Chapter 21

"The war has ended."

At the Hokage Building under the Shadow Rock.

Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen, advisors Utatane Koharu, Mitokado Homura, and Root leader Danzo Shimura gathered here.

Koharu, the advisor, looked out the window at the beautiful sunset, her expression relaxing, showing that her mood was quite good.

After a brief silence in the meeting room, the other advisor, Homura, spoke up: "Although the war has ended, there are still issues that need to be resolved quickly. Additionally, Jiraiya has not returned yet. Hiruzen, in this critical time when Konoha is rebuilding, he, as a high-ranking ninja of the village, should not act on impulse."

It was clear from Homura's tone that he was dissatisfied with Jiraiya.

After the end of the Rain Country War, Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Tsunade were granted the title of 'Konoha's Three Great Shinobi' by the leader of the Hidden Rain Village, Hanzo, earning them fame throughout the ninja world.

However, only Orochimaru and Tsunade returned, while Jiraiya remained in the Rain Country, taking in three orphaned children from there.

Koharu also turned her head and added, "Yes, Hiruzen, as a high-ranking ninja of Konoha, he has ignored orders by taking in orphans in the Rain Country and has not returned to the village for a long time, which is a serious violation of the village's rules."

For such a serious violation of the village's rules, it should be strongly discouraged, and if they do not heed the advice, they should be defined as a rogue ninja, captured and brought back to Konoha's prison, or eliminated.

Otherwise, allowing such ninja to act recklessly would undermine the credibility of the village's rules.

However, Konoha did not send any ninja to dissuade Jiraiya, nor did they announce that Jiraiya had become a rogue ninja.

As a disciple of the Hokage, the arrest order could only be issued by the Hokage himself.

Hiruzen shook the pipe in his hand and said with a smile, "Don't worry, Jiraiya is an excellent ninja who has inherited the Will of Fire; he knows the gravity of the situation."

Homura and Koharu frowned, not entirely convinced by Hiruzen's words.

Hiruzen continued, "Jiraiya wrote to me before. He said that this could ease the relationship between Konoha and the Hidden Rain Village and do a favor for Hanzo."

After hearing this, Homura's tone became even more dissatisfied. He knew that Hiruzen was reluctant to punish his disciple and was making excuses for him.

"Hiruzen, you are too lenient with your subordinates. This is not the time for acting on impulse. He is a Konoha ninja, not a Hidden Rain ninja!"

In this Rain Country War, although Konoha was the ultimate victor, the victory was not smooth.

The most critical point was that Konoha defeated the Hidden Rain Village but did not defeat its leader, Hanzo.

It is said that in the final battle of the Rain Country War, the hundreds of Konoha ninja who followed the three great shinobi and fought against Hanzo were all killed. In the end, only the three great shinobi were spared by Hanzo and granted the title of 'Konoha's Three Great Shinobi'.

The hatred between Konoha and the Hidden Rain Village is now very deep.

If Hanzo does not appreciate the favor or is more cautious, he could directly kill Jiraiya, and Konoha would have no way to defend him.

Hanzo could simply accuse Jiraiya of 'stealing important information from another country' and make it public in the ninja world.

Other ninja villages would be happy to see Konoha in trouble and support Hanzo, leaving Konoha in a difficult position.

"If something goes wrong, I, as the Hokage, will take responsibility."

Hiruzen's words directly prevented Homura and Koharu from punishing Jiraiya.

"Hidan, what do you think about this?"

Homura did not believe that Hiruzen could bear such responsibility; he was just favoring his disciple.

So he turned his gaze to Root leader Danzo.

Since Danzo entered, he had not spoken, sitting quietly on the side, but Homura and Koharu had to take his advice seriously.

"Hiruzen has already said that if something happens to Jiraiya, he will take responsibility. He is the Hokage of Konoha. Besides, there are still matters to attend to in Root, so I will leave first."

Danzo stood up from his chair and walked out of the meeting room, not wanting to stay any longer.

Hiruzen's decision could not be changed, even by him.

This was the authority of the Hokage.

Anyway, if something happens to Jiraiya, it has nothing to do with Root.

If Jiraiya has problems, he can openly criticize Hiruzen, why not?

Homura and Koharu looked at each other, not expecting Danzo to leave so quickly.

"Since Danzo does not object, let's leave it at that. Regarding the training of medical ninja, Hiruzen, you should pay more attention. Konoha is in dire need of excellent medical ninja like Tsunade."

Seeing that they could not change the situation, Homura and Koharu followed Danzo out, reminding Hiruzen to focus on the training of medical ninja before leaving.

Hiruzen shook his head; these three always tried to catch him off guard.

However, thinking about Jiraiya's behavior in the Rain Country, taking in orphans, from his teacher's perspective, it seemed too rash and impulsive, not like the actions of a ninja.

