After a not-so-complicated "negotiation" in the Hokage's Office, Tsunade finally got her wish and left with Kanzaki.
Hiruzen Sarutobi watched her departing back and ultimately said nothing more, just letting out a long sigh. He gave Kanzaki a temporary identity document, with the file stating: Kanzaki, war orphan, adopted by Tsunade.
This was the greatest protection he could offer within the rules.
Tsunade didn't return to her long-vacant apartment. Instead, she carried Kanzaki through bustling streets to a vast, yet unusually quiet area.
This was the old site of the Senju Clan.
Tall courtyard walls, an imposing gate, and on the lintel, the clan emblem representing the Senju Clan, though covered in dust, still hinted at its past glory.
Tsunade pushed open the heavy, dust-covered gate with a creak, as if opening a sealed chapter of history.
What greeted them was a wide, overgrown courtyard and a main residence that, while grand, showed signs of age and decay everywhere. The air was thick with the smell of dust and decaying wood.
No one had lived here for too long.
"From today on, this will be your home." Tsunade's voice was a little hoarse as she looked at everything before her, her eyes filled with complex emotions. This place held all the joy of her childhood and also buried all her relatives.
"Sister, what about my mommy and daddy?" Kanzaki was really trying hard to act like a child who had lost his family; he was almost sick of pretending to be young all this way, though Tsunade's embrace was an exception.
"When your mommy and daddy come, they'll live here too," Tsunade lied to avoid upsetting Kanzaki, but deep down, she knew that Kanzaki's parents were probably no longer in this world.
She gently put Kanzaki down, then, like an ordinary housewife, clumsily rolled up her sleeves, attempting to clean a room. She used hand seals to blow away dust, only to get herself covered in it; she tried to tidy the bed, but found the bedding already damp and moldy.
The Sannin, who was so formidable on the battlefield, now seemed a little helpless.
Kanzaki stood by quietly, watching.
He watched Tsunade get dust on her face, watched her irritably scratch her hair because she couldn't find a clean cloth, and watched her finally give up, plopping down on the porch with an expression mixed with nostalgia, sadness, and a hint of bewilderment.
Then, he toddled over to her side, extended his dirty little hand, and gently, clumsily, wiped a streak of dust from her cheek.
Tsunade trembled, lowered her head, and met Kanzaki's eyes, which were clean and unstained by even a speck of dust.
"Sister, don't be sad."
The boy's voice was soft, carrying a comforting power.
Tsunade's eyes, once again, reddened without warning. She reached out and hugged the boy tightly, tightly, as if to meld him into her very bones and blood.
Kanzaki quietly let her hold him, his small face pressed against her chest. Deep in his eyes, that calm and calculating gaze, far beyond his age, was perfectly hidden at this moment.
The second step had been achieved.
From today on, I am not just your "little brother," but your only family, your deepest bond in this world.
I will become your strongest armor, and at the same time, I must become your softest weakness.
Ugh, she's hugging me so tight, I can barely breathe...The old Senju Clan residence, after all, was barely cleared enough for a temporary foothold through the efforts of Tsunade and Shizune. Rather than cleaning, it was more like temporarily pushing aside the dust of history to reveal a breathing space.
It was late, and the moonlight cast dappled shadows on the old tatami through the broken windowpanes.
Tsunade woke up from a nightmare once again, her forehead covered in cold sweat. In her dream, Nawaki and Dan lay in pools of blood, and her hands, stained with blood, could not reach them no matter how hard she tried. That sense of powerlessness and despair, like a festering wound, had tormented her for many years.
She gasped for breath, instinctively looking to her side.
A small figure was curled up in the futon, sleeping soundly. Kanzaki seemed to sense her movement, as he turned over in his sleep, his small hand unconsciously reaching out to gently rest on her arm.
A faint but incredibly pure life force, flowed silently through that small hand.
That energy was like the clearest stream in a mountain gorge, gently flowing through her restless meridians, agitated by the nightmare, smoothing the wrinkles deep within her soul. The familiar, suffocating panic in her chest was gradually washed away, soothed, until it subsided.
Tsunade was stunned. She looked down at the serene sleeping face in the moonlight, and the tumultuous waves in her heart were completely melted by this silent comfort, leaving only a profound tenderness and pity.
She carefully lay back down, holding the boy's small hand in her palm, feeling the power that could soothe her soul, and the wetness in the corners of her eyes could no longer be suppressed.
She felt that this child was her salvation; she was even willing to believe that this child was Nawaki's reincarnation, because Nawaki had seen her pain and longing in heaven and specifically reincarnated into this child to continue to be by her side.
What Tsunade didn't know was that the "sleeping" boy beside her was perfectly awake at this moment.
Kanzaki kept his eyes closed, controlling his Wood Release Chakra to be as fine as a wisp of silk, in the most gentle and imperceptible way, comforting this woman who had been tormented by the past.
Although this was his first day in this home.
But he had completely mastered the essence of the "little brother" role. He would stand on tiptoe to hand Tsunade a cup of hot tea brewed by Shizune when she was cleaning; he would hug her legs from behind and look up at her with the purest eyes when she was staring blankly at the empty mansion.
He used everything a four-year-old child could do to fill the void in Tsunade's heart named "Nawaki."
And the effect was astonishingly good.
Tsunade's long-frozen heart was thawing at a visible rate. The way she looked at him, from initial pity and reliance, gradually transformed into pure, unadulterated affection and dependence.
This feeling of being cherished and protected was unfamiliar to Kanzaki, who was an orphan in his previous life, and he treasured it. But Kanzaki also knew that this tranquility was merely an illusion before the coming storm.
To protect this tranquility, he still needed to face greater challenges and acquire stronger power.
He, this pebble suddenly dropped into the pool of Konoha Village, the ripples it stirred were about to spread to the center of the water's surface.