The plain, dignified wooden door swung open, and a blonde beauty stepped inside.
She was tall and voluptuous.
She wore a white crop top and a red miniskirt that hugged her hips, leaving her slender waist and shapely thighs exposed beneath fishnet fabric.
Her chest-length blonde hair was tied in a ponytail that swayed with her confident stride, giving her a capable, spirited air.
Her outfit was exactly like young Tsunade's in the original series!
The future Hokage, Princess Tsunade, had arrived!
It was the first time Uchiha Kurohane had seen Tsunade in the nine years since he'd crossed over.
The crow's pupils focused as Uchiha Kurohane studied her carefully. He soon noticed that she wasn't quite as he'd imagined.
Tsunade looked very young. She had a fresh, youthful air and none of the older-woman quality she had in the original series. Her skin looked so smooth and fresh that she seemed like an eighteen-year-old beauty.
After giving it some thought, he realized this made sense.
Tsunade had been fifty-two when she first appeared in the original series. She was an older woman.
But the Tsunade standing here was only twenty-seven.
On top of that, her Senju bloodline kept her skin especially youthful, making her look eighteen.
She wasn't middle-aged Tsunade. She was youthful Tsunade!
On the other hand, there was no diamond-shaped mark on Tsunade's forehead, which meant she hadn't mastered the Yin Seal yet.
This was one of the most illogical things in Naruto.
Haruno Sakura had mastered the Yin Seal in just three years, at the age of sixteen.
But Tsunade still hadn't mastered it at twenty-seven.
Young Uzumaki Mito had the Yin Seal on her forehead, which proved that the Yin Seal was an Uzumaki Clan technique.
So Tsunade couldn't simply have not invented it yet.
The only explanation was that Haruno Sakura wasn't an ordinary ninja. Her talent was several times greater than Tsunade's.
Her bloodline was way better than Tsunade's!
A more reasonable explanation, though, was that Kishimoto hadn't thought it through. He'd simply powered Haruno Sakura up for the Fourth Shinobi World War.
Without the Strength of a Hundred Technique, Haruno Sakura wouldn't have been able to join the fight, so she had to have it.
But that wasn't important. What really mattered was that Tsunade was already incredibly curvy.
Her round, full breasts strained against her top.
She was twice as curvy as the married Sakura in Boruto!
That alone was enough!
Even Tsunade's ordinary walk made the ground seem to shake. The visual impact was astonishing.
As Tsunade entered the mansion, Uchiha Kurohane quietly ordered the crow to fly outside the hall window and eavesdrop on her conversation with Mito.
Uzumaki Mito asked with a serious expression.
"How are things going in the war against the Mist Ninja?"
Tsunade smiled and answered in a spirited, slightly youthful voice.
"The Mist Ninja were soundly defeated!"
Most of their main force was dead. The reinforcements that followed were mostly weak Chunin and Genin, and there weren't many of them. Their morale had plummeted, and now they'd fallen into complete disarray.
"With victory all but assured, Lord Hokage sent us back to rest and prepare for the fighting in the Land of Rain."
Uzumaki Mito looked surprised.
"Were the Mist Ninja really that weak? Their Seven Ninja Swordsmen are famous throughout the world. How did you deal with them?"
"Haha, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen's reputation was all hype. They weren't that strong in reality. The only real threat they posed was the thick mist, but Orochimaru could pinpoint enemies by their scent, so the mist was useless against him."
"With him, Jiraiya, and me working together, the Mist Ninja were no match for us."
"By the way, Hatake Sakumo's performance was even more impressive. His swordsmanship was far superior to that of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen. He didn't need anyone's help; he could defeat any one of them on his own."
"Actually, he's the one the Mist Ninja truly fear. I heard they call him the White Fang of the Leaf. Just hearing his name is enough to scare them."
Uzumaki Mito looked puzzled.
"The White Fang of the Leaf? Hatake? I haven't heard anything about him. The only stories going around among the ninja are about how the three of you easily defeated the Mist Ninja."
Although Uzumaki Mito couldn't leave the barrier, she often spoke with the Anbu assigned to "protect" her.
Biwako Sarutobi, Sarutobi Hiruzen's wife, also visited her often.
Uzumaki Mito was well informed about the war.
Tsunade looked surprised, too.
"Really? The three of us did stand out, but Hatake Sakumo contributed even more. You've never heard his name? That's hard to understand."
After hearing their conversation, Uchiha Kurohane suddenly saw the light.
Why would a hero like Hatake Sakumo be bullied into taking his own life over one failed mission?
So the Leaf's ninja didn't know what he'd accomplished.
And why didn't they know?
Someone at headquarters must have deliberately buried his achievements.
Downplaying Hatake Sakumo's accomplishments while going all out to praise Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade had to be the Third Hokage's policy.
It was meant to help one of those three become Hokage.
This was the struggle for the Hokage Position, hidden beneath Konoha's surface!
Uzumaki Mito had reached the same conclusion. Her expression grew even more serious.
"You need to be careful. After the Wood Release experiments, the Senju Clan's members have all died."
"Although the Senju Clan volunteered to take part in those experiments, hoping to restore Hashirama's glory and rediscover the lost Wood Release, the truth is that the Senju Clan is already extinct in all but name."
"You and Nawaki are the Senju Clan's last embers. You're also seen as strong contenders for the next Hokage. That's what makes this so dangerous..."
Tsunade waved a hand casually.
"Granny, you're overthinking it. This conspiracy theory is ridiculous. Besides, I'm not interested in the Hokage Position at all."
"No. Political struggles are ruthless. Other people don't know whether you're really uninterested. Rather than gamble that you don't want it, they'd prefer to make sure."
Tsunade didn't believe Uzumaki Mito.
"Konoha is facing four great ninja villages all on its own. Things are so desperate. Who would be thinking about internal struggles?"
"If Konoha really thinks that way, then a village like this has no reason to exist..."
Hearing Tsunade say that, Uchiha Kurohane understood why she would leave Konoha later, and why she would look down on the Hokage and refuse to return when Naruto went to find her.
Because her younger brother, Nawaki, would die soon.
And his death would make no sense.
According to his teammates' report, he had just left Konoha. He hadn't even seen the enemy before he was blown up by a trap.
For a ninja, that was a very strange way to die.
It was hard not to suspect that something sinister was behind it.
That incident made Tsunade see Konoha for what it was. She decided it wasn't worth protecting, and left.
Tsunade herself might even have been in danger, but her strength had allowed her to survive.
In any case, even if Uchiha Kurohane didn't interfere, Tsunade would become the Fifth Hokage in the future.
He didn't need to worry about her. All he had to do was avoid getting involved and stay alive until then.
That was why he'd deliberately pretended to be a dead last.
The nail that stuck out got hammered down. The more gifted you were, the more people feared you. On the other hand, nobody cared about the weak.
Thanks to pretending to be weak before, Uchiha Kurohane had managed to keep a low profile until his Kekkei Genkai evolved.
Now he had the Yatagarasu Substitute. If he ran into a powerful enemy, he could flee immediately. It'd be hard for him to die even if he wanted to!
Once he became Tsunade's student and learned the Strength of a Hundred and Creation Rebirth, he'd be practically impossible to kill.
So the key now was—
To become Tsunade's student!
Before you continue