Plans to Patch the Loopholes

After a night of rest, Chishima Chiba had returned to his usual self.

Life had to be lived slowly, and people had to take things one step at a time. Many things could not be rushed.

For now, Chishima Chiba still needed to focus on improving his strength. As Uzumaki Mito had said, everything else was still too early.

Knock, knock, knock.

Chishima Chiba knocked on the door. "Tsunade, wake up!"

Inside the room: ...

Frowning despite himself, Chishima Chiba knocked again. "Tsunade, wake up!"

Tsunade had already opened her eyes. Though her gaze was still bleary, a trace of displeasure flashed across her face.

In her groggy state, Tsunade could not say exactly what she was unhappy about, but subconsciously, she strongly resisted talking to Chishima Chiba.

Chishima Chiba had left something out...

What was it?

Ignoring Chishima Chiba's knocking outside, Tsunade sat on the edge of the bed, swinging her little feet. Her fingertips tapped lightly against her lips as she thought with a troubled expression.

Clarity gradually took over her mind, and Tsunade suddenly realized.

The code phrase!

Chishima Chiba had forgotten to exchange the code phrase!

"You jerk, Chiba. You liar!" Tsunade muttered, turning a deaf ear to the knocking outside. "We clearly agreed on it yesterday..."

Sitting on the bed with a wronged expression, Tsunade felt that her good mood for the entire day had vanished the moment she woke up.

"Tsunade, sleepyhead, wake up!" Chishima Chiba still had not realized what was wrong. He thought Tsunade had simply overslept.

Tsunade crossed her arms angrily and finally shouted, "I'm not here! You're so annoying!"

Chishima Chiba froze outside the door as the agreement he had tossed to the back of his mind suddenly resurfaced.

Slap.

Chishima Chiba could not help smacking his forehead. What the hell had he been thinking about all day?!

"Ahem." He cleared his throat. "The moon is beautiful tonight..."

As he spoke, Chishima Chiba could not help blushing. Saying something like this in broad daylight was damn embarrassing.

"Yes, the moon is beautiful tonight."

Tsunade answered from inside the room. Just as Chishima Chiba wiped away his sweat and thought the matter was over, Tsunade still did not open the door and refused to let it go.

"We've exchanged the code phrase, but you can leave now. I can get up on time without you."

It was over!

Chishima Chiba's heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly said, "Tsunade, aren't you drawing your eyebrows?"

"No!"

"I just came up with a new eyebrow shape today..."

"I said no!"

At that moment, Tsunade sat angrily on the bed, tearing at her pillow as though it were Chishima Chiba.

"Fine, then I'll leave..."

But while she was still fuming, Tsunade suddenly heard Chishima Chiba outside the door announce that he was leaving. She could no longer sit still.

I'm not over it yet. How can you leave?

Thud, thud, thud.

Barefoot, Tsunade ran all the way to the door. She yanked it open furiously, intending to catch up to Chishima Chiba and give him a good beating.

Unexpectedly, the moment she opened the door, Chishima Chiba's handsome face filled her vision. Their eyes met. Tsunade's gaze darted away, but she still instinctively punched Chishima Chiba in the stomach.

She had not used much strength, merely putting on a show, but Chishima Chiba was also quite skilled at putting on a show.

"Ow."

With a painfully exaggerated cry, Chishima Chiba staggered into Tsunade's room, making her eyes flicker in alarm.

She had thrown her punch forward, yet Chishima Chiba had staggered in the opposite direction?

"Chishima Chiba!!!"

Tsunade panicked, turned, and rushed toward Chishima Chiba. Her little fists rained down on him.

An hour later, Tsunade's eyebrows were exquisitely drawn, though Chishima Chiba looked somewhat dispirited.

He had been thoroughly dealt with by Tsunade.

His mistake this time had been far too serious. Even with Chishima Chiba's glib tongue, he could not smooth things over.

Although he had taken a beating, Tsunade's mood had finally cleared from cloudy to sunny, so it had not been for nothing.

Uzumaki Mito had naturally noticed the two of them, but she did not mind. What two people never had disagreements?

As long as they could quickly make up after a disagreement, perhaps it could even deepen their feelings for each other.

After eating and drinking their fill, Chishima Chiba voluntarily took Tsunade's bowl and chopsticks and ran to the sink to wash them.

Tsunade naturally appreciated Chishima Chiba's gesture of goodwill, and her mood improved a little more.

When the two bid Uzumaki Mito farewell and headed out to train, Chishima Chiba even took Tsunade's soft hand in a place where no one could see them, swinging it back and forth with utter ease.

