The original survivors of the ancient kingdom of Rouran had been relocated by Habara to a place south of the Land of Fire, where they adopted a nomadic lifestyle, living simply and naturally, following the grass.
Habara had stolen Rouran's "Dragon Vein". As compensation, he provided these survivors with a safe living environment – an exchange that could definitely be considered equivalent.
Objectively speaking, compared to their former homeland plagued by sandstorms, lacking water, vegetation, and food, their new environment in the Land of Fire was practically a dream come true.
The only minor drawback was that titles like 'village chief' or 'clan head' lacked the grandeur of 'Queen.' But this wasn't a major issue; after all, with only a few hundred Rouran survivors, a 'Queen' ruling such a populace? Eh, whatever made her happy.
However, benefiting from the special resilience cultivated while growing up in harsh conditions, these Rouran survivors hadn't lost their vigilance even in their comfortable new lives. To ensure the safety of their settlements, their nomadic range was often quite large. Consequently, it wasn't long before they spotted two enormous trees standing tall beneath that nameless mountain peak.
These were truly colossal trees, the kind that undoubtedly required decades, if not centuries, to reach such a scale. Yet, how could they have appeared suddenly within just a few days? They weren't there the last time the nomads passed through, but here they were now. Did trees grow as fast as weeds? Were those distant giants not trees, but colossal weeds?
Coincidentally, Habara had previously asked them to keep an eye on the situation around the nameless mountain. Therefore, those who saw the two suddenly sprouted giant trees quickly reported the matter to their leader, Sara.
Over at the "Shadow Leaf Stronghold," Habara was, of course, unaware that their creations were causing panic among the local residents. At that moment, he was standing on the rooftop of the housing block Tenzo had just recently completed, "calling" Hatake Kakashi back in Konoha.
"...Anyway, Konoha definitely has files on this, and the security level is likely not particularly high. Make a copy for me," Habara concluded after a lengthy explanation, issuing a specific demand to Kakashi.
Kakashi felt somewhat helpless. Although Konoha's lines of authority were currently blurred, Habara's blatant overreach still made him uncomfortable. He decided to stall first.
"Habara, why do you assume Konoha would have files on this? Theoretically, the national central government is the higher authority, above Konoha Village itself."
"Cut the crap. You said 'theoretically' yourself," Habara retorted. "Let me ask you, how does Konoha secure its annual budget? Surely not just through smooth-talking, right? What about requests for extra funding? I refuse to believe the village doesn't dig up some leverage… The Hokage wields absolute military power. Some things are highly beneficial at little cost – why wouldn't they do it?"
Kakashi desperately wanted to argue that proper ninja follow the rules, that the village and the nation were distinct entities that wouldn't interfere with each other. But ultimately, he couldn't voice those words… Such platitudes might fool outsiders, but not fellow shinobi.
Within Konoha, there indeed existed intelligence reports on the Land of Fire Daimyo's family line, updated in real-time. Theoretically, such actions were improper, falling outside the Hokage's official duties. The Hokage served under the Daimyo; how could a subordinate sneakily investigate their superior? What were they planning?
However, the problem was precisely that it was easy to do. As Habara said, beneficial at little cost – why not do it?
Kakashi dropped the pretense. "What do you need these files for?" he asked directly.
"I'm going to study the Land of Fire's political situation, see if there are any loopholes to exploit."
Habara's answer was ambiguous. Kakashi immediately interpreted it through his own lens, assuming Habara likely wanted to squeeze some funds out of the Daimyo to finance the new stronghold… Still a bit shady, but not a major problem.
"Wait a moment, I'll help you look," Kakashi finally agreed, deciding to do Habara this small favor.
One could only say that Kakashi still couldn't fully grasp Habara. Did Habara only engage in petty theft? Which of his recent actions hadn't been major? What Kakashi didn't realize was that his casual agreement to help wasn't just providing assistance – it was making him an accomplice.
About an hour later, utilizing Daigo's transmission, Habara received the files he wanted.
They contained information on the Land of Fire Daimyo's family – predecessors and descendants, like a family tree; lineages and relationships, resembling a household register. After casually flipping through the documents, Habara instantly felt Konoha's leadership harbored ill intentions, as the intel was organized according to the Daimyo and the order of succession.
