Anko Mitarashi's and Uzuki Yūgao's comments only strengthened Kurenai Yūhi's resolve.
Everyone had their own ideals.
And Kurenai's ideal was simple:
to win Uchiha Yusuke over.
The feast was finished, the tables were a wreck.
The banquet was nearing its end.
At that moment, Tsunade—who had been drinking sulkily alone for ages—started drifting toward the girls' group.
Full and satisfied… it was time to slip through the checkout.
I'm a female guest too, aren't I?
So it's perfectly reasonable for Uchiha Yusuke to pay, right?
The legendary Sannin Tsunade-sama came all the way here to "honor" his party—he should be grateful!
Now cough up your savings, Uchiha brat.
The more she thought about it, the happier she got.
Getting a free win over Yusuke was way too easy.
That old man talked him up like a god…
but he's not that impressive, is he?
Tsunade looked utterly confident—like she had Yusuke completely figured out.
Meanwhile, Yusuke was starting to see it clearly.
So you stayed quiet all banquet long because you were waiting for this.
Trying to take advantage of me?
Let's see if I let you get what you want.
Tsunade moved through the crowd smoothly, grabbing people and forcing familiarity like a pro.
"Yo, Kakashi—taller now, huh!"
"Hey, Yūgao—developing nicely!"
…And so on.
She blended into the group effortlessly.
See? I'm with them. This is a group dinner. Got it?
Even the izakaya owner started to misunderstand.
Wait… is Tsunade also one of Yusuke's invited guests?
Trying to be responsible, the owner approached Yusuke respectfully.
"Yusuke-sama, total spending for the two private rooms is 186,000 ryō."
"I'll waive the change—180,000 ryō is fine."
"And… Tsunade-sama's personal order came to 874,600 ryō. Should that be included in the bill as well?"
Yusuke glanced at Tsunade and asked flatly:
"Who ordered those?"
The owner blinked and answered on instinct.
"Of course Tsunade-sama did!"
Yusuke's mouth curled into a very unfriendly smile.
"Then go ask her for the money."
The moment those words landed, Tsunade's face went dark.
I blended into the crowd perfectly—
how are you still targeting me?!
For Tsunade, tens of thousands—or even hundreds of thousands—wasn't the issue.
The problem was: she didn't get to freeload.
She tried to salvage it, turning back to Yusuke.
"Hey, kid. Aren't I your guest?"
Yusuke rolled his eyes.
"Ma'am, when did I ever invite you?"
Tsunade pointed righteously at Shizune.
"She's with me."
"So why are you treating us differently?"
Yusuke smiled pleasantly.
"Shizune is my old classmate."
"And you are…?"
Tsunade froze.
Everyone here was basically Yusuke's age.
A same-generation reunion—
and she, an older outsider, had barged in.
Half-drunk, Shizune wobbled forward.
"Yusuke-kun's right."
"Tsunade-sama, you should pay for yourself."
Tsunade's blood pressure shot through the roof.
My own apprentice is siding with him?
How filial of you—truly.
Furious but unwilling to cause a bigger scene, Tsunade gritted her teeth and paid.
She'd just "borrowed" a huge sum from Jiraiya (again). Even after two casino losses, she still had a few hundred thousand left.
Still—spending that much on one meal made her heart ache.
Her freeload plan failed.
Naturally, she blamed Yusuke.
This man is way too stingy.
I bet you'll never find a girlfriend in your entire life!
After silently cursing him a few times, Tsunade's mood finally improved.
With a "friendly" expression, she grabbed Shizune by the collar.
"Shizune. We're leaving."
Once that walking disaster was gone, Yusuke shook his head.
The Third Hokage had brought that troublesome woman back early.
From now on, he probably wasn't going to get much peace.
Tsunade didn't really hate the Uchiha… but she was pure Hokage faction.
With Hiruzen's guiding hand, it wouldn't take much for Tsunade and Yusuke to end up as open enemies.
