Naruto: I Survived Two Wars Without You, System!

Hiruzen Sarutobi's brow furrowed deeply at the sight of Tsunade standing alone at the doorway.

Before he could even speak, Koharu Utatane, already seated on the couch, abruptly shot to her feet, glaring furiously at Tsunade as she snapped.

"Tsunade! Do you even realize what you're saying?! You really think becoming Hokage means it's just up to your word..."

Sss~

A serpent-like hiss whispered by her ear.

Dressed in emerald green robes and wearing a golden hairpin, Tama no Hime materialized from thin air, her serpentine fangs grazing Koharu's neck, cutting her off mid-sentence.

Seeing Koharu Utatane taken hostage, Homura Mitokado started to move when… the same eerie hiss reached his ears.

Clad in snow-white robes, Ichikishima no Hime—resembling an innocent little girl—perched on his shoulder, coldly speaking with a playful tone.

"Stay still now~ I'm not really into feasting on old men, but if you misbehave, I'll have no choice but to take a bite."

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

A group of Root ninjas dressed in Anbu attire appeared outside the window of the Hokage Office.

The two direct Anbu ninjas, previously crouched silently in a corner of the office, now sprang into action as if sensing a major threat, quickly gathering around Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Just then, a breath as soft as silk, as light as morning mist, brushed against Sarutobi's side.

The two Anbu ninjas immediately felt their eyelids grow unbearably heavy.

The next moment, their bodies collapsed softly onto the ground.

Tatsumi no Hime, who had remained unseen until now, finally revealed herself, bowing gracefully before Sarutobi.

Then, with a graceful sweep of her hand, she extended a courteous invitation.

"Root ninja, alongside the Three Snake Princesses of Ryuchi Cave—are Danzo and Orochimaru your backers?"

With deep disappointment evident on his face, Hiruzen lifted his pipe, igniting the tobacco with a flick of flame from his fingertip, taking a long, deep puff.

It was no secret that Danzo had long coveted the Hokage title.

But for two of his own disciples to conspire with Danzo, attempting to bring him down from the Hokage seat…

Truly made him feel chilled to the bone.

And them...

They were seriously underestimating him!

His title as the "Professor" was earned through real combat on actual battlefields in his prime!

True, his strength had indeed been gradually declining in recent years due to aging,

But imagining they could control Konoha with such tactics? Pure folly!

"Old man, you're too full of yourself."

A flicker of pity crossed Tsunade's eyes as she stepped into the Hokage Office.

"Tsunade, if you truly did this on your own strength, Master would feel nothing but pride. But if you're relying on others' power, you'll drag Konoha into ruin. Master cannot allow this…"

Hiruzen wore the expression of a kind-hearted old teacher trying to reason with a stubborn student.

Yet even now, failing to grasp even the smallest sliver of truth, his words fell flat, only deepening Tsunade's sorrow.

Glancing toward the barrier already set up by Root ninjas surrounding the Hokage Office,

She gently tapped the sealing tag concealed within her robe pocket.

Kushina's external sealing formation and Kei Yamanaka's internal sealing technique within the tag dissipated, and waves of spatial techniques swiftly enveloped the entire office.

Sarutobi Hiruzen's expression darkened momentarily.

All protective barriers and disruptive seals originally set up in the Hokage Office hadn't been triggered at all!

When did this happen?!

Glancing outside the window at the Root ninja, and Tsunade who was also caught in an unfamiliar technique, Hiruzen cursed inwardly.

Although clearly not binding or imprisoning seals, the technique bore traces of spatial ninjutsu—it probably just aimed to transport him away from the Hokage building.

But...his direct Anbu had traitors too!

Swish~!

A powerful space ripple capable of redirecting a full-scale Tailed Beast Ball flashed across.

Everyone inside the Hokage Office vanished one by one through the ninjutsu, heading toward a pre-established spatial point.

——————

Outside the training cave, dense forest had transformed into a lush green plain.

In the direction of the training cave,

on a wooden tiered stadium with rows of seats,

many prominent clan leaders from Konoha, department heads, and elite Jonin took their seats.

Jiraiya, Orochimaru, Minato Namikaze, Fugaku Uchiha, Hiashi Hyūga, Shikaku Nara, Hayato Yamanaka, Choza Akimichi, Shibi Aburame, Murakumo Kurama, Gaku Inuzuka...

Everyone remained silent, glancing occasionally toward the highest section of the stands.

The First Hokage Hashirama Senju, the Second Hokage Tobirama Senju,

and...

One of Konoha's founders—Madara Uchiha!

