The negotiations, with each side harboring its own ulterior motives, came to a temporary end, and the Rain Ninja accelerated their invasion of the Land of Wind once more.
But unlike before, Hanzo abandoned his original plan of striking directly at Sunagakure's core-controlled territory. He explicitly shifted the direction of attack northward, targeting the region adjacent to the Land of Earth...
Soji did not expose the unspoken calculations behind it, and even the Slug Princess, who was still thoroughly confused, did not take the initiative to ask him what was going on.
The dual trials of war and personnel work had allowed Tsunade to rapidly accumulate experience that ordinary people could hardly access.
The previous incident involving the Usami Clan had taught her to refuse to answer in the appropriate circumstances, while this time, the Slug Princess had gone a step further and learned to suppress her curiosity.
A thousand words could never compare to silence.
She understood perfectly well that a matter involving the ownership of a tailed beast could not possibly be decided by Director Yamada alone. Since Soji had dared to give Hanzo a definite promise to his face, it meant either that he had already received full authorization from the Hokage Office to handle all matters related to Shukaku, or that the transfer agreement itself had the backing of the higher-ups.
Whichever of those guesses reflected reality, with Hanzo standing right there, no one else had any room to ask questions.
What was more, bearing the halo of a Senju descendant, Tsunade knew that she had to remain aligned with Konoha's mainstream voice in all external affairs. Otherwise, she would inevitably leave an opening for those with ulterior motives.
That was why, despite being full of questions, Tsunade ultimately only reported the matter to her