This Water Shadow is very strong, but overly cautious.

"Tuk Tuk"

Suddenly, a faint knock sounded at Mizunoe Ryosuke's door, interrupting Ryosuke's thoughts.

It was already deep into the night, and the moon had already climbed above the frost-covered treetops of the Iron Kingdom.

"It's so late, who could it be?"

Ryosuke was a little confused.

At this moment, four members of the Mizukage Guard were on guard all around at any time. Unless they were someone recognized by Ryosuke, it would be impossible for them to arrive at Ryosuke's door at this time.

So it couldn't be an "uninvited guest".

So he turned and walked to the door and opened it without hesitation.

The moment the door opened, Ryosuke's heartbeat suddenly stopped.

Tsunade 737

Ryosuke softly read out the name of the person who came, and a hint of disbelief flashed in his eyes.

If Tsunade in the daytime is a dazzling princess with golden light, then Tsunade at this moment is a quiet and gentle moon goddess.

The pure black robe covered Tsunade's curvy figure, and the black hood of the robe covered Tsunade's dazzling golden hair that was like a waterfall, revealing only a shy little face.

"Ryosuke"

Tsunade looked at Mizunoe Ryosuke shyly, and the charm in her eyes made Ryosuke swallow his saliva.

In the quiet of the night, a beautiful woman comes to visit.

Everything is self-explanatory.

Tsunade gently hugged Mizunoe Ryosuke's body, snuggled in Ryosuke's arms, and whispered two words.

"hug me"

A deep look flashed in Mizunoe Ryosuke's eyes, and he directly carried Tsunade's plump body into the house.

The mission of purchasing weapons has been completed, and Tsunade will set off back to Konoha early tomorrow morning.

As a ninja, Tsunade has seen too many separations of life and death.

Even those as strong as Senju Hashirama and Senju Tobirama could not escape death.

In troubled times, who can be sure of what the future will be like?

Once you miss some people, it may be a lifetime.

After struggling in the room for half the night, Tsunade finally made up her mind. She didn't want to leave any regrets.

The night is already deep.

After tonight, the fate of the two is completely entangled and can no longer be separated.

Chapter 228: The Unreachable Woman

Under the ever-present dark clouds, drifting raindrops fell one after another, dripping onto everyone's shoulders. The raindrops slid down the black rubber raincoats and landed on the muddy ground.

In the entire space, there was no other sound except the dripping sound of raindrops falling.

Hanzo of the Salamander stood on a high place, glancing down at the ninjas below who were wearing pitch-black rubber raincoats. His eyes, filled with a powerful aura, were filled with a look of determination.

For this country, failure in this battle means death.

This is also the necessary and only way for him to lead this country to the top of the ninja world.

"set off!"

He opened his mouth and uttered two words, his voice sounding unusually muffled because of the respirator on his face. Then he raised his hand and swung it forward suddenly.

The next moment, countless ninjas in black rubber raincoats moved forward silently in the direction the man pointed under the rain.

Salamander Hanzo takes action!

Within an hour of the Rain Ninja taking action, a large amount of information began to radiate and transmit to the entire ninja world.

This time, Hanzo of the Salamander didn't seem to have any intention of hiding anything. He went straight ahead and gathered a large number of Rain Ninjas, heading towards the junction of the Land of Rain and the Land of Earth.

This undoubtedly directly indicates that the next target that the Rain Ninja will choose to challenge will be the Rock Ninja of the Land of Earth.

On the border between the Land of Rain and the Land of Earth, a large number of Rock Ninjas were already waiting there.

The leading Iwagakure was none other than Yodo, the son of Ohnoki, the third Tsuchikage of the Land of Earth.

In a situation where both sides have almost "open cards".

After arriving at the battlefield, a large number of Rock Ninja and Rain Ninja started fighting without any nonsense.

For a moment, the plains at the junction of the Rain Kingdom and the Earth Kingdom were filled with blood and killing.

The battle lasted all night, until dawn, when both sides ended their attacks and called off their troops.

Perhaps it was simply because this initial battle was merely an exploratory one, and neither side consumed any significant energy, even though the battlefield was littered with corpses.

But almost all of them are cannon fodder-level combat forces.

The highest level of combat power mobilized by both sides was only the Jonin, and most of those participating in the battle were cannon fodder at the Genin level. Although both sides seemed to have suffered heavy losses, the consumption of combat power was negligible.

By the way, the people commanding the battle on both sides were not their respective leaders.

The Rain Ninja is none other than the Salamander Kamada, who is known as "Hanzo's right hand", while on the Iwagakure side, it is not the Tsuchikage's son Huangdi who is in charge of organizing the defense, but an ordinary Iwagakure Jonin.

The news of the outbreak of war between the two countries had already spread throughout the ninja world at this time.

After a draw with the Sand Ninja, the Rain Ninja rested for about a week and made a comeback.

This message was immediately delivered to the desks of the five Kage.

In the Land of Fire, Konoha.

Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at this information without taking it lightly.

In the Hokage's office, this time in addition to the four-member group consisting of Sarutobi Hiruzen, Shimura Danzo, and Mito Kado En and Utane Koharu, there were three more young ninjas.

They are a noble woman with a noble aura and long golden hair; a feminine man with long black hair and purple eyeshadow; and a young man with white hedgehog hair who looks a little sloppy.

