Within the town.
In a hotel.
Yakushi Kabuto sat on the tatami, fingers pointing upwards, a cryptic smile hanging at the corner of his mouth, remotely controlling the interaction between Dan Kato and Tsunade, among others.
Kagura's goal had probably been achieved.
Tsunade had witnessed the dangers of Orochimaru's mastery over the Edo Tensei, and the next step was to let Orochimaru escape, which shouldn't be too difficult.
In fact.
The problem was indeed significant.
An enraged Tsunade was fully unleashing her power!
Orochimaru managed to handle Jiraiya's comments without much trouble, but dealing with a prime Tsunade and the combined forces of Jiraiya was a different matter. Even Tsunade's summon, the giant slug, caused him tremendous trouble, while his own serpent had already been sacrificed by Akihara Kagura!
Tsunade crushed Dan Kato's body with a punch, and taking advantage of Dan Kato's inability to regenerate, she charged at Orochimaru with great speed, so fast that she could even interrupt the enemy's brain signals to the body!
"Orochimaru!"
Tsunade's powerful kick landed on Orochimaru's body, making him feel as if all his internal organs were shattered by the kick. Before he could react, Tsunade broke three or four of his ribs with a punch!
"Puh..."
Orochimaru spat out a mouthful of blood.
However, Orochimaru turned back to seek support on the battlefield, only to find that Dan Kato, who had recovered, had already fled.
"Bastard..."
Blood oozed between Orochimaru's teeth.
"Die!"
Tsunade swung her fist down hard, her face showing undisguised murderous intent: "How dare you play with the souls of the dead..."
Boom!
The ground cracked open a long trench under Tsunade's punch, and Orochimaru could only roll awkwardly to the side, narrowly avoiding the punch.
"..."
Jiraiya was sweating profusely.
"Don't think you can escape!"
The slug spat a ball of acid at Orochimaru!
"..."
Orochimaru's body was immediately scorched by the acid, causing him intense pain, but he managed to heal his wounds instantly with the Orochimaru's Body Replacement Technique!
"Jiraiya, Tsunade..."
Orochimaru, looking at his former classmates, gritted his teeth in hatred: "Don't get too arrogant. Once I've perfected the Edo Tensei, I'll completely destroy Konoha!"
"He's escaped."
Jiraiya took a deep breath, feeling the trouble with Orochimaru: "It's easy to defeat him, but hard to kill him."
"Back to Konoha."
Tsunade's fingers trembled slightly as she commanded solemnly: "We must go back immediately and resolve Orochimaru's trouble. This time he resurrected Dan Kato to fight us, who knows what kind of trouble he'll cause next!"
"Have you finally agreed to take the position of the Fifth Hokage?"
Jiraiya finally breathed a sigh of relief, his mission accomplished.
In the Village of Konoha.
Inside the Hokage building.
Since the Fifth Hokage had not yet been selected, the village affairs were still being discussed by Akihara Kagura and two Hokage advisors. During this period, the internal situation of Konoha was gradually stabilizing, with only the external issues of the Mist and Sand Villages unresolved.
Akihara Kagura added the Rock Village as a target, citing their sending of ninjas to infiltrate Konoha for intelligence.
The two Hokage advisors tried to oppose this, but were overruled by Akihara Kagura, who left them hoping that Jiraiya would soon bring back Tsunade: "The Fifth Hokage will be back soon, let's wait for the succession before making any decisions..."
"I heard that Jiraiya and the two advisors chose Lady Tsunade?"
Akihara Kagura leaned back in his chair, tapping his fingers lightly on the table: "According to information from the Root, Lady Tsunade has accumulated a substantial amount of gambling debt. Could this affect the image of Konoha?"
"..."
The two Hokage advisors frowned.
Was Akihara Kagura going to refuse Tsunade's succession as Hokage over this?
"Don't misunderstand."
Akihara Kagura's eyes narrowed, he continued seriously: "To prevent these debt collectors from affecting Konoha's image, I plan to have the Root take care of them, eliminating any slander they might spread about Konoha in the ninja world. These people associated with the gambling dens are no good anyway; removing them would also be a service to the people..."
