Just moments ago, inside the hyper-realistic genjutsu, Tsunade felt like she was right back on the day Nawaki died.
But this time, she didn't just find his corpse. She saw him surrounded by Iwa shinobi, drenched in blood. The enemies were incredibly lifelike. The blood was terrifyingly real.
All the strength drained from Tsunade's body, leaving her slumped and weak.
"Save me, Sis!"
That familiar voice. The hopeful light in his eyes. A violent shiver ran down her spine. She knew it was fake. She knew it was just a genjutsu. But she couldn't stop trembling.
That was Nawaki. Her little brother.
No matter how hard she fought it, the terror wouldn't fade. She watched helplessly as the Iwa shinobi closed in. She watched the hope in Nawaki's eyes slowly die out.
But right as the enemy's blade fell, an endless well of courage surged within her. With a furious roar, Tsunade threw a devastating punch.
Crack! The Iwa shinobi shattered. The genjutsu collapsed. It was just an illusion, but she had finally saved Nawaki.
Tsunade opened her eyes. Seeing the deep concern on Jiraiya's face sent a wave of warmth through her heart. Her hemophobia was cured. There was no need to tell him what happened inside the illusion. She just gave him a strained smile to show she was fine, then turned to Itachi.
If possible, she wanted to enter that genjutsu one more time. She wanted to save Dan, too.
But then she saw the trail of bloody tears leaking from Itachi's eye. She forced the thought away. Casting such a realistic illusion put a massive burden on the young Uchiha. She wanted closure, but she couldn't let Itachi suffer for her selfish desires.
Jie Uchiha saw her expression and instantly knew what she was thinking.
Now was not the right time. Without the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, Itachi couldn't overuse his visual prowess. Jie wasn't going to let Itachi push his eyes to the limit and end up with that terminal illness from the original timeline.
Cough. Jie cleared his throat, pulling Tsunade's attention back.
"Since your hemophobia is cured, you and Jiraiya should prepare for the Iwa delegation," he said calmly. "How you handle them is up to you. I don't care if it sparks a war."
He paused.
"I only have one requirement. The Tsuchikage cannot pay less in reparations than Kumogakure did."
Tsunade and Jiraiya frowned. They hated war. Unfortunately, Iwa smelled weakness and was acting recklessly, trying to extort Konoha. If they didn't make the Hidden Stone pay a heavy price, the rest of the shinobi world would look down on the Leaf.
Orochimaru, on the other hand, never feared war. In fact, he enjoyed it.
War meant test subjects.
Since he was back in Konoha, he obviously couldn't use villagers for his experiments anymore. But human testing was essential for his research. His only option was to use the chaos of war to capture enemy shinobi, or hunt down rogue and wandering ninjas.
After all, a rogue ninja's life was worth less than the dirt under their feet. No one would care if they lived or died. Wiping them out might even be a favor to the shinobi world.
Jie Uchiha naturally understood Orochimaru's dilemma.
In fact, Jie was the one who had suggested using rogue ninjas for human experiments. If a few dead rogues boosted Konoha's core productivity, who cared?
Knowing Orochimaru's stance, Tsunade and Jiraiya hesitated. But only for a moment.
They nodded in agreement. Ultimately, they were Konoha shinobi, and this was their first official mission since returning to the village. It was a pledge of loyalty to the Fifth Hokage, Jie Uchiha.
Just like that, the matter was settled.
Meanwhile, far away in Iwagakure, Onoki was ecstatic. Konoha had sent their reply.
"Hahaha! I knew it! Konoha is nothing but a paper tiger right now!" Onoki sneered, clutching the Leaf's letter in his hand.
He looked at Kitsuchi, his eyes gleaming with greed. "Kitsuchi, go and double the tribute we demanded. It would be a complete waste not to fleece the current Konoha for all they're worth."
"Old man, do we really need to double it?" Kitsuchi asked, his face lined with worry. "If we ask for too much, what happens if Konoha refuses to pay?"
"Don't be a coward. The Hidden Leaf is at its absolute weakest right now. To avoid a war, they will agree to any terms we set," Onoki replied confidently.
"And if they can't pay it all at once, we'll simply reduce the lump sum and force them to pay annual tribute!"
Onoki waved a dismissive hand, a sinister grin spreading across his aged face. "That way, our Iwagakure gains even more in the long run. What kind of guts could that brat of a Hokage possibly have? He'd probably piss his pants just hearing the word 'war'."
"Alright, that settles it. You and Toshito will form the delegation heading to Konoha," Onoki ordered.
"Remember to be as assertive as possible. Let Konoha know...it's either tribute, or war! As long as this succeeds, Iwagakure will be the strongest ninja village in the world! Hahaha!"
Watching Onoki laugh so heartily, a deep, unsettling premonition suddenly took root in Kitsuchi's heart.
Back in Konoha, the stage was already set. Since Jie Uchiha had handed the Iwa problem over to Tsunade's group, he wasn't going to interfere any further.
But that didn't mean he was off the hook. Far from it.
Thud! Shikaku Nara dropped a massive stack of documents directly onto his desk.
Staring at the mountain of paperwork awaiting his approval, Jie felt his future instantly turn bleak.
"Are these all for me to approve?"
"That's correct, Lord Hokage," Shikaku replied calmly. "And this is just a small portion of it."
"Did Hiruzen Sarutobi really survive like this for all those years?" Jie asked, disbelief written all over his face. "With this much paper, even working a full twenty-four hours wouldn't be enough to finish."
"When the Third Hokage was in power, less urgent matters could be delegated to the elders on the advisory council," Shikaku explained.
"But now that the council no longer exists, every single document must be personally reviewed by the Hokage."
Hearing this, Jie let out a heavy sigh.
It seemed that just assigning a secretary wasn't going to cut it. This volume of paperwork would grind a secretary to dust before they even made a dent in it.
"Reform. There must be a reform!" Jie gritted his teeth. "That damned Hiruzen left behind such an archaic system."
If he didn't overhaul the administration immediately, surviving this job was going to be absolutely impossible.
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