Orochimaru and the other three picked up the scrolls in their hands and looked them over.
"Team assignments?"
Written on them were:
"Team 3: Uchiha Kamito, Aburame Shiken, Aburame Shibi."
"Team 7: Namikaze Minato, Hyūga Hiyasu, Hyūga Hizashi."
"Team 8: Senju Hideki, Inuzuka Ryoha, Inuzuka Rinko."
"Team 10: Nara Shikaku, Yamanaka Inoichi, Akimichi Chōza."
None of the four were particularly satisfied with this.
Orochimaru wanted to go do research.
Sakumo Hatake wanted to go check on his wife—she was already six months pregnant.
Tsunade wanted to go gambling.
Jiraiya wanted to go… steal—cough—gather research material.
None of them wanted to waste time taking care of a bunch of clueless kids.
Tsunade spoke first.
"What does the old man mean by this? My time is very valuable. I don't have time to waste it on a bunch of little brats."
"In a hurry to gamble?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi gave her a look that said he had already seen right through her.
But who was Tsunade? Of course she didn't care about something like that.
"That's right. I'm going gambling. What are you going to do about it?"
"So the task of reviving the Senju clan—you're planning to leave it to that kid Senju Hideki, is that it?"
Bang.
"The Senju clan has been gone for a long time. Because of someone's decision."
Tsunade smashed a table to pieces.
At the same time, her eyes locked tightly onto Hiruzen.
Orochimaru and the other two immediately fell silent.
This was definitely not something they could get involved in.
Hiruzen took a long drag from his pipe.
"Everything was for the sake of Konoha."
His eyes stared straight at Tsunade.
Tsunade really wanted to say: to hell with Konoha.
But she couldn't.
Her grandfather, her second grandfather, her grandmother, and countless clan members had all sacrificed themselves for this village. Others could curse Konoha all they wanted.
But she—Senju Tsunade—could not.
The ancestors of the Senju clan could not be disgraced, and their descendants could not overturn everything they had once done.
"I'll take the remaining team."
After saying that, Tsunade stormed out in anger.
The three remaining people had no choice.
Looking at the Third Hokage's expression, they knew they had to choose.
If he was willing to provoke Tsunade using something like this, he definitely had other plans prepared for them as well.
Better not be the troublemaker.
"I'll take Team 7. I've met that sunny young man before—I think highly of him."
Jiraiya spoke first.
"I'll take Team 3. I'm very interested in the Uchiha clan's Sharingan and the various insects of the Aburame clan."
Orochimaru's hoarse voice followed.
"Orochimaru, you're taking students—not turning them into experimental materials. You are not allowed to lay a hand on them."
"I understand, Sarutobi-sensei."
After saying that, Orochimaru left.
Jiraiya followed shortly after.
Only Sakumo Hatake remained.
"Hokage-sama, please decide. To be honest, I don't think there's much I can teach either of those teams."
Sakumo used a sword.
But both of those teams specialized in their clan's Secret Techniques. There really wasn't much he could teach them.
"How could that be? Sakumo—an elite jonin's experience is extremely valuable. Leave the Senju kid for Tsunade to teach."
"Understood, Hokage-sama. I'll go ask the heads of the Nara, Yamanaka, and Akimichi clans how they want their children trained."
"Mm. Go ahead."
"Taking my leave, Hokage-sama."
Hiruzen looked out at the scenery outside the window.
"They are all Konoha's future."
...
Tsunade walked out of the gambling house, grumbling nonstop.
"They must be cheating. How could I keep losing like that?"
"Damn gambling house…"
"Next time I'll win everything back in one go."
When she returned to the Senju clan compound, she saw only a few scattered elderly people and a handful of tiny children running around.
A wave of bleakness filled her heart.
How had the once-prosperous Senju clan ended up like this?
It was all that damned Shimura Danzō.
And those damned wars.
"Old Man Kyūma, you're already so old. Just eat some plain porridge. Barbecue and things like that—can your stomach even handle it?"
Hm? Where did that voice come from?
Tsunade walked forward.
She discovered a two-meter-tall burly man coaxing an old man whose teeth were almost completely gone to drink some porridge.
"Brat! You little punk! Back when I followed Hashirama-sama sweeping across the Warring States and beating up those Uchiha brats, you weren't even in your mother's belly yet!"
"Yeah, yeah, you're amazing. People say when facing the Uchiha one-on-one you should run immediately. But you? If you didn't fight four or five Uchiha at once, you wouldn't even feel satisfied."
"That's right! Back then I followed Hashirama-sama—"
"Alright, alright, stop talking. I still need to check on Old Man Unma. And there are a bunch of youngsters waiting too. Just live well and watch. In the future your catchphrase won't be 'Back then when I followed Hashirama-sama…' It'll be 'Back when Hideki fed me porridge…' and you'll be bragging about that instead."
"You little brat! No respect for your elders."
"Alright, alright, this brat is feeding you now. Come on, open your mouth. Ah—"
After finishing the porridge, Senju Hideki stood up and left.
With his height of over two meters, he looked like a small giant.
"Old Man Kyūma, get some sunlight. How can the Senju of the Forest avoid the sun? If you get tired, go back and rest. I'll come visit you again tonight."
After saying that, he turned and left.
While walking away he muttered,
"Thirteen elderly left… twenty-nine youngsters… gotta speed up, gotta speed up."
After Senju Hideki left, Tsunade stepped forward.
"Lord Kyūma, is that child always like this?"
Senju Kyūma saw that it was Tsunade.
His eyes dimmed slightly.
"Yes… when people get old, no one pays attention anymore. Only that silly child runs around everywhere with Nawaki helping out."
"But the village should be giving subsidies."
"Heh. A bunch of dying old men and a group of clueless children—what can they even do with subsidies?"
"Lord Kyūma… I'm sorry."
Tsunade's eyes were filled with gloom. She had never imagined things would be like this.
She had thought that ensuring the Senju clan's subsidy funds were fully delivered was already enough to honor the clan members who had sacrificed themselves.
"There's no need for you to apologize. We were the ones who were wrong. We treated you as if you were Hashirama-sama or Tobirama-sama. But in truth, you only wanted to be Princess Tsunade."
"Lord Kyūma, I didn't… I just…"
"If you don't want to be the head of the Senju clan, then give that position to Hideki. We trust that child. Unfortunately, we've left him with a terrible mess."
"In the end… the Senju are the Senju, and Konoha is Konoha."
After saying that, a trace of tears appeared at the corner of Senju Kyūma's eyes.
He walked back into the house.
Tsunade returned to her residence with a gloomy expression.
...
The next day.
The team assignments had been completed.
At the various training grounds, the newly graduated ninja all noticed that their instructors had two silver bells hanging from their waists.
Yeah.
Not an ounce of creativity.
When it came to ninja team formation, was the bell-stealing test really the only thing they could come up with?
Everyone began complaining.
And there had always been a rumor in Konoha—
Every graduation season, silver bells were often in short supply.
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