The atmosphere in the meeting room was suffocating. After a long silence, Danzo finally erupted in anger, "Sarutobi, look at the disciples you've raised so well!"
The Third nodded slightly with a warm smile. "Indeed, my well-raised disciples."
Already furious from Sarutobi's dismissive reply, Danzo nearly twisted his face in rage hearing this nonchalant response.
"You… you… you…"
Ignoring him further, The Third turned his head and invited, "The sunshine is really nice today. We old bones should go out and get some exercise too."
Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane exchanged glances, nodded, and followed him outside.
Soon, only Danzo remained in the conference room, seething helplessly in his rage. "Hiruzen, you will regret this!"
…
At the same time.
Jiraiya caught up to Tsunade and asked, "Tsunade, you're not really planning to leave Konoha, are you?"
"Maybe. After all…" Tsunade sighed lightly, "this village built by Grandfather has long lost anything worth staying for."
"Tch, how could there be nothing worth staying for?" Jiraiya winked playfully. "What about me and The Third?"
"Hmph, stay for you peeping into others' baths?" Tsunade looked at him with disdain before her expression grew complex. "As for The Third… don't you know why we happened to be here exactly?"
Jiraiya stayed silent for a moment before chuckling evasively. "Don't put it like that. Wasn't he also doing it for Minato and your disciple?"
Tsunade's gaze turned icy cold. "So then—we were just tools for him to balance his political struggles?"
Jiraiya opened his mouth but didn't know what to say.
"Forget it; there are some things I don't want to dig too deep into anyway. Maybe ignorance itself is a kind of happiness."
Seeing the sudden heaviness in the air, Jiraiya changed the subject. "By the way, when you said earlier you'd take Shizune and leave Konoha, that was intentional, right? Just to let Danzo hear it?"
Tsunade's eyes turned serious. "If I hadn't said that, do you think he would stop? Don't forget, he doesn't care about the lives of his pawns."
Jiraiya nodded before asking again, "Still, once Shizune graduates, what about your disciple? According to standard graduation procedures, it'll only be three or four more years."
"Three or four years will be more than enough."
Jiraiya gave a strange look. "You can't possibly tell me a ten-year-old kid already has the strength to oppose Danzo?"
"You wouldn't understand. He's different from us. There's something in him—something that reminds me of our grandfather. A kind of light that makes people want to follow him, to fight for his dreams."
As she spoke, Tsunade smiled faintly. "No matter how radical Danzo becomes, there's no way he can stand against the entire village!"
Rubbing his chin thoughtfully, Jiraiya's eyes widened in surprise. "For Tsunade—the hot-tempered one—to give such high praise… Is it true? Seiki Shimaseki? I'm starting to feel genuinely curious now."
…
"Four hundred and thirty-one, four hundred and thirty-two…"
Inside the ward, counting mixed with heavy breathing echoed softly.
"Seiki, why are you out of bed? You're supposed to be resting as a patient!"
Asuma had barely stepped into the room when he saw Seiki doing push-ups and rushed over to pull him up.
"There's no need to worry. I'm a medical ninja myself, and no one understands my physical condition better than me," Seiki smiled as he stood up. "But what happened to your eyes?"
Seiki noticed Asuma's eye sockets looked unusually dark.
"Hehe..." Asuma avoided eye contact and quickly changed the subject. "By the way, let me peel some fruit for you, Seiki!"
"Hmph! He got beaten up by us!"
"Exactly! How could he take Seiki to do something so dangerous!"
Behind Asuma, Shizune and Kurenai stormed in angrily.
"No wonder Asuma came in here so fast—it turns out he was trying to avoid getting beaten!" Seiki chuckled in disbelief, awkwardly patting Asuma's shoulder. "Sorry for making you—"
Yet Asuma spoke with red, tearful eyes, "No, they were right to hit me. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have been injured!"
Seiki sighed helplessly with a bitter smile. Was his 'mastermind' not even allowed to apologize?
After scolding Asuma, Shizune and Kurenai quickly surrounded Seiki on either side, fussing over him:
"Seiki, is there anything uncomfortable with your body now?"
"Seiki, are you hungry? I made lunch for you!"
Their gazes met briefly, tension crackling between them, but once their eyes shifted away, both turned to glance around deliberately at the same time.
"Seiki, let me clean your room."
"In that case, I'll... I'll make the bed."
Watching them for a while, Asuma thought strangely, "Although that cute older guy from last night was pretty impressive too, compared to Seiki, he really pales in comparison."
"Huh? Asuma, why are you still here?"
"That's right, didn't you say you needed to use the restroom?"
"When did I ever say that..." Asuma pointed at himself confusedly, but upon meeting four glares filled with murderous intent, he suddenly caught on. Clutching his stomach, he cried, "Ow ow, my stomach feels awful all of a sudden!"
With that, he hurried outside in a panic.
"Ouch—who?" Asuma had just reached the door when he crashed headfirst into a soft figure.
"You're quite different from Sarutobi-sensei's composed nature, little Asuma," said the person gently.
Looking up excitedly, Asuma shouted, "Lord Orochimaru!"
At his loud call, the others inside also greeted joyfully.
Unlike his later sinister self, Orochimaru at this time carried an elegant, almost ethereal handsomeness.
Furthermore, as the civilian-born prodigy discovered by The Third and a hero of The Second Great Ninja War, Orochimaru enjoyed immense popularity within Konoha.
To many, he was already seen as the next Hokage—the Fire Shadow of Konoha.
Orochimaru smiled gently, "Wouldn't you care to invite me in?"
With a bashful smile, Seiki said, "Forgive my rudeness—I got too excited."
Orochimaru slowly stepped inside, secretly observing him. "So this is the one who brought Tsunade's dead heart back to life?"
Seiki gathered his thoughts, his gaze a mix of anticipation and slight apprehension as he looked toward Orochimaru. "Lord Orochimaru, have you come here today about what happened last night?"
Asuma perked up upon hearing Seiki's question. "Lord Orochimaru, are we receiving a reward from the village?"
As one of the village's top elites, the Second didn't really care for rewards—he simply enjoyed the honor and recognition.
Orochimaru's gaze turned warm and gentle. "Of course! You've stopped Cloud Village's scheme and protected your comrades… especially you, Seiki-kun—you were the one who made it possible. If it hadn't been for you stopping that girl's reckless actions, I shudder to imagine what things would look like now!"
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