Chapter 55: Tobirama Dropped Gold Coins
The Endo clan was not to be spared. Regardless of their reasons for being involved, their fate was sealed.
Senju Tobirama didn't even bother with the pretense of an investigation. He simply gave the order for the clan's systematic dismantling. If they dared to involve themselves in such matters, they had to be prepared to bear the consequences.
When the puppet Daimyo of the Land of Fire learned of this, he nearly fainted on the spot. A trembling hand penned a missive of apology, sent alongside a mountain of supplies and coin to Konoha. Only then was the matter considered closed.
Amidst the village's anxious anticipation, Stelle finally awoke.
The hospital ward, once quiet, suddenly became the liveliest place in Konoha. A constant stream of visitors flowed in and out of Stelle's room throughout the day. Her popularity, it seemed, was quite high; on any given mission, she was known for taking careful care of her teammates. That, combined with her powerful and reliable presence on the battlefield, meant that none of the younger generation of shinobi disliked her.
Homura Mitokado stood among a group of his peers, his tone swelling with the self-importance of a grand orator.
"You have no idea! It was pure luck. I just wanted to go to the nearby town to buy a few things, and I happened to be passing by when I saw the distress signal from Tsukiyomi Kenshi. In that moment, I thought to myself, 'Even if I have to run until my lungs burst, I must get this news to Tobirama-sensei!'"
He gestured wildly, spittle flying as he recounted a dramatic tale of overcoming countless difficulties, finally reaching Konoha, and collapsing from exhaustion. The intention to claim a hefty portion of the credit was painfully obvious.
'I thank your whole family,' Stelle thought, her expression flat. She couldn't even summon the energy to force a polite smile.
After Homura and the other classmates finally departed, a few others she was more casually acquainted with stopped by, including Tsukiyomi Kenshi himself.
Who knew what the young man was thinking? He brought her flowers and a small mountain of snacks, his face perpetually flushed as he stammered through his words.
Finally, Uchiha Kagami, seeing that the constant flow of people was disturbing her rest, shooed everyone away. He stayed behind to look after her, peeling apples and handing her water with an attentiveness that surpassed even the hospital nurses. He was truly a dependable teammate.
It wasn't until evening that her two best friends, Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura, arrived together.
"Sorry, Stelle," Hiruzen began. "Too many things piled up. We had to handle them before we could come see you."
"If we didn't finish today, it would just pile up for tomorrow," Danzo added, ever the pragmatist. "Then you'd be overwhelmed, and that would affect your recovery."
Their opening remarks made Stelle laugh out of sheer, unadulterated anger. She was beginning to realize that the two of them possessed a unique talent for saying things that could make her laugh in pure exasperation.
"I'm in this state, and you actually want me to come to the office tomorrow to help you review documents? Are you even human?" she shot back, her voice dangerously low. "Can you be more mature? Handle your own work and stop trying to rely on others."
She was so incensed that a flicker of violet chakra licked at her palms, the low hum of contained energy making both men jump back in perfect unison.
"Rest well," Hiruzen said hastily. "We have other things to do. Goodbye."
After they scrambled out of the room, Stelle stared blankly at her bedsheets for a while, bored. A strange thought surfaced: Senju Tobirama still hadn't come to the hospital.
She had finally, with great difficulty, woken up, and yet he hadn't come to see her. It didn't make any sense.
'Is he still angry?'But she still couldn't figure out why he would be angry in the first place. Being ambushed wasn't her fault. And getting a little injured while being besieged by two Kage-level powerhouses and an Elite Jōnin was perfectly normal; coming out of that unscathed would have been the truly terrifying outcome. Add an Uchiha with a Mangekyō Sharingan to the mix, and no normal person should have survived. Only a cheater like her would dare to be so reckless.'Sigh. Tobirama's thoughts are so hard to guess. No matter how much I try, I can't figure him out. Time to sleep.'
Later that night, Stelle was jolted awake by the system's frantic broadcasting of mood values—all from Senju Tobirama.
So many mood values. They were flooding in, popping up in chunks of fifty thousand, directly increasing her total by over a million in a matter of seconds. It was as if she had stumbled upon a raid boss while grinding, defeated it, and Tobirama had just dropped a massive pile of gold coins for her.
Stelle was instantly wide awake. "Holy crap, why is Senju Tobirama dropping gold coins for me? What happened?"
She checked the system's backend. Good heavens. In just that short burst, Senju Tobirama had contributed 1.85 million mood values. Truly extravagant.
'Forget Black Zetsu the tycoon,'she thought wryly.'Tobirama is the real Top Donor, isn't he?'
But when her eyes fell on her total debt, she couldn't laugh anymore. A total debt of 1,111,111,111,000. This was a trillion-level debt. Over a million was a lot, but compared to a trillion, it was a drop in the ocean.
A long road lay ahead.
'Wait, is now the time to be thinking about this?'
She should be figuring out why Senju Tobirama was so emotionally volatile. She was dying to go and confront him right away.
One had to understand, even when Senju Hashirama had died, Tobirama hadn't been this agitated. This was different. This felt like something had happened that completely defied his worldview, leaving him in disbelief, fundamentally doubting the very truth of the matter.
So, what on earth was it?
Stelle rolled around on the bed, deciding she would have to find an opportunity in a few days to sound him out.
In the dead of night, as she was staring blankly at the ceiling, she suddenly felt a familiar chakra fluctuation from outside the window.
The fluctuation was very, very faint—utterly undetectable to an ordinary person. But she was an existence who could sense even Black Zetsu. How could this trace of chakra possibly escape her notice?
So, what was Senju Tobirama doing outside her hospital room window in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?
'Could it be?'she wondered.'He wants to catch a glimpse of me but doesn't want me to know, so he sneaked over when everyone's asleep?'
Just because the Flying Thunder God technique was convenient didn't mean he should just be teleporting all over the place.
Stelle closed her eyes and steadied her breathing, pretending to be sound asleep. She decided to wait until he entered the room, then she would feign waking up, chat with him, and fish for information.
However, after waiting for a long time, Senju Tobirama never entered. A moment later, when Stelle focused her senses again, the man had already used the Flying Thunder God to vanish.
Stelle's eyes snapped open. "...What's with all the secrecy?"
The next day, Stelle planned to be discharged and recover at home, but the Hospital Director flatly refused. He insisted she stay for two more days of observation, his expression suggesting that Senju Tobirama would have his head if she left a minute early.
Stelle had no choice but to endure two more boring days in the hospital.
After lingering for a total of three days, Stelle slipped away early on the fourth morning, just as the hospital staff was starting their shifts. If she stayed any longer, she felt like she'd grow rusty.
She had just arrived home when an Anbu Black Ops member appeared at her door.
"Stelle-sama, there is a large pile of documents in the office that requires your attention. Since you've just been discharged, would you like me to move them to your home for processing?"
"What? Documents from the office for me to handle?" Stelle frowned. "Aren't Hiruzen and Danzo there? Even if those two are slacking off, it shouldn't get to the point where you're bringing documents to my house."
She found it strange. Hiruzen Sarutobi was the future Third Hokage. Although his methods were more conciliatory compared to hers and Danzo's, he was still young and full of passion. At most, he might be indecisive about small things, but he was quite clear-headed when it came to major matters. With Danzo to assist and Tobirama watching over them, how could the paperwork have piled up so ridiculously that it needed to be sent to her home?
But the Anbu's next words left Stelle even more surprised.
"What did you say? Tobirama-sensei took Hiruzen Sarutobi and the six-man guard team to Kumogakure in the Land of Lightning to sign the Five Great Nations' armistice agreement... and they left three days ago in the morning?"
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