While Konoha descended into utter chaos, an ordinary ninja named Tenzo was having an utterly ordinary, fruitless day.
Just yesterday morning, Tenzo, Kakashi, and Habara had been together in the Land of Iron, tracking the legendary Sannin, Tsunade. But right as they were about to enter a town for a closer search, Kakashi and Habara had abruptly bolted, leaving Tenzo alone to continue the mission.
The truly absurd part was that, even now, no one had bothered to tell Tenzo what exactly had happened back in Konoha – whatever it was that had compelled Habara and Kakashi to return posthaste. Not that Tenzo could really blame Habara; the turmoil back home had plunged every available shinobi into a state of frantic crisis. Who had the time to think about Tenzo?
It wasn't pleasant to admit, but it was the truth: Habara, and likely Kakashi too, had completely forgotten about poor Tenzo, stranded far from home.
If Tenzo had access to the 'network signal,' his basic right to know might have been upheld. Alas, there were no 'ifs' about it.
Consequently, Tenzo could only assume something urgent, yet not truly critical, had occurred in Konoha. Perhaps the Third Hokage had suddenly developed senile dementia or something similar? Otherwise, there was no reason to leave him out here indefinitely. It wasn't like Tenzo was selling himself short; his combat skills were actually quite decent.
Coupled with the village's orders to continue searching for Tsunade, Tenzo mulled it over and became increasingly convinced the Hokage must have succumbed to some sudden illness.
One could only say that Tenzo was rather unlucky, completely oblivious while the very foundations of Konoha were being reshaped.
Yesterday morning, Tenzo had entered the town. He'd scoured every inn and gambling den without finding a trace of Tsunade. After a full day of wasted effort, he'd found a place for a simple night's rest, ready to resume the search the next day…
He never would have dreamed, not in a million years, that back in Konoha, a series of catastrophic events had unfolded: the Uchiha clan massacred, the Third Hokage missing, Habara personally decapitating two village elders and Danzo Shimura.
Reality was far too bizarre. Tenzo would sooner believe waking up one day to be told, "You're a girl now," than accept that Konoha had been turned completely upside down.
The next day, Tenzo resumed his mission, planning to revisit yesterday's gambling dens. Just as he resigned himself to another fruitless search, he stepped into a highly disreputable underground casino. Scanning the room without much hope, his eyes suddenly locked onto a figure – a blonde woman with twin tails.
If asked about her distinguishing features, even someone like Tenzo would have to admit: "She's… impressive."
He'd actually found her. Tenzo could hardly believe it. This seemed to confirm some of his earlier suspicions. He'd long felt there was a jinx in their team, someone whose bad luck plagued their missions. Now, it seemed undeniably true.
The moment the two jinxes left, Tenzo immediately ran into Tsunade. What did that prove? It proved that his supposedly reliable teammates were often just dead weight.
Having spotted Tsunade, Tenzo didn't rush over to greet her. He could see she was engrossed in her gambling; interrupting her now would only sour her mood. He decided to wait until her game concluded before approaching.
However, because he'd been staring at Tsunade for a while, someone on her side noticed the Konoha ninja. Not Tsunade herself – her attention was solely focused on her cards, leaving no room to notice her surroundings. It was Shizune, standing beside her, who caught Tenzo's gaze.
"Lady Tsunade, it's a Konoha ninja," Shizune whispered, leaning close to Tsunade's ear.
Tsunade lightly chewed on her left thumbnail. Hearing the warning, her eyes remained fixed on the abysmal hand she held. She merely flickered her gaze sideways, confirming Tenzo's identity in an instant.
"Only one left, huh... I got careless," Tsunade murmured back to Shizune, too low for others to hear.
"Careless?" Shizune looked puzzled.
"Among the Konoha ninja looking for me earlier, there was one guy practically radiating chakra, like a walking, oversized bomb. He felt dangerous; I didn't want to get tangled up with a ninja like that, it would never end. That's why I kept dodging them… When that ninja disappeared these past two days, I assumed they'd given up the mission and all returned to Konoha."
After a moment of contemplation, Tsunade finally made her move, casually discarding a card from her hand.
Tsunade wasn't a fool. She had, of course, long since realized Konoha ninja were tracking her. It was only because a certain someone's 'signal' was so overwhelmingly strong that she'd been able to evade them so precisely. But by focusing too much on that ninja, Tsunade had outsmarted herself this time, turning a clever tactic into a clumsy mistake.
Still, her misjudgment wasn't entirely her fault. So far from the Land of Fire, Konoha ninja almost always operated in teams. Who could have guessed that after Habara left, Tenzo would remain?
Just as Tsunade was distracted, pondering how to get rid of this Konoha ninja, the card she'd just tossed onto the table was slammed down upon by a large, bald man. "Hold it! I win!" he bellowed.
