Konoha: The thirty-year-old Uchiha is not motivated.

early morning,

"Grandma, sister, I'm going to cultivate!"

Nawaki stood in front of the Senju mansion's gate, turned back to greet Senju Momoka who was preparing a sumptuous breakfast, then, with a piece of bread in his mouth, disappeared down the street without looking back.

"Rope Tree, drink your milk before you go!"

Wearing an apron, Senju Momoka quickly chased after him, but couldn't even find a trace of her eldest grandson.
Recalling how exhausted Nawaki looked when he came home yesterday, her grandmother pursed her lips with a pang of heartache, her eyes filled with a sense of realization.
"This child looks just like Lord Hashirama."

Although Hashirama Senju was exceptionally talented as a child, he never became complacent because of it.
He often goes to the stream in the Namaka River to train early in the morning and stays there all day. He's the kind of "other people's child" that the Senju clan elders always talk about.

"Huh? Has Nawaki taken the wrong medicine? I remember school was on holiday, wasn't it?"

Tsunade, yawning and still sleepy, came downstairs in her casual tank top.

"Don't pry into children's affairs. Drink this glass of milk; don't waste it."

Looking at her yawning, unkempt granddaughter, Senju Momoka frowned with a slight headache and casually handed Tsunade the milk she had prepared for Nawaki.
This granddaughter also resembles Lord Hashirama by about 80%, except that she only resembles his flaws. She's always so carefree and doesn't act like a girl at all.
"Huh? Why is it given to me again? That brat, Rope Tree, always runs away when it's time to drink milk."

Reluctantly accepting the milk, Tsunade, under the threatening gaze of Senju Momoka, forced herself to drink the warm milk in one gulp.

Senju Momoka nodded in satisfaction and handed over the glass of milk that she had originally intended for Tsunade.

"Another one, please."

"Again!?"

Looking at the second glass of milk, Tsunade's expression stiffened. She had had enough of this kind of milk lately.

Especially when that brat Rope Tree makes excuses not to drink, she, as the older sister, has to drink two big cups in one go, which has made her give up even her favorite bubble tea.

"I'm doing this all for your own good, you know?"

With a disappointed glare at Tsunade, whose face was full of rejection, Senju Momoka's gaze swept over her granddaughter's barren cleavage.

"This is a growth calcium milk that I specially ordered from the Wave Country Trading Company. You can't buy it on the market."

"Grandma, could you please stop watching Wei Zhenzi's live streams? Now the house is full of health supplements that you bought from her live streams."

Tsunade covered her forehead in exasperation. She wondered which bastard had come up with the idea of ​​live streaming. If she found out, that guy would be in big trouble.
"Please, can you please stop wasting money?"

Ever since Senju Momoka started live streaming, she's become completely obsessed. Not only does she regularly send virtual gifts like "Big Nine-Tailed Fox" to the popular streamer, Wei Zhenzi, but she also enthusiastically buys a large number of products from the live stream.

"You child, what do you mean by wasting money? This milk comes from the precious native cows of the Land of Waves. It is rich in life energy and has a magical effect on promoting growth and development."

Seeing Tsunade's defiance, Senju Momoka's eyebrows furrowed.
No, the Land of Waves is a major aquatic producer; raising manatees is more like it, where would they find the time to raise dairy cows?

"Those are all fake advertisements that deceive you old people!"

Tsunade wished she could immediately open her phone and report Sadako, who was livestreaming right now.
"Boom!"

However, her earnest advice was met with a loving but sharp slap from her grandmother.

"Hey~ What are you doing!"

"Xiao Gang, Grandma has two things to correct you on."

With an angry expression, Senju Momoka touched her smooth, white face, which was as delicate as a peeled egg. Her half-closed eyes emanated a dark aura that made Tsunade's heart tremble.

"First of all, Grandma isn't an old person!"

Although Senju Momoka did not master the Yin Seal, the immense life force inherent in the Senju clan can delay the onset of aging to the greatest extent possible.

In addition, with the emerald necklace gifted by Uchiha Gin, as long as she doesn't forcibly extract her life force to convert into chakra for combat, Senju Momoka can at least maintain the appearance of someone in their thirties until she dies of old age.
"Secondly, Misadako always called me family. How could family members lie to each other?"

"Tsk!"

Tsunade pursed her lips, wondering what kind of spell that streamer had cast on her grandmother, as her eldest granddaughter wouldn't listen to a word she said.

"Stop dawdling, drink it quickly, or it'll get cold."

Senju Momoka's pretty face hardened, and Tsunade had no choice but to raise her head again and finish the milk in her cup.
"That's my obedient granddaughter!"

Back at the table, Tsunade chewed on a soft slice of bread, speaking absentmindedly.

"Grandma, I have a job interview today, so I won't be home for lunch."

interview?

Upon hearing this unfamiliar term, Senju Momoka raised her head in confusion.

"Didn't you just get promoted to Jonin? Why are you looking for a job again?"

