In Leaf Village: Starting by Slapping White Fang

Mitokado Homura frowned. "You don't suspect Hatake Gengetsu was the one who... He may have an unconventional way of doing things, but surely he wouldn't dare go that far?"

Mitokado Homura immediately guessed what his old friend of nearly fifty years was thinking.

But he found it impossible.

Hatake Gengetsu's style of doing things was indeed completely different from the childish Hatake Sakumo's.

Seasoned, vicious, ruthless, calculating...

Every word used to describe their Elder Council could be applied to Genetsu.

Though the Elder Council themselves would never admit it.

Otherwise, why would they always keep the words "It's all for Leaf Village" on their lips?

"Anyway, there's no evidence. Isn't how Konohamaru died entirely up to that brat's word?"

Utatane Koharu said coldly.

She disliked Hatake Gengetsu.

For no other reason.

He could not be used by the Elder Council.

Any genius they could not use for themselves had no value in their eyes.

"Danzo, what do you think?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi asked Danzo, the most skilled among the four at underhanded schemes.

Danzo appeared utterly indifferent to Sarutobi Shinnosuke's cause of death.

In his view, Sarutobi Shinnosuke had mediocre talent and was completely unqualified to become Hokage.

So what if he was dead?

If he weren't your, Hiruzen Sarutobi's, son, would you have needed to go to such lengths to summon this old man?

Still, he had to give Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Hokage, some face.

After pondering for several seconds, Danzo responded:

"Wasn't Jiraiya involved in the operation to assassinate the Kazekage as well? Ask him."

After leaving the Administrative Building.

Jiraiya went alone to Genetsu's farmhouse outside Leaf Village.

"Hm? He isn't here?"

He knocked on the door, but received no response. Jiraiya frowned and muttered to himself.

Unable to find Genetsu at the farmhouse, Jiraiya could only return to Leaf Village and seek out Hatake Sakumo to ask about his whereabouts.

"Genetsu? When he was about to head back earlier, Nawaki dragged him off for drinks. He should be at the Senju Clan Grounds now, right?"

Hatake Sakumo, who was holding his son's hand as he prepared to go home, thought for a moment before answering.

"I see. Thanks, Mr. Sakumo."

Even as one of the Sannin, Jiraiya instinctively used an honorific when facing Hatake Sakumo.

"Not at all. I should be thanking you for helping Genetsu with the Kazekage matter."

Hatake Sakumo waved it off with a light smile.

Kazekage.

Jiraiya's expression shifted slightly at those two words.

After a brief silence, Jiraiya could not help asking:

"Mr. Sakumo, don't you think there was something strange about that Kazekage mission?"

Because other passersby were walking nearby and occasionally glancing their way.

Jiraiya did not say the word "assassination."

"Hm? Was there a problem?"

Hatake Sakumo frowned and asked in return.

At that moment, another middle-aged man around Hatake Sakumo's age approached, holding little Yūhi Kurenai's hand.

Just from the pair of crimson eyes identical to Yūhi Kurenai's, one could guess his identity.

"What are you two talking about?"

Shinku Yuhi approached with his daughter and asked.

"Oh, Shinku."

Hatake Sakumo smiled in greeting before turning to Jiraiya with a puzzled look.

"Jiraiya has doubts about the mission Genetsu, he, and Konohamaru carried out together—the raid on Sunagakure."

Seeing nothing unusual in Hatake Sakumo's expression.

Jiraiya had already concluded that this man knew nothing of the inside story.

While sighing inwardly, he could not help shaking his head with a bitter smile.

He had already heard about White Fang from Orochimaru and Tsunade.

Such a powerful White Fang had nearly been killed by rumors.

He had not believed it at first, but now that they had met again after so many years.

He discovered that Hatake Sakumo's personality was truly naïve, even somewhat childish.

Had he not noticed anything strange about his younger brother's actions at all?

Hatake Sakumo truly had not seen it, while Shinku Yuhi understood perfectly but pretended to be ignorant. He said:

"I heard about it too. Carrying out such an ultra S-rank mission must have been exhausting for you. You should get some rest first."

Back when Hatake Sakumo had failed a mission and been condemned by the entire village.

