At that moment, a young woman with a pure appearance, short hair, and dressed in fishnet clothing rushed into the gambling house, cradling a small pig in her arms. Her expression was filled with urgent haste.
"Lady Tsunade, something terrible has happened!"
She skidded to a halt immediately behind Tsunade.
Tsunade turned her head with a look of blatant displeasure, staring at Shizune. "What could possibly be so terrible?"
She had just been preparing to make a grand stand and win back all the money she had lost.
Shizune, gasping for breath, managed to squeeze out the words. "The Third Hokage has committed suicide to atone for his crimes."
Tsunade's eyes widened to their limit, her face masked in pure shock.
A moment later, she lunged forward and grabbed Shizune by the collar. "What do you mean, suicide to atone for his crimes? What kind of nonsense are you talking about?"
That old man was the Third Hokage, the person with the highest status in the village. Who could possibly have the right to judge him, let alone force him to take his own life to atone for something?
Suddenly, a dark premonition surged in her heart.
'Is it the Uchiha Clan?'
They were the old man's only political rivals; they were the only ones who might actually move against him. Previously, the old man had even asked her to return to the village to help him maintain order, fearing that the Uchiha would stage a coup and forcibly overthrow him.
But what combat power did she have left now?
She suffered from hemophobia; the moment she saw blood, her body would freeze and become paralyzed. She couldn't even function as a ninja anymore—it was impossible to fight a shinobi battle without seeing blood. How could she possibly stand against the Uchiha Clan?
Moreover, she remembered when the old man and Danzō had used her own clansmen for experiments. While she understood the dire situation at the time, she had been vehemently opposed to it. She knew what the circumstances were back then, but those were her fellow clansmen.
To prevent those two from continuing to harm her family, she had directly disbanded the Senju Clan and sent the remaining members away. After a massive argument with the old man, she had left the village entirely.
Yet, despite everything, he was still her teacher.
A sense of desolation washed over her. Even that old man was gone now? Fate was truly unpredictable.
Around them, the crowd of gamblers was equally stunned. For them, such news was absolutely explosive. What kind of sin could be so great that it would drive the leader of a village to suicide? Their minds were filled with confusion.
Shizune caught her breath and continued. "I heard the news from travelers talking on the street. They said the Third Hokage killed Uchiha Shisui, allowed Danzō to conduct human experiments, and even..."
She found it difficult to voice the final part; it was simply too hard to believe. If it were true, it was a staggering disgrace—so shameful that even she, as a ninja, felt humiliated by association.
Tsunade frowned deeply. "What is it? Even what?"
The bad feeling in her heart intensified. She had heard the name Shisui before; he was one of the old man's Anbu and a member of the Uchiha. For the old man to strike at him suggested that he had reached a point where he could no longer hold back from taking the first move. As for turning a blind eye to Danzō's experiments, she already knew about that, considering they had used her own kin.
Shizune looked at Tsunade and whispered, "He sold military intelligence to the Cloud Village. He betrayed the village."
The expressions of everyone present shifted instantly, their eyes filled with utter disbelief. Several gamblers even stood up and shouted.
"Little girl, are you talking nonsense? How could the Third Hokage betray the village? Why would he leak the village's own intelligence?"
The head of a village was the leader, the person of the highest rank. If he leaked intelligence, wasn't he just stabbing himself in the back? Was that even something a human would do? If they were told someone else leaked info for profit, they might believe it. But they couldn't wrap their heads around this.
The other gamblers shared these doubts.
Shizune spoke up quickly. "I didn't believe it at first either. I questioned the people talking about it, and it turned out the person who brought the news came directly from the Leaf Village. He beat his chest and swore repeatedly that the information was absolutely true."
The skeptical gamblers fell silent upon hearing Shizune's words.
Could this really be true? Their stance gradually shifted from complete denial to cautious belief. After all, such a rumor wasn't something one could just make up on a whim. Even though they were far from the Leaf Village, spreading such lies would invite trouble not only from the Leaf ninjas but from the Daimyō's office as well.
Tsunade let out a heavy sigh.
It seemed it was true. Selling the village's intelligence to the Cloud Village was likely done to get them to help eliminate the Uchiha Clan. Had the Third Hokage really been pushed to such an extreme?
She didn't like the Uchiha Clan either. Although the Senju and Uchiha had co-founded the village, hundreds of years of hatred were not so easily erased. They had fought for so long, and both sides had lost countless kin to the other; the resentment ran incredibly deep.
Furthermore, the Third Hokage had inherited her grandfather the Second Hokage's philosophy regarding the Uchiha, naturally viewing them as a threat to the village's peace. Even so, Tsunade felt the Third Hokage had gone too far. This involved a war that affected the interests of the entire village.
However, she could understand the Third's dilemma. She also knew that once the Uchiha Clan caught wind of his actions, there was no way they would let him survive.
At that moment, one of the gamblers spoke up. "I never expected the Third Hokage to be such a despicable person. To sell out intelligence to an enemy village... how shameful."
The surrounding gamblers nodded in agreement, muttering their disdain.
Hearing these comments, Tsunade turned and glared at them with a ferocious, chilling gaze. The Third Hokage was her mentor; how could she allow these people to talk such trash? These people knew nothing of the internal circumstances and only saw the surface.
The man who had spoken noticed Tsunade's cold stare and immediately shut his mouth. He suddenly remembered that Tsunade was one of the Sannin, and the Third Hokage was her teacher. He stammered, "I... I'm sorry, I misspoke."
He felt a genuine surge of fear. The woman in front of him no longer looked like a gambling addict who loved to lose money; she looked like a truly powerful ninja. He had no desire to get beaten up.
The other gamblers naturally didn't dare to make another sound. Tsunade was not someone to be trifled with.
Tsunade clearly had no interest in taking her anger out on them. She had lost all desire to gamble. She turned and walked toward the door.
"Shizune, pack the luggage. We're returning to the village."
"Yes!"
Shizune immediately followed Tsunade, heading toward the inn where they were staying.
Behind them, the gamblers watched Tsunade's departing figure with a sense of regret. They had missed their chance to make a fortune. The Big Fat Sheep had actually run away.
While the news about the Third Hokage was shocking, it didn't actually have a massive impact on the military strength of the Leaf Village or the Land of Fire. His death wouldn't suddenly invite an invasion from other nations.
This was because the village still possessed its most powerful force: the Uchiha Clan. Not long ago, they had achieved a total victory against the Cloud Village's invasion. The Third had long ceased to be the strongest in the village; after all, he was incapable of achieving such a magnificent military record.
Back at the inn, Shizune set the little pig down and began packing their clothes into a bag. It seemed the Third's death had truly touched Lady Tsunade, enough for her to give up her favorite hobby.
However, Shizune thought about the current state of the village. With the Third now dead by suicide, the Uchiha Clan would certainly be in control. The relationship between the Senju and Uchiha was anything but good—in fact, they were lifelong enemies.
She couldn't help but ask, "Lady Tsunade, are we really going back to seek justice for the Third Hokage?"