The atmosphere in the conference room was stifling. After a long while, Danzo finally complained in a rage, "Hiruzen, look at the fine disciple you taught!"
The Third Hokage nodded slightly and smiled kindly. "Yes, the fine disciple I taught!"
Hearing Hiruzen's offhand reply, Danzo, already full of pent-up anger, was so furious that his features nearly twisted out of shape.
"You, you, you..."
The Third Hokage no longer looked at him. Turning around, he invited the others, "The sunlight is quite warm today. We old bones should go out and stretch a little."
Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu exchanged glances, nodded, and followed him out.
Before long, Danzo was the only one left in the conference room, raging helplessly. "Hiruzen, you'll regret this!"
Meanwhile.
Jiraiya caught up with Tsunade and asked, "Tsunade, you aren't really planning to leave Leaf Village, are you?"
"Perhaps." Tsunade sighed softly. "After all... there's long been nothing left in this village my grandfather founded worth staying for."
Jiraiya waggled his eyebrows. "How could there be nothing worth staying for? Aren't your teacher and I still here?"
"Heh, you mean you peeping on people bathing?" Tsunade gave him a contemptuous look, then her expression turned unreadably complicated. "As for our teacher... don't you know why we happened to show up here?"
Jiraiya fell silent for a moment, then laughed awkwardly. "Don't put it that way. Wasn't the teacher doing it for Minato and your disciple too?"
Tsunade's expression turned icy. "So we were just tools for him to balance the situation?"
Jiraiya opened his mouth but did not know what to say.
"Forget it. There are some things I don't want to get to the bottom of. Perhaps knowing nothing is a kind of happiness too."
Seeing the mood suddenly grow heavy, Jiraiya changed the subject. "By the way, when you said you were taking Shizune away from Leaf Village, you said that deliberately for Danzo to hear, didn't you?"
Tsunade's gaze was grave. "If I hadn't said that, did you think he would stop? Don't forget, he isn't the kind of person who cares about his subordinates' lives."
Jiraiya nodded, then asked, "But after Shizune graduates, what about your disciple? Going by the normal graduation process, there are only three or four years left."
"Three or four years will be enough."
Jiraiya's expression was strange. "Don't tell me you think a ten-year-old child will have the strength to fight Danzo by then?"
"You don't understand. He's different from us. In him, I seem to see the same light my grandfather had! The kind of light that makes those around him willingly follow him and strive forward for his ideals."
As Tsunade spoke, the corners of her lips lifted slightly. "No matter how insane Danzo is, he can't possibly stand against the entire village!"
Jiraiya rubbed his chin, astonishment in his eyes. "To make Tsunade, that violent woman, give such high praise... Shimizu Soseki? I'm starting to get curious."
"Four hundred thirty-one, four hundred thirty-two..."
Inside the hospital room, counting accompanied heavy breathing.
"Soseki, why are you out of bed? You're a patient right now. You should be resting properly!" Asuma had barely entered the room when he saw Soseki doing push-ups. He hurried over and pulled him up.
"Don't worry. I'm a Medical Ninja myself, so no one understands my physical condition better than I do." Soseki smiled as he stood up. "But what happened to your eyes?"
Soseki noticed that the circles beneath Asuma's eyes seemed unusually dark.
"Haha..." Asuma's gaze darted away as he changed the subject. "By the way, Soseki, let me peel some fruit for you!"
"Hmph! We beat him up!"
"That's right! How dare he take you to do something so dangerous, Soseki!"
Behind Asuma, Shizune and Kurenai entered angrily.
"No wonder Asuma came in so quickly by himself. Were you afraid of getting beaten up?" Soseki laughed, then patted Asuma's shoulder somewhat apologetically. "Sorry, I made you..."
However, Asuma's eyes reddened as he said with intense emotion, "No, they were right to hit me. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have gotten hurt!"
Soseki sighed, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. Even the "chief culprit" could not find a chance to apologize?
After criticizing Asuma, Shizune and Kurenai quickly crowded around Soseki from either side, asking after him with concern:
"Soseki, do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?"
"Soseki, are you hungry? I made lunch for you!"
As Shizune and Kurenai's gazes met, sparks seemed to fly between them. Yet once their eyes shifted apart, both of them tacitly looked around the room.
"Soseki, I'll clean up the room for you."
"Then I-I'll make the bed."
After watching for a while, Asuma thought strangely, Although that big brother from last night was impressive too, compared to Soseki, he seems far inferior!
"Huh? Asuma, why are you still here?"
"Yeah, weren't you going to use the bathroom?"
"When did I say I needed to go..." Asuma first pointed at himself in confusion. But when he met four murderous gazes, he instantly understood and clutched his stomach with his little hand. "Ow, my stomach suddenly hurts!"
As he spoke, he hurriedly rushed outside.
"Ow, who was that..." Asuma had just charged to the doorway when he crashed headlong into a soft body.
"You really are lively, little Asuma. Completely unlike Teacher Sarutobi's steadiness."
Asuma looked up and shouted excitedly, "Lord Orochimaru!"
At his shout, the others in the room also greeted him excitedly.
Unlike his dark image in the future, Orochimaru at this time was more delicately handsome and feminine.
Moreover, as the first generation of civilian geniuses discovered by the Third Hokage, and having earned tremendous achievements during the Second Shinobi World War, Orochimaru enjoyed extremely high popularity in Leaf Village.
In many people's eyes, he was even the future Fourth Hokage.
Orochimaru smiled gently. "Won't you invite me in for a seat?"
Soseki said shyly, "I was too excited. Please forgive my rudeness!"
Orochimaru walked in slowly, secretly assessing him. So this was the one who had brought Tsunade's dead heart back to life?
Soseki gathered his thoughts and looked at Orochimaru with anticipation and slight unease. "Lord Orochimaru, did you come today because of what happened last night?"
At Soseki's question, Asuma also looked hopeful. "Lord Orochimaru, is the village giving us a reward?"
As a top-tier second-generation heir, he did not really care about rewards. He simply enjoyed this sort of honor and recognition.
Orochimaru's gaze was gentle. "Of course. You foiled the Hidden Cloud's plot and protected your companions in the village... especially you, Soseki-kun. If you hadn't restrained that little girl's impulsiveness, I wouldn't dare imagine what things would look like now!"
Before you continue