A few hours later, Tsunade returned. The moment she got back to camp, she heard a piece of news that nearly scared her to death—that brat had actually used himself to test poison, to try out that old hag Chiyo's toxins!
Was he insane?
How could he dare do that?
What if something had gone wrong?
The more she thought about it, the angrier she became—and the angrier she became, the more anxious she felt. Her steps quickened unconsciously.
Tsunade stormed into the tent, the flap thrown high as a gust of cold wind rushed in. Fury burned in her eyes.
But when she clearly saw the scene inside, her steps halted of their own accord.
The boy stood among rows of sickbeds, making his rounds at a steady pace. From time to time, he would bend down, softly asking a patient how they felt, reaching out to check their forehead, then carefully examining their pupils. The wounded, weak as they were, nodded faintly, their eyes filled with gratitude and trust as they looked at him.
He simply moved like that—unhurried, observing, recording—lamplight falling across his calm face.
As if nothing had happened at all.
Tsunade stood at the entrance of the tent, and for some reason, most of the anger in her chest dissipated.
She lightened her steps and slowly walked up to the boy.
She said nothing.
She just looked at him quietly.
Shinichi raised his head and met her gaze. His eyes were still calm—no explanation, no defense. He simply spoke softly: "Tsunade-sensei, I'm sorry for making you worry."
Tsunade looked at him in silence for a few seconds.
"Why?"
"Tsunade-sensei, do you remember that time at the barbecue place a year ago?"
Shinichi spoke quietly.
"I said it before—I'm an orphan. The village raised me. Konoha is my home, and the people in the village are my family."
"I was just protecting my own family."
"Just like those seniors who protected the village and protected me back then."
"I'm simply carrying out my promise."
"It's that simple."
Tsunade looked at him—looked into those calm eyes. Her lips parted, as if she wanted to say something, but the words stuck in her throat and wouldn't come out.
All the anger she had just moments ago vanished completely.
In its place was something far more complicated.
She stared at the boy in silence for a long while before finally letting out a sigh.
That sigh carried helplessness, heartache, pride—and something harder to define.
"Be more careful next time."
After saying that, she turned and left, her steps quick, as if she were fleeing from something.
Shinichi remained where he stood, watching her back disappear through the tent entrance. His expression stayed calm and unreadable—no one could tell what he was thinking.
…
That night, 8 PM. Konohagakure. Hokage Building, conference room.
Ever since the war broke out, at this same hour every day, Konoha's high command gathered to discuss the situation at the front lines.
The Third Hokage sat at the head of the table. Koharu and Homura sat on either side, while Danzō remained in the darkest corner, expressionless and silent.
An ANBU operative presented the latest front-line report, handing it to the Third Hokage and the three elder advisors.
The report clearly recorded everything that had happened that morning.
The expressions of the Third Hokage, Koharu, and Homura first turned grave—then fearful in hindsight—and finally froze almost at the same time, as if they had fallen into a daze.
It was as though the barrier of time had been pierced. Two figures from different eras, yet sharing an astonishingly similar core, overlapped through the words on that report.
This child…
Koharu was the first to break free from that overwhelming sense of shock. She took a deep, slow breath, as if trying to suppress something surging within her. Her expression was too complex to describe.
Homura leaned back in his chair, removed his glasses, and pressed his fingers hard against the bridge of his nose, sinking into deep silence, lost in thought.
Meanwhile, the Third Hokage slowly rubbed his pipe, his mind drifting back to that rainy night four years ago. In that moment, he knew—the child who had once stood in the cemetery and said to Kakashi, "I'll stay behind and hold them off,"—had now fulfilled his promise.
Four years ago, in the cemetery, he told a companion who had lost his father: if they ever reached a dead end, then he would be the one to stay behind.
Four years later, on the front lines, he told his comrades who were poisoned and on the brink of death: if a sacrifice was needed, then he would be the one to test the poison.
This child had said it—and he had done it.
When his companions encountered a danger they could not resist, he stepped forward at the very first moment, as naturally as breathing, standing at the very front of everyone, becoming the one who took the initiative to "stay behind," becoming the one who faced death head-on.
The Third Hokage remained silent. He picked up his pipe again and brought it to his lips, trying to steady the turmoil in his heart with a drag.
Bang!!!
A sudden, explosive slam rang out without warning, like thunder bursting through the silent conference room!
!!?
Koharu and Homura were startled by the abrupt noise. Even the Third Hokage's hand shook, his pipe nearly slipping from his grasp.
"You damned fool!!!"
A hoarse roar filled with fury—one could even say frantic rage—followed the sound of the table slam, coming from someone none of them had expected.
Shimura Danzō!
The man who was always as deep and still as an ancient well, whose emotions never showed on his face, suddenly shot up from his seat. His eyes burned with terrifying anger.
"What kind of hero does that brat think he's playing!?"
"Was it his place to do that? Who the hell does he think he is!? Do you think Chiyo's poison is something you can just test like that? What if he had died on the spot? What if the antidote couldn't be developed? Did he even think about the consequences!?"
His voice rose higher with every sentence, faster with every word. All his usual cold restraint was gone, like a restless beast pacing back and forth across the conference room.
"What the hell is Jiraiya doing?! Just standing there watching that kid mess around like this?! Did a toad eat his brain or something?!"
"And Tsunade! Isn't she that kid's sensei?! Is this how she teaches her students?! Teaching him to throw his life away?! To gamble with his own life?! Useless! All of them are useless!"
"And especially that brat! He's an idiot! A moron! A reckless fool who doesn't know his own limits!!"
The more he cursed, the angrier he became, his pace quickening as his chest heaved violently.
Under the nearly stunned gazes of the Third Hokage, Koharu, and Homura, this old comrade they had known for half a century seemed to have had something invisible stab straight into the most sensitive, most untouchable nerve in him, plunging him completely into a state of frenzy.
Danzō paid no attention to their expressions. He suddenly stopped, turned sharply, and looked straight at the Third Hokage.
"Hiruzen! That brat made a decision on his own, put himself in danger, and ignored discipline! This is completely unacceptable behavior for a qualified shinobi! Even more so for a temporary leader entrusted with responsibility!"
"So! Right now! Immediately! At once! Pull that brat back from the front lines!"
What happened afterward in the conference room was unknown to outsiders. All that was known was that the lights in the Hokage Building stayed on very late that night.
In the end, Higashino Shinichi was not recalled.
But at dawn the next day, an urgent document bearing the joint seal of Konoha's F4 was delivered to the southwestern front by special courier.
The document contained two main points.
The first was an official reprimand directed at the front-line commander, Jiraiya. The wording was severe and uncompromising, clearly stating that as the highest commander, his failure to stop such dangerous behavior in time constituted an inescapable leadership responsibility.
The second was a direct order issued to Higashino Shinichi, forbidding him from engaging in any similar acts of personally testing poison. Any violation, regardless of the reason, would result in his immediate forced reassignment to the rear.
At the bottom of the order were four signatures.
The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen.
Elder Advisor, Utatane Koharu.
Elder Advisor, Mitokado Homura.
And…
Elder Advisor, Shimura Danzō.
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