Escape From Konoha

The contact with the Daimyo envoy did not take much time.

The messenger's arrival was just to inquire about the current situation in Konoha, and then informed Tsunade that the daimyo had important military matters and invited her, the Hokage, to go to the daimyo mansion to discuss it. And I hope she can set off as soon as possible and arrive at Damingfu before March 2.

Although there was not much time left for Tsunade, considering that it would take about half a day to reach the Daming Mansion from Konoha Village, Tsunade did not appear too anxious. Just replying to these messengers, she will arrive at Daming Mansion on time before March 2 to join him.

Before heading to the Daming Mansion, Tsunade felt that it was necessary to shock the restless elements in the village, so as not to give some people an opportunity to do something unruly when she went to the Daming Mansion to discuss important matters.

Although among the various departments in Konoha, her power has only deeply penetrated a few limited departments such as the ANBU and the medical department, but as long as she holds the name of Hokage, then Konoha Village has at least half of the power, and she It can be mobilized in the name of Hokage. These powers are the deterrent power that allows Naruto to stand at the top of the village.

Departments such as the Anbu and the medical department are only important channels for the Hokage to issue his own decrees, but the actual implementers are tens of thousands of ninjas in the village.

With this background, Hokage is Hokage.

That being said, Tsunade did not dare to underestimate the power of the Ninja clan today. The Ninja clan was greatly stimulated by the Uchiha clan incident and began to aggressively seek power in order to stabilize their family status. Nowadays, there are many Ninja clans. It can be said that her teacher Hiruzen Sarutobi left her with an extremely troublesome problem.

There is also the issue of handling the Sarutobi clan... Although most of the ANBU members have been replaced, there are still some important positions that are firmly controlled by the ninjas of the Sarutobi clan. Asking them to obediently and selflessly return the ANBU positions that should be under the Hokage's jurisdiction cannot be solved smoothly by just talking.

If it goes wrong, it may cause bloodshed.

If it were to get to that point, Tsunade would undoubtedly not want to see it.

"Hokage-sama, the list of escorts has been drawn up. Do you think there is anything else that needs to be added?"

At this time, Shikaku's voice rang in his ears, and he came to Tsunade with a list.

Tsunade took the list and quickly glanced at it.

The names on the list are all the escort ninjas who will accompany her to the Daming Mansion. They are all elites selected from the ANBU.

Except for Shikaku, the Jonin squad leader who must accompany him, the remaining escorts total seventeen people, which is exactly the number of ANBU detachments.

The leader is Tenzo, a blood successor ninja with wood escape.

"Replace Tianzang and choose another squad leader to take over."

After Tsunade put down the list, she ordered Shikaku.

"Replace Tenzo? Hokage-sama, with all due respect, Tenzo is one of the very few powerful ninjas in the ANBU. Only with him and the rest of the ANBU can everything be ensured."

Shikaku was slightly startled.

"No, just do it."

Tsunade thought about it and decided to replace Tenzo.

"Can you tell me the reason, Hokage-sama?"

Shikaku asked in confusion.

From his point of view, he didn't think Tenzo, the Wood Release ninja, had a problem with loyalty.

"It's not what you think. I have never doubted Tenzo's loyalty, but I plan to let him take over the position of mentoring Jonin of Team 7."

Tsunade knew that Shikaku had misunderstood something and explained.

"So that's it."

Hearing Tsunade's explanation, Shikaku breathed a sigh of relief. He thought there was something wrong with Tenzo too.

Although there are some problems within Konoha, they cannot completely fall into the trap set by the enemy. They start to become suspicious and lack trust in anyone.

And if even the Hokage himself becomes suspicious, it will easily cause a crisis of trust within Konoha, causing the village to collapse from within, which is extremely detrimental to Konoha's future development.

"What do you think, let Tenzo be the new captain of Team 7?"

Tsunade picked up the pen in her hand and tapped it twice on the table. After making a crisp sound, she asked Shikaku's opinion.

In response to Tsunade's inquiry, Shikaku said without hesitation: "I think it is feasible. Tenzo is the only Wooden ninja in the village, and Wooden, like the Sharingan, has the restraint power to suppress tailed beasts. Let him be Naruto The guard is undoubtedly the best candidate."

Team 7 has now lost a captain and a member, leaving only two people, unable to shoulder the responsibilities of Team 7 at all.

So, at this time, it is necessary to reorganize Team 7.

However, considering Naruto's special characteristics as a jinchuriki, ordinary ninjas are simply not qualified to serve as the captain of Team 7. After all, while protecting Naruto, he can also calm down the power of the tailed beast in his body. Such a ninja is even harder to find in Konoha Village.

Apart from Tenzo, Shikaku couldn't think of anyone in Konoha who was more suitable to be the captain of Team 7 than him.

