[Finally, there's Konohagakure]
[Compared to the other shinobi villages, Konoha has far more famous female shinobi, and even more who qualify to compete for the title.]
Hearing this, the people of the other shinobi villages were instantly unconvinced.
Samui in Kumogakure gave a cold snort, Kurotsuchi in Iwagakure curled her lip, and Mei in Kirigakure raised an eyebrow. This screen was far too biased toward Konoha; did they think she couldn't tell?
The people discussed before were basically all from Konoha or connected to Konoha. Clearly their villages also had plenty of beautiful female shinobi, so why not talk about them?
[First, the strongest contender from Konoha is naturally, the Fifth Hokage, Senju Tsunade.]
A mature female shinobi with light yellow long hair, a rhombus-shaped Yin Seal mark on her forehead, bright brown eyes, exquisite makeup, and a mature, beautiful appearance appeared on the screen.
She wore a tea-green long coat with black trim over a loose sleeveless top similar to a kimono, with a black cloth sash at her waist and dark blue capri pants below. Just standing there, without any need for movement, she radiated a charm that made it impossible to look away.
[There's no need to say much about her appearance. Those who know, know.]
[Moreover, as a shinobi proficient in Medical Ninjutsu, Tsunade possesses superb skills in this field. Since she hates her aged appearance, she often uses Medical Ninjutsu to disguise herself, and sometimes even improvises by pretending to be in her teens, thirties, or forties to evade creditors.]
[And relying on the Yin Seal, by the time she is seventy in the future, she still maintains the appearance of her youth.]
As soon as these words came out, countless female shinobi across the various Shinobi World Timelines were filled with envy.
---
[Konoha, Year 60. Hokage Office]
When Tsunade heard the Sky Screen teasing her about disguising herself to evade debts, she couldn't help but give a dry laugh.
Jiraiya had already returned to Konoha and was sitting casually on the sofa opposite her, legs crossed, hands behind his head.
Looking at Tsunade's dry smile, he couldn't help but tease: "Tsunade, I didn't expect you to do such things. It makes sense though, as the legendary 'Big Fat Sheep,' you must be constantly dodging debts. However, you are the Hokage now, so you can't really hide anymore, right?"
Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "Weren't you selected by the screen as one of the richest shinobis? How about you give me some money to bet with, and I'll help your ranking go higher?"
Jiraiya's smile instantly froze on his face.
Give money to Tsunade to gamble?
What was the difference between that and throwing it into water?
At least throwing it into water made a splash!
"Haha…"
Jiraiya gave two dry laughs and quickly pretended he hadn't heard a thing, focusing all his attention on the screen, as if there was some incredible secret on it.
[Speaking of it, Tsunade and Mei are somewhat similar. Beyond their beautiful appearances, both are the Kage of a village, and both have outstanding political achievements.]
[When Tsunade first took office, Konoha was in a critical period. Hiruzen had died unexpectedly, and Konoha's shinobi suffered losses during Sunagakure's invasion. Forget Kage-level, even Elite Jonin-level forces were stretched thin.]
[It could be said that Tsunade's situation at the time was no better than when Hiruzen took over as Hokage, perhaps even worse! After all, when Hiruzen took over as Hokage, Konoha still had Uzumaki Mito as a pillar of stability, so at least the village's safety wasn't an issue.]
[Therefore, from the very start of her tenure, Tsunade displayed extraordinary political acumen.]
[Externally, she did not overturn the decision made by Konoha's Advisors to "accept surrender and restore the alliance with Sunagakure" because of personal prejudice. Instead, she continued to stand from Konoha's perspective and affirmed the Advisors' decision.]
[Although this move chilled some shinobi, but because both great villages had lost their Kage due to Orochimaru, they chose to huddle together for warmth, and the other shinobi villages didn't dare act rashly, which instead let them pass through their period of weakness smoothly.]
[Internally, she also didn't immediately practice "a new ruler brings new ministers." While promoting and valuing people like Kakashi, she was able to recognize the nature of Danzo—loyal to Konoha yet with overly selfish motives—and respected and utilized veteran figures like Homura and Koharu to keep Danzo in check.]
[Moreover, she relied on Jiraiya for external intelligence, freeing herself from the disadvantageous situation of being unfamiliar with the ANBU right after taking office and having the Root organization monopolize intel. She also periodically selected talent from the Root and ANBU as her own direct forces, such as Yamato, Sai, and others.]
[Finally, through these measures, as well as the influence of decades as a medical shinobi and the reputation of the Senju clan, she easily stabilized the situation.]
---
[Konoha, Year 20. Hokage Office]
Tobirama sat behind the desk, both hands clasped and pressed against his chin, while Hiruzen stood to the side, eyes wide.
They simply couldn't believe that the current troublemaking little demon Tsunade would one day display such maturity.
---
[Konoha, Year 60. Hokage Office]
Hiruzen looked at the somewhat unreliable Tsunade opposite him and couldn't help but smile bitterly.
If not for the Sky Screen, according to the ending of his fate, he really would have left Tsunade a pile of messes.
A fallen Hokage, a destroyed Village, and Danzo eyeing things from within; it really wasn't easy for her to stabilize Konoha under such circumstances.
[Of course, the most crucial part was her attitude toward Naruto, the Jinchuriki.]
[Tsunade gave Naruto more freedom and respect.]
[She first affirmed Naruto's identity as a shinobi, and only after that considered him the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. During Tsunade's tenure, Naruto was given all the respect a normal shinobi deserved, rather than having someone's will imposed on him like a weapon. Unless it was an emergency of the utmost urgency, Naruto always went out to battle as an ordinary Konoha shinobi, rather than as a Jinchuriki deliberately protected and treated differently.]
[You have to understand that after the incident of Gaara being captured, all the nations were on edge, and the Two-Tails, Three-Tails, Four-Tails, Five-Tails, Six-Tails, and Seven-Tails all were captured one after another. The Fourth Raikage of Kumogakure had already confined Killer B, the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, but Tsunade instead sent Naruto to take down Kakuzu, who had once captured the Seven-Tails.]
[Of course, as one of the legendary Sannin and a properly rooted member of the Senju clan, it can be confirmed that Tsunade's decision was not an irresponsible impulse or malicious sabotage of Konoha.]
[In the battle against Kakuzu, Kakashi goes without saying; the entire Akatsuki, except for Obito, Pain, and Itachi, would frown if they encountered him. Yamato with Wood Release, aside from lacking sufficient attack power to solo the Nine-Tails, was more than capable of withdrawing safely. Sai, although Danzo's trusted man, shared the common goal of protecting the Nine-Tails at all costs. And then there was the most overlooked Sakura, whose single-target healing was already not much weaker than Tsunade's, making her arguably the second-best support in the Shinobi World.]
[In short, Tsunade is top-notch in both looks and talent.]
---
[Konoha, Year 60. Training ground]
The members of Team 7 sat idly on the grass, blue sky and white clouds above their heads, a breeze brushing past and bringing the scent of fresh grass.
"Granny Tsunade really is great…"
Naruto propped his chin on both hands, full of emotion.
As the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, he had been treated as a demon by the villagers from birth. Although the Third Hokage had secretly looked after him, he had never treated him as a normal shinobi the way Tsunade did according to the screen.
Meanwhile, Sakura put her hands on her hips, her face full of pride: "Of course. Sensei is the strongest female shinobi!"
Kakashi did not join the discussion.
But he felt that Lady Tsunade… really did seem to be a Hokage with boldness and vision. Compared to the Third Hokage's indecisiveness, she was more decisive.
Perhaps, in her hands, Konoha really would be different.
*****
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