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The List of The "ANBU" Member:
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-YoungPhxntom
-Z3kChrome
-Auzzo
-PandaSho
-Robert Thompson
-ar4ngel
-Nako
-Yod
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-Lord_Clamiral
-Abhinav Ankur
-Jay Singh
-Fuad Mammadov
-Cain
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Fortunately, Asuma was fine, recovering well, and still carefree, so she was relieved.
What she feared the most was that after being humiliated by Kazuki, Asuma would be devastated, becoming confused or shutting down emotionally like Kakashi.
But it turned out she was overthinking it—Asuma had a much bigger heart than she had imagined!
He didn't show any signs of being upset; in fact, he seemed quite at ease.
Suppressing the urge to give Asuma a good beating, Tsunade left with a dark expression.
Shizune was packing things up. Tsunade had made quite a bit of money recently, and after paying off some debts, Shizune had more financial leeway.
So she bought a lot of gifts that girls like, planning to bring them back to Konoha.
"Shizune, I need to return to the village first; I'll leave this place to you."
"Huh???"
Shizune's hands shook, and she looked up in panic. What did she mean by "leave this place to you"?
'What does that even mean?'
Tsunade didn't care how Shizune felt and candidly told her:
"I need to return to Konoha ahead of time, so I can only leave things here to you. I've already notified the accompanying Jonin; they'll lead everyone back to Konoha with you. If you encounter any trouble, you can go to Kazuki and tell him it's my order."
'So she's just dumping this on me? I've never done this kind of thing!!!'
Shizune was so anxious she was about to cry.
Don't be fooled by how those accompanying Jonin seem easygoing; that's only because Tsunade was around, and no one dared to have any other thoughts.
Now that Tsunade was gone and left everything to her, it was inevitable that some might not accept it.
If something like that happens, can she really handle it?
"Lady Tsunade!!"
She left, just like that, abandoning everything, leaving Shizune feeling helpless and abandoned.
Just like last time in Tsumiki Street, and again this time.
"I can't, I need to talk to Kazuki."
Feeling restless, Shizune couldn't even finish packing and immediately headed to Uchiha's temporary residence.
"Tsunade has already left?"
Upon hearing this news, Kazuki wasn't too surprised, just a little taken aback.
After all, whether she returns alone today or with everyone tomorrow, the time difference wouldn't be too significant.
'It seems Tsunade was really in a hurry.'
Even if there are more people, as long as they don't dawdle like the Third Hokage, they can generally make it back to Konoha within a day.
Leaving early or leading the group back doesn't make much difference.
"So, what are you worried about? Are you afraid someone won't follow orders or that someone will challenge you?"
"Aren't you scared?"
Shizune asked naively.
"Ow."
As soon as she finished speaking, Kazuki gave her a light smack on the forehead.
Raising his hand to knock on Shizune's forehead, Kazuki said irritably:
"What's there to be scared of? From the Daimyo's palace to Konoha, if we move quickly, we can leave in the morning and arrive by nightfall. What could happen? Besides, it's not wartime right now. Who would come out to cause trouble? Instead of worrying about these things, you'd better hurry back and finish packing so we can leave early tomorrow."
Her forehead hurt, and it seemed a little swollen. Shizune, who was fine when she came, was now clutching her forehead and grimacing in pain on her way back.
Fortunately, despite the pain, with Kazuki's reassurance, she felt at ease.
As long as there were no unexpected troubles, everything would be fine.
Otherwise, she wouldn't know how to explain it to Tsunade when they returned to the village.
Early the next morning, the ninjas from the village and the Uchiha clan who were heading to the Daimyo's palace began to gather.
"Let's go."
Once everyone was almost ready, Kazuki didn't waste any time and started running ahead, with the Uchiha clan members immediately following him.
Shizune hesitated for two seconds but decided to follow Kazuki.
The few leading Jonin looked helplessly at Shizune, who had already run far ahead, and could only lead their teams to catch up.
The Uchiha clan members ran in front while the village's ninjas followed behind, giving the impression that the Uchiha were leading everyone.
At this time, before dawn, Tsunade, who had been traveling overnight back to Konoha, also arrived safely.
After rushing all night, the exhausted Tsunade didn't even rest and went straight to the Hokage's office.
Luckily, the Third Hokage was already in the office, starting his work, so Tsunade didn't miss him.
"Bang!!!"
The office door was forcefully pushed open, and the Third Hokage, who was reviewing documents, had his hand tremble, causing a long scratch on the paper.
"..."
Speechlessly putting down his pen and closing the file, the Third Hokage looked up:
"Tsunade, you should have notified the village before coming back."
"Notify my ass!!"
Tsunade swore:
"The situation is critical, and you expect me to wait to notify the village? Old man, you've really disappointed me. I never thought you'd be so biased towards Danzo and Orochimaru to this extent."
"???"
'What was going on?'
Right off the bat, he was harshly criticized by Tsunade for being biased towards Danzo and even bringing up Orochimaru.
Not giving the Third Hokage any chance to question or explain, Tsunade directly ordered the Anbu ninja at the door:
"Immediately notify the members of the Elder Council to come to the Hokage office for an urgent meeting. Also, inform Jiraiya and the Uchiha clan leader as well."
Jiraiya had the qualifications, but he usually didn't want to come.
As for Uchiha Fugaku, he wanted to attend but didn't have the qualifications to participate.
"Yes."
Sensing the seriousness of the situation, the Anbu ninja quickly left.
After the Anbu left, the Third Hokage finally found an opportunity to speak.
"Tsunade, what happened that requires a meeting with the Elder Council?"
"You know exactly what you've done."
Tsunade threw the scroll she brought from the Daimyo at the Third Hokage and then sat down on the sofa, intending to rest a bit before the Elder Council arrived.
"What I did?"
The Third Hokage felt wronged. He had been working diligently and hadn't done anything questionable recently. He hadn't even had time to deal with the Uchiha.
He was filled with doubt.
The Third Hokage quickly opened the scroll to read it.
If it weren't something extremely important, Tsunade wouldn't have rushed back to the village without notifying anyone.
It looked like she had returned alone, and as soon as she walked into the Hokage office, she criticized him and then ordered the Anbu to notify the Elder Council for an emergency meeting.
"Heh~~~"
As the Third Hokage opened the scroll and carefully read it, Tsunade let out a self-mocking laugh, hoping he wouldn't be too shocked.
"This is impossible!!!"
Just as Tsunade expected, within a few seconds, the Third Hokage, as if he had a spring under his chair, jumped up, his age-spotted face changing color instantly.
His pupils kept contracting, clearly showing how shocked he was.
"Who!! Who is it? Who would betray the village and leak such critical information?"
The shocking content within the scroll made the Third Hokage's heart sink to the bottom.
If the scroll hadn't been brought back by Tsunade, he wouldn't have believed that such vital information had been leaked.
"Was it Danzo?"