Still Salvageable

Dressed in ninja gear, wearing a straw hat, and with his pack tucked away in his Item Space, Li Tong walked toward the bustling commercial district with his sword slung at his side.

Tsunade was still fast asleep in the dirt pit.

Meanwhile, at the Hokage Building, in the Hokage's office.

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, was reviewing documents.

Whoosh!

An Anbu ninja appeared out of thin air, knelt on one knee, and said quickly, "Lord Hokage, news from the Military Police Force: Lady Tsunade is going to bury Li Tong alive, right at his residence."

"Hmm?" Hiruzen Sarutobi paused, looked up at the Anbu ninja, pondered for a moment, then lowered his head back to his documents and said, "It is fine. Tsunade knows what she is doing; she will not truly harm Li Tong. Hmm... spread this news."

"Yes!" The Anbu ninja acknowledged the order and vanished in a flash.

The commercial district.

Arriving on the street, Li Tong lowered the brim of his straw hat and moved forward with the flow of the crowd.

In truth, there were not many people in Konoha who could recognize his face at a glance. Konoha was a village of nearly two hundred thousand people—a place where dragons and snakes mingled, a highly complex society. As long as he kept his Dual-Colored Eyes hidden, the chances of Li Tong being recognized were extremely low.

Hiwa Accessory Shop.

Li Tong stood at the entrance, looked up, then immediately lowered his head again, holding the brim of his hat as he stepped inside.

This was one of the larger accessory shops in Konoha's commercial district. Besides selling earrings, bracelets, necklaces, rings, pendants, and other jewelry, it also sold items like glasses, gloves, and scarves.

Once inside, he saw counters to his left, right, and directly ahead. Li Tong scanned the area quickly and walked toward the counter selling glasses.

A few minutes later, Li Tong left the accessory shop.

He had taken off his straw hat and hung it on his back, changed his hairstyle, wore a Konoha Headband on his forehead, and had a pair of black sunglasses perched on the bridge of his nose.

This attire was not particularly unusual in Konoha; there were plenty of ninjas in the original story who wore sunglasses, such as Ebisu, or even Obito Uchiha, who had the habit of wearing goggles when he was young.

Black could neutralize any other color, which would maximize the concealment of the difference in Li Tong's eyes.

Actually, while in the shop, Li Tong had wanted to ask if they had colored contact lenses, but considering the level of technology in the world of Naruto, he decided against it.

"Ha, they can't recognize me now, right?" Walking down the street in his sunglasses, Li Tong felt much more relaxed. As he walked, he observed the passersby—ordinary Konoha residents, ninjas, merchants, travelers—and not a single person recognized him!

A twelve-year-old ninja was nothing special; while they weren't exactly common in Konoha, they certainly weren't rare either.

"Eat first, then go pick up a mission," Li Tong muttered, quickening his pace.

This time, Li Tong didn't go to Jiangchuan Flavor. Instead, he chose a high-end restaurant called Fuhe Restaurant. Because he had spent most of his time eating at Jiangchuan Flavor over the past half-month, some ninjas who frequented the place might have recognized him.

At a window seat on the second floor of Fuhe Restaurant.

Li Tong ordered a large bowl of beef noodles and waited.

The second floor wasn't very large, but it had eight or nine tables. Since it wasn't lunchtime yet, there weren't many customers—only three tables were occupied, and all of them were ninjas!

Li Tong had long since realized that the wealthiest group in Konoha were the ninjas. While merchants had money, the number of wealthy merchants still didn't compare to the ninjas.

"Is it for real? That kid was actually buried alive?"

"Of course it's true. The news came from the Military Police Force. Lady Tsunade buried the kid alive just to vent for Kushina Uzumaki."

"This... isn't that too cruel? Might as well have just killed him with a blade!"

"With Lady Tsunade's temper, that's considered light."

Three ninjas walked upstairs, talking as they moved. Li Tong caught a few words and wore an "as expected" expression.

The news of Tsunade burying him alive had spread!

The three ninjas were all from the Garrison Corps patrol unit. It looked like they had just finished their shift and come to eat. They sat at the table right next to Li Tong, ordered some food and drink, and continued to chat about the matter.

"Tell me, does Lord Hokage not care about this?"

"When has Lord Hokage ever managed Lady Tsunade? Remember that time? That jonin from the Hyuga Clan, Hyuga Junfei—nobody knows how he offended Lady Tsunade, but she nearly beat him to death and even cut off his hand. In the end, it was only settled after the Hyuga clan head stepped in to apologize."

"Eh? Didn't Hyuga Junfei die? Or did he not?"

"He died! But I heard Lady Tsunade had already let him go; it was Orochimaru who finished him off. Even though there's no evidence pointing to Orochimaru, everyone knows."

"How pitiful!"

"That's nothing. Do you remember the Shaobai Casino tragedy two years ago?"

"Of course I remember. Didn't thirty-nine people die? That had something to do with Lady Tsunade?"

"What do you mean 'had something to do with'? It was Lady Tsunade who did it! Shh, keep your voice down. Let me tell you, that casino owner, Asou Ki or whatever his name was, was cheating at gambling. Not only did he win all of Lady Tsunade's money, but he also said some very rude things to her. Lady Tsunade flew into a rage and started a massacre. Thirty-nine people died on the spot, two floors were leveled, and over a hundred passersby were injured. In the end, the Anbu had to step in and seal all the information."

"Lady Tsunade, she wouldn't, would she? If someone offends her, she won't be polite, but would she really start a massacre? Could it be that Orochimaru was there too?"

"Who knows? There might have been other reasons, but because the Anbu intervened, it can't be investigated."

"Actually, none of what you've mentioned is the worst. The most miserable one was Umino Tozo, the captain of the Torture and Interrogation Force. Lady Tsunade hunted him for an entire month, even abandoning her missions. She chased him from the Land of Fire all the way to the Land of Lightning, and in the end, she cut off his limbs, brought him back, and hung him on a flagpole to roast in the sun for three days before he died. That was truly miserable..."

"Sasaki Kin was about the same. One day he was beaten half to death by Lady Tsunade in the street, and the next day his head was hung at the village gate."

Li Tong sat blankly by the window.

"Sir, your noodles, please enjoy." The waiter set down the large bowl of noodles and spoke to Li Tong, but Li Tong didn't react at all.

It was too damn terrifying!

Tsunade!

Is this really Tsunade? Isn't she the lead actress of a horror movie?!!

"Check!" Li Tong slapped some money onto the table and vaulted out the window!

Go back!

He had to go back; running away wasn't a solution!

Li Tong felt... that he could still salvage the situation.

Not long after, a frantic Li Tong ran back to the lakeside, dashed to the dirt pit, and peered into it while gasping for air.

The mud-covered Tsunade was still sleeping.

There was no one else nearby; it seemed no one had come by yet.

"If you don't court death, you won't die!" Li Tong muttered as he jumped back into the pit, scooped Tsunade up horizontally, leaped out of the pit, and landed lightly, only to immediately hesitate.

Actually, he really wanted to throw Tsunade into the lake to wash her off, but that might wake her up, and the lake water was too cold and stimulating. However, if he carried her to the bathroom... Li Tong really didn't want to dirty his own bathroom.

He pondered for a full three minutes.

"What a sin!" Li Tong sighed inwardly, then carried Tsunade horizontally toward the bathroom.