"I'll go open the door."
Minato Namikaze got up and walked to the door.
As he opened it, he saw an ANBU ninja standing outside and immediately felt a sense of foreboding.
It seemed that the battlefield in the Land of Frost had reached a critical moment.
"Lord Minato."
The ANBU ninja handed him a scroll and said, "This is the latest battle report from the Land of Frost."
"Thank you."
Minato took the scroll.
"There is one more thing," the ANBU ninja continued. "The Hokage has ordered that your mission is over
"What mission?" Minato was taken aback and didn't understand.
"The mission to protect Lady Kushina," the ANBU ninja replied.
Upon hearing this, Minato's face immediately showed an expression of astonishment.
What did this mean? Why was his mission to protect Kushina Uzumaki being canceled?
"What's wrong, Minato?" Kushina Uzumaki walked up to him and asked in confusion.
"Nothing," Minato said as he unrolled the scroll. "This is the battle report from the Land of Frost. Let's take a look together."
"Is it my turn to step onto the battlefield?" Kushina mistakenly thought that Minato's strange behavior was because she was about to go to the battlefield.
But after she read the report, she realized how wrong she was.
"I haven't even made my appearance yet, and it's already over?" Kushina exclaimed.
"This is truly incredible!" Minato couldn't help but marvel.
He suddenly realized something.
Tsunade would most likely become the Fourth Hokage.
As for the Fifth Hokage, he had originally been confident that he would get the position, but now, with this situation, Hanekawa would surely become his competitor.
Logically, Hanekawa was too young to be the Fifth Hokage; he would be more suitable for the Sixth Hokage.
But the problem was that his current strength was too formidable.
In the ninja world, strength was paramount, and once one's strength reached a certain level, age became irrelevant.
Minato felt a sense of bitterness as he thought this through.
Given the current situation, his prediction was likely to come true.
Unless he could achieve a more impressive record than Hanekawa, which was impossible.
Who in the entire ninja world could have a greater value than the Two-Tails, Eight-Tails, and the Fourth Raikage?
"Why do you look unhappy?" Kushina noticed the change in his expression.
"I was just thinking about the position of Hokage," Minato said without hiding his thoughts. "I'm afraid I won't be able to compete with Lady Tsunade and Hanekawa."
Kushina quickly understood the reason after a moment of thought.
Indeed, it was an awkward situation.
"If my strength is not enough, there's nothing much to say," Minato smiled and said nonchalantly.
Winning is winning, and losing is losing.
And he was truly convinced by his loss to Hanekawa.
At least he knew he could never achieve such a record.
...
In the Hidden Stone Village, the Tsuchikage's building.
"Fortunately, we chose to make peace with the Hidden Leaf Village," said Ōnoki after reading the intelligence report, feeling a sense of relief.
If they had attacked the Hidden Leaf Village, their fate would likely have been as miserable as the Hidden Cloud Village's.
Even the Eight-Tails couldn't defeat Hanekawa, so their Four-Tails and Five-Tails would have been even less of a match.
In fact, that was precisely the case.
After all, the Four-Tails had already been captured by Hanekawa.
And at that time, he only used Water Release techniques, not Wood Release.
"After many years, the Hidden Leaf Village has Wood Release techniques again, which is bad news for us," said Kitsuchi, with a grave expression.
"Hashirama Senju... Wood Release..."
Ōnoki remembered the story of his youth when he followed the Second Tsuchikage, Mu, to the Hidden Leaf Village.
Both of them were beaten by Madara Uchiha, but they dared not speak out.
Because at that time, the Hidden Leaf Village had the God of the Shinobi, Hashirama Senju.
"What should we do to respond?" Kitsuchi asked after a moment of silence.
"What can we do? Doing nothing is the best response," Ōnoki shook his head and said.
Kitsuchi wanted to say something but stopped himself, and could only sigh inwardly.
"Now that the Great Ninja War has ended, the Five Great Villages will enter a relatively peaceful period, and we might still catch up with the Hidden Leaf Village," Ōnoki glanced at him and said, "It's not time to give up yet."
"Yes, Father!" Kitsuchi replied with renewed spirit.
"The Hidden Stone Village will have two major strategies in the future: one is to vigorously develop the village's economy, and the other is to focus on cultivating the village's young ninja," Ōnoki said, holding up two fingers.
Given the current situation of the Hidden Stone Village, the middle-aged and elderly ninja were unlikely to make any further breakthroughs.
To surpass Hanekawa, they would have to rely on the young talents of the next generation.
