"Obito, what's going on with that stone tablet?"
White Zetsu, who looked like a pitcher plant, asked with a frown.
After sneaking in, he had also seen the stone tablet.
Naturally, he knew the Sage of Six Paths could not have left behind such a tablet.
Obito thought for a moment. "There's a familiar person's aura on that tablet. It's been too long since I went back, so I've forgotten..."
"Forget it. The Great Sage is controlling everything. Maybe he just wants to see what this Uchiha Madara will do, which is why he's letting it happen.", Obito said.
The two nodded, then used the Mayfly Technique to leave and go search for Nagato.
———
After Tsunade confessed her feelings, she stayed in Konoha.
These were the happiest three years of Tsunade's life.
Over those three years, Tsunade moved out of the cold and empty Senju clan grounds and chose to live together with Arisu.
At the same time, during her free time, she and Arisu guided Team One, teaching Minato Namikaze, Kushina, and Sarutobi Shinnosuke.
One night, Tsunade received an urgent message from the front lines.
Hanzo of the Salamander had launched unrestricted warfare on the Rain Village battlefield. His poison swept across the front lines, causing heavy casualties among Konoha's forces. Looking across the entire ninja world, Tsunade was the only one who could cure it.
Only a dim bedside lamp lit the bedroom.
Tsunade was naked beneath a thin blanket. With her bare shoulders exposed, she leaned against Arisu's chest, her brows tightly furrowed.
"Tell me... should I go or not?"
Her voice was muffled, filled with reluctance.
She had not been on a battlefield for three years.
Arisu looked down at her and spoke seriously, "The ninjas on the front lines are waiting to die. Other than you, nobody can stop Hanzo's poison."
"Hmph. Why should I sacrifice my own happiness to save other people?"
Tsunade pouted unhappily, her willful nature fully on display.
Arisu raised an eyebrow.
Unlike the original story, Tsunade might have become even more selfish.
Before he could say anything else, Tsunade softened first. She turned over and sat on his waist, her voice full of attachment.
"I just... don't want to leave you."
"Then I'll go with you."
Arisu reached out and stroked her soft blonde hair.
"Rain Village is dangerous. If you go alone, I won't be at ease."
"Huh? Really?"
Tsunade suddenly lifted her head. Her previously dim eyes immediately lit up.
She wrapped her arms tightly around Arisu's neck and buried her face in his shoulder.
"Arisu, you're the best!"
Arisu laughed and tightened his arms around her, gently kissing the top of her head.
"Alright, go to sleep."
Arisu nodded.
———
A few days later, the Rain Village battlefield had completely reached its most intense stage.
Hanzo of the Salamander followed Uchiha Madara's example and launched unrestricted warfare.
He began deploying poison gas on a large scale across the battlefield.
On the battlefield, Hanzo of the Salamander fought Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade.
The battle that would make the Three Sannin famous had begun.
After a fierce battle, Hanzo finally stood atop his giant salamander and looked down at the three of them.
He looked at the heavily breathing trio, then at the Rain Village ninja corpses scattered everywhere around them.
"It seems this war has been won by Konoha.", Hanzo of the Salamander said calmly.
As the leader of Rain Village, he had been held back by three elite jonin-level ninjas.
That clearly meant Rain Village had lost.
"The fact that you've survived both my attacks and my poison gas proves you're quite impressive. From today onward, I, Hanzo of the Salamander, will call you the Three Sannin of Konoha.", Hanzo said.
"We don't need your title! We can still keep fighting!", Jiraiya shouted.
He still had his Sage Technique trump card unused. As long as Orochimaru and Tsunade could buy him some time, he could enter Sage Mode.
At that point, with Tsunade and Orochimaru supporting him, his Sage Mode might even be enough to kill Hanzo of the Salamander.
"Heh heh heh. Forget it. You won't have a future anyway."
Killing intent flashed through Hanzo's eyes. He had no intention of letting the three of them leave alive.
If they continued growing, they would definitely become a major threat to Rain Village in the future. They had to be killed before they could fully mature.
"You're all out of strength too, aren't you? I'll use my remaining power to finish you off."
A sickle appeared in Hanzo's hand as he looked coldly at the three of them.
At that moment, Hanzo suddenly looked past them.
His eyes visibly trembled.
"It's him!?"
Hanzo hesitated inwardly. He had not expected that person to come as well.
Arisu, wearing a cloak, appeared behind Tsunade and the other two.
"I didn't expect one of Konoha's Two Lights to be here as well.", Hanzo said.
Jiraiya and Orochimaru were slightly surprised. They had not expected Arisu to come. Wasn't he serving as a team instructor in Konoha?
Tsunade merely smiled faintly.
She had already known Arisu was here.
"This guy watched his girlfriend suffer here and still insisted on showing up at the last second to save people, huh?"
Tsunade looked at Arisu with dissatisfaction.
The moment Hanzo saw Arisu arrive, he immediately abandoned the idea of killing the Three Sannin here.
According to the records, Arisu's strength was no weaker than Hiruzen Sarutobi's.
If things went wrong, there was a good chance Arisu would kill him here, and that would be troublesome.
"Hmph! We'll meet again!"
Hanzo snorted coldly, then used the Body Flicker Technique and left.
Arisu smiled.
"You finally showed up, Arisu!"
Orochimaru let out a sigh of relief and stepped forward to bump fists with Arisu.
Jiraiya also stepped forward and bumped fists with him. So many years had passed. Although he truly hadn't had any memories of Arisu before, they were now quite familiar with each other.
When he had previously asked Mount Myoboku about it, they had known nothing about it.
Jiraiya always felt Mount Myoboku might actually know something.
But they were pretending not to.
As the group was about to leave, Arisu looked toward a small dirt hill in the distance.
"You three, come out."
Hearing this, Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru immediately became alert.
They had been too exhausted and had not carefully sensed their surroundings.
Then, from behind the small hill, three children slowly walked out.
Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan appeared.
"Should we kill them?", Orochimaru took out a kunai and said coldly.
Ever since witnessing Nawaki's death, he had developed a different view of the world.
Jiraiya immediately stopped him.
"No! They're still children! They don't have any ill intentions."
Tsunade crossed her arms and said nothing, but her eyes showed pity.
Being born in a time of war was very unfortunate.
"What do you want?", Jiraiya asked first.
The three children hesitated slightly, then Yahiko bravely stepped forward.
"We want... we want to become your students!", Yahiko shouted.
Arisu chose not to hear it. He immediately left while holding Tsunade's hand.
He truly did not want to take on any more disciples.
If this kept going, he would eventually realize the entire ninja world was filled with his own people.
Though, even now, both the heroes and villains of the ninja world were already his people.
Jiraiya looked at the three children and fell into thought and hesitation.