On his first day back, Haseo dealt with several minor and major matters concerning "Kagenami," then went home that night for a good night's rest. When he returned to his office the next day, he encountered Tsunade there.
Strange... Isn't this my office? That was Haseo's immediate reaction.
Wasn't "Kagenami" supposed to be a secret department? How could Tsunade enter so easily?
Well, for Tsunade now, even Root's secret training Base, she could enter whenever she wanted. Her authority in certain areas had gradually decreased as she grew older and more mature.
An eleven or twelve-year-old Senju princess running around everywhere was understandable—and acceptable—but what about her at twenty-one or twenty-two? The environment forced changes upon her.
During the unrest on the wedding night of the Third Hokage, Haseo's focus had primarily been on those radical Senju ninjas who sought to reclaim their former glory. Frankly speaking, Haseo had never imagined such an incident occurring because it resembled something the Uchiha would do, entirely contradicting the style expected of the Senju.
After all, people are only human. The Senju clan was the strongest ninja clan in the Ninjutsu World; naturally, many refused to quietly give up their proud Senju name and fade into obscurity… During Sansho's lifetime, she once said that being assassinated by fellow Senju ninja wouldn't have been unjust punishment for what she had done, clearly showing how aware she already was of some things.
Considering all that, even a small group of radical Senju restraining themselves until then was already showing respect toward the bloodline of the First Hokage.
After Sansho's death, opposition voices were left unchecked. With the end of the Great Ninja World War, the cost of taking action had significantly decreased, so these Senju ninjas simply couldn't stay quiet any longer.
Yet naturally, they failed.
Some things are irreversible. Just after two or three years of the Senju's retreat, when certain individuals reemerged, they discovered the village had changed drastically.
Haseo felt regret over those Senju, yet personally, he viewed them as people who had wasted the opportunities created by Sansho. While the spirit of the Senju meant little to Haseo, Sansho's will was a different matter. Therefore, despite feeling sorrow, he never hesitated when it came time to act.
Therefore, when the Senju accused him with the phrase "You're the one person in Konoha who should never have turned against us," Haseo didn't care at all.
As for Tsunade, her feelings regarding what happened that night were quite different from Haseo's.
She was a Senju herself, so her grief over this situation ran far deeper than Haseo's. Besides these complex emotions, she also remembered vividly the silver glow that had covered Haseo's body that night.
Haseo didn't think he had done anything unusual. After all, activating Lightning Release Mode for just a moment and turning it off immediately wouldn't make his body deteriorate rapidly—in fact, only prolonged use of this mode would cause such severe physical deterioration that it could reduce his body mass to nothing. Even though briefly using it still caused significant harm, it wouldn't come anywhere near that level of danger.
However, Tsunade knew, the moment she was in danger, it was Haseo who appeared right away.
Although Haseo had broken his promise back then by using a forbidden technique, at that moment, none of it mattered anymore.
To show her gratitude and stop Haseo from ever using such dangerous kinjutsu again, Tsunade brought him a gift... She finally understood—he sometimes spoke to her like she was just a kid. So, if speed was what he liked, she'd give him the fastest technique around. If even Shunshin no Jutsu wasn't fast enough, how about something that felt like flying—Space–Time Ninjutsu? Isn't that faster than Senken Zesshou? Although this technique carried risks too, it was still much safer than Haseo's Lightning Release Mode.
When Haseo accepted the scroll, unrolled it, and saw the written text and technique formula, he momentarily froze.
"Flying Thunder God? Tsunade… where did you get this ninjutsu?"
An S-rank ninjutsu—and a space-time one at that! Where had Tsunade stolen... no, where exactly had she gotten it from?
"You know Flying Thunder God?" Tsunade asked in mild surprise because she detected a familiar tone in Haseo's voice, as if he knew something about this technique.
"Cough, of course I don't know! But judging from these complex space-time formulas, it must be one of the village's top-secret techniques. I think… it shouldn't just end up in anyone else's hands outside the Third Hokage," Haseo quickly made up a clumsy excuse to cover himself.
[Flying Thunder God]—[Hayato Mai] and [Satsuruya Interior/Exterior]—if he didn't even recognize those names, there was definitely something wrong with Haseo's head.
Haseo nearly let slip the truth. Even though he covered it up right away, his words clearly showed disbelief, which slightly angered Tsunade. Her face swelled with frustration. "This is my great-uncle's created technique! Why can't his legacy appear in my hands?"
"..."
Haseo opened his mouth, speechless… Somehow, everything Tsunade said made twisted sense. The Second Hokage was a sly old bachelor, so naturally his inheritance should belong to her!
No, wait. Don't get trapped by ethical or bloodline logic. After the Second Hokage died and the Senju clan withdrew into seclusion, their heritage became Konoha's valuable archive. Even the small portion Haseo possessed was just a copied version. Therefore, what belonged to the First and Second Hokage now belonged to Konoha—not specifically to the Senju.
And certainly not exclusively to Tsunade.
So, Flying Thunder God wasn't something easy to obtain. Considering the current absence of the Third Hokage… Does that mean anyone could become like Naruto given the chance?
But the difference was, Tsunade wouldn't be punished for reclaiming this technique. Since originally, it had indeed belonged to the Senju family, retrieving it was simply returning lost property—even the Hokage couldn't really object.
After all, five years ago, the entire Hidden Leaf Village used to belong to the Senju household. How can someone forget their roots so easily? At the very least, the Third Hokage wasn't a two-faced hypocrite.
"If you have issues with it, feel free to return it to me."
Her voice trembled slightly with irritation, carrying both provocation and frustration.
Haseo smiled slightly, rolled up the scroll and placed it back into his ninja tool pouch at his waist... He wasn't totally clueless when it came to social stuff after all.
"If this is a thank-you gift, then I'll gladly accept it. But c'mon, it still feels kinda unfair. Considering you're Tsunade-sama—a person who saved Konoha—just a single ninjutsu doesn't seem like enough compensation."
…Cut the whining. Take it already, for crying out loud.
Tsunade muttered as she bowed her head.
Pfft…
You can't seriously be buying that BS, right? Isn't the Flying Thunder God technique enough? Do we really have to drag the First Hokage out of his grave, seal him inside the [Scroll of Seals], and hand that over instead?
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