"..."
The two Hokage advisors nodded.
As long as Akihara Kagura was not opposing Tsunade's succession, they didn't care much about these matters, merely ensuring that Akihara Kagura did not anger the nobility of the Land of Fire.
However...
Akihara Kagura couldn't care less about these concerns.
At the Root base.
Akihara Kagura held a list in her hand and placed it on the table: "All Root members, deploy immediately, clear out all the casinos in the Land of Fire, and following Lady Tsunade's list of debts, kill all the creditors. They are just forcing innocent people to ruin anyway..."
"This is..."
Karin hesitated, somewhat confused.
"Kill all her creditors, as a welcome gift for our new boss."
Akihara Kagura glanced at Karin and then ordered: "By this time, the Fifth Hokage should be arriving soon. Karin, take three teams to a small town near the village, clear out the town's casinos, and make sure our boss knows who sent her the gift..."
"Yes."
Karin immediately accepted the command.
In the Land of Fire.
In a small town.
Tsunade and Jiraiya, along with Shizune and Uzumaki Naruto, were on their way back to Konoha and happened to pass through this town, where Tsunade intended to repay the gambling debts she had accrued there.
As a result...
They saw a group of people from the casinos being pursued and killed.
A group of Root ninjas wearing masks were still searching for casino staff in the town. Seeing one of the casino's thugs, they showed no mercy and teleported to slash him with a single stroke!
"Lady Tsunade!"
The casino's owner, under the protection of his thugs, was fleeing!
When the casino owner saw Tsunade, he knelt before her, tears streaming down his face: "Lady Tsunade, we don't need your money anymore, please make your people stop..."
"Stop!"
Tsunade quickly halted the massacre and stood in front of the Root ninjas, sternly asking, "Whose subordinates are you, and what is going on?"
"This is..."
Jiraiya recognized these people's identities, his expression becoming grave: "These are Root ninjas, all subordinates of Kagura..."
"We are ordered to kill all the Fifth Hokage's creditors."
A red-haired girl wearing a dog mask coldly instructed: "To avoid affecting the reputation of the Fifth Hokage, anyone who might harm her reputation must be eliminated. Please do not hinder our mission!"
"I don't want this! I don't want this!"
Scared, the casino owner quickly knelt and kowtowed, as if realizing something: "No, no, no, Lady Tsunade has never owed me money, I was talking nonsense!"
The red-haired girl leaped up, swinging her ninja sword, but Tsunade blocked her directly!
"Go back!"
Tsunade stared coldly at the girl in front of her, sternly saying, "I will repay my own gambling debts; the village doesn't need to interfere..."
Karin watched Tsunade, quietly objecting, "If Lady Tsunade had not taken on the role of Fifth Hokage, we could have ignored it..."
"But, since Lady Tsunade has become the Fifth Hokage, for the sake of Konoha's reputation, we must eliminate all detrimental factors, as these people's existence also endangers the lives of other villagers..."
"Everything..."
"Is for Konoha!"
At this point, Karin's chakra suddenly erupted, and golden chains burst from his back, swiftly binding their bodies and twisting their necks, killing all the casino staff!
"Karin..."
Naruto seemed stunned.
"Adamantine Sealing Chains..."
Tsunade was somewhat surprised looking at Karin.
The masked, red-haired girl turned out to be from the Uzumaki clan!
However, Tsunade quickly reacted, frowning and addressing Karin sternly, "Didn't you hear what I just said?"
"This is for Konoha!"
Karin withdrew the adamantine chains, continuing firmly, "To maintain Konoha's reputation, we will kill all of the Fifth Hokage's creditors..."
"!!!"
Tsunade was startled by Karin's words!
While this method indeed cleared her past gambling debts, it also raised the question: What reputation would she still hold in the ninja world?
In the past, those who had lent her money were killed by the Konoha ninja, and she had not yet assumed the position of Hokage. As a result, had her reputation already soured in the ninja world?
"Return and report."
Karin leapt onto a rooftop and, with a few bounds, left the small town; the other Root ninja quickly followed suit.
