Small talk had its limits, and soon enough, the four of them went their separate ways around the camp.
When Haseo returned to his tent, thinking that this exhausting day was finally over and preparing to rest, he suddenly received a summons from Third Hokage.
The situation seemed somewhat urgent. Haseo hurriedly left his tent. Upon arriving at Third Hokage's location, he found Tsunade already there. Was this a full squad assembly? It made sense for her to arrive first since her quarters were very close to the Hokage's.
Strangely though, aside from her, the other two members were nowhere to be seen.
"Lord Hokage, do we have an urgent mission?" Haseo immediately asked.
It was already nighttime, with lanterns lighting up the entire camp. Unless it was urgent, Third Hokage wouldn't have called him over like this.
All sorts of messy thoughts and guesses surfaced in Haseo's mind, yet unfortunately, none hit the mark.
Third Hokage looked at Haseo before him, nodding inwardly with approval. His disciples had improved rapidly on the battlefield, so naturally he felt quite satisfied with Haseo's performance. One could only wonder what he would think if he learned that Haseo had actually been slacking off on the battlefield all this time.
Though the Hokage didn't reveal his satisfaction outwardly, he got straight down to business: "Haseo, the village will soon launch its final operation against Amegakure. The battles ahead will be intense for some time, so before that, you need to return to the village first...
To be precise—you'll be returning to the village with Tsunade."
"The village? Konoha?" Haseo hesitated for a moment. Because of the intel provided earlier by those three kids, the battle plan announced by Third Hokage didn't surprise or confuse him. The upcoming fight against Amegakure might be Konoha's last large-scale offensive of this Great Ninja World War, so he understood where the Hokage was coming from.
But... why go back to the village just before battle?
Third Hokage didn't keep him waiting and gave a brief explanation for sending Haseo and Tsunade back to Konoha.
After hearing the Hokage's explanation, Haseo stayed quiet for a moment. Then, after glancing at Tsunade, he nodded in agreement, "I understand. We'll set out as soon as possible."
Third Hokage gave a slight nod—this was essentially all he needed to say.
Soon afterward, Haseo and Tsunade departed from the Hokage's tent. As they stepped outside the command tent, Haseo heard Tsunade speak up, "Let's go, Haseo—we should move quickly."
Konoha? Now, at once?
Haseo hesitated again. When he told Third Hokage just now that they'd set out quickly, he had meant starting early the next morning. He hadn't expected Tsunade to move this quickly.
Still, Haseo could completely understand her feelings. Seeing the desperate determination in her eyes, he could only nod, "Fine, although traveling at night isn't convenient... getting back to the village quickly is more important."
The two didn't even go back to pack before setting off directly from the Hokage's tent. After passing through the main entrance of the Front-line Camp, they headed eastward, speeding straight toward Konoha under the night sky...
For a brief moment, Haseo considered summoning Katsuyu for rapid transportation. However, since he hadn't returned the Summoning Scroll to Tsunade yet—and because the situation wasn't that urgent—he ultimately decided against it.
Still, as they traveled onward, they held nothing back when it came to chakra use. Haseo activated his Lightning Release to move at high speeds across long distances—an ability he'd never tried pushing this far before. As a result, he and Tsunade returned to Konoha before daybreak.
"Tsunade, are you coming with me?" After entering the village through official channels, Tsunade asked Haseo.
Haseo thought about it for a moment and felt it would be inappropriate, so he shook his head and said, "No, let's meet again tomorrow."
Tsunade nodded, saying nothing else, then chose to part ways with him.
But Haseo didn't leave immediately. He secretly followed Tsunade until confirming she had reached her destination, only then did he choose to turn back.
The village was very quiet at night. It wasn't until Haseo reached Hot Spring Town that he noticed signs of life... Unlike other parts of Konoha already cloaked in darkness, even though dawn was near, this area still had a few scattered pedestrians on the streets—middle-aged men lost in thought, each looking like they'd been run into the ground.
Stores along both sides of the street had kept their lights on all night.
Of course, once the entertainment scene starts growing, it just keeps picking up steam.
"It's been quite a while now,"
As he walked down the street, Haseo unconsciously had this feeling. He continued along the Hot Spring River, crossed a wooden bridge, and finally made his way back home.
The sky was already lightening slightly. Haseo opened the door and turned on the lights. Having stayed up all night, he originally intended to rest for a bit—but the room that had been unused for quite some time was covered in dust everywhere.