"Then it's settled. Let Tianzang take office tomorrow and lead Team 7 to carry out the mission, and then... prohibit them from temporarily leaving the Country of Fire. The scope of mission activities is only within the territory of the Country of Fire."

Tsunade thought for a moment and gave the scope of Class 7's activities.

"this……"

Shikaku looked hesitant.

"What's wrong?"

"In fact, when Naruto first joined Team 7 to perform the mission, the senior management, except for the Third Generation, prohibited Naruto from leaving the Konoha Village area. They believed that Naruto, as a jinchuriki, should not leave Konoha's sphere of influence. Besides, it is too risky. If it is lost, Konoha will suffer heavy losses."

"It's ridiculous. The jinchuriki is not only a weapon of the village, but also a member of Konoha ninja, with his own will. If it is not sharpened, no matter how powerful the weapon is, it will rust. If you just hide the jinchuriki in the snow In the village, if he is not allowed to experience the wind and rain, in the end he will be just a container with powerful chakra energy."

Tsunade smiled scornfully at this explanation.

Shikaku knew he couldn't convince Tsunade with this explanation. And his purpose was not to persuade Tsunade, but to remind Tsunade that doing so might arouse opposition from the advisory group.

But since Tsunade was ready for this, he would naturally choose to support it.

He is the Jonin squad leader, and his direct boss is the Hokage, not the advisory board.

And he also strongly agreed with Tsunade's point of view. A ninja who has not experienced ups and downs, no matter how outstanding his qualifications, is difficult to become a ninja on his own.

Naruto has huge potential that can be tapped. If you just keep him inside Konoha Village and give him the best protection, what you end up cultivating is just flowers in the greenhouse.

But the current Konoha does not need the jinchūriki developed in the greenhouse.

Placing Naruto under every layer of protection in Konoha was undoubtedly Konoha's biggest loss.

"Shikaku, go and handle this matter well, let Tenzo be fully prepared, and don't be influenced by the people in the advisory group. By the way, take the Anbu to the torture chamber, visit the old guy Danzo, and warn him. Just hide your claws and claws in the dark, and don’t extend them where they shouldn’t.”

If it weren't for the current lack of strength, the first thing Tsunade wanted to do was not to give a painless warning, but to uproot the roots from inside Konoha.

Let this shadow that has shrouded Konoha for decades be completely erased from Konoha.

Unfortunately, such an idea is just a fantasy that exists in the mind and is difficult to put into practice.

"yes."

Seeing Tsunade's determined attitude, Shikaku could only nodded and sighed inwardly.

It was just a warning, he didn't think Genbu would stop there.

But for now, we can only delay it like this. The next focus is the meeting in Daming Mansion.

Things in the village can only be decided when we come back later.

If you still have this leisurely mood after you come back.

"Okay, that's it. Inform the people on the list to gather at the main entrance at five o'clock tomorrow morning, aiming for Daming Mansion."

"Then I'm going down, Hokage-sama."

Shikaku took the list again, turned and left the office.

◎

The next day, it was just dawn.

Naruto dragged his exhausted body from home and arrived at the meeting place drowsily.

The gathering place is a training ground located in the corner of Konoha Village, surrounded by dense trees. In some places, rusty barbed wire can be seen, accurately dividing the training ground area from the free area of ​​​​the village. .

When he arrived at the training ground, he found that someone had already arrived first.

The other person had long cherry-colored hair and was holding a lunch box in his hand. He was standing in the open space boredly, looking at something.

It was Sakura.

"Good morning, Sakura."

Naruto yawned and weakly walked over and started to say hello to Sakura's back.

"Good morning...Naruto, did you stay up late again?"

Seeing Naruto's listless look, Sakura turned around with a look of dissatisfaction on her face.

"I can't help it. I've been dragged over by the lecherous immortal to practice martial arts with him recently, so I don't even have time to rest... It sounds ugly, but in fact it's just a beating. My body still hurts when I think about it."

Naruto patted his cheek hard, trying to cheer himself up.

After hearing Naruto's explanation, Sakura's expression softened.

During the period when she was receiving strict training from Tsunade, Naruto was not just wasting time, he was also following another Sannin and doing very rigorous training.

Based on Naruto's hard work and the cheating training method of shadow clones, Sakura estimated that Naruto's strength should have grown a lot compared to a few months ago.

"Sakura, hasn't the new captain of our team arrived yet?"

Naruto looked around and found that besides himself and Sakura, there was no third person here.

"I haven't seen anyone else, so they probably haven't come here yet. After all, there's still half an hour until the meeting time, so Naruto, you don't have to be too anxious."

Sakura took out the small alarm clock she had brought with her, glanced at the time on it, and calmed down.

