Chapter 236: Return to Konoha...

Uchiha Sasuke looked into his close friend's eyes and said, "I… I just want to protect all of you now."

That included his fellow clan members, his parents, and this close friend before him.

After thinking for a moment, he added, "If you want, I can be Uchiha Sasuke, a jōnin of Konoha."

"That wouldn't be bad. Living a life with kids so young," Link remarked with an easy smile, not intending to force anyone into anything.

He hadn't expected that Eternal Mangekyō Sasuke would so quickly drop out of the top tier of his "Pokémon"—er, helper—rankings.

After all, the invincible Hashirama was about to take the stage next; who would need anyone else?

Even if Uchiha Madara were resurrected, there'd be nothing to fear. If the tailed beasts can't all be gathered, you can't form the Ten-Tails. With no Ten-Tails, Kaguya can't appear. Without an enemy at the Six Paths level, there's really nothing to worry about.

Link felt more inflated than ever. The Sword of Damocles hanging over his head might as well take a hike. He could grow up normally now, without needing to accelerate his body's growth day by day; he could just be a regular good kid of Konoha, wait until he grew to a height of 1.8 meters, become Hokage, reach power on par with the Six Paths, and then find a way to upend the entire ninja world.

He had long since found the ninja system distasteful.

[Maybe I can plant some ideals in Senju Hashirama's mind?] Random thoughts flashed through his head.

[Here we go again.]

Senju Tobirama, silently observing Link, saw that although Link still wore a calm smile and had peaceful eyes, his inner turmoil was intense. Could it be that such violent mental activity was precisely what gave this kid the power to mutate ninjutsu?

Besides his ongoing research on Edo Tensei, the Swamp of the Underworld, the backup plans for the tailed beasts, and Jūgo, Tobirama's core experiment was aimed at one target:

"Link."

And once more…

Hina (the ninja cat) quietly watched Senju Tobirama peeping at her master in a daze, silently taking note.

Of course, it didn't understand all this about experiments and research; initially, it just wanted to gain fame in the ninja-cat world. Next time it returned home in glory, it could show off to others that it had once swiped the Second Hokage's bells.

But as it paid more attention, it noticed that Tobirama had been peeping at its master the whole time. True to its ninja-cat instincts, it recorded every interval in a notebook, trying to see if there was a pattern—why he was spying in the first place.

Once again…

Utakata looked on with keen interest at the two men and one cat. Didn't those three realize they were already the focus of attention just by standing among the crowd?

Uchiha Sasuke waited patiently. When Link, who seemed to be staring at him, finally showed a flicker in his eyes, Sasuke spoke up. He was the earliest one to grow familiar with how his friend could suddenly space out. "I talked with my father. They'll become Konoha shinobi in the future. As for me…"

"I might open a dessert shop."

"Aren't you not into sweets?" Link asked curiously, and then fell silent.

Uchiha Sasuke gave a slight smile without answering. Instead, he said, "The future should be peaceful, right? Then I'll still live in Konoha."

He wasn't a fool. How could he not see that this close friend, who went on about grand plans and controlling the world, wasn't really that ruthless?

He wouldn't even destroy the Land of Waves, much less do worse.

His friend was strange—always talking about these things and even believing them, yet look at what he actually did. Sasuke probably should've noticed sooner.

Glancing at Utakata, Sasuke met his eyes, and both of them wore a bit of a smile.

With the air of a hidden mastermind, Link said, "Then I'll definitely come and support you when the time comes—"

Uchiha Sasuke listened quietly. Because of certain circumstances, he actually knew quite a bit about sweets.

People are odd creatures. He once hated and detested the sweets Itachi loved.

But now, suddenly, he felt that sweets might be okay. Maybe he should give them a try.

"Oh right, I heard Karin really likes pork cutlet bowls," Link said, giving Sasuke a knowing look. Then he watched the little Uchiha kids emerge with bags and baggage, ordering his shadow minions to help carry their luggage.

That luggage included the little kids themselves.

And never mind that the Uchihas hadn't yet recovered their past-life powers—even if they had, after the shadows' latest upgrade, each one was physically on par with Might Guy in his base form. One-on-one at close range, making use of the shadows' two-dimensional trick for a sneak attack, they could instantly take out a group.

Once you're caught, there's no point in resisting.

Uchiha Sasuke was making progress; Utakata was making progress; Link was also improving. He just lacked Tsunade's supply of high-purity medicine, so his growth was slowing down. Even so, compared to ordinary people, he was still advancing at an impressive speed.

"Uncle, Aunt," he greeted Fugaku and his wife sweetly and then had the shadows bring chairs for everyone.

Even if Eternal Mangekyō Sasuke wasn't in the top tier, he was still worth roping in, so Sasuke's parents mattered. Playing the emotional card wasn't a bad move.

He had specially ordered a batch of excellent chairs for everyone to use during their journey. Once you have peak-form Senju Hashirama on your side, what else is there to fear? Of course you should enjoy yourself.

After all, if you can't enjoy life, what's the point of getting stronger?

Whether you order two chairs or a few dozen, it's all the same. Nekobaa might think the order is odd, but it doesn't matter. If money can solve it, it isn't really a problem.

[Maybe the key is this kind of mentality that can fool even one's own heart?]

Senju Tobirama silently jotted that down, deciding to sneak back and run some experiments with Sarutobi and the others. Then he plopped down onto a soft, wind-shielded chair.

What could he say? It felt so comfortable, it clashed with the entire concept of being a ninja.

Compared to those sedan chairs the nobles used—ones that no human being could sit in for long—this was luxury.

Hina, however, wasn't used to the custom-made cat bed and stayed curled up in a shadow's arms, ready to be petted. If she wanted someone to pat her head, she'd tap the shadow's arm. If she wanted a chin rub, she'd tap the shadow's chest. It seemed she had trained her personal shadow quite well.

Time to return to the village!

…

Konoha, Hokage's Office.

"Still no word from Jiraiya and the others?"

Tsunade—who had been missing for a good while—sat on the opposite side of the Hokage's desk, wearing a solemn expression.

The Third Hokage frowned. "We'll find out once Link gets back. If something really happened to them, it would show up in the Pure Land."

Does everything hinge on Link's jutsu? Is the entire village going to revolve around him from now on?

Tsunade felt a bit exasperated. She was starting to suspect that in her absence, the old-timers had all been caught under Link's genjutsu. The Second Hokage's 'resurrection,' Danzo's 'suicide'—one story sounded more bizarre than the next.

Summoning souls from the Pure Land is one thing, but actual resurrection? That seemed dubious.

"Where's Link? I'll go find him," she decided to take the initiative and see for herself.

"No." The Third Hokage rejected that outright. There was no need to send anyone off to interrupt the research on the Edo Tensei.

Tsunade resisted the urge to slam her fist on the desk. She'd noticed that ever since she perfected her permanent Sage Mode, her temper had worsened. She hadn't been all that gentle to begin with, but now she was like a pile of tinder that ignited at the slightest spark.

"Hoo~" She exhaled slowly. "Then I'll go look for Jiraiya, all right?"

The Third Hokage once again rejected her without hesitation: "No. If Jiraiya and Kakashi have both disappeared, there's no way we'd let you go off alone."

"So this won't do, that won't do—old man, you—!" Tsunade shot to her feet, glaring furiously at the Hokage and the two advisors.

"Swish!"

An Anbu dropped into the room, knelt, and reported, "Jōnin Link has returned to the village."

~~~

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