They're promoting the "Konoha threat" theory, and spouting nonsense about the Hidden

Chapter 231 Sorrow is greater than a broken heart (Transitional Chapter)

"Lady Tsunade, are we really leaving?"

At Tsunade's residence in Kirigakure, Kato Shizune looked up at Tsunade, who was packing her things and preparing to leave, with her round little face upturned.

"But I feel quite comfortable living in Kirigakure. The things taught at the school are also very novel, unlike in Konoha where there are so many restrictions..."

Tsunade was worried that Kato Shizune was too young to be cared for and that she herself didn't have the energy to take care of a child. So, she asked Hozuki Shingetsu to let her study at the Kirigakure Ninja Academy, arguing that Shizune would be lonely without peers to accompany her.

However, what Tsunade never expected was that enrolling Kato Shizune in school would become something she would regret for the rest of her life.

Kato Shizune was only four years old when Tsunade took her away from Konoha. Although she could remember things at that time, her impression of Konoha was very weak.

Furthermore, due to the death of Kato Dan, the pillar of the Kato clan, the Kato clan's situation in Konoha can be described as very precarious. Therefore, in Kato Shizune's heart, her sense of belonging to Konoha was not actually that strong.

It could even be said that Kato Shizune was more of Tsunade's personal attendant than a Konoha ninja.

It was only because Tsunade later became the Fifth Hokage that Kato Shizune returned to Konoha with her.

In this world, thanks to Hozuki Shingetsu's substantial investment and reforms in the Kirigakure Ninja Academy, a large amount of political ideology and patriotic education content has been added to the academy.

Especially in the lower grades, their curriculum is basically divided equally between political ideology and ninja courses, with the aim of ensuring that the seeds of loyalty to Hozuki and love for the village are planted in the hearts of these children when they are still young and innocent.

Therefore, against this backdrop, and with the added influence of the atmosphere among peers, despite her precocious nature as a ninja and her ability to resist certain ideas, Kato Shizune was ultimately unable to withstand Hozuki Shingetsu's brainwashing methods, which borrowed ideas from the previous life of the Owl.

Her affection for Kirigakure is growing daily, and she's already showing signs of becoming a fan of Hozuki Shingetsu. I reckon that in a few years, she'll be able to become a true "spiritual Kirigakure ninja."

Upon hearing Shizune's words, Tsunade immediately put down what she was holding, turned around to look at her, and her face showed a rare serious expression.

"Shizune... do you really think Kirigakure is better than Konoha?"

"...It's not much better either."

Under Tsunade's serious expression, Kato Shizune, who was still a child, immediately gave in and lowered her head to speak.

Looking at Kato Shizune's appearance, Tsunade couldn't help but sigh.

In the two years she spent in Kirigakure, her understanding of the world was being refreshed every day. It can be said that she had truly witnessed a world completely different from Konoha.

After so many years of development, the city of Kirigakure has long been divided into inner and outer urban areas.

The inner city was mainly where ninjas lived and worked, while the outer city was mainly a civilian and commercial area.

The commerce of Kirigakure is so prosperous now that if you were to strip away the inner city of Kirigakure and say that it was the capital of some country, Tsunade would not doubt it at all.

Over the years, she has come to a profound understanding of the important role that the economy plays in the development of a power.

Her work mainly focuses on hospitals and schools, and these two places, especially schools, are where the "one village, one policy" is best reflected.

Although she knew nothing about what was happening in the Eastern Continent, the part she had seen was enough to make her, as a Konoha ninja, very worried.

From her perspective, Kirigakure's current strength is inferior to Konoha's, but its rapid development is far beyond Konoha's reach.

As Hashirama Senju's granddaughter, although she left Konoha, she always held certain expectations for the village's development.

She once wrote down everything she had seen and heard, including the many policies implemented by Hozuki Shingetsu in Kirigakure and her own suggestions, and sent it back to Konoha, hoping that her teacher could learn from it.

Unfortunately, instead of waiting for her teacher to take any action, she received news that her teacher had stepped down and that Shimura Danzo had taken over.

Although she didn't know the specific details, judging from the suicide of Hatake Sakumo, the death of Hatake Nao, and the two Hokage candidates, Shimura Danzo and Uchiha Fugaku, Konoha was also going through a turbulent period.

She even vaguely sensed the role her teacher had played in it, and under these circumstances, she completely lost hope in Konoha, and consequently, she no longer wanted to stay in Kirigakure.

After all, she stayed in Kirigakure to help Konoha pay off its debts, but now that she has completely lost hope in Konoha, she naturally doesn't want to stay here.

