"You people really are a bunch of bastards. You actually destroyed a perfectly good town."
On the outskirts of the town, Tsunade looked at the Fourth Raikage beside her—his chakra sealed, his entire body bound tightly by Wood Release, fury written all over his face.
She then turned to look at the town behind them.
More than half of it had already been reduced to rubble. Calling it destroyed would not be an exaggeration.
Her expression darkened.
In her view, ninja should at least maintain a bottom line. At the very least, they shouldn't casually lay hands on ordinary civilians.
Not to mention—this town had so many casinos. Now that it was ruined, who knew how long reconstruction would take?
"That doesn't really have anything to do with us, does it?"
Ren glanced at the Fourth Raikage, who still looked like he wanted to struggle free, and shrugged at Tsunade.
"It's not like we wanted to fight. Our mission was to find you and bring you back. Who knew we'd run into this guy—and he was the one who attacked first."
Ren had been tempered in Root. The blood on his hands was beyond counting.
But even so, he had never had the habit of targeting ordinary people.
Attacking civilians brought no sense of achievement. And ninja from major villages generally avoided harming civilians whenever possible.
Because reputation mattered.
If your infamy grew too great, people would stop issuing missions. And once mission numbers dropped, the consequences for an entire village could be catastrophic.
Even Root, under Danzo, avoided such situations whenever possible.
Of course, Root preferred to leave no traces.
As long as no one saw who did it, who could prove anything?
"Maybe we can make Kumogakure pay compensation," Shisui said, rubbing his eyes.
They were already starting to ache, but he still spoke up.
"After all, their Raikage was the one who attacked first."
"That can be discussed later," Tsunade shook her head.
Compensation wasn't her problem. There was a village—and in that village was that old man. If things escalated, he would handle it.
Right now, the real issue was the Fourth Raikage himself.
She truly hadn't expected Ren to actually capture him.
But capturing him was only the beginning of the trouble.
"Shizune. Yugao. Watch him."
Tsunade gave the order to Shizune, who was holding the pink pig Tonton, and Yugao, who was still staring at the pig with interest. Then she grabbed Ren by the hand and looked at Shisui.
"You two. Come with me."
"..."
Ren glanced down at the hand gripping his.
At this point, do I really have a choice?
Still—
Smooth.
Not as soft as Yugao's, but the feel was honestly pretty good.
Medical ninja really did have unfair advantages.
No matter how well ordinary ninja maintained themselves, long years of training inevitably left calluses. Even chakra nourishment couldn't completely erase them.
Medical ninja were different.
Through special techniques, they could remove those calluses entirely—without affecting performance.
Ren raised his head slightly, his gaze drifting to that fair expanse that swayed subtly as Tsunade walked.
This… this is what an adult woman should look like.
"Alright. Here's fine."
Tsunade had no idea what was going through Ren's head. If she did, the hand holding his would probably tighten immediately.
She turned around and looked seriously at Ren and Shisui.
"You two brats… you're not seriously thinking about taking that guy back, are you?"
"Uh, Lady Tsunade, what's the problem with that?" Shisui asked, confused.
Capturing a village's Kage—wasn't that an enormous achievement?
"Idiot."
Tsunade shook her head. If not for Shisui's outstanding strength, she wouldn't even bother explaining.
She also hadn't expected Shisui to awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan.
What surprised her even more was that the old man had paired him with Ren.
Is he trying to recreate my grandfather and Uchiha Madara?
Or perhaps—she narrowed her eyes—Ren was meant to keep an eye on Shisui.
After all, even outside the village, she knew her second granduncle had always been wary of the Uchiha.
"You're being naive, Shisui," Ren said, shaking his head before Tsunade could speak.
"Capturing a Kage sounds great, but you didn't consider the reality."
"Huh?"
Shisui looked completely lost.
"Sure, capturing a Kage can crush enemy morale," Ren said casually.
