his cane under his armpit and began mimicking hand seal motions with both hands.
At present, his speed was already quick and smooth, yet still significantly slower than when both his hands were fully functional.
This gap caused by experience could only be bridged through continuous practice. However, Haseo felt he probably didn't need to keep pushing himself anymore.
He no longer needed to fight much. From now on, training might as well give way to cultivating a beer belly.
A disabled ninja should act the part instead of running around like he's perfectly healthy. Haseo believed it was high time he chose to become a dignified middle-aged gentleman. Isn't it better to live like a proper gentleman?
"You should still keep practicing—at least enough to defend yourself if you have to," Tsunade said.
People who'd known Haseo for a while were used to mentally filtering out his random rants. He could talk all he wanted; nobody really paid attention to the details anymore.
"You know, after that battle ended and I recovered for almost a month in Shikkotsu Forest, war feels pretty far away and kind of abstract to me."
Leaning against Tsunade's left side, Haseo looked toward the same scenery she faced.
This feeling was real. Not long ago, Haseo had still been charging across the battlefield, but the memory of fighting the Third Raikage felt like it happened ages ago.
"In truth, I somewhat feel similarly... Previously, I mentioned wanting to return home, and lately I've felt this desire even stronger," Tsunade nodded along.
Her feelings matched his, but their reasons were completely different.
Haseo felt he had fulfilled his life's purpose, while Tsunade...had come to see war as something no longer meaningful to her.
From Haseo's first-person perspective, he didn't realize the terrible state he was in after his battle with Madara Uchiha. But when Tsunade witnessed that scene at the time, it must have been a deep shock to her personally...She had certainly imagined what it would feel like to lose Haseo.
That's why peace became even more precious to her. Only after experiencing it firsthand did her emotions and thoughts feel so real and vivid.
"Mm," she said, "I think it's time for me to consider retirement. As a ninja, I've already done everything I needed to do.
If life is a story written down, then I've already lived through the most exciting part. What comes next is just wrapping things up...
No more chaos. What I long for now is a quiet calm—the kind that lingers after the storm.
Just living, learning what it means to be alive, and growing old like this—that's all the happiness I need from now on."
Haseo reached out and softly held Tsunade's hand before continuing, "Even with this prosthetic limb, I can still feel your warmth."
Given his upright nature, Haseo's expressions of affection probably never went beyond this level.
His outlook on life was commendable too—who wouldn't want to live in peace and find happiness till the end?
So how should one respond to such an outlook?
Pipe dream!
If Haseo's life really were a story written down...the problem is, the pen isn't in his own hands.
My journey's far from over—I walk this earth with eyes set on the horizon.
Two days later, Haseo completed his mission of "inspecting the battlefield" and returned to Konoha together with Tsunade.
It was deep autumn.
But...the Fourth Hokage—who promised to keep his word—seemed to have forgotten something important.
...
The Fourth Hokage left the village under the pretext of inspecting the battlefield, but ultimately never went to any battlefield. Instead, along with a team of ninja, he simply vanished completely for an entire month. Naturally, such a matter couldn't be fully concealed.
Tsunade's disappearance from the battlefield and subsequent actions alongside him only further confirmed certain issues.
Yet among everyone in Konoha, only those two veteran Elders possessed enough authority to question Haseo about his activities.
Of course, the Hokage's absence would inevitably provoke various speculations, yet Haseo faced every inquiry from these two with unwavering firmness.
As for the reason behind his disappearance, he declared it as top-secret intelligence—more precisely stated, aside from the participating ninja, Tsunade, and Uzumaki Shikou who remained in Konoha, if anyone else eventually learned of this matter, it would only be after the next Hokage assumed office.
All records and intelligence regarding this battle would be fully preserved and sealed away, classified at the same level as the Nine-Tails Splitting Plan—an utmost secret restricted exclusively to the knowledge of the Kagenami and Hokage.
Thus, even if the two Elders harbored various opinions, they could do nothing because their clearance level simply wasn't sufficient.
The Third Great Ninja War was still raging, but Haseo had indeed started thinking about retirement. Once back in Konoha, he planned to settle his personal affairs before stepping away.
Yet before he could even begin making those arrangements, a new situation came up.
"Lord Haseo, ninja from Amegakure have arrived in Konoha..."
It had only been a few days since Haseo returned to Konoha—just after enduring the Advisors' interrogation—when an Anbu ninja suddenly reported this news to him one morning.
"Ninja from Amegakure? Are they invading Konoha? Has that half-baked Hanzo grown tired of living?
We should be the ones giving them trouble, not the other way around! Does he actually think Konoha is too busy dealing with enemies on all sides to handle little Amegakure?"
What Haseo said sure sounded like something a Hokage would say—big talk and all—but he'd completely forgotten what he himself had once tossed out as a passing comment.
"No, these are three young ninja from Amegakure. They entered the village under the guise of a 'commissioned mission'... There were no signs of aggression or resistance from them, and they're currently being held by Anbu."
Haseo went quiet for a beat, like something was finally clicking into place. "Three ninja from Amegakure? Who are they?"
"One leading them is named Yahiko—two boys and one girl. One of them seems to be blind... and shows signs of being an Uzumaki shinobi," the Anbu ninja summarized the visitors' appearances as briefly as possible.
Yahiko's move was truly bold. In some ways, it was Nagato's red hair that stopped Konoha's Anbu from taking immediate extreme action... Even now, much like the Hyuga, the Uzumaki were generally seen as somehow connected to Konoha.
Haseo finally got it.
These three kids were *way too straightforward*. Just swapping eyes? Isn't that something you can do *anywhere*?
Isn't swapping eyes in the ninja world *as easy as swapping glasses*? Eyes were basically off-the-shelf upgrades in the ninja world—plug-and-play, hot-swappable parts. And yet, they actually made their way specifically to Konoha for such a thing.
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