đšInsert Some Funny Memes or GIFđš
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A gust of wind howled through the Hokage's office, the shockwave from Tsunade's punch still rippling through the room.
Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura looked like survivors crawling out of a demolished ruin. Their once-proper robes were shredded and caked with dust. They trembled where they stood, their pupils dilated with terror.
At that moment, they weren't facing Tsunade.
They were facing something monstrousâlike a rampaging tailed beast.
Koharu stumbled back, her footing faltering, and collapsed to the ground in a daze. Yet even then, she tried to scoot further away in blind panic.
"Ahhâ!"
Her hand reached behind her for support and found nothing. A cold draft brushed against her back, and her whole body shivered.
She paused, daring a glance behind her.
Below was open airâbeyond the blown-out wall was the street outside the Hokage Building.
"Lady Tsunade! Are you alright?! Was it an enemy attack?!"
A group of Konoha shinobi burst in, guards stationed at the building, their kunai drawn and eyes sharp.
Tsunade casually shook out her right wrist, rotating it a bit with her left. The storm that had been brooding in her chest was gone now, expelled by that single punch. She felt... strangely at peace.
"I'm fine," she said with a sigh. "Just stretching my muscles."
Then a wry smile curled her lips.
"I was just about to have an important discussion with the two Hokage Advisors. Call in someone to fix that wall later."
The guards looked at each other, unease growing at Tsunade's calm, almost pleasant tone. That expressionâwhere had they seen it before?
It struck a familiar chord. But none of them could quite place it.
Still, they weren't fools. They understood their role. Tsunade was the future Fifth Hokageâand she'd made her intent clear.
She didn't want them involved.
And as for the pleading, horrified looks coming from Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura?
They turned away as if they hadn't seen a thing.
Serves them right, one guard thought. These two have been bleeding the village dry with their corruption for years. They deserve everything coming to them.
The guards quickly withdrew, setting a chakra seal at the entrance: No EntryâRestricted Area.
On the way out, one of the younger shinobi whispered with curiosity, "Hey⊠didn't Lady Tsunade's smile just now look exactly like Uchiha Hikaru's?"
The captain next to him smacked him upside the head.
"You think too much. Shut it."
"We're guards. Not gossipers. Keep your mouth shut about the Hokage's private life."
The others nodded in silence. Message received.
Still, none of them could shake the thought:
Tsunade's smile in that moment⊠was identical to Uchiha Hikaru's notorious "gentle" grinâthe one he wore before doing something terrifying.
That quiet, nuclear kind of kindness.
Just like a tailed beast might be fearsome, but the jinchĆ«riki who controlled oneâthat was what truly inspired dread.
And right now, that was exactly the kind of presence Tsunade exuded.
Back inside, as the guards left, Koharu slowly came back to her senses. Shaking, she struggled to her feet.
Homura helped brush her off, both of them still stunned and disheveled.
Tsunade sat calmly behind her desk again, watching them with thinly veiled disdain.
When the two advisors finally approached her once more, Tsunade gave a slow nod.
This is what advisors to the Hokage should look like, she mused sarcastically. Anyone else walking in earlier might've thought they were Hokage the way they were screaming.
She began calmly arranging papers on her desk, then glanced up.
"So? What do you want?"
Koharu and Homura exchanged a brief look, mustered what remained of their dignity, and cautiously spoke.
"Tsunade⊠we want to understand why funding for the Medical Corps and Civil Affairs Department has been cut."
Though their tone still held protest, the arrogant sharpness from before was long goneânow replaced with the careful wording of those walking on eggshells.
Tsunade paused for a beat, then began flipping through the documents with practiced efficiency.
Minutes ticked by.
The two elders stood stiffly, watching her sift through report after report. A part of them wanted to press again, but the image of her fist shattering a wall kept their mouths shut.
She still needs our political support, they both reasoned silently. She wouldn't dare fully cross us.
Finally, Tsunade divided the reports into two piles and tossed them across the desk toward them.
Her smile was pleasant. Too pleasant.
She reminded herself silently: Don't get angry. Anger causes wrinkles. You're Hokage now. Be graceful⊠be composedâŠ
Koharu and Homura each picked up a pile and pretended to skim through them.
Then, Koharu raised her head and spoke with mild annoyance.
"I think the budget reports for the Medical Corps are quite reasonable. I don't see any obvious issues."
"Yes," Homura added. "The Civil Affairs funding seems in order as well."
And that was the last straw.
To hell with composure!
Tsunade slammed her palms on the desk and stood up so fast her chair skidded back.
"Reasonable?! You call this reasonable?!"
She pointed straight at their faces, fury radiating from her like heat off molten steel.
"The first few expenses, sure, they're fine. But this?!"
She grabbed one document and held it up.
"Genin Yokoo Jun'e failed a B-rank mission. He's now permanently disabled. Your 'Medical Corps' has been allocating five million ryo a year for his treatmentâfor ten years!"
She tossed the paper down and picked up another.
"Jonin Utatane Ikki suffered an injury on a mission, became infertile. Another five million ryo annually trying to reverse that! Are you kidding me?!"
Tsunade's eyes bore into Koharu.
"You thought I wouldn't notice? You spaced out the embezzlement over a decade to keep it subtleâclever. But I'm a medic-nin, damn it. I know exactly how much treatment costs!"
"You've siphoned over a hundred million ryo just from these two 'patients.' And these are just the worst examples I've found so far."
She snarled the next line, each word a dagger.
"Don't forget who you're dealing with. You think I don't know how to audit hospital records?! You sleep-switching leeches have embezzled nearly a billion ryo from the Medical Corps alone!"
Homura, who had been standing quietly to the side, turned pale. His jaw dropped.
He'd always known Koharu was greedyâbut this?
And suddenly, he started mentally calculating how much he'd skimmed over the years.
Only about two hundred million...
That was nothing compared to Koharu.
He almost felt proud of his restraint.
She's screwed, he thought. I might just get away with this.
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