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"Tsunade's Mid-Level Emotional Entanglement (Completed)"
"Emotion Points +3"
"Bond Level Increased ↑"
"Tsunade Bond Level: Three → Four"
When Sawara Kiri walked into the tent with the head, a line of text flashed across his panel.
Immediately after, he heard the exclamations from Tsunade and the others sitting behind the desk:
"Kiri?!"
Hearing the sound, Sawara Kiri turned his head towards them, smiling as he held up the Third Raikage's unblinking head, indicating:
"I'm back."
Within a few minutes, the entire command tent was swept skyward by waves of cheers.
After a while, Sawara Kiri, who had been tossed around by everyone for a long time, finally landed on the ground, holding his waist, and shook his head helplessly.
Being a hero really requires a good waist.
"Alright, alright."
Tsunade, as the temporary general commander, also stepped forward to mediate, continuously clapping her hands: "The issue with the Kumogakure front line has not been resolved yet. The rest can wait until the Kumogakure army is repelled."
It wasn't until the crowd dispersed that she finally found time to walk over to Sawara Kiri, patting the young man's shoulder forcefully. The smile on her beautiful face seemed a little complex, yet it also held a bright, sun-like clarity that pierced through the clouds, and her strength was astonishing:
"Thanks to you, you little brat."
"I really don't know how to thank you…"
Tsunade said, her gaze fixed on the head he was still holding.
For some reason, there was a sense of relief, as if a certain shackles had finally been broken, a liberation from memories.
"Lady Tsunade promised to treat me to a big meal."
"You haven't forgotten, have you?"
Sawara Kiri, however, smiled at her indifferently, casually placing the head on the table, and emphasized:
"I want to eat well. You can't back out, even if you have to borrow money!"
"No problem!"
Seeing his presumptuous manner, Tsunade felt even lighter, as if the feeling of breaking free from her memories had become much easier. She exhaled a "ha" onto her fingertips, ready to give him a knuckle chop.
Sawara Kiri ran so fast.
Looking at his back, Tsunade put her hands on her hips and slightly puffed out her chest.
At that moment, the last trace of gloom in her heart completely dissipated.
Looking at his back, Tsunade muttered with a low chuckle:
"Little brat!"
But when she turned her head, she saw a group of Ninja in the tent quietly watching them, seemingly whispering something. Faintly, she could even hear words like 'teacher-student romance' and 'old cougar.'
Tsunade's forehead immediately twitched, and she fiercely waved her fist at the crowd behind her, letting out an angry clicking sound:
"Damn it—!"
"Do you want to die?!"
The crowd immediately scattered like birds and beasts.
However, it was foreseeable that the rumors about 'Sawara Kiri being kept' in Konoha Village would gain even more traction.
Subsequently, Konoha's war on the front line generally stabilized.
Or rather, without a monstrosity like the Third Raikage, Konoha's side, both in terms of manpower and resources, was inherently superior to Kumogakure.
The reason they were beaten so badly before, besides various influences from the rear, was mainly due to the Third Raikage's combination of the strongest shield and spear.
Therefore, after his death, Konoha's progress in pushing back from the Land of Hot Water to the Land of Lightning naturally went without saying.
Once the situation on this front gradually improved, Tsunade and her party quickly withdrew from the front-line sequence.
It was true that the front line needed Tsunade and Sawara Kiri to hold the fort, but the crucial rear actually needed strong individuals to keep things from going awry even more.
The most miserable was actually Namikaze Minato—he and Hatake Sakumo, as the strongest emergency responders on the front line, were firmly tied there.
The celebrations and welcome upon returning to the Village need no further mention.
After resolving the issues on the front line, Sawara Kiri began to consider how to resolve the matters in the rear as well.
All three members of the Advisor Group had to be dealt with.
The issue of killing them basically didn't need to be considered; even if their numbers were multiplied several times, they would have no resistance whatsoever.
The only thing that needed to be thought about was one point.
How to extract as much benefit as possible from the forces controlled by the Advisor Group while killing them.
But.
"Dong—!"
The wooden floor let out a muffled, unbearable thud under a heavy impact.
The Leader of Sarutobi Clan, who had angrily pledged his loyalty at the Mitokado Homura residence two days prior, prostrated himself, lamenting loudly with tearful gratitude:
"Such a thing, how can it be endured?!"
"We are also Ninja of Konoha. Although we are a Ninja clan, we are one with the masses. How can we do such disloyal and unrighteous things?!"
"We all disdain to associate with the Mitokado Homura lineage!"
"We earnestly hope that Family Head Tsunade can understand our timid and cautious hearts, caught between the cracks, and not mistake us for them."
The Leader of Sarutobi Clan's voice was chilling, clearly showing his fervent desire for survival. His tone, actions, and posture, for a Clan Leader, were simply as sincere as could be.
