Escape From Konoha

Nine o'clock in the evening, izakaya.

"Are you calling us out so late just to have us drink with you here?"

Sitting in a secluded corner, after ordering drinks, Haiyi and Dingza sat opposite Shikaku. After pouring themselves a glass of wine each, Haiichi took the initiative to tease Shikaku.

"Yeah, lately I feel more and more that I might not be suitable for my current job. I don't know if it's because I'm a middle-aged man with children now, and I'm always a little timid about doing things."

Faced with Haiichi's teasing, Shikaku did not refute, but admitted it in a self-deprecating tone.

"What happened? This is not like your usual self. As far as I know, Hokage-sama trusts your character and ability very much. He shouldn't suddenly get rid of you now, right?"

The teasing smile on Haiyi's face slowly disappeared, and Ding Zuo beside him also assumed the posture of a listener.

Although there were some twists and turns in Konoha due to some things last year, the negative effects of these twists and turns are slowly being smoothed out by the comfort of the new Hokage Tsunade.

Although the various voices within the village have not been completely calmed down, based on the current trend, it will only be a matter of time before the village regains its previous stability.

Therefore, the two of them did not understand Shikaku's complaints at this time. With such a shrewd and reliable Hokage, he would not bother as much as in the past.

"Well, how should I put it...it's because I can't respond to Hokage-sama's expectations."

Lu Jiu took a sip of wine and said something that made Haiyi and Ding Zuo feel confused but understood.

Unable to respond to Hokage-sama's expectations... This kind of line can be said to be quite ambiguous in terms of position.

"Has Hokage-sama asked such a question?"

The expressions of Haiyi and Dingzuo became serious.

Each successive Hokage came to power and implemented different policies.

As the saying goes, there is an emperor and courtiers. With the change of Hokage personnel, it naturally means that the interests of each interest group will be redistributed. Whether it decreases or increases depends on the level of Naruto's trust.

Even as the backbone of the Hokage faction, they cannot guarantee that they can always ensure that they will not be suppressed by the Hokage.

The only difference is whether they block the way the Hokage wants to move forward.

Shikaku said this, and it was obvious that their Hokage-sama would make big moves next, trying his best to win over Shikaku and join her camp.

"Yes, but this is a natural trend. In the past, Hokage-sama basically collected the places that he could collect, and the remaining ones that could not be collected could only be dealt with head-on. Next, it's Let’s see which side of the two sides gives in first.”

Shikaku swung the wine glass in his hand, looking slightly tipsy.

"It's just that it was too fast."

Haiyi sighed softly.

"It's true that she acted a little too fast. That's why she became the Fifth Hokage. Whether it's personal charm, ability, merit, or origin...she is impeccable."

Shikaku smiled.

Hai nodded and expressed his opinion: "Since the accident happened to the Uchiha clan, the trend of many ninja clans has begun to change in an unknown direction. Even within our three clans, there are some differences. His voice... his support for Hokage has also become less firm than before. If Hokage-sama wants to start from the Ninja clan, I'm afraid..."

To be honest, in Haiichi's opinion, doing nothing now and maintaining the status quo would be the best outcome for the new Hokage faction or the other factions.

Most of the ninjas only ask for the power to protect themselves. Only a small number of ninjas will radically want to seize power from the top management and make various behaviors that exceed the bottom line. They have become a stimulated head. The beast, to the point where he doesn’t believe anyone but himself...

The new Hokage means a new political power and a new distribution of interests.

It can be said that now is the time when the Ninja clan is most sensitive. If Tsunade is a little more stimulated at this time, even Haiichi will have difficulty predicting what will happen in the end.

This is completely different from the incident involving the Uchiha clan.

In order not to disappear silently one day, today's ninja clan will not fight alone like the Uchiha clan.

"I can understand your concerns, but Hokage-sama has too many opinions of her own. Even if I analyze the results of this part, she will most likely not listen..."

This is probably the result of the wings becoming stiff. Lu Jiu looked at the wine glass, feeling a little uninterested.

Compared to the original Minato, Tsunade's current wings are indeed too hard, and they are so hard that they don't look like a person on the junior Hokage throne.

And in terms of decision-making and action, he was even better than the Third Hokage.

At the political level, it can be said that it combines many advantages of the two generations of Hokage...and excellent people often only refer to other people's suggestions, but still use their own subjective judgment as the core. Under normal circumstances, they will never be influenced by Interference from external factors.

Lu Jiu can understand this kind of 'arrogance', because he also has similar problems.

In other words, every ninja with some talent has such a unique personality.

