There was a knock at the door of the Hokage's Office.
Three knocks, neither too hard nor too soft, delivered with deliberately restrained force.
"Come in."
Baishi's voice was calm. He did not look up; his gaze remained on a plan for expanding Konoha Cemetery spread across his desk.
The door opened, and Tsunade walked in.
She was not wearing her trademark green coat, only plain, light-colored clothes. She looked less flamboyant than usual and far more somber.
The office was quiet except for the faint ticking of the clock on the wall.
Tsunade said nothing. She stood a few steps from the desk. Baishi did not speak either, as if wholly absorbed in the plan, marking something on it with a red pen.
The air seemed to freeze.
In the end, Tsunade broke the silence.
"It's about Jiraiya."
Her voice was hoarse, as though she had not spoken in a long time.
Baishi finally set down his pen and looked up at her calmly.
"Lady Tsunade, please sit."
He gestured to the chair opposite him.
Tsunade did not move.
"I didn't come here for tea," she said. "He's locked in a solitary cell for serious offenders on the third underground floor of the Discipline Inspection Department. His Chakra suppression is lifted for only four hours a day, and his medical care has been cut to the bare minimum. Baishi, you're going to kill him."
Baishi leaned back slightly in his chair and clasped his hands in front of him.
"Lady Tsunade, you're a medical ninja yourself. You should understand that Lord Jiraiya was beside the Fourth Hokage when his Cursed Seal ran rampant. There is a potential risk that he was contaminated by its energy. The current isolation and observation measures are being carried out under the Special-Grade Security