After returning from the Land of Grass, Tsunade brought Roshi encouraging news: the branch he had placed in the nutrient solution had regained its vitality.
Considering that this was the only unique sapling in his possession, Roshi treated it with extreme caution. He discarded every aggressive catalytic method and instead chose the most traditional approach.
Loosening the soil. Regulating the temperature. Preparing the nutrient solution.
From the moment cultivation began, Roshi's true body no longer left the experimental forest. For occasional matters, he would send a Shadow Clone or Wood Clone to handle things in his place, depending on the situation.
At times, much like Itachi, he would simply meet visitors directly within the forest itself.
Several weeks passed under such careful attention. At last, when his chakra senses detected several slender white root hairs emerging from the base of the branch, the tension that had been weighing on him finally eased slightly.
But this was only the beginning.
After confirming that the roots had taken hold, he used Wood Release to nurture them, carefully guiding their growth.
Several more weeks slipped by. Once the young seedling's condition stabilized, Roshi again employed Wood Release to cultivate several new, vigorous branches. These were then cut and preserved as fresh seed stock.
He repeated this process several times.
When the number of collected seeds finally reached the predetermined target, Roshi immediately halted this extractive process and redirected all his attention back to the continued care and observation of the mother plant in his hands.
For the time being, the planting and nurturing work had come to an end.
Roshi walked to the edge of the forest, unrolled a scroll, and summoned the Wood Clone that had previously sealed a portion of Dragon Vein energy.
After awakening its consciousness, Roshi placed a Flying Thunder God mark upon it. Watching as the clone silently disappeared into the shadows between the trees, he then arranged a nearby alert trigger seal.
If a situation truly arose, the Wood Clone—empowered with sealed Dragon Vein energy—should be capable of dealing with it. If even that proved insufficient, once the alert seal activated and woke Roshi, he would still be able to return instantly.
Having remained in this place for nearly three months, Roshi felt a trace of fatigue.
He did not head toward the Hokage office. After all, there was already a Hokage sitting there—and it was hardly the season to start working diligently just yet.
Instead, he returned to the Senju Estate.
As he approached the residence, a surge of lively human voices passed through the walls and reached his ears. Roshi paused, momentarily wondering if he had taken the wrong path.
Then he remembered.
Today was likely another gathering day.
Since around the fifty-fifth year, after he, Hayami Shigeru, and the others had decided to hold monthly gatherings here, such meetings had been held regularly.
At first, there had only been a few dozen participants.
With Tsunade's return, another hundred or so people joined. Then, after last year's incident in the Land of Rivers, the gathering—once numbering around two hundred—expanded yet again.
Fortunately, the old estate, originally used as a meeting place for the Senju clan, was large enough. Only a few unused sections needed to be reorganized.
The original arrangement, where Roshi alone funded the purchase of ingredients, had quietly changed after Tsunade returned. Now, participants voluntarily contributed a modest fee, and the gathering operated smoothly.
Standing outside the gate and listening to the courtyard's market-like bustle, Roshi—rarely—felt a faint trace of hesitation.
But only for a moment.
He still reached out and pushed open the heavy gate.
The moment the door opened, the lively atmosphere within the courtyard began to shift in a strange way.
First, a few people near the entrance fell silent, their gazes turning toward him.
Then, like ripples spreading across water, more and more people turned their heads.
The clamor.
The clinking of cups and plates.
The laughter and boisterous chatter.
All of it gradually faded.
Silence spread outward like a rising tide.
Someone—he wasn't sure who—called out softly,
"Lord Roshi."
Then another voice followed.
And another.
Soon, the calls rose together, merging into a single unified greeting.
"Lord Roshi!"
Roshi stood at the doorway, his gaze sweeping across the crowd calling his name. Among them were a few unfamiliar faces, but many were people he knew well. Hayami Shigeru was waving both arms enthusiastically, while Kachi Onju held his wine cup high, his face flushed with drink and excitement.
Roshi said nothing.
He simply stepped forward, walking into the sea of people that had fallen silent because of him—and now seemed to burn with a quiet fervor because of him as well—meeting their gazes one by one.
Aside from the port incident, this gathering at the old estate also made him feel that things were beginning to grow beyond his control.
Roshi's original intention had been simple: to bring together the former members of the Senju clan who had scattered across the village, many of whom had changed their surnames, and form a loose alliance where they could support one another and speak with a united voice.
With their help, many of the village's tedious but important matters had indeed become far easier to handle.
But he had never imagined that, only a few years later, things would evolve into this.
The banquet eventually came to an end. Those who had stayed behind to help with the cleanup gradually departed.
Roshi stood alone beneath the veranda, gazing into the courtyard. It had returned to its original spacious quiet, yet the lingering warmth of the gathering still seemed to hang in the air, along with the faint scent of alcohol.
He remained there in silent contemplation.
After a while, Senju Momoka slowly walked over and sat down beside him on the edge of the veranda.
"Finished with your work?" the elder asked.
"For now."
Momoka followed his gaze, as though she could still see the lively scene from earlier.
She sighed softly.
"With your Wood Release, your refusal to hide your strength, and the merit of slaying a Kage… it was inevitable things would develop like this."
"The deeper a tree's roots grow, the wider its branches spread. And naturally, more people will wish to rest in its shade and grow beneath its protection."
After saying that, she slowly stood up, looking somewhat tired.
Even though others had arranged the gathering and she hadn't needed to do any real labor, simply greeting the constant stream of visitors had been a considerable burden at her age.
Momoka gently patted Roshi's arm before turning and heading back toward the inner rooms.
