Tsunade quickly formed hand seals, using a special technique unique to the Senju Clan to unlock the sealing formula on the scroll.
After opening it and examining the contents, she discovered that the scroll indeed contained a contract personally written by Hashirama Senju in his capacity as the head of the Senju Clan.
The handwriting, seals, coded phrases, and identifying marks all matched perfectly.
Tsunade frowned deeply.
But soon her brows relaxed.
She casually tossed the scroll back to the guard, who had been watching her nervously.
"This contract is indeed genuine. But you're too late."
"The Senju Clan no longer exists, so this contract naturally doesn't count anymore."
"If you really want to honor this contract, then go find the people who gave it to you. Don't come bothering me."
Tsunade had no intention of letting some suddenly produced contract restrict her actions.
Even if Hashirama Senju were still alive and the Senju Clan still flourishing, she would still dare to throw this contract right back in his face.
The two guards looked at each other.
After exchanging a glance, they quietly put the scroll away and prepared to leave.
Their straightforward reaction actually surprised Tsunade.
She looked at them suspiciously.
"Even though I wouldn't agree no matter what… you two aren't even going to try convincing me?"
"How are you going to report back like that?"
She asked purely out of curiosity.
After all, the Daimyō's court had sought her help many times before—usually asking her to treat someone's illness.
If Tsunade happened to be short on money, she would occasionally go.
But if she already had money or the trip was inconvenient, she would simply refuse.
In those cases, the messengers would often pester her endlessly, begging her until she became extremely annoyed.
Yet today's matter was obviously far more important than asking her to heal someone.
Their calm attitude seemed very strange to her.
The two guards exchanged another glance.
Finally, one of them spoke hesitantly.
"Princess… the truth is, the other party didn't really want to agree either."
"The Daimyō had to offer three billion ryō before they finally relented."
"But the other side seems to believe that you would never agree to this anyway. They said that if you agreed, then they would agree."
"The Daimyō also realized that this matter would probably go nowhere in the end, so he only sent us to try asking for your opinion. Even if we fail, it doesn't matter."
The two guards clearly knew some inside details and explained the situation clearly.
Tsunade's brows shot up.
"What did you just say?"
"It's one thing if I don't like him—but he doesn't like me either?"
"And he only reluctantly agreed after taking three billion ryō?"
She suddenly froze.
Her eyes widened.
"Wait… how much money did you say? Three… billion ryō?!"
That was three billion ryō!
Even if she lost one million ryō every single day, it would take nearly ten years to lose that much money.
Tsunade had never seen such an enormous amount of money in her life.
Another guard hesitated before adding,
"Actually… it's not just the three billion."
"I heard that from now on, all funding the Daimyō provides to Konoha will be transferred directly to them."
Tsunade: "???"
Shizune: "!!!"
At that moment, Tsunade finally realized something was seriously wrong.
This situation was far more complicated than she had imagined.
Frowning, she asked,
"Do you know who the man is that they want me to marry?"
The scroll given by the Daimyō had only mentioned the contract and the political marriage, but never stated who the groom was.
One of the guards answered:
"It's the current head of the Uchiha Clan—Uchiha Ren."
"Uchiha Ren…?"
Tsunade repeated the name slowly.
A mixture of realization and confusion appeared in her eyes.
The realization came from the fact that the other party was an Uchiha—a clan she had always considered troublesome. It wasn't surprising that they might not like her either.
But the confusion remained.
How did the Uchiha Clan end up cooperating with the Daimyō's court?
And who exactly is this Uchiha Ren?
Where did he come from, and how did he suddenly become the Uchiha Clan leader?
During her travels through the shinobi world over the years, Tsunade had spent most of her time drinking and gambling.
She was either gambling or on the way to gamble.
She had never bothered gathering information about world events.
Because of that, her knowledge was severely outdated.
Not only did she not know who Uchiha Ren was, she hadn't even heard about the Battle of Kikyō Mountain Fortress, which had recently shaken the entire shinobi world.
However, Tsunade's political instincts were still extremely sharp.
Even without knowing the details, she could sense that Konoha was currently in utter chaos.
She asked,
"If the Uchiha Clan took control of one of Konoha's major sources of revenue, then my Hokage teacher must be having a terrible time right now."
"That's true," one guard nodded.
"Your teacher is no longer the Hokage. He is now only the leader of a mission team and the Minister of Finance."
Tsunade raised an eyebrow, surprise flashing across her eyes.
"Tell me everything important that has happened in Konoha recently."
Despite her dissatisfaction with the village leadership, Tsunade still cared about Konohagakure.
She wanted to know what had happened.
The two guards did not hide anything.
Between the two of them, they described the major public events and some intelligence gathered by the Daimyō's court.
When they finished, Tsunade's face darkened.
"So let me get this straight."
"Right now in Konoha, Shimura Danzō and Minato Namikaze are competing to become Hokage."
"The Uchiha Clan, Hyūga Clan, and other major clans support Danzō."
"My teacher's faction supports Minato."
"And right now… my teacher's side is losing?"
"That's correct, based on the current situation," the guards replied.
Tsunade's eyes widened.
"Then what is the Daimyō trying to do?!"
"Does he want to support Shimura Danzō too?! That's ridiculous!"
One guard's eyes flickered slightly before answering,
"The Daimyō isn't supporting Shimura Danzō."
"He's supporting the Uchiha Clan."
"Whoever the Uchiha Clan supports—that's who the Daimyō supports."
"Damn it!"
Tsunade gritted her teeth.
"Did the Daimyō fall under Uchiha genjutsu or something?!"
Her expression grew increasingly agitated.
Although Tsunade had no interest in becoming Hokage herself, she absolutely did not want Shimura Danzō to become the Fourth Hokage.
Based on her understanding of him, if Danzō ever became Hokage—
Konoha's destruction would only be a matter of time.
That was something Tsunade would never allow to happen.
"Wait… that doesn't make sense!"
Tsunade suddenly thought of something and frowned.
"Everyone knows that Shimura Danzō hates the Uchiha Clan, and the Uchiha want him dead just as badly."
"So how on earth did Danzō and the Uchiha Clan end up working together?"
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