Bang...
Tsunade punched the desk heavily: "Damn it!"
She had reason to be angry. During this period, she had exhausted her mind for the village, but the situation did not improve. With the Akatsuki organization pressing harder step by step, the situation of the Ninja Village Alliance was precarious.
That was why she made continuous concessions to win over Orochimaru. Apart from past friendship, she also wanted to add more combat power to the Ninja Village Alliance before the great war.
However, things went contrary to her wishes.
Orochimaru first orchestrated the prison break incident, then cracked the 'Dead Demon Consuming Seal'. After enslaving and controlling the First and Second Hokage, he used 'Impure World Reincarnation' to enslave and control the sealed Fourth Hokage as well.
Now, he had triggered the battle in the Land of Rice Fields, indirectly causing the Ninja Village Alliance to lose half of the Nine-Tails, allowing the Akatsuki organization to capture another Tailed Beast.
With these pile of evil deeds by Orochimaru, even as the Hokage, Tsunade had no excuse to continue shielding Orochimaru.
The atmosphere in the Hokage Office became increasingly oppressive.
Seeing that the goal of suppressing the Third Hokage's faction had been achieved, Utatane Koharu stopped dwelling on the topic of Orochimaru and changed the subject: "The Akatsuki organization has now taken away half of the Nine-Tails. They are only missing the Three-Tails inside the Fourth Mizukage and the Eight-Tails inside the Hidden Cloud's Killer B. We must guarantee their safety no matter what now; we cannot let the Akatsuki organization succeed again!"
The Third Hokage said: "Correct, I propose convening the Five Kage Summit again!"
Tsunade nodded slightly: "Analyzing various intelligence, the Akatsuki organization is also preparing for the final decisive battle. It is time for us to start mobilizing!"
This battle in the Land of Rice Fields was accidentally triggered by Orochimaru's prison break. Both the Ninja Village Alliance and the Akatsuki organization were relatively restrained.
However, anyone with discerning eyes could see that this restraint from both sides was not to quell the dispute, but to accumulate strength for the final decisive battle!
Therefore, this Five Kage Summit would very likely be the last Five Kage Summit before the decisive battle!
Mitokado Homura said: "Orochimaru remains an uncertain factor. Now, besides the First and Second, the Fourth Hokage is also controlled by him. Plus, with Yakushi Kabuto who has mastered 'Sage Art', we must find a way to eliminate this uncertain factor before the decisive battle with the Akatsuki organization!"
Utatane Koharu said: "Judging from the Akatsuki organization's actions this time, they seem to have the intention to get rid of Orochimaru as well. We can sell intelligence on Orochimaru and use the Akatsuki organization's hand to deal with Orochimaru."
It had to be admitted that Orochimaru, controlling three Kage-level 'Impure World Reincarnation bodies'—the First, Second, and Fourth—plus followed by Yakushi Kabuto, was already a third-party force that neither the Ninja Village Alliance nor the Akatsuki organization could ignore. Therefore, before the decisive battle between the two sides, both actually wanted to eliminate this third party that might affect the direction of the war as soon as possible.
Tsunade and the Third Hokage exchanged a silent glance, then she said: "I will have the Intelligence Division arrange it!"
Since Orochimaru was determined not to turn back, for the safety of the village, Tsunade could only choose to let Orochimaru consume the Akatsuki organization's strength.
Not long after, communication hawks carrying the proposal to convene the Five Kage Summit again spread their wings and flew out of the Hidden Leaf.
To avoid interception by the Akatsuki organization, the communication scrolls tied to the legs of the hawks were not only encrypted with multiple layers but also did not mark the specific meeting time, allowing the other four Kage to be more leisurely when arranging their itineraries.
After all, at this critical juncture, the safety of the Five Kage was paramount. Even the usually reckless Fourth Raikage was unusually low-key now, keeping his itinerary secret at all times, just to prevent a surprise attack by the Akatsuki organization and avoid being defeated one by one!
...
A few days later, the elite squad returned to the village with Naruto and the Hidden Cloud Chunin who had fallen under Sharingan genjutsu and fallen into a deep sleep.
Hidden Leaf Hospital.
While looking at the medical examination report in her hand, Tsunade instructed Kurotsuchi on the hospital bed: "Your condition is worse than it looks on the surface. Both your body and spirit have suffered severe trauma. You need one to two months of recuperation to recover."
"I've troubled you!"
Kurotsuchi responded, her face not looking good.
She was first forcibly sealed in spirit by Dan Katō using the 'Spirit Transformation Technique', and then severely injured by Yakushi Kabuto, almost losing her life, so she had some idea about her own injuries.
Tsunade then came to the bedside of Ameyuri Ringo and Darui: "Your situations are slightly better, but you still need at least a week of rest to recover. So don't run around during this time, stay honestly in the hospital and recuperate in peace."
"Yes!"
The two nodded in unison.
Ryuzetsu stepped forward at this time and asked: "Hokage-sama, is Chino alright?"
Tsunade flipped through the medical examination report, found Chino's page, checked it, and said: "She just has some anemia. Supplementing with some iron-containing nutritional medicine will be fine."
Ryuzetsu breathed a sigh of relief: "Thank you!"
"No need!" Waving her hand, Tsunade said: "You and Chino made a great contribution this time. I have sent an official letter to your Hidden Grass Village, stating your achievements during this period! In addition, from today on, you two will enjoy the treatment of Hidden Leaf Jonin in the Hidden Leaf, and various benefits and allowances will be issued on time."
Ryuzetsu didn't care about these things, but she still politely expressed her gratitude.
Immediately after, Tsunade led Yakumo, Shizune, and several medical ninjas to Naruto's exclusive ward located in the underground area of the Hidden Leaf Hospital.
Inside the ward.
Naruto was clamoring that he didn't need to be hospitalized, while Jiraiya was comforting him on the side.
Seeing Tsunade and the others arrive, Jiraiya hurriedly went to meet them: "This brat just won't stay honestly in the ward. You better talk to him!"
Tsunade nodded and went straight to Naruto's bedside: "Your medical examination results are out; there is nothing serious with your body."
Naruto was instantly delighted: "I told you, I'm not injured, I don't need to be hospitalized at all!"
Tsunade said in a deep voice: "The body being fine doesn't mean you are fine! Tell me, what exactly is going on with that Heart Demon of yours?"
"Menma?"
Naruto was stunned for a moment, then recounted the story of Menma in full detail, starting from the Waterfall of Truth.
During the process, he secretly glanced at Yakumo and chose to conceal the truth for her, skipping over everything involving Yakumo's Heart Demon.
After understanding Menma's origins, Tsunade frowned slightly.
Even with Naruto's sanitized description, she still clearly felt Menma's hatred for the village, so she hesitated about whether to keep such a Heart Demon bearing malice towards the village inside Naruto's body.
Seeming to sense something, Menma directly flew out of Naruto's body in spiritual form, staring at Tsunade demonstratively: "What do you want to do?"
Looking at Menma in spiritual state, Tsunade was lost in thought for a moment.