"What do you mean by 'only lived for less than two thousand years'?!" Tsunade exclaimed in disbelief.
"And what do you mean you can actually live for thousands of years?!"
Tsunade stared at Shihouin Naraku as if her entire worldview had shattered. As a woman who had witnessed the ravages of time and loss, how could she possibly remain indifferent to the tantalizing prospect of immortality?
At this moment, she wanted nothing more than to grab Naraku by the collar and demand that he explain exactly how he had achieved such an impossible feat.
"Sensei, please calm down!" Shihouin Naraku pleaded.
It took considerable time and effort for him to restore the extremely agitated Tsunade to a state of relative composure.
"Naraku," Tsunade began quietly, though her intense gaze never wavered from his face, "do you think I have any realistic chance of succeeding at this training?"
Naraku shook his head firmly, attempting to dispel Tsunade's dangerous line of thinking.
"Sensei, the Sage Mode training in the Wet Bone Forest isn't something that can be taken lightly," he warned seriously.
"The Slug Sage must have explained the situation to you previously. Even if she didn't provide complete details, she certainly wouldn't have omitted the extreme difficulties and dangers involved in the cultivation process."
"You understood this back then, which is precisely why you chose not to pursue Sage Mode training."
"So why now..."
Faced with her student's well-intentioned advice, Tsunade slumped back in her chair with obvious frustration, muttering under her breath, "I didn't fully comprehend the implications back then. If I had known that immortality was truly possible, would I really have refused to attempt the training?"
This was becoming quite troublesome.
Naraku sighed deeply and continued his efforts to dissuade her. "Sensei, I encountered countless life-threatening dangers throughout the Sage Mode training process. If not for the Slug Sage's direct protection during the final stages, you might never have seen me again."
"Even with the Slug Sage's assistance, you can see that my training required months of intensive effort. As the Hokage, can you realistically abandon the village for such an extended period?"
As the Fifth Hokage of Konoha Village, there was absolutely no way Tsunade could leave her post for several months.
A brief absence of one or two days might be manageable, but if she were away from Konoha for an extended period, there was a genuine possibility that wars could break out across the entire ninja world.
When the Third Kazekage had mysteriously disappeared years ago, it had directly ignited the fragile peace between rival nations and triggered a devastating conflict.
Tsunade's expression showed that this argument had struck home.
She leaned back in her chair with obvious annoyance and frustration.
"Fine, fine..." she conceded reluctantly.
"As Hokage, I suppose I do have that responsibility."
Tsunade appeared to abandon her pursuit of immortality and deliberately changed the subject. "Your timing couldn't be better. I happen to have an important assignment for you."
"The Fifth Mizukage of Kirigakure in the Land of Water has been officially selected. She's a female ninja named Terumi Mei who possesses two kekkei genkai and is reportedly quite powerful."
"The first major initiative this new Mizukage undertook upon assuming office was to lift the oppressive policies of the Bloody Mist Village, choosing instead to pursue a peaceful and diplomatically open approach while beginning to extend goodwill gestures toward the outside world."
"In order to transform Kirigakure's previously terrifying reputation, Terumi Mei has sent an official letter to Konoha, announcing her intention to personally lead a delegation to Konoha Village to sign both a peace treaty and comprehensive trade agreements."
"According to our agreed-upon schedule, Fifth Mizukage Terumi Mei will arrive at our border in two days. Before your return, I was genuinely concerned about who to assign this crucial escort mission to. Now that you're back, Naraku, I need you to ensure that this Fifth Mizukage reaches Konoha safely."
"This new Mizukage certainly possesses remarkable courage!" Naraku observed with genuine admiration.
He realized he had significantly underestimated Terumi Mei's boldness. Kirigakure had accumulated numerous enemies and bitter grudges with outside forces over the years. For Terumi Mei to voluntarily venture beyond the protective borders of the Land of Water represented an enormous calculated risk.
The situation was particularly dangerous because of Kirigakure's previous brutal policies, which had resulted in an exceptionally large number of ninja defections.
