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"Tobi, what the hell is up with that stone tablet?" White Zetsu asked, frowning from within the pitcher plant encasing his body.
After sneaking into Madara's hideout, he had seen the tablet for himself. He knew damn well the Great Sage would never have left anything like it behind.
Tobi thought about it. "There's something familiar about that tablet. I haven't been back in so long, I can't remember who it belongs to…"
He shrugged. "Eh, forget it. The Great Sage has everything under control. Maybe he just wants to see what kind of mess Madara makes, so he's letting him do his thing."
They nodded to each other, sank into the earth using Mayfly, and went to look for Nagato.
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After she confessed to Manji, Tsunade stayed in Konoha.
The next three years were the happiest of her life.
She left the empty Senju compound and moved in with Manji. In their free time, she helped him train Team One, teaching Minato Namikaze, Kushina Uzumaki, and Sarutobi Shinnosuke.
One night, an urgent report came from the front lines. Hanzo of the Salamander had started using poison in Amegakure, causing heavy losses for Konoha. Tsunade was the only one in the shinobi world who could neutralize his poison.
A single bedside lamp cast a dim yellow glow across the bedroom. Tsunade lay naked beneath a thin blanket, her bare shoulders resting against Manji as she studied the report.
"Do you think… I should go?"
She didn't sound thrilled. After all, she hadn't stepped onto a battlefield in three years.
"The shinobi on the front lines are barely hanging on," Manji said. "Without you, they're dead. No one else can deal with Hanzo's poison."
"Why the hell should I sacrifice my happiness to save everyone else?" Tsunade pouted, making no effort to hide how selfish the answer was.
Manji tilted his head. This wasn't the Tsunade from the original story. Maybe this version of her really had grown more selfish.
Before he could say anything, Tsunade softened. She shifted onto his waist and looked down at him, unable to hide how attached she had become.
"I just… don't want to be away from you."
"Then I'll go with you." Manji ran a hand over her soft blond hair. "Amegakure is dangerous. No way am I letting you go there alone."
"Wait, seriously?"
Tsunade's reluctance disappeared. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pressed her face against him, and hugged him tightly.
"Manji, you're the best!"
Manji laughed under his breath and held her tighter, pressing a gentle kiss to the top of her head.
"All right. Get some sleep."
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A few days later, the war in Amegakure reached its boiling point.
Hanzo of the Salamander, following Madara's example, started his own campaign of all-out warfare.
Poison gas was now spreading across the battlefield.
At the center of the fighting, Hanzo faced Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade. The battle that would earn the three of them the name Sannin had begun.
After a long, brutal fight, Hanzo stood on his salamander and looked down at the three Konoha shinobi. They gasped for breath, surrounded by fallen Amegakure shinobi.
"Looks like Konoha wins this one," Hanzo said.
He was Amegakure's leader, yet three elite jōnin had managed to hold him in place while his forces were slaughtered around them. No matter how he tried to spin it, Amegakure had lost.
"You survived both my attacks and my poison. That's no small feat." Hanzo studied the three of them before continuing. "From this day forward, I, Hanzo of the Salamander, name you the Sannin of Konoha."
"We don't need some damn title from you!" Jiraiya shouted. "We're not done fighting!"
He still had one trump card left: Sage Mode.
If Orochimaru and Tsunade could buy him enough time, he could gather natural energy and activate it. With both of them backing him up, they might have a real shot at killing Hanzo.
"Heh. Fine." Hanzo gave a quiet laugh. "It's not like any of you will live long enough for the title to matter."
He never planned to let them leave alive. If these three kept getting stronger, they would be a huge threat to Amegakure. It was better to deal with them now than wait until they became an even bigger problem.
"You three are running on fumes. I'll use whatever strength I have left to finish this."
A scythe appeared in Hanzo's hand as he prepared to strike. Before he could move, though, his attention snapped toward a spot behind the three Konoha shinobi.
For the first time, Hanzo looked shaken.
"That's him?!"
He hadn't expected that man to show up.
Manji stood a little behind Tsunade and the others, wearing a cloak.
"So one of Konoha's Twin Lights decided to come after all," Hanzo said.
Jiraiya and Orochimaru stared at Manji, surprised.
What the hell was he doing here? Wasn't he supposed to be back in Konoha leading his genin team?
Tsunade smiled. She had known Manji was there the whole time.
He watched his girlfriend get put through the wringer just so he could swoop in at the last second?
She shot him an irritated look.
As soon as Manji showed up, Hanzo dropped his plan to kill the Sannin. Every report said Manji was as strong as Hiruzen Sarutobi, maybe even stronger. If Hanzo made a mistake, he could be the one to die. It was a big risk.
"Hmph! This isn't over!"
Hanzo used the Body Flicker Technique and disappeared.
Manji watched him leave with a faint smile.
"About time, Manji," Orochimaru said, relief finally showing through his exhaustion.
He stepped forward and bumped fists with Manji. Jiraiya did the same. Even though Jiraiya didn't remember his old times with Manji, they had spent enough years together to feel familiar again.
Jiraiya had already asked the toads of Mount Myōboku about Manji, but they said they didn't know anything. He still felt like they were hiding something. Mount Myōboku knew more than they let on; the toads were just pretending.
As the group prepared to leave, Manji glanced toward a small mound in the distance.
"You three can come out now."
Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru tensed up right away. They were so tired from fighting Hanzo that none of them had checked the area around them.
Three children slowly emerged from behind the mound: Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan.
"Should we kill them?" Orochimaru asked, drawing a kunai.
Nawaki's death had changed the way he looked at the world.
"No way!" Jiraiya stepped in immediately. "They're just kids, and they don't mean us any harm."
Tsunade crossed her arms and stayed quiet, but the pity in her eyes was obvious. Kids born during war always had it the hardest.
"What do you want?" Jiraiya asked.
The three children hesitated. Then Yahiko gathered his courage and stepped forward.
"We… we want you to train us!"
Manji immediately went selectively deaf. He took Tsunade by the hand and left.
He was finished taking on students. At this rate, the whole shinobi world would end up being connected to him.
But who was he kidding? It was already like that. Heroes and villains alike were all somehow connected to Manji.
Jiraiya remained where he was, studying the three children as he struggled to make up his mind.
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