"Let's go, back to Konoha Village!"
After Tsunade left with Moku Kairen and Yūhi Kurenai, the hidden ninja lurking in the shadows quickly went to report to Shimura Masao.
Shimura Masao said to Yūten: "Your Tracking ability is excellent. Follow them."
Yūten nodded.
After Yūten left, Shimura Masao wrote something on the table.
Then he placed a note into the bamboo tube of a messenger hawk.
The small hawk flew off, its path directed exactly toward the Sunagakure frontline.
"Tsunade, Moku Kairen, I will see you both dead!"
...
It took Kairen and the others only two hours to reach the Konoha camp.
Tsunade also needed to bring along Shizune, the niece of Kato Dan, so that she too could return to the village and participate in the Chūnin Exams.
The Konoha camp was unusually quiet. Just as Yūhi Shinku had said, the war had entered a strategic stalemate, and there would be a long period of calm.
Shizune was in the camp, washing the clothes of patients. She wore a black fishnet shirt, her small hands gently scrubbing the blue-and-white patient robes.
She dazed out for a moment.
Kairen had been gone for nearly three weeks now. How was he doing? He was only a genin—what if he ran into a Sunagakure jōnin?
She should have insisted back then, stabbed him with a kunai herself, and let him rest for a month or two. Wouldn't that have been so much better?
The girl thought silently, her heart filled with a growing sense of longing for Kairen.
For some reason, she just couldn't help but care so much about that boy.
But while she was lost in thought, she didn't even notice that the very boy she was thinking about was standing right in front of her.
"Shizune!"
"Ah!"
The sudden voice startled Shizune. She immediately stood up and saw who it was.
He wore a white long-sleeved top, a black cloth tied around his waist, secured with a thick belt.
On his lower body were standard ninja shorts. But what mattered most was that face—the one she hadn't seen in three weeks—Moku Kairen.
Shizune's eyes widened in shock: "Kairen, you're not dead?!"
Kairen pinched her slightly chubby cheeks: "So you were in a hurry for me to die, huh?!"
Shizune shook her head so fast it looked like a rattle-drum: "No! No!"
Then Shizune noticed the two people standing behind Kairen, and her eyes lit up with joy:
"Tsunade-sensei, Kurenai!"
Tsunade smiled softly as she approached Shizune, patting her head.
"Little Shizune, you haven't suffered here, have you?"
Shizune shook her head firmly: "No. This is just a logistics post. The hardest thing we do is care for patients late into the night. That's nothing compared to Kairen, who's fighting on the front lines!"
Then she asked: "Tsunade-sensei, why did you come to the front lines? Weren't you…"
Her Tsunade-sensei had always stayed in the village because of her hemophobia.
Tsunade glanced at Kairen and said softly: "I'll explain later. For now, we're going back to the village. I came to take you along. This time, for the Chūnin Exams, I want you three to form a team and participate together."
"Chūnin Exams?!"
Shizune repeated the words, then quickly shook her head: "I can't. I've never killed anyone. How could I possibly become a qualified chūnin?"
Kairen pinched her cheeks again, reassuring her: "What's there to be afraid of? When the time comes, I'll be in your team. I'll make sure the two of you pass the Chūnin Exams!"
Seeing the confident expression on Kairen's face, Shizune felt her own confidence rise a little. She nodded: "If it's with Kairen, then I believe we'll be fine!"
A loud, hearty voice suddenly rang out: "Immortal Kairen!"
The only person who would call out that boastful nickname was none other than Yamashita Shige, who had once bragged with Kairen.
Dragging his one remaining arm, Yamashita Shige stared at Kairen in disbelief, as if shocked the boy was still alive.
He had already packed away Kairen's old clothes, dug a grave, buried them, and even offered incense twice.
Now, seeing him alive, Yamashita wondered—had the Sarutobi Clan not done their part?
Then his sharp eyes caught sight of Tsunade, whose presence was impossible to ignore. He couldn't help but mutter aloud: "Princess Tsunade!"
Tsunade was the dream woman of many old men in Konoha.
Yamashita Shige was one of them. He quickly looked away, afraid that if he stared too long, he would fall too deeply and end up being beaten to death by this female tyrant.
