Minato wanted to chase after him, but Hizashi stopped him: "Minato, let Lord Jiraiya have some peace and quiet alone!"
Gyokushun was almost on his knees as he said sorrowfully, "Lady Tsunade married the evil Uchiha. If the Second Hokage were alive, who knows how furious he would be?"
Mōmō nodded, but then said, "On the other hand, the First Hokage might be very happy, because he always wanted to see us and the Uchiha Clan completely eliminate our long-standing opposition."
During his lifetime, Hashirama hoped that the Uchiha would truly integrate into the Village, and that the two clans would set aside the estrangement in their bloodlines and treat each other with sincerity. To this end, he had wanted to arrange a marriage with the Uchiha more than once.
But he was firmly rejected by the old fogies of the clan and Tobirama.
After his death, Tobirama stopped pretending and specifically targeted the Uchiha.
Not only did he arrange their clan lands far from the Village center, but he also had the major Ninja Clans of the Village ostracize the Uchiha.
The Anbu was even forbidden from allowing members of the Uchiha Clan to apply, preventing them from accessing the Village's secrets.
Gyokushun wanted to say something, but Hizashi suddenly shouted, "Who's there? Come out!"
Everyone immediately switched to a combat stance, each taking out a Kunai and looking warily in the direction Hizashi was facing.
A White Zetsu emerged from the ground and spoke in fluent English.
"Hello, I am the messenger of Lord Madara. I would like to invite the members of the Senju Clan to attend the wedding of my Ryou-sama and Lady Tsunade."
The White Zetsu took out an invitation and threw it toward the people of the Senju Clan.
In the next second, Minato suddenly appeared behind the White Zetsu, grabbed its back, and instantly sealed it.
Jiraiya arrived just in time to see Minato sealing the White Zetsu clones.
He was shocked: "We were discovered as soon as we entered the Land of Rain?"
Aburame Shibi adjusted his sunglasses and analyzed, "I'm afraid so. These White Zetsu are numerous and can hide underground. Hizashi can't keep his Byakugan active all the time, so it was inevitable that we'd be discovered."
Everyone looked at Minato, waiting for his decision.
Minato sighed: "In that case, let's abandon the mission!"
They had already been discovered by Madara, so what mission was there left to carry out?
Madara was being polite enough not to sneak up on them along with the White Zetsu.
If Madara had followed, everyone, including Minato, would have potentially been killed by him.
Minato guessed that this was arrogance! The arrogance belonging to the Uchiha.
I have found you, but I won't bother with you juniors.
Instead, Madara even produced an invitation to insult them: the Princess of Konoha is marrying a member of my Uchiha Clan.
And you, you can do nothing!
Gyokushun and Mōmō looked at Madara's invitation, gritting their teeth in anger.
Mōmō had a short fuse and couldn't take it anymore: "Dammit, Uchiha Madara actually dared to send an invitation. Then we'll go and charge into his dragon's den."
Gyokushun tapped Mōmō on the head with the invitation: "Uchiha Madara has already spared our lives. Let's not go and seek death."
"Gyokushun, that's Lady Tsunade!"
"I know, but so what? Even the Second Hokage died fighting Kinkaku and Ginkaku to protect his subordinates. Doesn't Lady Tsunade have the resolve to sacrifice herself?"
Gyokushun spoke very rationally.
Everyone sighed and packed their things, preparing to leave the Land of Rain.
They didn't look disappointed; Hyuga Hizashi even felt a secret sense of relief.
His child was only a few months old. Hizashi didn't want to die, let alone mindlessly offer his head to be cut off when he knew it was Madara.
No one here wanted to go to Amegakure and get involved in this mess.
Tsunade was getting married to Ryou, not being executed.
She was an old maid nearing forty and someone actually wanted her; the Senju Clan should be setting off firecrackers to celebrate.
There was only one person who wanted to go regardless of the danger.
Everyone turned their gaze toward Jiraiya.
Jiraiya smiled: "Why are you all looking at me? Don't worry, I won't lead everyone to their deaths."