The most important point is that Tsunade made such a decision based on her own practical data, rather than sitting in an office and implementing the policies she will implement through her own imagination.

And she began to accumulate her own political capital in the early stage without messing around at the beginning, which proves that Tsunade has her own detailed plan and is not relying on temporary impulse and passion... To put it bluntly, who can do this kind of Tsunade? It's hard to stop.

Thinking of this, Lu Jiu couldn't help but feel irritable.

I can only pour wine from my mouth to make my brain start to feel dizzy, paralyze my current spirit, let myself get drunk, and then stop thinking about it, hoping to put all these troubles away.

Haiyi and Dingzuo also drank with Lu Jiu.

Judging from their age, the three of them are not as naive as their children. They only act based on justice and likes and dislikes in their hearts. When doing one thing, there are often more things to consider.

However, when it comes to pursuing interests, they are not like the older generation, who still have a strong family tradition from the Warring States Period, who put family interests first, thus ignoring the overall position of the village.

I don’t have the innocent fantasies of young people, nor do I want to become a stubborn old man who only accepts death. I hope to have the energy of young people to start my own business.

This sense of being neither up to par with the times makes them laugh or cry sometimes, making them dumbfounded.

While drinking wine and toasting, the atmosphere suddenly became less depressing and depressing than before. Instead, it was filled with a bit of fiery atmosphere, and the sadness on his face gradually dissipated.

"Wouldn't it be boring for three big men to sit here and drink?"

Untimely words intervened.

I saw Shikamaru walking over alone with a look of helplessness on his face and his hands in his pockets.

Seeing three grown men drinking drunkenly here, they immediately started to complain speechlessly.

"Well... isn't this the genius of our family? Why, what's the matter?"

Seeing Shikamaru appear here, Shikaku didn't pay attention. Instead, he teased Shikamaru in a teasing tone.

Shikamaru raised his eyebrows and said directly: "You haven't come back so late. Mom is a little worried about you and asked me to call you back for dinner."

"Liar. It's already this time. They must be telling me to go back and kneel on the washboard. I won't be fooled."

Shikaku looked at the wall clock next to him and immediately saw through the lie in Shikamaru's mouth.

Shikamaru was not embarrassed when his lie was discovered, and he knew that such a lie could not scare his father.

"If you don't go back, mom will lose her temper again, and I don't want to suffer any unreasonable disaster."

"...You let her wait at home. I have the final say in this house today."

If you are full of momentum, you will feel like you are the head of the family.

"I recorded what you just said."

Shikamaru took out a voice recorder from his pocket.

"..."

Shikaku seemed to hallucinate the suppressed laughter of Haiyi and Dingza next to him.

"Dad, you don't want mom to hear what you said, right? Are you coming with me now, or should I go back and ask mom to come over in person?"

Shikamaru said the threat with a deadpan expression, looking unmotivated and staring at Shikaku with eyes like a dead fish.

"..."

Shikaku glanced at Shikamaru standing in front of him, and felt as if his son had suddenly grown up.

If I had known this, I wish I had given birth to a daughter with such thoughtful cotton-padded jackets.

However, even if you want to stuff Shikamaru back and rebuild it now, it probably won't be possible.

"Shikamaru."

"Um?"

"Do you want a sister?"

Shikaku's expression became very serious and serious.

"?"

Shikamaru looked at his father Shikaku with a surprised face, wondering where the other man's answer was wrong.

"No, I want a younger brother more than a younger sister."

Shikamaru began to think seriously.

Having one woman in the family was enough trouble, but if another one came along, he would have to consider moving out and living alone.

"Really? Then just give birth to two younger sisters, and then I'll ask you to take care of them alone."

"..."

◎

End of February.

The cold air of winter has dissipated a lot under the eyes. In the bare woods, many new green buds have sprouted on the ground and poked their heads in the air.

Deep in the woods, waves of scoldings came from the sound, and the voices seemed full of energy. Only two figures, one big and one small, were seen undergoing extremely rigorous training.

These two people were Tsunade and Sakura.

Unlike the spotless Tsunade, Sakura was not only out of breath, but also covered in scars all over her body.

The pink waist-length hair has also lost its cherry-colored luster due to being contaminated with a lot of dust, and the hairstyle has become even more disheveled. Combined with the bruises on his body, he looks more like a beggar. The miserable feeling of being down and out.

"Remember, as a ninja, as long as you still have breath, never stop fighting! On the battlefield, never ask for charity and mercy from your opponent!"

