Clearly, the other powers weren't about to give up either.
Kumo's shinobi were easy to distinguish from others; they had a very particular feeling to them, their bodies more tempered. The result of some of their special training methods—brutal, but surprisingly effective. It wasn't something I would ever consider.
My personal path toward strength was all about regaining my own chakra and learning how to use it better. I had no desire to further strengthen my flesh; my body was already immortal. What would a bit more strength do when I could level mountains with Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack?
Years ago, when I first settled in the Daimyō's palace, I ran into Kumo as they came to speak with me all diplomatically, doing their best to sell their village to me as a place to settle down—promising countless things in exchange for loyalty. But while those muscle heads understood and respected the strong, they also had plenty of faults.
They didn't attempt to kidnap Kushina and Hinata just to invite them for tea, even if both attempts had been helped along by Konoha's higher-ups for their own reasons, even if both times something unexpected had happened.
While I wasn't able to see Kushina's kidnapping from the moon, I could easily guess why it was allowed to happen, and what they wanted. It was the same with Hinata; Danzō didn't want Hinata kidnapped, and would have stepped in to stop it if it had been necessary.
No—he just wanted conflict. He wanted a war, and a kidnapping of someone important was a good justification for starting one.
I had no doubt Kumo knew that too; they just hoped they could exploit the internal power games in Konoha to get what they wanted.
Bloodlines.
Kekkei Genkai.
They would turn both of them into broodmares for new clans.
It was crude, but also high value, high risk.
So while Kumo's respect for the strong would have kept them from betraying me the moment I stepped foot in their village, their expectation of loyalty would have made them want me to accept having a few dozen children.
Same with Kanna and Karin.
And if I didn't agree? That would be me breaking my part of the deal—me not being loyal enough.
And given the current Kumo group following me, I didn't think they were going for a second attempt at diplomacy.
Iwagakure also had some shinobi following me, though I couldn't tell what their purpose was—not yet.
Given how much time had passed since I promised to think about their offer, it was highly likely they'd decided I had turned them down.
Whatever that meant, would they try force? I didn't know, but I doubted it.
He was far older than the Raikage, so despite the potential high value in capturing two powerful Kekkei Genkai, he would likely consider the risk too high.
The cost was too high, because he wasn't foolish enough not to know that capturing an S-rank kunoichi with Shikotsumyaku wouldn't be easy—especially since he was well aware I was a skilled sensor.
He would either have to send an overwhelming number of shinobi after me and accept that many would die, or he would have to send one of his two Jinchūriki—both of whom were more or less rogues at this point.
They would protect the village in a war, yes, but something that underhanded? It was possible they would fully turn their backs on the village should he force them to do that, so it wasn't likely he would risk it.
And even if he did—even if he sent them, and even if they accepted—a fight between two S-ranks wasn't a small affair. Karin and Kanna were likely to die from the shockwaves alone.
Meaning it was entirely possible he would just end up with corpses.
It was far more likely he would still try for diplomacy, maybe setting me up to be a guard for the Earth Daimyō.
Having served one Daimyō for so long without any problem had given me a better reputation among nobles once more.
Even the few bounties on my head had all magically disappeared; it wouldn't do for some minor noble to have a bounty on the Daimyō's guard, would it?
Four groups following me—four great shinobi villages—but that wasn't all.
Suna, the fifth and final of the great shinobi villages, was absent; there were none of their shinobi following me in the shadows, thinking themselves hidden while, in fact, their every move was clear to me.
It wasn't all that surprising; they knew they couldn't compete with the other villages in what they could offer, and they didn't have the strength to spare to try to capture me by force.
No, they weren't there—which just made the others all the more interesting.
Because the motives of the big villages were all clear, but these smaller groups?
Their intent was far harder to figure out. Yet the fact that they followed me clearly meant things weren't going to be boring.
One group in particular stood out from the rest.
For one, they weren't hiding themselves—just walking down the road at civilian speed, much like how we traveled.
Just two people, two shinobi: one with a lot of chakra, and the other with far less.
They almost mirrored my own little group—two adults, one clearly the stronger one, the leader, while the other worked more like a helper, an assistant.
The biggest difference was that while we had little Karin, they just had a pet.
The lead woman was blonde, and there were few who didn't know who she was.
The one.
The only.
Tsunade Senju.