"But it can also ignite their fury—and trigger another war."
Shisui froze.
So they'd caught a hot potato?
Letting him go felt like a loss—but bringing him back was like carrying a bomb.
Tsunade, on the other hand, felt a bit relieved. At least this kid is rational.
"The bigger problem," Ren continued calmly,
"is that we fought in a populated area."
"A populated area means witnesses. Witnesses mean traces—jutsu used, fighting methods exposed. Once there are traces, people will come knocking."
"If this were an empty place, killing the Fourth Raikage wouldn't even be a big deal. Just like how Sasori of the Red Sand killed the Third Kazekage."
"…What?"
Tsunade froze.
Sasori killed the Third Kazekage?
Isn't that Chiyo's grandson?!
"It's true," Shisui nodded. "Sunagakure searched for years before confirming it."
"Of course," Ren added lightly,
"we could also just wipe out the town."
Silence.
"What?"
"I could use Wood Release to restrain everyone," Ren said calmly.
"Then I'd drop my chakra defense, and Shisui could ignite the Wood Release with Fire Style. One blaze, and everything's gone."
Both Shisui and Tsunade were stunned.
Especially Tsunade.
What the hell is this kid saying?
Who taught him this?!
"You've lost your mind!"
Tsunade grabbed Ren by the collar, fury blazing.
"Is this how the old man taught you?!"
"Lady Tsunade, I was just giving an example," Ren said innocently.
"And I'm not sure who you mean by 'the old man,' but when I trained in Root, Danzo-sama taught things this way."
"…."
Root?
Danzo?
Tsunade was stunned.
"Of course," Ren continued calmly,
"I don't agree with Danzo-sama's methods. They're often too extreme."
Tsunade released him, suddenly unsure what to say.
"So what exactly are you proposing?" she asked.
"Simple," Ren smiled.
"We take him back—but not to Konoha."
"There are Root or ANBU facilities outside the village. His subordinates are injured anyway. Taking them there for treatment makes sense."
"…That sounds like self-deception."
"And since everyone witnessed this battle," Ren continued,
"we publicize it."
"Say the Fourth Raikage and Lady Tsunade made a wager—if he won, she'd treat his subordinate. We intervened without knowing the full story, half the town got destroyed, and in the end the Raikage agreed to compensate the town."
"In return, Lady Tsunade treats his men."
"Given the legacy of the Third Raikage, a little humiliation won't ruin his reputation. In fact, he might even gain praise for caring about his subordinates."
"Any remaining fallout—let the Hokage deal with it."
Silence fell.
Shisui was stunned.
Tsunade was downright shocked.
This plan was… shameless.
But terrifyingly effective.
In the end, Tsunade sighed.
"Fine. I'll let the old man deal with the headache."
She glanced at Ren and Shisui.
These two… they're not weak at all.
Turning away, she headed toward the Fourth Raikage.
"Let's move. We can't delay."
When they returned, the Fourth Raikage looked at them with a sneer.
"Finished talking? Ready to release me?"
"I'm afraid not," Ren smiled.
"I think Danzo-sama and the Hokage will be very interested in you."
The Raikage's face stiffened.
"Where's Tsunade?"
"She's gone to retrieve your subordinates," Ren replied, repeating the plan calmly.
The Raikage finally snapped.
"Shameless!"
Ren tilted his head.
"Compared to stealing the Byakugan from the Hyūga… are we really worse?"
The Raikage fell silent.
Because he couldn't deny it.
"In truth, we understand you," Ren continued quietly.
"Every village fights for its own survival."
"But the more you chase perfection, the dirtier your hands become."
The wind stirred.
Ren looked at him calmly.
"Listen."
"What the wind carries… are all the sounds of longing unfulfilled."
The Raikage stared blankly.
Ren ignored him.
His gaze fell instead on his system panel.
[Task Completed]
[Finding Tsunade]
[Evaluating Completion]
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