Several days later, Tsunade led several thousand Leaf Village ninja returning from the Land of Wind front lines in a grand procession to Konoha's gates.
Sunlight spilled across the broad official road, dyeing the entire path gold. In the distance, the statues of successive Hokage on Hokage Rock gleamed beneath the sun, as though they too were watching this triumphant force.
Tsunade walked at the very front of the procession, standing tall. Her long golden hair fluttered in the wind, and her forehead protector was properly tied across her brow. Her face, usually carrying a trace of laziness and unruliness, was now filled with solemn dignity.
Behind her were several thousand ninja still bearing the smoke and dust of the battlefield. Some still had bandages wrapped around their faces, while others limped slightly as they walked, yet every one of their eyes shone with the light of surviving a catastrophe.
At this time, Tianyi returned with the troops as well. He walked in the middle of the procession, followed by a squad of Uchiha Clan elites.
A few days earlier, he had already made arrangements—he had told the Uchiha Clan to slow their return to the village, wait outside it, and enter alongside Tsunade's troops.
The cooperation between the Senju Clan and the Uchiha Clan, something even the Second Hokage had failed to achieve, had been accomplished by Tianyi.
He had also built momentum for Tsunade early on through the Newspaper Agency and other channels.
Many villagers had come voluntarily to this welcoming ceremony to greet the returning heroes. With Tianyi's careful arrangements added to that, the event was bound to be enormous.
As the procession drew closer, Konoha's gates had already been thrown fully open, and a dense mass of people filled the entrance.
The crowd stretched from the