Konoha: Starting with Sage Mode

“Shut up, you old hag. Go back and tell the old man that this is none of his business.”

Tsunade was already feeling simmering with anger when she immediately turned around and glared at the ANBU ninja. She roared, instantly transforming into an enraged female tyrant, radiating murderous intent, as if she would beat the ANBU ninja to a pulp if he dared to talk back.

"you you……"

The ANBU ninja never expected Tsunade to vent her anger on him. He was so intimidated by the aura emanating from Tsunade that he subconsciously took a few steps back, pointing at her with trembling fingers, his words becoming incoherent.

"roll!"

Tsunade roared again.

Upon hearing this, the ANBU ninja dared not speak out in anger. For the first time, he felt the strength and domineering nature of the former female bully of Konoha from Tsunade. He quickly carried his two seriously injured companions away.

Then, when the other ninjas in the izakaya saw Tsunade looking over, they all sat back down.

The once lively atmosphere became deathly silent, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

"Tsunade, going to the Third Hokage now will only make things worse."

Tsunade had no time to care about other people's feelings. She was getting angrier and angrier and worried about Nawaki and Kirito. Just as she was about to get up and confront the Third Hokage, Kirito used his telepathic communication technique to send her a message.

Upon hearing this, Tsunade, who had just sat up, sat back down in her chair and said anxiously, "If I don't make that old guy stop the mission now, am I supposed to just watch you two go to your deaths? Also, I order you two to abandon the mission immediately. If anything goes wrong, I'll take the blame."

“Abandoning the mission is impossible. Both Nawaki and I must participate in this mission, and we must complete it flawlessly, returning to Konoha in glory as heroes of Konoha.”

If we give up, it will be difficult for Nawaki and me to continue to establish ourselves in Konoha. Nawaki's dream of becoming Hokage will also come to an end. This will also greatly affect your future Hokage election. The Third Hokage must really hope that you can go to him and make a big difference.

In this way, he can easily manipulate me, Nawaki, and you using this as an excuse. Unless we stage a coup, none of the three of us will ever become Hokage, because this incident will become a huge stain on our reputation that our opponents can use against us.

Kirito answered calmly.

Although the third generation did something very unethical this time, the execution was quite skillful.

Because he is now standing on the so-called big picture, he decided to let the White Fang Squad carry out such a dangerous mission for the sake of the big picture. Even if others know that he is suspected of retaliating against the Thousand Hands Clan, they can't say anything.

Many people might even be happy to see this happen and secretly encourage it.

If Tsunade loses her temper and confronts the Third Hokage now, she might not only fail to get him to back down, but she'll also be labeled as selfish and inconsiderate, which would have a huge negative impact on her future Hokage competition.

The reason he sent his soul clone to find Tsunade this time was not only because of Momoka's request, but also because he wanted to give Tsunade a heads-up in advance, in case someone used the new mission to provoke her and cause her to impulsively do something wrong.

After all, there must be other people in Konoha who could tell that Tsunade was a brother-complex.

As Kirito's new telepathic message appeared, Tsunade's facial expressions kept changing, sometimes showing anger, sometimes fear, sometimes disappointment, and so on.

Gradually, she regained her composure, her face revealing only disappointment and exhaustion.

She's so tired right now.

She suddenly felt a pang of envy for her silly younger brother, Rope Tree. If she weren't so clever, she would definitely be living a happy life now, instead of suffering and feeling so depressed.

"It's time to make a decision, Tsunade. The enemy is not as honorable as you think. If you continue to be soft-hearted, you will not only harm yourself but also those around you. Moreover, Konoha does not need a Hokage whose Will of Fire has been corrupted."

Seeing that Tsunade had calmed down, Kirito immediately used a telepathic communication technique to say some outrageous things to her.

The next moment, Tsunade raised her head and stared blankly at Kirito, realizing more and more that she couldn't understand her younger brother. Kirito felt very unfamiliar to her at this moment. Judging from what Kirito had just said, he was clearly angry, angry at the Third Hokage, and also angry at her.

She had a premonition that if she didn't do something, her younger brother would completely abandon her and never 'bother' her again.

"Grandma, can I really be a good Hokage?"

Tsunade suddenly asked herself again.

……

On the other side, in the Hokage Building, in the Hokage's office.

"Father, Tsunade has gone too far! Our people were just trying to help her out of kindness, and she actually tried to harm and threaten them. This is intolerable! You must punish her severely, otherwise, what will become of the Hokage's authority and the Anbu's prestige?"

"I'm furious," said Sarutobi Takashi, the leader of the Anbu squad, to the Third Hokage.

In less than a minute, the news of what happened in the izakaya reached the ears of this squad leader of the ANBU. As the highest-ranking officer of the ANBU, how could he swallow this insult?

If he swallows this insult, he can forget about ever holding his head high in the Anbu again, and he can forget about easily commanding those Anbu ninjas who belong to the martial arts faction.

"Hmph, if you have the guts, you can go find her directly. What are you doing coming to me? It's true that she was wrong, but she didn't order your Dark Division to take action. It was your Dark Division that overstepped its bounds."

The Third Hokage took a drag of his cigarette, said coldly, and stared at Sarutobi Takashi with a look of disappointment.

Should he be the one to punish Tsunade?

How could he possibly bear to part with her? Besides, he felt incredibly guilty and didn't want to see Tsunade at all.

Also, what is his son doing now?

For a dignified squad leader in the secret service to bother him with such trivial matters and report on him is truly pathetic.

"If this idiot can't even beat Tsunade, what future does the Sarutobi clan have?"

The three representatives appeared indifferent on the surface, but were inwardly filled with worry.

