Today's Defeat-Hiruzen Sarutobi!

The deathly silence on the training ground was soon broken.

Nawaki greeted Tsunade enthusiastically, then dragged Uchiha Itachi back into the formation to keep working up a sweat.

Tsunade's expression shifted uncertainly, her mind a tangled mess. She could not even spare a thought for her small hand, still clasped in Xuanye's palm.

What a disaster!

The Senju Clan is still counting on you to carry on the family line. Why did you have to take such an interest in a man from the Uchiha Clan?!

"Don't look so glum."

Xuanye leaned closer and teased her gently, "Since our main account turned out to be a dud, we can just make an alt later."

"At worst, when you have your first child, I'll make a special exception and let the kid take your surname, Senju."

Is that what I'm upset about?!

Besides, what does this have to do with you?!

You make it sound like I'm actually going to have a child with you!

Tsunade glared at Xuanye, her face stern. But with that old man Hiruzen Sarutobi still standing nearby, she did not rush to blow her top. After all, her role today was "the kid's mother."

"Ahem! Ahem!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi coughed heavily twice, forcing them to acknowledge his presence.

Discussing having children in public-have you no shame?

Still, after hearing those few casual remarks, the old fox felt he had a clearer picture.

First child?

So that brat bouncing around earlier really wasn't Tsunade's biological son!

The ages alone made it obvious. If Xuanye really were the father, he would have had to get involved with Tsunade at ten. That was utterly absurd.

Since the child was not hers by birth, he could not be bothered to pursue a joking remark. All he needed was to confirm that Tsunade was now in league with Uchiha Genya.

"Oh? When did you get here?"

Xuanye turned and looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi in complete surprise, putting on a thoroughly convincing act.

I've been standing here the whole time!

So you've been treating me like thin air?!

Hiruzen Sarutobi's aged face darkened. Suppressing the anger seething inside him, he reached up to straighten his Hokage hat.

He just says "you," without a single honorific. The Uchiha Clan's upbringing really is rotten!

"Captain Xuanye, about the mess last night..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression grew stern, his voice thick with warning.

He was Konoha's Hokage! The sole supreme authority in the entire village!

No matter how powerful Uchiha Genya was, or how imposing the Konoha Military Police Force under his command might be, he still had to obey the Hokage's orders!

After the earth-shaking uproar last night, Hiruzen Sarutobi was still completely in the dark.

He urgently needed to find out what secrets lay behind Xuanye's words: "killed a few people and caught a cat."

The string of recent troubles had already left Hiruzen Sarutobi overwhelmed.

The Kumogakure delegation had made accusations, the Police Force had arrested people, and Hyuga Hiashi had personally beaten an envoy from another village to death.

The situation had spiraled completely out of control, no longer following the script he had envisioned. The old fox urgently needed to regain the initiative!

"The Konoha Military Police Force will get to the bottom of the case. No need for the Hokage to worry himself over nothing."

Xuanye showed him no courtesy whatsoever, shutting him down with a single sentence.

Beside him, Tsunade's eyelid twitched as she listened.

Well, damn. He just told the Hokage to get lost?

Since when did the Konoha Military Police Force become this brazen?

Nicely done, kid's dad!

Tsunade showered him with praise in her mind.

If not for her concern for Konoha's dignity, she would have pointed straight at Hiruzen Sarutobi's nose and cursed him out long ago.

Did he really think she knew nothing about the shady dealings behind the Second Shinobi World War? The old man played the good guy in public, while behind the scenes, everything was scheming that could never stand the light of day.

"As Hokage, I have the right to know exactly what happened last night!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi clenched his back teeth, abruptly raising his voice as he stared fixedly at Xuanye.

"All right, all right, we know you're the Hokage. Nobody wants to steal that lousy chair from under your ass. What are you screeching at the top of your lungs for?"

Xuanye picked at his ear and waved him off with undisguised distaste.

The old man probably had a persecution complex, terrified someone would usurp him.

Right now, Xuanye only wanted to collect protection money in comfort and lead his squad in slacking off. Whoever dared come and ruin his easy life would have their ashes scattered.

Hearing Xuanye mock him to his face, Tsunade nearly failed to hold back a laugh.

Sure enough, the old fox was afraid someone would steal his position. Laughably childish.

"I..."

Furious and flustered, Hiruzen Sarutobi was just about to assert his authority and deliver a reprimand.

Boom!

The nonchalance instantly vanished from Xuanye's face. A suffocating, terrifying killing intent burst from his body, locking firmly onto the old man before him.

"Don't make me say it twice."

"Show him out!"

Wasting words on politicians was nothing but a waste of breath.

If he dared utter so much as another word, Xuanye would absolutely dare to put Hiruzen Sarutobi in Konoha Hospital for half a year on the spot.

The excuse was ready-made: the Hokage had barged into the Konoha Military Police Force's morning drills and suffered an unfortunate accidental injury. The captain deeply regretted it!

Hiruzen Sarutobi's chest heaved violently as he forcibly swallowed the curses on the tip of his tongue.

I can't fight him!

The old fox had an extraordinarily keen instinct for danger. The instant Xuanye had locked onto him, he had felt as though he could smell death.

Against an unreasonable monster, I'll have to use other underhanded tricks!

Just as Hiruzen Sarutobi shut his mouth and prepared to take a deep breath to calm himself-

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Uchiha Cong sauntering over from the side, his face wreathed in smiles.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's nerves instantly stretched to their limit!

His attempt to take a deep breath stopped halfway. The old man was too frightened even to breathe, terrified that another earth-shattering poison-gas bomb might erupt!

His aged face turned purple from holding his breath. Looking as though he had suffered a grievous internal injury, Hiruzen Sarutobi sharply flicked his sleeve, turned, and fled in panic.

"Look, Captain! The way that old geezer runs looks just like a beaten dog! Haha!"

Uchiha Cong's unrestrained laughter rang out behind him:

"He definitely thought I was going to fart! What he doesn't know is that I already let it all out next to Itachi-san!"

Hearing those words as he hurried away, Hiruzen Sarutobi stumbled. A metallic sweetness rose in his throat, and he spat out a mouthful of blood with a retch, fleeing the scene even faster, filled with pent-up frustration.

Today's defeat-Hiruzen Sarutobi!