"That kid..."
Tsunade watched Karin's retreating figure, her face grim and uneasy: "He seems to be about the same age as Naruto, that little brat. He's quite decisive when it comes to killing..."
Jiraiya nodded, reminded of his own disciple: "When I first met Kagura, he too was plotting to kill someone every day..."
As he said this, Jiraiya looked at Tsunade and sighed: "Now you see, just how extreme their actions can be..."
"That child is not suited for the Root."
Tsunade shook her head, though she was already making her own plans.
When Tsunade saw Karin use the Adamantine Sealing Chains, she witnessed his immense chakra and vitality, thinking that Karin might be well-suited to become a medical ninja. She planned to find an opportunity to bring Karin to her side upon returning, to prevent a skilled medical ninja from becoming a tool of slaughter.
"Let's head back."
Jiraiya glanced at Tsunade, continuing to persuade: "When Danzo was the head of the Root, he wouldn't even follow the old man's orders... Perhaps because Danzo is still with the Root, Kagura's actions have become increasingly extreme."
However...
When they returned to the Konoha, they realized the situation was far more troublesome than they had imagined.
Due to Kagura's people handling all the gambling houses in the Land of Fire, many of the nobles of the Land of Fire also suffered significant losses, and they flocked to the Konoha to demand an explanation.
"Tsunade must not succeed as Hokage!"
This became the consensus among many nobles and ministers of the Land of Fire!
Without a doubt.
The person behind the operation targeting the gambling houses was certainly Tsunade, as she gained the most from it—all her creditors were killed.
This kind of behavior...
Undoubtedly violated the rules of the ninja world!
Debts must be repaid, lives taken must be atoned for, especially gambling debts should never be defaulted!
Within the Hokage Tower.
Both Hokage advisors felt overwhelmed.
Koharu Utatane sensed the malice from the Land of Fire toward Tsunade: "Many ministers and nobles of the Land of Fire are questioning our new candidate for Hokage, asking if we can propose another candidate for Hokage, as they refuse Tsunade's succession as the Fifth Hokage..."
"The Daimyo, however, has not voiced any opinions."
Homura Mitokado managed to find a silver lining amidst the bad news: "After all, Tsunade's status is noble, making her the most suitable candidate. The Daimyo does not care much about these minor issues, only advising Tsunade to restrain her actions and not be too extreme or untrustworthy..."
"This is an opportunity."
Akihara Kagura shrugged, as if it all had nothing to do with him: "Finding out those dissatisfied with the Fifth Hokage, and clearing them out, would mean that from then on, no one in the Land of Fire would oppose any of the Fifth Hokage's proposals..."
Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado looked at each other.
While Akihara Kagura was indeed trying to consider for Tsunade, who had not yet completed her succession, this undoubtedly added fuel to the fire...
Homura Mitokado quickly tried to stop Kagura's radical actions: "For now, clearing the gambling houses has only led to opposition from the nobles and ministers. Arbitrarily killing nobles and ministers would provoke public outrage among all the nobles in the ninja world..."
"Whoever opposes, clear them out..."
Kagura chuckled lightly, his attitude very firm: "Before the Fifth Hokage succeeds, clear out all who oppose her, even if it means killing the Daimyo..."
"This could lead to civil unrest..."
Homura Mitokado was frightened and quickly tried to persuade Kagura with another reason: "Aren't you preparing for war against the Sand and Mist villages? If there's internal chaos in the politics of the Land of Fire, it might adversely affect the war..."
Koharu Utatane felt it was strange.
At this moment, the war they had always wanted to prevent became their reason to persuade Kagura not to slaughter throughout the Land of Fire...
But...
They really couldn't oppose Kagura.
Because Kagura was indeed trying to kill for the sake of Konoha.
It's just...
Sometimes helping can make things worse.
At least Tsunade, the person involved, deeply felt the trouble she was facing, which seemed more problematic than being pursued by creditors.
Kagura and the Root ninja were willing to help maintain her reputation, possibly with good intentions, but doing nothing might have been better.