Tsunade's Fury

Tsunade suddenly chuckled. "Forget it. Since you're already here, come in and have a bite."

"Shizune, grill the meat."

She turned back into the pavilion, sat down again, and lifted her wine cup for a sip.

"Understood, Lady Tsunade."

Seeing the two still standing there, Tsunade urged them on: "What are you still standing there for? Sit down."

Hinata Hyuga and Hyuga Kiyonari exchanged a glance. Since it was better to be respectful than to decline, they had no choice but to go in and sit.

Shizune assembled the small grill, brought over charcoal, placed it inside, and lit it. The charcoal crackled, and orange-red flames immediately leaped up.

Tsunade picked up her chopsticks, placed a piece of grilled meat into her mouth, chewed a few times, and nodded with satisfaction: "The Akimichi Clan really has an eye for quality. This meat is much better than what we bought in the capital of the Land of Fire last time."

"Indeed, the shopkeeper said this wild boar was hunted just this morning." Shizune replied with a smile, then placed some grilled meat slices onto everyone's plates.

Tsunade took a sip of wine and then asked: "Speak up. Why did you follow me?"

Hinata's eyes flickered with hesitation, but the moment she recalled the contents of the Life Simulator, she forced herself to calm down.

"I heard Sister Shizune say at the barbecue restaurant that Lady Tsunade and the Hokage had an argument, so I... wanted to follow and see... the situation."

A playful smirk tugged at the corner of Tsunade's mouth: "So... you're here to stand up for the beloved old Hokage?"

However, Hinata and Kiyonari looked at each other and fell into a simultaneous silence.

Oh?

Tsunade's interest was thoroughly piqued.

She leaned forward slightly, closing the distance. This oppressive posture often served to highlight the authority of a superior during a conversation.

"Tell me, what exactly do you want to know?"

Yet, the two still showed no intention of speaking.

Tsunade realized that direct interrogation wouldn't yield anything; they were too afraid to speak.

So, she changed her strategy, returned to a relaxed posture, and asked in a casual, conversational tone: "Let's change the subject. How much do you know about my grandfather, Senju Hashirama?"

Seeing she had stopped pressing them, Hinata breathed a slight sigh of relief: "The First Hokage... Father has told me about his deeds."

"Hiashi?" Tsunade asked with interest, "What did he say?"

Hinata organized her thoughts slightly: "The First Hokage is hailed as the God of Shinobi. He used Wood Release to pacify the chaotic world and established Konoha. He solidified the one-village-one-country system, allowing the Five Great Nations to establish their own ninja villages one after another, ending the era of war."

"The God of Shinobi, huh?"

Tsunade let out a soft laugh. To her, "God"... was far too close.

"Then let me test you. In your opinion, what was Senju Hashirama's proudest achievement in his life?"

This question made Hinata think seriously for a long while before she tentatively offered an answer: "It should be ending the chaotic world."

"Then, do you truly understand what this so-called chaotic world was?"

Hinata froze. She opened her mouth, but didn't know what to say.

Tsunade downed the wine in her cup, her eyes becoming somewhat hazy: "My grand-uncle once told me that before the founding of Konoha, the shinobi world was incredibly cruel."

"Back then, when ninjas walked outside, they couldn't even reveal their surnames. When strangers met, they could only exchange given names; they absolutely could not speak their family names."

"Once a surname was revealed, you might discover that his clansmen had once killed yours, or your clansmen had killed his kin. As soon as the surname was known, two people who could have been friends would instantly become enemies. That was how my grand-uncle and Uchiha Madara first met."

The room was quiet. Aside from the sound of the charcoal grilling the meat, only Tsunade's voice echoed.

"Unlike now," Tsunade's tone carried a hint of sarcasm, "where calling someone by their first name is something only close friends do. Modern ninjas have learned all the noble's red tape, as well as the hierarchy of status."

Shizune lowered her head; she knew there was more to Lady Tsunade's words.

"Back then, even three or four-year-old children had to take up blades and head to the battlefield."

She looked at Hinata and Kiyonari, raising her hand to compare their heights: "Imagine, you are holding a ninja blade taller than yourself on the battlefield, and facing you is a group of adult ninjas who want to kill you at any moment."

"Once on the battlefield, as long as you hold a weapon, you are an enemy regardless of age. Those who kill must be prepared to be killed."

"A group of twenty-year-old adult ninjas could surround and kill a six or seven-year-old child, and a four-year-old child could use an explosive tag to blow up a squad of enemies. There was no mercy or hesitation here, only slaughter and hatred. Either I kill you, or you kill me. If you don't die, I die."

"Everyone wanted to survive, and the only way to survive was to kill all the enemies."

She paused and handed her empty cup to Shizune, signaling for a refill: "My grand-uncle said he once had four younger brothers, and Uchiha Madara had five. But by the time Konoha was founded, only the three of them remained."

"It was precisely because he experienced the deaths of his brothers that he wanted to build a village to protect the children. That is Konoha."

"All that talk about the God of Shinobi who ended the chaotic world—that's just the flattery of those who came later, bullying a dead man who can't speak for himself. He just... wanted his brothers to live."

Every word Tsunade spoke was suppressed with an indescribable rage. She was telling stories of the past, yet it felt as if she were telling her own story.

What Sannin, what medical prodigy—she just wanted her brother and her lover to live.

"But..." Hinata paused, "Even if the First Hokage's initial idea was simple, his actions did indeed end such a cruel era. I don't think those are just empty platitudes."

"Ending the chaotic world..." she muttered to herself, then suddenly laughed. The laughter was filled with deep sarcasm and sorrow. "Has the chaotic world... truly been ended?"

"The First Shinobi World War, the Second Shinobi World War, the Third Shinobi World War. It is foreseeable that there will be a fourth, a fifth, a sixth in the future..."

Her voice was icy, yet no one dared to speak a word in rebuttal.

"The so-called one-village-per-country system began simply because the Senju and the Uchiha joined forces; the other clans within the Land of Fire couldn't defeat them and had no choice but to join. Once the various clans of the Land of Fire united, the ninjas of other nations found they couldn't compete, so they had no choice but to imitate the model."

"Wars between clans simply transformed into wars between villages. The fighting has never ceased, and the dying has never ended; it has merely changed its form. Many things are not as complex as you imagine, so do not over-speculate."

"Do you still believe that the chaotic era was ended by Senju Hashirama?"

Her words struck like a heavy hammer against everyone's heart.

Hinata's eyes widened in an instant.