Tsunade gasped for breath as she raced along a ridge in the Land of Earth, finally catching up to the Konoha force ahead.
This force was under Fox's command and had slaughtered the Stone until their army collapsed.
Fox was on the mountaintop, and the Konoha ninja on the slope were all watching Advisor Tsunade as she hurried over.
Their gazes were full of sympathy.
The Third Hokage had been murdered. As the Third Hokage's disciple, Tsunade must surely be in pain.
From the looks in the surrounding ninja's eyes, Tsunade realized they had known about the Third Hokage's death even earlier than she had.
Of course.
Fox controlled the teleportation shrines. If anything happened, he would naturally be the first to know.
After reaching the summit, Tsunade saw Fox studying a map with Blossom Deer.
The mask concealed most of his expression.
Yako said, "Advisor Tsunade, please accept my condolences."
Tsunade's expression was vacant, her eyes filled with disbelief.
Yako gestured for the others to leave. He wanted to speak with Advisor Tsunade alone.
Once everyone had moved away, Tsunade asked in a trembling voice, "Fox… the Third is dead. Was it you?"
"It probably wasn't me. It shouldn't have been me."
Hearing Fox's answer, Tsunade understood the truth.
Several years ago, Fox had told her not to misjudge the situation, and not to interfere with his actions out of fear of killing her teacher.
She knew the Third had committed many evil deeds.
The destruction of the Uzumaki clan.
The Nine-Tails transfer incident involving the Senju clan.
Nawaki's death.
And more.
But when she truly heard that the Third had been killed, her heart still could not settle.
Yako said, "According to my intelligence, Uchiha Obito used a space-time dōjutsu to infiltrate the capital's castle and killed the two Daimyo.
After that, Uchiha Obito, Guruguru, who obtained Uchiha Gogo's Mangekyō Sharingan, and Sarutobi Kanosuke worked together to ambush and kill the Third Hokage.
Advisor Tsunade, you can no longer remain on the front line.
As the only Hokage advisor, you should return to Konoha Village and take charge of the overall situation."
Hearing this, Tsunade nodded.
She was not an indecisive person. Even after guessing the truth, she would not pry into the details.
After thinking for a moment, Tsunade said, "The Land of Grass war is progressing very smoothly. We have too much power concentrated here.
I, Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and you—that's four Kage-level fighters here. It's unnecessary.
I truly should return to Konoha Village and stabilize morale.
Konoha Village has fallen into chaos, and the Land of Fire is the same. The Fire Daimyo family was almost uprooted by Akatsuki. We cannot sit by and watch the Land of Fire collapse into disorder.
I want Squad Leader Nara Shikakaku to return to Konoha Village as well.
Have Nara Shikakaku coordinate with the Church of the Three Calamities and establish teleportation shrines in every town across the Land of Fire as quickly as possible.
As long as a town has a shrine, Konoha ninja can quickly appear there, command the samurai, and preserve basic social order.
So… I believe Jiraiya should go to the Land of Hot Water and replace Nara Shikakaku in commanding the war there.
Orochimaru will remain here and command the war in the Land of Earth.
Nara Shikakaku will return to the village and assist me in handling the chaos in Konoha and the Land of Fire."
Yako nodded repeatedly.
"Not bad, Princess Tsunade. You already have the mindset of a Hokage.
I'll use Flying Thunder God to adjust the forces right away.
Once the war ends, we'll simply go with the flow and have you succeed as the Fourth Hokage."
In the original work, Tsunade's resentment toward Sarutobi Hiruzen had run deep.
She loved Konoha dearly, yet refused to return to it. Only after Sarutobi Hiruzen's death did she use the opportunity to return.
In this life, things had not been as tortuous. Tsunade's life had gone much more smoothly.
When they arrived at the foot of the mountain, Orochimaru and Jiraiya were already prepared.
Tsunade told Orochimaru and Jiraiya her plan, and both agreed completely.
Dozens of ironwire vines extended from Yako's sleeve, wrapping around Tsunade, Jiraiya, and dozens of subordinates familiar to him.
Orochimaru looked at the ironwire vine around Jiraiya's wrist and said, "If Fox carved a Flying Thunder God formula onto Jiraiya right now, wouldn't Jiraiya be doomed?"
"Lord Orochimaru, you truly know how to joke. Am I that sort of person?"
The corner of Orochimaru's mouth twitched.
Fox, are you not that sort of person?
They arrived instantly at Ryojō Port in the Land of Hot Water. Yako saw messenger ninja waiting in the temple courtyard.
The messenger ninja immediately went to find Commander-in-chief Nara Shikakaku.
The emergence of the teleportation shrines had greatly improved Konoha's response speed, as though they had built a high-speed nervous system. Nara Shikakaku quickly received the news and had already made arrangements in advance.
Nara Shikakaku rushed into the temple.
His mind worked on multiple threads at once—listening to Tsunade's war arrangements while also considering the future.
Tsunade…
It seemed almost certain she would become the Fourth Hokage.
Among the Sannin, Orochimaru and Jiraiya naturally supported Tsunade.
Among the high-ranking leadership, Commander Fox had long since stood together with Tsunade.
The village's Nine-Tails Jinchūriki, Princess Kushina, was Tsunade's younger cousin.
Konoha's medical system, Konoha Hospital, and the frontline medical stations were already part of Tsunade's influence.
No matter which angle one looked from, as long as Tsunade was willing, no one could stop her. Instead, support for her existed everywhere.
Nara Shikakaku deeply realized that the skies over Konoha were about to change.
In the past, Konoha's power had been held by the Third Hokage, advisors such as Mitokado Homura, the Sarutobi clan, the Shimura clan, the Ino-Shika-Chō clans, and others.
But without anyone noticing, the power structure inside Konoha had already undergone a great reshuffling.
The Shimura clan had been the first to suffer serious damage. Around the position of Daimyo Guardian Ninja for the Land of Grass, many Shimura elites had died.
The Sarutobi clan had suffered afterward. Sarutobi Shinnosuke, who represented the Sarutobi clan's future, died. Sarutobi Hiaki, Sarutobi Einosuke, and others had also been killed. And now, Sarutobi Seihi, the Sarutobi clan's Guardian Ninja Captain for the Fire Daimyo for more than a decade, had died as well.
The Third Hokage's three advisors—Mitokado Homura, Utatane Koharu, and Shimura Danzo—had all been killed one after another.
In the current Konoha, aside from Tsunade's faction, there was no longer any force capable of resistance.
Fortunately, the Ino-Shika-Chō clans had changed direction early. They had boarded Commander Fox and Advisor Tsunade's ship long ago. Though they had also suffered many casualties, their foundations had not been damaged.
After listening to Advisor Tsunade's arrangements for the war, Nara Shikakaku nodded repeatedly.
"I fully agree with Advisor Tsunade's plan. I will return to Konoha Village at once and resolve the problems in Konoha and the Land of Fire.
However, there is one matter even more important."
"Hm? What matter?"
Seeing Advisor Tsunade, Jiraiya, Commander Fox, and the others all look at him, Nara Shikakaku said:
"The Third Hokage's murder is deeply painful. However, we should also choose the Fourth Hokage as soon as possible.
To command the war and take revenge against Akatsuki, we cannot be without a central pillar.
I recommend Advisor Tsunade as the Fourth Hokage.
The Daimyo family has been nearly wiped out, so I don't think there is any need to obtain the Daimyo's approval.
Commander Fox, Jiraiya-Sama, what are your opinions?"
Yako thought to himself—
'I planned to push Tsunade into power after the war ended. Shikakaku, you can't even wait until the end of the war.
You're so sensible it's almost contemptible.'