The sounds of Aoba and Karin returning to the bedroom were naturally noticed by Uzumaki Kasui, who had been keeping an eye on the movements of the two people in the living room the whole time.
Hearing the door of the neighboring bedroom close, she leaned back against her own bedroom door, and the tension she'd been holding finally eased a little.
At the same time, she raised both hands and patted her cheeks, forcing herself to calm down.
As for Karin and Aoba reaching this point, she wasn't surprised at all. It was bound to happen sooner or later.
She just hadn't expected that child Karin to already be bold enough to dare to do this right in front of her, her own mother.
After taking quite a while to steady her emotions again, Uzumaki Kasui also started to feel a bit awkward staying at home.
So while the two were still in the bedroom next door, she quietly left the house and went over to Aoba's place next door.
.
.
.
When Aoba and Karin came out of the room, they realized that Uzumaki Kasui had gone out again.
"Aoba, I heard from Shizune that you're planning to make a move on Kusagakure?"
Aoba had just brought Karin through the door when Kushina appeared in front of him, impatient and full of momentum.
"Uh… yeah," Kushina's headlong momentum actually stunned Aoba for a moment.
But seeing how eager she looked, he naturally understood what she was thinking and continued.
"Once Koyuki declares war on the Land of Grass, I'll lead Konoha's ninja squads, along with Aunt Kasui, to launch a blitz on the Land of Grass. Kushina-nee, do you want to join in too?"
"Of course!"
As soon as Kushina heard that, she clenched her fists. In those black sclera, red-pupil eyes unique to an Edo Tensei, a firm resolve flickered.
"Anyone who hurt Sister Kasui, I won't let them off!"
What kind of Tang San line is that?
Aoba broke into a bit of a cold sweat, then said, "If that's the case, when the operation starts, I'll let you know, Kushina-nee."
"Good!"
Seeing Aoba agree, Kushina patted his shoulder with a satisfied look, "Aoba, you really didn't disappoint me."
After all, she had gone to great lengths to assist behind the scenes, pushing him together with her good sister Uchiha Mikoto, helping the two of them finally get together.
If Karin hadn't been here, she definitely would have tried to matchmake him with her other good sister as well.
"Uh… it's what I should do."
For some reason, Aoba felt that the look in Kushina's eyes seemed a bit suspicious, so after saying that, he immediately slipped past her and went into the living room.
After scanning the people there, he asked in confusion, "Sensei hasn't come back yet?"
Hearing this, Shizune sighed, then said helplessly, "She probably brought quite a bit of money with her. Or maybe she borrowed more at the casino again and hasn't lost it all yet."
"I see…", Aoba rubbed his chin, thinking to himself.
'With Tsunade's luck, no amount of money would ever be enough for her to lose.'
At this rate, even if he really took control of the casino in the future, shuffling money from left hand to right hand, the losses still wouldn't be a small sum.
Looks like he'd have to set up a daily spending limit just for Tsunade in the future.
That limit generally wouldn't affect other customers anyway. After all, no one else could lose like Tsunade did.
As he was thinking this, speak of the devil...
The door opened again.
Along with a weak, lifeless "I'm back," Tsunade came in barefoot, shoes nowhere in sight, under everyone's curious gazes, looking utterly dead inside, then collapsed onto the sofa.
She looked exactly like a salted fish that had lost all dreams.
Aoba walked over to her and couldn't help asking.
"Sensei, did you lose a lot today?"
"..."
The originally lazy Tsunade instantly shuddered, then glared at him unhappily and said through gritted teeth, "Why are you so annoying? It's definitely because you became Hokage today and sucked all my luck away!"
"..."
Now it was Aoba's turn to be speechless.
She'd said earlier that today was a good day, and now she was blaming him for stealing her luck.
"Just like you, Sensei."
Aoba said with a smile, "Even a weird reason like that, you can still come up with it."
"You brat!"
Hearing his teasing, Tsunade suddenly stood up and reached out to pinch his face, forcing herself to look him straight in the eye to maintain her presence.
But because of the height difference, for Tsunade to look Aoba in the eye now, she had to stand hard on her tiptoes.
It really was a complete reversal.
Back then, Aoba had to stand on tiptoe just to kiss Tsunade. Now it was completely the other way around.
Tsunade stood on her tiptoes with effort, the balls of her feet pressed tight to the floor, her rounded toes pale with a hint of red.
"Don't think that just because you became Hokage, you can casually tease your Sensei!", She pinched his face and glared at him.
Aoba lowered his head slightly.
This kind of scene really did make it hard to stay composed.
"You brat!"
Noticing his gaze, Tsunade couldn't help increasing the force of her grip in dissatisfaction.
It was a warning. There were so many people watching from the side.
"Ahem!"
Aoba quickly withdrew his gaze and said with a "this is for your own good" expression, "I'm just worried that you'll lose all your money in one go, Sensei, and then have to go borrow money again."
"Hmph! Then I'll come ask you for money when the time comes. You little brat have only been taking in money these past few years, never spending it. There must be quite a lot saved up in your little stash."
As she spoke, Tsunade finally let go of his face and said as if it were only natural, "As a disciple, it's normal to take out some money to show filial respect to your Sensei, right?"
"?", Aoba really hadn't expected that even now, Tsunade was still thinking about his so-called little stash.
Back when she hadn't become Hokage yet, she wanted to ask him for money because she had none to gamble with. Now that she'd even retired from being Hokage, she still thought of his stash first when she ran out of money.
'No, what little stash do I even have? All my money has been fed to the system.'
Then again, it wasn't entirely wrong to say he had one. Right now, the entire Konoha was his little stash.
But there was no way he could just casually hand money over to Tsunade. That would be no different from throwing it straight into a fire.
So he didn't continue pulling at this topic with her and instead went straight to business.
"Sensei, in a couple of days, the Land of Snow will declare war on the Land of Grass. I want to take advantage of this opportunity to make a move and bring the Land of Grass into Konoha's sphere of influence. Do you have any thoughts on this?"
"Hm? What's going on?"
Tsunade, who had been wondering where this rebellious disciple of hers had hidden his money all these years, was caught completely off guard by the news.
'Didn't I just step down? Why does it suddenly sound like they are about to start a war?'
Aoba once again briefly explained the matter of the Land of Snow to Tsunade.
After listening, Tsunade immediately fell silent. After thinking it over for a while, she suddenly stood up.
"Come with me for a moment. We need to talk about this privately."
After saying that, she turned and walked toward Aoba's bedroom.
Aside from Aoba, Kushina and the other girls like Uzuki Yugao all looked a bit confused.
Because from their point of view, making a move on the Land of Grass wasn't a big deal at all. After all, it was the Land of Grass that acted first, even trying to assassinate Koyuki. And Koyuki was their sister.
The role Konoha was playing in this operation was also perfectly justified.
But Tsunade seemed to be taking it extremely seriously. And Aoba knew exactly what Tsunade was concerned about, so he followed her without hesitation.
———
As the bedroom door closed, Tsunade's expression immediately turned serious.
"Have you already decided to make a move on the daimyo?"
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