Her granddaughter was a true member of the Hokage faction, and at only fifteen years old, she had already been promoted to Jonin with outstanding grades. She had even planned out Tsunade's future path.

First, go and complete a few missions, then go to Uchiha Kagami's frontline troops to hone your skills, and then come back to Konoha's medical department to take a position and enhance your resume.
Finally, if you get an internship at the Hokage Building and stay there for ten or twenty years, you can at least become a powerful advisor or elder.
If he's lucky, he might run for Hokage again, and it's not impossible for him to restore the Senju clan's former glory.

“Our teacher has been very busy lately and doesn’t have time to take care of us. Since we had nothing else to do, Jiraiya and I signed up for a newly established department in the village.”

Tsunade is still in the naive stage of entering society, and she doesn't have as many complicated thoughts as Momoka Senju. She just thinks this new department is quite interesting, so she signed up.

"Is this reliable? You might run into a scam group."

Thousand Hands Momoka frowned slightly. This society is a mixed bag; there are plenty of gangs that use recruitment as a pretext to lure people to the Rain Country Park for kidney mutilation.

Tsunade rolled her eyes upon hearing this.

How dare you criticize me for buying health supplements?
"Don't worry, we've already consulted our teacher, and he said the head of this department is someone he knows, so he's absolutely reliable!"

Hearing this, Senju Momoka finally felt relieved, and her tense expression eased somewhat.
You should have said so earlier if you knew someone! Oh, so you went there to get some prestige?
"Is it someone you know? Do you recognize them?"

"Yes, I know him. He's that Elder Danzo with the really big butt. He created a department called something like 'enormous'."

【root】

Before the darkest alley in the deepest part of Konoha's West Street, Hatake Sakumo and his two companions, who had come together, looked up at the temporary sign hanging in the alley, their faces filled with suspicion.
"Sakumo, are you sure this is the address?"

Kato Dan looked around, his gaze sweeping over the red lanterns adorned with women, and asked with a strange expression,
"There's no mistake, didn't you see the signboard right here?"

Sakumo Hatake took out his phone and checked several times, finally confirming that he hadn't led the wrong way. This most chaotic area of ​​Konoha was indeed the Root's temporary recruitment point.

The innocent Might Guy looked around curiously, and after noticing several scantily clad, heavily made-up older women standing in front of each alley, he looked at Kato Dan beside him with great confusion, his expression unnatural.
"I've never been here before, Duan. What do those aunties do?"

"How should I know! This is my first time in West Street too!"

"Oh~ so this is West Street, which Jiraiya loved to come to!"

Matt Day suddenly realized, and the curiosity in his eyes grew even stronger as he looked at the words "West Street".

"Since you don't know either, I'll go ask."

"Wear it! No!"

It was too late for Sakumo Hatake and his companion to stop them; Might Guy had already appeared in front of an old woman whose face was painted more like a ghost than a demon.
"Auntie, what do you do?"

Seeing the fit young man suddenly appear before her, the older woman waiting for business beamed, her face powder smearing off in a flurry. "Young man, come here, come here, let me tell you something!"

As she spoke, she swayed her thick, barrel-shaped waist as she stood up, reaching out to pull the bewildered Matt Dai into the alley behind her.

"Auntie! Spare her life!"

Fortunately, Sakumo Hatake and his companion arrived in time, thus averting Might Guy's virginity crisis.
"Pah! You don't even know the rules. If you're not going to do it, don't ask questions."

The elderly woman, having lost a sale, spat and cursed, then gave the three departing boys the middle finger.
"Why are you two pulling me here? I'm about to ask you."

As Might Guy was being carried by his two teammates, he blinked his big, confused eyes, the question marks almost overflowing from them.

"We're saving you, Dai."

“That’s right, it’s a bit early for you here. Let’s talk about it in a few years.”

The two didn't offer any further explanation, knowing that Matt Day's hot-blooded, dim-witted nature meant he couldn't possibly grasp the deeper meaning behind his words.
"OK then."

One of Dai's strengths is that he listens to advice, especially from those around him; he generally takes it to heart.

Although he was filled with curiosity about what the older woman was going to say, he chose to trust his teammate and did not delve further into the shady dealings.

He was nodding when he suddenly caught a glimpse of a familiar figure out of the corner of his eye. Before he could see clearly, the person had already followed an elderly woman into the dark alley.
"Hey! Wasn't that Jiraiya who just went in?"

Sakumo Hatake and Dan Kato exchanged a glance, then replied somewhat uncertainly.

"That's impossible. No matter how lecherous Jiraiya is, he wouldn't be so desperate as to go to such lengths."

"Yo, Sasipuri."

Just then, a slightly sinister voice rang out behind the three of them.
Orochimaru, what are you doing here?

Kato Dan stared in astonishment at the handsome young man in white, who seemed like an ethereal being.

"I'd like to ask you the same thing: if you can come to a place like this, why can't I?"

Orochimaru raised an eyebrow, his vertical snake-like eyes sweeping across the three faces, his tone full of mockery.