"How does it feel?"
A teasing voice suddenly came from above the rooftop.
"Our Lord Roshi, the man who defeated Sunagakure and dealt with Iwagakure."
"You're skipping work again," Roshi replied without looking up.
Tsunade dropped lightly from the eaves, landing softly on the wooden floor of the corridor.
Hands on her hips, she immediately glared at him.
"Do you even know what time it is? Don't Hokage get to go home too, you idiot?!"
But the anger lasted only a moment before she broke into laughter.
"I told you when I came back—I'd hand the Hokage position over to you. I even tried to push it onto you last year. With your ability, you could've run the village for three or four years and then dumped the job on someone else just like I did. Wouldn't that have been perfect?"
She jabbed a finger at his chest.
"Back then, besides you, only Kakashi could barely handle it. But you refused—and now I'm the one stuck with the job!"
The more she spoke, the angrier she became. Grabbing Roshi by the collar, she shook him back and forth.
"So whose fault do you think this is?!"
Roshi allowed himself to be shaken, his expression calm and utterly unmoved.
Better to deal with the trouble now than get tricked into a position that was nearly impossible to escape later.
"What kind of face is that?!"
The Senju princess released him with a huff.
Then, as if suddenly remembering something, she crossed her arms and lifted her chin slightly, putting on the dignified air of a Hokage.
"I heard you've finished dealing with the forest project, right?"
"Good. Your vacation is officially over."
"Tomorrow, envoys from the Village of Bamboo in the Land of Woods will arrive."
She smirked.
"You'll be the one receiving them."
The Land of Woods borders the Land of Fire. Within it lies the Village of Bamboo, an organization somewhat similar to the great Shinobi villages.
Only somewhat.
Historically, the most prominent shinobi force within the Land of Woods had never been the village itself, but rather the Prajna Group.
Members of the Prajna Group favored wearing demon masks. In the shinobi world, such attire set them apart from the established order—true shinobi wore forehead protectors bearing their village's symbol.
Masked figures belonged to something else entirely.
In the original timeline, after Tsunade fell into a coma and Danzo seized power, this very group had sent assassins to eliminate the acting Hokage during the Five Kage Summit.
In the end, every one of those assassins had died at Danzō's hands.
This time, the Village of Bamboo had sent representatives simply to express goodwill.
Although it was merely a routine diplomatic meeting, Roshi still summoned Kakashi after the envoys had departed.
"Your duty rotation came early this year?"
Kakashi stepped into the Hokage office. Upon seeing who was sitting behind the desk handling paperwork, that was the first thing he said.
Then he immediately moved to the real matter.
"Regarding the Land of Woods—about two months ago, the Village of Bamboo and the Prajna Group clashed in a conflict of considerable scale."
"The outcome was decisive. The Village of Bamboo emerged victorious and now effectively controls the situation."
After confirming the intelligence with Kakashi, Roshi picked up the politely worded goodwill document, glanced over it briefly, and placed it in the stack of processed files.
"The leave you took this year was unusually short," Kakashi commented.
"Such is the fate of the unfortunate."
Kakashi immediately responded with a deadpan stare.
"Please don't say things like that in front of me."
If someone who took half a year of vacation every year claimed to be unfortunate, then what did that make him—someone who had graduated from the Academy at five, become a Chunin at six, and started working endlessly ever since?
"Have you considered transferring to become a Jonin Instructor?" Roshi asked casually while flipping through the progress report on Root's reorganization. "It would be much easier."
Kakashi tilted his head slightly in thought.
"Hmm… in another year or so, things here should be fully stabilized. The manpower shortage will probably be resolved by then."
Then he shook his head.
"Forget it. I'm not particularly interested in mentoring children."
Besides, he likely wouldn't enjoy the current atmosphere within the Ninja Academy. The institution had begun emphasizing individual strength and practical combat competitions far too heavily.
Genin trained in that environment probably wouldn't meet the standards he believed a shinobi should have.
"Since the Fifth Hokage isn't here," Kakashi said, pulling a scroll from his pocket and handing it over, "you can listen to today's intelligence summary."
"Takigakure remains closed off. Yugakure continues drifting further from the path of war, and its tourism industry is steadily developing."
"Iwagakure has launched Western Shinobi Exchange Activities this month."
"Sunagakure, meanwhile, has encountered difficulties while attempting to open new sea routes. They appear to have been harassed by an unidentified force."
Kakashi's tone grew slightly more serious.
"However, their aerial combat capabilities have improved significantly. Based on observations during the maritime conflict, the bombing altitude of their flying ninja tools has stabilized at around eighty meters."
"Whether they can maintain accuracy at higher altitudes is still unknown."
It seemed the defensive line in the Land of Rivers would need to remain in place for the time being. Konoha's defensive network was still under construction.
Some of the seeds Roshi had cultivated had already been sent to the Land of Wind.
Sunagakure's initial feedback had been quite positive. They believed the tree species had minimal environmental requirements and could indeed survive under extreme drought conditions.
However, the testing period was still short.
Whether these trees could truly take root in that vast desert—and perhaps change something fundamental—would require much more time to verify.
"Finally, regarding the Hidden Mist… the restrictions on shinobi escorts accompanying merchant caravans into the Land of Water have been slightly relaxed."
"They may now apply for temporary landing permits through official channels. During the period covered by the permit issued by Kirigakure, these foreign shinobi will not be treated as targets by Hidden Mist ninja."
Roshi raised an eyebrow.
Was this… the beginning of the gradual lifting of the Bloody Mist?
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