Shinku Yuhi had already vaguely sensed that something was wrong.

How could an ultra S-rank mission, the village's highest secret, become common knowledge throughout the village?

And while ninja mission failures were hardly unusual, why had the condemnation Hatake Sakumo received this time been unprecedentedly severe?

Then there was what he had heard from Nara Shikaku and the others: Genetsu had voluntarily teamed up with Sarutobi Shinnosuke to go to Sunagakure and assassinate the Second Kazekage.

Linking all those clues together.

Shinku Yuhi had vaguely guessed something.

He was simply pretending not to know.

His strength and status did not qualify him to involve himself in something this deep.

Hearing Shinku Yuhi's words, Jiraiya also knew he could not keep asking. After nodding to the two men, he turned and left.

"Jiraiya's expression seemed strange. What was wrong?"

Hatake Sakumo asked in confusion.

"Sakumo, you... You should eat more walnuts when you get the chance. Give your brain a boost."

Facing his close friend, whose combat strength was fearsome but whose political intelligence was Fifty-Fifty with a child's, Shinku Yuhi sighed and patted his shoulder.

"What do you mean by that?"

Hatake Sakumo said unhappily.

"Come on. Let's have barbecue together, both our families."

Shinku Yuhi suggested with a smile.

"Dad, can we invite Mr. Genetsu too?"

Yūhi Kurenai asked, her eyes sparkling with anticipation.

"Hm? Why?"

"He's so handsome!"

Yūhi Kurenai's eyes shone like stars.

Shinku Yuhi felt somewhat unsettled, as if the soil around his freshly sprouted little cabbage had become a little loose.

Senju Clan Grounds.

"Hello, Lord Jiraiya."

"Are you here to see Princess Tsunade, Lord Jiraiya? Turn right ahead."

"Would you like to try some freshly steamed buns, Lord Jiraiya?"

The moment Jiraiya entered the Senju Clan Grounds, many passing Senju clansmen took the initiative to greet him.

Jiraiya nodded back as he sighed inwardly:

"A great clan once spoken of alongside the Uchiha has fallen to this state..."

Although quite a few clansmen still lived within the Senju Clan Grounds.

Even Jiraiya, an outsider, knew perfectly well.

These clansmen, who could not become ninja and were no different from ordinary people, could never bear the name "Senju."

Only Tsunade, along with the few surviving Senju ninja like Senju Nawaki—who also possessed little ninja talent—were barely holding things together.

The Senju Clan's standing in Leaf Village now was not merely below the Sarutobi, Uchiha, and Hyuga.

It was even below the Ino-Shika-Cho, Inuzuka, and Aburame.

If Tsunade, a Kage-level powerhouse, were not holding the fort, lesser ninja clans like Moonlight and Shiranui would probably be shitting on the Senju's heads.

The clan head residence where Tsunade and Nawaki lived stood in a remote corner of the clan grounds.

It was said that after Senju Hashirama and Madara Uchiha's great battle, he had suffered severe injuries and needed a quiet environment to recuperate, so the residence had been moved to the edge of the clan grounds.

But after the devastating blow a year ago, the Senju Clan's population had dwindled to an extreme degree. It was quiet everywhere now.

When Jiraiya reached the residence entrance, all he could smell was the fragrance of sukiyaki drifting from within, along with Senju Nawaki's gloating voice:

"As expected of my brother-in-law. Not only did you kill Sarutobi Shinnosuke, you even left them with no evidence at all. Hiruzen Sarutobi must be so furious he's banging his head against the wall at home right now, hahaha~"

In the courtyard of the Senju clan head's residence.

A clay pot sat atop a stone table, and the boiling sukiyaki filled the air with the rich scent of beef.

Genetsu, Tsunade, and Nawaki sat around the stone table in a triangle.

Tsunade's pretty face was already slightly flushed from the steam and alcohol.

"As expected of my brother-in-law. Not only did you kill Sarutobi Shinnosuke, you even left them with no evidence at all. Hiruzen Sarutobi must be so furious he's banging his head against the wall at home right now, hahaha~"

Nawaki raised the sake flask and filled another cup for Genetsu and his older sister, gloating as he spoke: