(150 chapter, another milestone)
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"Tsunade, from this moment on, I'm leaving the hospital in your hands." Biwako looked at her, and her expression was complicated.
Just a few days ago she'd been thrilled that Hiruzen wasn't so busy anymore, finally home more often, but now that it was her turn to pass the torch to the next generation, she finally understood it wasn't as easy as she'd imagined.
Tsunade could see the reluctance written all over her face, but aside from that, Biwako didn't hold any real negativity toward her. It was just the natural hesitation of someone letting go of something they'd built.
"Don't worry," Tsunade assured her. "You're leaving the hospital in good hands. I'm more than capable of maintaining it."
If this had been before, Biwako wouldn't have trusted her. Tsunade was famous for her gambling, after all. The kind of woman who could bet away the entire wealth of Konoha without batting an eye.
But lately, Biwako noticed she'd changed. No, scratch that. The whole village had noticed the change in Tsunade.
Apparently, instead of vanishing into gambling halls, she disappeared completely during the nights.
No one knew where she went.
And as a woman who'd been through that same phase herself, Biwako was willing to bet that Tsunade was most likely involved with someone. Who exactly, that remained a mystery.
But honestly, she didn't care about that part. As long as Tsunade seemed more responsible, that was all that mattered. She'd probably end up as the second most powerful person in Konoha someday, so it was good that she was finally understanding what responsibility actually meant.
•••
Once she was alone in her new office, Tsunade let out a sigh, but there was a smile on her face. She still wasn't used to playing polite with people, even if that person was her sensei's wife.
"Azula dumped the whole hospital in my lap, plus everything related to the medical department, no interference or oversight. It's a mountain of work but I guess I can manage." She muttered the words to herself before picking up the registry of the hospital's physicians.
Truth was, she already knew every name in there by heart since she worked alongside them daily. This was just confirmation.
Tsunade had been sitting on plans to reform Konoha's medical side for a while, and now she finally had the power to actually do something about it.
After skimming the first few names, she shut the book knowing full well she could recite the whole thing from memory.
Her mind drifted to something she'd wanted to implement forever. "No matter the department, one of the most important things is classification. It's about damn time that got baked into the village properly."
Ninjas were classified as Genin, Chunin, and Jonin. A system Tsunade found laughably basic. But the hospital? Aside from the head and the assistant, there wasn't even a proper ranking structure.
That was something she fully intended to fix. On top of that, there were a few other things she'd always wanted. Specialization for physicians.
She'd dreamed of doctors who specialized in surgery, toxicology, medical seals, psychology, the works. But she'd never pushed those ideas forward because she knew they'd get shot down immediately over funding concerns.
And that wasn't even touching the research and innovation department she'd been fantasizing about.
"The Hokage is literally my girlfriend. Surely that entitles me to some special treatment, right?"
She let out a laugh that was just a little disturbing, thinking about the 'sacrifices' she made with Azula at night to get that funding approved. Definitely not an excuse or anything.
Tsunade was a woman of action. She grabbed a blank scroll, the kind with the good quality paper that didn't tear the second you looked at it wrong.
[Classification] she wrote.
[Tier 1 - Apprentice] Most of these would be kids fresh out of the Academy's medical track. Trainees. They could assist, observe, learn the ropes, but independent practice was absolutely not happening. Not on her watch.
[Tier 2 - Practitioner] Fully trained medics who could handle themselves in the field, perform basic surgery, and manage common treatments. They'd make up the bulk of the hospital staff. The grunts, basically. The Genin of the medical world.
[Tier 3 - Specialist] Advanced certification in a specific lane. Surgery, pediatrics, seal integration, didn't matter. You picked a path and you got damn good at it.
[Tier 4 - Master] Recognized experts. People who'd actually contributed something new to the field. Techniques, research, teaching chops. The kind of talent other villages would commit actual crimes to steal.
[Tier 5 - Grandmaster] She paused, brush hovering. This one was tricky. Grandmaster implied a level of authority and achievement that maybe one or two people in the entire village would ever touch. Herself, eventually. She was confident about that much. Maybe someone else, decades down the line.
Tsunade could swear she didn't get the name from classification from one of Azula's 'secret' documents.
