Konoha Notes

Chapter 208 The Fifty-Seventh Year of Konoha
December 30th, Konoha Year 56.

A loud cry pierced the Sarutobi clan's mansion, announcing the arrival of a new life—Sarutobi Konohamaru.

At the same time, the Hokage's office was brightly lit.

"How long will you be taking leave this time?" Tsunade asked without looking up, her pen tracing a smooth arc across the document.

Before the pen had even stopped, Shuji's voice drifted calmly from behind the pile of documents: "A year or two, I guess?"

Tsunade snorted, her eyes sweeping across the other side with obvious disdain, but her subordinate deftly stamped the seal: "Approved. Calculated as six months."

"Let's get the work done in the last couple of days before the end of the year."

That being said, the amount of paperwork in the last two days of the year was surprisingly within an acceptable range.

It is said that Tsunade worked overtime hard to get a break for a day or two, and took care of the things that needed to be done first.

"Information on 'Madara'," Tsunade said as she reviewed the dossier in her hand, as if suddenly remembering something. "The village has decided to provide limited information to Kumogakure."

Shuji buried himself in the documents and didn't look up.

Even without his intelligence, aside from Obito Uchiha's actual abilities, Konoha had already guessed quite a bit about what needed to be guessed.

However, the Akatsuki organization is still a lot of trouble.

It's not just because of Obito and Nagato, but also because of Madara Uchiha, who is already dead.

In the original storyline, Madara's arrangements for his resurrection after death were extremely perfunctory.

While it appeared that the cursed seal controlled Obito, in reality, apart from preventing Obito from taking his own life, it had almost no binding power before Madara was truly resurrected.

However, if we exclude the part where Madara made a mistake, namely the problem with Black Zetsu, Madara's plan was that his resurrection was actually under control.

Obito didn't want him to be resurrected because the situation was still under control and the Akatsuki organization held the advantage.

Black wasn't in a hurry to revive him because the war hadn't started yet. Making Madara do sit-ups too early might have been to prevent the discovery that he wasn't the will Madara had severed.

Furthermore, if Obito can truly become the perfect Ten-Tails Jinchuriki, it doesn't really matter who activates the Infinite Tsukuyomi.

If Obito Uchiha could do it, then Madara would use the Edo Tensei as his fighting force, which is acceptable to Black Zetsu.

No, switching back to Ban is fine too.

It was only after the Black Zetsu he left behind, which could forcibly control Obito, became ineffective that Madara miscalculated the timing of his resurrection.

However, as long as a state of war is in effect, such as before the Fourth Shinobi World War when Obito declared war on the five great ninja villages, Black Zetsu would immediately begin preparations for Madara's resurrection.

If Madara Uchiha comes back to life, will the Rinnegan that originally belonged to him still be able to stay in Nagato's body?

As for Akatsuki, his plan was to focus on limiting and weakening them as much as possible until his side had the combat power to face Madara Uchiha with the Rinnegan, so as not to really force Obito or Black Zetsu to take desperate measures.

If we have to act prematurely, we must aim for a decisive victory. We must either eliminate Obito or take down Nagato; we must not allow ourselves to become embroiled in a protracted war, giving the enemy a chance to react and counterattack.

As for Black Zetsu, he was only successfully sealed away after being hit by the Six Paths Technique: Chibaku Tensei, along with Kaguya Otsutsuki.

It would be extremely difficult to launch a successful surprise attack on it.

Right now, we should focus on handling what we can control. As long as the overall situation remains stable and we don't get taken advantage of, there's room for maneuver.

"Shuji." Tsunade's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Ok?"

"Thanks for your hard work."

This time, Xiu Si didn't stand on ceremony and readily accepted the recognition: "Mm."

Tsunade's eyebrows furrowed instantly: "'Hmm' - what does that mean?"

“‘Hmm’ means,” Shuuji looked up from the documents, his tone flat, “I really have worked hard.” “I’m the one who sits here working every day!” Tsunade slammed her hand on the desk, leaning forward abruptly, glaring at the figure behind another desk. “And you keep taking months off every now and then.”

"You are the Hokage, the esteemed Lady Tsunade," Shuji said calmly. "And I am merely a lowly Jonin, an ordinary ninja of Konoha."

"Who was it that begged me to come back in the first place?! You bastard!"

"Since we've already begged them back, why should we still grovel and beg? Wouldn't all my efforts have been wasted?"

"you this……"

The office door was gently pushed open, and Jingyin walked in carrying a tray of late-night snacks. She glanced at the tense atmosphere in the room and sighed silently.

"Lady Tsunade, Shuuji, you can rest for a bit..."

"Shut up, mute!" Tsunade roared. "I'm not letting this guy get away with this today!"

“…Yes.” Shizune answered instinctively, her steps faltering.

Just then, Tsunade stepped onto the desk, and in a flash, grabbed Shuji by the collar and lifted him off his seat.

With his body suspended in mid-air, Shuuji's gaze passed over Tsunade's shoulder and landed on Shizune standing at the doorway.

“At times like this, Miss Shizune, please make a move, instead of saying ‘yes’.”

Jingyin pursed her lips, said nothing, silently picked up her tray, took a step back, and quietly closed the office door.

After the door clicked shut, the faint sounds of tables and chairs colliding could be heard.

The night is long.

But it passed by in a flash.

The 57th year of Konoha arrived amidst much noise and commotion. Shuji officially took leave and returned to his old house in the western suburbs to devote himself to his experiments.

Red Bean was transferred to the Dark Division and assigned to the same squad as Uzuki Yugao and Gekko Hayate.

After dealing with the village's most pressing affairs of the year, Jiraiya once again left the Akatsuki to embark on an investigation.

This time, he was accompanied by Uchiha Shisui and Hyuga Iporo.

After waiting for several months with Uchiha Enjin and confirming that there would be no gain, Shisui left the Anbu's guardhouse.

He had been waiting for potential contacts.

Now that the other party isn't coming, he'll take the initiative to set off.

The problem between the village and the Uchiha clan can be resolved as long as no outsiders interfere.

Therefore, he needs to find the real enemy he needs to face.

Even if it's just to prevent the other side from attacking the village again, we must not let them ruin this hard-won turning point.

The two Hyuga clan members who were originally responsible for guarding Uchiha Enjin were also transferred away from the Anbu prison.

The Hyuga clan has always had a heavy workload.

Especially this year, Konoha's leadership has hinted to Hiashi Hyuga that the police force will continue to recruit Hyuga members.

The final arrangement was roughly that Hiashi Hyuga would serve as the vice-captain of the police force, as a way to balance the Uchiha clan.

This can be considered compensation from the village to the Hyuga clan.

After all, in the incident at Kumogakure, Konoha's final decision did indeed sacrifice the Hyuga clan.

(End of this chapter)