Konoha.
Inside the office in the Hokage Building.
Hiruzen Sarutobi lit his pipe and stood by the window, looking down over the village.
After a string of setbacks, his prestige in the village had hit rock bottom.
The advisers had been beaten, and the Kumogakure delegation had died in the Hyuga compound. Every incident was a slap in his old face.
He had to find a way to restore his reputation!
Hiruzen Sarutobi puffed gloomily on his pipe.
His second son, Asuma, was a troublemaker he could not count on at all.
His eldest son, Shinnosuke, had done him proud, recently giving him a big, healthy grandson.
To show off his image as someone who loved the village, he had personally named his grandson Konohamaru Sarutobi.
Thinking of his grandson made the old man feel a little better.
Bang!
Someone shoved the office door open.
Shimura Danzō strode in with his cane, a mocking smile tugging at his lips.
"Saru-"
Danzo had barely gotten a syllable out.
"Danzo! I am the Hokage!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi spun around, slammed his palm against the desk, and let out a thunderous roar.
Danzo: "?"
Utterly bewildered, the old man swallowed the words on the tip of his tongue.
What was this routine today?
Usually, he would launch the attack, Hiruzen Sarutobi would argue back, and then finish by stressing his position as Hokage.
Why wasn't he following the usual script today?
Danzo's expression shifted. He had come specifically to mock Hiruzen Sarutobi for failing to handle even the Konoha Military Police Force.
If Hiruzen Sarutobi had been a little more accommodating, he might even have shared some top-secret intelligence.
For instance, the Fourth Raikage was already furious and would soon come to Konoha in person.
Or that the Two-Tails Jinchūriki had been hiding among the Kumogakure squad that infiltrated the Uchiha Clan Compound last night!
Yet Hiruzen Sarutobi had actually tried to put him in his place right off the bat?
"Sarutobi! I know you're the Hokage!" Danzo took a deep breath, unwilling to be led around by the nose. "But as the Hokage, how can you fail to handle even a few things properly?"
"If you know I'm the Hokage, why didn't you knock before coming in?!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi shot back without a shred of courtesy.
Danzo was completely dumbfounded.
He could throw his weight around as Hokage over not knocking?
What had gotten into his old friend?
"Sarutobi! You'll regret this!"
Seething with rage, Danzo turned and left.
Intelligence? In your dreams!
You can face the Raikage's wrath yourself!
Watching Danzo retreat after being put in his place, Hiruzen Sarutobi let out a long breath and felt much better.
"Close the door on your way out!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi kept issuing orders, asserting his status as Hokage.
Danzo stopped at the doorway without looking back. "If you want it closed, do it yourself!"
With that, Danzo strode away.
It was almost noon.
Inside Xuanye's luxurious manor in the Uchiha Clan Compound.
Hyuga Hiashi had returned with Xuanye.
Xuanye lounged comfortably on a bench while the disguised Kushina Uzumaki peeled grapes beside him and fed them into his mouth one by one.
"Don't tell me you brought people to help me out last night without intending to win the Hyuga Clan's support for your seizure of power?"
Looking utterly taken aback, Hyuga Hiashi asked tentatively.
Who would go to so much trouble without any political objective?
Xuanye chewed a grape and rolled his eyes. "You really overthink things. I just don't like Hiruzen Sarutobi, and I collected a little protection money while I was at it."
Sitting nearby, Tsunade ignored their bickering. She watched Kushina peeling grapes, her brow slightly furrowed.
"Strange. Why do you look so familiar?"
Tsunade voiced her confusion.
Kushina's hands paused, her expression deeply awkward.
As a child, she had lived in the Senju Clan Compound at Mito Uzumaki's side, so Tsunade had naturally looked after her quite a bit.
She did not want to keep it from Tsunade; she simply did not know how to bring it up.
"Oh, I almost forgot to introduce her."
Xuanye swallowed his grape, his tone as casual as if he were discussing the weather. "Kushina Uzumaki, the former Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, the Fourth Hokage's widow, and now my personal bed-warming maid."
Clatter!
The teacup in Hyuga Hiashi's hand fell straight to the floor and shattered.
Tsunade's eyes went wide, and her jaw nearly hit the floor.
Kushina lowered her head, her face crimson with embarrassment and indignation.
Revealing her identity was one thing, but "bed-warming maid" was far too explicit!
A chill ran down Hyuga Hiashi's back, and cold sweat instantly soaked his clothes.
Trembling, he grabbed the wine flask from the table and gulped down a large mouthful of strong liquor straight from its spout.
This woman was the previous Hokage's wife! The current Nine-Tails Jinchuriki's own mother!
And Uchiha Genya was actually keeping her at home as a maid?!
Hyuga Hiashi's head buzzed.
He finally realized that the young Police Force Captain before him was an absolute madman who respected no taboos!
Setting down the flask, Hyuga Hiashi drew a deep breath, his gaze firmer than ever.
He clenched his fists and stared at Xuanye.
"Xuanye! As the Hyuga clan head, I cannot go against our ancestral teachings and take the initiative to betray Konoha!"
"But let me make this promise today!"
"If you raise the banner of rebellion someday, I guarantee the Hyuga Clan will not throw a single kunai at you! That's the greatest concession I can make!"
"Rebellion?"
At Hyuga Hiashi's blurted words, Tsunade and Kushina both froze and turned toward him in astonishment.
