Naruto: I, the villain template, was hailed as a savior.

Chapter 187 Tsunade's Respect, Hiruzen's Bitterness

Bang!Bang bang!

Inside the Hokage's office, hearing the almost slamming knocking sound that only Tsunade would use, Hiruzen Sarutobi felt his body, which had finally recovered, start to ache again.

However, the fact that Tsunade now knocks before entering the Hokage's office instead of just pushing the door open is already a relief to Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Originally, Tsunade's strength was only in the second tier of Konoha, just below him, the "Kage".

After undergoing Mito Uzumaki's near-suicidal transfer ritual to become the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, even he, as the "Kage" and teacher, dared not say that he could reliably suppress his disciple.

If it were a life-or-death battle where any forbidden technique could be used, Hiruzen Sarutobi would be confident he could kill Tsunade.

After all, he was a ninja known as the "Professor of Ninjutsu," and he had already mastered almost all the ninjutsu and forbidden techniques recorded in the Konoha Sealing Techniques, as long as the learning conditions were met.

Even if it were Mito in his previous life, he would have felt he had a fighting chance if he had used all his methods, let alone Tsunade now.

However, in Hiruzen Sarutobi's view, things haven't reached that point yet, nor is he willing to actually reach the point where master and disciple regard each other as enemies.

"Come in." He sighed inwardly, forced a smile, and said.

Click.

The office door opened, and the figure walked in.

Perhaps because of Mito Uzumaki's passing, Tsunade seemed much more composed.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was initially pleased to see Tsunade in this state.

But after Tsunade said the next sentence, the smile on his face froze.

"My lord, please don't let a child become an outlet for the villagers' malicious resentment."

Tsunade's calm, still eyes looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi, at the old man who had once been her teacher; there was no trace of affection left in her eyes.

"No matter how you intend to handle this matter, whether you make it public that I have become the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki or you shift all the blame onto Grandma Mito, please do not involve that child."

"She's just a child, she knows nothing about these things, she's not suited to deal with this kind of thing, please let her go."

At this point, Tsunade's tone was filled with nothing but respect, even earnestness, for the "Kage."

"..."

He used to be annoyed by Tsunade's disrespectful behavior, but now he sees Tsunade in front of him who only has respect for him.

For some reason, Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly felt a sharp pain in his heart, and a strong sense of suffocation surged up, making his face turn slightly pale.

He hadn't felt this way in a long time.

The last time was when I saw Kagami's body, and the time before that was when I saw Tobirama-sensei risking his life to cover their escape.

"Hiss! Whoosh..."

Subconsciously, Hiruzen Sarutobi raised the pipe in his hand, put the mouthpiece in his mouth, and took a deep drag, as if he wanted to blow the old bellows in his chest apart.

A mixture of sweet, bitter, sour, and astringent air rushed into his lungs, lifting his chest high, and finally he exhaled sharply.

The smoke he exhaled stung his fingertips. Looking at Tsunade in front of him, Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't know what to say for a moment. He could only suppress all his emotions and words along with the bitter smoke in his heart.

After a moment of silence, he said in a slightly hoarse voice, "I promise you, although it's a bit late, I will do my best to stop the rumors from spreading and protect that child, making Konoha her home."

"Thank you, Third Generation Lord. I'll take my leave now."

Tsunade bowed slightly, expressionless, without even mentioning the application to leave the village, and turned to leave the office directly.

"Wait a moment."

Hearing the hesitant voice behind her, Tsunade stopped in her tracks, turned around and respectfully asked Hiruzen Sarutobi, "Is there anything else, Third Hokage?"

"..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression grew increasingly distressed. He lowered his head, wrote on the application form for leaving the village, and handed it over. His voice was dry as he said, "I've approved your application to leave the village. Go with Jiraiya, whether you want to relax or go to the front lines, it's up to you."

Upon hearing this, Tsunade gave him a deep look, took the document, and said in a slightly gentler tone, "Thank you, teacher. I'm just going to the front lines; I won't be running around."

After saying this, under Hiruzen Sarutobi's gaze, she bowed slightly, turned around, and left.

