After the feast, Kawakaze and Tsunade returned to their room.
Sakumo and Dai walked home together.
"Ah…"
Sakumo let out a sigh for no apparent reason, which immediately drew a question from Dai.
"Brother Sakumo, why are you sighing?"
Dai looked at Sakumo, who seemed faintly melancholy, utterly puzzled. He had never heard of anything particularly tragic happening.
"I didn't expect Kawamine's strength to have reached this level," Sakumo said.
"No matter how weak the Seven-Tails may be, it's still a tailed beast."
Sakumo suddenly recalled his childhood. His parents had died early, leaving only him and his younger brother, Kawakane, dependent on each other.
Back then, I was still just a child myself. All I really did was feed him. Saying that I raised him alone would be an exaggeration.
But I did make significant contributions. When he grew up, my younger brother could use his brains, while I would handle the physical labor.
And now, my younger brother's strength far surpasses my own.
"Isn't that a good thing?" Dai asked.
Dai couldn't understand the feeling of being gradually overshadowed by one's own younger brother. All Sakumo could do was sigh once more and look up at the sky.
Family—who can truly understand it? Who can do it just because they want to?
The next day, inspiration struck.
Under Tsunade's leadership, Konoha's main force finished assembling and advanced into the Land of Rain.
Since Hanzo the Salamander's death, the Rain Country had completely lost its defensive capability.
Along the way, the Rain ninja they encountered all left the main force.
You could even see Rain ninja fighting one another—civil war had already begun.
The people of the Rain Country were suffering deeply. Those with even a bit of wealth or influence had already moved to other nations.
Those who remained were the poor, living in utter misery.
"Sensei, does the Rain Country still have hope?"
Minato was kind-hearted as ever. Seeing the orphans secretly watching from afar, he was reminded of his own past.
"Don't worry. I already have arrangements in place."
Kawamine revealed a fox-like smile. A plan had already taken shape in his mind.
Ideally, he wanted to personally control the Rain Country rather than leave it in someone else's hands—but the time was not yet ripe.
"What's your plan?" Tsunade asked suspiciously, eyeing the man who so often came up with sudden ideas.
"Haha. Anyway, it's a good thing. You can focus on becoming Hokage first."
They were keeping some distance from the main force, with no one else around, so Kawamine didn't worry about being overheard.
"Mysterious," Tsunade muttered.
After a few complaints, seeing that Kawamine had no intention of explaining, she couldn't be bothered to press him further.
Sooner or later, he would tell her—he always had plenty of ways to deal with her.
After several days of camping in the open, they finally reached the border between the Land of Rain and the Land of Wind.
On the way, Konoha ninja had already clashed with Sunagakure ninja.
They obtained no useful intelligence—just low-level operatives sent to gather information.
At the Rain–Wind border, the massive army halted.
Charging recklessly into the Land of Wind without understanding what awaited them would be extremely dangerous.
"Yamanaka Hayato, contact your people," Tsunade ordered.
"I need to know how Sunagakure is operating."
After a brief rest, Tsunade sat inside the tent and told Hayato to begin his work.
She looked increasingly mature now, her expression solemn, still carrying the bearing of a general when issuing commands.
Kawamine watched her, a smile unconsciously forming at the corner of his lips.
"The information has been sent. Please wait a moment, Lady Tsunade," Hayato replied.
People like Hayato would certainly be valued by company executives—he always managed to get things done ahead of time.
"Good. Well done," Tsunade said with a smile, clearly pleased.
"Kawamine, what do you think?"
She turned to him and asked again. She was a leader willing to listen to others' opinions.
"Sunagakure and Amegakure can't be compared at all," Kawamine said.
"There are many top-tier experts there."
"Their number of ninja isn't much less than Konoha's."
"It'll be extremely difficult to strike directly at the core."
"Let's wait for the intelligence and then formulate a plan."
Kawamine voiced his assessment. The conflict between Suna and Ame was never a clash of all top-tier fighters.
At most, Suna had sent its strongest puppeteer, Chiyo, as a gesture of respect to Hanzo. On the other hand, they had likely considered that the Salamander posed too great a threat to large-scale forces.
"What do you think, brother?" Tsunade asked, noticing Sakumo lost in thought.
"I once carried out a mission in the Land of Wind and fought Chiyo," Sakumo said.
"She's a very troublesome woman."
He frowned. Back then, he had been no match for her at all.
That mission had nearly failed at her hands.
"Her Ten Puppets of Chikamatsu were created by the ancestor of puppetry," he continued. "Those ten puppets alone could conquer a city."
What left the deepest impression on Kawamine was Sasori's evaluation of Chiyo in the original story—indirect proof of just how formidable she was.
"W-when the time comes…"
Dai was about to launch into a passionate speech, but Hayato interrupted him with an apologetic scratch of his head.
The path of youth was always filled with bumps and setbacks.
"Lady Tsunade, someone has arrived."
A masked Konoha ninja entered the tent, saluted Tsunade and the others, and began his report.
"Sunagakure has already received word of our surprise attack."
"They have deployed multiple defensive lines along the border."
"Chiyo is in command this time. The identities of the other specialists are unknown."
"According to Sunagakure, the Kazekage and the jinchūriki have not made any moves yet."
"However, we lost contact a day ago. We may have been discovered."
The intelligence officer's voice was cold and flat. Even when announcing that comrades might be dead, his tone showed no emotion.
After speaking, he pulled a map from his chest, marking the locations of Suna's defensive lines.
Yamanaka Hayato took it, glanced at it, and handed it to Tsunade.
Sunagakure had set up defenses along the main routes through which the Rain Country and its two neighboring nations could invade the Land of Wind.
Chiyo excelled at military deployment, capable of both offense and defense.
"Understood," Tsunade said after studying the map.
The intelligence ninja immediately withdrew.
In war, their role could be even more important than that of the frontline fighters.
"By the time we receive this information, Chiyo may already know about us as well," Sakumo said.
Every village had countless hidden operatives.
When Sakumo focused on analysis, he was still extremely sharp—as long as no one provoked him.
"When the situation isn't clear, you never know the outcome until the cards are played," Kawamine said.
He picked up the defensive map and examined it. This offensive campaign was likely to become a hard-fought battle.
Whether they could tear open a breach would be crucial.
"You're still a trump card," Sakumo continued, referring to Tsunade. "But once you use it…"
"Shukaku will probably appear very soon. As for what the Third Kazekage will be like, that's hard to say."
As soon as she released a Tailed Beast Bomb, no matter how brilliant the victory, Shukaku's arrival would be inevitable.
So this opportunity had to be used carefully.
This time, Tsunade was leading the army on her own—this was also her chance to establish her authority.
If they defeated the Land of Wind and achieved outstanding military merit, she would be one step closer to becoming Hokage.
As for the Fire Daimyō, it was no exaggeration to say that Tsunade's connections were even closer than those of the Third Hokage.
Therefore, whether the daimyō approved or not was never a concern for her.
She was called Princess Tsunade for a reason—not only because Senju Hashirama was her grandfather.
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