Hiruzen Sarutobi avoided her gaze. His lips moved slightly, but in the end, he remained silent.
The last shred of affection Tsunade held for her former teacher finally froze over. She let out a cold scoff.
"So that's how it is… In the end, nothing matters more than your so-called 'bonds,' huh? No matter how many inhuman atrocities Danzō committed, in your eyes he's still that 'companion' who acted 'for the sake of Konoha,' right?"
Hiruzen's face twisted with bitterness.
"Tsunade… Danzō certainly made mistakes, but his contributions can't be erased. Even if you were to execute him in secret, I wouldn't object, but—"
Tsunade shook her head with a mocking smile.
"The whole shinobi world practically knows already. You can't erase it anymore."
Seeing that emotional appeals and reason had both failed, Mitokado Homura's gaze hardened. He stepped forward, lowering his voice—cold, sharp, and threatening.
"Tsunade, don't change the subject. Nothing is unchangeable—it just depends on whether you're willing. And surely you don't want… the entire shinobi world to know that you suffer from—"
He didn't finish the sentence.
But everyone present knew exactly what he meant.
He was threatening to expose Tsunade's most fatal weakness, using it as political leverage to force her to yield.
The air in the office froze solid.
Tsunade's pupils shrank violently as a chill mixed with fury surged up from her core.
And then—at that critical instant—
A broad, powerful hand landed silently yet with crushing force on Mitokado Homura's shoulder.
The sheer strength drove Homura downward, forcibly choking back the words at the edge of his lips.
He turned his head in shock—and met a pair of eyes that were usually smiling, but now were as cold and bottomless as the abyss.
Jiraiya.
He had appeared behind Homura at some unknown moment, his face completely expressionless.
Yet the killing intent radiating from him was so tangible that the temperature in the room seemed to plummet.
"Mitokado Homura…" Jiraiya's voice was terrifyingly calm, like the stillness before a storm.
"There are some words… that, once spoken, can never be taken back."
"W-what do you think you're doing?" Homura stammered. Feeling the crushing grip on his shoulder—almost enough to shatter bone—and the undisguised warning in Jiraiya's eyes, cold sweat instantly soaked his forehead.
He had no doubt that if he dared finish that sentence, Jiraiya would make him pay a horrifying price on the spot.
Jiraiya's gaze slowly swept across Homura's ashen face, Utatane Koharu's shocked fury, and Hiruzen Sarutobi—still silent, but visibly shaken.
"What do I intend to do?" Jiraiya's expression was glacial, his voice low yet carrying absolute authority.
"I've said this before. Anyone—anyone at all—who threatens the village… I will not hesitate to eliminate."
The word eliminate carried a murderous weight steeped in bloodshed, sending Homura and Koharu plunging into icy dread.
"That's enough, Jiraiya!"
Hiruzen finally broke his silence, sharply interrupting him.
No matter how wrong he knew his own side was, he couldn't stand by and watch former comrades be threatened before his eyes.
At his words, Jiraiya slowly released his grip on Homura's shoulder. The pressure vanished, as if the suffocating oppression from moments ago had been an illusion.
He even pulled his lips into a smile—one utterly devoid of warmth.
"Relax, old man. How could I possibly… act in the Hokage's office?"
Homura and Koharu finally let out shaky breaths, their backs drenched in cold sweat.
For a brief moment earlier, they had truly felt Jiraiya's killing intent—this had been no empty threat.
However, Jiraiya's next words made their hearts leap back into their throats.
"But, old man," his gaze sharpened again as it locked onto Hiruzen,
"every word I just said… I meant."
He cast a pointed glance at Homura and Koharu.
"I trust you understand that as well. So I hope you'll keep certain people in check."
His tone dropped further, carrying a final, unmistakable warning.
"Don't cause trouble. Otherwise…"
He didn't finish the sentence—but the unspoken threat was far more chilling than any explicit words.
Hiruzen's face turned gray. Looking at the two disciples before him—now utterly transformed, their wills hardened like steel—he understood that any further words would be meaningless.
He nodded weakly and said nothing more.
Nothing he said would change anything now.
Turning away in silence, Hiruzen walked toward the door first, his steps unsteady.
Homura and Koharu followed behind him. No matter how unwilling or frightened they were, all they could do was shoot Tsunade and Jiraiya one final, resentful glare before leaving in disgrace.
Then Tsunade's cool voice rang out from behind them.
"Wait."
All three halted, instinctively turning back.
They saw Tsunade calmly raise her right hand and lightly drag her fingernail across her left wrist.
A thin red line appeared instantly, fresh blood seeping out in glistening drops.
What made Hiruzen and the others' pupils contract violently—what shook them to the core—
was that Tsunade looked at her own blood without the slightest change in expression. Not even a flicker in her eyes.
The hemophobia that had plagued her for decades—had seemingly never existed.
She casually used medical ninjutsu to stop the bleeding, then looked at Hiruzen with steady eyes, her tone calm yet carrying immense resolve.
"My fear of blood was never about the blood itself. It was the hurdle in my heart that I couldn't cross."
"But when I chose to return—when I chose to take up this hat and carry on their dream of protecting Konoha…"
"I knew then that there was nothing left for me to fear."
Hiruzen stared at her in silence, emotions roiling in his eyes. At last, they settled into a long, heavy sigh filled with countless unspoken feelings.
"…That's probably for the best."
Tsunade nodded—then her expression sharpened. Her gaze became direct and unflinching as she looked straight at Hiruzen.
"Old man, I originally planned to keep this secret a while longer. To see if it would lure out some…"
"Missing-nin."
The word struck like thunder.
Homura and Koharu's faces changed instantly, cold sweat soaking through their clothes.
Because in their hearts, they truly had considered using that 'weakness' to restrain Tsunade.
Tsunade ignored their panic. Her voice softened slightly, carrying a trace of earnestness and the last respect she was willing to offer.
"Old man, you're already old. Don't exhaust yourself any further."
"I don't want to see you forced into another impossible position—having to come beg me again while betraying your own heart."
"Don't let what little remains between us… be worn away like this."
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