Tsunade strolled through the forest with ease and comfort.
She said she was looking for Hiruzen Sarutobi, but in reality, she was just taking a walk.
"That old man wouldn't have run off to the entertainment district like that idiot Jiraiya, would he?"
Tsunade pondered, stroking her chin as she walked.
Hiruzen Sarutobi had been busy for most of his life, and after retiring as Hokage, it would be reasonable for him to relax in the entertainment district, adhering to the principle of "I've fought all my life, can't I enjoy myself?"... No!
Tsunade suddenly realized something.
She had clearly told the Third Hokage and Jiraiya about Bai Mo, asking them to figure out how to get some information from the future Sasuke and Boruto.
Even the unreliable Jiraiya hadn't thought about going out to play and was seriously collecting intelligence.
How could the Third Hokage, who cared more about the Village, go to the entertainment district at such a time?
"Hmm?"
Tsunade felt like she had stepped on something with an unusual texture.
She looked down and saw a clump of grass with a solidified patch of blood on it.
Tsunade breathed a sigh of relief.
After days of psychological adjustment while teaching Sakura and Ino Medical Ninjutsu, her hemophobia was gradually healing.
"Why is there blood here?"
Tsunade frowned and followed the bloodstains, walking forward.
As she walked, Tsunade stopped, her legs beginning to tremble.
On a stone, was the last place the bloodstains appeared.
A leg was sticking out from behind the stone.
Tsunade took a deep breath, walked over, and saw what was hidden by the stone, instantly her eyes went black, and she fainted.
Evening.
Sakura and Ino, waiting for their master Tsunade in the medical department, didn't find her, so they went to the Hokage's office to look for her, only to encounter Shizune.
When Shizune learned that Tsunade was also missing, she quickly took the two to the forest outside the Village.
"First Third Hokage-sama went missing, then Lady Tsunade went missing, please don't..."
Shizune ran wildly through the forest, constantly looking left and right for traces, her face full of anxiety.
Fortunately, after a while, she saw Tsunade lying on the ground and rushed over.
"Lady Tsunade!"
Shizune checked Tsunade's physical condition, confirmed there was no life-threatening danger, and she hadn't even suffered any injuries, then breathed a sigh of relief.
"Ah!!!"
"What, what is this?"
Sakura and Ino also followed, but the first thing they saw was something else a distance away from Tsunade.
"That is..."
Shizune looked over, and her pupils instantly contracted.
She now understood why Tsunade had fainted here.
Her hemophobia had only been treated for less than half a day, and she hadn't even fully recovered, when she encountered the gruesome death of a close person again.
The brutally murdered body of the Third Hokage was collected, and Tsunade was sent to the medical department.
Since she wasn't injured, Tsunade quickly woke up under Shizune's treatment.
Tsunade suddenly opened her eyes and sat up in bed, without any of the weakness from a hemophobia relapse.
"Who did it!"
Tsunade clenched her fists.
"Lady Tsunade, the medical team has already examined and analyzed Third Hokage-sama's body, due to extensive animal gnawing marks on the wound, we can only confirm the fatal injury was a pierced and destroyed heart, the specific method the killer used..."
"It must be Danzo!"
Shizune was reporting, but Tsunade didn't hear a word, after a moment of distraction, her expression suddenly became serious, and she threw off the covers and got out of bed.
"Hey! Lady Tsunade—"
Shizune watched in a daze as Tsunade left the medical department aggressively, and quickly chased after her.
At the entrance of the Root organization's underground base.
"Hokage-sama, are you looking for Lord Danzo? I'll go inform him right away..."
"Heavenly Foot of Pain!"
"Ah!"
Tsunade didn't say a word and directly punched her way in.
The Root organization's greatest strength was poison, which was completely ineffective against her.
Shizune rushed over with the Anbu, following behind Tsunade, only to see Root members lying scattered on the ground.
"Danzo, you beast, you actually murdered the Third Hokage!!!"
Tsunade kicked open the door to Danzo's room as the Root leader.