"That's not what I meant! Wait! Now that you're here, what about the person Dai just saw?"

Sensing the teasing in Orochimaru's eyes, Kato Dan blushed and quickly waved his hands to explain. But then, suddenly remembering what Might Guy had just said, his expression instantly became very strange.
Before the words were even finished, a white figure tumbled and scrambled out of the alley.
"Auntie! Don't pull down my pants, Auntie!"

All I could see was Jiraiya, his face deathly pale, holding up his pants with both hands, looking utterly disheveled.
Behind him followed a smiling older woman who was tightly gripping his belt with her large, claw-like hands.
"Young man, don't treat your aunt like a human being. If you try to make a scene, your aunt can handle it!"

"Ni Zuokai!"

Jiraiya's face turned green upon hearing this. He was merely taking a short break during his interview to gather inspiration for his next erotic novel, and somehow he'd gotten himself entangled with this terrifying old woman.

Suddenly, he spotted several familiar faces watching the show not far away. Jiraiya, as if seeing saviors, shouted for help.
"Orochimaru! And Dan, stop messing around, help me!"

Everyone was still there a second ago,
σ))σ(σ′▽‵)′▽‵)σ
Next second,
(`) (`) (ε`) (ω`)
finally,
Jiraiya, who preserved his reputation by selling money, grumbled as he changed into new pants, glaring resentfully at his friends who stood by and did nothing.

"Born! Born!"

"Feel sorry."

Orochimaru, showing no remorse, shrugged, barely suppressing a laugh, and said in a serious tone,

"We thought it was just part of your play."

"Damn it! Do I look like the kind of pervert who sucks on old grapes?"

"if not?"

Orochimaru curled his lip and continued to add insult to injury.
"I think you just lust after her body, you're despicable!"

"Baka! Dai, don't hold me back, I'm going to fight this stinky snake!"

"Uh"

Standing next to Jiraiya, Might Guy looked down at his empty hands, blinking in confusion.

I don't think I pooped either, did I?

Tap! ~
Just as the situation was about to escalate, a graceful figure arrived late, defusing a potentially deadly battle between sects.
"Oh! Sorry, I ate breakfast a little too long."

Tsunade, clutching her bulging belly, waved sheepishly at Orochimaru and Jiraiya.

At the same time, she noticed her three friends beside her. A look of confusion lingered in their eyes for a few seconds, but after recalling the unique features of the place, their confusion was ultimately replaced by strong disdain.

"Duan, what are you doing here? Could it be..."

"Tsunade, don't misunderstand, we're here for an interview!"

Kato Dan, instantly understanding the goddess's inner thoughts, quickly spoke up to clarify, pointing to the "Root" sign hanging at the alley entrance.

"Are you here for an interview at Great Root too?"

"That's right!"

The three nodded in unison, and Hatake Sakumo even took out his phone to show the recruitment page he had saved.

"What a coincidence! The three of us are also here for an interview. Let's go together!"

The familiar six reunited. Looking at the familiar faces around him, Jiraiya shook his head with a sigh.

"Hiruko is absent again."

Just as there will always be five of the Four Heavenly Kings, there will always be a place for Hiruko in their six-person group.
After recalling for a moment, Hatake Sakumo said,

"It seems he's recently been promoted to Chunin and is now working on missions alone, separated from his teammates."

Jiraiya nodded. Hiruko's talent was average; perhaps Chunin was his limit, but that didn't affect their friendship.
“I know, once I pass the interview, I'll recommend him to the company.”

Bang bang bang——

Jiraiya and the others raised their hands and knocked on the tightly closed gate at the root of the house. They waited anxiously.
creak
A few seconds later, the door slowly opened from the inside, and a slightly thin figure peeked out.

"We're here for an interview!"

Before the person opening the door could even ask anything, the impulsive and rash Jiraiya preemptively introduced himself, his eyes gleaming as he looked intently at the newcomer, trying to make a good impression.

The person who opened the door was dressed in the same attire as the Dark Guard, and wore a ferocious mask that resembled neither a dog nor a beast. After recognizing the people in front of the door, the soft, melodious Nanliang dialect emanating from beneath the mask became almost distorted.

"Huh, Jiraiya?"

"That voice... Hiruko?"

Jiraiya and the others stared wide-eyed in astonishment. The Root member who opened the door then removed his mask, revealing a soft, fragrant face.
Hiruko was also surprised. He hadn't expected his friends to follow in his footsteps and join the promising Root organization. He immediately flashed a sweet smile that made Tsunade feel ashamed.
"Welcome to the Root Family! I am your guide, Hiruko. Of course, you can also call me by my code name, Little Orchid."

P.S.: The following word count is free of charge.
After working a full 29.5 days, I'm about to have my vacation. First of all, I wish everyone a happy holiday, except for those who work overtime like oxen!

m9(＾Д＾)
I have something to do during the holiday, but I shouldn't stop updating, right?
Finally, I'd like to ask all my dear readers for some monthly votes (╯⊙ε⊙╰), may you all prosper! (End of Chapter)