Tsunade's gaze easily locked onto the disheveled, blonde figure being chased and beaten by the Uchiha kid—Uzumaki Naruto.
Looking at the "Future Naruto" in the heavenly screen, who coldly announced the end of the world and pierced her heart with a single blow, and then comparing him to the lively, weak little squirt before her, Tsunade felt conflicted.
Hiruzen Sarutobi walked to her side, following her gaze with an expression of exhaustion and helplessness.
He sighed, his tone tinged with helplessness: "Tsunade, he's still just a child."
"Who can say for sure what the future holds? We cannot condemn the boy he is now because of a 'possibility' that hasn't happened yet."
"Hmph." Tsunade snorted coldly and looked away, her tone remaining stiff. "I know. I don't need you to remind me."
Although she had a fiery temper, she wouldn't vent her anger toward the future "Naruto" on this brat who clearly knew nothing.
However, the seeds of resentment and vigilance had already been sown.
With no outlet for her frustration, Tsunade caught a glimpse of that white-haired scoundrel out of the corner of her eye, who had been sneakily leering at her.
Bang!!!
A clean, sharp heavy punch, packed with the terrifying power of her Monstrous Strength, smashed accurately into Jiraiya's face!
"Ow—!" Jiraiya couldn't even get a full sentence out before he was sent flying like a launched cannonball.
Tsunade shook her wrist as if she had just swatted a fly, and the pent-up frustration in her chest seemed to dissipate slightly.
Hiruzen Sarutobi watched this scene, his lips twitching, but he ultimately chose to remain silent.
He knew Jiraiya had just walked into the line of fire, becoming the perfect punching bag for Tsunade to vent her emotions.
Still, seeing his two disciples return with his own eyes finally allowed the heavy stone in his heart to lift a little.
With them around, Konoha's ability to handle crises would be greatly enhanced.
However, regarding how to deal with Uzumaki Naruto and the imminent external threats, the three of them clearly needed a deeper, more candid conversation.
Before long, a bruised and swollen Jiraiya, rubbing his cheek and grimacing, followed Tsunade and Hiruzen Sarutobi back to the Hokage Office.
Hiruzen Sarutobi sat back in the main seat, looking at the two disciples he relied on most—and who gave him the biggest headaches—and spoke in a low voice: "Let's skip the small talk. You're both aware of the current situation. What should we do next? Tell me your thoughts."
Tsunade was the first to shake her head, leaning her hands on the desk with her brows furrowed: "What else can we do? The enemy is in the shadows while we are in the light, and information about the future is fragmented. The only thing we can do now is keep a close eye on that Uzumaki Naruto kid! See exactly what causes him to change so drastically and when! This might be the key to averting the future crisis."
Her reasoning was straightforward: since Naruto was the core of the future threat, watching him, finding the reason for his fall to darkness, and attempting to intervene was the most viable approach for now.
Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed and looked up at the ceiling, as if he could see through the building to the sky where the heavenly screen once hung. "I suppose that's all we can do. Meanwhile, we can only wait passively to see when that heavenly screen... will appear again and what kind of 'hints' it will bring us."
There was a hint of helplessness in his tone; as a Hokage accustomed to being in control, the feeling of pinning his hopes on the unknown made him very uncomfortable.
"The heavenly screen?" Tsunade snorted, her eyes sharpening. "Old Man, Jiraiya, have you two never questioned the origin of this heavenly screen itself?"
Her words gave both Hiruzen Sarutobi and Jiraiya pause.
Tsunade continued her calm analysis: "This thing appeared out of nowhere, and its content is shocking, but what is its actual purpose? Is it a benevolent warning? Or a malicious attempt to sow chaos? We know absolutely nothing right now!"
"Therefore, what it shows might not be entirely true. It could even be meticulously edited and tampered with. We absolutely cannot trust it blindly!"
"This... could it really be fake?" Jiraiya asked in surprise, his voice muffled as he held his face. "With that scale, that method of appearing across the entire Ninja World, and those details... I don't believe any organization or individual has the ability to forge something to that extent!"
Tsunade looked at him calmly, her tone brooks no argument: "No one can prove it's fake, but by the same token, no one can prove one hundred percent that there truly isn't a person or object in this Ninja World with such inconceivable power! What are the limits of Genjutsu? What effects do certain lost Secret Techniques have? There is too much we don't know!"
"Take the Uchiha's Izanagi, for instance. Don't you find it inconceivable? If even altering life and death is possible, what isn't?"
Tsunade paused, adding weight to her words: "So, my opinion is that we can use the heavenly screen's content as a reference, but we must never accept it wholesale or treat it as the absolute truth!"
"We must view it with a skeptical eye, and then use our own methods to investigate, verify, and deduce the truth behind it!"
Jiraiya fell silent, carefully mulling over Tsunade's words. The playful look on his face gradually faded, and he finally nodded slowly. "You're right, Tsunade. I oversimplified things. If... if this heavenly screen really is the deliberate work of some mastermind..."
His expression turned grave as he asked the most critical question:
"Then this person behind the scenes... why would he, or they, go to such great lengths to create such a massive spectacle? What do they actually want?"
A deeper silence fell over the office.
A warning? Entertainment? An experiment? Or... to advance some even more terrifying plan that they hadn't yet perceived?
Hiruzen Sarutobi's fingertips drummed unconsciously on the desk. He realized that his two disciples had returned at just the right time, bringing up points he hadn't even considered.
Tsunade crossed her arms in thought, and Jiraiya cast aside his usual laziness.
The discussion in the office continued for a long time, but faced with a lack of information and the difficulty of distinguishing friend from foe, even the experienced Sannin and Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had led Konoha for many years, were ultimately unable to come up with a foolproof plan.
All possibilities were built on speculation, lacking a solid foundation for action.
"Sigh, there's too little intelligence." Hiruzen Sarutobi rubbed his brow, feeling a deep sense of powerlessness. "The heavenly screen has only appeared once, and it mostly showed results rather than the process. We're like people being pushed into a maze while blindfolded."
Tsunade also appeared somewhat agitated. "For now, we can only heighten our guard while keeping a close watch internally, especially... on every move that kid makes."