Tsunade also enjoyed that moment. Her unhappiness from the early morning had long since been thrown to the back of her mind.

They arrived at the training ground together, only to spot Hatake Sakumo in the distance, already sweating profusely.

"Sakumo, you're up this early?"

"Yeah."

Hatake Sakumo was unusually cold today, and a faint killing intent flowed in his eyes.

Chishima Chiba was very good at reading people, and he immediately sensed that something was off with Hatake Sakumo.

"Sakumo, what happened?"

"..." Hatake Sakumo said nothing. He only swung his blade with even greater ferocity.

"Is it because of... the war?" Chishima Chiba asked tentatively.

Hatake Sakumo's hand paused mid-swing, then he nodded. "I'm not used to being the only one left at home. I want to go with them."

Hearing that, Chishima Chiba also fell silent for a moment.

During the First Shinobi World War, aside from the Senju Clan suffering devastating losses, some Ninja Clans with few members had been completely wiped out, or reduced to only two or three survivors.

The Hatake Clan was one of them. That was precisely why, even after only Hatake Sakumo remained in the Hatake family, Hatake was still called a clan.

But a clan of one was simply too tragic...

"But you can't go now. Otherwise, you'd be wasting the blood shed by so many predecessors." Chishima Chiba stepped forward and patted Hatake Sakumo on the shoulder. "And training like this will easily cause problems. Not only will you fail to help them, you'll ruin yourself too."

"Chiba, Sakumo, what are you talking about?" Tsunade asked, confused. "War? Where is there a war?"

Chishima Chiba and Hatake Sakumo fell silent. They exchanged Eye Contact in secret, and Hatake Sakumo turned and walked away, leaving only Chishima Chiba behind.

It would be better for Chishima Chiba to explain it to Tsunade himself.

Taking a deep breath, Chishima Chiba grabbed Tsunade by the sleeve and pulled her a little closer to him.

"Because of grandfather Hashirama's death, some people can no longer hold themselves back..."

Chishima Chiba quietly explained it to Tsunade. Her expression gradually turned cold, though ripples stirred deep within her eyes.

War was still too distant and too cruel for the young Tsunade.

"So, Tsunade, we need to work hard..."

"Yeah, we need to work hard!" Tsunade nodded vigorously. "We need to learn our skills and go to the battlefield to kill the enemy!"

"Killing enemies is secondary." Chishima Chiba shook his head. "What we should do most right now is accumulate strength for the future, to protect others, not to kill enemies."

"Is that the Will of Fire that grandfather Hashirama proposed?"

"Yes, but not entirely." Chishima Chiba nodded, then shook his head. "Grandfather Hashirama was great, but he was also narrow-minded. He was too idealistic, and at the same time, he overlooked some... mistakes that all people make."

"Simply sacrificing and giving for others, upholding friendship and inheritance, is a beautiful product of ideals. It can only be treated as the highest ideal, not as a standard.

When it becomes a standard and is planted in people's hearts, then under the guidance of those with ulterior motives, it will deteriorate. It will become a means of coercing others and muddling their minds."

"I don't understand..." Tsunade shook her little head rapidly, while Hatake Sakumo had somehow come closer.

"I don't understand either," Hatake Sakumo echoed.

"What I mean is, we can pursue this will, but we cannot be swept along by it.

"And sacrifice is never free. They may possess a fearless spirit of sacrifice, but as their descendants, we must compensate them. We cannot simply sum it up with an inspiring phrase, leave it at that, and then secretly call them fools behind their backs."

At that, Chishima Chiba sighed inwardly. In the future, Sarutobi Hiruzen would be the one to secretly alter the spirit of dedication within the Will of Fire into unpaid dedication.

A "Will of Fire" that only spoke of unpaid dedication and never of tangible recompense was nothing but shameless hooliganism!

Beyond that, the Will of Fire passed down by Senju Hashirama and Senju Tobirama contained many other places where concepts had been distorted and swapped. They were small changes, but fatal ones. They turned the Will of Fire completely into a tool for controlling people's hearts, rather than a will and an aspiration.

What Chishima Chiba needed to do now was patch the loopholes in the true Will of Fire while Senju Tobirama was still alive.

Only by holding the authority to interpret the Will of Fire himself could he prevent people with ulterior motives from exploiting loopholes and ruining a good hand in the future.

"Still don't understand?"

Looking at the still-confused Hatake Sakumo and Tsunade, Chishima Chiba rolled up his sleeves. "Come on, I'll break it down and explain it in even greater detail."

Chishima Chiba knew how to brainwash people too, and he was quite good at it.

Most importantly, Chishima Chiba's intentions were righteous!