Chapter 154
Neji, for one, was actually looking forward to the upcoming missions.
After all, missions meant leaving the village — and outside the village, there would be chances to search for clues. However, as a Chūnin, he still had to team up with others, which made free action inconvenient. Better to get promoted to Jōnin quickly; then maybe he could carry out solo missions.
Natsuki, too, was curious about what Tsunade had planned next.
Logically speaking, the village should be focusing on security. With the Uchiha Police Force gone, the place was full of holes — like a sieve. Spy infiltrations could happen at any moment. Who knew when another disaster might strike?
But knowing Tsunade, there was no way she'd let the shinobi turtle up inside the village.
Plus, there was the diplomatic mess with Sunagakure to deal with.
Sure, Orochimaru had been the ringleader of the Konoha Crush incident — but the Sand had been complicit. If Konoha let them off too easily, it might cause unrest among the people. Yet, the Kazekage had also been killed — by Orochimaru, no less — which made Sunagakure both accomplice and victim. Tricked and used by a rogue S-rank ninja.
So, it was a tricky situation. War or peace — not an easy call.
Other villages were surely expecting Konoha to retaliate. But they all underestimated Tsunade's resolve.
Rather than declaring war, she renewed the alliance with the Sand — and even returned their Jinchūriki, strengthening ties between the villages.
Because Natsuki already knew this outcome, he had no clue what kind of mission Tsunade would assign.
Still, with his current strength, even an S-rank mission would be easy. And if anything went wrong, he could always use Hiraishin no Jutsu (Flying Thunder God Technique) to escape. No reason to be afraid at all.