Tsunade: "What a rude woman."

The afternoon in Konohagakure.

In a corner of the bustling food street, there sat a small yakiniku restaurant.

Unlike the clamor of the outside world, the restaurant was quiet and lively in its own way, sparsely populated during the afternoon hours.

The sound of meat sizzling on the grill stimulated the eardrums, while the alluring aroma teased the sense of smell.

Diejian used his chopsticks to pick up a piece of meat, now textured with the charred marks of the grill, and placed it onto the plate of Ina, who sat across from him.

"Congratulations on passing the Genin exam!"

The grilled meat was distributed onto everyone's plates.

Ina, Sakumo, Diejian, and Tsunade all raised their apple juice, clinking glasses in celebration.

Diejian, seemingly unable to wait for the scent that tickled his nose, wrapped the meat in rice and shoved it into his mouth.

Ina took an elegant sip of egg drop soup and took the opportunity to offer a reminder: "Don't eat so ravenously right from the start."

She savored the mild flavor of the small amount of soup in her mouth, sighing in satisfaction.

On the other side, the popular girl—Tsunade—ate with a boldness that lacked any trace of girlishness compared to Ina.

The meat Diejian had placed on her plate had already vanished into her stomach, and she was now eyeing the plate of Sakumo, who was busy grilling vegetables.

Sakumo smiled, thinking, Is this her 'glutton' persona? He paused his grilling and moved some of his own meat onto Tsunade's plate.

Seeing Tsunade smile and say "Thank you," Sakumo felt a warmth in his heart.

"I heard about it, Diejian. You actually challenged the Hokage, didn't you? To think he still let you pass after that, honestly."

Ina swallowed the mouthful of rice, moistened her throat with water, and laughed with an expression of disbelief.

Sakumo looked away with a subtle expression, while Tsunade nodded earnestly, her face saying, "That's exactly right."

Diejian tried to speak with his mouth stuffed with meat and rice, but Ina stopped him with a firm, "That's rude, don't."

Ina poured water into an empty glass and handed it to Diejian.

Diejian took the glass, kept his mouth shut, mumbled a thank you, and then gulped down the food.

"Puh. Ahem. It was the only way. Juri wouldn't cooperate, and Sakumo had his own principles he wouldn't budge on."

"That couldn't be helped, could it?"

Diejian's words carried a hidden meaning, reminding Sakumo of his attitude toward Juri, but he also understood that Sakumo was angry on his behalf, so he didn't press the issue.

Sakumo didn't look guilty, yet he seemed somewhat apologetic, his attitude a bit stubborn.

Diejian sensed Sakumo's thoughts and, much like his late grandfather Hashirama, laughed heartily and moved past the subject.

"This isn't a laughing matter! Brother, do you know how many times Mr. Kagami had to bow his head to the Second Hokage?"

Although Tsunade didn't say it explicitly, her tone implied, "I did too..." and she kept a straight face.

Ina giggled, nudging Sakumo, who sat beside her, with her elbow.

Sakumo bowed his head deeply and said, "I was truly indebted to you all at that time," shaking his spiky silver hair.

The incident at the Hokage's residence—Team Six, having been thoroughly defeated by Kagami, was left immobile. Kagami had simply said, "I'll give you another chance tomorrow," went home, and then headed to the Hokage's residence.

Diejian believed the result would be the same the next day, so he began to think of ways to change their teamwork.

To that end, Diejian first sought out a compromise between the three.

Sakumo indicated that as long as Juri wasn't hostile toward Diejian, he had no complaints about the team itself.

Understanding this, Diejian endured the harsh words while probing the depths of Juri's mind.

Her desires, her personality traits.

All of this was to understand Juri as a person.

If the problem could be solved just by saying, "Let's be good friends," it wouldn't be this difficult.

They had to show each other their "hidden cards."

In the end, Diejian realized that a half-hearted attitude wouldn't make Juri cooperate, so he stopped asking for cooperation verbally and instead shifted toward creating a situation where Juri would propose it herself.

The first idea was to launch a night raid after Kagami fell asleep.

