Chapter 81: A Monkey Facilitates a Master-Disciple Bond
"Konoha? What does the Old Man want now? Tell him to give up, I'm not going back." Tsunade waved her hand impatiently while sipping tea.
"No, it's not that... it's about " Uchiha Madara "!"
Pfft!
Tsunade spat out her tea.
"You said who?!"
"According to information from an intelligence broker, late at night four days ago, a masked man claiming to be " Uchiha Madara " raided Konoha, intending to trigger the Nine-Tailed incident again. Fortunately, Uchiha Clan leader Uchiha Fugaku led the elites of the Uchiha Clan in a desperate resistance, and by joining forces with the Third Hokage, they successfully repelled the powerful enemy!"
"The Uchiha Clan didn't rebel?" Tsunade pressed.
"No! Not only did they not, but they became heroes who defended the Village." Shizune was a bit excited.
"After this battle, the estrangement between the Village and the Uchiha Clan has been largely eliminated. The Third Hokage even publicly commended Uchiha Fugaku, and the whole Village held a funeral for the Uchiha elites who died in battle."
"However..." Shizune paused, looking at Tsunade with some hesitation, "Uchiha Fugaku seems to have used some kind of Forbidden Jutsu during the fight, resulting in the loss of one eye. Konoha has sent a request, hoping you could... go back and take a look."
"Heh, Uchiha Madara? That guy was killed by Grandfather long ago." Tsunade sneered. "It's probably an impostor; otherwise, he wouldn't have been repelled by the Old Man."
Although she hadn't seen Uchiha Madara fight, Tsunade knew how strong her grandfather was.
If Uchiha Madara, as his opponent, were still alive and able to fight, he would definitely not be an opponent the Old Man could defeat.
"I won't go back." After a moment of silence, Tsunade made her decision. "If Konoha's hospital can't cure it, that's their incompetence. Since his life was saved, he won't die just from being blind in one eye."
Shizune sighed, seemingly having expected this result, and didn't try to persuade her further.
Haruko, who was listening to the intelligence on the side, appeared surprised on the surface, but inside he was calm, even wanting to laugh.
The result was about what he had expected.
The Hyuga Clan's timely arrival that night was no accident; it had been coordinated.
The Third Hokage suppressing the Uchiha was one thing, but if the Uchiha yielded and you still pushed them to the brink, that was another matter entirely.
So even if the Third Hokage guessed that the Uchiha originally wanted to cause trouble, in the face of the objective fact that they all died fighting Uchiha Madara, he had to accept it.
'However, one person is missing."
Haruko's eyes flickered slightly.
In the report, Danzo's name was not mentioned from beginning to end.
If Danzo had really, as he and Uchiha Itachi planned, publicly confessed in front of the whole Village after being hit by Kotoamatsukami, that would definitely be bigger news than "Uchiha Madara raiding Konoha," and it was impossible for the report to not mention a word.
The only explanation was that the Third Hokage had suppressed this matter.
"You are the Konoha bathed in sunlight, I am the root buried deep underground." — Danzo's actions were ultimately tacitly approved by the Third Hokage. The two had long been bound together; if one suffered, both suffered.
To maintain the authority of the Hokage and to prevent the outside world from knowing the darkness of Konoha's upper echelons, all of Danzo's crimes had been erased, along with his very existence.
Danzo would likely be placed under house arrest or secretly executed — given the Third Hokage's personality, he would probably just be locked away in some corner to retire.
In any case, that old geezer who couldn't tolerate him had finally exited the stage.
This meant that he could finally end this trip to avoid the limelight, go back, continue to stay at the Ramen Shop with peace of mind, and live his simple, laid-back life.
"Hey, kid, take a message when you go back. Tell the Uchiha that if they want their eyes checked, they should bring enough money to find me."
Tsunade suddenly called out to Haruko.
"Okay, received." Haruko agreed casually.
'The blindness from Izanagi should be incurable... So Uchiha Fugaku wants Tsunade to transplant an eye for him? But couldn't the Konoha hospital do that?"
