Chapter 300: Cloud Shinobi Village Is The Village Most Capable Of Launching A Ninja War

When Tsukiko finally turned to leave, she couldn’t hold back her tears any longer.

Shinrai gently patted her shoulder and tried to comfort her.

“Don’t be sad. At least… at least we got to meet our father and mother. Even though the time was short, we now know just how strong and amazing our father truly was, and how beautiful our mother is. They’re exactly as the records described—formidable and kind. They left us something precious.”

“Our bloodline. That’s the legacy they entrusted to us.”

Still, Tsukiko couldn’t stop crying.

Riku and Tsunade were standing right in front of them, but they couldn’t call them “Mom” or “Dad.”

It was unbearably cruel—for children whose parents hadn’t been there at their birth and had vanished without a trace.

Boruto stepped forward and gently said, “Shinrai’s right, Tsukiko. Don’t cry.”

Sasuke let out a heavy sigh.

Not long after the end of the Fourth Great Ninja War, Riku and Tsunade had suddenly disappeared, leaving two newborn infants in Kakashi’s care.

Even Sasuke still didn’t know where they had gone.

He had investigated for years, but no trail ever led anywhere.

It was frustrating—completely helpless.

As Riku and Tsunade stood at the village gates, Tsunade watched the retreating figures of Shinrai and Tsukiko, her heart aching with emotion.

According to the two of them, she and Riku had disappeared shortly after their birth. Now they had grown so much, and this was likely the first time they’d ever seen their parents.

Tsunade couldn’t help but wonder—was her future self really so heartless?

To abandon her own children?

She turned to look at Riku. Without the slightest concern for little Sakura standing beside her, she reached out and took Riku’s hand.

“Shinrai and Tsukiko… they’re so pitiful. Their parents vanished when they were just infants.”

Riku, oblivious to what Tsunade was really saying, replied casually, “Yeah, it’s pretty sad.”

Little Sakura looked up at him, exasperated.

“This guy really has no idea what Lady Tsunade is talking about…”

Jiraiya, standing nearby, felt a tight, bitter knot twist in his chest.

It hurt.

Of course, he wanted Tsunade to be happy—but why did it have to be Riku?

These two should never have ended up together.

Forget the age difference—why would Tsunade, a woman in her fifties, fall in love with a teenager?

He’d once believed he still had a chance after Dan had passed away. And over the years, he’d felt he was getting closer to her.

But in the end, Riku had stolen her away.

The worst part was, it seemed to have started from the moment they left to find Tsunade and returned to the village with her as Hokage.

Jiraiya remembered noticing back then that something felt… off between them.

He’d even briefly suspected that their relationship was more than it seemed.

Turns out, he was right.

And now—those two had children together.

Jiraiya felt as though he were suffocating.

The woman he loved most had ended up with his grand-disciple.

And with Tsunade’s youthful appearance restored, she looked at Riku with such deep affection—it was more passionate than she’d ever been with Dan.

Tsunade had been drawn to Dan because he stood up for her when it mattered most. But what was it about Riku?

Why him?

What could Riku possibly see in someone decades older than himself?

Was it Tsunade’s looks? Her figure?

Jiraiya didn’t want to believe that’s all it was.

But in truth… he was wrong. That was exactly why Riku had chosen her.

Tsunade’s beauty and body were everything Riku liked. Coupled with everything they’d been through together, it wasn’t surprising they ended up together.

Especially since Riku had fully restored Tsunade’s body to its physical prime—her twenties. And unlike before, she no longer needed to use chakra to maintain that youthful form. Thanks to Riku, her physical state would remain that way until her death.

That was the truth of their relationship.

But Jiraiya didn’t know that Riku possessed the Rinnegan.

He didn’t know that Riku had used that power to restore Tsunade completely.

Jiraiya still assumed Tsunade’s youth came from her Strength of a Hundred Seal and constant chakra flow.

And what puzzled him most… was why she had chosen Riku.

They belonged to completely different generations.

And he wasn’t the only one who didn’t understand. Even little Sakura couldn’t grasp why Riku had chosen Tsunade.

Even if he didn’t pick her, there were so many others—Hinata, Ino… even Anko or Yugao would have made more sense.

Why Tsunade, of all people?

Sakura thought hard, and her only guess was that Riku liked mature women with Tsunade’s appearance and body.

But if it was about curves, wasn’t Anko just as appealing?

Hinata wasn’t bad either—she was young and came from a good clan.

Yet Riku had chosen Tsunade.

Sakura couldn’t make sense of it.

Meanwhile, Tsunade looked at Riku and sighed.

It was clear he hadn’t realized that Shinrai and Tsukiko were his children.

She didn’t know what had happened to his memory.

Once they returned to Konoha, Riku told Tsunade about his recent trip to the Land of Lightning.

When he explained that the Akatsuki had begun targeting Cloud’s Jinchūriki, both Tsunade and Jiraiya grew serious.

Cloud was arguably the strongest village in the shinobi world besides Konoha. In fact, if Riku were excluded, they might even surpass it.

Their basic shinobi forces, military, and economic power far exceeded those of the Land of Fire.

The Land of Fire, despite its fertile land and central location, lagged behind both the Land of Lightning and the Land of Earth economically.

Economically, it was only in third place.

But if Akatsuki truly reached into Cloud to capture a Tailed Beast, it could ignite another massive war.

And the shinobi of Cloud weren’t exactly known for their diplomacy.

They had, after all, initiated both the First and Third Great Ninja Wars.

Even though they ultimately lost, they were always the aggressors—and they didn’t lose much. It was the winning side that often bore the heavier losses.

Despite their losses, Cloud had only grown stronger.

Out of all the Five Great Shinobi Villages, Cloud was the best developed.

If the Akatsuki’s actions provoked Cloud into war, the consequences would be dire.

Right now, Tsunade had no desire to see another war break out.

Neither did Konoha, nor Sunagakure, nor Hidden Waterfall, nor even Iwagakure.

Even Ōnoki wasn’t seeking conflict—because their respective daimyōs were no longer allocating enough military funding.

In peacetime, the daimyōs had no appetite for war, so military budgets were tight.

Only the Land of Lightning continued to fully fund Cloud’s military.

Its economy was stronger than the other great nations, and Cloud’s funding had not only not decreased—it had increased.

That’s why Cloud had developed so many advanced scientific ninja tools.

They had the funds, the resources, and the political backing to innovate constantly.

Compared to that, the other villages were falling behind.

Among the Five Great Shinobi Villages, Cloud was now the most capable of launching a full-scale war.