"It's nothing major. I've simply decided to move my residence here, along with my son and grandson… Since I've come, I thought it best to inform Tsunade," Biwako Sarutobi explained simply, stating her reason for being here.
Habara immediately understood. "Did something happen back in Konoha? Or is there some inconvenience?"
Under normal circumstances, an elderly woman, especially the widow of a previous Hokage, wouldn't simply pack up and move house so easily. With the political legacy left by the Third Hokage, and Biwako being a long-retired ninja, she held a rather transcendent status—she might lack actual power, but she could still wield considerable influence on certain matters.
But the problem stemmed precisely from that political legacy. With the Third Hokage deceased, along with the two advisors and Danzo, Biwako Sarutobi's position suddenly became much more prominent.
Because the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade, had become the ruler of the entire Land of Fire, most Konoha ninja were currently in a state of excitement, feeling a sense of shared glory. They saw broader prospects for the future and were full of motivation. However, no single event satisfies everyone. Some conservative elements, lurking in the shadows, were dissatisfied with the changes the Third Hokage had brought to Konoha; they would be even less pleased with the changes Tsunade was enacting.
They felt that the Hokage and Konoha blindly expanding their influence, meddling in and attempting to lead the entire nation's government, was a path to self-destruction. The reactions from neighboring countries and the voices of opposition from across the shinobi world served as proof and ominous portents…
Yet, they failed to consider another perspective: if ill-intentioned neighbors instantly reacted negatively to your actions, might that, in a way, indicate you were doing something right? If it were truly a path to ruin, shouldn't the neighbors be overjoyed?
Regardless, this conservative viewpoint was a minority opinion. Being in the minority, these individuals inevitably needed to band together for warmth. But around whom could they rally?
An old lady suddenly started looking very shiny and appealing as a figurehead.
If Biwako Sarutobi were to step forward at this juncture and question Tsunade's actions, it would be tantamount to the deceased Third Hokage questioning Tsunade, thus destabilizing the very foundation of Tsunade's legitimacy as Hokage.
However, Biwako Sarutobi was no fool. What was the relationship between her Sarutobi clan and Tsunade, or the Senju? And what was her relationship with these stubborn conservatives? Why should she oppose the current Hokage? Being used as someone else's pawn is never a good choice.
Political legacy, residual influence—these were ephemeral things. The reality was that "Hokage Sarutobi" was now history. Those who belong to the past must have the self-awareness to act like it. After the successive deaths of her eldest son and husband, Biwako Sarutobi had already planned to completely withdraw from Konoha's political scene.
Moreover, she understood one thing very clearly: as long as she maintained a low profile and willingly faded from everyone's view, the ninja of Konoha would continue to remember the Third Hokage fondly, occasionally reminiscing about his contributions, gradually elevating his status. These intangible assets would then benefit future generations.
If Biwako insisted on stepping forward and dictating terms, then sorry, even the deceased Third Hokage wouldn't retain a good reputation.
Tsunade was the Third Hokage's direct disciple, practically half a daughter, and the inheritor of his work. Why would Biwako make things difficult for Tsunade? Just because she could pull rank due to her age?
The moment the old lady sensed people in Konoha intended to use her as their banner, she chose to run immediately. Do whatever you want, but leave me out of it. I surrender.
Therefore, in response to Habara's question, Biwako Sarutobi simply smiled and said, "It's nothing major. If I stayed in Konoha, things might get complicated. But if I come here, it ceases to be an issue… Some people enjoy stirring up trouble; let them. In the end, it will amount to nothing harmful."
Some things require a figurehead to gain traction. Without a banner and rallying point, how could any movement achieve scale or influence?
Hearing her explanation, Habara immediately grasped the situation back in Konoha. He couldn't help but shake his head, then returned her smile and gave her a thumbs-up. "Wise move, Elder."
Biwako Sarutobi's smile widened. Clearly, neither of them gave much thought to those minority voices. Simply put, you could conduct ten "purges" in Konoha and still not eliminate all the minor troublemakers.
"You attend to your business; I'm just going to see Tsunade," she said.
Habara offered to accompany her, but she declined. It wasn't a major affair; why would she need an escort just to see Tsunade? So, Habara stopped, merely watching her ascend the stairs.
Habara was a frontline ninja, while Biwako Sarutobi had always been part of a ninja's family back home. Consequently, they had little or no contact historically. But due to certain minor incidents, their relationship was actually quite good, marked by the warmth and care often shown by elders towards the younger generation.
Just as Biwako Sarutobi had said, she met directly with Tsunade and explained the situation.