"Just my luck," Tsunade muttered under her breath, her lips twitching into a slight frown. She pushed her last stack of chips towards the man. Truly, Princess Tsunade was nothing if not efficient. The casino had barely opened near noon, and within minutes of arriving, she had already gambled away all her money.
"Let's go. This ninja shouldn't be as troublesome as the other one. He looks kinda dense," Tsunade said, standing up and addressing Shizune.
What could Shizune say? Tsunade could casually praise or criticize Konoha ninja, even curse them out when she lost badly, but Shizune couldn't do the same.
"Lady Tsunade, I..."
Seeing Tsunade approaching, Tenzo hurried forward to meet her. Before he could introduce himself, however, Tsunade cut him off.
"Konoha ninja? Follow me."
Tsunade led the way out of the casino. The three of them ended up in a secluded street corner. Tsunade stopped slightly ahead, and just as Tenzo moved to follow closer, Shizune stepped in his way.
"You can tell me whatever it is. There's no need to disturb Lady Tsunade. If the matter is important enough, I will relay it to her," Shizune stated.
It wasn't that Tsunade was putting on airs. Simply put, having left Konoha, she wanted no further entanglement with the village. Under these circumstances, having Shizune deal with the ninja from Konoha was far better than Tsunade interacting with him directly.
Tenzo knew it wouldn't be that simple. He could see Shizune was someone Tsunade trusted implicitly, so he stated his purpose directly, "The Third Hokage wishes for Lady Tsunade to return to the village and assume the position of Fifth Hokage. He feels his age catching up to him, his energy greatly diminished, and thus hopes that Lady Tsunade, the most suitable and qualified candidate, will return."
Shizune froze for a second, stunned by the gravity of the message delivered by this Konoha ninja. As one of the Sannin and the granddaughter of the First Hokage, Tsunade's status was naturally revered, but... this was the position of Hokage.
Yet, her shock lasted only a moment. Being Tsunade's closest companion, she knew Tsunade's stance all too well.
"Lady Tsunade will likely not return to Konoha. She has no intention of accepting the Hokage position."
Shizune didn't even need Tsunade's confirmation to give this answer.
Tenzo continued, undeterred:
"Originally, there were three of us assigned to find Lady Tsunade. But just yesterday, the other two suddenly received urgent orders and returned to Konoha."
"These two ninja have rather unique identities. One is the son of Konoha's White Fang, Kakashi of the Sharingan. The other is named Habara, the one who effectively killed the Fourth Kazekage near the end of the war... For ninja of their caliber to return urgently without any explanation, I have reason to suspect a major emergency has occurred in the village."
"Combined with the village's need for Lady Tsunade, I suspect something may have happened to the Third Hokage... Regardless, Konoha needs Lady Tsunade. I hope she will return with me to the Land of Fire."
His explanation was concise and sincere. Shizune, herself originally from Konoha, listened to Tenzo's words and dropped her previous guarded attitude. She quickly walked over to Tsunade's side and quietly relayed the information.
Shizune spoke for quite a while, but when she finished, Tsunade offered only a single, short reply. Observing from a distance, Tenzo sighed inwardly. His mission was likely doomed to fail.
Helpless, Shizune returned to Tenzo's side. She shook her head and said, "Please return. Lady Tsunade has no interest in succeeding as Hokage."
Just as he expected. However, Tenzo decided to make one final attempt. "I can abandon the mission and return, as I am very concerned about the situation in the village. But... could you at least provide an emergency contact method? It doesn't need to reach Lady Tsunade directly, just being able to contact you would be sufficient."
This was Tenzo's 'bargaining chip.' He could see Tsunade didn't want to be bothered by Konoha ninja, so he offered to disappear quickly in exchange for a way to stay in touch.
Reaching Shizune was enough; contacting Tsunade directly was impossible anyway.
Shizune glanced at Tsunade in the distance, then back at Tenzo beside her. This time, she finally nodded. Given the potential emergency situation in Konoha that he described, she felt it necessary to maintain a communication channel, at least for the short term.
Meanwhile, Habara was still under Daigo's "watchful eye." Bored and just about to doze off again, the habitually silent Daigo suddenly spoke, "News has arrived."
"What? The Third Hokage has returned to the village?"
Daigo shook his head. "No. Lady Biwako Sarutobi has recalled the Third Hokage's summoning beast, Enma."
Habara: "..."
Habara fell silent. Daigo's specific phrasing made him realize something instantly.
Previously, Biwako Sarutobi had correctly refrained from summoning Enma rashly. Imagine if the Third was in the middle of wielding his staff in combat, only for his weapon to suddenly vanish... the image was too absurd.
Now, Biwako Sarutobi had summoned Enma. This indicated, at the very least, that the Third Hokage's battle had concluded.
The battles of a ninja's entire life... were over.
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