Seeing Sakura like this, Tsunade not only had no mercy in her eyes, but her eyes that had lost their warmth glanced at Sakura with cold eyes. Her whole person looked like a stone without emotion, giving people endless coldness.

"yes!"

Even though the pain was so painful that she wanted to shed tears, Sakura thought of something and still endured the pain. She gritted her teeth and used the last bit of willpower in her body to continue the training to the end.

Although from the beginning, Sakura had tried to make Tsunade's training as difficult as possible, but at the moment when she was truly guided by Tsunade, she understood that such training was not for humans at all... No, it was not prepared for women. training.

Compared to Tsunade's strictness, Kakashi's guidance to her in the past was probably not up to standard even for the novice level.

The two cannot be compared at all.

However, I can't give up just yet.

If you don’t want to be a loser and don’t want to rely on others for everything, you can only become stronger yourself!

She didn't want the pain of trying and being unable to do anything when something happened.

"Now keep attacking, don't stop!"

Tsunade continued her scolding, telling Sakura to attack her quickly.

Sakura gritted her teeth, circulated the chakra in her body, gathered it in her fist, rushed straight to Tsunade's front, and punched hard.

Tsunade's facial expression remained motionless, as if she hadn't seen Sakura's fist.

When the fist was about to hit her face, she raised her palm and placed it in front of her, wrapping Sakura's fist in her palm, making it impossible to move forward.

No matter how much Sakura struggled, the fist wrapped in Tsunade's palm remained motionless, as if it was welded there.

Suddenly, Tsunade's palm loosened, and a huge thrust passed through Sakura's fist and rushed back to Sakura's body, causing her body to shake immediately, and then she was blown away like a kite with its string broken. It rolled on the ground for more than ten meters before stopping.

"Ahem."

Sakura coughed violently.

Although she didn't vomit blood, the pain in her body accumulated and deepened. It was a huge and difficult test for her willpower.

"The chakra is not concentrated enough, and the speed of chakra movement is not fast enough. How can it be possible to explode the power like this? Could it be that you haven't eaten today? A genius in chakra control... I think this comment in your writing , a bit overrated.”

"Teacher..."

"Call me Hokage-sama. When you meet the standards I expect, I will officially accept you as my disciple."

Tsunade refused without hesitation, with a cold attitude.

Sakura felt aggrieved, but she just pursed her lips and said nothing. She tried her best to adjust her breathing and adjust her mentality.

She knew that these torturous trainings were not only to train her physical deficiencies, but also to hone her willpower.

According to Tsunade, female ninjas are on average weaker than male ninjas due to their natural conditions. If you want to develop powerful physical skills, then the training of willpower must be more cruel and strict than the training of male ninjas.

Only in this way can women, as a disadvantaged group, hope to equal and surpass male ninjas.

Among the ninjas in famous towns today, female ninjas account for an extremely small proportion, and most of the time, they are dominated by men.

That's why Tsunade is so strict.

To train Sakura's willpower to the highest standards. If you can't even pass this level, then there is no need to talk about the subsequent advanced training.

Not only Tsunade understands this, but Sakura, as a victim of abuse, also understands this.

After all, Tsunade knew the severity of her attack and deliberately avoided the vital points, so that she would not leave any irreversible permanent trauma to Sakura's body afterwards.

Although doing so would make Sakura's posture inelegant, it would allow her to ignore the fact that she was a girl when fighting, but a ninja who was stronger than a man!

To put it simply, it is to make Sakura understand that being a woman is just a drag when fighting.

As long as you don't treat yourself as a woman, you will be on the same level as a man mentally and will not put any psychological pressure on yourself.

The importance of mentality to the role of ninjas in combat is self-evident.

Many female ninjas subconsciously believe that they are not as good as male ninjas in battle. No matter how they fight, they will fail as a result. As a result, morale was reduced by 30% before the battle even started.

All Tsunade wants to do is this, through tempering her willpower, let Sakura completely get rid of the fact that she is a 'woman'!

Rough and brutal, if you want to be respected by men, you must be more ferocious than male ninjas in battle, otherwise, you will not be able to intimidate others.

Especially in these chaotic times.

Next, each of Sakura's attacks would be repelled by Tsunade and then fall a long way away.

Once, twice, three times...ten times...twenty times...until I finally stretched out and fell to the ground without the image of a girl, today's training was considered over.

"Huh...huh..."

Sakura put her palms on her forehead, weakly wiping the sweat from her forehead and panting weakly.

Tsunade came over and said with a slightly softened expression: "That's all for today's practice. When you go back, take a shower and clean your body. In addition, you have performed very well these days. I thought at first that you persisted You may not be able to hold on for three days. As long as you always maintain this idea of ​​getting stronger, I believe that sooner or later you will break into your own world."

