The Second Drift Bottle

Meanwhile, outside Konoha.

Nukai gazed toward the direction of Konoha, grinding his teeth as he spat, "Damn it! The intelligence was completely wrong! Why would Tsunade appear in Konoha!"

A ninja beside him whispered, "Captain, what do we do now? Do we just head back like this?"

Nukai fell silent for a moment before saying, "We have no choice but to return and report the situation here truthfully to the Raikage. As for what happens next, that will be up to the Raikage's decision."

Another ninja said worriedly, "But if we return empty-handed like this, the Raikage will surely..."

"And what else can we do?!" Nukai slammed his fist into a tree trunk.

"What if... we wait until nightfall to sneak into Konoha and try again?"

"It's useless," Nukai shook his head. "It is said that Kumogakure once attempted to infiltrate Konoha to abduct a member of the Uzumaki clan, but that operation failed as well. Ever since then, Konoha has set up a barrier system capable of detecting any unfamiliar ninja entering the village."

The group fell silent.

The night was deep, and Konoha slept in tranquility.

Tsunade sat alone in a pavilion, looking up at the distant starry sky with a furrowed brow, seemingly lost in thought over something of great importance.

Just then, a night breeze blew, and Tsunade keenly sensed something. She turned her head to find a glass bottle resting quietly beside her, though she hadn't noticed it before.

"Again?"

Tsunade pulled out the cork, unfolded the letter, and began to read by the moonlight.

[1. The Drift Bottle has a character limit.]

[2. In worlds where the Drift Bottle does not appear, the life Tsunade experiences is known as the Original Timeline. From the moment the Drift Bottle is received, the timeline will head toward different endings based on the information within; each branch becomes a unique parallel world.]

[3. In any given world, the time Tsunade receives the Drift Bottle is random (perhaps there is a pattern, but I do not know it). When using the Drift Bottle to converse, after the first chat, you may not receive the expected second message; you might receive the third or fourth instead... Sometimes, if you receive something inexplicable, it is best to store it away.]

[4. Regarding the Hyuga: Kumogakure will attempt to abduct Hinata; if they fail, they will pivot to blackmailing Konoha. The crux of the issue, aside from Kumogakure's threat and the Old Man's attitude, lies in the internal divisions of the Hyuga. Certain decrepit elders of the Main Branch will let Hizashi Hyuga die in place of Hiashi.]

[5. The root cause of the Uchiha Clan's annihilation lies in the Nine-Tails Incident.]

[6. An organization called Akatsuki threatens the safety of the ninja world, aiming to collect all nine Tailed Beasts. As of the time I wrote this letter, only the Nine-Tails remains among the Five Great Nations. Known members currently include Orochimaru, Sasori of the Red Sands, Hidan, and Kakuzu.]

[I hope it is not too late when you receive this letter.]

[Recipient: I Want to Be the God of Gamblers]

[Sender: I Won't Be Hokage]

The amount of information was staggering.

Tsunade took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down.

First, it only mentioned that the Drift Bottle had a character limit without specifying the exact number. It was likely different for everyone, or due to some other reason; given that the content in the letters had become increasingly concise, this information was likely beyond doubt.

Next was the answer to her previous question about the timeline; she hadn't expected the Drift Bottle to be such a miraculous treasure. If only she had received it sooner, perhaps her life wouldn't have been such a failure.

Perhaps in some timeline, there was a version of Tsunade who encountered the Drift Bottle in her youth. From then on, her life would have been smooth sailing, with all her regrets mended.

Just thinking about it made Tsunade want to hum a tune.

Thinking of it that way, it was no wonder such a precious Drift Bottle would be cast out at random.

As for Kumogakure, combined with the contents of the letter, she could now piece together the full sequence of events.

After all these years, those bandits still had no new tricks; it was just like when they tried to abduct Kushina back then.

As for the blackmailing of Konoha, if she hadn't stepped in to force the Old Man's hand, given the current state of the village, Kumogakure might have actually succeeded. Of course, what they would have received was the corpse of Hizashi Hyuga.

In the years she had been away, Konoha hadn't changed at all; it was still just as repulsive.

The Will of Fire, indeed... the Will of Fire that demands sacrifice... Hah!

If that had happened, then the reason the Hyuga Clan became half-crippled was also clear: it was nothing more than civil war, a conflict between the Branch and Main houses.

Either the Branch would kill the Main, or the Main would use the Caged Bird to desperately control the Branch. But regardless of the outcome, for Konoha, the Hyuga Clan would essentially be crippled.

Furthermore, there was the issue of the Uchiha Clan.

Although she hadn't been back for long, she could sense a rift in the atmosphere between the Uchiha and Konoha. They seemed to be ostracized, like outsiders in this village. She would have to find a time to talk to the Old Man about the specifics.

As for the Nine-Tails Incident...

Tsunade lifted her sake bottle and took a sharp gulp; the liquid burned as it went down, making her heart ache.

"Kushina, would you resent me for leaving Konoha?"

Finally, regarding the Akatsuki organization.

Among the four names, one was an old acquaintance; it was no wonder Jiraiya could track them down.

As for the rest, aside from knowing that Sasori of the Red Sands was a missing-nin from Sunagakure, she had never heard of the other two. She could have the Anbu investigate them.

Also, the Akatsuki's goal was to collect the nine Tailed Beasts—what did they intend to do with them?

They couldn't possibly be making a movie, hah.

Besides, Tailed Beasts were the strategic weapons of every village; wanting to collect them all was equivalent to making enemies of the entire ninja world. But the letter said that as of the time it was written, only the Nine-Tails remained uncaptured by Akatsuki—did that mean the other eight had already been taken?

Tsunade felt a chill run down her spine.

If this were true, then the strength of the Akatsuki was truly beyond belief; it was no wonder the other version of herself had said that Konoha was already on the brink of destruction.

If Konoha were to fall, the other great nations would fare no better; it could be said that the entire ninja world was already teetering on the edge of annihilation.

What a heavy future this was...

Tsunade took the letter back to her room, recorded the key information with pen and paper, and then burned the letter to ash.

For now, the most urgent and easily resolved issue was that of the Hyuga Clan.

But even for the Hokage, it was not easy to directly interfere in the internal affairs of a ninja clan, let alone for her.

Therefore, she needed an assistant.

Tsunade drained the last of the sake from her bottle, the sound of it fading into a mutter that drifted into the night.

"I just wonder if that little girl is up to the task."