[After defeating Orochimaru, Tsunade decided to become the Fifth Hokage.]
[She understood the belief passed down from her grandfather's generation—the importance of the Will of Fire.]
[Even though that will got a bit twisted by the Third Hokage, she believed she could bring it back on track.]
[It's good that Tsunade has confidence, but Naruto was pretty worried.]
[Naruto: She's clearly over fifty, but pretending to be twenty—can a scammer really be Hokage?]
[Faced with Naruto's provocation, Tsunade challenged him.]
[Tsunade: I can still take you down with just one finger.]
[But this time, instead of flicking his forehead, she kissed Naruto.]
"Mm."
Being called a scammer again—of course Tsunade was annoyed.
She turned to look at Naruto, ready to snap back at him, but then saw him quickly pointing at the light screen and saying, "That wasn't me! He said it! If you've got guts, go deal with him! Bullying a little kid like me doesn't prove anything!"
Hearing that, everyone looked at Naruto with weird expressions—even Tsunade was a bit surprised.
Did that really just come out of his mouth?
Wasn't he shifting the blame a little too obviously?
"Uh, sorry about that, everyone. Please don't mind him,"
Seeing everyone's attention move from Naruto to herself and Minato, Kushina quickly stepped in with an awkward smile to smooth things over.
"You're all just overthinking it. Don't worry, I won't give Naruto the necklace—and I won't kiss him either."
Kushina's reaction confirmed it for everyone—what Naruto said earlier was clearly something she had told him to say, probably so Tsunade wouldn't take it out on her son.
Since the Tsunade in the light screen hadn't experienced the Sannin battle yet, she decided to return the necklace to Nawaki.
As for the kiss—she wasn't going to give that either.
Tsunade: Not just anyone gets a kiss from me, hmph!
[After returning to Konoha, when Tsunade stood atop the Hokage building wearing the Hokage hat, she appeared before the crowd, declaring that the scalpel which had once dominated the Shinobi Wars had returned.]
[After becoming Hokage, Tsunade didn't actually sell out Konoha like Hashirama had worried.]
[Internally, she suppressed Danzo and Root. Externally, she went all-out against the Akatsuki.]
[At the same time, she focused on training and nurturing the next generation — the Twelve Young Shinobi of Konoha.]
"See that, you old geezer? I didn't sell out Konoha in the future."
When little Tsunade saw that part, she felt so satisfied.
Earlier, Hashirama and Tobirama had both been worried she'd end up selling Konoha.
No matter how much she tried to explain that she'd never do such a thing, those two old men just wouldn't believe her. It really ticked her off.
But secretly, she also had some worries of her own.
She was afraid… afraid that her gambling addiction might actually make her do something that terrible.
Otherwise, she wouldn't have vowed to quit gambling.
But now? Now the light screen had confirmed it — case closed. Even if she didn't quit gambling, she still wouldn't end up selling Konoha.
Besides, who's to say things would go just like the original timeline?
Maybe she wouldn't even become the Fifth Hokage.
After all, the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, definitely wouldn't die young like he did before.
That means the position of Fifth Hokage might never even open up.
"So, am I dumb or what? I don't even know if I'll become Hokage, so why was I arguing with those two old geezers in the first place?"
Just thinking about it made little Tsunade want to cry.
She was basically getting mad at herself. So stupid.
Putting aside little Tsunade crying from her own foolishness — the Tsunade from the timeline of the Third Hokage was surprised when the light screen mentioned the Twelve Young Shinobi. She turned to Jiraiya and asked, "The Twelve Young Shinobi? Who are they?"
In ninja terms, "Young Shinobi" didn't mean cockroaches. It meant young, strong, and full of potential — the next generation of promising ninjas.
"You're asking me? I have no idea either."
Hearing that, Tsunade gave him a look of pure disdain.
"If only you spent half as much time caring about the village's next generation as you do peeking into women's bathhouses, maybe you wouldn't be so clueless."
Jiraiya couldn't hold back anymore.
He's tired like a dog every single day—where would he even find the time to peek at the women's bathhouse?
At most, at most, he'd just use the old man's crystal ball to sneak a look here and there.
But that's all for the village's safety, definitely not because he wants to see pretty girls.
"I don't know the exact list of the Konoha 12, but I can pretty much guess."
"Then just tell me already—why are you being so secretive?"
Jiraiya took a deep breath and said, "You, me, and Orochimaru's students—those three are definitely included.
Other than that, their generation's Ino-Shika-Cho trio—Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, and Choji Akimichi—plus Hinata Hyuga, Kiba Inuzuka, and Shino Aburame.
Those nine are the most outstanding of their generation.
As for the other three, Naruto might have to look at the generation before or after them."
"Comparing both groups, I think Neji Hyuga, Rock Lee, and Tenten from the previous generation are the most likely."
"Yeah, so the full list of the Konoha 12 is probably those twelve."
Among the twelve, besides the three students of the Legendary Sannin, the one Tsunade is most familiar with is Rock Lee.
She didn't have a choice—the first thing she did after returning to the village was save Lee, whose injuries had only been barely stabilized by Kabuto.
When she found out Lee had opened five of the Eight Inner Gates, and that's what got him in that condition, she couldn't help but become a little curious.
The Eight Inner Gates, huh… of course she knew about that forbidden jutsu.
Back in the day, Lee's teacher's father, Might Duy, opened all Eight Gates and wrecked the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.
And back then, Might Duy was just a genin.
A genin using one secret technique to take down the Seven Swordsmen like that—if more people learned this, and they were even stronger, wouldn't Konoha rule the entire ninja world?
But after she looked into it, she realized how brutal training in the Eight Gates really was.
Opening each gate means pushing your body to the limit and beyond.
When you open all Eight Gates, you gain immense power—but at the cost of your life.
It's because of this that the Eight Gates were eventually classified as a forbidden jutsu in Konoha.
Lee, a kid with neither a special Kekkei Genkai nor a strong background, managed to learn this powerful forbidden technique. Even Tsunade had to admit she was a bit impressed.
Speaking of Lee, Jiraiya casually asked, "By the way, how's Lee doing now? Can he still be a ninja?"
"Kabuto's medical skills are decent. He didn't cure the kid completely, but at least he kept the injury from getting worse. As long as Lee follows my treatment, there's a good chance he can still be a ninja. It's just that it might affect his future strength."
"What kind of effect?"
"You know this—he trains in the Eight Gates. That forbidden technique puts a heavy burden on the body. Even if I fully heal him, chances are he won't be able to open all eight gates anymore."
"I see. That's not too bad, then."
"Not too bad?"
"Yeah, not too bad. If he's unhappy about not being able to open all the gates, then once he saves up enough money, we'll just clone him a new, undamaged body."
Tsunade was stunned for a moment. It wasn't until Jiraiya said that out loud that she suddenly understood.
"Oh right, cloning is an option."
After saying that, Tsunade felt something was a little off.
She thought about it for a bit, then complained, "So we're really just solving everything with cloning and resurrection now? That feels so damn weird."
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