A fully healed Shiki had just finished his report of the battle he went through.
Tsunade had already explained her side before and she was kneeling in repentance as Mito commanded.
When the Senju princess said she bypassed Shiki's position to go help Inori because she thought the boy would be able to evade his opponents easily, both he and the Uzumaki matriarch had nearly blown a gasket.
On her knees, Tsunade internally grumbled how Shiki just got a standing scolding while she had to face the heat while kneeling, fearful of her safety under her grandmother's deadly gaze of pure disappointment.
"What are you feeling wronged about huh?" Mito questioned her granddaughter, making her stiffen a little in place.
The Senju princess had clearly forgotten her grandmother's empathic sensory abilities.
"Before you answer, let me remind you that Shiki's only mistake was taking your backup for granted. Everything after just came as a direct consequence." Mito claimed.
"You can't put like that obaa-sama! He could have just left after that first fight with the earth release jonin was done." Tsunade argued.
"There were things he didn't say outright that made that inadvisable." The redhead revealed that she might have perhaps grasped something through healing the boy's injuries.
More specifically, healing damage not caused by attacks and needing to heal suspiciously light wounds from actual attacks, other than the big hole.
"Besides, he couldn't very well leave you there alone with a likely traitor. Could he?" The Uzumaki matriarch pointed out.
"I can handle myself!" Tsunade kept arguing, a futile effort.
"I thought that as well . . . Before this debacle that is." Her grandmother countered.
The Senju princess should have just given up.
Mito was an Uzumaki, legendary for their stubbornness, even if Tsunade was right, which she wasn't, it still would not have saved her as the redhead had decided her granddaughter was wrong.
Pointless resistance really.
"Leaving the person you're supposed to be looking after to go save someone who is one of the potential sources of the danger . . ." Mito stood in place, shaking her head, eyes closed as she sighed in exasperation.
"I just thought that since brats were fine, Shiki included if he didn't look for a fight, I could make sure no Konoha shinobi would die." Tsunade still argued but in a lower and more subdued tone.
The Uzumaki matriarch sighed again, both in understanding of her granddaughter's mentality but also with worry over her naivety.
"Yamanaka Inori put her whole team at risk to test Shiki and it almost went horribly wrong if not for his foresight in asking for backup before the mission and his ridiculous prowess for his age." The redhead began.
"Yes, she was definitely following orders but as an Elite Jonin, she was more than capable of making sure such a stupid order would not pass."
"Even if she was forced, using blackmail or something of the sort, from her reputation, this kunoichi would have no problem covertly slipping the information of this secret order to me which would instantly tear down the whole operation."
"So maybe, Kumo would be doing us a favor by getting rid of her." Mito callously concluded.
"Inori may be a bitch but she has done a lot for the village. I don't think I should just abandon her to die." The Senju princess responded, firmer than before in her tone and posture.
"In the end, it's that old bastard Danzo that's the problem right?" She added.
"Heh! Danzo . . . The little brat can't take a dump without the Monkey knowing so either he was on it or simply acquiesced to this whole operation." The Uzumaki matriarch started.
"And Elite Jonin Sensei who would follow that kind of order to throw their students at enemy shinobi unprepared doesn't even deserve to be a shinobi of this village."
"They make a mockery of the sacrifices my generation made to build this village." She added with utter disdain.
Ever since getting back her fire and youth, Mito had been regaining her more combative and hardliner attitude that she carried herself with back in the "old days".
"Does obaa-sama really think sensei knew about this?" Tsunade asked in a quieter tone.
Her grandmother merely scoffed.
"If he knew, he's corrupt. If he didn't, he's incompetent."
"Either way, he needs some "talking to" that is certain." Mito said.
The "talking to" she was referring to, likely being done not with words but with hands.
"But before any of that, no one outside this room can know about my current condition, understand?" The Uzumaki matriarch gravely spoke.
Maybe before, Tsunade would question why such good news like her grandmother's return to her prime should not be shared with the Hokage even if hidden from the public for strategic value but current events considered, the Senju princess did not have to wonder.
"Keeping it a secret aside, how did obaa-sama manage to recover and become even stronger?" Her granddaughter inquired.
Logic dictated it had to be due to some form of hyper advanced medical ninjutsu, a topic that naturally aroused Tsunade's interest deeply.
But she was destined to be disappointed.
"This has to do with the Hiden of my Uzumaki clan, not information I can share." Mito replied.
"I see . . ." Tsunade grumbled.
She knew it was wishful thinking to want such powerful abilities to be shared so that the entire village may prosper but still . . .
"Can't obaa-sama yourself help others, even if not to the same degree, without revealing the techniques themselves?" The Senju princess still inquired.
But Mito naturally shook her head.
"Even if I had any interest to put on the face of a saintess and go around helping the ill, old and injured, these abilities do not come without a dear cost." The Uzumaki matriarch replied, slightly understanding her granddaughter's more altruistic views.
Those words were enough to tip off Tsunade about the nature of the abilities.
'Forbidden Jutsu and not the kind forbidden merely for user safety. The kind that likely has severe moral implications and paradigm shifting effects.' The Senju princess thought.
Shiki, who by virtue of his Enlightened Mind's Eye, already knew the ins and outs of Mito's Blood Spiral Arts, merely kept quiet, something that did not go unnoticed by the redhead.
'I'll have a serious talk with him about this and his changes later. For now, we have other more pressing issues to address.' The Uzumaki matriarch thought to herself.
"Shiki." She turned towards the boy.
"What do you think will be Yamanaka Inori's next move?" Mito inquired.
Shiki closed his eyes in deliberation for a few moments before coming up with an answer.
"Inori-sensei will likely bring the rest of Team 6 back to Konoha without detours and report the situation to the Hokage right away so he can do damage control as early as possible." He spoke.
"You don't think she will contact Danzo first?" Mito questioned with a raised eyebrow.
The boy frowned a bit.
He too had considered that might be the case but ultimately dismissed that possibility.
"No. I don't think she will." Shiki replied.
"So she is not from the Root?" Tsunade was justifiably suspicious.
"She might be but I think Inori-sensei works with the Hokage directly as well as with the Root, being sort of like an internal double agent of sorts." Shiki tried explaining his thoughts but it didn't come out quite as clear as he hoped when put in words.
"So she's like playing both of the old men!?" The Senju princess questioned with shock and some outrage at the audacity.
"No. Shiki probably means that Inori is an asset used both directly by the Hokage but by Danzo and the Root as well, with all three concerned parties being in agreement." Mito explained.
"Right! That's it!" The boy exclaimed.
'Mito-sama is still the one that understands my thought process the best.' He thought.
"So do you think the Monkey was directly involved in this incident?" Mito asked.
She had her own thoughts on the matter but wanted Shiki's opinion first.
Still quite close to her sensei despite not being as attached due to her grandmother's more active guidance when compared to the original timeline, Tsunade was still quite worried for the old man and hoped he was not involved.
The Senju princess was getting progressively more disillusioned with her sensei who had felt so invincible and wise in the past.
+++++
Hey, Author here!
Just a reminder that you can read up to a FULL MONTH ahead of this site on pa-treon.
I'm trying to become a full time Author now and I'm not going to be starting any new novels just so I can make sure this one is properly completed.
Find those sweet advanced chapters on pa-treon.com/lusoba without the -