Tsunade gestured for Biwako to sit, then couldn't resist pinching the bridge of her nose. "Those people really can't sit still! I'm swamped here, not a moment's rest. Where do I find the energy to care about their opinions? As long as they don't cause any major trouble, fine."
This complaint elicited a similarly helpless expression from Biwako. "What major trouble could there be? Someone will keep an eye on them. Just two or three big cats and kittens. Letting them surface might not even be a bad thing."
Tsunade shook her head. She was simply irked by the thought of people making trouble while she was busy working. Without Biwako Sarutobi as a potential figurehead, the issue wasn't significant. Counting up the current conservative forces within Konoha, one would find them a group incapable of achieving much success, nor causing much failure.
"It's good that you've moved here, Lady Biwako," Tsunade said. "Firstly, you won't be bothered by those people. Secondly, the atmosphere here is much lighter than Konoha, less oppressive. Thirdly, if there's anything I don't understand, I can promptly seek your guidance."
Well, one could say that among Tsunade's three points, one was purely polite formality. But Biwako's move to this Shadow Leaf City (upgraded from Shadow Leaf Stronghold -> Shadow Leaf Village -> Shadow Leaf City) clearly signaled her support for Tsunade. She likely wouldn't be harassed anymore.
After dealing with that matter in a few words, Biwako Sarutobi began inquiring about the situation here.
"Tsunade, how many ninja are here now?"
"To accelerate the construction of the new city, there are about 1000 ninja here currently," Tsunade replied. "Because this will be the seat of the nation's government, to ensure a balance of power, the number of Konoha ninja deployed here in the future will be between 2500 and 3000."
Biwako did a quick mental calculation. Purely by numbers, this would represent between 1/6th and 1/5th of Konoha's total ninja force. But that was just numbers.
In terms of actual power comparison, the reality was different. Konoha's total ninja count might seem large, but that included the old, young, sick, disabled, and pregnant. The forces a Hokage keeps readily available at hand, while not necessarily all elite, are at least fully combat-capable ninja.
Calculated that way, it might be closer to a 50/50 split, or even favor the forces directly under the Hokage's command… Then Biwako caught herself. Why was she even calculating this? Would Konoha disobey the Hokage's orders? Would the two sides actually fight?
Words alone seemed insufficient. Tsunade pulled out a city planning blueprint. "The planned scale for the new city is about three hundred thousand people. The population will come partly from relocations from the Fire Capital, partly from Konoha, and the rest through natural migration and growth… On a voluntary basis, I plan to relocate 50,000 civilians from Konoha here."
Another one-fifth or one-sixth, Biwako thought silently.
The new city had a fan-shaped layout. Tsunade pointed to the innermost section. "This is the core area, including the Hokage's office building, the central government of the Land of Fire, and other central institutions. The next ring out contains the residences for the permanently stationed Konoha ninja; most who come here will live in this zone. The ring beyond that is for relocated Konoha civilians; the Land of Fire's high officials and the city government will also be located here. The outermost layer is for other relocated ordinary residents, along with the city walls…"
The design philosophy, evident from the map, centered on ensuring the Hokage's safety, with clear distinctions based on proximity and loyalty radiating outwards.
Konoha ninja would undoubtedly adapt well to such a design. Biwako nodded. "Very good. Who designed this?"
"A ninja named Tenzo," Tsunade replied.
Biwako's eyes lit up in recognition. "Oh, I've heard that name. Supposedly a ninja highly skilled in civil engineering tasks."
Oh dear. Good thing Tenzo didn't hear that. One could imagine the resulting conversation would be utterly absurd:
"Tenzo, you received specific praise from the Hokage today!" "Really? What for?" "She praised your excellent civil engineering work!" "..."
While the two were discussing the city blueprints, Shizune hurried in. She bowed first to Biwako Sarutobi, then spoke quickly to Tsunade, "Lady Tsunade, it's time for the meeting."
The work of being State Lord and Hokage was just that demanding. Tsunade had no choice but to leave Shizune to entertain Biwako while she rushed out of the office.
Biwako clearly noticed the troubled look on Tsunade's face as she left. "Is the Hokage facing some difficulty?" she asked Shizune.
Shizune glanced around, then whispered to Biwako, "The Land of Fire's Secretariat and Konoha's Hokage Advisory Council are discussing how to formulate Konoha's military budget for the next year… This is already the third meeting. The first two ended without consensus."
Hearing this, even Biwako couldn't help but chuckle knowingly.
Was Tsunade in a difficult position? Absolutely.
