Seido did not immediately answer Haruto Saito but instead remained silent for a moment before saying, "I don't know the exact details of the situation at that time. What you described is only what you know, but there are also things you don't know. Therefore, I cannot tell you exactly how I would have killed Kaguya Rakuba!"
"But if we go solely by your method, the key is how to approach Kaguya Rakuba and place an explosive tag on him. Your hands are quick, allowing you to attach an explosive tag upon contact without being detected. If I possessed the same ability, I might have approached Kaguya Rakuba... by pleading for justice!"
"Uh..." Haruto was momentarily speechless, his lips twitching. After a pause, he said, "Pleading for justice?!"
"Yes!" Seido continued, "From your description, the leader of that village was not a good ruler. On the contrary, he was cruel; otherwise, he wouldn't have beaten you to the point of coughing up blood. In such a situation, it would be strange if there were no grievances within the village. So, you could have pleaded your case to Kaguya Rakuba!"
"As a Kirigakure ninja, the likelihood of Kaguya Rakuba being an evil person is quite low. While the five great ninja villages are constantly at war, filled with conflicts and killings, at their core—putting aside factional biases—most ninjas from the five great villages have received proper education and are not inherently evil."
"So, you should have approached Kaguya Rakuba, knelt before him, and accused the village leader. You must understand Kaguya Rakuba's mentality. His mission was to reclaim the village, so by doing this, you would have been helping him, making him realize that the village leader was unpopular. You could have even pleaded for Kirigakure to save the oppressed people... This way, you would have had a chance to get close to Kaguya Rakuba. He might have even personally helped you up to uphold justice."
"But what if Kaguya Rakuba wasn't that kind of person? What if he didn't care about justice?"
"Does that matter? At the very least, he wouldn't have hit you. He would have also stopped others from attacking you!"
"Then... what if he was actually evil?"
"Even if he was, he wouldn't dare attack you, because you were appealing to Kirigakure for justice, asking them to save the suffering villagers. How could Kirigakure refuse? His mission was to reclaim the village, so he would never do something that would tarnish Kirigakure's reputation!"
"Alright..."
"What I'm suggesting is merely one method, even just a possibility. I wouldn't recklessly use it without further investigation. But it is certainly a better approach than yours, where you risked exposing yourself by getting beaten up. That was far too dangerous!"
"Seido-sama is right!"
Haruto continued talking with Seido late into the night.
Through this conversation, Haruto realized just how unfathomable Seido's skills were.
To complete an assassination, he would do anything!
******
Midnight.
At the core of Konoha Village, in Tsunade's residence.
Haruto silently appeared downstairs, slipping through the walls without making a sound. He moved stealthily up the stairs and into Tsunade's bedroom, where he saw her sleeping soundly.
On the soft bed, Tsunade was hugging a blanket, sprawled out in a carefree manner, deep in sleep.
Haruto continued to approach silently.
"Damn brat... needs a beating..." Tsunade suddenly murmured.
Haruto was so startled he stopped in his tracks!
He waited for a while.
The room fell into silence again.
"Talking in her sleep..." Haruto wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. He wondered just how much Tsunade held a grudge against him if she was dreaming about beating him up!
Haruto continued moving closer.
When he was three meters away from the bed—
Tsunade, who was lying with her back to him, suddenly opened her eyes wide. She sensed someone approaching!
At the same time, Haruto also noticed that Tsunade had awakened!
Because her breathing changed. A sleeping person's breathing is steady!
The "sneak attack" failed!
"Heh heh!" Haruto chuckled awkwardly, standing in place.
Tsunade flipped over and sat up, glaring at him. "Brat, it's you!" At the same time, she quietly slid the kunai she had retrieved back under her blanket.
"Heh heh!" Haruto chuckled again.
So awkward!
If he had knocked on the door and entered, there wouldn't have been such an awkward situation. But sneaking into Tsunade's bedroom like this... it was hard to explain!
"What do you want? Coming here in the middle of the night?" Tsunade squinted at him.
"I just got out of jail and wanted to report to you, Tsunade-sama! I haven't seen you in days, I missed you so much. Come, give me a hug..."
BAM!
Haruto was sent flying into the wall with a single kick!
"Hmph!" Tsunade snorted, adjusting the collar of her sleep robe. She scowled at him and said, "You're out of jail, but instead of going home, you came here? And sneaking in no less? You little brat, you must have some ulterior motive!"
Haruto slumped in the corner, looking at her with an increasingly sullen expression. His lips trembled as if he wanted to say something but couldn't.
He looked utterly wronged!
"Hmm? What's wrong with you?" Tsunade asked, her tone softening slightly.
"You're all terrible people!" Haruto said before silently standing up, as if deeply hurt, and turned to leave.
"Eh?" Tsunade immediately got up and took two steps forward. "What's wrong? Why the long face?"
Haruto stopped, turned back to look at her, pouting as if he wanted to speak but then shook his head. "Forget it, you wouldn't comfort me anyway! Just go back to sleep, it's none of your business!"
After saying that, he turned to leave again!
Whoosh!
Like a phantom, Tsunade flickered in front of Haruto, blocking his way.
"Brat, explain yourself! Why are you acting like this?" Tsunade asked, looking concerned. Haruto's mood was too unusual.
"Do you know why Hokage-sama suddenly let me out?" Haruto asked in a dejected tone.
"Because... you paid up?" Tsunade's eyes widened.
Haruto had previously vowed to resist, yet he paid?
"What else could I do?" Haruto said bitterly. "I paid two hundred million ryo! Two hundred million ryo! I risked my life for Konoha, and what did Konoha give me? Should I be fined just because I have money? If I hadn't paid, I would still be locked up! Isn't this extortion?"
Haruto's tone was filled with strong resentment toward Konoha and Sarutobi Hiruzen!
A dark cloud loomed over Tsunade's heart.
This was bad.
If Haruto continued harboring such thoughts, one day, he would betray Konoha!
"Come, sit here and tell me everything..." Tsunade pulled Haruto to the bedside, speaking gently.
"What's there to say? I already paid..." Haruto sat beside her, turning his head to the side, looking more and more upset.
Tsunade hugged his shoulder, ruffling his hair, and gently comforted him.
Haruto took the opportunity to bury himself in her embrace, wrapping his arms around her waist like a wronged child, even nuzzling into her chest.