Still, he thought to himself: with Princess Tsunade standing behind Kairen, it meant they knew each other. If Tsunade supported him, the Sarutobi Clan wouldn't dare act rashly.
Kairen greeted Yamashita Shige briefly, then left with Tsunade and the others.
Watching Kairen go, Yamashita stood frozen. Compared to a month ago, Kairen's aura had completely transformed.
That kind of aura—Yamashita had only ever felt it from truly powerful ninja.
...
At the Sunagakure camp, Rasa silently read the intelligence delivered by the messenger hawk.
Beside him, Yashamaru looked uneasy. "Konoha isn't setting us up, are they?"
Rasa shook his head: "This Shimura line is reliable. They've cooperated with me many times already. Take the intel to Pakura and the others. If they want to die, I won't stop them."
"Brother-in-law, I still don't think we should do this to Pakura!"
"Get out!"
Rasa roared, and Yashamaru scurried out, handing the intelligence to Pakura.
Pakura looked at the marked route on the scroll and sneered: "So this is the brat's path back to the village?"
Yashamaru nodded, then added worriedly: "Yes, and Tsunade, one of the Legendary Sannin, is with them. Pakura, you really shouldn't go."
"And Moku Kairen is very strong. Dozens of jōnin couldn't handle him and were instead killed by him."
Pakura scoffed: "Didn't the intel ninjas report that Tsunade suffers from hemophobia? That makes her useless. And as for Moku Kairen, I don't believe he's that strong."
"It must be exaggerated rumors. My Scorch Release will test his strength for real!"
...
As they sped through the forest, Kairen suddenly asked Tsunade: "How long until the Chūnin Exams?"
Without turning her head, Tsunade replied: "About a month."
From Konoha to Sunagakure, a ninja traveling at full speed would take three days.
From the Land of Rivers back to Konoha at the same pace would take at least two days.
Since there was still a month until the Exams, Kairen wasn't in any hurry. He stopped and said:
"Slow down. Why rush? I haven't even properly seen the Land of Fire yet. Can we stop by some big cities along the way?"
From his knowledge of the Naruto world in his past life, Kairen knew that some places in the ninja world could rival Earth.
They had computers, wireless earphones, surveillance—but no holy sword (cell phones).
Tsunade stopped. Yūhi Kurenai and Shizune both looked excited. They had grown up in the village and never had the chance to explore the big cities of the Land of Fire.
In the end, they were still just three kids, easily drawn to new and curious things… Tsunade thought to herself.
She nodded: "Alright. I'll take you to Kikyo Castle then."
Kairen suffered from battlefield trauma, his mind twisted. Tsunade hoped that something new and fun could help him regain some of his childlike innocence.
After entering the Land of Fire, just another 10 kilometers at full speed brought them to Kikyo Castle.
Beside the castle was Kikyo Pass, the most dangerous stronghold on the western front of the Land of Fire.
If the enemy broke through Kikyo Pass, the thousand-mile plains beyond offered no natural defenses. They could rush straight to Konoha Village.
It was almost certain that, in a few months, Sunagakure would adopt such a strategy. Kairen even imagined the headlines:
"Shocking! The tiny Sunagakure launches a blitzkrieg against Konoha?!"
When the group arrived at Kikyo Castle, they saw a bustling city filled with dazzling sights.
Kairen even spotted many technological products: movie theaters, opera houses, foot-bath parlors…
The ninja world was not completely barren of technology. Among the Five Great Nations, the Land of Lightning was the most advanced, specializing in electricity.
Later, they even developed a chakra cannon—aimed at the moon.
But many of these things couldn't be found in Konoha. After all, ninja villages were hidden villages, secluded in forests and mountains—not as developed as the big cities.
Kikyo Castle was lively. Outside, ninja fought to the death, but in the world of ordinary people, not even the slightest ripple was stirred.
The so-called ninja world was, in truth, just the world of ninja. And their numbers were small—the five villages together had barely over a hundred thousand ninja in total.
Kairen stretched out his hand to Tsunade. She froze.
"What do you want?"
"Money, of course. How else are we supposed to have fun?"
Tsunade pouted: "Money? I'm already drowning in debt. And you expect me to give you some?!"