Just as he was about to leave, Aoba suddenly grabbed Uchiha Mikoto's hand again and said hesitantly:
"Aunt Mikoto, about Uchiha Itachi's matter, I don't know how to comfort you, but you still have me... and Sasuke. No matter what happens, I will always be with you."
Uchiha Mikoto was stunned, understood the meaning in the Aoba's words, and her other hand touched the his hair, "Aoba is such a gentle person, he's gentle to everyone..."
"No! I'm especially gentle to you, Aunt Mikoto!", Aoba interrupted her words, his expression very serious.
"Especially, huh...", Uchiha Mikoto was stunned again. The next moment, she felt herself being hugged by a small body.
"Because Aunt Mikoto is very gentle, that's why you deserve to be treated gently."
"...", Hearing Aoba's words, Uchiha Mikoto's eyes trembled slightly, feeling a bit sour, and she also reached out to tightly hug Aoba.
'This young boy always stood out to help me whenever I most needed comfort and help.'
"Aoba... thank you."
The two hugged tightly, but due to the problem of height, Aoba's face could only be buried between the two big papayas.
Time passed unknowingly.
A slightly immature boy's voice suddenly rang out, "Mom, what are you doing?"
Sasuke didn't know when he had arrived, standing at the street corner, looking at the two who were tightly hugging with an expression of disbelief, his mentality collapsed.
In order to become stronger, to catch up with Aoba, he had gone out for special training early in the morning and only returned around evening.
But upon returning, what he saw was the scene of his own mother hugging his good friend.
Sasuke's brain short-circuited and he called out on the spot.
After hearing Sasuke's voice, Uchiha Mikoto's body suddenly stiffened. Without any reason, she suddenly pushed the stunned Aoba away.
"Sas...Sasuke... when did you come back?", As if she had done something wrong, she appeared flustered.
'Damn!', Seeing his mother's reaction, Sasuke, who had originally thought it was a misunderstanding, suddenly had a bad premonition.
He looked angrily at Aoba, but found that Aoba's expression was equally confused.
It took a while for him to come back to his senses, "Sasuke, how was your training today?"
Looking at Aoba's natural response, an even more absurd thought rose in Sasuke's heart.
'Could it be that it was mom who took the initiative?'
Sasuke felt like the sky had collapsed, his whole head a mess. He finally understood what "ignorance is bliss" meant.
'Have I known, I would have trained longer...'
"Sasuke? Sasuke? Sasuke?", Uchiha Mikoto composed her emotions and realized that her own reaction might have been too big.
It was just hugging her son's friend. She used to do that too. There was no need to feel embarrassed.
She walked up to Sasuke and, seeing that he didn't respond even after softly calling several times, had to slightly raise her voice.
Only then did Sasuke snap out of it, "What?"
Uchiha Mikoto unhappily poked his forehead, "Aoba asked you a question. Why did you suddenly space out?"
"Ah? Oh, I'm fine, I'll head back first," Sasuke forced a smile, then walked around Aoba and headed back home.
He really wanted to be angry, but if this was his mom's choice, he would support it.
"This child, what's suddenly wrong with him?", Uchiha Mikoto held her face with her right hand, looking worried.
"Maybe the training didn't go too well. Sasuke has too high expectations for himself," Aoba pretended to guess in confusion.
He felt that Sasuke might have misunderstood something, but he had no intention of explaining.
After all, he and Aunt Mikoto were clean and upright, with a clear conscience, 'No need to explain.'
Hearing this, Uchiha Mikoto also sighed, "Sasuke just puts too much pressure on himself. He's already excellent, yet still unsatisfied."
"Yeah," Aoba also nodded, "But I believe Sasuke will definitely become stronger."
'After all, for Sasuke to get stronger, he just needs to get beaten up.'
"Aunt Mikoto, I'll be leaving now," Aoba said to Uchiha Mikoto again.
"Mm, be careful on the way," Uchiha Mikoto pinched his face again.
———
[Sunagakure, Kazekage Building]
When Baki's news reached Sunagakure, Sunagakure immediately convened a pitifully small Jonin meeting.
"So this operation not only didn't gain anything, but we even lost people?"
Almost all the Sand Shinobi sent to Konoha were wiped out, even the Kazekage and the Jinchuriki were captured. At this moment, Chiyo had a splitting headache.
She had already secretly warned Rasa that this operation was highly unreliable.
After all, it was the enemy's home ground. If Konoha were ruthless, no one might return.
But Rasa had appeared extremely confident. Plus, she had already retired behind the scenes and couldn't openly oppose it.
In the end, no one returned.
So now, what did Sunagakure have to fight Konoha with?
Rely on her, an old woman over half a century in age?
Other than shaking her head and sighing, Chiyo had no other solution.
At this time, the other Sunagakure Jonin in the office were all silent, not daring to speak.
"Elder Chiyo, the urgent matter now is the conditions Konoha proposed...", After a long silence, someone finally spoke, and his voice quickly gained others' support.
"Yes, Elder Chiyo, Konoha only gave us three days."
"We must make a decision quickly."
"Elder Chiyo..."
Everyone started speaking at once, making Chiyo's head ache again. She slapped the table, "In that case, let's hear your suggestions!"
The room quieted again. One by one, they lowered their heads and didn't speak.
"You all...", Seeing this scene, Chiyo opened her mouth, but swallowed the curse words back.
How could she not understand what they were thinking?
They specially invited her, an old woman, from the back mountain just to let her make this decision.
"Sigh~"
'So be it. This old woman already has one foot in the grave.'
Chiyo couldn't help sighing. Seeing the increasingly ashamed looks on everyone's faces, she felt no anger, but rather more grief.
"Now the village has nothing left. It can't get any worse. But I believe the future may change."
"So..."
"Before that, Sunagakure must continue on... We must also make some correct mistakes...", Chiyo sighed.
"Elder Chiyo..."
Someone below couldn't bear it and wanted to speak, but was interrupted by Chiyo.
"I'm just an old woman. Reputation means nothing to me. Konoha's conditions... we accept... that's the only choice..."
"Yes..."
"Also," Chiyo stood up from her seat and said to everyone, "Make preparations. I'm going to Konoha in person to see if I can get Temari and the others back."
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