However, one cannot judge a person by appearance alone.
Tsunade sat behind the tea table, draped in a heavy coat, her gaze lowered as she scanned the letter in her hand. Her other fair hand calmly played with a teacup. She glanced up at the Leader of Sarutobi Clan, who was still kneeling before her, but still said nothing.
What was written on this letter was precisely the relevant content of Mitokado Homura's 'secret plotting' meeting with a group of people at his home a few days ago. Except for the deletion of 'continuing to win over Tsunade,' it was basically recorded in the most detailed—and even included some malicious speculation—process.
As for why Tsunade knew about this?
Because, by coincidence, the Leader of Sarutobi Clan was among the fourth batch of people who visited Tsunade after she returned to Konoha.
The most sensible was the Leader of Nara Clan.
Almost on the afternoon of the day Tsunade and her party returned to the Village, he had already submitted a visiting card to request an audience—and what they wrote was much more complete than what this Leader of Sarutobi Clan wrote.
There are many clever people in this world, but some problems are often difficult to solve precisely because there are too many clever people.
After Sawara Kiri slew the Third Raikage and returned with the momentum of a great victory, the entire Konoha Village knew that the Second Shinobi World War was about to end, and at the same time, Konoha was about to undergo a change.
In this race to curry favor, naturally, only those who ran the slowest suffered the most.
In less than three and a half days, the first few batches of people who came to the Senju Residence had basically occupied all the post-war positions.
If you, Leader of Sarutobi Clan, are only coming now, then who do you plan to unseat from their position?
Moreover, his ties with Mitokado Homura were simply too deep.
It was not reassuring to use him.
So, Tsunade merely scanned the letter in her hand, then casually folded the paper and calmly said to the middle-aged man, whose age was almost comparable to her father's:
"I already know the specific situation."
"After dealing with all the petty scoundrels, I will naturally inform all the loyal subjects of Konoha of the results. For today, please return."
Hearing this, the Leader of Sarutobi Clan immediately realized that things had changed, and he might have arrived too late.
His voice suddenly became incredibly mournful: "Lady Tsunade! Lady Tsunade! Sarutobi Hiruzen, the old Clan Leader, is your teacher, and our Sarutobi Clan also…"
Hearing him continue to pester, Tsunade, already annoyed by these trivial matters, immediately became impatient and rolled up her sleeves:
"Are you going or not?!"
"Lady Tsunade!"
However, seeing her fierce demeanor, the middle-aged man's aura immediately deflated again, and he slunk out of the large residence.
Tsunade couldn't care less about how he gnashed his teeth after leaving the door.
But after taking a sip of tea, her brows still furrowed involuntarily.
Why were there more troublesome things after the war than during the war?
She thought, then stood up and went to the outer courtyard.
Then, she saw Sawara Kiri lazily lying on her lounge chair outside, with a little one sitting on him, feeding him grapes.
Tsunade's forehead immediately twitched again.
She was worried to death, but this kid was doing great, just falling asleep!
Just right.
Almost as she was muttering about how to deal with the remaining guys, a communication tag in her Ninja tool pouch suddenly burned, making a sizzling sound.
It was a message from the Hokage Building.
Tsunade's mouth immediately crooked, and she turned to look at Sawara Kiri outside, sharply raising her voice:
"Kiri! Let's go."
"Huh?"
Sawara Kiri, who was looking at his panel, was startled at the sound.
Tsunade, however, didn't give him time to respond. She dragged him out, not giving him a chance to ask questions.
Are you kidding me?!
If I can't rest, you can't be idle either.
In a short while, the two arrived at the Hokage Office.
At this time, Jiraiya and Orochimaru had already arrived.
Jiraiya had only returned to the Village last night, but knowing his own personality, he didn't see anyone after returning to the Village and went directly to the Hokage Office to join Orochimaru.
Seeing Tsunade dragging Sawara Kiri into the office, both were startled.
But soon, they showed an expression of course.
Although Sawara Kiri still looked unchanged, after directly slaying the Third Raikage, his social status and position had risen several ranks like a rocket.
If there were no other accidents, he was almost the internally designated next but one Hokage of the entire Village.
Now, being dragged into this office by Tsunade for a small meeting would not seem out of place at all.
Sawara Kiri himself, being carefree and confident, greeted the two without formality and found a seat for himself.
Orochimaru had always been straightforward. Seeing that everyone had arrived, he got straight to the point without much pleasantry:
"Danzo sent me a message."
Tsunade immediately sneered at the words: "I'm from Mitokado Homura's side."
Jiraiya sat there, hands clasped, and sighed deeply: "Elder Utatane sent someone to invite me to a meeting last night."