"How is my granddaughter doing?" Ōnoki suddenly thought of his granddaughter, Kurotsuchi, who had just been born not long ago.
"She was still making a fuss when I left earlier," Kitsuchi's face showed a hint of a smile.
"Let's go see the future of the Hidden Stone Village," Ōnoki stood up and said.
...
In the Hidden Sand Village's temporary base in the Land of Frost.
After Tsunade and Hanekawa led their people to the new camp of the Hidden Cloud Village, they were assigned by Orochimaru to the western side of the Land of Frost.
The reason Orochimaru gave was to prevent the Hidden Cloud Village from launching a surprise attack, but both Pakura and Rasa felt something was off.
However, they had no choice but to follow orders.
In the main tent, Pakura, Rasa, and other jōnin were gathered together.
Tsunade had not forgotten them and had sent a ninja squad to deliver a message.
"The situation is as follows," said the Hidden Leaf Village jōnin. "The war is over, and you can all return to the main base."
After he finished speaking, the entire main tent fell into a deathly silence.
Both Pakura and Rasa were trying to digest the explosive news he had brought.
The Hidden Leaf Village jōnin's lips curled slightly, almost bursting into laughter.
To see so many Hidden Sand Village jōnin with their mouths agape in astonishment was worth the trip.
At that moment, his sense of belonging to the Hidden Leaf Village reached its peak.
"We will return first," the Hidden Leaf Village jōnin said and turned to leave the main tent.
"Is what he said true?" Maki couldn't help but ask.
"There is no need for him to lie," Rasa said in a deep voice. "Because we can expose his lie as soon as we return to the main base."
"I didn't expect the war to end in such a way," Pakura said, rubbing her temples.
"I would rather it had ended differently," Mak
ki sighed.
Everyone was silent.
They understood what Maki meant.
The strength that the Hidden Leaf Village had shown in this battle was simply terrifying.
If the war had ended normally, it wouldn't have been so alarming to them.
Although the Hidden Sand Village and the Hidden Leaf Village were currently allies, there were no eternal allies in the ninja world.
One day, they would become enemy villages.
At that time, what could the Hidden Sand Village use to resist the Hidden Leaf Village?
"I just hope there won't be another Hashirama Senju," Rasa said slowly.
"That's a matter for the future," Pakura comforted. "At least for now, we are the victors."
...
Hidden Mist Village.
It was already late at night.
Mei Terumi stood in front of the window, looking at the foggy weather outside.
The Hidden Rain Village had constant rainfall, while the Hidden Mist Village would occasionally be shrouded in fog.
This was also the reason why they had developed the Hidden Mist Technique and the Silent Killing Technique.
"Did that pervert die on the battlefield in the Land of Frost?" Mei suddenly thought of Hanekawa.
Although she often cared about the situation on the battlefield in the Land of Frost, the Hidden Mist Village was too far away, and the intelligence was often not timely.
Unless it was significant news.
Mei twirled a strand of hair with her finger.
Would Hanekawa's death be considered significant news?
It should be.
After all, the Hidden Mist Village hated Tsunade and Hanekawa, the teacher and student duo, with a vengeance.
The Third Mizukage and the Seven Ninja Swordsmen had all died at their hands.
Mei frowned.
After exchanging six of the Seven Ninja Swords from Hanekawa, she temporarily became the head of the new Seven Ninja Swordsmen.
Of course, she didn't use the swords herself; she just helped with the selection.
And it was during this selection process that she discovered the young generation of the Hidden Mist Village was rather sparse.
Only Zabuza Momochi and Kisame Hoshigaki had decent strength.
But compared to Hanekawa, they were nothing special.
Just then, a knock on the door sounded.
Mei was slightly stunned.
Was someone visiting her at this late hour?
Mei opened the door and saw an ANBU ninja.
"Lady Mei," the ANBU ninja bowed slightly and said, "The Mizukage requests your presence at the Mizukage's office for a meeting."
"I understand, I'll be right there," Mei suppressed her curiosity and headed towards the Mizukage building.
Upon arriving at the Mizukage's office, she realized she was not the only one there.
All the well-known jōnin of the Hidden Mist Village had already gathered.
What could be so important that a jōnin meeting was convened in the middle of the night?
Was there another war?
As Mei was pondering, someone handed her a scroll.
She snapped back to reality and instinctively unrolled the scroll.
A few seconds later, she couldn't help but bite her lower lip.
The soft lips showed a row of faint tooth marks due to the force.
But Mei didn't mind, as her attention was entirely on the name Hanekawa.
What was going on with that pervert?
How could he become stronger in such a short time?
How did he even learn Wood Release?
