A sudden, heavy crash from afar—as if something massive had slammed into the ground—made Sarutobi Hiruzen's heart jolt.
Inside the Hokage Building, Hiruzen's expression changed. He wiped the fatigue from his face, stood up without hesitation, and strode to the window to peer into the distance.
In his line of sight, a gigantic split-body stood within the village. Its hulking bulk contrasted sharply with the nearby buildings—enough for Hiruzen to recognize at once that it was Tsunade's summoned beast.
He frowned and muttered, "What is Tsunade doing? Why summon a Sage creature in the middle of the village? Doesn't she know that'll cause panic?"
Then he remembered how close Tsunade had grown to Uchiha Chizumi lately, and it clicked—when Chizumi acted inside the village, he never cared about optics or whether civilians would be frightened.
Looks like Tsunade has completely fallen—becoming the same kind of person as Uchiha Chizumi.
With that thought, Hiruzen immediately called in two Anbu—among the few who were still relatively loyal to him. He had personally promoted some of them; even if their loyalty wasn't what it once was, they were far better than those leaning toward Chizumi. At least Hiruzen felt he could trust these two.
"You two, come with me—we're going to see what's going on!"
He gave the order, then vaulted straight out the window, leaping from the sill. The two Anbu said nothing and followed.
…
At the same time.
Konoha Police Force.
"That's… Tsunade-sama's summon!" a police ninja blurted as he spotted the distant sage clone. Just then, a thumb-sized slug clone crawled out of his tool pouch and spoke: "The main body instructs us to support Tsunade-sama at once. The toads of Mount Myōboku are attempting to take Konoha's jinchūriki."
The police ninja's face changed. Konoha's jinchūriki was Uzumaki Naruto—one of the village's trump cards. He was also a follower of Chizumi-sama's Absolute Justice, and a student at the academy. Tsunade-sama, meanwhile, worked with Chizumi-sama—one could even call them friends. It was obvious Chizumi-sama intended to push her into the Hokage's seat; barring surprises, she would be the next Hokage.
She might not bear the Uchiha name, but she now stood in the same camp. Her becoming Hokage would surely be better for the Uchiha than Hiruzen remaining in office—no discrimination, no isolation.
Publicly or privately, for the village or for justice, the Police Force could not sit this out.
"Notify all available Police Force personnel!" an Uchiha jōnin barked. "Arm up and move to support Tsunade-sama—now!"
In short order, large numbers of police ninja mustered and sprinted toward the location of Tsunade's summon.
"…Sage, haven't you always stayed out of shinobi-world affairs? Why step in now? And as a sage who's lived for over a thousand years, why side with a mere Uchiha junior?" Fukasaku's brow beaded with cold sweat. He already knew they likely wouldn't be able to take the prophesied child today, but he still wanted answers.
The largest of the slug clones replied slowly: "I don't know what the main body is thinking. I only know I cannot let you take Uzumaki Naruto. The trajectory of this child's fate changed when he met Uchiha Chizumi; he is no longer the 'savior' spoken of in the Great Toad Sage's prophecy.
"My only advice to Mount Myōboku: don't be so fixated on Naruto. The shinobi world does not revolve around the Great Toad Sage."
The clone paused, then added, "I'm not good at this sort of debate. Bottom line: as long as I'm in Konoha, Mount Myōboku doesn't get to lay a finger on Naruto. If you really want to try, bring out the Great Toad Sage himself. You two juniors from Myōboku aren't qualified."
Fukasaku: "—"
Shima: "…—"
Everyone knew the Slug Sage was the kindest, gentlest, most helpful of the sages of the Three Great Sacred Grounds. For such words to come from it—that was probably the harshest tone it had ever used. If Mount Myōboku kept "pestering" them, this sage might actually make the first move.
"Jiraiya-boy, today isn't the time," Fukasaku whispered in Jiraiya's ear. "The Child of Prophecy is important, but you can't ruin your friendship with Tsunade over this."
He put it tactfully—without admitting he'd backed down.
"—Phew. Alright." Fukasaku's words let Jiraiya finally set down the boulder in his heart. In a moment when he was wavering, the opinions of the two Myōboku sages carried extra weight.
Just then, Hiruzen arrived with the two Anbu and immediately stepped between Tsunade and Jiraiya.
His old face darkened. "Tsunade! Jiraiya! What are you doing? This is the village! You're the Legendary Sannin—are you seriously going to fight each other here? How do you expect the shinobi to see you if you brawl in the streets?"
His two students had nearly come to blows—Hiruzen hadn't expected that. He'd thought it was an infiltrator from another village and Tsunade was engaging them—just making too big a scene. Who'd have guessed that Jiraiya, whom he'd just met with, was here too—and in an adversarial stance with Tsunade.
"Old man, you'd better keep Jiraiya on a leash," Tsunade said. Seeing Hiruzen arrive, some of the chill left her face, but not her tone. "If I'd been one second later, your precious jinchūriki would already be gone with him."
