Inside the tent.
"Sister Tsunade."
Usually carefree and even somewhat fiery, Uzumaki Kushina wore a forced smile this time.
Seeing this, Tsunade gave her a doting, reassuring smile and stepped forward to gently ruffle her red hair.
"Kushina, I believe you'll definitely become someone as strong as Grandma Mito."
Faced with Tsunade's encouragement, Uzumaki Kushina was clearly feeling somewhat down this time, but she still forced a smile and nodded.
"Don't worry, Sister Tsunade. I'm a female ninja determined to become Hokage."
Yet this declaration clearly felt forced, as though she were trying to encourage herself.
After Uzumaki Kushina left, Jiraiya's expression turned grave.
"Tsunade, has Kushina already been sealed?"
Tsunade nodded helplessly.
"During the last mission to escort supplies back to the village, Kushina returned and had part of the Nine-Tails Chakra sealed within her. After all, this is her destiny. She'll have to adapt to it sooner or later."
When sealing a tailed beast, the safest method was to first seal a portion of its Chakra inside the body and adapt to it for a period of time. That way, if anything went wrong, it could be discovered in advance.
However, Jiraiya frowned upon hearing this.
"Tsunade, how old is that girl? Didn't you say you were going to wait until she came of age?"
What puzzled Jiraiya was that this seemed too rushed. Even if she needed to adapt early, it should have been done step by step.
Yet Tsunade let out an imperceptible sigh, a trace of sorrow appearing in her eyes.
"Jiraiya, Grandma Mito hopes to see Kushina adapt to being a Jinchuriki before she passes on."
Tsunade's words left Jiraiya silent.
Jinchuriki!
Within the Five Great Shinobi Villages, those three words represented ultimate weapons, yet they were living people.
"Jiraiya, let's just treat this as a chance for Kushina to get some fresh air."
"Understood."
After Jiraiya left, the sorrowful curve of Tsunade's lips slowly rose, and the sadness in her eyes vanished as well.
It had to be said that deception was a ninja's true nature. A woman plus a ninja was practically a master of deception.
"Even you, Jiraiya, think this is rushed. What about those old stubborn fools in the village?"
Now alone, Tsunade looked toward Konoha with a mocking smile.
The series of incidents involving Nawaki, Dan Katō, and the others had put both her and even the Senju Clan on guard.
The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki had to be Uzumaki Kushina!
The Senju, now so weakened within Konoha, could no longer afford the loss of the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.
After all, they already dared to act like this now. If the Senju Clan lost the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, wouldn't others truly be able to walk all over them?
In the forest outside the camp, Konoha Shinobi stood ready to depart.
When Jiraiya arrived, he raised an arm, and countless ninja instantly turned into black specks as they vanished into the forest.
Wearing sturdy silver-gray plate armor, Uchiha Yoru continuously leaped through the woods.
Half of them carried huge, cumbersome Sealing Scrolls on their backs, while the rest formed a ninja formation around them to protect them.
Sealing Scrolls were extremely valuable, and the supplies they could store were limited. They were only used for missions like delivering supplies to fewer than a hundred elite troops on Orochimaru's front line.
For a ninja army numbering over a thousand, wartime consumption was terrifying. Not even the Five Great Nations could afford such extravagance.
After all, Sealing Scrolls themselves were strategic materials. If they were destroyed or captured, even the Five Great Shinobi Villages would feel the loss, much less smaller shinobi villages.
Some of the smaller shinobi villages in the Shinobi World had never even seen a Sealing Scroll in their entire lives.
"Kushina, are you all right?"
As the surrounding forest rushed past, Minato Namikaze looked worriedly at Uzumaki Kushina.
Ever since the mission began, Uzumaki Kushina had seemed somewhat off.
Normally fiery, Uzumaki Kushina responded to the concern of her fellow village ninja with unusual composure. "Stay alert."
Seeing this, Shikaku Nara quietly frowned. Yet the clever man seemed to immediately realize something, and his heart trembled in alarm.
"Choza, be careful."
While speaking to his teammate, Shikaku Nara subtly widened the distance between himself and Uzumaki Kushina. Clearly, he had already figured something out.
He was genuinely afraid! This sort of thing could easily go berserk in the beginning.
Ahead of them, Uchiha Yoru, who was beside Hizashi Hyuga, caught sight of this from the corner of his eye and sneered inwardly.
Damn it!
You act all buddy-buddy with me to my face, then turn around and start playing mind games behind my back.
Kushina had been sealed with part of the Nine-Tails Chakra. Tsunade had told him, and she had even asked Jiraiya to keep it secret.
Who would have thought that both Jiraiya and Tsunade were such schemers?
Jiraiya had turned around and told his own disciple. After all, while it was classified information to others, Minato had long known that Kushina was a Jinchuriki candidate.
This did not count as leaking secrets at all.
At the center of the formation, Jiraiya saw this and muttered to himself.
Could Tsunade really be this obedient this time? She actually didn't tell that Uchiha brat?
Jiraiya was completely dumbfounded. He had assumed that Tsunade, who never played by the rules, would disregard the agreement. Who could have expected him to miscalculate?
What a headache!
Jiraiya silently shook his head. But after his gaze moved between Uchiha Yoru and his disciple Minato, he nodded to himself.
Minato Namikaze came from a civilian background, and together with Uzumaki Kushina, he could completely ease the relationship between the village and the Senju.
Thus, setting aside the fact that Minato was his disciple, Jiraiya would still stand on Minato's side.
Back at the camp.
Standing atop a large tree and gazing in Kushina's direction, Tsunade wore a grave expression. Just then, an ANBU wearing a mask appeared in the shadows of the tree behind her.
"Lady Tsunade, the rogue ninja from the Land of Lightning have received the information and have now entered the designated area."
After hearing the ANBU's report, Tsunade nodded solemnly.
"Good. Proceed according to the plan. Send word to Uchiha Fugaku that he will be temporarily responsible for the camp."
"Yes!"
After the ANBU vanished, Tsunade took a deep breath, a cold, murderous smile appearing on her face.
"We'll settle part of the debt for the Land of Whirlpools first!"
Within the Land of Lightning was a powerful mercenary ninja corps that claimed to be rogue ninja. All Five Great Nations knew perfectly well that they were merely Kumogakure's black gloves.
They carried out all manner of murder, arson, and plunder year-round, secretly helping Kumogakure seize untold numbers of ninjutsu and secret techniques.
The destruction of the Land of Whirlpools had been caused by the combined efforts of several major shinobi villages, and this rogue ninja mercenary corps from the Land of Lightning had been the greatest beneficiary of its fall.
They had obtained quite a bit of information on the Land of Whirlpools' sealing ninjutsu. This was also why Kumogakure's methods of sealing tailed beasts would later become among the best.
Kushina, I hope you can grow stronger as quickly as possible.
Tsunade sighed inwardly. The original plan had not required such haste, but the village had repeatedly moved against the Senju, leaving her no choice but to move the arrangements forward.
Only by growing stronger quickly could Kushina gain the power to protect herself.
This was both a trial for Kushina and an opportunity to untangle some of the knots in her heart.
Please keep reading this Tuesday.
Before you continue