"Besides, Tsunade used to like Ryou. I'm going there to give them my blessings."
"I've even prepared a gift to celebrate. It's Orochimaru's body modification technique. That kid Ryou wanted Orochimaru's long tongue to mess with women."
Jiraiya spoke as he took out the gift scroll he had prepared.
Minato said, "Teacher, you can't go. You've already been killed by Uchiha Madara once."
Jiraiya nodded: "Minato, this time I'll listen to you. I won't go and seek death again."
Everyone immediately became happy, fearing that Jiraiya would recklessly go to Amegakure and not only fail to rescue Tsunade but also involve everyone else.
Since Jiraiya was being so sensible, everyone felt relieved.
Aburame Shibi even started introducing the older single women of his clan to Jiraiya.
Jiraiya shook his head repeatedly. The people of the Aburame Clan were all the same, and their bodies were full of bugs.
Wouldn't the wedding night be like traveling through a wormhole?
Everyone chatted and joked, leaving the Land of Rain in a harmonious atmosphere.
Only they themselves knew that they were scared out of the Land of Rain by just one invitation from Madara.
They could only use jokes to comfort their complex inner feelings.
They didn't even have the courage to face Madara.
After leaving the Land of Rain and returning to the Land of Fire, everyone went to a Ninja outpost established by Konoha on the border.
Hizashi found Jiraiya in secret: "Lord Jiraiya, why bother doing this?"
Within Hizashi's Byakugan, the Jiraiya before him was just a Shadow Clone, based on the little chakra within the clone.
Jiraiya's Shadow Clone only responded with a smile: "I know Tsunade doesn't like me. If Ryou were marrying her fair and square, I would certainly send my blessings."
"But this is Uchiha Madara's coercion. Tsunade is trapped in a quagmire; how can I just watch her stay in a demon's den?"
Hizashi asked, "What if you never return?"
Jiraiya was extremely firm: "Then I shall never return!"
Hizashi didn't quite understand Jiraiya's feelings for Tsunade, because the Hyuga Clan practiced arranged marriages. To ensure the purity of the Byakugan bloodline, the Hyuga Clan mostly married within the clan.
The larger the Ninja Clan and the more powerful the Kekkei Genkai, the more they practiced endogamy and arranged marriages by elders.
Hizashi didn't understand love, but he could understand someone like Jiraiya. Once he had decided on something, even the Hokage-sama couldn't talk him out of it.
"Lord Jiraiya, I must tell you that the person who knows you best is often the disciple who inherits your Ninja way. Minato is also a Shadow Clone."
"What?!"
Land of Rain, Hidden Rain Village, inside the Indra Shrine.
Tsunade was wearing a Shiromuku wedding dress, which is an all-white kimono, pure white from inside out.
This Shiromuku symbolizes the purity of the bride and also implies that after the bride marries into her husband's family, she is like a blank piece of paper, willing to accept everything about her new family.
On her head, she wore a Tsunokakushi hat, which symbolizes hiding the bride's "horns of jealousy" and signifies her willingness to become a gentle wife.
Tsunade was led by the hand by Konan and Kiyomi from the shrine room to the main hall of the shrine to worship the Indra Statue, guided by the Ninja Cat.
Generally, it would be guided by the shrine's Miko, but Ryou's wedding was entirely handled by the Uchiha Clan's Ninja Cat, so everything was left to their disposal.
According to the customs of the Ninja Cat, there was none of this nonsense. You just jump on each other's backs and get to it, and after that, you're a family.
It was an old cat who had seen Uchiha Clan weddings who stood up to officiate.
Ryou didn't have any best men on his side, so Fortune and Gyokushun acted as the best men.
Guided by the two Ninja Cat, he walked out of the shrine room and immediately saw Tsunade, dressed so beautifully and alluringly that he couldn't restrain himself on the spot.
"Forget the formalities! Let's go to the bridal chamber first. We can talk about the rest of the procedures after the wedding night!"
Ryou picked up Tsunade and ran straight toward the bridal chamber.