As both State Lord and Hokage, Tsunade theoretically should handle the budget impartially, treating both sides equally. But theory is theory, and reality is reality. Tsunade originated from Konoha; her Hokage identity came first. Therefore, she needed to secure benefits for Konoha, showing tangible advantages to the ninja who supported her. The budget allocated to Konoha next year had to be higher than in previous years—that was basic social politics. Otherwise, what was the point of becoming State Lord?
But Tsunade also couldn't let the government officials doubt her fairness. She was already under scrutiny; overtly favoring Konoha would only make people feel she was unsuitable as State Lord. Funneling state money to the military leadership—wasn't that betraying the nation for one's own faction? Even though Tsunade was that military leader, she was now also the head of state. She had to draw a firm line separating her current role from her past self.
So, yes, Tsunade wasn't just getting a headache; she was dizzy, her head felt like it was about to explode.
However, to her credit, her approach clearly aimed at mediating conflict and resolving the issue fairly. That much deserved recognition, even praise. Otherwise, she could have simply acted dictatorially; no one could stop her.
This meeting ran long, but it too concluded without a resolution satisfactory to both parties.
When Tsunade returned to her office, Biwako Sarutobi had already left. Thinking about the arguments during the meeting, and remembering the troublemakers back in Konoha, Tsunade felt her anger rising. The angrier she got, the more she felt compelled to push back.
She slammed her hand on the desk and declared to Shizune, "Shizune! The number of ninja here is already substantial, and some have relocated with their entire families! We cannot neglect education, even amidst poverty! The Ninja Academy is the foundation of the village, the future of the village! Therefore, I've decided to establish a temporary preschool here to educate the children of our ninja, and also to help supervise the children for their busy parents!"
Shizune: "...Understood."
The Hokage's reasoning was perfectly sound; therefore, the Hokage's decision could not be stopped.
Later that evening, in an office on the third floor of the building—officially designated the "Chakra Infinite Library - Technology Development Department"—intensive development work on the "Jutsu Encapsulation Technology" was underway.
One of the lead developers was none other than Kushina Uzumaki.
"Lady Kushina, why didn't you attend the afternoon meeting?" Habara asked Kushina, who was currently buried under a mountain of blueprints.
Kushina Uzumaki was now an advisor on the Hokage Advisory Council—in some respects, perhaps even the 'Chief Advisor.' In such a capacity, she clearly should have attended the earlier Konoha budget meeting.
Kushina shook her head. "I've already argued through two sessions. My throat isn't feeling great. Decided to skip the shouting match this time."
Habara: "..."
Logical, reasonable, convincing.
Speaking of which, observing Konoha's current upper echelon revealed a distinct prevalence of female power: Biwako Sarutobi from the old guard, the current village leader Tsunade, and below her, Kushina Uzumaki… Male figures seemed scarce.
"Habara, can the work you assigned really be completed?"
Besides Habara and Kushina, another person present was Hatake Kakashi. After all the twists and turns, hadn't Kakashi ended up at this "stronghold" too?
"Of course, it can be completed. In fact, my part of the development is already finished," Habara stated.
Given Kakashi's ability to use the Flying Raijin Jutsu and his Mangekyo Sharingan's strong spatial perception capabilities, Habara had tasked him with developing a quantifiable, directional, fixed-range space-time transfer technique—essentially, the ability to suddenly teleport something ninja-sized behind an enemy. In other words, the legendary "Flash."
Honestly, encapsulating the Flying Raijin even once was no simple task. The job was making Kakashi's scalp tingle; he hadn't found a breakthrough yet. Therefore, upon hearing Habara claim he had completed a development task, Kakashi's first instinct was skepticism.
"Really? I don't believe you… You're not pulling my leg, are you?"
Habara held up a small, unremarkable metal plate, about 4cm by 4cm. "Of course, it's real. Using highly adhesive metal powder as a base, I've encapsulated my secret combination ninjutsu, 'Divine Maiden.' When used in battle, the effect is quite astonishing. However, to avoid injuring the user, its scale and power have been somewhat limited… It induces incredibly intense pain, thereby eroding the enemy's spirit to the point where they cannot properly focus their chakra."
It took Kakashi a moment to realize which "Divine Maiden" Habara was referring to… Secret Ninja Art: Divine Maiden's Sacred Path - Kingdom-Toppling Twilight Mist. Kakashi instantly flushed with embarrassment as certain memories involuntarily surfaced. Right now, all he wanted was to dig a hole and bury himself.
