Time returned to the present.
After stuffing most of the three-person breakfast into her stomach, Tsunade took the tissue Rowan handed her, wiped her mouth, and asked, "So when are we heading to a new world?"
"Soon. Very soon."
"You said that last time too." Tsunade rolled her eyes at him in annoyance. "Can you actually do it or not? You weren't just feeding me a line before, were you?"
Rowan was helpless too. His power had awakened in the most muddled way possible. It didn't exactly come with an instruction manual.
The only thing he could do was explore it bit by bit.
After a month of testing, Rowan had finally figured out a little about his cheat ability.
First, he had confirmed that he could use any door to travel to another world.
As long as it was a door, it worked.
Second, aside from the Naruto world, Rowan really could connect to other worlds as well—but it took time.
How much time exactly, he couldn't say. He could only rely on a vague feeling, as if he somehow just knew.
Then there was something else: whenever Rowan entered a new world through one of these doors, he would automatically gain the ability to communicate with the people in that world.
For example, after entering the Naruto world, he could speak with Tsunade seamlessly. There was no awkward chicken-talking-to-duck situation at all.
Even if Rowan was speaking English, Tsunade could still understand exactly what he meant.
It was also worth mentioning that when Tsunade passed through the door into Rowan's world, she automatically gained a similar ability as well.
That was why she could read the manga in this world.
Honestly, it was an incredibly convenient ability and had saved Rowan a huge amount of trouble.
So far, these were the only functions of his cheat ability he had discovered. As for whether it had other powers, he was still in the process of figuring that out.
Which was why, faced with Tsunade pressing him for an answer, Rowan had no way of giving her anything exact. All he could say was, "Soon, soon."
But this time, he really wasn't lying.
Because somewhere deep down, Rowan could feel that he would very soon be able to activate his cheat ability again and connect to a brand-new world.
Tsunade looked up at Rowan, about to say something, when suddenly an elderly voice sounded from outside the door.
"Is Tsunade here? I came to see you."
The moment she heard that voice, Tsunade's expression changed. She looked both helpless and annoyed. Raising a hand, she formed a seal and created a Shadow Clone to answer the door.
A moment later, the clone came back in, bringing an old man dressed in a white Hokage robe.
Naturally, this person was Konoha's Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
When Rowan saw Hiruzen, he gave a small nod and said, "Lord Hokage."
After all, in his eyes, Hiruzen Sarutobi was just a stranger. A simple greeting was more than enough.
Hiruzen didn't care much about someone as minor as Rowan either.
If Rowan hadn't returned with Tsunade, Hiruzen probably wouldn't have even spared him a second glance.
Seeing Hiruzen arrive, Tsunade said impatiently, "Old man, what do you want?"
Hiruzen didn't get angry at her tone. Instead, he smiled and sat down.
"Tsunade, you've been back for a while now. Have you considered coming to help me? I'm old. I can't keep this up forever. So I was hoping you could—"
"Not interested."
Before Hiruzen could finish, Tsunade cut him off.
"If you really don't want to keep doing it, then hand the Hokage position over to Kakashi."
Hiruzen choked on that, then let out a bitter laugh. "Kakashi is excellent, but right now he still doesn't have what it takes to serve as Konoha's Hokage. I still hope you'll take over my position."
"Not happening. Give it up," Tsunade refused without a second thought.
Her crisp, decisive attitude left Hiruzen utterly baffled.
Half a month ago, Tsunade had suddenly returned to Konoha with Shizune and this man named Rowan.
At first, Hiruzen had thought Tsunade had finally come around and was returning to take his place. He had been overjoyed.
He really was getting old. He genuinely didn't have the strength he used to.
If Tsunade accepted the position and became the Fifth Hokage, his burden would be eased, and he could finally enjoy retirement.
And yet after waiting in the Hokage's office for several days, Tsunade never once came to see him.
Left with no other choice, Hiruzen had come personally to talk to her about succeeding him as Hokage.
But Tsunade absolutely refused.
Hiruzen couldn't make heads or tails of it. If you don't want my position, then why did you come back at all?
Could it be homesickness?
Or had she racked up a mountain of debt outside and come back to hide from her creditors?
Hm… actually, that wasn't impossible.
After all, he knew his student's personality all too well.
Seeing Hiruzen sitting there with a life-is-pointless look on his face, clearly lost in one wild guess after another, Tsunade sighed and said, "I'll tell you the truth, old man. I've got something far more important to do. I'm not taking the Hokage position."
"Something important? What?"
"Even if I told you, you wouldn't understand, so I'm not going to bother."
"If you don't tell me, how am I supposed to understand?"
"And because you wouldn't understand, I can't be bothered explaining."
That one nearly broke Hiruzen.
He hadn't expected that after only a few years away from Konoha, his student had somehow mastered the art of talking in pointless circles.
Where the hell had she learned this from?
His gaze drifted, almost involuntarily, toward Rowan.
Rowan kept his eyes down and his expression blank, staring fixedly at the tea table in front of him as if it were the most stunning beauty in the world.
Hiruzen: …
If Rowan weren't Tsunade's man—and if Hiruzen didn't want to irritate Tsunade any further—he really would have taught this disrespectful brat a proper lesson.
"Forget it. Since you're unwilling, let's pretend I was never here today."
After thinking it over, Hiruzen decided to leave. Some things couldn't be rushed.
As long as Tsunade stayed in Konoha, sooner or later she would rebuild the bonds she once had with the village. When that time came, the Hokage seat would naturally end up in her hands.
So Hiruzen wasn't in a hurry. He slowly rose to his feet and shuffled out of the Senju clan compound.
Once he was gone, Rowan looked at Tsunade with a smile and said, "Want to guess whether Hiruzen Sarutobi came here to test you, or whether he sincerely wanted you to become the Fifth?"
Tsunade shot him a sidelong glance. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Exactly what it sounds like," Rowan said calmly. "You've read the Naruto story already. You've also seen all the online comments and the conspiracy theories people have about Hiruzen Sarutobi, right?"
"During his time ruling Konoha, the Senju clan was reduced to just you, the Uchiha were wiped out, Sakumo Hatake killed himself, Orochimaru defected, and both Jiraiya and you left the village."
"One thing after another—every last one of those messes happened under him and his little circle of companions."
"Konoha used to be a village that could have beaten the other four great ninja villages by itself, but by the time he was done with it, the village was left with a broken generational pipeline and no one to carry things forward."
"So do you really think he came here because he genuinely wanted you to take over as Hokage?"