Tsunade Returns to the Village

The first night after leaving Konoha.

Su Yu spent it at an inn in the Land of Waves.

Karin Uzumaki had been stationed here by Yakushi Kabuto a few days prior, and she appeared quite happy when she saw Su Yu.

The two of them even shared dinner together.

Su Yu opened the inn window and looked out at the night.

He had saddled Danzo with the blame, using that as a reasonable excuse to defect from Konoha.

The Fifth Hokage, Tsunade, would certainly believe it.

After all, whenever something went wrong, blaming Danzo was never a mistake.

Yakushi Kabuto would not be concerned with Su Yu for the time being, because Orochimaru's arms were sealed, and the top priority was finding a way to heal them.

In reality, there was only one solution: to perform the reincarnation ritual as soon as possible.

Orochimaru did not know this, so seeking out Tsunade became the only method he could conceive of.

As for Su Yu, he had relayed the situation in Konoha through Katsuyu.

If Tsunade did not become Hokage, Danzo might seize the opportunity to take the position.

During the Konoha Crush incident.

Danzo's Root had remained hidden underground, not sending a single person to help; if such a man were to become Hokage, Konoha would be ruined by his hands.

Land of Fire.

In an inn within a small town.

Tsunade drank her sake while looking out the window.

She had won a lot of money that morning, and even then, she had felt that something was off.

Now, having heard what Katsuyu had to say, Tsunade knew it was time to return.

If she did not go back, Konoha might truly be destroyed at the hands of Danzo.

"Lady Tsunade, are we..."

Shizune couldn't help but ask.

"We leave tomorrow morning to return to Konoha." Tsunade glanced at Shizune.

"Yes." A look of joy appeared on Shizune's face.

She and Tsunade had been wandering from place to place for so long; it was finally time to go home.

The next day.

The weather in Konoha was poor, with a light rain falling early in the morning.

Whether they were ninja or ordinary citizens, everyone wore black as they headed to the site of the Third Hokage's funeral.

The Third Hokage was a respectable leader and a hero in the hearts of everyone in Konoha.

Such a hero had sacrificed his life to protect the village, leaving every resident of Konoha with a heavy heart.

Kakashi's eyes swept over the crowd, lingering for a moment on Uzuki Yugao. This was not because he had any interest in her, but because Su Yu was on the missing persons list.

Su Yu and an Anbu member had gone missing.

Very few people currently knew about this matter.

When the funeral concluded.

Tsunade returned to Konoha.

The moment she arrived, Jiraiya breathed a sigh of relief.

Upon learning of her return, the Daimyo immediately granted Tsunade the position of Fifth Hokage.

The Hokage faction had no objections to Tsunade taking office, and the appointment was passed unanimously.

Danzo had intended to say something.

However...

The first thing Tsunade did upon taking office was to hold Root accountable.

During the Konoha Crush incident, every member of Root had remained in hiding, not a single one stepping forward to help.

All of Konoha's high-ranking officials looked at Danzo, and not one person spoke up for him.

The two advisors exchanged a glance and remained silent as well.

This was no longer something that could be explained away as a mere intelligence error; with such a massive commotion in Konoha, every other ninja had participated.

Only Root had remained motionless, acting as if it were none of their business.

This was Danzo wanting to watch the Third Hokage die!

It was common knowledge that Danzo wanted to be Hokage.

But such an obvious display of standing by and doing nothing seemed rather foolish.

"Danzo, do you have any explanation for this matter?" After a moment of silence, the Daimyo looked toward Danzo.

"Members of Root are the elite of Konoha; they should not be used for village defense. Besides, so many ninjas from Konoha have already been deployed..."

"If they are the elite, why weren't they sent to protect the Third Hokage?" Tsunade slammed her hand on the table, cutting Danzo off.

"Under the circumstances at the time, the Root members were unable to approach that location, so..."

"So, you didn't even have the strength to hinder Orochimaru? Or are you saying that this was something you and Orochimaru planned together?" Tsunade sneered.

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone's expression changed.

This possibility was actually quite real.

"Tsunade, regardless of everything, Danzo is a high-ranking official of Konoha; it is impossible for him to do such a thing. However, he was indeed in the wrong this time. Shall we appropriately reduce Root's operating budget and personnel as punishment?" the Daimyo said slowly.

Upon hearing this, Danzo's face changed drastically.

On the surface, it looked like the Daimyo was speaking up for him.

In reality, he was helping Tsunade.

"For the sake of the Daimyo, let's reduce Root's funding by thirty percent and their personnel by ten percent as punishment. Kakashi will be in charge of selecting the excess personnel from Root. Do you have any objections, Lord Danzo?" Tsunade looked at Danzo coldly.

"No objections." Danzo's tone was calm, but his hands were clenched into fists.

His original plan had been to wait for the Third Hokage to die and for Konoha to fall into chaos, at which point he would emerge to take control of everything.

As it turned out, the Third Hokage had indeed died.

However, Konoha had not fallen into chaos; Otogakure and Sunagakure alone simply lacked the capability to cause that.

All the ninjas of Konoha had worked together in unity, successfully putting an end to this farce.

This had instead turned him into a laughingstock.

While other Konoha ninjas might not dare to say anything, Tsunade was someone who spoke her mind.

This punishment served three purposes.

The first was to reduce Root's funding, the second was to reduce their personnel while supplementing other forces, and the third was to make him lose all face.

After this incident, the clans of Konoha would all support the Hokage's faction, and no one would stand on Danzo's side.

Then, the question arose.

Whose idea was this, really?

After the Konoha meeting concluded.

The Daimyo was escorted back to the capital of the Land of Fire.

Tsunade arrived at the Hokage Office.

Kakashi reported to her the disappearance of Su Yu and the Anbu members.

Upon hearing the name Su Yu, Tsunade couldn't help but be taken aback.

Just as she was about to ask a question, a knock sounded at the door.

Tsunade glanced at Kakashi.

Kakashi understood and opened the door.

Uzuki Yugao stood before the door, holding a scroll in her hand.

"She is Su Yu's team leader," Kakashi introduced Uzuki Yugao.

"Lady Tsunade, welcome back. I was originally a member of the Hokage Direct Squad, responsible for protecting the Hokage. Because I was saved by Su Yu-kun's parents, I requested to become Su Yu-kun's team leader..." Uzuki Yugao recounted her history with Su Yu.

She spoke of Su Yu's rapid rate of progress, but she did not mention his other side.

After listening to Uzuki Yugao's account, Tsunade asked the crucial question.

"If this Su Yu-kun is so outstanding, why did he leave Konoha?"

Uzuki Yugao glanced at Kakashi.

"Don't worry about Kakashi; he is the person I trust most at the moment," Tsunade reminded her.

"Lady Tsunade, this matter is very important and cannot be known by anyone other than you," Uzuki Yugao shook her head.

Seeing this, Tsunade was silent for a few seconds before looking at Kakashi beside her.

Kakashi nodded and left.

Only then did Uzuki Yugao step forward and hand the scroll in her hand to Tsunade.

Tsunade opened the scroll.

Following that, her pupils constricted, and she looked at Uzuki Yugao in disbelief.

"Is... is this true?"

Uzuki Yugao nodded once.