In Konoha, they wiped out the Sarutobi clan at the start.

Chapter 223 Tsunade's Helplessness

Konohamaru nodded slightly, swallowing hard. Just as he was about to heed his companion's advice, Chinatsu's voice rang in his ears again, "You really aren't a man. Your mission objective was stolen, and you didn't even dare to say a word."

Konohamaru couldn't stand being told he wasn't a man, and instantly flew into a rage. He lunged at Chinatsu, trying to snatch the cat back, but the result was predictable: he was beaten up by Chinatsu for the sixty-third time.

Ten minutes later, in the Hokage's office.

Konohamaru, sporting a pig's head, stands alongside his teammates Moegi and Udon.

On the other side stood Chika, beaming with a cheerful smile;

Ebisu stood between the two sides, looking helpless. He was the grandson of the Third Hokage and the daughter of the Fifth Hokage. He couldn't afford to offend either side. As a special Jonin, he was in a tough spot.

Beside the Hokage's desk, the lost cat "Little Tiger" was being held in the arms of a plump woman, looking utterly helpless.

Tsunade, the Hokage, sat behind her desk, looking at the six people, speechless.

"Thank you so much, Chika. As expected of the Fifth Hokage's daughter, I knew I was right to ask you. You found Xiaohu in less than ten minutes." The plump woman praised Chika.

"Auntie, as a Konoha ninja, this is my duty," Chika said politely.

There was none of the coldness and brutality from before.

How could this plump woman know that during the ten-odd minutes that Chika spent finding his cat, she spent most of that time beating up Konohamaru?

"Auntie, wow, what a polite little girl. Well then, Hokage-sama, here's the payment. Kotora-chan, let's go home."

The plump woman smiled, seemingly quite pleased with Chika's nickname. She left a money pouch, picked up the cat, and turned to leave the Hokage's office.

"Here's your mission reward, come and collect it." Tsunade rolled her eyes at her smiling daughter, then turned to look at Konohamaru and the other two.

Konohamaru and the other two exchanged bewildered glances. Moegi pointed incredulously at herself and asked Tsunade, "Um, Lady Tsunade, is this for us?"

"Of course, this D-rank mission to find the cat was assigned to you." Tsunade nodded.

"But we didn't catch the lost cat," Udon sniffed.

Tsunade stood up and sighed helplessly. "I know what kind of temper Chika has. It's my daughter who has caused you trouble. I'll have her apologize to you here."

"Quickly, Chinatsu, apologize to Konohamaru and the others." These were the words Tsunade said to Chinatsu.

Chika naturally refused. Although she understood her mother's good intentions through mind reading, how could she possibly apologize to someone who hated her father?

So they started thinking of excuses to change the subject a long time ago.

Just then, Chika suddenly sensed two familiar and powerful chakra streams approaching the village. She couldn't help but smile and utter three words softly, "They're back."

"What? You're back?" Everyone looked at Chika with curiosity.

"Uncle Jiraiya and Naruto are back. They're at the village entrance," Chika said seriously.

Instantly, the huge Hokage office was filled with uproar.

Everyone's face showed shock.

They were shocked not only by Naruto and Jiraiya's return, but also by how Chinatsu knew all this.

Knowing her daughter's personality, Tsunade didn't press the matter further. Taking the opportunity, she changed the subject and explained to everyone, "Chinatsu is a sensory-type ninja; she's born with sensory abilities. She can sense chakra. It seems Naruto and Jiraiya have truly returned."

Upon hearing this, Ebisu suddenly realized what was going on.

Meanwhile, Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon, three die-hard Naruto fans, were even more excited than before. They didn't even bother to collect their mission rewards before jumping out of the office window and rushing towards the village entrance. As they went, they made sure to notify passersby, shouting in unison, "Naruto-nii-san is back!"

"Hey, you guys." Seeing the three students run off like rabbits without even greeting the Hokage, Ebisu was exhausted and hurriedly apologized on behalf of Konohamaru and the others.

Tsunade naturally didn't care about this.

After collecting the mission reward from Konohamaru and the others, he left the Hokage's office.

In the end, only Tsunade and Chinatsu remained in the office.

The two exchanged a glance. Tsunade was about to scold her, but Chika appeared behind her in a flash, massaging her shoulders and acting coquettishly, which instantly made Tsunade lose her temper.

"Um, Mom, you're not angry anymore, are you?" Qianxia blinked playfully.

"Hmm?" Tsunade nodded subconsciously, but out of maternal pride, she immediately changed to a questioning tone, "Tell me, why are you always picking on that Konohamaru kid?"

"Because of Dad." Chika stopped massaging and said seriously.

"That guy..." Tsunade felt a headache coming on whenever she thought about her little man's feud with the Sarutobi clan.

Sarutobi Mirai was better off; she was kind-hearted by nature and never sought revenge.

But Konohamaru and Sarutobi Asuma are different; those two guys always have Chiya on their lips.

If things continue like this, I'm afraid I'll be ruined by my own little man sooner or later.

She was quite familiar with her little man's strength, and given his wicked nature, it wasn't impossible for him to not only kill Konohamaru and Sarutobi Asuma, but also destroy Konoha.

Not to mention that the Akatsuki organization also has someone that even their own little man has to "fear".

As the Hokage of Konoha, with his own man on one side and the Konoha ninja on the other, all he could do was prevent conflict between them and prevent his own man from doing anything that would harm Konoha. That was the limit.

The Land of Wind, Sunagakure Village.

Gaara, now the Kazekage, is in the conference room listening to reports from a group of high-ranking Sunagakure officials.

"In recent years, the strength of our Sunagakure has gradually stabilized, and exchanges with the ninja villages of our allies have become more frequent."

"Especially in terms of training new recruits, the effect of using the acting program introduced from Konoha Village has been very significant. The emergence of many new Chunin in the recent Chunin Exams is the best proof of this."

"And then..."

Maki, a Jonin from Sunagakure who was once the teacher of Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara, rambled on and on.

It wasn't until Sasori's spy, Yura, mentioned "Akatsuki" that everyone's attention was drawn. "The Chunin Exams held recently were quite successful, but some bad rumors have surfaced."

"What is it? Yura?" Maki asked with a serious expression.

"Have you heard of the organization 'Akatsuki'?" Yura asked Maki.

At this time, although Yura was under Sasori's control of Mind Control Sand, he did not know that he was a spy until the ninjutsu was lifted. He still thought that he was a high-ranking Jonin of Sunagakure.

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(End of this chapter)