Nindō: Dominion

As Naruto started using manual chakra blades to trim the grass, Tsunade grabbed a bottle from her satchel and sat in front of Jiraiya's memorial, taking occasional sips with a slightly heavy heart.

After a few minutes, as Naruto finished the perimeter of the grass, Tsunade spoke. "What is it, Naruto? Why do you have the Anbu looking for me? With your clones alongside them."

"Elders Koharu and Homura passed on after the last council meeting," Naruto said.

"Really?" Tsunade raised a brow. "I thought that those two would live on even after your tenure ends as Hokage and the next guy takes up the seat," she lightly laughed. "How did they die?"

"Their new mansion collapsed while they were inside," Naruto said. "It was made with inferior materials and directly capsized after a minor shake."

"What an interesting turn of events," she smiled. "Are you trying to get me to replace their position?"

"You would be the best fit," Naruto said. "And unlike them, you don't have to play politics to slowly undermine my influence in the village. You just need to stay in contact with the daimyo."

"I'll have to play those games, Naruto," she said. "You know that."

"Just take the gifts that people with ulterior motives give you without doing anything in return," he said. "You have your reputation as one of the Sannin alongside the Hokage backing you. I'll see who dares to try and out you from your position."

"I'm not doing it, kid. It's too troublesome," Tsunade said. "I'd rather just continue traveling the world, this time with the thought of exploring instead of fighting for my country."

"You are down to your last billion Ryo out of the almost five hundred that you got two years ago after selling off all of your clan's properties," Naruto said. "You don't even have a retirement home to live in once you finish that money. It would be pretty sad to have a legendary ninja such as yourself being forced to do missions just to earn your livelihood, don't you think?"

"I still have my pension."

"The one that you miraculously sold off to those two oldies in exchange for like a billion Ryo? That pension? I don't even know how you got the daimyo on board with that particular self-destructive thought."

"… I'd forgotten about that."

"Exactly. At this point, you don't have anything to sell beyond your own body," Naruto said. "So you might as well sell your conscience and get into politics instead."

"That's not a very politician thing to say," she said.

"Because I'm a military leader first and foremost and a politician second," Naruto said. "Now, are you going to agree, or do I need to pull out the big guns?"

"I don't want to get embroiled in the village anymore, Naruto," she said. "The first time I left the village was because I needed to find myself. When you and he —" she looked at the rock, "—brought me back to the village, those two fogies made things very difficult for me. Of course, I had the unconditional support of the daimyo due to my status as the Senju princess, which made things easier for me than for Kakashi and you. Now … I don't have it in me to get back into this fray and waste the rest of my life controlling those stuck-up fucks who love prancing around and throwing their weight around as if they own the village."

"Well, the only ones who do that are the stubborn old ones who refuse to pass on their position to the next generation. The Inuzuka clan matriarch is one of the most stubborn ones and refuses to pass the mantle on to her son; the same goes for the Aburame clan and the Hyūga clan. Aside from a couple of shinobi who initially got onto the council on the basis of war merits, the rest are all my people."

"Your point?"

"Once I abolish the civilian council, you won't have to deal with anything remotely close to a political struggle."

"Abolish them, you say … Good riddance, I'll say. But that still doesn't motivate me to stay, kid. The village doesn't particularly need me. All my presence will do is make things easier for you. And you already have it easier than I did back then with those two gone."

"So you just want me to struggle, that's what it is?" Naruto said with a tone filled with dark amusement. "Why don't I declare another war on the world? Without the tailed beasts, the five main nations are like paper tigers in front of me. Will you return then?"

"They were like paper tigers to you even when they had the tailed beasts. With you and Sasuke manning Konoha, no country in the world would be foolish enough to act against us."

"Not the point, Granny," he said. "Why don't you stay in Konoha for a while? You can enjoy some peace that we all helped bring. In the meantime, you could obligatorily show your face at the meeting every month. I'll make sure that no one causes you any trouble regarding that. I'll deal with everything other than your communication with the daimyo."

"You aren't backing down, are you?"

"I'll suppress your chakra and drag you back to Konoha if need be," Naruto said seriously. "Unlike last time, I'm strong enough to do so now."

Tsunade had a serious expression as she turned to look at Naruto, who didn't even look at her and was meticulously trimming each blade of grass to the correct length as he slowly approached Jiraiya's grave.

"I may not be able to beat you, Naruto, but you can't stop me if I want to run," she spoke with a measured tone.

"You are welcome to try Elder Tsunade," Naruto smiled. "You won't get far. You are going to take the position, one way or another."

"You can't force me." The woman's expression turned slightly peculiar.

"Can't I? Maybe the willful Sannin just needs the firm hand of the Hokage to guide her onto the correct path."

Naruto still didn't seem particularly focused on Tsunade and was intent on trimming the grass. His slow pace would take at least half an hour to finish just the grass before moving to the actual memorial.

"I'll sabotage things in that case." Tsunade stood back up and approached Jiraiya's memorial.

"You won't," Naruto said. "You are willful but also responsible. I am very much aware of that."

Tsunade leaned forward to pour the remaining sake in the bottle in front of the stone. Before the bottle was even halfway emptied, she disappeared from her position. With a single step, she was out of the clearing, and the following step left a depression in the ground of the forest.

"I appreciate your trying not to damage the surroundings of the memorial." Naruto smiled with a hint of gratefulness even as Tsunade's violent punch approached him. He grabbed her fist once again, negating the force of her chakra. Instead of giving up, this time, she attacked him again, raising her leg to kick his waist. Naruto once again grabbed her leg and negated the force of her chakra.

"Damn it," the woman pushed herself off the ground with her other leg, creating a big depression as she jumped and twisted herself, forcing Naruto to let go of her limbs. The moment she landed on the ground, she felt a different sensation than usual and realized that multiple pieces of paper had appeared underneath her and wrapped around her legs. It didn't affect her mobility, but her ability to release chakra in bursts was suppressed for her legs.

"I don't want to embarrass you, Granny," Naruto said. "Just give up and come back to Konoha with me. It's time you stopped being so much of a brat."

"Kid, even your parents were brats in front of me," Tsunade snapped.

"That's why I call you granny," Naruto chuckled as he negated her attacks and put papers on her fists as well, forcing her into a corner.

"When did you train to get such precise chakra control … And paper transformation? The only person I know to be able to do that was that girl, Konan," she spoke while grunting as she activated her Strength of a Hundred Seal, its markings extending all along her face.

"Let's stop here before you hurt yourself," he said. Just as Tsunade was about to blow away the suppressive paper covering her body, she noticed multiple black spheres flicker across her vision. Immediately, she felt like she was being choked as her released chakra was forced back into the seal. The pressure on her limbs increased as she felt them being completely suppressed.

As the Truth-Seeker Orbs formed a second layer over the paper covering her arms and legs, Tsunade felt her strength getting sapped away as her chakra points got suppressed. Adding to that, a collar that suppressed her chakra network and made it difficult for her to even breathe appeared over her throat, making her fall down on her knees as her legs gave out.

"Are you going to give up now?" Naruto asked, looking down at the weakened and almost pitiful-looking Sannin.

"What the hell!" She struggled to activate her chakra, but it was completely impossible. She even found it difficult to sense her chakra, let alone activate it. Once the woman's struggles died down, she looked at him with an expression of utter fury that looked more helpless and pitiful than intimidating.

"Help me up, damnit," she sighed as the strength left her shoulders, making her slump down.