Moreover, judging from Kato Shizune's attitude, if she stays in Kirigakure for a while longer, she might just want to stay there permanently.

Although she didn't want Shizune to return to Konoha, she also didn't want her to stay in Kirigakure and become a Kirigakure ninja!

With these feelings in mind, Tsunade received news that Hozuki Shingetsu had agreed to meet her.

-

"Miss Yekura is truly radiant; her charm surpasses even that of the past!"

"I've been busy with official duties lately and haven't had a chance to get to know Ms. Yekura. I hope Ms. Yekura won't mind."

In the Mizukage's office, Hozuki Shingetsu looked at the unusually daring Sand Ninja woman in front of him, his face displaying the protagonist's signature "appreciative but not lewd" expression when seeing a beautiful woman.

The beautiful woman before me had green hair, with two strands of hair that had turned from green to orange falling naturally from either side of her face.

Wearing a backless, tight-fitting tank top, her smooth back was left uncovered, revealing a patch of snow-white skin;

A white belt around the waist clearly divides the upper and lower parts of the body;

The bizarre combination of a skirt with a slit that goes all the way up to the waist and gray shorts is enough to make any "gentleman" look uncomfortable.

When Hozuki Shingetsu saw this outfit, a series of questions immediately surfaced in his mind:

Is this kind of outfit really appropriate for the desert of the Land of Wind?

How can her skin be so fair even while wearing such clothes? Just how good must her skin be?

"Lord Hozuki, you flatter me. My appearance is far superior to that of Miss Kushina, and even your secretary is probably no match for me. Moreover, Kirigakure and Sunagakure have a long history of interaction, so there is no need for such formalities between us."

Ye Cang sat sideways on the guest sofa opposite the desk and answered calmly.

This "Burning Release User" from Sunagakure is only a few years younger than Hozuki Shingetsu, but his strength has already reached the level of Jonin. He can be said to be the leading figure of the current generation of young people in Sunagakure.

Sending such a person to Kirigakure as an ambassador demonstrates just how much Sunagakure values ​​trade between the two villages.

"Hehe, Miss Yekura, are you settling in well in the village? If there's anything you're uncomfortable with, please let me know. Even if it weren't for the friendship between our two villages, a powerful ninja like Miss Yekura deserves our respect."

Hozuki Shingetsu continued to make small talk, exchanging pleasantries with Yekura.

Yukinagi stood quietly behind Hozuki Shingetsu, seemingly oblivious to the scene before her, demonstrating the high professionalism of a secretary.

In fact, his purpose in calling Yekura over was very simple: as he had said before, to communicate more with Yekura and cultivate a relationship.

In the original story, due to the mysterious disappearance of the Third Kazekage, Sunagakure initiated the Third Shinobi World War, but was defeated and lost. During this process, Rasa rose to power and became the Fourth Kazekage.

However, in the later stages of the war, in order to achieve a truce with Kirigakure, Rasa, perhaps to suppress his rival, or perhaps because he was really out of his mind, actually chose to use the life of such a powerful ninja as Pakura to exchange for a truce with Kirigakure.

Whether Rasa is out of his mind is another matter, but Hozuki Shingetsu has definitely taken a liking to Yokura.

Putting aside Yekura's appearance and figure, just considering her bloodline limit and strength alone is enough for Hozuki Shingetsu to come to her rescue.

Therefore, despite being allies with Sunagakure, Hozuki Shingetsu has no intention of reminding the current Kazekage, Aogan, about "Sasori of the Red Sand".

He planned to sit and watch the Third Kazekage die, Rasa take over and expel Yotsuya, and then he would intervene to save him.

With this in mind, Hozuki Shingetsu planned to talk to Yekura at least once a month before she left Kirigakure as ambassador, in order to strengthen their relationship.

The two then chatted casually until Tsunade appeared.

"Someone from Sunagakure? Why is she here?"

As soon as Tsunade entered the room, she saw the two people having a lively conversation.

The moment she saw Ye Cang, a question quickly crossed her mind.

She naturally knew Yekura. After all, there were few instances in the ninja world of envoys being exchanged between ninja villages, and Kirigakure was also discussing it extensively. She only needed to inquire a little to find out.

"Since you have guests, Lord Hozuki, I shall take my leave now."

Tsunade's very obvious large features were naturally recognized by Yekura, so seeing that the two had important matters to discuss, Yekura also tactfully took her leave.

"I heard that Lady Tsunade wants to end the agreement early? Could it be that I haven't been hospitable enough?"

Seeing Yekura leave, Hozuki Shingetsu immediately composed himself and prepared to deal with Tsunade.

