Meeting Tsunade

Stepping out of the desert, they found themselves facing a forest.

The difference between Konoha and Sunagakure was like the difference between two worlds.

To be honest, the Fourth Kazekage was ambitious, but he wasn't a fool. He would never make an enemy of Konoha.

Orochimaru had killed the Fourth Kazekage and used Sunagakure and Otogakure to whip up a whirlwind against Konoha.

At the heart of that whirlwind, the Third Hokage became the brightest flame of all. He burned himself up, illuminating all of Konoha.

Su Yu had analyzed Orochimaru's motives and eventually reached a conclusion.

Orochimaru had done it on purpose.

He knew full well that under the Third Hokage's leadership, Konoha had become a stagnant pool.

If things continued like this, then by the time the Third Hokage finally died of old age, nothing would have changed in Konoha, and the village might well have withered away.

So he had planned the Konoha Crush.

He had made his teacher a hero protecting Konoha one last time, letting him illuminate the entire village.

As for whether Tsunade would succeed him—

That was inevitable.

As part of this plan, Orochimaru might have told Danzo about it, causing Danzo to stay his hand and leave the Third Hokage to die alone.

That way, all the shinobi in Konoha would oppose Danzo taking power. The Daimyo would surely feel the same way; he knew all too well how ambitious Danzo was.

Danzo couldn't become Hokage.

Jiraiya's return probably hadn't been a coincidence, either.

After the Third Hokage's death, Jiraiya became a senior figure in the Hokage faction. He had no interest in the position, so the burden naturally fell to Tsunade.

Tsunade was the First's granddaughter. She couldn't stand by and let Danzo take power, or watch Konoha wither away.

They had grown up together and fought together.

They all knew what kind of person Tsunade was.

Of course, all of this was just Su Yu's speculation.

Temari walked beside Su Yu without asking him about himself.

As an Anbu Ninja, he naturally couldn't tell her who he was.

Su Yu had already taken off his mask and didn't mind letting her see his face.

He paid no attention to Temari sneaking glances at him along the way.

They didn't put their masks back on until they reached the outskirts of Konoha.

Only then did Su Yu put his mask back on.

The Chunin on guard at the gate saw the two of them and paused, but didn't stop them.

Temari was a guest of Konoha, and Su Yu was surely one of the shinobi Konoha had sent to protect her.

The two of them arrived at the Hokage Office Building.

The Anbu Ninja on guard saw the necklace around Su Yu's neck and bowed.

Tsunade had already instructed them that any Anbu Ninja wearing the First Hokage's Necklace was a top-ranking member of the Hokage Direct Squad. Uzuki Yugao was one as well.

They could meet with the Hokage directly.

Su Yu and Temari reached the door to the Hokage Office without trouble.

He stepped forward and knocked.

A moment later,

the door to the Hokage Office opened.

It wasn't Tsunade who appeared, but her assistant, Shizune.

Shizune saw Temari and was about to explain when she noticed the necklace around Su Yu's neck.

"Where is Tsunade? I have something very important to report," Su Yu said bluntly.

"Well..." Shizune looked a little awkward.

Seeing this, Su Yu closed his eyes and activated the Mind's Eye of the Kagura.

The next second, he disappeared.

Shizune opened her mouth, not knowing what to say.

At the Senju Clan compound,

Tsunade sat before a low table, drinking.

The past few days of work had really been getting on her nerves, so she'd handed it over to Shizune.

No one objected. Shizune had always been by Tsunade's side and could be regarded as her direct disciple.

Shizune could do nothing about Tsunade shirking her duties, so she had no choice but to take over the work.

"Hm?" As Tsunade drank, she suddenly felt the sunlight blocked.

She looked up and saw Su Yu.

That instantly sobered her up.

Why was Su Yu here?

"I hadn't planned to come back yet, but something urgent came up. On Sunagakure's territory, I ran into Root members ambushing Temari. I rescued her," Su Yu explained briefly.

"What did you say?" Tsunade jumped to her feet in shock.

"Two of Temari's companions are dead. I've disposed of the Root shinobi's bodies. She's at the Hokage Office now and wasn't injured," Su Yu reported.

"As long as she's unharmed. Thanks for your efforts," Tsunade said with a sigh of relief.

Temari was Gaara's sister. If Root shinobi had killed her, Sunagakure and Konoha might well have gone to war.

"I've already told Temari that you'll compensate Sunagakure with some supplies to settle this matter. They'll accept that. From now on, the Anbu in the Hokage faction will escort the supplies," Su Yu continued.

"Mm. That's what I had in mind, too," Tsunade agreed.

"Tsunade, Konoha needs you to work hard and manage every aspect of the village. If you want to slack off, give Jonin Shizune an assistant—a girl who's good at Medical Ninjutsu." Su Yu glanced at the sake bottles on the low table and reminded her.

"You mean Haruno Sakura?" Tsunade asked awkwardly.

"Yes. She's studied Medical Ninjutsu with me and has real potential. With proper training, she should be as capable as any medical ninja." As he spoke, Su Yu took out a scroll.

"What is this?" Tsunade asked, puzzled.

"I upgraded the Rasengan and developed an S-rank technique, the Wind Style: Rasenshuriken. I also upgraded the Wind Release Chakra Mode, making those who use it more offensive. It's a little like your Chakra Enhanced Strength. And I've included my insights into Medical Ninjutsu..."

Su Yu explained what was in the scroll.

He naturally couldn't give Konoha Wind Wings or the Wind Barrier, but he could share Wind Power. Many shinobi could produce similar effects.

As for the Wind Style: Rasenshuriken, no one could learn it without a Tailed Beast's chakra to protect them, so he had no qualms about sharing it.

Even Naruto Uzumaki couldn't learn the Wind Style: Rasenshuriken right away.

As for his insights into Medical Ninjutsu, they might sound useful, but they were of no use to Tsunade. They were only suitable for beginners like Haruno Sakura.

Tsunade studied the scroll, astonished.

Kakashi's invention of the Lightning Blade hadn't shocked anyone too much, since he had always been a genius.

But Su Yu was different.

Tsunade had carefully reviewed Su Yu's records and found that his performance had been utterly ordinary.

In fact, he had started late, yet his growth had surpassed everyone's, even Kakashi's.

He was an astonishing genius.

"Oh, right. I've been researching the Ice Release Kekkei Genkai lately. For now, I can only use Ice Release in places where the temperature is extremely low. Once I've completed my research, I'll write down everything I did for reference," Su Yu added.

"Researching the Ice Release Kekkei Genkai?!" Tsunade's eyes widened.

She had researched Kekkei Genkai herself.

Konoha had also researched Wood Release.

But all those studies had eventually been halted because the failure rate was as high as ninety-nine percent.

Yet Su Yu seemed to have already made good progress.

(The End)