In the days that followed, after Kakuzu had fully committed to the partnership, he left the Undercity that Hibari was building and headed to the black market hubs within the Land of Hot Water to 'call in his people.' As one of the top experts in the black market, how could he not have some loyal subordinates?
It was one thing when there was no pay, but now that there was pay and he had found a good boss in Hibari, he had to quickly call his subordinates to help him make money, right?
On the other side, Hibari was also taking a break. When Tsunade hadn't arrived, he would find time to help out with the construction. But now that Tsunade had come all this way, Hibari had to set aside time to spend with her. Coupled with Kakuzu's meddling, Hibari had a better understanding of his own feelings, so he had to make a move.
As for Hidan, Hibari just left him to clean the church. But the simple-minded kid seemed happy about it, having gone from a refugee kid who lived from hand to mouth to a chore boy who had work and food. Although the change wasn't huge, he was very content.
As for what Kakuzu had said about Hidan's physical condition not being good, Hibari also took some time to examine him. Although Hibari's medical ninjutsu wasn't great, when he was a child, his grandfather would check him for illnesses every day, so he knew some things.
Just as Kakuzu had said, Hidan's physical condition was indeed not great and was far from the 'natural prodigy' Hibari had imagined.
Perhaps it was because he was a commoner without a last name, and his background was not very good, so he naturally had no bloodline. His life wasn't great either; he was just an ordinary kid in the Land of Hot Water. Then he went through the war, got separated from his family, and almost starved to death on the road. It would be strange if his physical condition was good.
This indeed disappointed Hibari, but thinking about it from another perspective, if he was trained properly, Hidan's physical condition could still develop as it did in the original plot. Since he couldn't be a powerful shinobi, he could become a representative of immortality. He could be trained to be the 'image ambassador' of the Necro Cult, using genuine 'immortality' to show others that the Necro Cult had something real!
In addition, as long as he was 'trained' properly, Hidan could still become his first 'dead man.' After all, although this guy's future achievements might be limited and he couldn't fully inherit his legacy, he wasn't weak!
But these were things for the future. For now, the most important thing was for the kid to do his chores.
By the small river near the Undercity, Hibari was strolling with Tsunade. Although Hibari had realized his feelings, looking at the little girl, he didn't feel much. In fact, he even wanted to laugh.
Thinking about it, perhaps his interest in Tsunade was because he was very familiar with her future self? The affection he felt for her future self had, without him knowing, been subtly transferred to the Tsunade who was still a little girl.
But no matter what, Tsunade was Tsunade, whether in the future or now, wasn't she the same person? And a little girl was fine, too; he could 'raise' her.
Thinking of this, Hibari smiled, reached out and patted Tsunade on the head, and said, "Grow up quickly and become an amazing female shinobi who can stand on her own."
Tsunade looked at Hibari with some confusion, then seemed to remember something and asked, "Hibari-nii, when you became a shinobi, your first mission was an S-rank, right?"
Hibari raised an eyebrow and said, "That's right, but I was lucky. Everyone thought the mission was an A-rank at most, and I also had the Third Hokage and Sasuke-jiisan looking out for me, so I was able to join in on the fun. Thinking about it now, it was really dangerous. If Hashirama-jiisan hadn't arrived in time, I would have almost died there."
Tsunade didn't care about any of that. She pouted and said, "Why did you get to start with A-rank or S-rank missions? I have to start with D-rank missions? Is the Third Hokage discriminating against me?"
"Hahahaha, maybe it has something to do with strength. I'm very strong, you know~" Hibari said with a laugh.
Tsunade heard this and also rubbed her delicate little chin. Then she smacked her lips and said, "Although I feel like I'm also very strong, I'm indeed a little bit weaker than you, Hibari-nii. But I shouldn't only be doing D-rank missions, right? The Third Hokage is definitely playing favorites..."
After saying this, Tsunade raised her little fist. Her chakra moved, and she activated the Monster Strength that was passed down through the Senju clan. Then she let out a delicate shout, and punched the bank of the small river.
In the next second, the powerful punch directly created a crater in the ground around it. A crack in the ground extended all the way to the other side of the small river, forcefully cutting off the river.
After doing all this, Tsunade squeezed her fist, looked at Hibari proudly, and said, "How was that, Hibari-nii? Wasn't I amazing? Tobirama-jisan even said I was a genius at Monster Strength!"
Watching this scene, Hibari couldn't help but laugh and said, "Very amazing, Tsunade-hime."
Hearing Hibari's praise, Tsunade immediately became more excited and asked, "How do I compare to you, Hibari-nii?"
"Compared to me?" Hibari pretended to rub his chin, then shook his head and said, "You're still far from my level. You still have to work hard, Tsunade-hime!"
Hearing this, Tsunade pouted, looking a little unhappy. Then she said childishly, "I don't believe it, I don't believe it. You're only five years older than me, so how much stronger could you be?"
"I am Senju Hibari, the Senju Hibari who made a name for himself in the war! Why wouldn't you believe it?" Hibari said with a chuckle.
"Hmph, don't think I don't know that many things in the war are just rumors!" Tsunade said angrily.
"Hahahaha, alright. It seems if I don't show you something today, you'll get cocky, you little brat. Watch closely, my Monster Strength genius..." Hibari said with a laugh, looking at Tsunade's sulking expression.
As soon as he finished speaking, he also clenched his fist. Then his chakra was all concentrated and gathered on his fist.