But how could Juri agree to attack her own brother alongside a Senju she despised?

So, he turned to the second plan.

That was to bypass Kagami and go directly to the Hokage himself, the one who had the final say on their "passing."

For Diejian, who had not yet fully shed the mindset of playing pranks on and acting spoiled toward Tobirama, attacking him carried no psychological burden.

With a hint of retaliation for the hellish training he received daily, he proposed this plan with a wicked grin.

For Juri, this was also a golden opportunity to demonstrate her strength to the strongest ninja in Konoha, the current Senju clan head, Tobirama, and she was eager to try.

The one who remained firmly opposed was Sakumo.

"That idea is truly too reckless," he argued until the end, acting as the voice of reason.

However, he was tempted by Diejian's devilish whisper: "This way, I can show my growth to the benefactor who once freed me from my distress!" and ultimately participated in the crime.

The first to be taken down was Sarutobi Hiruzen.

Stimulated by the rare erotic books, Hiruzen sprayed blood from his nose and drowned in his own sea of blood.

Afterward, according to the plan, Diejian used the Transformation Technique to disguise himself as Hiruzen, Shuri was responsible for the feint, and Sakumo would strike at the heart of the operation; the mission began.

The three had assumed things were proceeding smoothly, but the defensive lines of Diejian and Shuri collapsed with pathetic ease.

Silenced by the fists of Tobirama, who had grown genuinely irritated, Diejian and Shuri were tucked under Tobirama's arms like quilts hung out to dry on a bamboo pole, swaying as he walked.

Seeing the large bumps swelling on their heads, Sakumo felt a sense of utter despair.

Perhaps he was the lucky one, as he lost consciousness the moment the impact struck his head.

Upon waking, the three were plagued by a dull, throbbing pain in their heads for quite some time.

With the bumps yet to subside, the three were physically and mentally exhausted as they listened to Tobirama's sighs and lectures about how they were "so speechless it was beyond words."

After cleaning up the shattered glass and broken items, they were ordered to remain under temporary house arrest.

Thanks to the intercession of Kagami during this time—though it likely had little effect, Tsunade also pleaded with Tobirama—Tobirama finally said, with a look of extreme reluctance, truly, very extreme reluctance, "The direction was wrong, but the teamwork is acknowledged," and stamped them with a "Pass."

"Lord Second is truly a reasonable man. But you lot, is it really okay that you didn't call Shuri?"

"We did call her."

"She said, 'Eating with the Senju, ugh~,' and then ran off while stuffing her face with red bean buns."

"Teacher Kagami went to chase after Shuri. That's why we brought Tsunade and Ina instead. We had already reserved a table for four, after all."

Sakumo looked exhausted by the series of events and slumped his shoulders, while Diejian said with a bitter smile, "We'll hold the Team Six passing celebration another time."

"Um, her name is Uchiha Shuri, right? From what you've said, it sounds like she treats us Senju like a thorn in her side."

To Tsunade's question, Sakumo nodded in agreement.

Tsunade indignantly remarked, "What a rude woman," and Sakumo expressed his deep concurrence.

Because Diejian still did not understand Shuri's background, he could only listen to the two of them with a complicated expression while trying to calm them down as they grew agitated.

"But, Diejian. I heard about it... that, you apparently gave her something?"

"Gave her? Gave her what?"

"Ah—, so it's about that."

Sakumo, the culprit behind the leak and the source of the information, realized immediately, cold sweat dripping down his forehead.

Tsunade seemed to have heard about it as well, staring at Diejian with a meaningful gaze.

Diejian, having no idea what was going on, was left flustered by an atmosphere that felt like it was blaming him—which, in reality, it absolutely was.

Ina leaned over the table, bringing her face close to Diejian's, and asked, "You really don't know?"

Their gazes intertwined, the distance so close their noses were nearly touching.

Beneath Ina's well-groomed eyebrows, her long eyelashes and slightly slender double eyelids, accented with light purple eyeshadow, presented a look that was simultaneously cute and bewitching.