The smaller one was Shizune, the girl who never left Tsunade's side.
And their pet pig, Tonton.
They were closing in on where we were sitting, unhurried in their pace. Running into this particular person was unlikely, but it was also unlikely that she was here on purpose.
She had no reason to seek me out, but that didn't mean this meeting was an accident. Not at all.
Merely that it wasn't Tsunade herself who arranged it.
No, that was likely her teacher…
And the reason was obvious.
Kanna and Karin Uzumaki.
As the two rounded the last few trees and became visible to the naked eye, they saw us—and Kanna and Karin saw them.
They didn't know who she was, just another pair of travelers, but clearly Tsunade knew who she had stumbled on.
I could see it on her face, and it wasn't pretty—like she had bitten into something foul.
I recognized the expression immediately.
That tightness around the mouth.
The way her eyes flicked once, sharply, as if measuring distance—not to me, but away.
Annoyance.
Not fear.
Not surprise.
The look of someone who had just realized she had been guided somewhere she hadn't intended to go.
Tsunade stopped walking.
Shizune nearly ran into her back.
"…Sensei?" she asked quietly.
Tsunade exhaled through her nose, slow and controlled, and then glanced up at the sky as if she half-expected to see a familiar old man watching from the clouds.
"Damn monkey," she muttered.
Ah.
So she had reached the same conclusion I had.
Of course he would try this.
It cost him nothing—a few leaked rumors, a few nudges to the right debt collectors, a whispered location passed along the right channels. Tsunade wasn't hard to track for the Hokage of Konoha. Tsunade left her trails. She would normally make people regret following her, but clearly, steering her path had been easy enough.
Her gaze dropped again—this time landing squarely on Karin.
Not assessing.
Not predatory.
Just… still.
The way people went quiet when confronted with something that reminded them of what they had lost.
"…Red hair," Tsunade said at last.
Karin tilted her head. "Huh?"
Tsunade looked to Kanna next.
Then back to Karin.
"…Uzumaki," she finished.
Kanna stiffened instinctively, one step shifting Karin slightly behind her.
I let it happen.
Tsunade noticed—and respected it.
She raised both hands lazily, palms out. "Relax. I'm not a bad guy, I promise."
"Kanna, Karin," I called their attention. "This is Tsunade Senju, the last of the Senju clan—also called Princess Tsunade. She is about as noble as they come, the same way you are. She even has Uzumaki blood in her." I introduced.
There was no point in not allowing this to happen. From Tsunade's expression, she was unlikely to do anything; she wouldn't return to Konoha—not anytime soon.
Hiruzen's plot was bound to fail.
Yet Tsunade was special; she had the blood of the Senju clan in her—the blood of Asura, the blood of Hagoromo.
My blood.
And she wasn't as much of a disappointment as the current Kaguya clan.
She was connected to both myself and to Kanna and Karin, and I wasn't about to make an enemy out of Tsunade for no reason. I doubted I would ever need her help, but if something happened to either Kanna or Karin that I couldn't solve, then it was good to have this connection.
Tsunade snorted softly at my introduction.
"Princess," she muttered. "Gods, I hate that title."
Shizune winced on instinct. "S-sensei—"
"I know," Tsunade waved her off, then looked back at Kanna and Karin, her gaze steadier now—less sharp, less guarded. "You don't have to bow. I'm not anyone important anymore."
That was a lie.
But it was one she believed.
Karin peeked out from behind Kanna, curiosity already winning over caution. "You're really a princess?"
Tsunade blinked.
Once.
Then laughed—a short, surprised sound, like it had escaped her before she could stop it.
"…Yeah," she said. "I guess I was."
Karin considered this very seriously.
"…You don't look like one."
Shizune gasped. "K-Karin!"
I felt Tsunade's chakra spike for half a heartbeat—not anger, not killing intent—something close to shock. She was likely not used to that raw honesty.
Then she laughed again, louder this time.
"Good," she said. "That means I did something right."
She crouched down slightly, lowering herself to Karin's eye level without ever fully kneeling. There was intention in that—Tsunade never put herself beneath anyone unless she chose to.
"So," Tsunade asked gently, "what's your name?"
"Karin," she replied proudly. "Karin Uzumaki."
(End of chapter)
Support me at patreon.com/unknownfate - for the opportunity to read up to 30 chapters ahead.