Seeing Kakashi's discomfort, Habara explained further, "Everything needs a reference point. Once you find the right path, things become simpler. Kakashi-senpai, throughout the entire shinobi world, what is the most widely used, effective, convenient, and practical encapsulation technology?"
"What is it?" Kakashi couldn't be bothered to think, directly asking back.
"Exploding tags, of course."
That answer… made Kushina Uzumaki fall into contemplative silence.
The small metal plate tumbled between Habara's fingers as he began boasting about his creation. "Small and exquisite, astonishing effect! You just need to place it on the D— I mean, slip it into a tactical glove, bracer, or wrist guard. When used, it can be completely unexpected."
Kakashi remained skeptical.
"Kakashi-senpai, care to test the effect?" Habara's words sounded distinctly like a setup.
Since arriving here, Kakashi had been wanting a chance to talk with Habara, but both had been too busy. He was thinking that after work today, he absolutely had to corner Habara and ask him some questions—regarding the Fire Daimyo's 'accidental' death, Kakashi had a nagging feeling he himself had made some grave error.
Therefore, focused only on getting off work, he didn't hesitate. "Fine, let's test it."
Giving Kakashi no chance to reconsider, Habara slapped the metal plate onto Kakashi's arm and immediately activated it.
Like a mold releasing a vast cloud of spores, a mist-like powder enveloped Kakashi's arm. The next instant, the mist transformed into scattering sparks. These sparks burned into Kakashi's arm, causing withered spots to appear directly on his skin.
In the following moment, Kakashi felt a heart-wrenching agony, as if his very bone marrow were on fire. The spots on his arm flickered like dying embers, and the pain crashed over him in relentless waves, like giant breakers pounding the shore.
Cold sweat instantly beaded across Kakashi's entire body. He nearly collapsed, barely managing to steady himself by grabbing the edge of a table. His eyes were bloodshot, jaw clenched tight.
"See… seems… in this state… it's… definitely impossible… to focus chakra… for counterattack… the pain's effect… is too extreme… ordinary people… could hardly bear it…"
Look at Kakashi—either unable to open his mouth or speaking so rapidly he couldn't even insert punctuation. He was afraid his tongue would tremble, afraid the pain would force him to groan aloud.
Habara nodded beside him. See? Dosage is just right.
"This… This must be the 'Punishment Jutsu'…" In just that short time, Kakashi's clothes were soaked with sweat, his trademark silver hair plastered to his forehead.
Clearly, Kakashi, having already begun reading Jiraiya's works, now fully understood the meaning of the word "Punishment."
But Habara corrected him, "How can this be 'Punishment'? This is clearly 'Ignition.' Can't you feel the grievous wound effect?"
Kakashi: "..."
Someone still cared about the 'child,' though. Seeing Kakashi's state, Kushina Uzumaki, who had been evaluating the encapsulated jutsu's effect, felt compelled to ask, "Habara, when will the effect of this thing end?"
Habara blinked, then replied, "I don't know. But… theoretically, for a fire to extinguish naturally, the fuel just needs to burn out."
Kakashi felt tears welling up. No wonder I'm in such agony, he thought despairingly. Turns out I'm being cremated alive!
Ahem, thinking that way was a bit extreme. Habara wouldn't actually let Kakashi die, right?
In any case, the problem was, of course, successfully resolved in the end. Kakashi wasn't going to die.
That evening, Tsunade, having been back from Konoha for some time, finally remembered her primary profession. Hokage, State Lord—those were just surface titles. At her core, she was a doctor.
One could only say that while Kakashi was in a terrible state, he was incredibly fortunate not to be bleeding. Otherwise, Tsunade, still struggling with her hemophobia, wouldn't have been able to save him.
Habara was pleased with the results of his "encapsulated jutsu." If he had any dissatisfaction, it was only that this item currently had to be handcrafted by him personally and couldn't be mass-produced.
The once lively Kakashi was admitted to the temporary hospital here, destined to endure a period of listlessness lasting anywhere from three days to a week. He learned a valuable lesson: quantitative change leads to qualitative change. Severe enough physical stimulus could indeed evolve into mental stimulus.
He also formulated a new life motto: If he ever participated in Habara's experiments again, voluntarily acting as a test subject, then he was a dog.
But guess what? If you were to ask who outwardly expressed sorrow over Kakashi's plight while inwardly gloating, that unkind person's name was Tenzo.
Tenzo even halted construction work on the new city walls specifically to visit Kakashi in the hospital.
Hmph, Tenzo thought smugly. Now you know what being Habara's test subject means, right? He really is a mini-Orochimaru. Did you think I was joking?