Each individual entry was followed by several pages of incredibly detailed investigation records. Given the typical level of corruption among ruling classes, these reports read like extensive rap sheets.
"Not a single good person among them…"
Just as Habara suspected, these feudal lords and their families, almost without exception, were hardly saints. Ninety-nine percent could be directly buried in a pit. As for the remaining few who might possess decent character – environment shapes everything. Does simply not conforming automatically signify lofty ideals and noble humanity?
It couldn't be helped. Some people were born into hereditary privilege, born in Rome, while others were born beasts of burden.
After reading through the files, Habara casually set them aside.
Kakashi thought Habara wanted to scam some funds; he was about half right. By now, Habara had already decided: with Konoha in turmoil, it was the perfect time to fish in troubled waters.
"Mm, let's scam a little then."
Habara descended from the rooftop and quickly found Tenzo.
"Tenzo, I have a mission for you."
Tenzo seemed to have been conditioned by now. He instinctively replied, "Go ahead. What kind of wonder do you want built this time?"
Habara gave the younger ninja a surprised look. "Tenzo, you're a ninja, not a civil engineer. What are you thinking?"
Tenzo: "..."
I know I'm a ninja, but don't you know why I feel like a civil engineer?!
"An official mission? What is it?"
"Simple. Go out and raise some funds for me. Not much, just need to achieve a small goal… You'll probably need to gather about 100 million Ryo."
"...What did you say? I don't think I heard you clearly."
For some reason, Tenzo suddenly felt that civil engineering suited him better after all.
Habara sensed Tenzo's reluctance and explained, "It's really not difficult. Take a ninja squad, find a few Money Exchange Houses. You only need to take down two or three, and the money should be enough."
"It seems… actually doable, if consequences don't matter."
"What consequences? It's just some shady business."
The Money Exchange Houses hidden throughout the various countries either operated under the secret control of the Five Great Shinobi Villages or survived in the cracks under their pressure. They existed because wandering ninja and missing-nin needed such places. Therefore, Habara reasoned, raiding them carried no real consequences.
Habara even suspected the major villages let them operate specifically to serve as piggy banks. Once these exchanges accumulated enough funds, a major village would make a move, forcing them to relocate and start saving up again.
Such convenient mobile piggy banks – Habara certainly intended to use them if the opportunity arose. "I understand. I'll prepare for the operation immediately."
Tenzo nodded. Realizing the nature of the mission he was about to undertake, the man who just moments ago felt better suited for construction decisively abandoned his building duties, ready to go out and make some waves… With Tenzo's current strength, leading a ninja squad, he could practically strut sideways through the Land of Fire. Dealing with a few Money Exchange Houses would definitely be no problem.
At this point, however, he still believed he was merely raising construction funds for the new stronghold. Robbing black money to fund their cause felt like doing a good deed – a rather effective form of laundering, in a way.
Early the next morning, not long after Tenzo's squad departed on their "righteous execution," Habara received a report that people were approaching the stronghold. After getting a relatively detailed description of the outsiders' appearance, Habara signaled the perimeter guards not to interfere and let them enter directly.
Needless to say, the visitors were Sara, accompanied by two other Rouran survivors.
They encountered no obstacles. As Sara drew closer, the first thing she saw were the two extraordinarily large trees, their bases easily ten meters in diameter. The structures built around the trees further confirmed Sara's suspicion that they were likely artificial constructs, having sprung up only in the last couple of days.
Both trees soared over a hundred meters high. Around the base of one tree, ring-shaped buildings stacked upon each other, six stories tall, reaching the same height as the housing block further back.
The other tree had a square complex built around its base. The two trees, or rather, the two building complexes, were connected by well-hidden corridors. The architectural design clearly embraced a philosophy of harmony between humans and nature… The only pity was that the inhabitants weren't elegant elves, but ninja reeking of blood.
Sara instinctively became highly alert, until she saw Habara emerging from one of the buildings to greet them.
Lately, Habara seemed to be endlessly hatching schemes and plots. Yet, it was hard to tell if some plans succeeded or failed, as both outcomes were acceptable. For instance…
A busty, blonde woman with twin tails, accompanied by a young woman with short black hair, and a limping, greasy-looking, white-haired middle-aged man whose face appeared somewhat swollen, arrived at Konoha's main gate.
