Gento and Tsunade messed around in the office for a long time.
The documents on the desk were scattered all over the floor.
The air was filled with an indescribable scent.
Tsunade leaned against the wall, panting heavily, her face flushed.
Gento held her from behind, his chin resting on her shoulder, looking quite satisfied.
"You... every time you come, you have to make a total mess of this place..."
Tsunade's voice carried a hint of feigned anger.
Gento chuckled and kissed her neck:
"Let's change location next time. Your bedroom is nice."
"Get out."
Tsunade pushed him away and bent down to pick up the documents on the floor, the red marks on her neck visible as she moved.
When Shizune pushed the door open and walked in, looking at the tragic state of the office, her face turned a bit red. She said nothing, only silently beginning to clean up.
She stacked the scattered documents neatly, her movements so practiced it was almost pitiful, clearly showing this was not the first time.
Gento, already dressed, stood to the side holding Shiva, watching Shizune work with a smile.
The little guy lay on his father's shoulder, sucking his finger, his large eyes looking around curiously.
"We're off."
Gento formed a hand seal with one hand, and the father and son vanished from the office, returning to the Hidden Gento Village.
Tsunade leaned back in her chair, let out a long breath, and said to Shizune:
"Brew a cup of tea."
Shizune nodded, putting down the documents in her hands to make the tea.
Just then, an Anbu pushed the door open, entered, and knelt on one knee:
"Lady Tsunade, Asuma Sarutobi's term as a Guardian Shinobi has ended. He has returned to the village from the Feudal Lord Mansion and has just arrived."
Tsunade took the teacup handed to her by Shizune, took a sip, and frowned.
From the bottom of her heart, she did not have any ill feelings toward Asuma.
The man was not bad; in fact, he could be called upright.
Albeit because of the previous embezzlement issue, any topic related to the entire Sarutobi clan was highly sensitive.
No matter what, Hiruzen was her teacher, and moreover, the Third Hokage.
Perhaps out of consideration for their teacher-student relationship, she ultimately could not bring herself to push things to the absolute extreme.
Tsunade's current choice, other than recovering the embezzled funds, was to give the Sarutobi clan incident the cold shoulder.
Yet, some shinobi clans were clearly dissatisfied with Tsunade's handling of the matter.
The various Hidden Leaf clans were filled with hatred toward Hiruzen and even the entire Sarutobi clan.
Even after dealing with the Utatane and Mitokado clans, the crowd's hatred remained unappeased, and they still clamored for the blood of the Sarutobi clan.
Although they did not dare say it directly to Tsunade on the surface, they dared to secretly spread evidence of the Sarutobi clan's crimes throughout the village.
This caused the Sarutobi clan's current reputation in the village to be utterly notorious.
Thus, the current Sarutobi clan was a hot potato.
Asuma returning at this juncture was destined to have a difficult time.
With that said, Asuma did possess capability.
How to arrange his position was also an issue.
Tsunade pondered for a moment.
Thinking of the cooperation agreement she had just reached with Gento, she made a decision in her heart.
She then said to the Anbu ninja nearby:
"Have him come over, and call Kakashi and Might Guy over as well."
The Anbu was just about to accept the order and leave, when Tsunade thought for another moment and added:
"Hmm... seems like we're still missing a kunoichi..."
"How about this, call Yugao Uzuki here too."
The Anbu ninja dared not delay, accepting the order to execute it.
Soon, all four had arrived.
Kakashi leaned against the wall, his silver hair somewhat messy, his forehead protector covering his left eye, while his exposed right eye was half-open and half-closed, looking as if he had not fully woken up yet.
He wore the green Hidden Leaf flak jacket, with several kunai hanging from his waist, and held a small book with a flashy cover in his hands.
The latest volume of Make-Out Paradise.
He flipped a page without even lifting his head, his voice lazy:
"Lady Tsunade, what did you call us here for?"
Might Guy stood next to him, wearing a green jumpsuit, with a bowl cut, thick eyebrows, and large eyes, a signature brilliant smile plastered on his face.
With his hands on his hips and his back straight as a board, his entire body exuded the aura of "youth" and "passion."
Glancing at Kakashi reading beside him, he immediately flashed a thumbs-up, a glint shining off his teeth:
"Kakashi! Perk up!"
"Youth must be watered with sweat!"
"Enough."
Tsunade slapped the desk, interrupting their daily banter.
She looked at the two standing at the door.
Asuma Sarutobi, Hiruzen's second son.
He was tall, wearing a green Jonin flak jacket left open to reveal the black undershirt underneath.
A cigarette hung from his mouth, his face appearing somewhat rugged amidst the swirling smoke.