Sitting at the top and making rising figures check each other—
that was the Third Hokage's favorite play.
When Sakumo "White Fang" was at his peak, Hiruzen propped up Danzō.
When Orochimaru got unruly, he turned around and supported the "Yellow Flash."
When the Uchiha wouldn't behave, he pushed the Hyuga forward.
Now Tsunade returned early—clearly to keep Yusuke under pressure.
Yusuke sighed.
The days ahead… wouldn't be calm.
The New Political Balance in Konoha
Sure enough, the moment the day off ended, the Third Hokage personally took Tsunade to visit the elders of Konoha's major clans.
The elders had "retired," but they still held enormous power.
That was common everywhere—even within the Uchiha.
But most Uchiha elders were hawks.
Hiruzen wasn't going to "win them over."
Trying to use hawkish elders to control a hawkish Uchiha leader?
That's not medicine—that's desperation.
With the Third Hokage backing her, Tsunade quickly gained support.
The Sarutobi, Inuzuka, Aburame, Shimura and others leaned toward the Hokage line.
The Ino–Shika–Chō trio became the classic neutral swing bloc.
The Nara were smart: betting on both sides was standard practice.
No matter who won, the Nara would end up as the next Hokage's brain.
The Hyuga reaction was surprising.
Even though the elders pressured him hard, clan head Hyuga Hiashi overruled them and firmly chose to stand with Uchiha Yusuke.
Thus, two major forces took shape:
Uchiha Yusuke's campTsunade's camp
They competed fiercely across every domain.
With Hiruzen's indulgence, Tsunade moved aggressively:
ANBU restructuring, medical reforms, fiscal austerity—everything hit the agenda.
Her sweeping changes threatened many interests.
And the Uchiha were hit first.
For example: the Police Force's budget had been 80 million ryō annually.
After Tsunade took office, she cut it in half.
ANBU salaries were slashed too.
The two departments Yusuke effectively controlled were both pressured hard.
Uchiha clan members were furious.
"Yusuke, we can't just take this!"
"Clan head—when do we strike back?"
Yusuke heard this daily.
But instead of clashing head-on with Tsunade, he convened an emergency clan meeting.
There, he announced a very dovish policy:
As long as Tsunade didn't cross the bottom line, the Uchiha would support her unconditionally.
Many Uchiha doubted it, but they obeyed.
Yusuke's prestige was enormous—if he wanted a coup, most would follow him to the end.
The Uchiha were willing to swallow it.
Not everyone could.
Especially the two advisors: Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane.
Medical and finance had been "their" territory.
Now Tsunade walked in and took over—how could they tolerate that?
If she kept going, they wouldn't even get scraps.
They'd agreed to target Yusuke—
but Tsunade was the one cutting their cake.
They stormed into the Hokage's office.
After hearing their complaints, Hiruzen had a headache too.
Because he benefited from finance as well—otherwise how could he sustain the Sarutobi clan's enormous private base?
But balancing Yusuke with Tsunade was his plan.
He couldn't back down halfway.
After weighing it all, Hiruzen chose to endure the backlash.
Danzō's death had warned him:
Even if it was "kill a thousand, lose eight hundred," Konoha's high command needed to show Yusuke some color this time.
After a long round of persuasion, the advisors swallowed their anger.
Konoha needed someone who could stand against Yusuke.
Besides Tsunade, there was no one else.
They left grumbling:
"Just keep spoiling Tsunade."
"It's going to cause trouble sooner or later."
Hiruzen smiled as always.
"As long as I'm here, rest assured."
Tsunade's Reputation Soars… and She Underestimates Yusuke
So Tsunade's reforms met huge resistance—
yet somehow continued anyway, thanks to both Hiruzen and Yusuke.
Tsunade wasn't some "big-breasted airhead."
She'd grown up around two Hokages—politics was in her bones.
Before, Hiruzen kept her leashed.
Now, with power in her hands, she finally let loose.
In the long run, her reforms were more benefit than harm.
