In the end, Mito Uzumaki passed away.
Although her time was approaching, it was clearly the inheritance of the Nine-Tails—which was more important—that consumed her last bit of life force.
Otherwise, with the Hidden Leaf's medical level, she could have certainly lived for a while longer.
Before Mito Uzumaki died, she only looked at Kenji a few times but couldn't manage to speak to him. She mainly entrusted Nawaki with some matters. Everyone in the room could only remain silent.
As blood relatives, Nawaki and Tsunade had to keep vigil for Mito Uzumaki for three days.
Kenji was not a member of the Senju family. Even if he had the heart to, he wasn't qualified to keep vigil alongside Nawaki and Tsunade.
Besides, having only met Mito Uzumaki two or three times, he indeed didn't have very deep feelings for her. Being too performative was unnecessary.
So, for these few days, Kenji placed his focus on cultivation.
Now that he had the God-level Drawing System and possessed the Hōgyoku and Sode no Shirayuki, he had undergone a qualitative change in every aspect.
However, this didn't mean he could slack off; on the contrary, he had to work even harder.
With such good conditions, how could he waste them?
The path of the strong is one where you either don't walk it at all, or once you do, you must stand at the absolute peak.
"Nawaki, have you seen Kenji?"
Recovering from her grief, Tsunade finally realized that Kenji seemed to have disappeared from her sight for several days.
She had been busy running around for her grandmother's funeral these past few days and had momentarily neglected Kenji.
However, Kenji also seemed to have become quite mysterious, appearing to deliberately avoid her and Nawaki.
Nawaki shook his head blankly and said, "No. For the past few days, Kenji-ge has been leaving early and returning late. His whereabouts are mysterious, and he looks tired every day."
"Tired? Did he go to the mountain to train again?"
In her memory, when Kenji was little, he liked to sneak up the mountain alone to train. Weight training, stamina training, endurance training—he showed a tenacity far surpassing his peers.
It was also starting from that time that she saw an indescribable charm in Kenji.
"Kenji-ge is already so powerful, yet he works so hard!" Nawaki said with distress. "It looks like I can't slack off either. Otherwise, even with the ninjutsu Teacher Orochimaru taught me, I'm afraid I'll still lose to Kenji-ge."
"Nawaki, Orochimaru taught you ninjutsu?" Tsunade asked curiously.
"Powerful ninjutsu!" Nawaki remained mysterious and wouldn't reveal it even to Tsunade.
Tsunade rolled her eyes. "Don't I know what ninjutsu Orochimaru knows? Acting mysterious in front of me?"
Talking like this reduced the melancholy in their hearts quite a bit.
However, at that moment, a black shadow suddenly landed in the courtyard and bowed respectfully to Tsunade.
"Anbu?" Tsunade immediately recognized the person's identity and asked with a frown, "Did something happen?"
The Anbu, under normal circumstances, naturally remained hidden in the dark.
Unless necessary, they would not show themselves.
"Lady Tsunade, the First Hokage's Sealing Scroll has been stolen by Sand Ninja. Lord Third has ordered all ninja to pursue the Sand Ninja with full force."
"What?" Tsunade was shocked. "The Sealing Scroll is such an important item; how could it be easily stolen?"
Not only had Sand Ninja infiltrated the village, but they had even stolen the important Sealing Scroll. It sounded like a fantasy.
"...Because of Lady Mito's funeral, the guards' attention couldn't be focused. Even Lord Third was negligent. The enemy clearly premeditated this and had investigated the location of the Sealing Scroll thoroughly."
Tsunade suddenly understood. Over the past few days, almost all of the village's attention had been placed on her grandmother's funeral. They had lowered their vigilance, allowing the enemy to find a loophole.
"Have you tracked their whereabouts? How many people?"
"Only two people infiltrated the village, just ordinary Chunin. However, there must be strong backup outside. Once they meet up, the situation might be difficult to handle."
Infiltrating a village to steal a Sealing Scroll was undoubtedly a capital offense.
Therefore, the people sent by the Sand were definitely two insignificant pawns.
If they succeeded, great. If they failed, the Sand would definitely sacrifice these two and claim ignorance.
The Hidden Leaf and the Sand would not go to war over this matter.
This was the dark maneuvering of politics.
"Phew... let's end it here for today. Sode no Shirayuki, return!"
In the dimly lit forest, Kenji exhaled in exhaustion and sheathed Sode no Shirayuki.
Although the training these past few days was tiring, the harvest was bountiful; he could now utilize Sode no Shirayuki's abilities much better.
Zanpakutō require the unity of mind and spirit, the cultivation of one's state of mind.
This kind of cultivation was not at all easier than physical training; on the contrary, it was even more exhausting.
"Eh? There are people over there?"
Kenji found it strange. He often trained in this area, and apart from him, there were rarely any signs of human activity.
But today, it seemed lively?
Kenji walked over and discovered two groups of people facing off ahead. Swords were drawn, and the atmosphere was tense, implying that a fight could break out at the slightest disagreement.
Of course, "swords drawn" was an exaggeration; actually, it was just a group of kids around ten years old.
The oldest among them was probably about the same age as Kenji.
Kenji scanned the seven or eight young boys and suddenly smiled inexplicably, finding it interesting.
Because these two groups were the Uchiha Clan and the Hyuga Clan.
The Uchiha Clan's attire was easy to recognize, and the Hyuga Clan all had the Byakugan, making them even easier to identify.
"Uchiha Fugaku, if you have the guts, repeat what you said earlier."
On the Hyuga side, a teenager of about ten years old dressed in white wore an expression of angry interrogation. The Hyuga Clan members behind him all seemed to look to him as their leader.
The Uchiha Clan side was also led by a boy of eleven or twelve.
But this boy was rebellious and unruly, with a look of disdain, acting as if he looked down on the Hyuga Clan.
"So what if I say it again? Hyuga Feiyu, I'm not targeting you, I'm saying that everyone in the Hyuga Clan... is trash!"