Tsunade silently raised her hand and rubbed her eyes.
Shizune bit her tongue lightly, feeling a jolt of pain.
"Tsunade-sama?!"
A nearby Konoha shinobi spotted Tsunade, and upon recognizing her, was momentarily stunned before quickly stepping forward and bowing in greeting.
Tsunade forced herself to stay calm and asked, "What's going on here?"
The ninja glanced toward the nearby Nine Tails, then scratched his head with a sheepish smile and replied, "Oh, Kurama-sama has his fur brushed three times a day, morning, noon, and evening."
"Also, the kids love playing hide-and-seek in his tails. There's a monthly fee for that though, it's part of Hokage-sama's regulations. Oh, and there's a photo fee if you want to take a picture with him. But as Tsunade-sama, you're entitled to one free photo."
It really felt like they had been away from Konoha for far too long, the world had moved on without them.
=============
Konoha,
Hokage's Office.
Tsunade sat on the couch as she faced off with Kaede, who rolled his eyes.
"You want to borrow ten million ryo for an emergency… Sensei, you've got some nerve. Why not just ask for a few billion while you're at it?!"
Tsunade took a sip of tea and calmly replied, "You probably don't have that much, even as Hokage. I'm not asking for village funds anyway. But ten million should be doable from your personal savings, right? I'll pay you back in a few months."
Kaede spread his hands and said, "Unfortunately, I don't even have ten million."
"You didn't see when you came back? I'm so broke that even Kurama has to work to help pay the bills."
Cough!
That struck a nerve, Tsunade nearly choked on her tea.
She gave Kaede a strange look. "What's the deal with the Nine Tails?"
Kaede casually took another sip of tea. "Oh, nothing much. He's basically turned into a lazy shut-in. I couldn't just let him waste away completely, so I found a way to put him to good use."
"You're the one who's useless."
Kurama's voice echoed in Kaede's mind. "Without me, you wouldn't have been able to disband half the patrol units and deactivate Konoha's barriers."
Though it sounded like a retort, Kurama's tone was so lazy it was almost listless, like he couldn't be bothered to actually argue.
Tsunade stared at Kaede for a long moment, clearly having a million things she wanted to say but not knowing where to start.
As for Shizune, ever since she walked into the office and saw Kaede behind the Hokage's desk, bathed in sunlight and wearing the ceremonial Hokage cloak, she hadn't been able to take her eyes off him.
After a moment's hesitation, Tsunade held out her hand. "Five million. I swear I'll win it back double this time!"
Knock knock knock!
Just as she spoke, there was a knock at the side door of the office.
The door opened, and Konan stood there with her usual emotionless expression, looking at Kaede.
"We're out of paper."
"Rin," Kaede called out to someone outside, "go tell Shikaku to send up another batch of paper for explosive tags and sealing scrolls."
Tsunade gave Konan a curious glance. There was something familiar about her. After watching her for a few seconds, she finally asked, "Have we met before?"
Konan looked at her and nodded. "Master Jiraiya once stayed in the Land of Rain and taught me ninjutsu."
Tsunade's eyes lit up in realization. "So you're that little girl… But you're a ninja from the Land of Rain. What are you doing here?"
A trace of helplessness flashed through Konan's eyes. "The Land of Rain is now part of the Land of Fire. I'm a Konoha ninja now."
"Konan's an incredibly capable kunoichi," Kaede added, sipping his tea. "She's responsible for producing 99% of all explosive tags and sealing scrolls in Konoha. We even sell some to the smaller villages under our protection."
Konan had a calm and reserved personality. After arriving in Konoha, she adapted quickly, especially after seeing the steady improvements in the Land of Rain. She'd integrated into the Konoha shinobi community with little difficulty. The only thing that still weighed on her was Nagato's status, there was no intel on him at all.
Tsunade's mouth twitched. "She supplies the entire village? Kaede, aren't you squeezing Jiraiya's student a bit too hard?"
Kaede shrugged. "Squeezing? She's got it easy. Only works three to four hours a day. Look at me, I work twelve hours a day minimum. Sure, I use shadow clones, but there are still things I have to handle myself."
Back in the Land of Rain, Konan had to manage not only the production of explosive and sealing tags, but also missions, personnel, logistics, pretty much everything.
Obito did nothing, and Nagato wasn't much better at administration. Most of the responsibility had fallen on her shoulders.
Compared to that, her work in Konoha now was practically a vacation.
As Kaede spoke, he suddenly gave Tsunade a thoughtful look.
"…What?"
Tsunade tensed under his gaze. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
Kaede tilted his head and said, "I was thinking, why not stay in Konoha, Sensei? I could use someone to manage day-to-day affairs."
"Stop right there."
Tsunade instantly shut him down, a vein popping on her forehead.
This brat was seriously trying to make her do admin work!
Kaede chuckled, but before he could say more, his expression suddenly shifted. He stood up and said, "Hold on. Something just came up."
Whoosh!!
In the blink of an eye, Kaede vanished.
A few flickers later, he arrived just outside Konoha. Kurama, who had been lounging outside the village, was now standing, its chakra flaring as it stared off in one direction.
There,
A figure radiating malice was watching from a distance.
Kurama lashed out with one of his massive tails. The figure nimbly dodged and immediately retreated at high speed.
"Hyuga? No… that's not a Hyuga…"
Kaede landed atop Kurama's head and reabsorbed him into his body. His gaze followed the retreating figure, eyes narrowing.
That person had the Byakugan, but their appearance and chakra signature were entirely different from the Hyuga clan.
A Byakugan user.
But not from the Hyuga.
There was only one possible answer.
They were a direct descendant of the Otsutsuki bloodline, the branch that the Sage of Six Paths' younger brother, Hamura Otsutsuki, had left behind on the moon!
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