The village of Tanzaku was indeed bustling, with nearly every kind of entertainment facility available.
Especially prominent were the numerous hot spring inns. Tsunade seemed very familiar with the place and led the group to one of these inns.
Jiraiya was quick to act. After booking the rooms, he headed straight for the hot springs, hoping to encounter some beautiful, well-endowed women to share the bath with.
As Naruto was changing clothes, he asked Yoruha, "Yoruha, why aren't you changing? Aren't you going?"
Yoruha, knowing what awaited Jiraiya, smiled and said, "You go ahead. I'm not interested."
After changing, Naruto grinned and said, "It's rare to get a chance to soak in a hot spring. Are you sure you don't want to try it?"
Yoruha waved his hand with a smile, "You go on." Although Naruto didn't understand why Yoruha wasn't going, he didn't question it further and happily ran towards the hot springs. He enjoyed them too.
While Naruto and Jiraiya headed to the hot springs, Tsunade and Shizune, having changed, also emerged. When they entered the room, they found Yoruha sitting alone by the window, reading a scroll.
Tsunade walked up behind Yoruha and, after watching for a while, noticed he was studying space-related ninjutsu. Surprised, Tsunade asked, "Aren't you going to the hot springs?"
Yoruha had already sensed Tsunade and Shizune's arrival, so he replied without turning his head, "I'm not interested."
Tsunade nodded, "You're studying space ninjutsu? I thought your Flying Thunder God Technique was already perfected. Is there really a need to learn more?"
Yoruha simply smiled, "Just reading to pass the time." Tsunade shook her head, "You have quite a unique hobby."
"Tsunade-sama, you should hurry along and not worry about me." In truth, Yoruha hoped Tsunade would leave soon; he preferred reading without anyone around.
Although Tsunade wanted to stay and chat with Yoruha, she thought for a moment and said, "You can't always be on edge. You need to relax sometimes."
Tsunade assumed Yoruha was overworking himself. In reality, Yoruha just wasn't interested in hot springs and was developing a space-related ninjutsu, which is why he was studying space ninjutsu knowledge.
Yoruha waved his hand, "You all go ahead, don't mind me."
Tsunade felt a bit helpless. She was pleased to see Yoruha so dedicated but didn't want him to become a bookworm or end up like Orochimaru.
Orochimaru used to be just like Yoruha, constantly pondering life and researching ninjutsu, which led to his current state.
Thinking of Orochimaru, Tsunade frowned and grabbed Yoruha's arm, "No way, you have to come with me now. It's relaxation time, and you can't always have ninjutsu on your mind."
With Tsunade dragging him away, Yoruha's mind was no longer on ninjutsu; it was completely blank. Shizune followed behind them.
"Tsunade-sama, what are you doing? I really have things to do."
Tsunade, pulling Yoruha along, said, "Nothing is more important than relaxing. Come on, I'll help you unwind." Yoruha's mouth twitched as he was dragged away.
"Alright, alright, I'll go. Just let me go to Naruto's side." Tsunade gave Yoruha a knowing look, "I know what you're up to."
"You'd definitely just run back to your room," Yoruha said helplessly. "I really do have things to do." But Tsunade ignored him.
Instead of dragging Yoruha into Jiraiya's side of the hot springs, she walked a few hundred meters and found a more upscale hot spring inn to enter.
Tsunade was worried that being next to Jiraiya, he might peek.
Shizune followed behind, watching Yoruha's helpless expression, smiling as she thought, "Who would have thought that he is the powerful ninja capable of defeating one of the Sannin, Orochimaru?"
In Shizune's mind, Yoruha's strength far surpassed that of the Sannin, yet he showed no arrogance or pride. He didn't even remotely resemble a Kage-level ninja. However, Shizune greatly appreciated this about Yoruha.
She pulled Yoruha into the hot spring inn, urged him to change into a yukata, and then dragged him towards the hot springs. But at the entrance, Yoruha stopped. No matter how Tsunade pulled, he wouldn't budge.
"Lady Tsunade, I won't go back, but there's no way I can go in with you. Even though this place allows mixed bathing, you should consider that I'm already of age, and you know about the propriety between men and women," Yoruha said seriously. This was his bottom line.
Even though the hot spring pool allowed mixed bathing, he couldn't go in. "There's no one in the adjacent hot spring pool, I can go there," Yoruha suggested.
Seeing his serious expression and realizing she couldn't move him, Tsunade had to compromise.
Moreover, letting Yoruha in wasn't appropriate either. Although Yoruha wasn't yet an adult, he was aware of gender differences. Tsunade might not care, but Shizune couldn't ignore it.
Of course, she was still quite concerned. After all, when Jiraiya peeked at her bathing back in the day, he ended up with several broken ribs and nearly died. So Tsunade said, "Then I'll watch you go in."
Tsunade just hoped Yoruha could relax a bit and not be so tense all the time.
Yoruha nodded and walked towards the other hot spring pool. Shizune stood beside Tsunade, smiling, "Yoruha thinking , he's really a good boy."
Tsunade teased, "What, do you like him? Too bad you're a bit too old for him." Shizune's face turned red immediately, stammering, "Lady Tsunade, what are you talking about?"
"I could never do something so perverted." After all, Yoruha was only 12 years old, while Shizune was already 28. Shizune was of the same generation as Kakashi.
Shizune indeed had no such wicked thoughts; she simply admired Yoruha. Tsunade, of course, knew this and was merely teasing Shizune.
Tsunade sighed, "This child will surely achieve great things in the future, perhaps even reaching the strength of my grandfather."
"He must not become someone like Orochimaru," Tsunade said seriously. She had high hopes for Yoruha and would never allow him to become like Orochimaru.
As in the original story, Tsunade still admired Naruto. However, unlike the original, she placed Konoha's future on Yoruha.
Even deciding that as long as Yoruha didn't have any major issues in the future, she would pass the title of Hokage to him. This was originally the Third Hokage's plan.
The Third Hokage was supposed to personally pass the title of Hokage to Yoruha, making him the Fifth Hokage.
Unfortunately, the Third Hokage died in battle. Now, Tsunade shared the same thought, viewing Yoruha as the successor to the Hokage.
Yoruha's strength was already sufficient, having surpassed the Sannin and possessing a Three-Tails as a summoning beast. In Konoha, there was no opponent for Yoruha now.
Of course, this was Tsunade's thought; she didn't know that Guy could open the Eight Gates and reach the eighth gate.
However, if Yoruha were to truly face Guy, he wouldn't let him open the eighth gate. The eighth gate of the Eight Gates technique could distort space, but it didn't necessarily mean space-time jutsu couldn't be used.
After all, Obito's Kamui also distorted space, yet space-time jutsu could still be used. Compared to Obito's Kamui, Guy's eighth gate distorted space to a much lesser degree.
Since Obito could use space-time jutsu, the Flying Thunder God technique could naturally be used as well.
During the Fourth Great Ninja War, Madara mentioned that when space was distorted, he himself couldn't use space-time jutsu, only being suppressed by the power of the Eight Gates.
Besides, he didn't know space-time jutsu. There are many ways to defeat Guy, the simplest and most direct being to not give him the chance to open the Eight Gates.
This is something Yoruha could achieve now. However, obviously, Yoruha wouldn't fight Guy; he didn't want to become a rogue ninja.
In Konoha, his current position was a Jonin and a Hokage guard, with enough savings to live comfortably. He'd have to be crazy to become a rogue ninja.
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