It could honestly be said that Kirigakure had produced more missing-nin than any other village in the entire ninja world.
Although some of these defectors had died over the years, many others remained active and harbored deep resentments.
These individuals had fled for various compelling reasons, and even though the Fourth Mizukage Yagura—who had been responsible for the worst policies—had died in battle, their negative opinions of Kirigakure remained unchanged.
Therefore, the assassination of a newly appointed Mizukage wasn't beyond the realm of possibility.
Tsunade nodded in agreement with Naraku's assessment. "Just considering her willingness to take such risks, Terumi Mei has already proven herself worthy of the title Fifth Mizukage."
"This diplomatic initiative targets not only Konoha but other major villages as well."
"While we cannot control what happens in other territories, within the Land of Fire and particularly in Konoha Village, she must remain completely safe from harm."
"However, despite the low probability, we still need to remain vigilant about whether she might have ulterior motives."
"All these considerations fall under your responsibility, Naraku."
"Understood!" Naraku replied with professional confidence.
"Actually, I encountered her during my previous mission to the Land of Water," Naraku mentioned with a slight smile. "When I eliminated Yagura, I recall that Terumi Mei was present in the area. She should have witnessed at least part of that battle."
Tsunade's expression twitched as she observed Naraku's nostalgic expression, and she immediately began regretting her decision to assign him this particular mission.
Having killed the previous Mizukage directly in front of the current Mizukage was... problematic, to say the least.
Sending Naraku to provide protection for Terumi Mei might actually be interpreted as a deliberate provocation by Kirigakure's leadership.
"Actually, Sensei," Shihouin Naraku continued, raising his eyes to meet Tsunade's gaze with a somewhat curious tone, "has Kakashi discovered anything significant? I didn't notice him when I returned to the village."
"Your perception abilities are as sharp as ever. Kakashi is indeed absent from the village," Tsunade confirmed, her expression becoming noticeably more serious. "He's currently on a mission. Kakashi did manage to uncover some important information from our previous intelligence files."
"Oh?" Naraku responded with genuine surprise.
He was somewhat taken aback by this development. The information he had provided to Tsunade and Kakashi had been based on actual plot knowledge. Even accounting for potential changes due to real-world variables, the general direction should have been accurate.
When he had suggested examining previous intelligence materials, that had been mostly a strategic suggestion to appear helpful. He had never expected that Kakashi would actually discover something significant.
"What kind of information did Kakashi uncover?"
Tsunade spoke each word with careful emphasis. "Someone reported seeing a mysterious masked figure wearing a black robe on the night of the Nine-Tails attack."
"When Kushina was giving birth to Naruto, the Third Hokage arranged for the delivery to take place in a highly secure facility outside the village to prevent any potential complications. The ninja assigned to protection duty were all elite-level operatives, including Fourth Hokage Namikaze Minato himself."
"According to subsequent investigation results, all the ninja responsible for security were eliminated by ambush without any opportunity to defend themselves."
"Even though some ninja were positioned within protective barriers, they were unable to escape the mysterious attacker."
"Considering Namikaze Minato's extraordinary abilities, the fact that the Nine-Tails still managed to cause such widespread destruction suggests that this opponent was truly formidable and elusive."
"While it still doesn't fully explain how someone could possess such strength if it really was Uchiha Obito at that time, the existence of space-time ninjutsu seems to provide some answers."
"Additionally, there were indeed ninja and civilians who witnessed the battle between Fourth Hokage Namikaze Minato and the mysterious masked individual. Unfortunately, the combat between both parties was so rapid that no one could observe detailed information."
"Since this person could match the speed of Namikaze Minato, who was renowned as the Yellow Flash, we can reasonably assume he also possessed space-time ninjutsu capabilities. This makes Uchiha Obito increasingly suspicious."
"Unfortunately, many witnesses reported seeing Sharingan patterns reflected in the Nine-Tails' pupils, which caused everyone to focus their suspicions on the Uchiha clan and overlook many other crucial clues."
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