He was well aware of how outstanding the three Sannin he had trained were; all three had the enormous potential to reach the Kage level, and all three had the hope of becoming Hokage.

His son was the same age as the three legendary ninjas and his experience was not much worse than theirs, but his strength was hard to describe. His potential was so limited that it was obvious what would happen. Without some special opportunity, he would only ever be an elite Jonin.

Sarutobi Ryoma hadn't expected the Third Hokage to be so biased towards Tsunade. He suddenly felt that he, the Third Hokage's true son, was less important to the Third Hokage than Tsunade. He became increasingly displeased and shouted, "Then you wait, I'll teach her a lesson one day. When that happens, don't interfere."

After saying that, he stormed off in a huff.

"He's been a squad leader in the secret service for several years, and his temper is still so explosive. He's definitely not up to the task."

Upon seeing this, the third generation shook his head, once again expressing disappointment in his eldest son.

It seems there's no hope for the main account; we can only hope the secondary account will be more successful in the future.

"Someone come here."

The third generation's expression turned serious, and he spoke.

A member of the Anbu ninja appeared immediately.

"Have you verified their identities?"

The third generation inquired.

While Sarutobi Takashi was furious, he secretly ordered someone to investigate the identity of the person Tsunade met at the izakaya that night.

"Reporting to the Hokage, no such person has been found. The other party is likely an accomplice hired by the Senju clan from outside. The reason for Tsunade's unusual behavior is that he is secretly passing on some kind of information to her using some kind of mysterious ninjutsu."

The ANBU ninja answered truthfully.

"I understand. Give the order: keep a close watch on them. Once they leave Konoha, immediately carry out a secret arrest."

When the Third Hokage heard that the man might be a helper hired by the Senju clan from outside, a cold glint flashed in his eyes, and he gave the order.

"Ha~"

Anbu ninja, listen to my command.

"What information has angered you so much, Tsunade?"

After the Anbu ninja left, the Third Hokage's expression changed, revealing a hint of worry, and he murmured to himself.

After he received the intelligence from the secret service before his son arrived, he began to have a very bad feeling.

……

Meanwhile, in the distant Land of Wind, in the southwestern desert.

A group of Sand Villagers wearing headscarves were moving rapidly across the desert. Above them, a cloud of black iron sand moved quickly with them. On this iron sand cloud stood two ninjas, one large and one small, with extraordinary bearing.

Especially the adults, who exuded a powerful sense of authority as superiors.

The two were none other than the Third Kazekage and Rasa.

Suddenly, Luo Sha, who had been keeping his eyes closed, opened them and whispered, "Teacher, I've discovered a new placer gold mine in the northwest."

"Great, everyone, turn northwest immediately."

Upon hearing this, the Third Kazekage was overjoyed and exclaimed loudly.

The other Sand Ninja, upon hearing the order, also showed joy on their faces and obeyed, changing their direction of action.

Before long, guided by Rasa, the Third Kazekage and the other Sand Ninja arrived at an unremarkable sand dune in the desert, and then began to enthusiastically dig sand with shovels.

Rasa then ate a specially made soldier's ration pill, and then activated the chakra in his body, which was imbued with special magnetic power, to quickly collect the gold dust contained in the sand.

Every night, Rasa would accompany the Third Kazekage out to pan for gold in the desert; this had become his daily routine.

Although the job was tough and tiring, and it severely reduced his sleep time, the thought that the gold dust he collected would bring precious water and food to his fellow villagers, enabling the warriors on the battlefield to continue fighting the damned Konoha ninjas, made him feel that his job was incredibly sacred and that his efforts were worthwhile.

His fate changed dramatically after he awakened Magnet Release: Gold Sand and got this job. Many people in the village said he would become the Fourth Kazekage.

He himself thinks so too.

He single-handedly saved Sunagakure's economy from collapse, becoming the richest man in the village. With his growing strength, he felt that his chances of becoming the new Kazekage were much greater than those of his peers.

After about two hours, the miniature gold mine below the sand dune was finally mined out, and a pile of gold nearly five meters high appeared in front of the group of Sand Ninja who were all smiles.

"Thank you for your hard work, Luo Sha."

The Third Kazekage looked pleased and said to Rasa, who was so tired he was about to collapse.

With this batch of gold dust, Sunagakure was able to exchange for a large amount of supplies from the outside world, and then they would have the confidence to continue fighting Konoha to the death.

Upon hearing this, Rasa immediately returned a happy smile to the Third Kazekage, then continued to gaze at the large pile of gold dust in front of him, his eyes filled with fascination.

Just as the Sand Ninja were rejoicing over their hard work, a huge black snake head suddenly emerged from the ground and swallowed the unsuspecting Rasa whole.

"Luo Sha!"

Seeing Rasa swallowed by the giant serpent, the Third Kazekage roared in fury, unleashing a terrifying killing intent that caused a massive amount of iron sand to gush forth from the sand within a radius of several kilometers.

Chapter 187: Orochimaru's Team's Heroic Deed

"Damn it, you're not getting away."

The Third Kazekage roared angrily as the black serpent tried to burrow back into the ground to escape.

He waved his right hand forward, and a large amount of black iron sand quickly wrapped around the black snake's body, preventing him from escaping.

The black serpent was not about to surrender so easily and struggled frantically.

The Third Kazekage had to increase the use of iron sand to restrain the black serpent, spending more attention on it.

Just as he successfully subdued the black serpent with iron sand, a pale, gloomy man emerged from the ground behind him. He opened his mouth, and a white snake quickly crawled out of his throat and into his mouth. Instantly, a gleaming longsword shot out from the white snake's mouth.