" ? "
Danzo looked at the aggressive Tsunade, falling into confusion.
Which time was Tsunade referring to?
Was it the time he sent Yamato to assassinate, or the time he conspired with Orochimaru?
Was this new Hokage planning to make an example of him by bringing up old matters?
Danzo frowned: "Tsunade, don't speak nonsense without evidence."
"I'm speaking nonsense? The day the old man made me Hokage, did you not appear? Did you not say to him 'Hiruzen, you will regret this'!"
Tsunade angrily punched and shattered the table in front of Danzo, "There are no enemies in the Village right now, yet the old man died in the forest not far outside the Village, who else could it be besides someone from the Village itself?"
"..."
Danzo was speechless.
Danzo, I, Hokage, Hiruzen, you, regret, wasn't that their usual conversation?
That can be evidence?
"Wait, you said Sarutobi is dead?!"
Countless emotions flashed through Danzo's only visible eye.
There was sadness, relief, and also regret and mockery.
Danzo and the Third Hokage were also a pair of star-crossed lovers who both loved and hated each other.
"Who killed him?"
After calming down, Danzo asked coldly.
"Are you still pretending?"
Tsunade clenched her fists.
"If I wanted to be Hokage, I should kill you, Tsunade! What good would it do me to kill the retired Sarutobi!"
Danzo's eyes narrowed, and he retorted coldly.
"..."
Tsunade was speechless and took a step back.
Just then, Shizune arrived with the Anbu and supported Tsunade.
"Sarutobi was also pathetic, if he had died at Orochimaru's hands, dying together with Orochimaru, he could have died gloriously as a Konoha hero.
But now? He was silently killed by someone, and no one even knows who the killer is, his death is lighter than a monkey's hair."
Danzo scoffed, his tone filled with sarcasm.
At the same time, there was some resentment.
After all, if Hiruzen Sarutobi had died at Orochimaru's hands, he might have had a chance to become Hokage.
But Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't die, he directly appointed Tsunade, leaving Danzo no chance to manipulate things.
Tsunade left the Root's underground base somewhat embarrassed.
"Lady Tsunade, if you suspect Danzo, you can have the interrogation department question him."
Shizune supported Tsunade, offering advice.
"It's not him."
Tsunade at this moment looked fragile, her body limp, completely devoid of her previous aggressive demeanor.
In truth, she knew it wasn't Danzo, but she wanted to escape.
Escape a conclusion that, even without knowing the killer, she could already draw—if she hadn't spoken out of turn, her teacher Sarutobi would never have died.
If she hadn't tried to hide the news of the future Sasuke and Boruto's arrival, she wouldn't have sent her teacher and Jiraiya to investigate, and such a thing wouldn't have happened.
To take it a step further, if she had informed Bai Mo, and Bai Mo was in Konoha, even if her teacher Sarutobi had been pierced through the heart, with the methods she learned from Sakura about Bai Mo removing Hanabi's Caged Bird Seal before leaving Konoha, he could have instantly recovered.
And so.
Tsunade, who had only regained her fighting spirit a few days ago, fell into depravity again, staying home every day drinking and sleeping.
Fortunately, before this, in order to be lazy, she had already delegated the Hokage's authority, so others would handle her official duties, and Konoha continued to operate as usual.
The Third Hokage's death could not be kept secret for long.
After the medical team could no longer find any new information, they began to notify the family.
Konohamaru, who was in the Village, was the first to know, while Asuma Sarutobi was not in the Village, currently on a mission with Chōji and Shikamaru.
They had to send someone else to notify him.
"Please, Lord Jiraiya."
Shizune handed the mission scroll to Jiraiya.
"Let's go, kids."
Jiraiya no longer had his carefree expression, he turned back to look at the three-person team he was leading this time—Konohamaru, Naruto, Boruto—with a very serious and earnest look.
He had gotten a chance to leave the Village, but the cost was the death of his teacher Hiruzen Sarutobi, and the decline and depravity of his friend Tsunade.
....
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