Standing beside him was a woman dressed in efficient attire.
Yugao Uzuki.
She wore a Hidden Leaf shinobi uniform, her figure well-proportioned and taut.
The uniform hugged her slender waist and long legs, and though the curves of her chest were not exaggerated, they were just right.
Tsunade looked at the four of them and spoke:
"The Leaf currently lacks a sufficient number of Jonin. You all know this."
"The new generation graduating from the Ninja Academy needs squad leaders, but we simply cannot find enough manpower."
"Therefore, I have reached a cooperation agreement with the Hidden Gento Village."
She briefly explained the contents of the cooperation: the Leaf would dispatch a batch of Genin to the Hidden Gento Village, where Uchiha shinobi would serve as their squad leaders.
At the same time, the Leaf also needed to dispatch four Jonin as leading representatives to be permanently stationed in the Hidden Gento Village, taking on the responsibility of guiding the Genin.
"Kakashi, Guy, Asuma, Yugao."
Tsunade's gaze swept over the four of them.
"The four of you will be the leading Jonin dispatched by the Leaf."
Kakashi finally closed the book in his hand and raised his head, a trace of surprise flashing in his exposed right eye:
"To the Hidden Gento Village?"
Might Guy still held up his thumb:
"Youth! No matter where it burns, it is still youth!"
Asuma frowned, taking the cigarette out of his mouth, his voice deep:
"The Hidden Gento Village... the Uchiha's territory? Can I refuse?"
Tsunade looked at him:
"This is an order."
Asuma fell silent for a moment, offering no counterargument.
Although he had served as a Guardian Shinobi beside the Land of Fire's Feudal Lord for many years, his status as a Hidden Leaf Jonin remained.
He could not disobey the Hokage's orders.
Putting the cigarette back into his mouth, he spoke no further.
Yugao showed no change in expression, only nodding.
Tsunade looked at Asuma again:
"Asuma, stay behind. The rest of you go back and prepare, we set out in three days."
Kakashi, Guy, and Yugao accepted the order and departed.
Only Tsunade and Asuma remained in the office.
Tsunade leaned back in her chair, and after a brief silence, she spoke:
"Asuma, there are some things I shouldn't say, but since you are the Third's son, I must remind you."
Asuma raised his head, looking at Tsunade.
"You must have heard about what happened to the Sarutobi clan."
"I have already recovered those embezzled funds."
"For the Third's sake, I did not take harsher measures."
"But there is a lot of gossip in the village. Staying here isn't good for you or the Sarutobi clan."
Asuma's frown deepened.
Tsunade continued:
"Going to the Hidden Gento Village this time is a long-term mission. Stay there for now, and wait until the storm blows over."
Asuma remained silent for a while.
Then he stood up, bowed to Tsunade:
"I understand."
He turned and departed.
Tsunade looked at his retreating back and sighed.
This was all she could do.
Asuma walked out of the Hokage Tower, standing on the steps, looking at the several massive faces carved onto the Hokage Rock in the distance.
The First, the Second, the Third, the Fourth...
The Third Hokage's face was still there, overlooking the village as if nothing had ever happened.
He took a deep breath and walked toward the Hidden Leaf Memorial Stone.
The Memorial Stone was located in a grove on the east side of the village, surrounded by pines and cypresses, quiet and solemn.
Hiruzen's tombstone stood right next to the Memorial Stone, a newly erected black stone monument after the war, carved with the large characters: "Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi."
Asuma stopped in front of the tombstone, placing the bouquet of flowers in his hand before the monument.
He squatted down, pulled a cigarette out of his pocket, lit it, and rested it on the edge of the monument.
Then he lit another for himself, holding it in his mouth, taking a deep drag.
"Old man, I'm back."
No one answered.
Just then, a sound of footsteps came from behind.
Two Hidden Leaf shinobi walked by on the path ahead, appearing to have just returned from a mission and preparing to pay respects to their fallen comrades.
One of them casually glanced at Asuma, then tugged at his companion's sleeve and muttered something in a low voice.
Asuma did not care at first.
However, fragments of their whispering drifted into his ears.
"...The Third's son? He still dares to visit the grave?"
"Hiruzen ruled for decades and left the Leaf in an absolute mess. If not for him, we wouldn't have lost so many people in the war!"
"Exactly. Putting aside his poor leadership, he was corrupt to the core."
"Those two advisors embezzled tens of billions right under Hiruzen's nose. How could he not know?"
"Not only did he know, he probably got a hefty cut too."
"That embezzled money from the Sarutobi clan is no small sum."
"Lady Tsunade is still too soft-hearted. If you ask me, the entire Sarutobi clan should have been..."
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