Being a rogue ninja is worse than being Hokage.

It was filled with the instigator's boasting, ridicule, and hatred.

If they were just ordinary Konoha ninjas, ordinary ANBU members... at least they wouldn't be humiliated even in death because of their own actions.

Tsunade gritted her teeth, trying her best to overcome her current cowardice.

However, whether psychologically or physically, Tsunade, who suffers from hemophobia, cannot muster any strength.

Perhaps their deaths will ultimately become meaningless because of Tsunade.

"Lord Hokage! Please pull yourself together!"

But Tsunade is the Hokage, a Hokage who is trusted by everyone.

The Hokage Guard Squad, consisting of four members (one captain and three members), was reduced to one member who, despite being severely injured, fought desperately to the death.

Considering that Tsunade is a woman, a female ninja was specially selected from the Anbu ninjas of the Hokage's Guard Team. Fortunately, when Tsunade, as the Hokage, encounters a crisis, she can help Tsunade deal with some situations that male ninjas cannot provide assistance for.

This young female ninja's codename in the Anbu is "Antelope." (In the anime, she has purple hair, so most people assume she is Uzuki Yugao. This is based on the official guidebook. If you want to verify but don't want the hassle, you can search "Konoha Anbu" on Baidu Encyclopedia and scroll to the bottom to find screenshots of her official guidebook.)

She stood covered in blood before Tsunade, who was kneeling and had lost her will to fight due to hemophobia.

Excessive blood loss caused Antelope's hand, which was gripping the ninja sword, to tremble slightly, but she still tried to awaken Tsunade's fighting spirit with words while keeping a close eye on Naruto, who had suddenly stopped attacking.

"...Why did Naruto Uzumaki suddenly stop attacking?"

The antelope's expression beneath the mask was full of confusion.

Her previous encounter had already taught her one fact.

They were selected as elites to join the Hokage Guard, and they were always called strong, but they were ridiculously weak when facing Naruto Uzumaki.

Naruto Uzumaki possesses overwhelming power.

She couldn't defeat Naruto Uzumaki, and she didn't even have a chance to escape from him.

Despite the seemingly unpredictable nature of the battle, Naruto Uzumaki stood still, contrary to his usual behavior.

Intuition and years of experience in the Anbu allowed Antelope to sense that there was a deeper meaning behind Naruto's actions.

What new tricks has Naruto Uzumaki prepared? And who is this trick aimed at?

She couldn't figure it out.

Therefore, she decisively abandoned deep thought and chose to grasp the fact that she was still alive.

"Lord Hokage, I need your help."

The gazelle, without much hope, softly pleaded with the dejected Tsunade, its gaze shifting from Naruto to Tayuya, who occupied the northern position of the Four Purple Flames Formation, and continued to murmur to Tsunade:

"It's impossible to defeat Naruto right now, but there's still a sliver of a chance to break free from the barrier's confinement."

The most pressing issue right now is time, so every decision needs to be made as quickly as possible.

To escape imprisonment, the balance of the four Sound Ninja who became the eyes of the Four Purple Flame Formation must be broken. The obese Jirobo, the multi-armed Kidomaru, and the two-headed Sakon and Ukon all seem troublesome just by their appearance.

Therefore, the antelope chose Tayuya, the only woman among the four Sound Ninja with a normal appearance, as its target to break the balance of the barrier.

"Once the barrier is broken, the ninjas who have discovered problems throughout Konoha and are gathering here will be able to protect you, and Naruto Uzumaki won't be able to easily attack the Hokage. But this requires your cooperation..."

She needs Tsunade's help to treat her.

Her injuries were too severe. Without Tsunade's emergency treatment, her already low-success-rate plan would not have been able to be executed at all, and would have remained just a pathetic thought in her mind.

Tsunade looked at this ANBU ninja who, even in the face of despair, still held onto hope.

Like the other Konoha ninjas, even though Tsunade is now behaving horribly due to hemophobia, she still sincerely believes in Tsunade, who is the Hokage.

Naruto.

Naruto...

Even as the Hokage, Tsunade still harbored a sense of confusion deep down.

Hashirama Senju, Tobirama Senju, Nawaki, Dan, Sarutobi-sensei...

Those around her all died because of this empty name called "Shadow".

The "Shadow" never changed the ninja world, and Tsunade suffered day after day.

So Tsunade ran away.

She abandoned the village; at least she believed she no longer had any attachment to Konoha or the "Hokage."

But is it really so?

If she truly abandoned everything from the past, why would she keep Shizune by her side?

Why didn't she extinguish Jiraiya's hopes when he approached her wanting her to become the Fifth Hokage? Instead, she chose to vent her pent-up frustrations in an izakaya.

And why—

"Does Lady Tsunade cry easily?"

Three years ago, the question posed by the naive Sakura Haruno suddenly surfaced in Tsunade's mind.

Of course she'll cry.

When the rope tree died.

When death occurs.

Tsunade, her hand trembling, reached out and used Healing Palm Technique on the antelope: "Leave the rest to me..."

Like her disciples, she harbored resentment towards the "Hokage," but she never denied the existence and significance of the "Hokage."