If executed as planned, Konoha's economy and overall national strength would improve dramatically.
She'd returned and immediately accomplished something major.
Her fame surged close to Yusuke's.
Some even started calling them together:
"Konoha's Twin Jewels."
Tsunade didn't like that.
Praise me all you want—why lump me with that Uchiha guy?!
Hiruzen had praised Yusuke to the skies.
Tsunade expected a real duel.
But every time, Yusuke avoided direct confrontation.
It felt like punching cotton.
Over time, Tsunade began to look down on him.
So what if he beat the Cloud's strongest duo?
So what if he forced Danzō to death?
When it's me, he still turtles up.
The more Yusuke yielded, the more Tsunade itched to beat him cleanly in public—just to make Hiruzen acknowledge her.
Even at her age, she still wanted to impress her teacher.
He keeps calling Yusuke amazing—fine. I'll smack that confidence right off his face.
Meanwhile, villagers gossiped daily:
"With Tsunade-sama and Yusuke-sama, Konoha will surpass its historical peak!"
Konoha's rise alarmed every major force—
including the Akatsuki led by "that man" and Nagato.
Elsewhere: Obito Makes His Move
The Akatsuki had just completed a restructuring.
Nagato and Konan were busy recruiting.
They were already sending invitations toward:
Kakuzu, an exile from TakigakureSasori, the genius puppeteer from Sunagakure
They also listed targets to "evaluate," like:
Orochimaru (one of the Sannin)Biwako Jūzō (one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen)
As the hidden puppeteer, "that man" basically acted like a hands-off boss.
Recruiting was delegated entirely to Nagato and Konan.
With time to spare, he began thinking dark thoughts about Konoha again.
Ever since Rin died, he'd periodically wanted to bring disaster to the village.
The Nine-Tails incident years ago was a perfect example.
Having inherited Uchiha Madara's legacy, he knew many secrets—
including Uchiha forbidden techniques, and the modified Six Paths monument text in the clan's forbidden area.
His goal was Infinite Tsukuyomi: a world where Rin existed.
To achieve that, he needed to gather the tailed beasts.
For now, he had no plan for the Nine-Tails.
Minato and Kushina were dead, but the Nine-Tails was still heavily monitored by Konoha's ANBU.
Even if he could slip in and out of the barrier, snatching the Nine-Tails was unrealistic.
And according to the monument's record, the Nine-Tails had to be sealed last anyway.
With the other beasts not yet secured, it wasn't time.
Back at Kannabi Bridge, he had given one of his eyes to Kakashi.
Even with White Zetsu cells, he remained one-eyed.
Konoha had just undergone turmoil.
This was a good opportunity to collect some Sharingan.
With that decision made, he became the mysterious masked man again and began operating near Konoha.
After two days, he locked onto a rising prodigy:
Uchiha Itachi.
Graduating at seven, Itachi quickly awakened the Sharingan.
Now, at just eight, he already had strength far beyond a typical chūnin.
If not for age restrictions, he could have passed the chūnin exams already.
After leaving the Academy, Itachi joined a standard four-man squad under a jōnin instructor, doing D-rank "find the cat" missions.
Itachi's performance was so exceptional his instructor praised him constantly.
Fugaku was deeply pleased.
Yusuke, however, felt a headache coming on.
Itachi's talent was terrifying—
but whether he'd truly stand with the clan was uncertain.
Uchiha Shisui had already fully shifted to Yusuke's side.
But Itachi had been deeply "Fire Will" conditioned.
Yusuke wasn't confident he could change him.
And besides Tsunade, the Third Hokage also paid close attention to Itachi.
In Hiruzen's words:
He hoped Itachi would become, like Uchiha Kagami once was, a bridge between the village and the Uchiha.
As Fugaku's eldest son, Itachi's influence within the clan rivaled Shisui's.
When Shisui wouldn't obey, the Third Hokage immediately turned to Itachi.
In governance, Hiruzen remained as crafty as ever.
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