"Yes, it has been a while, Lady Izanami, " Tsunade said as she forced a smile on her lips. Despite her wanting to just go through the motions, Tsunade still has to keep up the appearances. Otherwise, the Daimyo and other ninja villages would never sit idly by.
Izanami also understood Tsunade's predicament and laughed out loud in her mind. But she still cooperated with her and began to talk about some small matters so those spies could go report to their respective forces.
After a few minutes of talking some nonsense, Tsunade and Izanami decided to go back home, so everyone left the gate and walked inside the village. On the way, passersby cheered and gave Izanami a very warm welcome. Izanami also didn't disappoint everyone and told her attendant to distribute red packets that contain 100,000 Ryo to everyone present.
This made everyone cheer more loudly. Some ninjas also joined in on the fun, and Izanami generously gave them red packets, too. Even though some ninjas could earn more than this by taking B- or A-rank missions, no one would say no to free money, right? And besides, the money ninjas actually keep is very small compared to all the spending they have to do.
Although being a ninja is very much glorified in the ninja academy, in reality, being a ninja is a very high-risk, high-spending profession. In fact, it could be said that the more money and resources a ninja could spend, the more powerful and safe he is.
Just think about it: when ninjas do a mission, they may encounter enemy ninjas, and a fight may happen. And in this fight, they need kunai, shuriken, and many other ninja tools. And in most fights, having another ninja tool may actually save your life. So most ninjas try their best to stock up on many ninja tools and use their ninja tools sparingly.
After all, although buying kunai or shuriken individually is very cheap, stocking them up periodically can add up to a large sum. And most importantly, using chakra as a substitute for the ninja tools isn't possible, as they would need it in case of an emergency. Not everyone is like Naruto, who has a large amount of chakra comparable to a tailed beast.
So it is okay, so that during a mission, ninjas would very much prefer to stay away from any battles, as in that battle, they would have to burn money at a very fast rate.
So, all in all, being a ninja is not a very good profession if one wants to earn money. This is especially so for the civilian ninjas who have no clan to support them. If these guys were forced to retire early, then it would truly be game over for them.
….
Arriving at the Hokage Office, Tsunade dismissed everyone and escorted Izanami to her office. She then told Shizune to make some tea and closed the door so no one would hear what they would discuss next.
"So tell me, why the hell did you come to Konoha again? " Tsunade asked as she looked at Izanami sharply. In the past few years, Izanami had visited Konoha many times but never came in so publicly. Every time she visited, she would just teleport here. And for Izanami to come in so publicly, Tsunade guessed she was up to no good. Don't ask how she is sure; she has countless experiences in trusting her gut.
"Hehe, I knew I couldn't hide it from you. Well, truthfully speaking, the reason why I came here is to have some fun in Konoha. After all, Naruto and his small generation should be taking the graduation exam today, right? " Izanami said with a smile that clearly screamed ' trouble '.
Tsunade, hearing this, felt a very bad headache coming. She was having enough problems with just Naruto alone, but now, even this guy wants to cause more trouble. Just thinking of all the complaints and troubles that would arrive in the future, Tsunade felt she should just run away.
After being Hokage for the last few years, Tsunade really couldn't understand why that old man would fight for it so desperately. Sure, being the Hokage gives you many privileges, but it also comes with many problems, both small and big.
You would have to burden your brain to handle mountains of paperwork and come up with many solutions to the problems that arise. You don't get any free time at all. And most importantly, your every action would be subjected to many speculations, forcing you to keep a facade even after you clock out for the day.
All in all, for Tsunade, the Hokage position is nothing but an unnecessary burden that she couldn't shake off no matter what.
Had it not been for not finding anyone suitable yet, she would really like to retire early. Unfortunately, Konoha, after the rule of the Third Hokage, is severely lacking in talents with independent mindsets. Most of the ninjas are still brainwashed with that Will of Fire slogan.
Although Tsunade won't complain about brainwashing kids to be loyal to the village, she absolutely wouldn't tolerate her successor being brainwashed like them. The Hokage should be a person who can think of the pros and cons instead of blindly following the trend.
You know, both of her grandfathers were famous and legendary because they broke through the reality of what they call normal. Her eldest grandfather created the first ninja village, forcing many clans to unite. Her second grandfather created the ninja rankings and allowed ninjas to take on tasks that were suitable for their own capabilities.
Both of these two did things that normal people would never even consider, which is why many people admire them even to this day.
This is the type of person Tsunade wanted her successor to be. Even if he or she couldn't be as legendary as her two grandfathers, he or she should at least be able to have what Izanami calls 'out of the box thinking.'
Otherwise, Konoha would never be able to grow anymore. This is something Tsunade understood too well.
Compared to other villages, Konoha is only growing at a very slow rate. And one day, they may be surpassed by any other ninja village.
So this is why she was expecting much from this batch of ninja students who had never been subjected to any brainwashing since childhood. But with the arrival of a certain someone, it seems things may not be that easy to handle.
"Please don't make me die because of a heart attack. " This is the only thing Tsunade could say, as she never thought she could convince Izanami to give up.
"Hehe, don't worry, Tsunade, I know when to hold back, " Izanami said with a smile. Unfortunately, no one believed her, not even the hidden Yokai members who perfectly knew their matriarch.
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