Mei's mind was in chaos, filled with questions.
"The Hidden Leaf Village has won, and the Hidden Cloud Village has suffered a crushing defeat, which means the Great Ninja War is over," said Yagura slowly.
Mei snapped back to reality and closed the scroll.
But her inner turmoil remained.
She had been hoping to surpass Hanekawa one day, but now it seemed there was no hope at all.
After all, humans had their limits.
And Hanekawa didn't seem human; he seemed more like a tailed beast in human skin.
Otherwise, it was impossible to explain how he could defeat both the Two-Tails and the Eight-Tails at once.
"Now that the Hidden Leaf Village is so powerful, our Hidden Mist Village should also change its development strategy," Yagura said in a deep voice. "From today on, the Blood Mist Village will come to an end."
Mei was silent.
Ending the Blood Mist Village was something she had wanted to see.
But she never expected that it would be Tsunade and Hanekawa, the Hidden Leaf Village ninja, who would bring this about.
...
Hanekawa was in a daze when he smelled a familiar fragrance.
He opened his eyes and saw a pair of bare feet, and following them up, he saw Tsunade's delicate face.
But at this moment, her expression was slightly weary.
After the battle ended, Orochimaru was forced to relinquish power, and she automatically became the commander.
From morning till night, she barely managed to finish clearing the battlefield.
"Sensei," Hanekawa patted the carpet and said, "Come over and sleep together."
Tsunade looked at him instinctively.
After half a day of rest, Hanekawa had recovered a lot of chakra.
The aftereffects of his Yin Seal had completely disappeared, leaving no trace.
Tsunade stared at him for a few seconds, then sat down next to him and lay down.
"Sensei, how is the situation with the Hidden Cloud Village?" Hanekawa turned his head and asked.
"Except for the Hidden Cloud Village ninja we captured, the remaining ninja have withdrawn from the Land of Frost overnight," Tsunade said, feeling a bit uncomfortable.
For some reason, lying next to Hanekawa made her feel uneasy.
It wasn't like this before.
"Indeed," Hanekawa's gaze fell on her tight and full clothes and said.
"They are of no consequence; it's more convenient that they left," Tsunade glanced at him.
Hanekawa instinctively averted his gaze, looking meek.
"It's hard for our Hidden Leaf Village to deal with so many ninja," Tsunade continued. "Capturing the Fourth Raikage, the Two-Tails, and the Eight-Tails is enough to control them."
"Can I make a request?" Hanekawa looked at Tsunade again.
Her moist lips shone slightly, looking extremely soft.
"Of course," Tsunade smiled and said, "If you don't have the qualifications, then no one does."
"I want all the taijutsu techniques of the Third and Fourth Raikage," Hanekawa took this opportunity to say.
Lightning Release Chakra Mode and the Strongest Lightning Armor are also taijutsu techniques.
He didn't single them out, as it would be too obvious.
"No problem," Tsunade didn't think much and said with a smile, "You can have all the techniques of the Hidden Cloud Village; they dare not refuse."
"Right," Hanekawa thought for a moment and reached for her hand.
Tsunade was stunned, wanted to say something, but ultimately did nothing.
"What about those four Root ninja?" Hanekawa saw that Tsunade didn't resist, and a smile immediately appeared on his face.
"They have been secretly imprisoned, and even Orochimaru can't find them," Tsunade suddenly shuddered.
Because her palm was tickled a few times.
"Behave yourself!" Tsunade glared at him and said.
"Yes, Sensei," Hanekawa said seriously.
Tsunade felt a bit helpless.
She found Hanekawa becoming more and more bold.
Which was the result of her indulgence.
"Sensei, are you going to be the Hokage when we go back?" Hanekawa held her hand and gently twirled her finger with his index finger.
"The Hokage is not a position you can just decide to take," Tsunade unexpectedly did not refuse outright, "We'll see the situation when we get back."
"Will the Fire Daimyo come to the Hidden Leaf Village after our great contributions?" Hanekawa blinked and asked.
"You're such a pest!" Tsunade rolled her eyes and said, "I don't know!"
"Being angry will make you old," Hanekawa said with a smile, "Sensei, you're also tired, let's sleep."
"I'll go back and... "
Tsunade was about to get up but was pulled back by Hanekawa.
Her sentence "I'll go back and sleep" was cut off.
Tsunade couldn't help but frown and looked at him.
But after staring at each other for a long time, she finally softened her heart and gave in first.
"Sleep," Tsunade closed her eyes, but she didn't pull her hand away.
The two of them held hands and drifted off to sleep.
____
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