After receiving certain news, Tsunade ultimately had no choice but to return to Konoha. The contradiction lay in her intense psychological aversion to returning, contrasted with her actions – she had rushed back to Konoha as if propelled by a rocket.
Alright, Habara's scheme, though rotten, was technically an overt plot rather than a covert conspiracy. Whether Tsunade returned or not, the result was acceptable.
But Tsunade did return to Konoha. She did so to prevent her name from being misused and to avoid bearing responsibility or blame that wasn't hers… For example, if Konoha were to implement some high-pressure regime in the future, becoming a "Blood Leaf Village" or something similar, the blame would surely fall on her, not others, because she was nominally the Fifth Hokage.
Moreover, because they were leveraging someone else's reputation, Tsunade suspected certain individuals might act with even greater impunity. After all, they were spending someone else's credibility, tarnishing someone else's name – why hold back?
Having grown up around the First and Second Hokage, Tsunade was familiar with such matters. She understood how ugly people could become in pursuit of power and status. Therefore, she never hesitated to assume the worst motives when analyzing political figures… It was precisely for these reasons she felt compelled to return to Konoha.
After all, she merely held many negative impressions and opinions of Konoha; the deaths of her lover and younger brother were eternal wounds in her heart. This led her to adopt an attitude of numb indifference. But it didn't mean she truly cared nothing for Konoha anymore… To put it crudely, regarding the issue of becoming Hokage, she was actually a bit tsundere.
Now, someone's actions had effectively told her: tsundere has fallen out of the meta; it's time to get real.
Tsunade, along with Kato Shizune and Jiraiya, walked through Konoha's main gate and registered their names at the entrance checkpoint.
Instantly, the entire village erupted.
Tsunade had barely taken a few steps into the village when the streets spontaneously filled with welcoming crowds. Both ninja and civilians alike showed nothing but warmth and enthusiasm upon seeing her. Some were even moved to tears.
This wasn't mere sentimentality. Many insecure individuals had felt adrift and unsupported since the Third Hokage's passing. Now, actually seeing Tsunade in person, they could finally feel relieved.
To describe their emotions, it was probably akin to…
"The County Magistrate has arrived, Goose Town is safe! The Magistrate is here, there will be justice!"
What infuriated Tsunade even more inwardly was that almost everyone around was addressing her as "Fifth Hokage." This pushed her emotions back to the brink of explosion.
Trailing behind her, Jiraiya and Shizune felt their eyelids twitching in fear, terrified Tsunade would suddenly lose her temper right then and there.
However, their worry was unnecessary. When facing the public, Tsunade knew how to project dignity and grace, and no one did it better than her.
Seriously, some people just had a presence that made others feel inadequate merely by standing there. Take Tsunade: good lineage, powerful, prestigious – all that was one thing, but she was also stunningly beautiful.
Beautiful was one thing, but her figure was also explosive… One just couldn't dwell on her age; thinking about that slightly marred her perfection.
In any case, in this situation, likely no one would entertain disrespectful thoughts like "a middle-aged beauty acting coquettishly."
Once they passed through the welcoming crowd, entered the Hokage Office Building, and stepped into a conference room, closing the door behind them, Tsunade's expression instantly changed.
Her face frosted over, she started slamming her fist on the table. "Speak! Why was the decision for me to become the next Hokage made without my permission? Whose idea was this?!"
The smiles on the faces of the Konoha mid-to-high-level leaders present immediately froze. Some had no idea what was happening; only a very small circle knew about Habara's idea… Even Jiraiya was unaware, let alone others.
Thus, intimidated by Tsunade's 'princess temper,' everyone fell silent like cicadas in winter.
No matter how soundproof the conference room was, it couldn't contain Tsunade's outburst. The crowd still lingering on the street below heard some commotion.
Some people paused, then immediately said with a smile, "The village leadership is so enthusiastic! They're all clapping hard to welcome Lady Tsunade."
"Yeah, yeah! How else can you show your feelings without putting effort into it?"
"Right, right! Their hands must be swollen from clapping so hard, right?"
"Swollen? Looks like they broke their bones!"
"Yes, yes! Broken is better, broken is better!"
"..."
And so it goes. Onlookers will always be onlookers, behaving just like that.