Whether it was out of guilt or for other reasons, Hiruzen did not know.

But if he used force to make Jiraiya return, it might lead to some unpleasant situations.

As long as Jiraiya could be useful in critical moments, Hiruzen had to turn a blind eye to his often unpredictable behavior, writing to him to take care of his safety and not to worry about the three orphans from the Rain Country if he encountered danger.

The next most important issue was:

— The training of medical ninja.

— Restricting the growth of Root.

These two issues were what troubled Hiruzen as the Hokage.

Especially the latter, Root, as a branch of the Anbu, had become a personal organization of the high-ranking elder Danzo, even beyond the reach of the Hokage, becoming increasingly mysterious.

The initial purpose of establishing Root was to handle some covert operations that could not be carried out under the name of the Hokage's direct Anbu. So a branch called Root was created within the Anbu, led by Danzo.

Unexpectedly, it has developed to the point where Root operates in secrecy, more thoroughly than the Hokage's direct Anbu, and the ninjas there have lost their emotions, becoming Danzo's personal armed organization.

Therefore, a balance is needed... how to balance the various factions in the village?

Hiruzen fell into deep thought.

When the war comes, everyone temporarily sets aside their differences and unites against the enemy. After the war, the real complications begin.

◎

The next day.

Ninja Academy, First Medical Ninja Experimental Class.

The person who came to teach today was not a medical upper-rank ninja from the Anbu, but a female ninja with a rather unfamiliar face.

She wore the standard uniform of a Konoha upper-rank ninja, with two light golden pigtails tied at the back, giving her a spirited and graceful appearance.

"I am Tsunade, the upper-rank ninja of Konoha, and I will be teaching you medical ninjutsu starting today."

As soon as she walked to the front of the classroom, she introduced herself to all the students.

The students whispered among themselves; they were not particularly unfamiliar with Tsunade.

One of the most prominent upper-rank ninjas in Konoha today, the granddaughter of the First Hokage, the disciple of the Third Hokage, and the village's most excellent medical upper-rank ninja.

She achieved remarkable results in the Rain Country War and was granted the title of one of the Three Great Shinobi by the leader of the Hidden Rain Village, Hanzo.

They did not expect her to replace the previous Anbu upper-rank ninja skilled in medical ninjutsu and become their new teacher.

However, this only aroused the students' curiosity and excitement. Compared to the Anbu upper-rank ninjas who always wore animal masks and were mysterious, Tsunade, a young, beautiful, and well-endowed female upper-rank ninja, was like a dream teacher.

For example, during class, they could enjoy a spectacular "ball game" for free.

Shiro sat in the corner of the classroom, secretly watching... cough, carefully observing Tsunade's every move.

As expected of an upper-rank ninja, the granddaughter of the First Hokage, her every gesture was flawless.

It seemed that the gap between himself and an upper-rank ninja was still very large.

He gained a more intuitive understanding of the upper-rank ninja Shiro.

After class, Ruri was waiting for him outside.

It was already 5 PM, and the sun was slowly setting in the west, casting a beautiful sunset in the distance.

Tsunade, holding her textbook, walked out of the classroom and saw Shiro and Ruri, slightly taken aback.

Of course, she was not paying attention to Shiro, an ordinary student, but to Rui.

The Uchiha fan symbol on her clothes was too conspicuous, and Tsunade immediately recognized that Rui was from the Uchiha clan.

"Who are you?"

Tsunade seemed to become interested.

An Uchiha ninja waiting for someone, and that someone was a civilian.

Before taking over this class, Tsunade had reviewed the profiles of all the students in Shiro's class.

Even though it was her first time teaching here, she had already searched for Shiro's basic information.

Civilian, parents deceased.

These two must be having an affair!

"I am Uchiha Rui, Tsunade-sama."

Facing the upper-rank ninja Tsunade, Rui was neither humble nor arrogant.

Just an upper-rank ninja; she would eventually gain the same power and status.

Moreover, Tsunade's identity was too sensitive, being a direct descendant of the Senju clan, and to some extent, an enemy of the Uchiha.

If Tsunade wanted to make things difficult for her, she would not sit idly by.

Tsunade just nodded and did not say more, nor did she make things difficult for Rui, even though she was from the Uchiha clan.

After asking Rui's name, Tsunade left the corridor directly.

"Why is Tsunade-sama here?"

Rui asked Shiro, puzzled as to why an upper-rank ninja like Tsunade would be here.

"The previous teacher has been replaced. Now, Tsunade-sensei is responsible for teaching the first experimental class students medical ninjutsu."

Shiro said indifferently.

"I see, it seems the village is really putting a lot of effort into training medical ninja."

"Yes, I was also pleasantly surprised when I found out."

Looking at Shiro's smile, Rui was slightly speechless.

She couldn't see how this guy was pleasantly surprised.

Men are just hypocritical.