These three people are none other than Sarutobi Hiruzen's favorite disciples, and Konoha's famous prostitutes, gamblers, and drug addicts.

They are the famous young leading ninjas of Konoha, including Tsunade Senju, Jiraiya and Orochimaru.

"You three, get ready."

"The war is coming soon, and this time I intend to let the three of you lead the army."

Sarutobi Hizashi looked at the three disciples in front of him with a serious expression.

"Why the three of us, old man."

Orochimaru asked Sarutobi Hiruzen in a cold and hoarse voice, with a hint of confusion in his eyes.

Konoha is full of talented people at the moment. Even if they are ranked from top to bottom, it should not be the turn of these three people in terms of seniority or strength.

"The nearby small country has been a little restless recently, and the Uchiha and Hyuga have been sent to quell the unrest in the small country."

"Men Yan and Xiaochun are not convenient to lead the army now. Danzo and I need to stay in the village to prevent any accidents."

"Combined together, only you three are the most suitable candidates."

"Besides"

"If I don't seize this opportunity to train you, how can I retire peacefully in the future?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen spoke slowly, with a meaningful look in his eyes.

As for Sarutobi Hiruzen's meaningful look, not to mention Jiraiya and Tsunade, Orochimaru seemed to understand something, and a hint of heat flashed in his eyes.

How could Orochimaru not understand Sarutobi Hiruzen's almost "explicit" hint?

Go to the battlefield, gain military merit, accumulate reputation, and then

Become Hokage!!!

Thinking of this, the heat in Orochimaru's eyes became more obvious.

Who among the ninjas of Konoha doesn't want to sit on the position of Hokage? Even Orochimaru at this time is no exception.

Now, Orochimaru, who has not yet seen through Sarutobi Hiruzen's true identity, still has this unrealistic fantasy of becoming Hokage.

This is no wonder. With Sarutobi Hiruzen's obvious promise, it would be strange if Orochimaru was not tempted.

Thinking of this, Orochimaru looked around him.

Although Tsunade was born into a noble family, as a woman, there had never been a woman who could become the Kage of a country before. It was naturally extremely difficult for Tsunade to ascend to the position.

And Jiraiya

Orochimaru looked at Jiraiya who was picking his nose beside him, and a hint of relief flashed in his eyes.

No matter how you look at it, Orochimaru is the best candidate to be the next Hokage.

Thinking of this, Orochimaru was full of hope and desire to lead the army into battle.

With Sarutobi Hiruzen's skills, it was naturally impossible for him to leave any loopholes at this time. In order to allow the three of them to lead the battle with justification, he had already found all the reasons.

After Sarutobi Hiruzen finished speaking, Mito Kado En and Utane Koharu looked at the three of them embarrassedly and gave a kind smile.

But if you look closely, you can see a hint of depth in their eyes.

On the other side, Danzo Shimura just sat there without saying a word, like a wax figure.

Ever since it was confirmed that he had nothing to do with participating in the war, Danzo Shimura has been acting as if he has nothing to do with it.

Seeing this, a hint of understanding flashed in Tsunade's eyes. As the best medical ninja in Konoha today, she naturally knew that Utane Koharu was currently pregnant.

After all, not long ago, Tsunade, who had just returned from the Land of Iron, was invited by Utatane Koharu for a medical consultation.

Among the three, only Jiraiya had a serious look in his eyes.

Coincidentally, whether it is Tsunade, Jiraiya, or Orochimaru.

The three of them had just finished their work and returned to Muye.

Before this, Orochimaru led his army to confront Sunagakure at the border of River Country.

Tsunade first went to the Land of Rain to gather intelligence, and then went to the Land of Iron to purchase weapons.

Jiraiya, on the other hand, has been studying abroad at Myoboku Mountain.

In other words, the three of them haven't seen each other for a long time.

Orochimaru and Jiraiya have been old enemies for many years. Although they love and hate each other, they still appear to be indifferent to each other on the surface.

Whenever Jiraiya's gaze shifted to Tsunade, there would always be a hint of imperceptible admiration and love in his eyes.

Maybe it's an illusion, or maybe it's been too long since we last saw each other.

Jiraiya always felt that Tsunade at this moment seemed to have lost a bit of toughness and gained a bit of feminine charm and softness, and her charm seemed to have reached a higher level.

Especially the mature charm between her eyebrows and eyes made Jiraiya even more moved.

unfortunately

Jiraiya knew that with his status and position, he was not worthy of Tsunade.

The other person is destined to be the woman he can only dream of but never reach in his lifetime.

Chapter 229: Brightness and Warmth on the Surface

"You three, there's no need to rush."

"The war hasn't broken out yet, so you have plenty of time to prepare."

Sarutobi Hiruzen spoke slowly and calmly, his demeanor extremely kind, like a kind old grandfather on the street doting on his grandson.

The war he was talking about was naturally a prediction of the war that would break out between the Rain Shinobi and Konoha.

Tsunade and the other two remained silent on this.

"I know, old man."

Tsunade nodded first, and then said nothing more.

Orochimaru glanced sideways at Tsunade, and the snake creature's keen intuition told Orochimaru that Tsunade seemed to have changed a little.

On the other side, the slow-witted Jiraiya did not notice any changes in Tsunade, and chatted with Sarutobi Hiruzen with great respect.

"By the way, Tsunade."