Tsunade suddenly stood up, pointing directly at Sarutobi Hiruzen's nose as she demanded loudly:
"Isn't the Book of Sealing written by my second grandfather? Weren't the Ninjutsu inside developed by my first grandfather and second grandfather? Isn't it the treasure of our Senju clan?"
"The Book of Sealing was only temporarily placed in your care. What? As the heir of the Senju clan, do I need your permission to use it? Look into my eyes and answer me!!!"
Seeing Tsunade's expression that suggested she might attack him at any moment, Sarutobi Hiruzen ultimately chose to compromise. After all, Tsunade's arguments made sense. If the Senju clan truly wanted to reclaim the Book of Sealing, they had every right to do so.
"Alright then, I'll lend the Book of Sealing to Ren for half a day to study. However, the Ninjutsu inside cannot be shared with others."
Only after getting the answer she wanted did Tsunade sit back down in her seat. She waved her hand dismissively and said:
"In that case, send someone to deliver the Book of Sealing quickly. Why are you still here? Do you want me to invite you for dinner?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen's expression immediately turned awkward.
"Regardless, I am still your teacher. Can't you show me even a little respect?"
Tsunade responded with a contemptuous look.
"Cut the nonsense. That guy Jiraiya learned from you. I heard he's even written something called 'Make-Out Paradise' now. Just from the title, you can tell what kind of trash it is. You should leave my house quickly and not corrupt my disciple."
Indeed, in Tsunade's eyes, although Hayato Ren was flirtatious, lecherous, and liked to take advantage of her, he was still a perfectly healthy student both mentally and physically.
She couldn't let him be corrupted by the likes of Sarutobi Hiruzen and Jiraiya.
Sarutobi Hiruzen smiled wryly, nodded toward Hayato Ren, and then left Tsunade's house.
However, his back appeared more hunched than when he had arrived, clearly showing that Tsunade's final remarks had struck a heavy blow.
As a Hokage, being questioned about his personal morals by his own student was truly a failure.
Not long after Sarutobi Hiruzen left, an Anbu member unexpectedly appeared before Tsunade and Hayato Ren.
After respectfully handing a Sealing Scroll to Tsunade, the Anbu disappeared with a "poof" sound.
Tsunade opened the Sealing Scroll, revealing a somewhat thick notebook inside.
After flipping through it casually, Tsunade tossed the notebook to Hayato Ren and instructed:
"Your only task now is to make an exact copy of the Book of Sealing, word for word without any mistakes. As for the Ninjutsu inside, you can learn them slowly later."
Looking at the ordinary-looking notebook in his hands, Hayato Ren couldn't help but complain:
"I thought this so-called Book of Sealing would be more impressive. Why does it feel so ordinary? My fantasy has been shattered..."
Tsunade lightly flicked Hayato Ren's forehead and explained in an exasperated tone:
"That Book of Sealing in your hands is also a copy. The original Book of Sealing is still locked away in some unknown location."
After having a simple dinner with Tsunade, Hayato Ren began his great undertaking of copying the book.
One night later, Hayato Ren finally finished copying the Book of Sealing word for word.
After checking multiple times to ensure there were no errors or omissions, Hayato Ren threw his copied version into the Summoning World of Charizard and Tyranitar.
Since only Hayato Ren and his Pokémon could enter that place, he preferred to store all important items there.
Two days later, Tsunade and Jiraiya led some elite ninja to provide support in the Rain Country.
Within the Rain Country, aside from the local Rain Ninja, three major forces were entrenched: the Leaf, the Sand, and the Rock.
Since the Sand's numbers weren't particularly large, and they spent most of their time clashing with the Rain Ninja,
the Leaf's main opponent in the Rain Country was the Rock.
However, recently, Hanzo - the leader of the Rain Ninja who was hailed as a Demigod of the Shinobi World - had gone mad for some reason and actually drove the Rain Ninja to launch an attack on the Leaf.
This suddenly changed the previously stalemated situation.
That's why Sarutobi Hiruzen sent Tsunade and Jiraiya to lead a team to support the Rain Country front.
Among the support ninja, Hayato Ren was notably included.
Originally, Tsunade hadn't planned to bring Hayato Ren along, but she couldn't withstand his repeated requests.
Many important events were about to occur in the Rain Country - the young Three-Way Deadlock's battle with Hanzo, Chiyo's fight with Hanzo, Nawaki's death, and Jiraiya taking Nagato and his two companions as students.
Hayato Ren absolutely had to get involved in these events. At the very least, he needed to save that unlucky fellow Nawaki.
If Nawaki ended up like in the original story - becoming the only named ninja to be killed by an Exploding Tag -
even if Tsunade didn't develop hemophobia, she would still be so devastated that she'd spend every day either drinking heavily or gambling.
After several days of forced marching, Hayato Ren and the others finally arrived in the Rain Country.
Compared to the peaceful and prosperous Land of Fire, the Rain Country could be described as utterly devastated.
Everywhere were ruins formed from collapsed buildings, and there were even wild dogs chewing on unidentifiable "meat."
Seeing this hellish scene, Hayato Ren finally understood why Hanzo had gone mad.
Clearly, it was the Rock and Sand who wanted to fight the Leaf, yet these three great ninja villages didn't set their battlefield in their own countries, but rather in the Rain Country which served as a battleground for all sides.
For the people living in the Rain Country, this was nothing less than an undeserved catastrophe.
Perhaps this was the sorrow of being a small nation.
Hayato Ren stretched his hand out from under his raincoat, feeling the cold touch of raindrops on his palm, and spoke with some emotion:
"The Rain Country is a sorrowful nation. These raindrops are like the tears of its people - endless, indescribable, and continuous."
Tsunade glanced at the somewhat compassionate Hayato Ren but didn't respond.
Jiraiya, however, showed an expression as if he had found a kindred spirit. He quickly grabbed Hayato Ren's hand and said excitedly:
"I knew you were the same kind of person as me, Ren. You're also a ninja with great empathy."
Watching Jiraiya's movements, Tsunade's eyelids twitched several times.
Since Jiraiya happened to be acting quite seriously for once, she decided not to interrupt his conversation with Hayato Ren.
After this brief interlude, the group arrived at the Leaf's camp in the Rain Country.