After Sousuke left Tsunade continued staring at the giant tree that had burst through her office, her face filled with emotion.
"That abnormally massive chakra… the innate monstrous strength… that unbelievably powerful body… and that natural life force…"
Right in front of Shizune and the many ANBU members, all of whom were completely dumbfounded.
Tsunade, still full of emotion, knocked lightly on her own head in frustration.
"I actually overlooked so many clues and failed to realize earlier that Sousuke was also one of my clansmen."
"What a mistake…"
"But now that Sousuke has awakened Wood Release…"
"Could this be considered a reawakening of ancestral blood?"
Pinching her chin thoughtfully Tsunade considered many possibilities, but in the end, she could only confirm one thing Sousuke was absolutely one of her clansmen.
In other words a descendant of the Senju Clan.
After all, the true Wood Release displayed before her eyes was not something fake.
As for why she, the direct granddaughter of Hashirama Senju, did not possess Wood Release, while Sousuke did that was simple.
Although Wood Release had been developed by Hashirama Senju it was not exclusively his.
Sousuke possessed the same bloodline.
As a descendant of the Senju Clan, after experiencing a reawakening of his ancestral blood, it was not strange at all for him to awaken genuine Wood Release.
Tsunade did not think too deeply about it.
Very soon thinking about the item Sousuke wanted, Tsunade's expression became serious.
"Tch…"
"The Wood Release scrolls Grandfather left behind are currently in Danzo's possession."
"Getting them back will probably require quite a bit of arguing."
But the next moment Tsunade's eyes suddenly became sharp.
"However…"
"Those are my grandfather's belongings. They are inheritance left to me!"
"In the past, I didn't care because they were useless."
"But now that true Wood Release has appeared in Sousuke's hands…"
"Those Wood Release scrolls should finally be returned to their rightful owner!"
Listening to Tsunade muttering to herself Shizune and the surrounding ANBU members all sucked in cold breaths.
Their eyes were filled with disbelief.
The ANBU masks hid their expressions well enough but Shizune's reaction exposed everything.
Her mouth hung open as she stared blankly at Tsunade and the giant tree Sousuke had left behind.
"Sousuke-kun is Lady Tsunade's clansman?"
Shizune muttered in shock.
"And he even awakened Wood Release?"
"The legendary strongest Bloodline Limit in the ninja world… the Wood Release of the First Hokage, the man who pacified the ninja world and founded Konoha?"
"Am I dreaming right now?"
Hearing Shizune's words the ANBU members beside her subconsciously nodded in agreement.
Because this revelation was simply too shocking.
"Shizune!"
Ignoring everyone's shock, Tsunade's face grew serious.
"You all are coming with me."
"We're going to pay the elders a visit."
"There are some things…"
"That I need them to return to me."
Still stuck in a dazed state Shizune and the others finally snapped back to reality after hearing Tsunade's words.
Soon after, they all exchanged glances with one another.
After a brief moment of shock, combined with the undeniable facts before them, Shizune and the others all realized.
Tsunade had already completely regarded Sousuke and his mother as her true family.
And for the sake of her junior family member, wanting something back was perfectly normal.
Besides the item Tsunade wanted had originally belonged to her in the first place.
Back then, the Third Hokage had merely "borrowed" it.
Now, it simply happened to be in Danzo's possession.
But don't think for a second that the Wood Release scrolls truly belonged to Danzo.
If Tsunade wanted them back that was entirely reasonable.
Of course, things would never be that simple.
After all, Danzo was no fool.
There was no way he would just sit back and watch Tsunade retrieve those scrolls and strengthen Sousuke further.
He would definitely do everything possible to stop her.
Naturally festroying the Wood Release scrolls was even more impossible.
As an extremely ambitious man after learning that Sousuke possessed Wood Release, how could Danzo possibly be willing to give up on a power capable of suppressing the entire ninja world?
Trying to obtain Wood Release for himself that was the most logical thing for him to do.
Root Headquarters
Danzo sat in his chair, listening to the report from his subordinate ninja.
His face was filled with utter shock.
After remaining silent for a long time Danzo waved his hand, dismissing the subordinate.
Then.
BOOM!
He smashed the chair beneath him into pieces with a single palm strike.
Pain and regret covered Danzo's face.
"AHHH!"
For once Danzo, who was usually composed, cursed in deep regret,
"DAMN IT! FUCK!"
Only after a long while did he finally calm himself down.
His expression was filled with countless complicated emotions.
"To think…"
"The Wood Release Bloodline Limit I've pursued for so many years…"
"Was right beside me all along…"
"Hiruzen…"
"You knew that Sousuke Yagyu was a descendant of the Senju Clan, didn't you?"
Crack!
The cane in Danzo's hand creaked loudly from how hard he squeezed it.
Hatred and fury filled his face.
"So that's how it was…"
"So you never trusted me from the very beginning!"
"Otherwise…"
"How could you possibly not tell me that Sousuke Yagyu possessed the potential to awaken Wood Release?!"
At this moment danzo's mentality had completely collapsed.
Not only because he had missed the best opportunity to obtain Sousuke but also because he felt that the Third Hokage had deceived him and betrayed their many years of friendship.
That old bastard Hiruzen he definitely already knew that Sousuke Yagyu was a descendant of the Senju Clan and possessed the potential to awaken Wood Release.
That was why he had accepted Sousuke Yagyu as his final disciple.
"What nonsense about seeing the shadow of the Fourth Hokage in that brat…"
Grinding his teeth, Danzo's face was filled with resentment and the fury of being betrayed by a close friend.
"Hiruzen…"
"What you actually saw in him…"
"Was the shadow of the First Hokage himself!"
"You old bastard"
"You deceived me for so many years… you truly deserve to die childless!"
At this moment, Danzo recalled the family records he had once investigated regarding Sousuke's family lineage.
There had clearly been no relatives connected to the Senju Clan whatsoever.
But now it seemed that information had been fabricated by the Third Hokage specifically to fool idiots.
Actually, there was nothing wrong with that.
But the problem was he, Danzo, had been the idiot who got fooled.
And that made it absolutely infuriating.
The Third Hokage that old fox was rotten to the core!
"I'm afraid even his early death as a 'hero who protected Konoha' was part of Hiruzen's plan!"
With cold eyes and his imagination running wild, Danzo began piecing together all sorts of conspiracies in his mind.
"No wonder my cooperation with Orochimaru back then went so smoothly…"
"Perhaps from that point onward, Hiruzen had already prepared himself for a tragic heroic finale!"
"And it just so happened that Jiraiya returned at that time."
Afterward Jiraiya proposed that Tsunade become the Fifth Hokage.
And those two pig-brained teammates of his, Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane, actually thought it made sense.
Then successfully they brought Tsunade back to the village.
With the support of Jiraiya and the already famous Sousuke, who by then had a deeply rooted network of influence behind him Tsunade successfully became the Fifth Hokage.
And during the negotiations over Sunagakure's compensation she seized Hokage authority in a single move.
Among all of this Sousuke's role absolutely could not be ignored!
"Hiruzen…"
Grinding his teeth, Danzo's expression turned ugly as venomous hatred flashed in his eyes.
"You truly were a master schemer…"
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