Hiruzen froze and looked at Jiraiya.
Jiraiya scratched his head awkwardly. He knew that even if he kept quiet, Tsunade would air it all out, so he might as well speak first. "Old man, I've told you about the Child of Prophecy. I need to personally teach him how to reshape the shinobi world."
Hiruzen almost saw black with anger. Over this, two of the Sannin had nearly fought? He took a deep breath to steady himself and glared at Jiraiya. "Don't bring those ideas from outside the village and try to impose them on Konoha!"
Jiraiya: "…"
He'd expected it, but it still surprised him that the old man scolded only him and not Tsunade. That meant, in the old man's eyes, he was in the wrong. The old man still didn't believe in any "Child of Prophecy" or "savior of the shinobi world." Fair enough—if he believed in such things, he'd have already bought into Chizumi's Absolute Justice. As it stood, Hiruzen and Tsunade were on opposing sides, yet because of Jiraiya's actions, he ended up taking the same position as Tsunade.
Jiraiya sighed inwardly, rubbed his head with an awkward smile, and said nothing.
The two Myōboku sages chose to hold their tongues; slug clones watched from every direction. The sage had already said plenty—if they kept talking now, it would be a slap in its face.
Just then, waves of Police Force ninja hurried over and lined up on Tsunade's side, even shouting in unison right in front of Hiruzen: "Tsunade-sama!"
Their chorus darkened Hiruzen's already dark expression even further. Looks like Tsunade had already earned the trust and endorsement of many Uchiha in the Police Force.
I did so much for the Uchiha back then, yet aside from Itachi, Fugaku, and Shisui, none of them acknowledged it. And what has Tsunade done? Just espouse Absolute Justice, and suddenly so many Uchiha trust her?
Hiruzen couldn't help feeling a twinge of jealousy. He looked at Tsunade and rasped, "Seems a lot of people in the village support you. Even the Uchiha are no exception."
Tsunade met his gaze and, before everyone, answered bluntly, "If I didn't have their support, how would I have the gall to run for Hokage?"
Hiruzen narrowed his eyes. He keenly noticed that as Tsunade stood firm, many Uchiha ninja seemed fired up—as if, with a wave of her arm, these Police Force Uchiha would rush the Hokage without hesitation. Of course, that was his own cynical guess.
"Old man, you have one week," Tsunade suddenly said.
Hiruzen frowned. "What do you mean?"
"In one week," Tsunade said evenly, "most of the village's clans and shinobi will jointly submit letters to you as Hokage, requesting a new round of Hokage elections.
"This is the will of Konoha's people. Sarutobi-sensei, you won't go against public opinion and ignore it, will you?
"And when that time comes, I'll be your sole challenger."
Her address had shifted from "old man" to "Sarutobi-sensei." It sounded more formal, more polite—and more distant.
"Jiraiya-boy," Shima said snidely, "looks like your old friend who can summon a sage is about to fall out with the Third for good. Not very respectful of her elders, is she? I can still hear her tone."
Jiraiya broke into a sheepish sweat.
Elsewhere, Naruto and Sasuke looked at each other, both a little blank. They too believed in Absolute Justice, but as academy students, they weren't tuned into village politics. Clearly, they hadn't known that this "Granny Tsunade" intended to run for the next Hokage—until she spelled it out in front of everyone. Only then did it sink in.
Naruto scratched his head and muttered, "So I'm not the only one who wants to be Hokage. If she becomes Hokage, what am I supposed to do?"
Sasuke calmed himself and said, "She can't be Hokage forever. Not everyone sits in the chair as long as the Third. By the time you're grown, she might have stepped down. I hear this Sannin is already in her forties or fifties. When you're old enough to run, she could be in her sixties or seventies."
Naruto clapped his fists, enlightened. "Right! She's a granny after all—she won't serve that long."
Hiruzen: "…"
Tsunade: "…"
The two brats hadn't exactly kept their voices down; the adults heard every word. Hiruzen hadn't expected that, in Naruto's eyes, his own old bones were also overdue for retirement. Naruto hadn't voiced any sympathy for his situation, which meant he didn't care whether the old man stepped down.
Veins were starting to throb on Tsunade's forehead. "Granny" was fatal vocabulary to her. She ignored Hiruzen, turned, and cracked her knuckles as she walked toward Naruto, the pressure rolling off her more terrifying than a man-eating demon's. Shizune, terrified, wisely stepped aside.
"Brat!!!" Tsunade ground her teeth. "What did you just call me?"
Sasuke froze, drenched in cold sweat from her aura.
Naruto reflexively opened his mouth: "Call you old—"
Sasuke slapped a hand over his mouth and yanked him backward. Forcing a stiff smile, he said, "This dobe idiot is babbling—please don't take it to heart."
Watching the two brats flee in panic, Tsunade let her killing intent subside and her clenched-jaw anger ease back to normal. She murmured, "Fugaku's boy seems to be slowly coming out of his slump after his father's death."