Konoha: Starting with Sage Mode

Her sensory ability is a special kind of chakra perception. Although this ability is ordinary and far from that of a professional sensory ninja, she can still react immediately to any slight movement within a radius of twenty meters.

For a moment, Tsunade narrowed her eyes slightly as she looked at the man who resembled her younger brother Kirito as an adult. A hint of interest arose in her heart, and she nodded slightly, saying, "Sit down, there's no room here anyway."

The next moment, under the watchful and amused gazes of the other men around him, the mysterious man sat down and asked the waiter to bring him the best wine in the restaurant.

The mysterious man didn't seem to be interested in pursuing Tsunade. He simply drank alone and didn't say another word after his initial exchange with Tsunade.

Tsunade was too lazy to talk to the strange man and continued to immerse herself in her own thoughts.

However, because of the mysterious man in her life, she did not gradually lower her guard and completely numb herself with alcohol as usual. She remained vigilant and secretly observed the mysterious man from beginning to end.

And so, the two of them drank alone in silence, neither disturbing the other.

This continued until Tsunade finished her sake.

"Would you like some wine from the Land of Wind?"

The mysterious man suddenly used a summoning jutsu to take out a bottle of wine from a summoning card, and smiled as he handed it to Tsunade, whose glass was already empty.

Upon hearing this, Tsunade couldn't help but glance at the bottle of wine in the mysterious man's hand.

As a very wealthy female wine connoisseur, she has a discerning eye. Just by looking at the bottle, she knew that this was Blood Sunset, the top-tier wine from the Land of Wind.

Due to the preciousness of the raw materials and the complexity of the production process, the annual output of Blood Sunset is extremely low. It is generally only supplied to the royal family of the Kingdom of Wind. Very few Blood Sunset bottles end up on the market, and the market price starts at least in the millions.

At the same time, Blood Sunset is also her favorite drink.

With a "bang".

The cork was opened, and an irresistible aroma of wine immediately wafted out of the bottle.

Tsunade took a sip and instantly knew that this bottle of Blood Sunset was a rare vintage brewed for nearly fifty years. Her inner wine cravings immediately awakened, and her eyes lit up as she looked at the Blood Sunset in the mysterious man's hand. She quickly asked, "Is this wine for sale?"

She didn't like drinking alcohol offered by strangers; she preferred to buy it directly with money. She happened to have a lot of money to burn, and as long as the other party was willing to pay, buying their bottle of "Fresh Blood Sunset" wouldn't be a problem. It was just a gambling debt, nothing serious.

Moreover, she believed that the other party would not dare to extort her, the princess of Konoha, in Konoha.

"Looks like you've finally sobered up, sister."

Suddenly, a familiar voice rang in Tsunade's mind.

Upon hearing the voice, Tsunade's eyes widened instantly, then she quickly regained her composure and said angrily to the voice that had suddenly appeared in her mind, "You brat, are you kidding me? Believe me or not, I'll beat you up right now."

She never expected that the mysterious man in front of her, who looked like a grown-up Kirito, was actually that brat Kirito.

That brat must have been secretly watching her make a fool of herself while drinking.

Upon realizing this, Tsunade felt both ashamed and angry.

"Sorry, this wine is not for sale; it's only for personal enjoyment."

Kirito heard Tsunade's telepathic message through his telepathic communication technique and smiled.

Then, while pouring wine for Tsunade, he secretly transmitted his voice: "Don't be angry, dear sister. I didn't dare to disturb you while you were drinking because you seemed upset. I had to wait until you finished your wine before bothering you. You haven't been home for several days. Lady Momoka asked me to check on you."

"Hmph, look at me. She's the one who sent you to be the persuader and convince me to go back to be the clan chief."

Tsunade replied telepathically, her voice filled with dissatisfaction, before downing the wine Kirito had poured for her in one gulp.

She hasn't been home these past few days. One reason is that she's been bothered by the conflict between her family and the third generation, and another is that Tao Hua has launched a new round of attacks on her to become the clan leader, forcing her to become the clan leader of the Thousand Hands Clan.

Tao Hua's intention to force her to become the clan leader was all too obvious.

