My heart was unbearably heavy. This feeling was like the irony of Louis XVI, who, according to legend, perfected the guillotine only in order to ascend the scaffold himself. A thought that was confusing and immensely depressing.
Sarutobi Hiruzen has disappeared.
"You didn't find it?" Tsunade asked with a sigh, looking at the NSA operative standing in front of her.
- no. We searched all of Konoha, but we didn't find a trace of the Third Hokage's head," he shook his head.
"Teacher, are you really dead?"
Tsunade looked at the table with impotence. Most recently, Sarutobi Hiruzen's head stood on it. Jiraiya was also here, they were discussing the affairs of the village... how could everything change so much in an instant?
Attempts to summon the head anew, using random inhabitants of the Land of Fire as victims, failed. Researchers have theorized that the Third may have actually died. After all, his soul was already damaged, and only his head remained of his body. The Spirit, which had suffered severe wounds in the Area of Dead Silence, could not stand it. Naruto's blow was the last straw, finally destroying Edo Tensei's vessel and destroying his already weakened soul.
Tsunade sighed helplessly. Since the problems with Uchiha Yue began, Konoha has been in increasing decline every day. Even the jinchuuriki of the Nine-Tails had become distant, having lost his former loyalty.
"Damn it!"
Tsunade gritted her teeth and slammed her fist down on the table. The fragile tabletop shattered into splinters. Impotence. Helplessness. This feeling was like an abyss, pulling her to the bottom, trying to swallow her whole.
Uchiha Yue... those eyes... that invincible Mangekyo Sharingan… Perhaps only such a force can solve the village's current problems.
Konoha was weakened to the limit. In the old days, the other villages would have attacked long ago, but now their attention is focused on Yue. There were much more important interests at stake. She knew that not only Konoha, but all the hidden villages were looking for a way to defeat him and seize this power.
"And if they succeed? A bitter thought flashed through my mind. "If they get his invincible eyes, then Konoha will be in hell, compared to which slavery will seem like heaven."
The strongest village will subdue all the others, taking the lion's share of the mission rewards. Konoha's Shinobi will have to work themselves to exhaustion just to earn a living, giving almost everything to the conquerors. The village will have no money, no strength, no future. Her Shinobi will simply starve to death.
Tsunade clenched her fists at the thought of such a future. The feeling of suffocation and hopelessness came back with renewed force. It was too terrible, too desperate.
"Such a power... shouldn't exist in this world!" Tsunade hissed, clutching her head. "If only his eyes could be destroyed."…
At that moment, she fully realized the horror of such a future, realized what the consequences would be if another village—especially after their failure—took over Uchiha Yue's power.
The fighting spirit that had been supporting her suddenly ran out.
"If we can't get his power, then no one should get it!"
It is better to destroy these eyes, to wipe out this absolute power from the face of the earth, capable of destroying a village or an entire country in one move. Then that system of economic enslavement will not arise. Yes, a weakened Konoha will not be able to withstand the invasion of other villages, and it will lose many benefits and contracts. But as long as it is not sucked dry, the village will live. And while she lives, one day she will be great again.
Tsunade came to the hospital. Jiraiya, covered in bandages, was lying on a cot. His lower body and left arm were missing, and IV lines were attached to his mutilated torso. He looked incredibly pitiful, but he was alive. Just barely.
"Teacher Hiruzen has disappeared..." she thought, looking at Jiraiya, who had not regained consciousness since that day. I felt dreary.
It was painful for her to admit, but it was also their fault that Jiraiya was in such a state. If they hadn't pushed Sasuke to his death, if Naruto hadn't found out the truth about their so-called Will of Fire…
"In words, everything is for the sake of the village, but in reality it is a complete disregard for the lives of comrades. The mouth is full of righteousness, but the inside is full of deceit and poison."
The disappearance of the Third, Jiraiya's coma... now Konoha's entire weight was on her shoulders. Tsunade felt like she was about to go crazy.
— Tsunade-sama, trouble! Something's wrong!
At the moment when Tsunade was immersed in grief, an NSA operative ran up to her and anxiously handed her a scroll with a report.
"What else?" "What is it?" she asked wearily. — Is someone out of control again?