Watching Kimimaro's departing figure, Tsunade hesitated to speak, ultimately choosing not to stop him.
In the ninja world, they were all bound by their duties.
No matter what, Kimimaro was now openly an enemy of Konoha.
"Kimimaro, live well."
Tsunade silently wished him well, believing that Kimimaro could hear her unspoken words.
A few days later, Tsunade accepted the appointment as the Fifth Hokage and returned to Konoha with Jiraiya.
At the same time, she gave Naruto the First Hokage's pendant from her neck.
On one hand, she had lost the bet regarding the Rasengan.
On the other hand, she saw the shadows of Nawaki and Dan in Naruto, both of whom dreamed of becoming Hokage.
After giving the pendant to Naruto, Tsunade's neck wasn't empty; she replaced it with another pendant.
It was a crescent-shaped white bone, polished to be incredibly smooth, looking like a piece of art.
Tsunade cherished it no less than the original crystal pendant.
At Konoha Hospital, Tsunade, who had just returned to the village, woke up Kakashi and Sasuke, who had been severely injured by the Tsukuyomi, from their comas.
At this time, Gai also found her.
"Gai, what brings you here?"
Tsunade had a deep impression of Gai from her time in the village.
"Lady Tsunade, please take a look at my student."
Gai pointed to Lee beside him.
Tsunade looked Lee up and down and said, "Your student looks as healthy as you, not like a patient who needs treatment."
"Here's what happened, Lady Tsunade."
Gai then told Tsunade about Kimimaro treating Lee's injuries. Tsunade frowned upon hearing this.
The reason Gai asked Tsunade for help was simple. After all, Kimimaro was a genin from Otogakure, and Otogakure clearly had ill intentions towards Konoha from the beginning.
Kimimaro's treatment seemed strange.
Under these circumstances, Gai hoped Tsunade could thoroughly examine Lee's body.
To see if Kimimaro had done anything else to Lee.
Otherwise, Gai couldn't be at ease.
Although this thought might be overly suspicious, it concerned Lee's life, and Gai couldn't be careless.
"This child's injury was treated by Kimimaro?"
Tsunade muttered to herself and then made a decision.
"I understand. Come here, let me give you a full body check."
"Thank you, Lady Tsunade!"
With Tsunade's skills, conducting an examination was naturally not difficult.
Soon, she reached a conclusion.
"Don't worry, Lee's body is recovering well, there are no problems."
"That's great! Gai-sensei, I told you Kimimaro is Kimimaro, Otogakure is Otogakure. Kimimaro himself probably has no hostility towards Konoha. Otherwise, he wouldn't have treated such a serious injury for free."
"Lee! You're right! This is youth! Even in different positions, young and outstanding ninjas will still be attracted to each other!"
"Yes, Gai-sensei!"
The two were so moved by their own words that they hugged each other and cried.
Tsunade couldn't stand them and left first.
"Judging from Lee's physical data, his previous injuries were indeed very serious. Even if I had done it myself, I couldn't have done better. Kimimaro, your medical ninjutsu has already surpassed mine."
Tsunade sighed inwardly.
There was both relief and a bit of loneliness.
The boy who once needed her treatment had now grown into an excellent medical ninja.
She could no longer provide more help to this boy.
After staying in the village for a few days, besides preparing for the succession ceremony, Tsunade also heard about the entire Konoha Crush plan from various sources.
One person caught her attention.
This person was from the Kaguya clan, but not Kimimaro, the Otogakure genin who came to participate in the Chunin Exams, but a young ninja with a completely different face.
At least that's what others thought.
But Tsunade, who knew about Kimimaro's powerful transformation technique, quickly deduced that this person was Kimimaro.
"That Kaguya clansman was strange. He defeated four of our Jonin in a row, but didn't kill any of them. We later speculated that he probably didn't want to trade injuries for lives or waste chakra because he had other things to do and was just delayed by us.
Not long after he left, Danzo-sama died. So, I have reason to believe that he was the one who killed Danzo-sama."
Shikaku told Tsunade his analysis, and Tsunade pondered.
"I understand, Shikaku. You can go and handle your affairs, I will read through these materials myself."
"Yes, Lady Tsunade."
Shikaku left, and Shizune couldn't help but say, "Lady Tsunade, could this person be Kimimaro?"
"Besides him, which other Kaguya clansman has such skills? And even shows mercy. The Kaguya clan are all battle maniacs."
"This... Kimimaro actually killed Danzo? That's unbelievable."
"That idiot..."
Tsunade clenched the crescent pendant on her chest, a smile appearing on her lips.
She knew the reasons behind everything Kimimaro did in Konoha.
Treating Lee was for Konoha to have one more taijutsu expert in the future.
Showing mercy to the Jonin was because they were her trusted subordinates.
And killing Danzo was so that after she became Hokage, there would be no one to share power, and she could implement reforms in Konoha without any resistance.
The Konoha before her, although riddled with problems, had become the best stage for Tsunade.
Only now did Tsunade realize how much Kimimaro had done for her.
And to achieve this, how much risk he had taken.
Killing Danzo was not an easy task.
Kimimaro must have been severely injured to barely accomplish it.
Thinking of this, Tsunade began to regret that she shouldn't have hit Kimimaro so hard before.
"I wonder if I injured him last time, that silly child."
At this moment, Kimimaro, who had already returned to Otogakure and was preparing to watch Orochimaru break the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, didn't know that Tsunade had added so much drama in her mind.
Otogakure.
Orochimaru lay weakly in bed.
"Kabuto, have you found the usage of the Uzumaki clan's mask?"
"I have, Lord Orochimaru. This is the scroll that records the method to undo the Dead Demon Consuming Seal. The mask recorded on it is one of the twenty-seven masks that Kimimaro brought back. However, this technique is very complex and requires a sacrifice."
Kabuto opened the scroll and handed it to Orochimaru to read.
"So that's how it is. What an interesting technique. Kabuto, are you confident in bringing Sasuke out of Konoha now?"
"I'm afraid it will be difficult. With Lady Tsunade succeeding as the Fifth Hokage, Konoha's security will be heightened. It won't be hard to infiltrate, but bringing Sasuke out will be challenging."
(End of Chapter)