The three scanned each other, all with helpless expressions.
Clearly, even now, the three factions of the Advisor Group had not given up struggling.
The messages they received and the attitudes displayed by those people, no matter how sincere they seemed, were actually just one step in their plan to divide their small group.
Sawara Kiri almost laughed out loud after hearing this.
They still haven't given up?
Orochimaru, however, still maintained a stern expression, tapping his fingers on the table: "There's no need to elaborate on Mitokado Homura's plan; it's just an obvious open conspiracy placed before us."
"However, the conditions Shimura Danzo gave me cannot be ignored."
Jiraiya frowned deeply: "He's in such a state, what conditions could he still offer?"
Orochimaru tapped the table, calmly saying: "The summary of Root's biological experiments to date, and a successful Hashirama cell experimental subject."
"Dong!"
Tsunade was stunned at first, then slapped the table and straightened up: "That experiment… wasn't it shut down a long time ago?"
Tsunade was naturally aware of the Hashirama cells experiment because a large number of Senju Clan members were involved.
It was just that all of them had failed.
Orochimaru shook his head: "According to Danzo, it's a defective product that fortunately survived among the last batch of experimental subjects—it's very different from the true Shodai-sama."
"(Konoha expletive)!!"
Tsunade cursed fiercely, so angry she almost kicked over the table.
Orochimaru remained unmoved, long accustomed to Tsunade's fiery temper, and continued: "Danzo's request is that he also wants to join 'Substitute Hokage Council' and become a member."
Clearly, as time passed, during this period without a Hokage, more and more people saw the benefits of this acting Hokage authority department.
"I disagree!" Tsunade was the first to state her position.
Jiraiya was also clearly somewhat dissatisfied, but he didn't immediately state his position. Instead, he looked at Orochimaru, waiting for his subsequent explanation.
Indeed.
Orochimaru calmly said: "I plan to double-cross him—at least partially, otherwise it would be too much of a waste."
It still has to be you, Lord Orochimaru.
Sawara Kiri's gaze towards Orochimaru immediately became somewhat subtle.
A born master of dirty work.
Tsunade paused for a second upon hearing this, as if taking a breath, then said: "Then why are you discussing it with us?"
"Danzo is too deeply hidden."
At this point, even Orochimaru had to sigh deeply: "Recently, besides the last communication, I spent a long time and still couldn't find where he was."
"Regarding Root and the underground intelligence network's operational methods, I still learned from him."
"I need you to create an opportunity for me."
Tsunade and Jiraiya exchanged glances.
Unexpectedly, Orochimaru, you have this day?
However, when they began to ponder this serious matter, they suddenly felt that it was indeed somewhat tricky.
Who is Shimura Danzo?
The Darkness of the Ninja World!
Just by hearing this name, you know how good he is at hiding.
Only after having this main plan, the three seemed to have finally grasped a clue, and they began to discuss, one after another, how to dig out all of Shimura Danzo's family fortune, Root and branch.
Sawara Kiri, listening from the side, was also greatly impressed.
It must be said that, in the absence of Sarutobi Hiruzen, this generation of Sannin showed no mercy at all when dealing with the likes of the Hokage Advisor.
The gambling, drinking, and womanizing trio, each more insidious and ruthless than the last.
Just as they were frowning in distress, he suddenly brought up a point:
"If Advisor Mitokado Homura and the others suddenly realize that the 'Substitute Hokage Council's' influence isn't that great, would Advisor Danzo come out to lend a hand?"
The three who were discussing at the scene were all startled, turning their heads in unison to look at Sawara Kiri.
Sawara Kiri casually gave an example: "After all, when fishing, you only have to relax a little first, and wait until the fish is exhausted in the water, then you have a chance to pull it up in one go, right?"
"Also, these past few days, because Lady Tsunade has just returned with a great victory, there's been a continuous stream of people, indistinguishable as friend or foe, rushing into the courtyard to bow down."
"When there are too many people, it becomes impossible to distinguish their true colors."
Mid-sentence, he suddenly showed a pure, youthful smile: "I think there must be an opportunity to filter out the impurities within."
Orochimaru and Tsunade, upon hearing this, both nodded in understanding.
Only Jiraiya, who had less contact with Sawara Kiri, suddenly widened his eyes, looking at this young man, who was about the same age as Minato, with an incredulous expression.
This young fellow.
How could he be so insidious and ruthless at such a young age?!
What was even more astonishing was that his suggestion was quite actionable.
If they could lure out Shimura Danzo, who was hidden in the shadows, and those traitors in one fell swoop, how many people would that be?
Orochimaru narrowed his eyes slightly.
His work in the future would surely be much easier, right?
When it comes to cunning and treachery, it still has to be you.
Sawara-kun.
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