"Tsunade as a hostage?"
The Third Hokage paused, turning his gaze toward Tsunade, who stood nearby.
Jiraiya immediately shouted, "No way! Tsunade is the First Hokage's granddaughter, the Princess of the Senju! If she becomes a hostage, Konoha will lose all face!"
Yagyu replied casually, "Lose face? With all due respect, Konoha has already lost its face."
"In the presence of the strong, the weak have no dignity. Surely you understand that logic?"
Jiraiya and the others glared at Yagyu furiously, gritting their teeth.
"Ooh, such scary expressions!"
"Looking at you like that... do you want to kill someone?"
"Don't be so ungrateful. I think I've been quite merciful to you."
"Don't forget, you were the ones who attacked first."
"You wanted to kill me, but I didn't take your lives."
"You should be thanking me, not making such resentful faces."
"Did you expect me to just let you kill me willingly? Or perhaps, after being ambushed by you, I should have magnanimously forgiven you? Maybe even apologized for not cooperating?"
"Give me a break!"
"That kind of request is really too much to ask!"
Yagyu spoke in a drawl, looking lazily at Jiraiya and the others.
"If you want to hate someone, hate the people who made the decisions!"
"If those people hadn't tried to ambush me, none of this would be happening today."
"We are all adults here; you have to pay for your own mistakes."
Yagyu reminded them maliciously, making sure the villagers hiding near the Hokage Rock heard every word clearly.
"Alright then!"
"Lord Hokage, tell me your decision."
"Without a hostage, I won't be leaving Konoha."
"Either let me leave, or let me stay and fight."
"Time is running out. 30-second countdown starts now!"
Yagyu raised his left hand and began timing.
The Third Hokage hesitated. He was waiting for Tsunade to step forward herself. If she volunteered, it would make things much easier for him.
"Enough!"
"It's just being a hostage, isn't it? I agree!"
Tsunade stood up abruptly and shouted with full force.
"Tsunade, you don't have to..."
The Third Hokage perked up, looking at Tsunade with a feigned expression of sorrow.
"Save it. I know!"
Tsunade shot the Third Hokage a cold look.
Hiruzen's earlier hesitation had already explained everything. She wasn't a child; how could she not understand his thoughts? He just wanted her to volunteer. Fine, she accepted.
"Very good!"
"Lady Tsunade, shall we?"
Yagyu smiled at Tsunade and began walking toward the village exit.
Seeing this, the Third Hokage let out a sigh of relief.
Tsunade took one last deep look at Konoha before quickly following him.
Jiraiya stared at Tsunade's retreating back with utter unwillingness, then his vision went black, and he fainted.
...
[Achievement Unlocked—Thrashing Konoha! Template Character—Kizaru! Unlock Progress—41%! Skill Acquired—Rokushiki (Navy Six Styles)!]
While in Konoha, Yagyu had unlocked a series of achievements.
Easily countering Konoha's five strategies, taking down Konoha ninjas one by one, severely injuring Jiraiya and Minato, forcing the village to make impossible choices...
This series of achievements had constantly unlocked more of his Kizaru template. Combined with the final achievement—"Thrashing Konoha"—his progress had reached 41%.
"Rokushiki..."
Yagyu felt a bit disappointed. To think he obtained such a mediocre ability.
Perhaps for others, the Navy Six Styles were powerful skills. But for Yagyu, they were practically useless.
Shigan (Finger Pistol)? Yagyu could fire lasers from his fingers. The destructive power of a laser beam far exceeded a finger thrust.
Soru (Shave)? Yagyu could transform into light particles and move at light speed. He had no use for a high-speed movement technique like Soru.
Rankyaku (Tempest Kick)? Launching vacuum slashes with his legs couldn't compare to his Light Speed Kick, which could also bombard enemies from a distance.
Geppo (Moonwalk)? Yagyu, in his light form, could fly or even hover in mid-air. The ability to kick off the air to stay afloat was meaningless to him.
Kami-e (Paper Art)? Making the body flexible like paper to dodge attacks? Unfortunately, Yagyu possessed the ability of Elementalization. His capacity to change his body shape was far superior to Kami-e.
Tekkai (Iron Body)? Hardening the body like iron to increase defense. This was an ability Yagyu didn't have, but unfortunately, it was also the one he needed the least. Elementalization allowed him to be immune to 99% of attacks in the ninja world. Whatever he couldn't face tank, he could dodge at light speed. With Observation Haki, he didn't fear sneak attacks. Even if he had to clash head-on, he could use offense as defense.
"Chicken ribs (useless)!"
Yagyu felt helpless.
"But if I think about it carefully, Rokushiki isn't entirely useless."
"Although I can't use it, I can teach it to others!"
"When I get back to Kirigakure, I'll see if I can get control of the Ninja Academy."
"If not, I'll go to the Daimyo of the Land of Water and establish a Naval Academy specifically."
"The Land of Water is an island nation constantly harassed by pirates. Establishing a Navy sounds like a pretty good idea."
Yagyu pondered for a moment, his imagination running wild.
Watching Yagyu walk ahead of her, Tsunade couldn't help but shout, "Hey! What exactly do you want?"
Yagyu didn't look back, replying casually,
"I made it very clear back in Konoha. Your village has no credit, so I need you to go to Kirigakure as a hostage."
Tsunade scoffed coldly.
"Do you think I believe that? With you there, Kirigakure doesn't need to worry about Konoha breaking any promises."
Yagyu replied lazily, "How could I not be worried? What if Konoha really breaks the agreement?"
"Am I supposed to make another trip to Konoha? Sorry, not interested. I'm a busy man; I don't have that much time to waste on you people."
"Clocking in and out of work is my ultimate goal. I'm certainly not going to leave myself with a pile of trouble!"
Tsunade looked at Yagyu in disbelief and asked, "It's that simple? So the reason you let Konoha off so easily..."
Yagyu turned his head and laughed. "The reason I let Konoha off so easily is that Konoha really is insignificant. I've done enough to report back, so I'm letting it go..."
...Yeah, right!
Yagyu added silently in his heart.