Once she becomes the clan leader, unless she is willing to betray the interests of the Senju clan, she will have to confront the Third Hokage directly, with no room for maneuver.

"Lady Momoka is getting old. She is now both the head of the Senju clan and the Hokage's advisor. She is very busy every day, and there is no one in the Senju clan who can share her burdens. Moreover, she is often worried about Nawaki and me. If this continues, she may become ill from overwork."

Kirito didn't say anything to force Tsunade to go back to be the clan leader; he was simply revealing a stark truth.

The fact is that Tsunade lacks a sense of responsibility.

Despite being the strongest member of the Senju clan and a descendant of the first patriarch, she has been shirking her responsibilities, shifting all the burdens of the Senju clan onto an elderly woman who deeply loves her. It's utterly outrageous.

To be honest, even Kirito himself is starting to find it hard to watch anymore.

Previously, the relationship between the Senju clan and the Third Hokage was relatively good, and he could turn a blind eye to Tsunade's resistance to becoming the clan leader. However, since the Senju clan and the Third Hokage officially had a major conflict, Momoka has been extremely busy every day for the benefit of the Senju clan.

And what was Tsunade doing?

He drowns his sorrows in alcohol every day and keeps running away from them.

After Kirito finished speaking, he silently poured more sake into Tsunade's cup.

This time, Tsunade did not finish the drink immediately. She simply stared silently at the blood-red liquid in the glass, at her own reflection, and then slowly swallowed the drink.

At this moment, the wine that had just tasted so sweet and delicious now tasted incredibly bitter.

"Kirito, I'm not cut out to be the clan leader. Let Momoka choose someone else. By the way, what's going on with you right now?"

Tsunade transmitted her voice, indicating that she still chose to run away and deliberately changed the subject.

"This is a puppet I made. I'm temporarily attaching my soul clone to it as my body for my operations in Konoha."

Upon seeing this, Kirito sighed.

Like Thor's puppet, his current body is a bionic puppet created by combining the Earth Grudge Fear Secret Technique and puppetry.

However, unlike the Thunder God Puppet, this android puppet has two Earth Grudge Fear Hearts inside, which were respectively derived from a Jonin of Iwagakure and a Jonin of Kumogakure. It is the best of the many android puppets made by Kirito.

If controlled by a soul clone, it can unleash power surpassing that of an elite Jonin.

Ever since he caused a ruckus in Konoha with his White Zetsu clones, he has noticed an increase in the number of White Zetsu appearing in the village. What's troublesome for him is that the soul aura of these White Zetsu clones has been shielded, making it impossible for him to sense them using his Spirit Transformation Technique.

If it weren't for the Byakugan of the White Zetsu clones, they might have fooled his senses.

This shows that Madara Uchiha had already noticed him, and might even have connected him with the White Zetsu clone.

Furthermore, Tsunade seemed to have sensed that the White Zetsu clone possessed Wood Release abilities, a fact that was later revealed by the clone during an argument with Momoka.

Because of this, Momoka has recently been secretly probing him several times about Wood Release.

Therefore, it is not advisable for the White Zetsu clone to appear in front of Konoha and Tsunade for the time being.

"puppet!"

Tsunade was shocked once again when she learned the truth.

She had initially thought it was Kirito's soul clone that had taken over someone else's body and transformed into a person, but she never expected it to be a puppet.

But she could clearly feel the breathing and heartbeat of the mysterious man in front of her, and the life force emanating from him was undeniable.

"Your puppetry skills are truly surpassing your master's. If the puppeteers of Sunagakure knew that you, a ninja from Konoha, could create such realistic puppets, I wonder what they would think?"

Tsunade didn't delve into the secret of Kirito's puppet; she was simply surprised.

She was increasingly unable to understand her younger brother. His strength was increasing at an alarming rate, and just looking at the puppet in front of her gave her a very dangerous feeling.

As expected, this puppet will definitely be another very powerful ninja tool.

"Nawaki and I recently took on a new mission, secretly assigned by the Third Generation. Do you want to know what the mission entails, sister?"

Kirito didn't want Tsunade to keep changing the subject, so he said something that Tsunade had to face.

"What mission!"

Tsunade asked without hesitation.

"Rope Tree is indeed her biggest weakness."