Click.

Hiruzen Sarutobi stared at the closed door, remaining silent for several breaths. The only sound in the room was his broken, bellows-like breathing.

After a while, he stood up stiffly and walked to the window behind him.

At three in the morning, the rain had almost stopped, and the moonlight was partially obscured by dark clouds. He looked up at the half-moon hanging in the sky.

The moon tonight is not particularly bright; it hangs in the sky as a reddish-yellow, damp halo the size of a coin, bathed in pale brown moonlight that flows from the shadowy rock that etched its own face all the way to the pools of water accumulated on the houses.

The light drizzle scattered the moonlight, spreading it evenly across the water's surface. The refracted light dimly illuminated Hiruzen Sarutobi's sorrowful profile by the window.

"Hoo..." With each breath, a spark ignited in the pipe in his mouth, and white smoke slowly spread out in hazy patches.

Protect Kushina Uzumaki, let children with the Will of Fire form a bond with her, make her the second Nine-Tails Jinchuriki after Mito, and make Konoha her home.

This was something he had always wanted to do and had been doing before the Sky Legion invasion occurred.

However, everything changed after that incident.

Mito Uzumaki secretly transferred the Nine-Tails into Tsunade's body, making Tsunade the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki, completely disrupting his plans.

This was also the main reason why he spoke out against Tsunade when he saw the scene at the hospital, even though Tsunade was still grieving over Mito's passing.

By then, the transfer ceremony had been completed, and everything was beyond repair. The best course of action would have been to appease Tsunade, suppress the news, and handle the aftermath.

However, the situation had deteriorated to the point that it was completely out of his control. He never expected that Mito would sacrifice herself to transfer the Nine-Tails to Tsunade. Even his decades of self-control caused him to lose his composure for a moment.

As a result, his rebuke provoked Tsunade, whose emotions and mental state were extremely unstable at the time, causing her to directly attack her teacher, making him, the Hokage, lose face in front of so many ninjas.

Finally, perhaps out of guilt, or perhaps out of consideration for Tsunade's status, strength, and reputation, even though he was beaten up by Tsunade and sent to Konoha Hospital, he did not pursue Tsunade's responsibility, but only tried to minimize the impact of the incident.

Having done all this, Hiruzen Sarutobi thought the negative impact of the Sky Legion's invasion was over, but little did he know that it was just the beginning.

Under the influence of the poisonous fog known as "fear gas," most of the villagers were affected.

Even after so long, the scenes from that day still appear in their dreams, etching fear into their hearts.

The consequence was that the villagers were under mental stress due to prolonged fear, and their excessive self-defense behavior caused by fear led to a sharp increase in the crime rate in Konoha recently.

It wasn't just conflicts between civilians; there were also incidents of ninjas injuring people, and Konoha almost became a powder keg that exploded.

God knows how terrified he was as the Hokage back then.

It's important to know that Konoha is not only home to ninjas and their families, but also to many wealthy merchants from outside the country, as well as the families of officials from the Land of Fire.

If a large-scale bloodshed were to occur due to internal conflicts, he, as Hokage, would be forced to resign amidst a storm of criticism.

However, this colorless and invisible "fear gas" directly affects the mind, and Tsunade and all the medical ninjas in Konoha are helpless against it.

If it's just memories, that's fine. Although there are few ways to seal memories, and they are all forbidden techniques, there are still ways.

However, the poison gas did not simply repeat memories, but directly awakened the fear in the subconscious.

Let alone ordinary treatments, even the secret techniques of the mountain tribe, such as controlling the mind and invading memories, risk turning the patient into a dementia patient, cannot possibly enter the patient's deep subconscious to seal it off.

Later, someone recommended a wandering doctor named Pharmacist who was skilled in psychotherapy. It was after taking her advice that he developed a gentler psychotherapy that combined illusion magic.

Although it cannot be completely cured in a short period of time, it can at least provide relief when symptoms occur and can be gradually cured over time.

However, as the treatment progressed, a problem arose.

The villagers desperately needed an outlet for their resentment and malice.

As a member of the same clan as Mito Uzumaki, Kushina Uzumaki became the unfortunate one.

