Tsunade and Orochimaru

To Tsunade, this was actually a plus. Konoha had gone from a bloated fat man to a massive, precise machine.

It seemed that under Uchiha Genya's control, Konoha's war machine had begun operating with unimaginable efficiency.

Unlike before, when a whole bunch of people had tripped each other up and held each other back, scheming for their own interests and turning the village her grandfather and granduncle had founded into a complete mess. She had not even wanted to stay there.

Just then, another Anbu member appeared in a Body Flicker, handing the documents in his hand to the jonin.

After receiving the documents, the jonin did not even look at them before pointing the way. "Lord Orochimaru, please come with us."

Tsunade suddenly smiled, though there was a faint hint of contempt in it.

"Didn't you just say that Orochimaru's words didn't count here?"

The Anbu jonin seemed to have expected Tsunade to say that. He opened the document in his hand and showed it to her.

"Written authorization from the Hokage Office. You may enter Hozuki Castle and use a Summoning Beast for expedited transport."

"Before this order was issued, Lord Orochimaru had already instructed us that once it arrived, we could bring you directly to the research center."

The Anbu jonin knew his subordinates all too well. Without authorization from the Hokage Office, he would not even have appeared before him.

Tsunade took a look. It truly bore the Hokage's great seal.

The date was precise down to the minute. It had not been hastily fabricated to fool her; it genuinely carried the Hokage's authority.

After confirming the document's authenticity, the jonin took out a tinderbox and burned the document to ashes, ensuring it could not be used a second time.

The Anbu had now begun developing