Tsunade froze for a moment, then whipped her head around.
"Old man, you're going?"
Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu were horrified.
Was he joking?!
If Hiruzen Sarutobi left the village, what would become of advisers like them, old enough to have one foot in the grave? Those hungry young wolves would tear them to shreds!
"Hiruzen! You can't!"
"No! The Hokage can't leave the village on a whim. You should stay at headquarters and steady everyone's nerves!"
Shimura Danzō had already fallen.
If Hiruzen left the village now and something happened to him...
Their eyes strayed toward Shinji Uchiha.
Clearly, they feared Shinji Uchiha would make a move against the old man!
Hiruzen Sarutobi seemed to have lost all will to fight. He waved a hand in irritation.
"Enough! I've made my decision. Say no more."
"..."
"..."
Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu looked at each other.
They seemed to age a dozen years at once, slumping into their chairs in utter defeat...
It was over!
Everything was over!
Everyone looked at him with surprise and disbelief.
Hiruzen Sarutobi swept his gaze across them.
His eyes met Shinji's.
"I've spent too long in the village... I want to get out, walk around, see the world. Shinji, will you grant an old man's request?"
His expression was earnest.
Hiruzen Sarutobi understood.
From this moment on, his Hokage Position existed in name only...
How much this resembled what had happened back then!
So.
Why stay in the village as a “Puppet”? No doubt every piece of battlefield intelligence would go straight to Shinji Uchiha anyway.
"Tsunade can't handle the Raikage brothers of Kumogakure alone. The Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, Killer B, is known as a Perfect Jinchuriki, and so is the Two-Tails Jinchuriki, Yugito. Besides, the battlefield is dangerous for Tsunade in her current