A man wearing a white mask and a cloak suddenly appeared at Yusuke's front door.
"Yusuke, come with me."
His voice was cold, devoid of emotion.
Yusuke immediately went on alert. The man's chakra was powerful; he was at least a jōnin.
He was dressed as an Anbu, and his whole demeanor was numb and cold, without a trace of life.
Yusuke probed, "Are you Anbu? Who wants to see me?"
Meanwhile, he wondered, Damn it, has that old bastard Danzo set his sights on me?
His right hand moved toward the ninja tools pouch at his waist, and he prepared himself for a fight.
"You ask too many questions. Come with me." The masked ninja's expression was icy. "Have you already forgotten the order from Lord Danzo?"
Huh? What's he talking about? What did my predecessor agree to? Yusuke searched through his fragmentary memories but found no hint of anything related.
"What are you waiting for?" The masked ninja's voice grew even colder. He had clearly run out of patience.
He slowly reached for his short blade and thought, Lord Danzo said I must bring this man back. Since he won't obey, I'll have to use force.
Just as the two were on the verge of a fight, a voice came from the stairs. "Honestly, why did you leave the hospital by yourself? You could've waited for me."
A woman's voice sounded from the top of the stairs. The masked ninja's expression darkened. He quietly repeated to Yusuke, "Don't forget Lord Danzo's orders."
With that, he quickly vanished before Yusuke's eyes.
"Tap, tap..."
The footsteps drew closer. Soon, a head of golden hair appeared in Yusuke's view.
"The doctor said there was nothing seriously wrong with me, so I came back."
Yusuke smiled. "How did things go?"
Tsunade let out a long, weary sigh. "I had three surgeries today. I only just finished. Aren't you going to invite me in?"
Yusuke scratched his head awkwardly, thinking, I didn't even have to use the lame excuse that my cat can do backflips. You just invited yourself in.
"I haven't lived here in a long time, so it's a bit dirty. Come in if you don't mind."
He stepped aside. Tsunade walked into the house without a care and looked around with interest.
The interior was simply furnished. The living room had only a sofa, a table, and three chairs.
Yusuke gave an awkward smile. "I'll tidy up. Why don't you sit and rest for a bit?"
He pulled the cover off the sofa. Tsunade smiled. "No need. I'll help you clean."
Yusuke was slightly taken aback. He couldn't believe this brash woman had offered to help clean the house.
In his mind, Tsunade was the carefree, uninhibited sort. Her own room must be like a pigsty.
Sure enough, with Tsunade's help, the cleaning slowed to a crawl.
Yusuke glared at Tsunade. "You! Go sit on the sofa and rest properly."
"And don't interfere with the housework from now on."
Tsunade froze for a moment, then gave an embarrassed smile. She curled up on the sofa and quietly watched Yusuke clean.
Without Tsunade's unhelpful assistance, Yusuke made quick work of it. In an hour, he had finished cleaning the remaining rooms.
He wiped the sweat from his forehead and casually asked, as if it had just occurred to him, "Do you suspect me? Or is there something you want to confirm?"
Tsunade didn't answer the question, which seemed to come out of nowhere. She lowered her head in silence, clearly understanding what he meant.
"It was obvious when you came upstairs. Why couldn't a well-trained ninja control the sound of her footsteps?"
"And with your powers of observation, you must have known someone was talking to me before you came upstairs."
"But you deliberately made a noise. Was it to warn me because you didn't want to see how things might turn out?"
"On top of that, you seemed distracted while packing just now. What are you worried about?"
Yusuke turned around and looked at Tsunade.
"You really are sharp." Tsunade gave a self-deprecating smile. "I didn't realize I'd left so many clues."
"Maybe I'm special to you." Yusuke sat down on the sofa and spoke frankly. "If you still trust me, shouldn't we talk honestly?"
Tsunade was silent for a long while. Then she slowly took a scroll from her waist. "Take a look at this first."
Yusuke took it and read it carefully.
The scroll described Yusuke's life, from growing up in a happy family to becoming an orphan.
But what came next was rather interesting. Because of his exceptional talent, Shimura Danzō had chosen him to join Root...
The scroll was very detailed, right up to his current mission: traveling to Amegakure on Danzo's orders.
Yusuke felt he understood. No wonder his predecessor's memories had been so fragmented when he crossed over.
The Cursed Seal Root had placed on him must have mistaken his condition for a probing ninjutsu, shattering his original soul and erasing all his memories of Root.
The fact that Tsunade had obtained such a detailed record also meant that there was a capable intelligence network behind her.
Were they members of the Senju Clan whom Tobirama Senju disbanded? Yusuke wondered.
"I've always hated politics. Didn't everyone in the village come together for the sake of peace?"
"Why do we have to fight and scheme against each other over one interest or another?"
"Wouldn't it be better if we all just lived happily together?"
Tsunade hugged her knees and curled up, her voice low.
She looked like a young animal that had been betrayed. The claws she usually bared had drawn back, and she huddled pitifully in a corner, showing her most helpless side.
Tsunade was only twenty-two. She hadn't yet experienced the hardships that lay ahead in her life. She had been influenced more by Hashirama Senju, and was still pure-hearted and somewhat naive.
Like Hashirama Senju, she held a somewhat idealistic view of peace.
Yusuke didn't know how to explain it. He couldn't exactly tell her he'd been given a second chance at life.
"When they gave me this scroll, it all seemed absurd. But I trusted my instincts, so I came anyway."
There was no sorrow in her voice; she simply recounted things matter-of-factly. "After the mission in the Land of Rain, I didn't think you were the sort of person who belonged in Root."
Tsunade looked at Yusuke, her expression torn between wanting to hear his answer and being afraid of it.
"The person who came to see me just now was, I believe, a member of Root."
"He came to take me to Shimura Danzō. I must have been given some assignment when he sent me to the Land of Rain."
"And there's something unusual about my condition."
"You can think of it as something going wrong while I was on my way to the Land of Rain. Most of my memories from before that were shattered."
"All my memories of Root disappeared. It must have been because of the Cursed Seal they placed on me."
Yusuke spoke earnestly, telling her as much as he could. He didn't want anything to come between them.
Tsunade listened to Yusuke's explanation in a daze. Even with her expertise in Medical Ninjutsu, she had never heard of an experience so unbelievable.
From the way she pondered, she clearly didn't know whether to believe his explanation.
The room suddenly fell silent.
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