Konoha

"Lady Tsunade has returned."

The three of them entered through Konoha's gates without registering anything. All it took was Tsunade showing her face. Though the two gatekeeper chunin were curious about the man walking ahead of Tsunade, they did not ask.

The intelligence would reach the Hokage soon enough anyway. Lord Hokage would investigate the matter himself.

In fact, the Hokage had known long ago. Konoha's intelligence network was not to be underestimated. The moment they had set foot in the Land of Fire, Konoha's ninjas had already sent word of Tsunade's return back to the village.

Since she was returning to Konoha, Tsunade had not bothered concealing her trail.

By now, all of Konoha knew. Tsunade had returned, and she had brought back a man of unknown identity.

"I'm back!" Tsunade sighed with emotion. She had been gone for years, yet Konoha seemed to have changed very little.

Even Shizune looked nostalgic. She had followed Tsunade ever since graduating from the Ninja Academy and had not returned to Konoha for many years either.

"Let's go. You're the host, and I'm the guest. I'll follow your arrangements from here on." Richard looked at Tsunade.

"Fine. Let's head back to the Senju Ancestral Residence first." Tsunade led the way, and the group returned to the Senju Ancestral Residence.

Tsunade had been gone for years, but the Senju Ancestral Residence was still spotless, which showed that someone came regularly to maintain it.

Richard did not know whether it was the remaining Senju Clan members or someone arranged by the Hokage.

Come to think of it, although Tsunade often owed enormous gambling debts, those were merely external assets. She had never touched the Senju Clan's true inheritance and reserves.

So this gambling addict still knew where to draw the line.

Before long, an Anbu arrived before Tsunade and relayed the Hokage's order requesting an audience.

Given Tsunade's special status, she still had to meet the Hokage after returning to Konoha.

Richard did not care what arrangements she had. He was rather busy himself, after all.

Busy studying Sealing Technique, busy combining the Sealing Technique system with the Alchemy system.

Then there were the Rinnegan and Sharingan he had acquired. They really were good things, but he had no way to use them directly.

He did not want to learn another Chakra system just for these things. After thinking it over, his only option was to refine the two into magical artifacts or something similar.

Refining magical artifacts was not that easy either. Dragon Race Alchemy had no knowledge concerning biological magical artifacts. At most, when forging alchemical weapons, one could add things such as dragon bones. But there was nothing concerning eyeballs.

How was he supposed to refine these? One careless mistake could ruin the Rinnegan and Kamui Eye. He had to be extremely cautious.

Richard could not even come up with a viable plan yet. He could only design it slowly.

He had originally wanted to @ Feng Baobao and have her gather Divine Machine Refinement as soon as possible. It would be fine if she could not obtain the other Eight Miraculous Skills, but Divine Machine Refinement was not something he could afford to miss. With it, refining magical artifacts would become much easier.

But after considering Feng Baobao's usual behavior, he decided against it. Lin Feng had already sent the plot of Under One Person World to Feng Baobao long ago.

Yet judging from her actions, Feng Baobao had not actively sought out the Eight Miraculous Skills. At present, she only possessed the Old Farmer Art, which was suspected to be Origin of Qi.

Xu San and Xu Si had always prioritized hiding Feng Baobao. They could barely avoid the inheritors of the other Eight Miraculous Skills quickly enough, so why would they let Feng Baobao voluntarily gather with them?

Her initiative was seriously lacking, but Feng Baobao could not be blamed for that. Her strength was insufficient, yet she possessed the secret of immortality.

If she were truly exposed, not only the Outsider World but also the powerful figures of ordinary society would go mad.

Outsiders in the Outsider World lived rather miserably. Every one of them hid themselves away. Even if they had some strength, they did not dare display it. If they possessed ten layers of strength, they wished they could hide eight or nine of them.

Perhaps next time, I should visit the Under One Person world myself.

Meanwhile, at the Hokage Office Building.

"Tsunade, you won't be leaving again after returning this time, will you?" the Third Hokage asked with a smile.

At this critical moment for Konoha, when the younger generation had suffered a gap in succession and there was no one to bridge the divide, Tsunade's return was immensely encouraging.

Konoha had once been overflowing with talent, with Kage-level fighters everywhere. Now, the Fourth Hokage and his wife had died in battle, Orochimaru had defected, Tsunade and Jiraiya had left, Hatake Sakumo had committed suicide after the Second Shinobi War, and only the aged Third Hokage remained, struggling to hold everything together.

Of course, the Third Hokage did not deserve any sympathy. Konoha's current state was directly related to his inadequate governance.

According to conspiracy theories, the Third Hokage was an expert at internal conflict and incompetent in foreign conflict, an old schemer. The ultimate mastermind, the highest-ranking spy planted in Konoha by the four great shinobi villages.

He had pushed Danzo out front to take the blame, then dealt with the Kage-level figures who threatened his position one by one.

But in truth, based on what Richard had learned from his conversations with Tsunade during their journey, Sarutobi Hiruzen was simply a contradictory man. He possessed ambitions for power while also loving Konoha.

At the same time, he was easily swayed and indecisive. He had hesitated when suppressing Hatake Sakumo, and he had hesitated repeatedly when dealing with the Uchiha Clan.

The Uchiha Clan did not deserve sympathy either. The hawks had crazily clamored about overthrowing the Hokage. The entire Uchiha Clan was extremely arrogant. The only clan in Konoha they considered worthy of their attention was the Senju Clan, but the Senju Clan had long since disbanded.

They were estranged from every other shinobi clan in Konoha. The Uchiha Clan could not be considered unjustly wronged for being wiped out.

Konoha was not without powerful fighters. The Third Hokage simply did not dare trust them. For example, the great fool Uchiha Shisui was currently at his peak. After awakening the Mangekyo, he was undoubtedly a Kage-level combatant.

"Not leave? Stay in the village and watch Konoha rot and decline?" Tsunade sneered.

"It was all my fault. So, are you willing to stay and become the Fifth Hokage?" Sarutobi Hiruzen asked. Many in the village opposed his rule, and many were resistant to his return to power.

It would be better to hand over the position of Hokage now. Of course, he would only hand over the title of Hokage; they could forget about obtaining actual power. Just like the Fourth Hokage, they only needed to serve as a rubber stamp.

Ever since his eldest son died, he had stopped obsessing over turning the Hokage position into private family property. Actual benefits were enough.

"Do you take me for an idiot? Only an idiot would become Hokage." Tsunade said disdainfully.

"Tsunade, Konoha truly needs you. You don't want to see the life's work of the First Hokage and Second Hokage decline like this, do you?" The Third Hokage's words carried the distinct style of a certain country that had been doing quite well.

"Heh!" Tsunade said nothing more, but her expression had already said it all.

"Forget it. It's rare for you to return. Let's not discuss this. Tell me about the man you brought back." The Third Hokage changed the subject.

"Richard? I advise you not to provoke him, especially Danzo. Keep him under control, or the consequences definitely won't be something you want to see." Tsunade warned.

"Oh? Is he very strong? Where did he come from? He shouldn't be from one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, should he?" the Third Hokage asked.

"I've already warned you. Whether you believe me is up to you." Leaving those words behind, Tsunade turned and departed.