Walking out of the Hokage Building, Saiki took a long, deep breath.
Since coming to this world, excluding the time he got injured protecting Tsume Inuzuka, this was the first time he felt truly exhausted—body and soul.
Saiki's cultivation path relied on strengthening the Pre-natal Qi within his body.
While Sage Chakra was technically a byproduct of this process, it functioned like a cultivator's Golden Core and Mana; if the expenditure was too great, the Core itself would suffer.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was known as the "Shinobi Bear," and he was far from weak.
He represented the absolute peak of what a human without Otsutsuki blood could achieve in this world.
Currently, aside from the Otsutsuki themselves, only a potentially mobile Madara Uchiha would have been capable of killing him.
If the "Strongest Spear and Shield," the Third Raikage, went up against Hiruzen, the two would likely end in a mutual suicide.
Yet Saiki had, single-handedly and with a single blade, slaughtered Hiruzen and the other two old bastards right under the protection of the Anbu.
The price he paid was significant: the Sage Chakra he had spent years accumulating was mostly drained.
Saiki occasionally felt a sense of gloom, but seeing the fatigue etched onto his face made Nono'u feel a sharp pang of heartache.
She gently took Saiki's hand, her voice soft and maternal. "Saiki, don't push yourself too hard. You must be exhausted. Let's go back and get some rest."
As a "salted fish," physical labor meant little to Saiki. What truly drained and disgusted him was the sheer ugliness of human nature.
Seeing those people, their greed and rot buried deep in their bones—none of them had any sense of the big picture.
They squabbled over scraps of power they didn't even deserve.
Even with Tsunade in charge, Saiki saw little hope for Konoha's future, and that realization left him weary.
He was used to the atmosphere of 21st-century Earth—where, despite many problems, the overall direction of society was one of progress and growth.
The Hidden Leaf, by contrast, felt grey, oppressive, and stagnant. It was repulsive.
He understood now why Tsunade had chosen to leave this rotten dump in the first place.
And yet, because of him, Tsunade was forced to become Hokage. Facing all that filth for his sake made Saiki feel a twinge of guilt.
He decided then: if any of those Leaf bastards only wanted the benefits without doing the work, they better stay the hell away from Tsunade.
Saiki was already in a blood-drunk state; he wouldn't mind adding a few more heads to the pile.
Noticing Nono'u's worried gaze, Saiki immediately masked his mood and offered a wide grin.
"Don't worry. I'm just a little tired from all the butchering. A good sleep will fix me right up."
Saiki accidentally let the blunt truth slip. Nono'u froze, her expression shifting from worry to shock.
She gave his head a light, scolding smack, her tone serious.
"Saiki, you are not allowed to talk like that! Don't you dare act so recklessly again. Every life is precious. Promise me."
She wasn't just being a saint; she was terrified Saiki was losing himself.
She had seen too many ninja descend into madness after killing too many people.
"Uh, it was just a joke! Relax, Sister Director, I understand," Saiki laughed.
Looking into his eyes, they still seemed as clear as ever, but Nono'u couldn't shake the dread.
Saiki had slaughtered over two hundred people last night. That absolute disregard for life—treating combat like he was butchering chickens—had left her deeply shaken.
Saiki wasn't going insane, but he had definitely changed.
The old Saiki would have hesitated before a kill; the new Saiki was actively contemplating the total genocide of the Sarutobi clan.
Tsunade was still at the Hokage Building handling the emergency transition.
With the Hokage and four advisors dead, the village was in a total power vacuum.
Between the front-line war and the internal administrative collapse, Tsunade was going to be buried in work for a long time.
Saiki didn't return to Tsunade's compound. He went back to the orphanage with Nono'u.
Given the hatred many now held for Saiki, the orphanage was effectively a target.
The moment he hit the bed, Saiki fell into a dead sleep, leaving Nono'u watching over him with a pained heart.
While Saiki slept, a rumor began to spread like wildfire through the village.
The Third Hokage has stepped down due to sudden illness. Lady Tsunade has been appointed as the Acting Hokage to manage the village and the war effort.
As the news spread, the entirety of Konoha began to boil.
The commotion from the battle had been too massive to hide—especially the two strikes that cleaved the mountain.
The civilians had assumed the village was under full-scale invasion.
The official story managed to prevent a total panic, but it fueled endless gossip and curiosity.
The common people were mostly concerned with Hiruzen's health.
Surprisingly, there was almost zero opposition to Tsunade taking the mantle.
Tsunade's fame as one of the Sannin and her legendary war record gave her immense prestige. Every villager knew her name.
Being the granddaughter of the First and Second Hokage was the ultimate political trump card.
If she were officially inaugurated as the Fourth Hokage tomorrow, she would have overwhelming public support.
Tsunade had ordered the rumors spread herself, though some people tried to twist the narrative for their own ends.
They simply underestimated her popularity.
In this regard, Saiki was even more cynical than the politicians.
He viewed the world as a collection of selfish opportunists; he assumed Tsunade's rise would be sabotaged by those whose interests she threatened.
He forgot that the masses are often stupid and easily led; if one person says Tsunade is great, the rest will follow like sheep.
When Saiki finally woke up, it was already night. He was woken by a gnawing, ravenous hunger.
He groggily opened his eyes, staring at the ceiling as his vision cleared.
He turned his head to find Nono'u sitting right beside his bed.
The movement caught her attention. Having sat there for hours, she leaned forward with a look of pure joy.
"Saiki! You're awake! Are you okay? How do you feel?"
Saiki subconsciously scanned his internal state.
The situation was still pretty bad. Power always has a price; the massive amount of Sage Chakra he'd burned showed no signs of returning.
His physical strength had returned with sleep, but his core felt drained, leaving him with a deep, internal sense of hollow weakness.
He sat up, scratching his messy hair, his face still heavy with sleep. "Uh, I think my training is fine... I'm just starving."
While he slept, Nono'u had checked his vitals and found nothing physically wrong.
Hearing him ask for food made her let out a sigh of relief.
The drain on his Sage Chakra was a fundamental weakness at the root of his being; Nono'u had no way to detect it.
To her, his chakra just felt a bit "sluggish."
"Then hurry up and get out of bed! The food is going to get cold."
Nono'u stood up and walked toward a small table in the room, which was piled high with large food containers.
When she finished setting the table and saw Saiki still lingering in bed, she looked back in confusion.
"Saiki? I thought you were hungry. What are you doing?"
In bed, Saiki hesitated. Eventually, he threw back the quilt covering his waist and abdomen and hopped down.
A young man's blood is a volatile thing. Even though Saiki was "internally hollow," waking up from a long sleep meant his "marching tent" was pitched high and proud.
Staring at the obvious, aggressive bulge in Saiki's thin boxers, Nono'u's face instantly flushed a brilliant red.
She quickly averted her eyes, pretending she hadn't seen anything. "Nn... come and eat."
They had already been intimate once, but that encounter had been a frantic, desperate affair. Nono'u still wasn't adjusted to the casual reality of it.
Saiki was initially embarrassed, but he quickly steeled his nerves, justifying it to himself.
She's already your woman. You've seen it all and done it all. What's there to be shy about?
Embracing this "shameless" attitude, he picked up his chopsticks and began to inhale the food at a terrifying speed.
After her initial shyness, Nono'u settled in beside him, picking up choice morsels and placing them in his bowl.
"Slow down. Eat properly. No one is going to steal it from you," she said tenderly.
Saiki just nodded, his mouth full.
Between his naturally massive appetite and his current state of depletion, he felt like he could swallow a whole cow.