Uchiha Genya set down his wine cup and regarded the Hyuga clan head as though he were an idiot.
He truly could not understand what sort of mush filled Hyuga Hiashi's head.
Stage a coup for a mere Hokage's seat?
Far too shortsighted!
The truly strong never limited their ambitions to a tiny village.
Madara Uchiha had long since seen through Konoha's false peace and set his sights on the entire Shinobi World.
The brief peace Hashirama Senju had gained by bowing to the other great nations was a complete joke.
And with the system's backing, Xuanye's horizons had long since extended beyond the Shinobi World.
"Clan Head Hiashi, you're overcomplicating things."
Xuanye leisurely picked up a bite of food, his tone calm.
"I took people to the Hyuga compound last night purely on Konoha Military Police Force business. I never intended to win you over."
"To be honest, even if you fought with Hiruzen Sarutobi every day, I couldn't be bothered to interfere. As for an alliance with me, the Hyuga Clan's current strength is nowhere near enough to qualify."
The strong acted solely according to the rules.
In Konoha, Xuanye was the one who made those rules. He had acted last night only to protect his own turf, nothing more.
The words left Hyuga Hiashi red-faced and speechless, standing there unable to advance or retreat.
"All right, stop needling him. He did come specifically to thank you, after all."
Tsunade rolled her eyes and spoke up to smooth things over.
She had gone to considerable trouble to spare Hyuga Hiashi embarrassment. This man beside her really had no idea how to consider other people's feelings.
Xuanye pursed his lips, looking utterly unconcerned.
Watching their casual interaction, Hyuga Hiashi felt his admiration deepen instead.
In all of Konoha, there truly was no other figure with real authority like Uchiha Genya, someone who worked purely to maintain order in the village without resorting to schemes.
Since an alliance was out of the question, Hyuga Hiashi thought briefly and chose another way to repay the favor.
"The Konoha Military Police Force's way of doing things has earned my wholehearted respect."
His expression solemn, Hyuga Hiashi cupped his fist again.
"I hear the Police Force has recently been recruiting members from other clans. If Captain Xuanye needs reconnaissance personnel, the Hyuga Clan can assign elite members to join at any time."
"Also, once my daughter Hinata graduates from the Ninja Academy, I earnestly ask that you let her join the Konoha Military Police Force and gain experience under your guidance!"
Send his own daughter into the Konoha Military Police Force?!
Xuanye was taken aback.
Beside him, Kushina gasped in shock and looked at Hyuga Hiashi with sympathy all over her face.
Sending your own daughter into the jaws of this ravenous wolf that devours people whole? You certainly are a carefree father!
Having experienced it herself, Kushina knew all too well Xuanye's capacity to put someone through the wringer in certain respects. She truly wanted to persuade Hyuga Hiashi to take it back.
"No problem. I agree."
Xuanye accepted without hesitation.
He had only just seen Hinata yesterday, a little slip of a girl. However much of a beast he might be, he would not lay his hands on a little child.
A person had to have some boundaries.
After agreeing to Hyuga Hiashi's request, Xuanye's gaze happened to sweep over Tsunade's chest beside him, and a powerful urge to find something out suddenly arose in his mind.
Samui, the woman with long, wavy blond hair he had captured yesterday, also had an exceptionally hot figure.
Which of them was bigger?
At that thought, Xuanye casually waved his right hand through the air.
Boom!
The space ahead twisted violently, giving off a dull, reverberating rumble.
Within just a few seconds, a spatial portal appeared out of thin air.
Thud! Thud!
Two women bound tightly with chakra ropes dropped straight out of the portal and hit the living room floor hard.
A spatial ocular technique!
Too lazy to fetch them from the basement himself, Xuanye had simply used his Mangekyō's ability to transfer the captives over.
"Who are these two?"
Tsunade frowned slightly as she examined the two women on the floor.
"The blond one's Samui, the chief envoy of Kumogakure's peace delegation. I detained her for violating the Konoha Public Security Regulations."
Xuanye introduced her casually, then pointed to the woman beside her with long, beige-brown hair and a face full of humiliation.
"This one's Kumogakure's Two-Tails Jinchūriki, Yugito Nii. She led an assassination squad here last night, so I caught her while I was at it."
He said it all with breezy indifference.
Tsunade opened her mouth, completely speechless.
You tied up both Kumogakure's chief envoy and its Jinchūriki and kept them prisoner in your home?
You're acting even more brazenly as Police Force Captain than the Hokage!
"Ahem! Captain Xuanye, I still have clan business to attend to, so I'll take my leave!"
Hyuga Hiashi was a clever man. One look at the situation told him that whatever came next was not something he should watch, so he promptly made an excuse to leave.
Xuanye gave him an approving look and did not stop him.
Once the outsider had left, Xuanye went straight into action, pulling Tsunade and Samui together and having them stand side by side.
They were about the same height, and their figures each had their own merits. They were truly the finest of beauties.
Xuanye rubbed his chin, his eyes instantly turning into scarlet Sharingan.
He activated his exceptional motion-tracking vision and precise calculation abilities to their fullest!
His gaze swept repeatedly over their chests, and he even stretched out both hands to trace their contours in the air.
"Teardrop-shaped..."
"Full and rounded..."
Xuanye deactivated his Sharingan and solemnly delivered his conclusion.
"After rigorous calculations, Tsunade still wins by a narrow margin!"
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