Fourth Hokage

Konoha, Hokage Office.

At this moment, inside the Hokage Office, a sunny-faced man with golden hair sat before the desk; he was none other than the current Fourth Hokage of Konoha, Namikaze Minato.

He rested his chin on his hands, listening quietly as an Anbu ninja knelt before him to deliver a report.

"Lord Fourth, this is the investigation report regarding the massive chakra fluctuation that occurred on the border of the Land of Fire a month ago."

As he spoke, the Anbu produced a scroll and respectfully handed it to Namikaze Minato.

Namikaze Minato took the scroll and began to read it carefully, his brow furrowing involuntarily.

After finishing the scroll, he looked at the Anbu and said, "I understand. You may withdraw."

Upon hearing this, the Anbu bowed respectfully and vanished in an instant.

Seeing the operative depart, Namikaze Minato rubbed his tired eyes.

He felt utterly exhausted, all due to that chakra fluctuation from a month ago.

Upon detecting that surge of energy, he had immediately dispatched Anbu to investigate.

Yet, after a month of searching, the Anbu he sent had returned with nothing of substance.

They had even clashed with spies from other nations during the investigation, resulting in casualties among Konoha's ranks.

And that was not all; on the very same day the chakra erupted, a team of genin led by an elite chunin had been ambushed while carrying out a mission to suppress bandits.

Although, in the end, they had suffered no major injuries—merely being knocked unconscious while their ninja tools and money were stolen—they had returned to the bandit camp after waking up, only to find that every single bandit had been slaughtered.

This incident had caught Namikaze Minato's attention; he had a persistent premonition that the two events might be connected.

However, despite his efforts, the Anbu he deployed had failed to gather any useful intelligence.

Of course, this was also a symptom of the talent shortage currently plaguing Konoha.

The village's high-end combat power was far too thin; on the surface, there was only him, the Yellow Flash.

Beyond him, there was the Third, Sarutobi Hiruzen, and lurking in the shadows, Shimura Danzō; aside from them, there was practically no one else.

Oh, there was Uchiha Shisui of the Uchiha Clan who was quite capable, but other than these few, Konoha was truly empty.

Yet, these two could not be deployed at will, lest they signal to the outside world that Konoha was weak.

Furthermore, he could not easily command the Uchiha Clan; the Third and the others would never permit it.

Namikaze Minato had only recently taken over as Hokage, and much of the power remained unconsolidated, preventing him from implementing many of his ideas.

Whenever he thought of this, Namikaze Minato felt a deep sense of fatigue, often lamenting that if only his teacher were still in Konoha, things would be different.

Just then, a series of "Knock, knock, knock!" sounds echoed at the door.

Seeing this, Namikaze Minato cleared his throat, tidied his desk, and called out to the door, "Come in!"

The door was pushed open, and Izumo Kamizuki walked in respectfully.

Seeing it was Izumo Kamizuki, Namikaze Minato spoke with a serious expression: "It's you, Izumo. Has something happened at the main gate?"

It was no wonder Namikaze Minato thought this; both he and Kotetsu Hagane were obsessed with gate-guarding duty, as if it were some sort of fixation.

Even though guarding the gate earned them no real money, they were tireless in their devotion to it.

Hearing Namikaze Minato's words, Izumo Kamizuki shook his head, bowed, and said, "Lord Hokage, nothing has happened at the gate. It is just that Lady Tsunade has returned to the village."

Upon hearing this, Namikaze Minato was startled and quickly asked, "Are you certain it is Lady Tsunade?"

Izumo Kamizuki nodded and said, "Very certain. But Lady Tsunade brought three strangers back with her. I felt this was important, so I came to report it to you, Lord Hokage."

Hearing this, Namikaze Minato's brow furrowed. He looked at Izumo Kamizuki and said, "I understand. I will handle this matter. You may return to your post."

"Yes!"

Izumo Kamizuki responded respectfully and immediately exited the Hokage Office.

Once the man had left, Namikaze Minato tapped his right index finger against the desk.

In an instant, an Anbu wearing a white fox mask and sporting spiky silver hair appeared.

Seeing the newcomer, Namikaze Minato's gaze softened slightly, though he still spoke with gravity: "Silver Fox, go and invite Lady Tsunade to come here."

Namikaze Minato held great respect for Tsunade, and not just because she had reformed the Konoha Hospital and reduced ninja casualties significantly.

Even his wife, Kushina, had stayed at the Senju Ancestral Residence when she first arrived in Konoha.

During his courtship with Kushina, he had received much help from Tsunade, all of which made him respect her from the bottom of his heart.

"Yes!" The Anbu responded and vanished instantly.

Meanwhile, Konoha, Senju Ancestral Residence.

At this moment, Tokiju and the others had already passed through the bustling streets of Konoha and arrived at the somewhat desolate Senju Ancestral Residence.

Looking at the ancestral home before him, Tokiju sighed to himself; it seemed the Senju Clan had truly fallen into decline.

Pushing the door open, Tsunade immediately caught sight of the courtyard, which was already covered in a layer of dust, and promptly called for everyone to start cleaning.

If it weren't for the fact that Kushina occasionally arranged for people to come here and tidy up, the place would have long since been overgrown with weeds.

Everyone present was assigned a task, and even Uzumaki Miku, a pregnant woman, was given some light work to do.

As for Tokiju, being the only male in the household, he was naturally assigned the most strenuous labor.

Hearing such an arrangement, Tokiju was naturally unconvinced.

However, Tsunade used her authority as an elder sister, along with her iron fist of love, to successfully persuade Tokiju.

Just as everyone was in the midst of a heated cleaning session, the main gate was suddenly knocked upon.

"Coming!"

At this, Shizune, who was closest to the gate, was the first to respond before stepping forward to open it.

After she opened the door, she discovered that the person knocking was an Anbu wearing a white fox mask.

Shizune looked at the Anbu and asked in confusion, "May I ask what you need?"

The Anbu looked at Shizune, nodded, and asked, "Is Lady Tsunade here? The Hokage requests her presence."

At this moment, Tsunade also walked over, looked at the white-haired Anbu, and said, "Understood. We will go once we finish cleaning the house."

Upon hearing this, the Anbu nodded immediately, then vanished in a flash.

One hour later, Hokage Office.

After finishing the cleaning of the ancestral home, Tsunade brought everyone here.

Upon arriving, Tsunade gave everyone a serious reminder: "When you see the Hokage in a moment, show some respect, do you understand?"

Seeing that everyone agreed, Tsunade led them inside.

It seemed the Hokage knew they were coming and had given special instructions, as they did not encounter anyone blocking their path along the way.

Arriving before the Hokage Office, Tsunade kicked the office door wide open.

Seeing Namikaze Minato sitting in the main seat wearing the Hokage haori, she immediately greeted him: "Yo, Minato, you're doing a pretty good job as Hokage!"

As she spoke, Tsunade's gaze flickered toward the old man sitting to the side, who was puffing on a pipe.

Seeing this person, Tsunade's brows furrowed inadvertently, but she still greeted him: "Ah, old man, I didn't expect you to be here too!"