The bonds I formed in Konoha were genuine; Nawaki, Dan... and others—they were all so radiant and dazzling.

It was under the protection of the "Hokage" that they became so gentle and strong, and that is why Tsunade still has such a strong attachment to them to this day.

How could Tsunade, who cherishes and believes in the "Hokage," possibly deny the existence of the "Hokage"?

She always held a place for Konoha in her heart.

Now, Tsunade has fulfilled the dreams of the two most important people in her heart, becoming the Hokage and the one who is believed in. Only now does Tsunade truly understand what it means to be the "Hokage".

She's cried for too long; it's time to wipe away her tears, stand up, and move on.

With Konoha under invasion, she must fulfill the expectations placed upon her by the people of Konoha.

Because she is the Hokage.

"I am the Fifth Hokage of Konoha!"

Antelope noticed that although the aftereffects of hemophobia still caused Tsunade's hands to tremble physiologically when she used the Palm Healing Technique, Tsunade's originally unfocused gaze began to become firm.

"Naruto Uzumaki! Your invasion of Konoha was wrong!"

As the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade has a duty to protect Konoha.

Tsunade's renewed fighting spirit brought a slight sigh of relief to Antelope. The situation was finally showing signs of improvement. If Tsunade, as the Hokage, could fight, the situation wouldn't have tilted so unopposed in Naruto's favor as it had before.

But the antelope forgot that she was only alive because of Naruto's "charity" on a whim.

"If the person who invaded Konoha was your younger brother Nawaki, or Kato Dan, whom you still deeply love... would you use such an absolute word as 'mistake' to deny them?"

"Whether it's Nawaki or Dan, they are both excellent ninjas who inherited the Will of Fire—you have no right to put yourself on the same level as them!"

Years have passed, and the two who have long since passed away remain a source of pain for Tsunade, a past she finds difficult to let go of.

She would never allow anyone to insult them, especially since the person who spoke disrespectfully to them was a rogue ninja from Konoha.

"I have no interest in putting myself in the same position as those losers you talk about who can't even save their own lives." Compared to the emotional Tsunade, Naruto seemed much calmer. He said, "Since you're talking about their backgrounds, what about my situation? The common people of Konoha don't know about it. Are you going to pretend to be crazy too?"

Naruto's question left Tsunade speechless for a moment.

Naruto Uzumaki is regarded by the villagers as the incarnation of the Nine-Tailed Fox who wreaked havoc on Konoha sixteen years ago.

But to Tsunade and the other Konoha leaders who knew the truth, he was also a hero who sealed the Nine-Tails and saved Konoha sixteen years ago, and the only orphan left behind by the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze.

He is the son of a hero without any falsehood.

"Before you, as Hokage, point out the mistakes of others, think carefully: is everything Konoha has done truly just?"

Even until Naruto invaded Konoha, didn't Danzo Shimura still live a good life as a high-ranking member of Konoha?

If Jiraiya and Tsunade were completely unaware of everything Danzo did, neither of them would believe it themselves.

“We are enemies, but there is no need to justify our actions in a grand and respectable way.”

"Since you don't understand my pain, I naturally don't need to care about your pain."

Hot, moist blood splattered all over Tsunade's face without her noticing.

That's—Flying Thunder God!

And the Rasengan!

Before Tsunade could unleash her Healing Palm Technique, Antelope, the last member of the Hokage's Guardian Squad, had her abdominal cavity, which should have been filled with organs, instantly transformed into a huge hole by the Rasengan.

It was the same back then—Kato Dan, an elite of Konoha, was the only one who praised her proposal on medical system reform. Like Tsunade, he was tired of war and longed to become Hokage to end the suffering in the world. He was also a gentle man whom Tsunade deeply loved. However, when Dan was on the verge of death, Tsunade used the Palm Healing Technique on his hollow abdomen, but she could not save him no matter what she did.

"The fourth one."

Just like when Naruto eliminated the other three members of the Hokage Guard Squad, Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage, confirmed with her own eyes that all four members of the Hokage Guard Squad had died at the hands of the rogue ninja Naruto Uzumaki.

The hemophobia that Tsunade had finally managed to control relapsed.

The symptoms were even more severe than at the beginning.

"No... Rope Tree, broken..."

Unable to escape her hysteria, Tsunade murmured incoherently, while Naruto before her had become a new nightmare in her hysteria.

Faced with Naruto's relentless advance, Tsunade could only cower and retreat in fear.

As one of the legendary Sannin and the Fifth Hokage of Konoha, he ridiculously couldn't even muster the thought of resistance when facing the enemy before him.

It seems that Tsunade's death at Naruto's hands is a foregone conclusion.

However, Tsunade, who had been looking fearful, briefly showed an expression as if she had grasped at a lifeline.

Tsunade, who was trapped in a deadly situation, still had a chance to escape.

She, who should have been imprisoned within the barrier by the Four Purple Flames Formation, simply vanished before Naruto's eyes.

Naruto was all too familiar with the way Tsunade disappeared: it was a space-time ninjutsu.

Spiritual communication!