"Yes, Hokage-sama..."

Sakura reluctantly sat up from the ground and continued to breathe.

He used the chakra in his body to perform medical ninjutsu and began to treat his wounds to relieve the pain.

After training, there is no need to torture your body like this.

Watching Sakura skillfully use medical ninjutsu to treat herself, Tsunade also flashed a look of admiration in her eyes.

Being able to use medical ninjutsu so skillfully at this age can be said to be quite outstanding. Even some medical ninjas who are a few years older than her may not be at her level.

"Speaking of which, Sakura, why did you become a medical ninja?"

"Ah, this..."

When Tsunade asked this question, Sakura was surprised, then her face turned red, and she explained a little awkwardly.

"Maybe it's for Sasuke-kun..."

Speaking of this, Sakura had a look of loneliness on her face.

Tsunade touched her chin and thought, then said to Sakura: "Really? Because of love? Although I don't really want to hit you, Sakura, I don't know what kind of person that Uchiha Sasuke is, and he is worthy of you. Pay attention to him. But there is only one thing. You must remember that he is a defected ninja from Konoha. From the moment he leaves Konoha, he is no longer in the same world as you."

"Is there no way for the village to re-accept Sasuke, Hokage-sama? And Kakashi-sensei..."

The expression on Sakura's face became urgent.

Tsunade stared at Sakura's hopeful face and slowly shook her head.

"There are some inside stories that you who are not genin can know... I can only tell you that they cannot return to Konoha, and similarly, Konoha cannot re-accept their existence."

Sakura's eyes were filled with sadness.

"Sorry, I hit you hard."

"No, this has nothing to do with you, Hokage-sama. I am very satisfied that you can tell me these truths. In fact, I also understand that it is impossible for Sasuke-kun and Kakashi-sensei to come back. This is just wishful thinking of Naruto and me... …”

The expression on Sakura's face was a very forced smile.

"Is that yellow-haired boy? He has indeed annoyed me recently. He hopes that I will cancel the arrest warrants for Uchiha Sasuke and Hatake Kakashi. He keeps saying that he can take them back to Konoha and change their ways. I hope Give them a chance...they are really naive brats."

Tsunade thought of something and pressed her temples with a headache.

He is indeed the guy Jiraiya likes. He also has a lack of brains and political understanding. He is simply a perfect match for idiots. They are more like biological brothers than 'grandfather and grandson'.

Although optimism is a good thing, there are some things that cannot be negotiated, and can even be settled with an optimistic approach.

Uchiha Sasuke can still turn around, as long as he can let go of his past prejudices... But Kakashi was the real culprit who murdered the Third Hokage. Although it was not a direct killing, he also successfully forced the Third Hokage to commit suicide... It can be said that , Kakashi's lightest punishment is life imprisonment, and killing him when captured is not an exaggeration.

If it weren't for the fact that the other party was the Nine-Tailed Jinchuuriki, I would have really wanted to punch him away from the Hokage Building and to the front door of Konoha to let him know what the Hokage's Iron Fist is!

Hearing Tsunade's words, Sakura also laughed awkwardly.

"Well, I will talk to him nicely later, Hokage-sama."

"As you wish."

Tsunade had no expectations for this matter.

"By the way, did Hokage-sama become a medical ninja in the first place?"

Sakura cleverly changed the subject.

"This happened because of that guy Jiraiya."

"Jiraiya-sama?"

Sakura opened her eyes in confusion.

Tsunade dug her ears, seeming to be recalling something.

"That guy Jiraiya has liked to peek into women's bathrooms since he was a child. I beat him many times, but he never corrected. But he is still a classmate after all. In order to prevent him from accidentally beating him to death someday, I learned medical ninjutsu. , I could rescue him repeatedly and continue to beat him. And thanks to him, I accumulated a lot of valuable medical experience when I was young. From this point of view, I have to thank him for his efforts."

Listening to Tsunade's understatement, Sakura shivered.

"Okay, it's time for me to go back. Take this book back and read it carefully. It will be of great help to your future path as a medical ninja, and it is also something you must face."

Tsunade took out a book from her ninja tool bag, put it in Sakura's hand, and turned to leave.

Sakura picked up this book, titled "Field Medical Records of Seriously Injured Patients in the Second and Third Ninja War."

Out of curiosity, Sakura opened the book.

After scanning the content above, Sakura's face turned pale and her back felt cold. She quickly closed the book and vomited on the grass next to her.

"Ugh~"