Chapter 72 – The Slug Princess Comes Home to a Graveyard
Neji suddenly remembered: earlier that day, Aike had mentioned Naruto and Sasuke.
The intel Orochimaru used to find him had come from those two.
That connection instantly made Neji link their strength to the "deal."
Same year's top rookie, wielder of the Byakugan—one of the three great dojutsu.
He was even a year older than them.
Yet those two had fought the One-Tailed beast head-on while he had frozen in fear.
Later, they slaughtered ANBU like livestock, overpowered every jonin present, and murdered the Third Hokage.
Power that belonged to Kage, coming from twelve-year-olds.
Before today, Neji hadn't understood how.
Now he did.
They cheated.
"But what did they pay?"
Neji's thoughts tangled.
Sasuke still had his Sharingan. The only thing Neji could imagine was the Uchiha clan's hidden legacy.
The strongest clan's inheritance—that could buy that kind of strength.
But Naruto?
The orphan everyone called "demon fox," shunned since birth.
Even lower than Neji himself.
What could he possibly have offered?
Confusion swallowed him.
Still, the example was right there.
The needle in Neji's heart that had wavered between hope and despair
began tilting decisively toward "make the trade."
......
The next day.
Konoha main gate.
"Lord Jiraiya?"
Kotetsu and Izumo blinked in confusion.
Wasn't Lord Jiraiya supposed to be in the Hokage Tower?
Why was he coming from outside?
Then their eyes slid to the woman beside him.
"Lady Tsunade?!"
"You're back!!"
The two gate guards practically vibrated with excitement.
Another Legendary Sannin returning—this was huge for morale.
Now it made sense why Jiraiya had come from outside.
He must have gone to fetch her.
"You two have had it rough."
Jiraiya and Tsunade nodded at them. Shizune followed quietly behind as they walked in.
The first thing that greeted them was endless ruins.
"The village… destroyed this badly?"
Tsunade's brow furrowed, anger flashing across her face.
No matter how much she hated the place, seeing it in rubble still pissed her off.
"That old fool really went senile. He made his own mess and dragged the whole village down with him!"
She didn't bother with respect for the dead.
The Senju clan was gone. Her little brother Nawaki was gone.
Whatever lingering affection she had for her teacher had died with them.
She openly trashed the Third and the elders right in front of Jiraiya.
All Jiraiya could do was smile bitterly and try to calm her down.
Dead men deserved some dignity, even if they were bastards.
Shizune wisely played ostrich and kept her mouth shut.
News of Tsunade's return spread like wildfire.
The Ino-Shika-Cho alliance breathed massive sighs of relief.
Someone who could actually control the whole village had finally arrived.
Hyuga, Inuzuka, Aburame, and the other clans quickly voiced support for Tsunade taking the hat.
Civilians didn't need convincing—Senju name alone outweighed Jiraiya's fame.
For the first time since the massacre, the panicked village began to settle.
Meanwhile,
Uchiha outskirts training ground.
"Wood Style: Silent Killing Binding Technique!"
Kaya clapped her hands together. Countless branches shot toward Nami, trying to coil around her limbs.
But the moment they entered one-meter range,
Nami shattered them with pure Armament Haki.
The broken branches hit the ground—and instantly morphed into dozens of thorn spears that stabbed upward even faster.
Nami hadn't expected Kaya to already have a follow-up
ready.
Of course the thorns didn't land.
Observation Haki let her dodge cleanly.
She just looked a little disheveled doing it.
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