Beginning in January and February this year, many teams resumed work and began to take on tasks and earn rewards.

However, there are also many teams that are still waiting to attack. Due to various reasons, they are unable to receive their rewards smoothly and still need to wait. Team 7 is one of them.

Firstly, it is because the seventh team directly lacks two members and cannot form a standard team to go out to perform tasks. If it directly takes over the task, it is easy to cause frequent accidents due to insufficient personnel. Secondly, there is no jounin to lead the team, and there are only two genin. Even the deployment is a very big problem.

In view of these two points, while the rest of the team was already involved in the mission, the seventh team could only stay in the village and wait for orders.

It wasn't until yesterday afternoon that I was notified that a new jounin would be arranged by the superiors to take on the important task of guiding the jounin in Team 7 and serving as a part-time captain. And under the leadership of the new jounin, you can go to the Hokage Building to receive tasks.

Naruto and Sakura were both in high spirits after hearing the news.

Although it is good to keep immersing themselves in cultivation, rather than just working hard, they also want to test their growth through tasks and how it compares to the previous year.

They look forward to this very much.

"Speaking of which, what kind of person will the new captain be?"

Naruto tilted his head, exploring the question.

"I don't know, but he should be an excellent jounin."

Sakura didn't know who the new captain of Team 7 was, so she could only answer like this.

"I hope she is a gentle and beautiful jounin, just like Kurenai-sensei."

Naruto began to think about it.

"Naruto... don't think about such disgusting things."

Sakura looked at Naruto with disdain. She really couldn't think of anything serious in his mind.

At this moment, a voice suddenly intervened:

"I'm sorry to disappoint you. I'm not a beautiful woman."

Hearing these words, Naruto and Sakura turned their faces and looked at the person.

He is a man, wearing the uniform of Konoha Jounin, and wearing a protective ninja forehead protector on his forehead. He is about twenty-six or seven years old... The smile on his face is creepy. A gentle smile gives people a rather subtle feeling.

This man is Tianzang.

In the ANBU directly under the Hokage, he is an elite Jonin who serves as the squad leader.

As soon as he arrived here, his eyes passed over Naruto inadvertently, then he stood still in front of the two people and smiled slightly.

"Who are you……"

Naruto and Sakura looked at him in surprise.

"From today on, I will be your seventh team's instructor jounin and part-time captain. As for the name..." Tenzo, who stood in front of the two, paused and continued: "You can call me Yamato. , or you can call me Captain Yamato or Teacher Yamato."

"Yamato? What a weird name."

Compared to Naruto's strangeness, Sakura thought that the name Yamato was probably a fake name.

Because the way the other party paused just now made her feel that the other party had concealed her true identity.

"In that case, let me introduce myself. My name is Uzumaki Naruto. My favorite food is Ichiraku Ramen. My future dream is to become Hokage!"

As if to activate himself, Naruto opened his mouth to introduce himself to Tenzo.

Tenzo nodded in approval and seemed to acknowledge Naruto's self-introduction without any impatience.

Sometimes, the team really needs an active person.

"Next it's my turn. I'm Haruno Sakura. I'm good at medical ninjutsu... I'm also currently learning how to use taijutsu to fight. Please give me your advice, Captain Yamato."

Compared to Naruto's introduction, Sakura's introduction was much more formal, and she also briefly and comprehensively explained her advantages as a ninja, instead of just talking about her preferences and dreams like Naruto did.

"Your introduction is very good. I probably understand your situation."

Tenzo continued to nod, praising the two's actions.

But in fact, even if the two did not introduce themselves, he knew the information about Team 7 very well.

"To celebrate the establishment of the new Class Seven, I have accepted a B-level mission to practice your skills."

Tenzo smiled.

"B-level mission?" Upon hearing Tenzo's words, Naruto's eyes suddenly lit up: "Is it true, Captain Yamato?"

Naruto's enthusiasm was as expected by Tenzo, and according to the information, he was a simple and easy-to-understand ninja, but occasionally had miraculous consciousness operations.

There is no way to speculate using common sense.

"Yes, it's a B-level mission."

"That's great!" Naruto was so excited that he almost jumped up, completely aroused by the gimmick of the B-level mission and aroused his positive interest.

In contrast, Sakura is much calmer.

"Captain Yamato, I would like to ask, what is the content of the B-level mission..."

Under the expectant or anxious gazes of the two, Tianzang smiled slowly and said: "The content is very simple. You use all your strength to fight me. In order to improve the team's coordination, I need to actually understand your two combat abilities!"

◎

The Kingdom of Fire, Daming Mansion.

Daming Mansion, located in the center of the capital of the Kingdom of Fire, is a city within a city.

When Tsunade arrived at the gate of the city within the city, she raised her head and looked at the majestic and tall city wall in front of her, and couldn't help but smile with emotion.