He slightly shielded Tsunade behind him, then Hibari let out a shout and punched the ground by the river. In the next second, the violent tremor almost knocked Tsunade off her feet. When she finally managed to stand still, she saw a shocking scene.
Hibari's punch directly covered an area of about 100 meters in front of him in a fan shape, cracking the entire ground. The entire riverbed had completely sunk into a deep pit, and the river water had become a waterfall...
This was much more ferocious than Tsunade's Monster Strength just now. It was just that the people Hibari had fought in the past were all strong. For an ordinary shinobi, Hibari could send them to their maker with a single punch.
After throwing the punch, Hibari dusted off his fist and said calmly, "That was just so-so. I was afraid of scaring you if I used too much force..."
Tsunade, hearing Hibari's voice, also recovered from the scene. She excitedly pulled on Hibari's arm and said, "You're amazing, Hibari-nii! Can I be that amazing in the future?"
"From what I can tell, when it comes to Monster Strength, you might even be stronger than me in the future, Tsunade-hime. After all, my specialty isn't Monster Strength, but many other ninjutsu..." Hibari said with a smile.
"Ninjutsu... huh?" Tsunade murmured softly, then said with a look of distaste, "Ninjutsu is so boring. Taijutsu like Monster Strength is much better. I like techniques like that, ones that can end a fight in one hit. Oh, and I also like medical ninjutsu..."
Hibari smiled, listening to Tsunade's mumbling, and said, "You sure are violent. Be careful, or you won't be able to get married in the future."
"Hehehe, I already said I'm going to marry you, Hibari-nii!" Tsunade said with a chuckle.
In the past, whenever Tsunade said something like this, Hibari would use excuses like, 'You also said you were going to marry Hashirama-jiisan.'
Thinking about it now, perhaps that was Hibari's subconscious reaction from a guilty conscience. But this time, Hibari just smiled, patted Tsunade on the head, and said, "Is that so? Then I'll look forward to it."
Hearing Hibari's words, Tsunade seemed to get even more excited. She patted her chest and said, "Yep, don't you worry!"
After saying that, she seemed to remember something and quickly said, "Maybe it's because I'm not as strong as you, Hibari-nii, that the Third Hokage looks down on me and always gives me D-rank missions. Hibari-nii, since you're so strong, why don't you teach me some powerful techniques?"
Hibari raised an eyebrow, then smiled and said, "When I said I'd take you on as my disciple before, you were so against it. Why do you want me to teach you now?"
"It's different. I didn't know you were this amazing back then! I thought you were only a tiny bit stronger than me," Tsunade said, a little embarrassed.
Hibari tapped her on the head and said, "Didn't you see the fight between me and Tobirama-jiisan in the mountains?"
Tsunade's eyes wandered when she heard this. Then she shook Hibari's arm like a spoiled child and said, "I just didn't want to! I don't care, Hibari-nii, just teach me some powerful moves!"
Being pestered by his beloved sister like this, Hibari was a little helpless. He then said, "Alright, alright. I do have some powerful ninjutsu. Do you want to learn them?"
"No. I want to learn Taijutsu or sealing jutsu... Hmm, forget about sealing jutsu. I can go back and learn from Mito-baasan. I don't want to learn ninjutsu. They're so boring," Tsunade said after thinking for a moment.
Then, as if she had remembered something, Tsunade quickly said, "That's it, that taijutsu that was all lightning when you and Tobirama-jisan were fighting! I want to learn that!!!"
Hibari was stunned to hear this, then smiled and said, "Lightning Release Armor? You want to learn that? It's not impossible, but even if you learn this technique, you won't become strong overnight, because it's a taijutsu that grows with practice. Secondly, you can't use this technique too openly, at least not now. And one last thing... Tsunade, do you even have lightning-release chakra?"
As soon as Hibari finished speaking, Tsunade smugly raised her hand and lightly squeezed. A burst of lightning-style power appeared in her hand. Without a doubt, this was lightning-release chakra!
Tsunade said with great pride, "Although I'm not very interested in ninjutsu, I'm only slightly less talented than you, Hibari-nii! I've already mastered four chakra natures: fire, lightning, earth, and water. As for the wind nature... I'm not interested and don't want to bother with it."
Hibari raised an eyebrow, looked at Tsunade's smug expression, and said with a chuckle, "That's truly amazing. You're worthy of being my, Senju Hibari's, sister!"
At the same time, in Konohagakure, Danzō had submitted a new plan to Hiruzen. In the Hokage's office, Hiruzen looked at the document in his hand, his expression a bit hesitant and gloomy. He then looked at Danzō in front of him and asked, "Danzō, did the First Hokage approve this matter?"
Danzō said calmly, "Don't worry, Hiruzen... Third Hokage. I not only sought the approval of the First Hokage, but I also got the approval and permission from the Second Hokage, Tobirama-sensei. I even wanted to get Hibari's opinion, but he is not in the Land of Fire right now, so I couldn't get it... But I think with his broad mind and generosity, he wouldn't refuse this plan... would he?"
Hiruzen heard the answer from Danzō. He pondered for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "The success of this plan will also add great power to Konoha. If the First Hokage and Tobirama-sensei have both agreed, then let's begin the execution. I, under the name of the Third Hokage, approve!"
A subtle, gloomy smile appeared on the corner of Danzō's mouth, and he said, "I will not disappoint you, Hiruzen."
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