"No, your village's hospitality was excellent... It's just that I've completed the task assigned to me, and a respected senior from Konoha has passed away, so I'm thinking of leaving."

Tsunade naturally wouldn't reveal the real reason for her departure, and gave a perfunctory answer.

When Tsunade first arrived in Kirigakure, Hozuki Shingetsu gave her two tasks.

One purpose is to treat the bloodline disease of the Kaguya clan, and the other is to guide the doctors in the hospital and the medical students in the ninja academy.

The more gifted a member of the Kaguya clan is, the shorter their lifespan.

If we follow Hozuki Shingetsu's previous life's conjecture, then it is because there is a close connection between the Shikotsumyaku (Corpse Bone Pulse) and the "Kōsatsu Ash Bones" (Shared Killing Ash Bones).

Or, to put it another way, the mutual killing of ash bones is the superior evolution of the corpse bone vein.

As a bloodstained net of shared-killing ash bones, its manifestation is similar to that of the Corpse Bone Vein, both of which have bone spurs extending from various parts of the body.

However, unlike the Corpse Bone Pulse, the Common Killer Ash Bone possesses powerful lethality, killing instantly upon contact.

According to the speculation of netizens from the previous life, the better the talent of the Kaguya clan, the closer their Corpse Bone Pulse is to the Common Kill Ash Bones.

However, since the Kaguya clan itself does not possess the strength of the Six Paths level, it is far from being able to control the Bloodline Limit. Therefore, the Corpse Bone Pulse will turn against its master, causing the phenomenon that the more talented a person is, the more likely they are to die young.

Perhaps this conjecture was not unfounded. After Hozuki Shingetsu subtly reminded Tsunade of this conjecture, even with Tsunade's abilities, she was unable to solve the bloodline disease. She could only develop specific drugs to try to delay the onset of the bloodline disease.

As for medical guidance, there's not much to say. Under Tsunade's guidance, Kirigakure has now established a complete and sound medical and health system.

When Hozuki Shingetsu sent her here, his main intention was to use Tsunade to establish a complete medical training system.

After all, Tsunade couldn't teach truly advanced medical techniques, and the intermediate surgeries were mastered to a high degree by the humanitarian medical aid team sent to the Land of Rain during World War II, thanks to the "selfless dedication" of the patients from the four countries.

What Wuyin Village truly lacks is a systematic medical and educational system.

"Well... although it was originally a three-year agreement, Lady Tsunade has ultimately contributed to the development of the medical system in Kirigakure, so it's not impossible for her to leave now."

Hozuki Shingetsu looked at Tsunade, pretended to think for a moment, and then said this.

Hozuki Shingetsu's explanation clearly took Tsunade by surprise. She had expected to have to use her words, but it was much easier than she thought.

But before she could say anything, Hozuki Shingetsu spoke up:

"However, before I leave, I do have some information here. I wonder if Lady Tsunade would be interested?"

As she spoke, Hozuki Shingetsu gestured for Yukinagi to hand the file folder on the table to Tsunade.

Tsunade took the file bag and began to carefully look through it.

In a short moment, her expression changed from calm to surprise, then to anger, and finally back to calm.

"Lord Hozuki, supporting Danzo to become the Fourth Hokage... Ha, what a clever tactic!"

Tsunade slammed the file folder on the table, turned to look at Hozuki Shingetsu, her calm expression unable to conceal the deep sorrow in her eyes.

That's right, the file folder that Tsunade was given just now contained the conditions that Shimura Danzo made with Hozuki Shingetsu when he came to Kirigakure, the story of how Shimura Danzo became Hokage, and photos of their meeting at that time.

Now that Shimura Danzo has become Hokage, there's no need to hide the connection between the two.

Rather, it would be a wonderful thing if we could cause some trouble for Danzo Shimura right now.

The moment Tsunade saw this document, given her understanding of Danzo Shimura, she naturally knew its authenticity.

At first she was very angry, but then she suddenly felt that everything related to Konoha was so boring.

While Danzo Shimura was certainly no good, was his teacher Hiruzen Sarutobi any better?

From her previous attitude towards the Senju clan to her recent actions towards Sakumo Hatake, it can be said that Hiruzen Sarutobi's behavior has eroded her trust in her teacher.

Therefore, upon seeing this stack of documents, Tsunade not only did not intend to tell Hiruzen Sarutobi, but also completely lost faith in Konoha.

"Not at all... It's mainly because your village gave us the opportunity, isn't it?"

Hozuki Shingetsu smiled as he looked at Tsunade, who was filled with unbearable grief and despair.

(End of this chapter)