"It's been a long time since I've been here. No matter how long it's been, the city walls here are still as spectacular as ever."

Beside her, only Shikaku was with her. Hearing Tsunade's emotion, he also smiled and said: "After all, it is the mansion where the daimyo lives. In terms of the prosperity here, even we in Konoha can't find it." It can reach it. The only one that can surpass this place is Shion Castle in the Kingdom of Demons."

"That may not be the case. According to my on-the-spot investigation, the Kingdom of Ghosts has more than just one central city, Ziyuan City."

Tsunade meant something.

Shikaku kept it in mind without refuting.

Compared with Tsunade, who travels around all year round, the information he obtains may actually be a little behind for the outside world.

On the surface, the only people visiting the Daming Mansion this time were Tsunade, the Hokage, and Shikaku as his entourage.

But in the dark, there is another team of ANBU, a total of seventeen elite ninjas quietly hiding in hidden corners around them, protecting the safety of Tsunade and Shikaku at all times.

Entering the castle where the daimyo was, there were already waiters waiting in front to receive Tsunade and Shikaku and lead them to meet the daimyo.

Tsunade had no intention of admiring the scenery along the way. She was thinking about what important matters the daimyo had to discuss when he invited her over at this time.

There was no way he was just asking her to come here to reminisce about old times and go through the final process of Hokage's succession. She must have other intentions.

Thinking like this, he followed the waiter.

Soon, the waiter took her and Shikaku to a relatively secluded courtyard.

Around the courtyard, a large number of warriors with swords were strictly guarding the entrances and exits, scanning the surroundings with sharp eyes like hawks, not sparing any corner.

In the dark, an unknown number of ninjas surrounded the place and turned the yard into an iron barrel, further improving the safety and privacy of the yard.

Seeing the surveillance of such a secretive compound, Tsunade couldn't help but become concerned.

With such a powerful guard force, this place was surrounded into an airtight 'prison'. It can be imagined how high the confidentiality level of the daimyo was regarding this meeting with her.

But now that we are here, it is impossible to go back home.

In the corridor, the waiter stopped in front of a room door and knelt down on one knee.

He said respectfully to the person at the door:

"Lord Daimyo, Lord Hokage and Mr. Shikaku have been brought here."

"Thank you for your hard work, let's get down."

The unique old voice of the Fire Country Daimyo came from the room. Although the voice was old, the voice was very clear, giving people a feeling of high energy.

"yes."

The waiter withdrew, leaving Tsunade and Shikaku alone.

After the waiter withdrew, Tsunade took the initiative to push the door open, and at first glance she saw the Daimyo of the Fire Country sitting in the room.

On both sides of him, there were other soft cushions and tea tables. Tea and refreshments were placed on the tea tables, which were obviously used to entertain distinguished guests.

"Hey, it's been a long time. Tsunade, no, I should call you Hokage now. I heard that under your guidance, Konoha's life has begun to become prosperous recently. It's really hard for you. It seems that you are better than Hiruzen is even better."

The moment Tsunade came in, the Fire Country Daimyo opened his folding fan and smiled with his face half-hidden.

"You are exaggerating, Lord Daimyo. Compared with the teacher, I still have many shortcomings as a Hokage."

Tsunade has long been accustomed to such polite words, so she naturally accepted the words of praise from the Daimyo of the Land of Fire.

The Daimyo of the Fire Country smiled and didn't care about Tsunade's modesty. He just waved his fan and motioned for the two of them to sit down.

Tsunade had no choice but to obey the other party's wishes and sit down. This old fox!

Shikaku also walked down, but as the Jonin squad leader, he could only sit behind Tsunade, with Tsunade as the leader.

"Although I also want to greet you Tsunade alone and celebrate your becoming the Fifth Hokage, the rest of the guests arrived yesterday and can't wait. Therefore, the banquet will be held after everything is over. Let’s hold it for you.”

After Tsunade sat down, the Fire Country's daimyo frowned in confusion.

Tsunade looked at the other party's confused expression, not knowing whether it was true or not, but did not reveal it. The thoughts of a person sitting in this position cannot be easily guessed.

"guest?"

She was more interested in the 'guests' mentioned by the great names of the Fire Country than the so-called reception and cleansing banquet.

The Fire Country Daimyo smiled mysteriously, but before he could speak, a voice came over first, with a bit of bad ridicule.

"You are so forgetful of noble people, Princess Tsunade. I am here and have been waiting for you for a long time."

As soon as this sound entered Tsunade's ears, her expression immediately changed. She turned her head sharply and looked in the direction of the source of the sound.

Then Tsunade's eyes widened for a moment, as if she saw something, something that surprised her.

"Two scales... Ohnoki!?"