That head of red hair was already incredibly eye-catching, and coupled with that surname, it naturally became the target of everyone's criticism.

When the rumors first appeared, Hiruzen Sarutobi had already received a report from the Anbu and originally intended to dissuade and block them.

But then I thought about it again and started to hesitate.

No matter how unwilling he was, the fact that Tsunade had become the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki could not be changed, and he could not simply pull the Nine-Tails out of Tsunade's stomach. Therefore, it seemed that Kushina Uzumaki had lost her value.

Or rather, her greatest value now lies in becoming an outlet for the villagers' malice and resentment, and in maintaining the internal stability of Konoha...

"Hiss...cough cough! cough!"

Thinking of this, Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression became even more distressed. He subconsciously took a deep drag, but felt a sharp pain in his throat and coughed a few times, exhaling the smoke from his mouth.

"If your body continues like this, it will collapse sooner or later."

The office door was pushed open, and someone walked in, their footsteps very light.

"Xiaochun? Yan? It's so late, aren't you asleep yet?" Hearing the voice behind him, Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't turn around. He put down the pipe he was smoking and gently flicked the ash out the window.

Biwako is very worried about your health.

Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu walked up behind Sarutobi Hiruzen, watching the white smoke slowly rising in front of him. The latter said bluntly, "She said you only went home once during this period, and you only glanced at Asuma before leaving."

She also said that Asma is a very smart child, and can now say "Mom" and "Brother," but she just can't say "Dad."

Upon hearing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi fell silent, puffing on his cigarette without uttering a word.

"It's just an internal problem. We're here to help you, aren't we? Why don't you take this opportunity to rest? Worrying too much will only make you stressed and upset."

Mitokado Homura said with a similarly helpless tone, "Also, the situation at the front has only just eased up a bit. It's one thing for Jiraiya and Tsunade to be so immature and want to leave the village, but as the village's Kage, you shouldn't act impulsively at a time like this and let them leave."

Anyone could hear Mitokado Homura's dissatisfaction with Jiraiya and Tsunade.

Jiraiya is an unreliable guy, but Tsunade is now the village's Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. What if something happens to her on the battlefield?

Konoha will lose the Nine-Tails, their greatest "deterrent"!

The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki must never leave the village without orders, and even Mito Uzumaki followed this unwritten rule during her lifetime.

Logically, Hiruzen Sarutobi should have tried his best to dissuade Tsunade from leaving the village, but he actually approved her application without any objection.

"Rest is for the dead. It's not too late to sleep peacefully after the war is over."

Hiruzen Sarutobi turned to look at them, the bitterness on his lips fading, and he smiled, "As for Tsunade... don't worry, Jiraiya hasn't been idle during his time in the village. Although he may seem unreliable at times, he will definitely protect Tsunade with his life."

Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu frowned, somewhat dissatisfied with his perfunctory explanation.

It's not a question of whether or not to trust Jiraiya; it's that Konoha is now unable to bear the consequences of any unexpected events.

"I'm not so old that I can't move. If anything happens, I, as the Hokage, will take full responsibility."

Before the two could try to dissuade him again, Hiruzen Sarutobi interrupted them completely.

Mito and Homura exchanged a glance, realizing that their old friend was determined to let Tsunade go, and they couldn't help but feel a little helpless.

"You don't need to think that I let them out because of personal feelings."

Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly spoke, his tone cold: "Do you really think the Second Shinobi World War will end like this?"

Upon hearing this, Mitokado Homura paused for a moment, then subconsciously frowned and said, "Otherwise what? With Hanzo and Amegakure's cooperation, Sunagakure is already at its last gasp. It won't be long before they are completely defeated, and the Second Shinobi World War will naturally end."

Koharu, who was sitting next to him, pondered for a moment, squinted her eyes as if she had thought of something, and her expression gradually became serious.

"No, you're oversimplifying things." Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head and sneered, "That daimyo does want the Land of Wind to lose, but do you think he wants the Land of Rain to win?"

War is a knife used to cut a cake.

The Land of Rain is not worthy.

(End of this chapter)