After changing clothes and saying goodbye to his parents, he leaped onto the roof and, led by Sparrow, headed towards the Hokage Building located in the center of Konoha.
In the blink of an eye, Que had brought Shin'un to their destination.
I walked up to the Hokage Building and arrived at the entrance to the Hokage's office.
The sparrow stepped forward and raised one hand.
"Knock knock knock!"
" Lord Hokage, Hirakawa Shin'un has arrived."
After a short wait, a strong, resonant voice came from behind the door.
"Let him in."
Upon hearing the Third Hokage's command, Suzaku immediately responded.
He turned to look at Shin'un.
Please come in.
After saying that, Que nodded and vanished in Body Flicker Technique.
Watching Que's departing figure, Shin'un immediately let out a breath, pushed open the door in front of him, and walked into the Hokage's office.
Before he even stepped inside, the figure that appeared in front of him made Shen Cloud Ninja in surprise.
" Lady Tsunade, what brings you back from the front lines?"
The person in front of me is Tsunade, who should have been on the front lines.
Just then, Tsunade, who was arguing with the Third Hokage, suddenly heard a familiar voice behind her and turned around.
"Oh, Shin'un?"
"It's nothing, I just need to go back to the village temporarily for some things."
"What's up?"
Tsunade, as always, was very carefree and seemed to have forgotten that this was the Hokage's office, and asked Shin'un directly.
Uh~
Shin'un was about to reply, the Third Hokage, who was sitting behind his desk, took a puff of his pipe and spoke first.
"I asked him to come."
After saying this to Tsunade, the Third looked at Shin'un.
" Shin'un, please wait a moment."
After saying that, the Third pointed to the sofa at the other end of the office, gesturing for Shin'un to sit down.
Seeing this, Shin'un didn't stand on ceremony. He bowed slightly to the Third and then sat down on the sofa.
Immediately afterwards, the Third and Tsunade seemed to disregard Shin'un's presence and continued arguing about the previous topic.
The two argued together, with Tsunade on the table, while Hiruzen Sarutobi kept puffing on his pipe.
Since neither of them cared about Shin'un's presence, Shin'un simply stopped pretending and focused intently on watching the Third Hokage and the young Fifth Hokage arguing—a scene that ordinary ninjas rarely witnessed.
A few minutes later, listening to their conversation, Shin'un understood why Tsunade, who was supposed to be on the front lines, had suddenly returned to the village, and what the two were arguing about.
In general, it can be summarized as follows...
During the ten-odd days that Shin'un spent in the Land of Wind rescuing the Yakushi Nonō, the situation in the Land of Rain underwent a dramatic change.
Amegakure, which had been passively defending and rallying the people of the Land of Rain, Amegakure declared war on Konoha, Sunagakure, and Stone Ninja at the same time.
Then, Amegakure, the leader of Hanzo of the Salamander, quickly gained the upper hand in the Land of Rain by relying on his own strength and the wide-range poison gas attack of his summoning beast, the Ibuse, which covered the entire battlefield, forcing the ninja teams from the three major ninja villages to retreat one after another.
Nowadays, some people in the Shinobi World refer to Hanzo of the Salamander as Demigod.
For a large ninja village with a large number of ninjas, Hanzo of the Salamander's personal strength was secondary; the poison gas attack that Ibuse used to cover the entire battlefield was the most pressing issue that needed to be addressed.
Therefore, in order to deal with the poison of the Ibuse, Tsunade just returned to Konoha today and is preparing to develop an antidote that can alleviate or even eliminate the poison gas of the Ibuse in the shortest possible time.
This is the reason and origin of Tsunade's return to Konoha, but the argument she had with the Third Hokage was about something else entirely.
Thump!
I've said it countless times!
"He's already twelve years old; even in peacetime, that's when he should be graduating."
"His classmates and younger Ninja Academy have all gone to the battlefield long ago, but he's the only one still in the Ninja Academy."
"If you keep hiding Nawaki in the village like this, his life is ruined!"
The Third seemed to have lost his temper with Tsunade's annoyance, throwing his beloved pipe aside and slamming his Tsunade as they spoke.
Even so, you can't just hide it from me and allow my brother to graduate!
"I only have this one younger brother!"
Upon hearing Tsunade's words, Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes widened immediately.
"You only have one younger brother, but even if it's delayed, he still has to graduate from the Ninja Academy eventually."
"Besides, it was your brother who specifically came here to find me..."
After listening to the entire conversation, Shin'un understood the conflict between the two to some extent.
Tsunade doted on her younger brother, Nawaki, and while her peers went to war early on, she kept Nawaki at the Ninja Academy.
Nawaki, however, was unwilling to accept the special treatment offered by his older sister. So, not long ago, he sought out the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi, and asked him to let him graduate and go to the battlefield, while keeping this a secret from his sister.
This morning, Tsunade returned home happily from the Land of Rain, only to bump into Nawaki excitedly putting on Forehead Protector genin Genin he had just received in front of the mirror.
After a barrage of questioning, Tsunade learned everything and went straight to the Hokage's office to confront him.
Faced with the two still arguing, Shin'un fell into thought.
Although Shin'un had never met that Nawaki, he still admired her spirit of refusing to accept special treatment from her sister.
Although, as far as Shin'un knew, Nawaki died from an Explosive Tag trap the day after he stepped onto the battlefield...
Perhaps, besides hemophobia, Tsunade's future departure from Konoha might also be partly due to her dissatisfaction with Hiruzen Sarutobi stemming from Nawaki's death.
"Alright, he's still a ninja. Can you protect Nawaki forever?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi a deep breath and ended the conversation with a single sentence.
Tsunade wanted to argue, but deep down she also thought her teacher was right, so she could only grit her teeth, lower her head, and remain silent.
Hiruzen Sarutobi picked up the pipe from the desk in front of him, put it in his mouth, took a deep drag, and exhaled a thick cloud of smoke.
Seemingly feeling a bit better, Hiruzen Sarutobi selectively ignored Tsunade standing in front of him and turned to look at Shin'un, who had been sitting and watching the show.
" Lord Hokage."
Upon seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi looking at him, Shin'un immediately stood up from the sofa and bowed slightly in response, showing his respect.
"Don't be so polite. You're Orochimaru's disciple, so you're part of my lineage. Relax."
Hiruzen Sarutobi on his pipe, looking at Hirakawa Shin'un in front of him, finding him more and more pleasing to the eye.
He had silver-white hair like Teacher Tobirama, and although his features were still youthful, his handsome face was gradually maturing.
At only thirteen years old, he already holds a place among the Jonin in terms of strength, and he has rich combat experience with a perfect record of never failing a mission. As long as he makes no mistakes, he will surely become one of Konoha's strongest pillars in the future.
Most importantly, unlike others, Hirakawa Shin'un possesses the Senju bloodline and is Orochimaru's disciple, making him a natural candidate for the Hokage lineage, so he can be completely trusted.
Thinking this, Hiruzen Sarutobi revealed a barely perceptible smile.