"Kei Yamanaka! That white-haired brat on the right—if he keeps staring at me with that disrespectful look, don't blame me for starting a fight!"

Uchiha Madara sat cross-armed at the far left end of the elevated platform, his face raised slightly in irritation.

"Tobirama, Tobirama, come on! Look over there! Here comes Tsunade! Today is the day she becomes Hokage! At least try to look happy!" 

Hashirama Senju sat between Tobirama Senju and Madara Uchiha,

cheerfully twisting his younger brother's head around, forcing his face toward the distant center of the plain.

"Hmph!"

Tobirama could feel the pressure twisting his neck like it might snap his head clean off.

He gave a cold snort and stopped glaring at Madara.

Being brought back this morning through Impure World Reincarnation was bad enough.

First, he'd been slammed repeatedly into the ground by this guy Kei Yamanaka using his elder brother's Wood Release.

No sooner had he begun to recover than Madara started hurling insults non-stop.

Damn it!

Why hadn't he listened to his elder brother back then and just abandoned his experiments with Impure World Reincarnation?!

"Madara~ Lighten up! Look how prosperous Konoha has become! Even some of your own clansmen are here! Everyone gets along so well—doesn't this make you happy?"

Senju Hashirama patted Madara on the shoulder, his face brightening with a warm, genuine smile.

Earlier, Kei Yamanaka had already explained the significance of uniting the five villages and bringing unity to the ninja world.

His own village was on the verge of making history again—

bringing lasting peace to the ninja world!

How could this not make him genuinely happy?

"Hmph! Foolish!"

Madara Uchiha scoffed and turned his head away.

If it weren't for at least some interest in what was about to happen next, he wouldn't have stayed here for another minute!

Earlier, while Kei Yamanaka explained his thoughts to Hashirama Senju, Madara had been listening from the side. But deep down, he didn't hold much hope for the vision being described.

Wherever people exist, conflicts will arise.

There will always be those dissatisfied with the status quo, desiring more—more power, more possessions, more pleasure.

Attempting to suppress everything through sheer military might can only work temporarily.

Lasting peace?

Hmph...

Whoosh—

On the wide open plain,

a ripple tore through space.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, Tsunade, Koharu Utatane, Homura Mitokado, the Three Snake Princesses, and two unconscious Anbu agents—all suddenly appeared at the center of the arena.

The Three Snake Princesses seized the unconscious Anbu and shoved Koharu and Homura back to the edge of the arena.

Hiruzen looked toward the distant high grandstand, and at everyone seated there. His already grim expression darkened even further.

Good news:

his apprentice clearly hadn't allied herself with Danzō and Orochimaru.

Bad news:

most of Konoha's power seemed to have secretly aligned itself.

And worse still...

the former Hokage and Madara Uchiha himself!

Tsunade... how on earth did you pull this off?!

"Old man, don't bother looking anymore. You should understand what their presence here means."

Tsunade took a deep breath and laid the harshest reality before Hiruzen.

All these years...

Sensei, I've let everyone down...

"Tsunade, passing the Hokage title around like this will pose serious threats to the village."

"Talk to me after you beat me."

"Sigh... Then let an old teacher test your skills one last time."

Hiruzen's eyes chilled over.

Passing the Hokage title through brute force is absolutely wrong and twisted thinking!

It would lead the village into worshipping strength above all else!

That kind of ideology would harm both the management and development of the village!

Watching from the distant grandstand, Kei Yamanaka clearly overheard every word Sarutobi spoke, smirking faintly in disdain.

Give everyone a seemingly fair opportunity to compete.

Anyone meeting certain conditions can initiate the "Hokage Challenge."

Isn't that, in itself, a form of positive motivation?

Not to mention whether ordinary ninja could even reach such requirements—even if he lowered the requirements a bit to give average ninja more hope...

In the end, wasn't the strongest still chosen by him anyway?

...

Name: Tsunade

Occupation: Konoha Ninja

Traits: [Medical & Martial Prodigy] (Red), [Ten Victories in Ten Engagements] (Red), [Pseudo Sage Physique] (Red), [One of the Sannin] (Purple), [Enchantress Warrior] (Purple), [Light-Shadow Flow] (Blue), [Sealing Mastery] (Blue), [Family Inheritance] (Green), [Counter-Gambling King] (Black).

...

Kei Yamanaka observed Tsunade's traits interface with a satisfied look.

Look at that! Three red-tier skill listings—and all somehow tied to him!

Although [Natural Sage Body] came with a 'pseudo' qualifier, stacking three skills together was more than enough to utterly dominate a Kage-level opponent — all within three short days, Tsunade's power had been forcibly boosted to this level.

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