With his identity recognized, Hiruzen Sarutobi had just breathed a sigh of relief and was about to discuss the next steps with Tsunade when he saw her stand up, looking ready to leave.
"Tsunade, what are you doing?" Hiruzen hurriedly asked.
Tsunade put one hand on her hip and spoke with a hint of swagger. "We're going back to Konoha. I'll help prove who you are, then give that bastard Danzo a good beating!"
Tsunade said it with confidence, and she had every reason to be confident.
She was the granddaughter of the First, a princess personally honored by the Daimyo of the Land of Fire, the founder of a complete medical ninja system, and a medical expert who had saved countless Konoha Ninja.
Tsunade's standing in Konoha—and even across the entire Shinobi World—was at its peak.
So, never mind returning to the village to expose Danzo's scheme and prove Hiruzen's identity. If Tsunade went back and simply announced that she wanted to become Hokage, countless ninja and clans would rally behind her, forcing the current Third Hokage to step down "with dignity" and pass the title to Tsunade.
Hiruzen looked at Tsunade with relief and a touch of complicated emotion. He thought to himself that, if she hadn't suffered the loss of her younger brother and lover, Tsunade would have been the most suitable successor to the Hokage.
"Hey, hey!" Tsunade rapped her fingers on the table, rousing Hiruzen from his thoughts. "Old man, what are you spacing out for? Get ready to go!"
Hiruzen came back to himself and stood. Just as he was about to leave, a hint of worry rose in his heart.
Before Tsunade had agreed to help him, Hiruzen had been forced to "defect." His heart had been full of hatred for Danzo, and he'd been desperate to return to Konoha, set things right, and expose Danzo's scheme.
But now that he had Tsunade's support, Hiruzen was no longer so anxious. With his reason restored, he reconsidered.
"We can't go now."
Tsunade stared at her teacher in surprise. "Old man, have you gotten so angry you've lost your mind?"
Hiruzen shook his head calmly. "The village is at war with the Hidden Cloud. The frontline forces led by Jiraiya have already gained a huge advantage and will soon defeat them completely."
"If we return to the village now and expose Danzo's scheme, it'll cause turmoil. It might even affect the fighting at the front and give the Hidden Cloud an opening."
At Hiruzen's words, Tsunade's expression shifted. The faces of her younger brother and lover rose unbidden in her mind.
What was it about the Hokage—or the village—that made people give up so much, even their lives?
"Do whatever you want. I'm not the one in a hurry!" Tsunade's mood suddenly soured. She dropped back into her seat, grabbed the sake flask from the table, leaned against the chair, crossed her legs, and began drinking heavily.
"Tsunade, don't drink too much." Hiruzen sat down slowly and spoke with concern for his student.
After taking a long swig, Tsunade wiped her lips with the back of her hand and glared at Hiruzen across the table.
"I don't need you to look after me, you annoying old man!"
Hiruzen didn't get angry or try to talk her out of it again. Instead, he quietly got up, went to the counter, ordered another flask of sake and some snacks, then returned with two cups.
"Pour me some, too." Hiruzen sat down again and pushed the two cups toward Tsunade.
With her cheeks flushed, Tsunade looked at her teacher in surprise. "You want to drink with me?"
"Danzo's body is the one stuck with the consequences. It'd be a waste not to put it through a little trouble."
After saying that, Hiruzen instinctively reached into his inner pocket for a cigarette. His fingers found nothing, and only then did he remember that he hadn't smoked once since he and Danzo had switched souls.
"Go ahead!" Tsunade tossed a pack of women's cigarettes onto the table.
Hiruzen stared at the cigarettes, then looked up at Tsunade.
"I bought them to try when I was upset, but they turned out to be awful." Her voice grew a little low.
Hiruzen looked at his student, a trace of pain flashing in his eyes. At last, he picked up the pack and took out a long, slender cigarette. A small flame flickered at his fingertip as he lit it.
Hiruzen took a deep drag and slowly exhaled the smoke, then looked at Tsunade again.
"Tsunade, when the war is over and we return to Konoha, stay in the village."
"Tch!" Tsunade folded her arms across her chest, her bosom rising as she scoffed.
"My dream is to win at every Gambling Den in the world. You've got enough people like you in the village already."
"That's quite an impossible dream." Hiruzen deliberately teased her.
Bang!
Tsunade slammed her hand on the table, leaving a handprint in the sturdy wood. She glared at the old geezer across from her.
"Old man, if you can't talk properly, shut up! I won a huge amount of money today!"
Hiruzen smiled and shook his head.
In an underground space beneath a stretch of forest, fifty kilometers southwest of Amegakure in the Land of Rain, Shiraishi stood amid the "ruins" he had built with his own hands.
The ruins were laid out in a balanced design around the center. Most of the surrounding walls had collapsed, but one structure still stood firm: a Palace at the center.
Inside the Palace, murals covered the walls on either side. One depicted a Deity descending to the world, teaching humanity civilization and guiding people as they built a unified, prosperous empire where they lived in peace and plenty.
The mural on the other side told of a meteor falling from the sky. A colossal, towering God Tree appeared on the earth. At first, people believed it was a divine miracle, so they built an altar around the tree and offered sacrifices.
But the tree's evil nature soon revealed itself. It devoured the life from the surrounding land and the lives of the people.
Those who discovered the truth came to regard the tree as a Demon Tree. The empire's authorities sent a great army to cut it down.
When the empire's soldiers reached the Demon Tree and prepared to fell it, a white-haired Goddess suddenly appeared and effortlessly destroyed the army. The surviving soldiers and civilians fled in every direction.
Humanity had no power to resist the mighty female Demon God. They could only turn to the Deity who had brought them civilization and guided their progress.
The Deity appeared in answer to the people's prayers and defeated the female Demon God.
Just as the people began to cheer and celebrate the Deity's victory, the Demon Tree transformed into a terrifying monster and attacked the Deity.
The defeated Goddess seized the chance to escape the Deity's restraint and joined the monster in attacking.
To protect humanity and defeat the Demon God and the monster, the Deity expended all of his power and sealed them away.
The enormous seal rose into the sky and became the moon.
The Deity, his power exhausted, fell into a deep slumber.
After that divine war, the empire lost the Deity's guidance. Its army had also been devastated in the fighting, and it gradually lost control of its territories, splintering into many different countries, large and small.
At the end of the murals was a prophecy visible only to those with the Rinnegan.
The Deity would awaken a thousand years later. Once he did, the divided empire would be unified again, and an era of peace and prosperity would return to the world.
The story on these two walls was something Shiraishi had prepared specifically for the Akatsuki. It would also serve as his new identity once he obtained a real new body.
At the very center of the Palace sat a colossal, magnificent statue of a Deity.
Its appearance combined the likeness of Shiraishi's soul with the statue of the Yama Emperor described in the Nine Nether Sect's records.
The statue's expression was solemn and untouchable, yet its eyes held a look of compassion, symbolizing divine grace as boundless as the sea and divine might as towering as a mountain.
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