Kirito sighed as he saw Tsunade instantly forget about the Third Hokage and focus on Nawaki.

He had long since figured it out: his dear older sister was a total brother-obsessed girl, and she would stand on Nawaki's side without hesitation in any matter that involved Nawaki.

Even now, knowing that the new mission was secretly assigned by the Third Hokage and that his current high-profile actions are a serious violation of Konoha's mission regulations, she still chooses to ignore it.

This shows that in her heart, Nawaki was more important than the Third Generation.

"The Third Hokage ordered the White Fang Squad to cut off the source of Sunagakure's unknown funds. The source of Sunagakure's unknown funds was the appearance of a ninja in Sunagakure who had awakened Magnet Release. This ninja's Magnet Release was very special. His Magnet Release could manipulate metal materials, such as gold dust. It was because he was constantly panning for gold in the desert that Sunagakure's war funds were able to continue."

Kirito briefly explained the contents of the new mission assigned by the Third Hokage to Tsunade.

Tsunade is quick-witted. Although Kirito didn't explicitly state the difficulty of this new mission, she immediately understood just from what he had just said how challenging it was.

The ninja who awakened Magnet Release: Gold Sand is of vital importance to the current Sand Village. If the White Fang Squad wants to assassinate him, it is almost equivalent to making an enemy of the entire Sand Village.

Moreover, she was 100% certain that the White Fang Squad's objective in this mission would be to encounter Kage-level powerhouses from Sunagakure, such as the Third Kazekage.

In her opinion, the new mission that the White Fang Squad was carrying out this time could not be described as playing with fire; it was a matter of life and death. Moreover, this was only for Hatake Sakumo. For Nawaki, Kirito, and Chizuru, carrying out this mission would be a matter of life and death.

"Nonsense, utter nonsense! That old man has gone mad. Even if Sakumo Hatake is in the White Fang Squad, Nawaki, Kirito, and Chizuru are just rookies who have just gone out on missions. How could he give them such an extremely difficult S-rank mission? He must be senile."

When Tsunade thought about her two younger brothers carrying out such an unreasonable mission, she finally became angry and felt a strong resentment towards the Third Hokage.

What does "third generation" mean?

The Senju clan killed Danzo, and now he's about to do something bad to the Senju clan?

Tsunade never expected that her beloved teacher, who taught her the Will of Fire, would target Nawaki and Kirito in order to harm the Senju clan, and that the methods used would be so despicable. What kind of mission was this? It was utter nonsense.

Nawaki, Kirito, and Chizuru are all genius ninjas of Konoha, destined for greatness. How could they be sent to such a dangerous mission with almost no chance of survival so soon after they entered the battlefield?

The way the third generation is doing now is tantamount to destroying their own Great Wall.

"How could he do that? Doesn't he know that doing so would leave me with no way out? Where has his Will of Fire gone?"

By this time, Tsunade had completely sobered up, her whole body trembling with rage, and she was radiating terrifying chakra fluctuations.

Tsunade's unusual behavior immediately attracted the attention of the other ninjas in the izakaya.

They could all clearly sense that their Konoha princess was angry, and immediately glared at Kirito, thinking that Kirito had provoked Tsunade with unknown means.

"Bang~"

The wine glass in Tsunade's hand was crushed, and shards of the glass pierced her fingers, barely managing to suppress the anger that was about to burst from her heart.

However, the broken wine glass in Tsunade's hand seemed to be a signal.

In an instant, two masked ANBU ninjas appeared in front of and behind Kirito, drew their ninja swords from their backs, and slashed at Kirito with lightning speed.

But before their ninja swords could harm Kirito, Tsunade intervened, striking two Anbu ninjas with even greater speed, sending them flying out of the izakaya.

Both ANBU ninjas were Jonin, but after taking a powerful punch from Tsunade, they coughed up blood and collapsed to the ground, unable to get up.

Tsunade's sudden attack on the ANBU ninja left the other Konoha ninjas in the izakaya completely dumbfounded. For a moment, they were unsure who the real enemy was.

"Lady Tsunade, what are you doing?"

Upon seeing this, a newly appeared ANBU ninja wearing a dog mask angrily questioned him.