Hiruzen Sarutobi had lived through the great shinobi wars. He was cautious and diplomatic, always looking at the bigger picture and striving to maintain balance.
Tsunade paused at his words, glanced down at the scraps of paper scattered across the desk and floor, then turned to the stern-faced Hiruzen Sarutobi. For a moment, she was speechless.
Beside them, Jiraiya could not help coughing lightly. He stepped in with a smile to smooth things over, taking the opportunity to poke fun at his teacher.
"Give it a rest, old man."
"Don't you know what Tsunade's like? She'll never learn that gentle, diplomatic way of yours, always bending over backward to accommodate everyone."
"If it were you, you might patiently write back, dance around the issue, and turn them down politely."
"Tsunade genuinely can't be bothered with the Raikage's ridiculous little schemes. It's nothing but a waste of time."
Hiruzen Sarutobi froze, momentarily taken aback.
After hearing Jiraiya's words, he felt an inexplicable tightness in his chest. He could not shake the feeling that he had just been mocked in public, and he was faintly offended.
He fell silent for a couple of seconds. Looking at the indifferent Tsunade and Jiraiya, who seemed all too happy to stir the pot, he sighed helplessly.
Times really had changed.
He had spent his entire life treading carefully, negotiating with every side to preserve peace in the shinobi world.
But Tsunade's generation acted decisively and forcefully, neither servile nor arrogant, and unafraid of conflict.
Yet he had to admit that with chaos looming over the shinobi world and a powerful enemy before them, gentle compromise was no longer of any use.
The more they gave ground, the more others would see them as weak and easy to bully.
Tsunade swept the paper scraps off the