"Ah?"
Aoba was stunned for a moment. Following the meaning in the other party's words, he also recalled it.
"Sensei, are you talking about that female captive named Kin?"
"If not her, then who?", The flames above Tsunade's head were surging upward.
"Sensei, that wasn't me who did it," Aoba explained helplessly.
And the flames Tsunade had just been building up suddenly came to a halt.
"Then who?", She knew Aoba wouldn't lie to her, so she directly asked who it was.
"It was Yakumo."
"?", Tsunade's eyes widened.
"Are you sure you're sober right now?"
'Does Yakumo have that kind of ability?'
Aoba gave a bitter smile, "She did it with genjutsu."
"..."
Tsunade was suddenly at a loss for words. She knew Kurama Yakumo's genjutsu had the ability to manipulate the five senses, so it was indeed possible.
She couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief in her heart.
At least… it wasn't what she had been thinking.
Seeing Tsunade suddenly go silent and not say anything for a while, Aoba blinked.
"Sensei, is there anything else?"
"No, you can go back to the resting room now."
Tsunade waved her hand, directly dismissing him.
Aoba didn't leave, "Sensei, I helped the village obtain such important intel, shouldn't you be happy? Why does it feel like you're angry?"
"As your Sensei, I just don't want you to go astray," Tsunade answered righteously.
"Then I helped the village gain such important intel. As a Sensei, shouldn't you also reward me?", Aoba also answered righteously.
Tsunade looked at Aoba's face that said "if you don't give me a reward, I'm not leaving," and could only helplessly hold her forehead.
"What reward do you want?"
"Sensei… I'll come take it myself."
After speaking, Aoba actively walked toward Tsunade.
———
"You…" Tsunade was furious and ashamed. She picked up a document on the desk and threw it at Aoba.
"BRAT!"
Aoba raised his hand and caught the document, "So you're allowed to light fires, but your disciple isn't allowed to light a lamp?"
Tsunade's face reddened slightly as she glared at Aoba, "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Hurry and get out!"
Not giving Aoba a chance to speak again, she picked up more documents and threw them at him.
Aoba even thoughtfully closed the office door when he left.
Tsunade sat in her seat, mind in turmoil. Not sure if it was from anger or something else, she was panting slightly.
"Unfilial disciple!", She cursed quietly under her breath, lightly patting her chest to try and steady her breathing.
"My mouth is still full of Shizune's taste…" [T/N: Umm... How does she know her taste?]
———
"Aoba, what did you do to make Lady Tsunade angry again?", Seeing Aoba come out of the office, Shizune couldn't help but ask.
Though she didn't know what they had talked about inside, Tsunade had still been throwing things when she opened the door just now.
"I just argued a bit with her, and then Sensei got embarrassed and angry."
Aoba "told the truth."
"Aoba just likes talking back to Lady Tsunade," Shizune couldn't help teasing.
She didn't think much of it. After all, Aoba had always liked deliberately arguing, angering Lady Tsunade.
But to be honest, she kind of envied their way of getting along.
"Alright, I've got other duties. Aoba, go back to your resting room on your own."
As she spoke, Shizune suddenly thought of something and pinched Aoba's cheek to remind him.
"You're not allowed to go looking for Yugao and the others!"
"Alright."
Aoba pinched back, then left.
He indeed didn't go looking for Uzuki Yugao, but he did see the two of them in his own resting room.
Though they didn't do anything too excessive.
Because it was almost lunchtime.
———
"Aoba, you guys are here too!"
When several team-leading jonin brought their genin to the cafeteria, Team 7 was already there eating.
The one who just spoke was Naruto, who had just lifted his head from his bowl.
Sasuke, still wrapped in bandages, had a gloomy expression. Sai, however, smiled kindly at Aoba.
"Mm, did you go train?", Aoba nodded, looking at Naruto's green jumpsuit.
Naruto only wore this outfit when doing intensive training.
Among the three, only Naruto's injuries had fully healed overnight.
"Yeah!"
Naruto nodded seriously, "I have to get stronger as fast as possible!"
"If I had opened Sixth Gate at that time, Sasuke and Sai wouldn't have gotten hurt so badly."
"Naruto, how did Sasuke get hurt that badly?", Inuzuka Kiba walked over, looking at Sasuke wrapped in bandages, his expression surprised.
He hadn't expected someone as strong as Sasuke to get hurt so badly.
"We ran into a pretty strong opponent. If Aoba hadn't arrived in time to chase that guy off, we would've been in real trouble," Naruto scratched his head and explained.
"To think there was someone that strong…", Inuzuka Kiba nodded.
And Sasuke was already gritting his teeth.
A strong sense of frustration filled his heart.
In the battle with Orochimaru yesterday, no matter what moves he used, the opponent could easily counter them.
Whether it was ninjutsu, taijutsu, or genjutsu, he was no match for the enemy.
But Aoba was different. Just a single clone of his had driven Orochimaru into a sorry retreat.
Even though he had worked so hard lately, he was getting left further and further behind.
Aoba noticed Sasuke's expression and roughly guessed what the other was thinking.
You could only say Sasuke was aiming too high too soon.
He had just graduated this year, and being able to exchange a few moves with Orochimaru already made him a genius among geniuses.
When Kakashi saw Orochimaru, he had been too scared to even move.
As for comparing with Aoba, that was just asking to be tormented.
Right now, even if the ancestor of the Uchiha clan showed up in front of him, they'd still get slapped first before speaking.
But Sasuke, once so confident, had now been severely beaten and would probably go silent for a while again.
Aoba sat down at a nearby table.
"Kurenai, want to have a meal together?", Asuma, sitting at another table, tried to take the chance to invite Kurenai to eat together.
Kurenai looked at the three students who were already seated on her side, then shook her head.
She walked over and sat opposite Aoba and the three girls, "No, I still have to explain the preliminaries to them."
"I see, just as well, I'll help explain too," Sarutobi Asuma didn't think much of it. They still had four days to stay in the central tower.
He figured he'd find another opportunity.
———
But in the days that followed, he never got that chance.
These past few days, Aoba had been living shamelessly and carefree.
During the day, he trained with several girls on the training field. At night, he "trained" with Uzuki Yugao and Terumi Mei in the resting room.
The second stage of the Chunin Exam was about to end.
The four days had passed very quickly.
Any teams that hadn't reached the central tower by now were all eliminated.
The preliminaries were about to begin.
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