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By now, the Anbu were starting to realize that letting Kushina leave the village was a terrible mistake. It seemed no one but the Third Hokage could control her.
Well, that wasn't entirely true. In terms of sheer strength, plenty of people could subdue her. But no one would actually dare lay a hand on her.
If you accidentally hurt her, do you know who her boyfriend is? Aren't you afraid Minato will just flash right into your face?
When Kushina led Hagoromo into Tsunade's tent, the guards didn't stop them.
Tsunade was in the middle of a strategy meeting. She simply nodded at Kushina, gesturing for her to sit, before resuming her briefing.
"Our current situation is looking good," Tsunade stated. "Chiyo has entered the battlefield, but we've completely neutralized her offensive maneuvers."
"The enemy's vanguard has been pushed back into the Land of Rivers. In truth, their war potential is stretched to its absolute limit."
"One more decisive strike, and the Sand's only option will be surrender—unless the Land of Wind wants to be wiped off the map entirely."
"Right now, the Sand is fighting a two-front war, while we are fighting on four fronts."
"They have about 6,000 troops deployed against the Stone, and roughly 4,000 squaring off against us. Meanwhile, our fighting force here is only around 2,500."
"We are still at a severe numerical disadvantage. Furthermore, after losing Sakumo Hatake, we lost the sharpest blade capable of piercing the Sand's defensive lines..."
At this point, Tsunade gritted her teeth in obvious rage.
"To lose a battlefield-altering asset like the White Fang of the Leaf over such a ridiculous reason! I really don't know what those idiots in the upper echelons are thinking!"
As if unable to contain her anger any longer, Tsunade viciously slammed her fist onto the table in front of her.
With a deafening bang, the desk was instantly pulverized.
An exaggerated fissure tore through the ground beneath it, stretching all the way outside the tent.
Hagoromo's eyebrow twitched involuntarily. So this was the power of the sole female Sannin, the true Princess of Konoha!
From Hagoromo's perspective, Tsunade was definitely one of the most beautiful women in the entire ninja world. But that explosive temper... and that absurd physical strength... and that fake age...
She had outstanding looks, a phenomenal figure, and a prestigious background. Yet, she seemed destined to die alone.
"What desk number are we on now...?"
Hagoromo wasn't sure if he was imagining things, but he swore he heard a nearby ninja mutter that under his breath.
It was hard to blame Tsunade for being so angry. If the White Fang were still alive, the Leaf wouldn't be fighting such a passive war against the Sand.
Given the sheer terror the White Fang inspired, this war might have ended long ago.
Once the Sand deployed Chiyo, Tsunade—the only one capable of countering her poisons—naturally became the supreme commander of this front.
Whenever the endless minutiae of managing the battlefield left her exhausted and overwhelmed, she couldn't help but curse the Konoha higher-ups.
Whenever this happened, the ninja around Tsunade would just pretend they hadn't heard a thing.
First of all, while they didn't dare speak as freely as the Princess, they secretly agreed with her. Battles were much easier when the White Fang was around; his mere presence terrified the Sand.
Secondly, Tsunade wasn't just the Third Hokage's student and one of the Sannin. She was the granddaughter of the First Hokage.
Let alone cursing the elders, what could anyone do even if she tore down the village from the front gates all the way to the Hokage Monument?
After losing her younger brother and her lover in the last Great Ninja War, Tsunade's patience with Konoha's leadership had essentially reached its absolute limit.
She already harbored thoughts of leaving the village. The only reason she stayed was because of her symbolic status as the First's granddaughter and the last Senju active on the battlefield.
Those bonds kept her from simply walking away. But her mind was made up: once the war with the Sand ended, she was leaving Konoha for good.
Everything her grandfather had built and left behind — all of it now felt like a chain around her neck.
After venting her temper, the Konoha Princess finally calmed down. She signaled for the meeting to continue.
The others in the tent calmly straightened their postures. Clearly, Tsunade blowing her top in public was a regular occurrence.
"Shikaku Nara, you continue the briefing."
Though she had cooled off, Tsunade obviously lacked the patience to keep talking. She handed the floor over to her strategist, the twenty-something Shikaku Nara.
"The Fourth Kazekage was hastily pushed into power and lacks the absolute authority of the Third," Shikaku began.
"He can't unify his country's forces for a fight to the death. According to our intel, with their war situation failing to improve, the peace faction within the Sand and the Land of Wind is gaining ground."
"However, we currently face two major problems."
"First, even knowing that one massive strike could force the Sand to withdraw, our lack of troops and overextended supply lines mean we simply cannot launch a large-scale offensive."
"Second, although Lady Tsunade has once again cracked Chiyo's newest poison, we lack the medical ninja required to mass-produce the antidote."
"Regarding your second point, the twenty medical ninja dispatched from Konoha have arrived today," Kushina interjected.
Shikaku glanced at Kushina and nodded. "That's a massive help."
"In short, while the scales of war are tipping in our favor, this stalemate on the frontlines will likely continue for a while. Everyone, prepare yourselves mentally for that."
After establishing that their next operational goal was to methodically wipe out the Sand's remaining forces, the strategy meeting quickly concluded.
Most of the ninja quickly filed out of the tent. Tsunade processed a few documents before finally carving out some time to speak with Kushina.
"Sorry about that, Kushina. When did you get here?"
Perhaps because their personalities were somewhat similar, Tsunade's attitude toward Kushina was noticeably warmer than toward the others. The two of them were essentially friends.
"Tsunade-sensei, we arrived just a little while ago."
Kushina had previously studied medical ninjutsu under Tsunade, hence the honorific.
Only then did Tsunade notice the kid standing behind Kushina. She frowned involuntarily.
"Is this your student? He looks fresh out of the Academy. The battlefield is no place for brats like him."
Whenever she saw kids like him on the battlefield, her darkest, most painful memories would involuntarily surface.
Those irrepressible memories always left her feeling deeply agitated.
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