•••
•••
•••
A was in his office, actually buried in paperwork for once, which was rare enough that anyone who knew him would've called it a sign of the apocalypse. His mind was on the future of the ninja world, though. Not just the damn forms.
Azula had finally become the Fourth Hokage. With a little help from him, as minor as that help had been.
Not that he expected her to be grateful. That wasn't why he'd done it.
What he was chewing on was whether she'd actually keep her promise. Whether she was really ready to shove old grudges aside and build a real peace across the ninja world, just like she'd said she would.
For A, this was the best possible moment. She had the best opportunity anyone had ever had, built on Hashirama's sacrifices, the efforts of every Kage before her (believe it), and her own damn terrifying strength. But power corrupted people. He'd wait and see.
That was the plan, anyway. Right up until he felt it.
A familiar chakra, right in the middle of his village, flaring like a signal fire.
He might not be a sensory type, but when a chakra that rivaled the Eight-Tails in sheer intensity just popped up without even trying to hide itself, you'd have to be dead not to notice.
"No, something's off." A's brow furrowed. It was definitely Azula's chakra, but it was... more... tenser and bigger somehow. "How the hell? It's only been a few days."
He knew that once you hit their level, making any real gains in strength was like squeezing water from a stone. Sure, Azula was young and had a hell of a lot of potential, but that didn't explain this.
Deep down, he already had a pretty good idea what might cause a change like that. He'd been studying the Uchiha's history lately. He understood.
A sighed, knowing it was pointless to rack his brain over it, especially since it wasn't his strong suit to begin with.
•••
Azula had shown up in Kumo despite her packed schedule. It was a sign of respect, after all.
A had helped her indirectly, whether by solidifying her reputation after she'd beaten him or by giving her the leverage she needed, the one that let her put the squeeze on Hiruzen.
The sudden appearance of Azula, especially in her Hokage robes and hat, naturally drew every eye in the vicinity. Her skin tone drew attention too, though that was the last thing on anyone's priority list right now.
Truth was, Azula had secretly visited every major village in the ninja world over the years, planting her Flying Thunder God seals just in case.
Fortunately, A didn't keep her waiting long.
"Azula," he said, before his eyes caught the hat. "Guess I should say Fourth Hokage now. The last thing I expected was you showing up out of nowhere."
She answered with a smile. "With me, there's no time wasted. I came to finalize the peace treaty between our villages and work out an agreement for future cooperation."
'Cooperation?' The word alone was enough to put a grin on A's face. He let out a low chuckle. "Seems you hold Kumo in pretty high regard. The first village visited by the Fourth Hokage, that's an honor."
But what he got back from Azula was a strange look. "Since when did you become a politician, Raikage?"
That got a pause out of the Raikage, just a second of silence before he let out a booming laugh. "Hahaha, you're right. I guess all those talks about teaming up to beat Konoha got to me. But that's pretty much done with now."
In his head, he was cursing Onoki. He'd been huddled up with that old bastard so many times this year his whole way of talking had started to shift.
"I'm interested to hear what kind of cooperation you're proposing," he said, not bothering to hide it. "But we should head to the Raikage's tower."
The Raikage and the Hokage, standing right there in the middle of the street. There was nothing that could draw more eyes than that.
No village could ever guarantee who was a spy and who wasn't. Of course he didn't want his conversation with Azula overheard by anyone.
But she shook her head.
"I think it's better this way actually. If you'll excuse me." Suddenly, black chains erupted from behind her.
The ANBU hidden in the shadows tensed up hard, but A just raised a hand, signaling them to stay put.
After the chains materialized, Azula threw up a barrier, and right then the Raikage knew exactly what he was looking at. He'd personally wanted to invade Uzushio for the Uzumaki's secrets, after all. He recognized what she'd just done.
(END OF THE CHAPTER)
I remember this one fanfic I read where the MC was the Fourth Hokage, and there was a Chat Group System linking all the Hokage together. So I've been thinking about a similar idea: Azula could use the Dragon Veins to create something like that, a way to connect different parallel worlds. But before that, Azula's Konoha would need to reach a way higher level of development and potential first. What do you think?