Goodbye, everyone.
"Hey, junior, off to eat?"
Inside the Hokage Building, a young Konoha Ninja quietly closed his office door. Turning around, he saw the ninja in charge of household registration next door stretching and waving at him.
Except for some key departments that require staff to work night shifts, most Konoha Ninja working in the Hokage Building adhere to the 6 AM to 6 PM work hours, leaving on time to go home for dinner.
"The senior colleagues in our office are so hardworking. I estimate they won't be ready to leave until 6:30 or 7:00." Shaking his aching shoulders, the junior colleague expressed his admiration for the work ethic of his seniors.
"I estimate that, excluding those on the night shift, our dispatch department is the last to leave the entire Hokage Building."
"That's not quite right, junior." The senior waved a finger in front of the junior's eyes, then pointed upwards. "The person who leaves the entire Hokage Building the latest is our Third Hokage. I heard from my colleagues on the night shift that the Third Hokage often doesn't leave his office until midnight, and many times he even stays here all night."
"As expected of the Lord Hokage, I see. The Lord Hokage has truly sacrificed a lot for the peace of the village. Compared to him, I, who just clocks out on time, am simply..."
Such conversations are almost a common sight in the Hokage Building.
As the sounds of conversation outside gradually subsided, Hiruzen knew that most of his subordinates had already left the Hokage Building, which meant...
"Hehe, it's time to check on how everyone in the village is doing."
Eagerly taking the crystal ball out of the drawer and placing it on the table, and making sure no one would disturb him at this moment Hiruzen used his Telescope Technique and headed straight for the bathhouse as his first stop.
"As the Hokage, it's only natural that I need to observe people's physical condition to determine whether their diet is adequate and their nutrition is balanced..."
Hiruzen even thoughtfully offered an explanation for his actions, but it's unclear who he was explaining this to in his office where he was all alone...
"What?! What's going on?!"
As soon as the scene inside the bathhouse appeared in the crystal ball, Hiruzen couldn't help but blurt out upon seeing the contents.
The pretty young women who usually posed for photos had all disappeared, replaced by crowds of onlookers and collapsed walls.
Was the village attacked? Why was the bathhouse attacked?
Hiruzen, the Hokage, immediately summoned the Anbu: "Who's on duty today?"
An ANBU member wearing a monkey mask appeared before Hiruzen: "Third Hokage Hokage-sama."
"Ape?"
Upon seeing the other person's mask, Hiruzen was visibly taken aback.
The other party was none other than his eldest son, who had always served in the secret service, silently dedicating himself to protecting the village and rarely appearing in the public eye.
Subconsciously moving the crystal ball aside, Hiruzen gave the order:
"Go to the bathhouse immediately and investigate to see what happened."
"Yes!"
Upon receiving the command, the ape lowered its head, responded, and vanished in Body Flicker Technique.
"Your medical skills have improved quite a bit, Turtle."
Tsunade, who was resting against the door, spoke up after seeing the doctor who had finished surgery and was preparing to rest.
"You flatter me. This surgery wouldn't have been possible to be completed so smoothly without your guidance. Speaking of which, Lord Jiraiya Sannin, just like you. How could he have suffered such serious injuries in the village..."
He bowed respectfully in Tsunade's direction, the medical ninja named Turtle speaking with great reverence, while also expressing his curiosity about who could possibly bring a ninja of Jiraiya's strength to the brink of death.
"Don't be so modest. Even without me, you could have saved Jiraiya. Alright, let's not talk about that anymore. Since Jiraiya is alright, I'll be going now. Oh, by the way, I left his wallet at the cashier. You can take whatever you need."
As the culprit Tsunade naturally didn't want to continue the topic. She gave a vague answer and was about to leave when she turned around and saw a familiar figure blocking her way.
Having learned what had happened from the monkey Hiruzen rushed over immediately.
"The Third, Third, Third Hokage Lord!"
Before he could even change his clothes, Kame rushed up behind Tsunade and bowed respectfully to Hiruzen.
"Heh, it's a turtle. I remember you used to fight as a ninja on the battlefield and participated in the operation to wipe out Hanzo of the Salamander. What made you decide to become a doctor here?"
Hiruzen glanced at his female disciple with a complicated expression, shook his head slightly, then smiled kindly at the tortoise beside him and accurately stated his resume.
"Third Hokage, I went to the hospital to study in response to Lord Tsunade's call to form a medical ninja unit, so that more comrades could receive timely treatment on the battlefield!"
Seeing that Hiruzen still remembered him, Kame was so moved that tears streamed down his face.
After offering a few words of encouragement with a smile, Hiruzen dismissed the other person. Once he was sure that only he and Tsunade were left in the room, Hiruzen took out his pipe, lit it under Tsunade's disapproving gaze, and put it in his mouth. "I heard about what happened. Even though Jiraiya spying first, you shouldn't have gone this far, Tsunade."
"Snort..."
Faced with Hiruzen's almost reproachful tone, Tsunade, knowing Tsunade was in the wrong, snorted coldly, turned her head away, mentally organized her thoughts, and said with a flushed face, "Who told this guy to spy on me when I was in a bad mood..."
"Sigh, I was originally planning to send him to take Minato on the mission, but now..." Hiruzen was a bit of a headache. He considered having Tsunade take over, but then he thought about her hemophobia, which obviously couldn't be sent on the mission. Besides, her hemophobia was somewhat related to him...
After all, given Nawaki's age back then, he would never have been sent to the battlefield on a mission without Nawaki's approval.
Well...
"That's settled then. Hopefully, that brat Jiraiya will learn his lesson. How long do you think it will take him to fully recover?"
Not knowing what to say about Tsunade, Hiruzen changed the subject, focusing on Jiraiya's injuries.
"A month shouldn't be a problem; I'll follow up on his subsequent treatment."
Seeing that Hiruzen didn't blame her for this, Tsunade took over Jiraiya's treatment.
That's fine.
Hiruzen Tsunade, who seemed reluctant to engage in much conversation, a deep look, waved his hand, and turned to leave.
Orochimaru would rather take on small jobs than actively seek him out, Tsunade keeps her distance, and then there's Jiraiya, who's never back in the village...
Am I really such a failure as a teacher?
Thinking about his family, Hiruzen felt a tightness in his chest and wanted to talk to someone.