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Midorima's remark was meant as a joke. He had intended to discuss serious matters with Tsunade, but she slumped over the table, reaching out to pinch his cheek.
"Just as I thought... fake," Tsunade giggled, then sat up straight again and began sipping her sake intently.
Midorima looked at Shizune, who also wore an expression of helplessness.
"I can't control her."
"Haa..." Midorima sighed, rolling his eyes in resignation.
If even Hashirama Senju couldn't manage Tsunade, then perhaps there truly was no one in the entire shinobi world who could.
"I'll talk to her when she's sober," Midorima said, standing up. He gestured toward the door, and Jugo and Tayuya entered.
When Tayuya saw Tsunade, her eyes filled with intense hostility. She was about to stride over when Midorima delivered a swift chop to her shoulder, signaling her not to be so conspicuous. He then pointed to a nearby table. Tayuya puffed out her cheeks, glaring at Midorima. The standoff lasted maybe three or four seconds before Tayuya angrily sat down at the indicated table.
Tsunade had dozed off at some point and didn't wake until deep into the night. Rubbing her head, she groaned, "Water."
Shizune immediately brought a cup of warm water, which Tsunade drained in one gulp. She took a deep breath, as if coming back to life, and then chuckled. "You know what's funny? I actually dreamt about Midorima. That rascal, ever since he left Konoha..."
Her gaze drifted past Shizune and landed on Midorima.
"That rascal has come back," Midorima said teasingly.
Tsunade quickly stood up, pinching Midorima's cheek. "It's real," she said in surprise.
"..." Midorima sighed. "This probably isn't the best place to talk, is it?"
Tsunade's expression also sobered. "I know."
The group left the tavern and went to Tsunade's lodgings, a modestly sized room.
The five of them sat around a small round table, making it somewhat cramped.
Jugo, aware his large frame took up too much space, voluntarily moved to sit behind Midorima.
"Alright, talk. What have you been up to all this time?" Tsunade asked.
"Over this period, I went to two places. First, I 'accidentally' joined the 'Akatsuki,' became a member, and worked alongside Itachi as a colleague. Oh, and I was the one who found Sasuke and had Kabuto bring him back," Midorima explained.
Tayuya and Jugo already knew this, but Tsunade and Shizune showed their astonishment.
"You were the one who rescued Sasuke?" Tsunade asked.
"That's right. Also, I was there when Jiraiya infiltrated. So, I get a little 'credit' for him managing to escape too," Midorima said with a hint of pride. "However, during the mission to rescue Sasuke, I clashed with other members of Akatsuki. In the end, I had to part ways with them. It's quite a pity, really, as I never got to uncover Akatsuki's deepest secrets. As for their next moves, you should already know from Itachi. So, I don't have much to add."
"That's... really something. Thank you," Tsunade said sincerely.
Joining the Akatsuki undoubtedly meant getting blood on one's hands. But in the shinobi world, whose hands were truly clean?
Midorima waved off the thanks and continued. "Then I went to Ryūchi Cave, and right after that, Tayuya found me, saying Konoha had 'bullied' Otogakure. I heard Kimimaro died in Konoha, is that right?"
Tayuya furrowed her brows, her gaze shifting restlessly between Tsunade and Shizune.
If Midorima weren't sitting here, she would have confronted Tsunade and Shizune, even at the cost of her life, demanding to know why they killed Kimimaro.
"That incident was not done by Konoha. I believe you should be able to guess that," Tsunade sighed. "Konoha understands the meaning of peace better than any other village. Therefore, we would not do such a thing to Kimimaro."
"Then how did he die!?" Tayuya slammed her hand on the table, furious.
Shizune frowned but maintained her composure, doing her best to ignore Tayuya's accusatory tone.
"The fact that Kimimaro-sama died in Konoha was very distressing for Tsunade-sama as well," Shizune interjected patiently. "In fact, after learning about Kimimaro-sama's condition, Tsunade-sama was very interested in his illness. Based on our previous research on Hōzuki Mangetsu's blood, we realized that some individuals proficient in using Kekkei Genkai suffer from certain incurable diseases. So, we wondered if we could draw some more blood from Kimimaro to study his condition. And indeed, he agreed. However, on that very night, Kimimaro disappeared."
"You expect me to believe that?" Tayuya retorted.
"I don't expect you to believe it. I'm just stating the facts as they happened. As long as I'm telling the truth, I believe someone will believe it," Shizune said, her gaze fixed on Midorima.
"So, you didn't discover Kimimaro's body immediately," Midorima noted, surprised.
"Correct," Shizune nodded.
"But why didn't you look for him?" Midorima asked, puzzled.
"Because Konoha was dealing with another incident at the time... The Otogakure ninja who came with Kimimaro attacked the Konoha Military Police Force," Tsunade took over the explanation.
"Nonsense!" Tayuya rebutted again. "We were in Konoha. Of course we knew you had more people, and we had fewer. Under those circumstances, why would we attack you? What about Kimimaro's safety?"
Midorima raised his hand, signaling Tayuya to quiet down.
Tayuya scowled, burning with fury, wishing she could avenge Kimimaro right then and there. Only after Midorima gestured for silence several more times did she reluctantly suppress her rage.
"You said the 'Otogakure ninja' attacked the Police Force. The ones attacked... wouldn't happen to be members of the Uchiha clan, would they?" Midorima inquired.
"Yes," Tsunade confirmed.
Midorima clicked his tongue, understanding the difficult position Tsunade had been in.
The tension between Konoha and the Uchiha clan had eased, but that didn't mean the underlying contradiction was gone.
On one side was the Uchiha clan, harboring grievances against Konoha's leadership. On the other was the delegation from Otogakure, who had come to apologize. No matter what she did, one side would feel wronged.
However, the key issues were—
"First, the ones who attacked the Police Force might not have been the Otogakure ninja themselves. Second, even if they were, I suspect it wasn't necessarily their own will. Otogakure ninja aren't particularly strong. They'd be relatively easy targets for Genjutsu, right?" Midorima bit his thumbnail, already sensing the complexity of the situation.
From the moment he heard about Kimimaro's death until now, listening to Tsunade's account, he felt as if someone was playing a vast, intricate game of chess.
"You mean... someone is deliberately manipulating events behind the scenes?" Tsunade asked, taken aback.
"The people of Konoha are truly interesting. If even the Nine-Tails can be controlled, a few Otogakure ninja are hardly a challenge. The 'Nine-Tails Attack' was so famous. You all haven't forgotten about it, have you?" Midorima countered.
This situation was identical to the "Nine-Tails Attack," only the controlled entity had shifted from the Nine-Tails to the Otogakure ninja.
Tsunade frowned deeply, falling silent.