This Is an Order

Naruto was completely stunned; he had thought the Shinobi World had entered a semi-peaceful era.

The Five Great Nations maintain a balance of power, while the Five Great Shinobi Villages wield absolute authority. The village kage's authority is constantly challenged, and they are frequently targeted for assassination by terrorists like Orochimaru.

In reality, the Shinobi World is still a dog-eat-dog world.

This world is still ruled by the strong. As long as one can replicate Hashirama Senju's strength, one can even trample on civilization and reshuffle the Shinobi World.

He always thought that this was something only villains like Uchiha Madara and Obito would do, but in this world there are no good guys or bad guys, only the strong and the weak.

The bigger the fist, the louder the voice, the more right they are.

Sure enough, the image of the Third Hokage was so deeply ingrained in people's minds that he mistakenly thought the Hokage was weak.

The Fake Hokage: The Third Hokage! Caught between his advisors, he remained silent during Danzo's assassination attempt, constantly compromising amidst sighs.

The true Hokage: The First Hokage! He brutally beat the Nine-Tails! He trampled Uchiha Madara! He casually gifted Tailed Beast! He forcibly brought peace to the Shinobi World!

Tsunade is not the Third Hokage, nor is he. They have no Third Hokage with those high-ranking officials, so why should they give way to them?

Power, in the final analysis, is still power.

What Tsunade just said was simply to tell him: become stronger, advance towards the pinnacle of the First Hokage's power, and Konohagakure until only one voice remains.

Whether he is a Jinchuriki of a Tailed Beast or some other strange Jinchuriki is no longer a problem.

This is reality, it's straightforward, but he likes it.

In his original plan, Tsunade would have had a more sophisticated strategy to deal with the higher-ups. Who could have imagined that she never intended to speak properly in the first place, and the Hokage's rejection of the higher-ups' suggestions needed no reason.

It was never that the Hokage was incompetent, but rather that the Third Hokage was incompetent, and even the Fourth Hokage wasn't particularly capable. When the First Hokage and Second were Hokage, what higher-ups were involved?

For Tsunade, the village meant more than just her hometown; it was also the legacy left by her grandfather. The Senju Clan had faded into obscurity, but they hadn't completely disappeared.

At least she's still alive, so the Senju Clan bloodline remains. Ultimately, Tsunade's message boils down to one thing.

Screw the higher-ups.

"So, do you understand now?" Tsunade's eyes narrowed, a relaxed smile appearing in them. "No matter what, power will always be more moving than reason."

"I understand." Naruto nodded, his mind starting to work.

Tsunade's wish was for Naruto to become stronger, so that he would no longer be coveted by higher-ups or other forces. He wanted to be able to protect himself and the people he cared about from harm.

But Naruto was thinking, "Once I get stronger, I won't be human anymore! All those false and abstract moral constraints won't be able to control me!"

The ultimate goal of strength is to unleash oneself!

"Yes!" The two looked at each other, nodded in unison, and began to understand everything.

After leaving the Hokage Building.

Naruto first went to Konoha Hospital, reluctantly carrying out his mission to visit Temari. He had some reservations at first, but Tsunade's words made him see the light.

Why think so much? If the sky falls, someone will hold it up. He can just keep moving forward without worry. The relationship between Sand and Konohagakure is completely unimportant.

If the relationship between Konohagakure and Sand can only be maintained by a few individuals, it might as well just dissolve.

So, a visit is just a visit. You can say whatever you want, do whatever you want, without any psychological burden.

So he pushed open the ward door with a creak.

Then I silently closed it.

Hey, don't you lock the door when you change clothes? Is the atmosphere in Sand so open? Damn it, despite having such a terrible personality, she's surprisingly a pure white person.

"Cough cough, knock knock knock!"

Naruto stood outside the hospital room, casually knocking on the door. He knew she was changing clothes inside. He was just pretending not to know, deceiving himself! First of all! He's really not a pervert!

Secondly, he doesn't like white undershirts.

A few minutes later, Temari's anxious voice could be heard in the ward.

"Um... I'm all better now."

"Oh." Naruto pushed open the door and entered, his face showing no sign of anything amiss, as if the scene from just now had never happened.

Temari, on the other hand, seemed rather restless. She had been sitting on the bed, but immediately stood up when Naruto entered. Her expression appeared somewhat restrained, and her eyes were slightly lowered.

Who says that stumbling upon a girl changing clothes means you have to be shy and a romantic comedy is about to unfold? Naruto defused the awkward situation without batting an eye.

She seemed to be almost healed; her blue and white striped hospital gown was neatly folded on the bed. She had changed into a loose white shirt and an elegant black knee-length skirt.

This kind of attire is usually only seen on more formal occasions, such as signing ceremonies or meetings with Konohagakure to discuss a certain issue.

Given Temari's status as the eldest sister, Naruto could roughly guess where she was going after changing into this outfit.

"Where are you headed?" Naruto asked.

"Ah, go to the Hokage Building. Someone from Konohagakure came to inform us." Temari's expression showed some struggle. "Don't you like it? I'll change it back."

"Is your injury still not healed?" Naruto asked.

"Huh? I guess it's all over now." Temari was indeed very nervous. She had been looking forward to seeing Naruto, but she hadn't expected it to happen so suddenly, which made her hands and feet start to sweat.

"Let's skip today and go again in a few days," Naruto said with a slightly assertive tone. "I'll have someone tell the people at the Hokage Building that we'll talk again once I've fully recovered."

Upon hearing this, Temari pursed her lips slightly.

"Won't that be a lot of trouble?"

"It's not too troublesome. This is how the Konoha High Command leadership has always operated. You need to learn to refuse Konohagakure appropriately," Naruto said.

She exclaimed "Ah!" and didn't know what to say.

Although Naruto was speaking up for her, she couldn't really agree to his suggestion. After all, it was a matter between Konohagakure and Sand, and he was still a member of Konohagakure. If Naruto offended the Konoha High Command because of this, it would be a loss for him.

"That's settled then, let's put it aside for now," Naruto said, glancing at Temari before lowering his gaze and frowning slightly.

She was wearing her outdoor shoes, her eyes showing some hesitation. Perhaps feeling it was still necessary to go to the Hokage Building for their appointment, she seemed wavering about Naruto's words.

Naruto could understand this. After all, the lives and fates of the three siblings were still somewhat connected to Konohagakure. With Konohagakure's support, Gaara's path to Kazekage would be much smoother.

"Temari".

"Huh?" Temari arched her back as if she'd been electrocuted. "What's wrong?"

Her voice carried a hint of pleading, and if she spoke any slower, you could hear the tremor in her tone. Naruto could sense that she was nervous; her whole body was shaking.

"Take off your shoes," he said, then added after a moment's thought, "That's an order."