Chapter 166: Go and Kowtow to Terumi Mei
They discussed things for a long time.
Whether it was Senju Hashirama, who felt somewhat uncomfortable, or Shizune, who felt extremely uncomfortable, both could only accept the cruel reality.
From now on, there would no longer be a situation where the Land of Fire daimyō asked, "So in the Land of Fire, who's actually in charge, you or me?"
The problem had been solved at its very root.
At the village gate.
Shiromo and his group were preparing to head to the Land of Water according to plan.
Kushina said that she had already activated the chakra she had left inside Naruto. Now all that was left was to trigger it in Naruto's dreams when he fell asleep.
She would stay in Konoha and go to the ruins of the Uzumaki clan to see if there was any way to undo the Reaper Death Seal, so she could retrieve the other half of the Nine-Tails as well.
As for Rin, she would definitely have to go with Shiromo and the others.
After all, the core objective of the next step was to make Rin the Three-Tails' jinchūriki again.
Sarutobi Hiruzen would also stay in Konoha, helping to deal with the large number of issues that arose after the Land of Fire daimyō suddenly kicked the bucket.
Senju Tobirama, on the other hand, would return to the Amegakure Village laboratory with Orochimaru, preparing to begin research.
The only one left without a suitable destination was none other than the mighty God of Shinobi himself, the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama.
Going to the Amegakure wouldn't help with research at all.
The most useful thing about Senju Hashirama for scientific research was his Hashirama Cells.
Staying in Konoha was also pointless.
There might be some unrest in the Land of Fire now, but with Impure World Reincarnation Third Hokage and mega Tsunade around, that was more than enough to deal with it.
Any extra matters couldn't really be helped with either.
Letting Senju Hashirama handle administrative work was even more dangerous. Who knew if, when faced with a problem, he'd first kowtow to someone twice.
So in the end, the much-disliked Senju Hashirama was tossed into Shiromo's team and sent off to the Land of Water together to capture the Three-Tails.
At the very least, when it came to finding and capturing tailed beasts, Senju Hashirama was extremely professional.
It was just that Senju Hashirama wasn't a Pokémon trainer who loved Pokémon, but rather an evil Pokémon hunter, Team Rocket, who cruelly distributed the cute tailed beasts to other evil organizations after capturing them, to be used in war.
"I'll give you a piece of advice. It's fine to rest and relax, but don't slack off. Even if you've turned Creation Rebirth into a passive ability, your actual combat strength hasn't increased that much. Work hard to develop it further."
"And also, earlier I asked if you'd ever seen what you looked like when you recovered, and you said no."
"I want to tell you this: your previous state had major problems. Even without seeing your face, I can be certain that when your body reverted, it was absolutely not the state of a normal woman in her fifties."
"That state was probably already in her nineties."
"As for the reason, think about it yourself. Anyway, now that you've truly rejuvenated and become young again, there's no need to worry about it anymore."
Before leaving, Shiromo spoke seriously to Tsunade.
After the experiment ended, Shiromo adjusted the energy inside the stone and had Tsunade try again.
This time, she no longer had to endure the pain of tearing. She entered Shiromo's "Sun Sage Mode" completely normally.
In this state, Tsunade possessed an extremely terrifying recovery ability, perhaps even stronger than Senju Hashirama's passive regeneration.
This level of recovery seemed almost divine in the current ninja world, but by the time of the Boruto era, even Orochimaru, who was monitored and suppressed by Konoha, could do it easily.
When a villain blasted one of Orochimaru's arms into scrap with Lightning Release, Orochimaru could regrow a new arm in one second.
It could even be inferred that even if a villain blew apart Orochimaru's heart or head, it would still recover instantly.
The current Tsunade, compared to Orochimaru twenty years later, was only stronger in terms of taijutsu attack power.
"..."
After hearing Shiromo's words, Tsunade stood there thinking for a long time.
Even after Shiromo and his group had left, she was still standing at the gates of Konoha.
In Shiromo's eyes, her state when she aged had already been that of someone over ninety?
Tsunade believed that Shiromo wasn't exaggerating just to scare her.
Then why?
As a medical ninja, Tsunade began to reflect.
There had to be multiple factors involved.
But just as Shiromo said, now that she had borrowed his power and truly rejuvenated, she didn't need to worry too much.
Still, Tsunade was afraid of repeating the same mistake.
So…
"I was harmed by gambling and alcohol, and ended up this haggard. From today onward, I quit drinking!"
Tsunade clenched her fist fiercely, making the decision with firm resolve.
—
At the border of the Land of Fire, Shiromo and his group boarded a ship, preparing to head to the Land of Water.
On the map, the Land of Water looked somewhat small compared to the other four great nations, but in reality, its territory included numerous scattered islands across the sea.
These islands were also considered part of the Land of Water.
However, because they were islands, managing them was extremely difficult.
Many missing-nin from Kirigakure could easily hide on some island and evade pursuit.
On the way to the Land of Water, Senju Hashirama once again raised that troubling question.
"If we go to the Land of Water like this to capture the Three-Tails, will the Mizukage have objections? After all, this tailed beast belongs to them."
"It's fine. We'll give the Mizukage enough face. Given my relationship with her, she'll agree."
Shiromo waved his hand dismissively.
At this moment, Shiromo's gaze was fixed on a small island in the distance that they were about to approach.
On the island, the mountain peak was shrouded in bizarre flashes of lightning and thunder.
As someone who had already mastered natural energy and could command elemental power, Shiromo immediately sensed that someone over there was playing around with something similar to a low-end version of Kirin.
"How exactly do we give her enough face?"
Senju Hashirama asked curiously.
"Do you see the lightning on that island? I'm guessing that's 'Lightning Blade.'"
"…What is 'Lightning Blade'?"
"One of the Seven Ninja Swords, the Lightning sword, Kiba. It was taken away by the Kirigakure missing-nin Kurotsuchi Raiga."
"The Seven Ninja Swords themselves aren't particularly powerful or terrifying strategic weapons, but they hold extremely important symbolic meaning for Kirigakure. It's roughly equivalent to Konoha's Hokage Rock, or Iwagakure's stone."
"Oh."
Senju Hashirama stroked his chin thoughtfully.
"Returning such an important item to Kirigakure would be enough?"
"Of course not."
"Then what?"
"When the time comes, in front of everyone in Kirigakure, you kneel down and kowtow to Terumi Mei twice. That'll be enough."
Shiromo smiled slightly.
Senju Hashirama: "..."
"Aren't I here to be responsible for capturing the tailed beast? Why don't you just assign me the task of capturing the Three-Tails instead? As long as you give the order, I guarantee that within three hours, I'll find the Three-Tails, subdue it, and deliver it to you…"
Senju Hashirama drooped his face, pressed his palms together, and pleaded with Shiromo.
With his hands clasped like that, anyone who didn't know better would think he was about to use Wood Release.
"Didn't you already kowtow once to the other four Kage at the first Five Kage Summit? For the sake of peace, this isn't that big of a deal, right?"
Shiromo asked in return.
"That's true."
After being reminded by Shiromo, Senju Hashirama's expression instantly recovered. He stroked his chin and thought for a moment.
"How about I use a Wood Clone and Transformation Technique, turn into Tobirama, and we kowtow together? That way the effect is even better, and I won't feel awkward."
(End of this chapter)