"Alright, since you're going back, I'll teach you a technique for easier contact."
Tsunade put down her teacup, looking serious for a rare moment. "Summoning Technique, do you know it?"
"I do."
"That makes it easy. Sign a contract, and in the future, use the Slug to transmit... Hmm?" Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "You know the Summoning Technique? Use it and let me see."
"Ah..."
Haruko agreed before realizing that his only summoning animal was the Ninja Monkey, and he wasn't sure how Tsunade would react if she saw it.
'Forget it, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it."
Haruko decided not to hide it. He bit his finger, formed hand seals, and slammed his hands on the ground.
"Summoning Technique!"
The white smoke cleared, and Wukong appeared before everyone.
It scratched its head, and just as it was about to greet Haruko upon seeing him, it suddenly felt a terrifying gaze from the side, which scared it into immediately shrinking behind Haruko.
"This monkey..."
Tsunade's face sank instantly, her initial thirty percent curiosity turning into seventy percent annoyance.
"Tch, how irritating."
Tsunade looked at that monkey; the more she looked, the more she felt like Hiruzen Sarutobi's old face was smiling at her.
"Uh... Wukong, you go back first."
With Haruko's permission, Wukong immediately disappeared in a burst of white smoke, not wanting to stay for even a second longer.
"Was that given to you by the Old Man? Don't tell me he took you as a disciple?"
"It was given to me by Hokage-sama as a mission reward. I have never apprenticed under anyone."
Shizune looked at Tsunade cautiously, then at Haruko, and the atmosphere became somewhat strange.
Slap!
She slammed the table, shaking the teapot.
"I've decided."
"Decided what?" Haruko had a bad premonition.
"I'm officially taking you as my disciple." Tsunade's tone was unquestionable. "From now on, you are my, Tsunade's, disciple."
Haruko blinked.
This development was a bit fast.
But he immediately calmed down and quickly weighed the pros and cons.
Tsunade was the number one medical ninja in the Ninja World. With this relationship, Teuchi and the others would have access to top-tier medical resources.
Moreover, Tsunade herself had a deep background. With her as a master, others wouldn't easily trouble him.
But relatively speaking, the Third Hokage's side...
It seemed he wouldn't do anything to him, would he?
He didn't have ideas about that position like Nawaki and Dan, so at most, he would just stop providing resources.
The Third Hokage took so long just to give a monkey, whereas Tsunade was much more generous.
And although it had only been a few days, Haruko had learned quite a few good things from Tsunade.
It could be said that the two already had the reality of a master-disciple relationship; now it was just a matter of confirming the title.
Having figured it out, Haruko didn't waste any words. He immediately poured a cup of tea and respectfully handed it over.
"Master, please have some tea."
His movements were standard, his tone sincere, as if the person who had been weighing the pros and cons in his heart a moment ago wasn't him.
"Good! Straightforward!"
Tsunade took the teacup and drank it in one gulp, a victor's smile appearing on her face.
Although she didn't know who she was competing against, she clearly felt she had won.
"From today on, you are my, Tsunade's, disciple. If anyone gives you trouble in the future, just report my name. If reporting my name doesn't work..."
Tsunade cracked her knuckles.
"Just punch them into the ground. If something happens, I'll cover for you!"
"Understood." Haruko nodded obediently.
Although he didn't intend to actually punch anyone into the ground, he had truly chosen the right master.
...
As Haruko left, the room quieted down again.
"Lady Tsunade... did you really take Haruko as your disciple just to beat the Third Hokage to it?"
"Yeah, what's wrong with that?"
Shizune knew that although Tsunade was usually willful, she wouldn't be so childish in such big matters.
Taking Haruko as a disciple was definitely not just to find a successor, nor was it just to go against the Third Hokage...
"...No, it's nothing."
Tsunade didn't want to say, so Shizune didn't ask further.
Having an extra junior brother who was both handsome and strong didn't seem so bad either.
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