With no choice, he rolled up his sleeves and got started on a much-needed clean-up.
By the time Haseo swept all the dust away, another two hours had passed. By then, he had no appetite left and, weary from exhaustion, went barefoot to lie down on the floor that had just dried after being mopped, drifting into sleep without realizing it.
When he woke up again, it was already three o'clock in the afternoon.
Haseo sat up, moved his dazed head around a bit, washed his face, then left the house.
First, he grabbed something simple to eat by the roadside, then proceeded step-by-step in a certain direction within the village until arriving at a quiet small courtyard.
Looking through the low fence, Haseo saw Sansho lounging in a wide lounge chair, basking in the sunlight. Her hands held a book, while a small table nearby held a teapot full of green tea and one teacup.
Haseo scratched his hair absentmindedly but eventually pushed open the gate and entered the courtyard.
"What're you standing around for? Grab a seat."
Sansho shut the book in her hands and turned to speak to Haseo.
The moment he appeared, she had noticed him. Seeing his somewhat timid demeanor, Sansho found it slightly amusing.
"It's probably not very good for someone like me, a ninja covered in bloodlust, to get too close to my teacher right now," Haseo awkwardly said.
"All the people around me are bloodstained ninjas anyway; one more won't make much of a difference."
...That actually made sense. Thus, Haseo grabbed a short stool and sat beside Sansho.
"Sansho-sensei... are you feeling alright?" He asked while quietly pouring out the tea leaves and dregs from the teapot on the low table before replacing it with a pot of plain, flavorless water.
Observing his actions, Sansho found them unnecessary—yet strangely comforting... Haseo really had changed. It wasn't just physical growth or improved ninjutsu skills—he had transformed spiritually as well. He no longer seemed so tightly wound.
This was a good thing... another good thing indeed.
"As you can see, I'm perfectly fine—actually, I might even say I haven't felt this energetic in a long time," Sansho replied.
Superficially, that certainly seemed to be the case. But if everything truly were as it appeared on the surface, then why would the Third Hokage have summoned Haseo back to Konoha at this time?
"Don't worry about me; Kai will take care of me... How is the Front Line?"
"Everything's going well. The final battle's already underway, and Konoha's victory feels sealed before a single move is made."
Sansho had no reason not to already know such intelligence, but since she had asked, Haseo naturally knew how to respond accordingly.
"Tsunade..."
"She's only just gone to rest. You two hurried back last night... Sarutobi overreacted unnecessarily; there really wasn't any need to rush like that."
Sansho tried to stand up, so Haseo steadied her arm.
"You've made your decision already, haven't you, sensei?"
"There's nothing to decide. A blessing from above—no one would ever refuse something like that."
Sansho said this while getting to her feet, and Haseo's gaze fell upon her abdomen. Even after she stood upright, he still couldn't discern anything.
Yet despite seeing nothing himself, the truth remained the truth—nobody could possibly mistake such matters. Therefore, he continued asking, "Have you already decided on a name for the child?"
That simple question was enough to gently probe Sansho's feelings.
"Mm, I've already thought about it."
What Haseo received in response was merely further confirmation of her determination. However, regarding such matters, he had absolutely no position to offer consolation, only the choice of accepting Sansho's decision.
"I see. Then maybe... I could guess the name."
Sansho finally chuckled at that. "How could you possibly do that?"
"I think I really could try... Sansho-sensei, how does 'Nawaki' sound?"
Sansho's laughter stopped abruptly, and she stared at Haseo with an expression filled with disbelief.
It was a look Haseo had never seen on her face before, so he started laughing again—an enigmatic smile played on his lips.
Known as Sansho,
The ninjutsu teacher of Haseo Yu.
Current chief and last surviving member of the Senju clan.
Tsunade's mother.
The true princess of Konoha.
Daughter of The First Hokage and niece of The Second Hokage.
Known as Sansho,
Is none other than the one and only Sansho.
P.S. 1: I've already chatted with my editor about the release plan. Barring any surprises, we'll go VIP on the first of next month. There's a 97% chance it's just so you guys can read a few more free chapters, and the remaining 3%? Well, I just need some time to build up a bit of buffer content. To all readers who've been saving your moon tickets: thank you, really, but I can't keep holding you back. (Moon tickets = special votes in Chinese web novels)
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