[Evening]
Signal fires stretched endlessly, the sudden rain had just stopped.
Aoba buried his head amid rolling peaks, unable to resist taking a deep breath.
In an instant, he felt refreshed and clear-headed.
"Sensei, you smell really nice."
Tsunade, who was in a state of mental blankness at the moment, felt a warm breath brush over the mountains.
Her body trembled slightly, and she couldn't help raising her hand to rap him on the head, saying irritably,
"You're already the Hokage, how are you still acting like a kid?"
"In front of Sensei, won't I always be a kid?"
Aoba acted exactly like a child while nestled in Tsunade's arms.
"..."
While feeling something strange, Tsunade was also a bit helpless.
She really had no way to deal with this little brat.
"I heard about what happened in the City of Fire at the gambling hall today. Was that your doing?"
"According to the intelligence department, it was radical Guardian Ninja who attacked the daimyo, trying to overthrow the Land of Fire's regime."
Aoba hadn't expected Tsunade to already know, and deliberately played dumb as he answered.
"Cut it out. You think I don't know you?"
Tsunade couldn't help flicking his forehead with her finger, "Why didn't you tell me? Didn't I tell you already that I don't mind?"
Aoba covered his slightly itchy forehead, took a couple more kisses, then said somewhat innocently, "Even if you say you don't mind, Sensei, you'd still be put in a difficult position when the time comes, right? I can handle this myself."
Tsunade suddenly didn't know whether to feel touched or to punch this unserious little brat.
"So you brought me home before it even got dark and did this, just to wear me out so I can't move, and then you go solve everything yourself?"
"Eh! Heh!"
Aoba continued to play dumb.
Unable to take it anymore, Tsunade clenched her fist and ground it lightly against his head.
"No matter how you plan to handle it, I'm going with you. With me, the princess, around, things will go a lot smoother no matter what."
"Uh..."
Aoba's eyes flickered, and his hands started getting restless again.
Tsunade's expression changed as she scolded him, "If you dare make it so I can't get out of bed, believe it or not, I'll make sure you can never get on a bed again!"
Aoba didn't dare move anymore.
———
An hour later, after tidying themselves up again, Tsunade and Aoba returned to the Hokage Building right around quitting time.
Everyone who had already gotten off work ended up working overtime again.
After all, the matter of the daimyo concerned the entire Land of Fire. The daimyo was still in someone else's hands, suffering terribly. What kind of subordinate clocks out and enjoys peace and quiet at home in a situation like that?
Shizune, however, looked at Tsunade, whose face was like a peach blossom, with a somewhat strange gaze.
If Aoba wanted to keep the matter of the Land of Fire envoys from Tsunade, Shizune's assistance was naturally indispensable.
So after the City of Fire incident reached Konoha, Aoba going to find Tsunade and using special methods to keep her from participating in this operation was something she knew about.
Thinking of this, she felt a bit indignant. She was working overtime in the Hokage's office, while the Hokage herself went to work overtime in the former Hokage's bedroom. What kind of thing was that?
She looked exactly like a useless wife.
What she hadn't expected was that Lady Tsunade still came anyway. Didn't that mean Aoba's method had failed?
Who would have thought Lady Tsunade had already become this strong, strong enough to contend with Aoba.
When she, Yugao, Konan, Yugito, and even Temari and Qin took turns, all they could do was collapse.
Lady Tsunade, on the other hand, looked like nothing had happened at all.
Sure enough, Lady Tsunade had kept something back and never taught her. Ginger really does get spicier with age.
Even though this was a serious occasion, Shizune drifted off into wild thoughts.
"Shizune, why are you staring at me like that?", Tsunade noticed Shizune's odd gaze and couldn't help glaring back at her.
Only then did she remember that as the Hokage's personal secretary, how could Shizune not know Aoba's plan.
Looks like it wasn't just that little brat hiding things from her. This girl wasn't being honest either.
"N-no… nothing!"
Shizune quickly looked away.
Weak, pitiful, and helpless.
Seeing Tsunade bully Shizune again, Aoba had no way to help her get even right now. After all, Tsunade was bigger.
He changed the subject and said, "Sensei, the plan is pretty much the same as last time with the Land of Grass. We'll use genjutsu to control the daimyo, then have him abdicate."
"I don't know if Sensei has any interest in becoming the daimyo? If it were you, Sensei, things would probably go even more smoothly."
"No thanks!"
Tsunade immediately refused, "My life right now is already great. I don't want to go sit in jail."
In her view, that daimyo position had nothing good about it. There would only be more matters than being Hokage, and she'd rather live freely like she was now.
Aoba didn't comment. He actually felt the same way.
He had even been thinking that if Tsunade were willing to take over the daimyo position, then he could go back to how things were before, only needing to come up with ideas from time to time.
That way, even if he slacked off, he could do so with a clear conscience, unlike now, where every time he slacked off and faced Shizune's silent stare, he felt inexplicably guilty.
As the three of them were talking, a knock sounded at the door.
After the office door opened, the first to enter was Uchiha Mikoto.
"Aoba, the members for this operation have already assembled."
"Aoba!"
Right after her came Yakumo.
She first poked her head in. Seeing that everyone in the office was familiar, she walked in openly and asked with some anticipation, "Is it just me this time?"
"Mm. You probably already know about the City of Fire situation, so this time we'll still need your genjutsu."
Aoba patted Yakumo's little head.
He was quite a bit taller than Yakumo now, so the head pat fit just right.
But honestly, if the height difference between two people was too big, it wasn't really a good thing.
After all, the last time he was with Yakumo, he had quietly compared.
It was already almost past the navel. If something really happened, Aoba was genuinely worried someone might die.
"The City of Fire? Are we going to rescue that daimyo who was taken hostage?", Sasuke also walked in.
Following him were Uchiha Izumi, and the other three Uchiha who had participated in the operation to control Kazuma and the others.
This time the target was only the daimyo's residence in the City of Fire. There was no need to split into three groups. They just needed to use genjutsu to control the officials and nobles inside the residence.
One Mangekyo, five three-tomoe Sharingan, the Ketsuryukei of the Kurama clan, plus two Hokage personally taking action.
That was plenty impressive.
"More or less, but after that we'll still need to control the daimyo."
Aoba explained the follow-up plan specifically to Kurama Yakumo and Sasuke.
Everyone else already knew the subsequent plan. Uchiha Mikoto and the others were even secretly manipulating Kazuma's people.
Only Yakumo and Sasuke were still in the dark.
"I understand!"
After listening to Aoba's plan, Yakumo and Sasuke nodded together after a brief moment of shock, responding seriously.
They naturally knew what the daimyo represented.
But that had nothing to do with them.
As ninja, they only needed to obey the Hokage's orders.
"Alright, then let's move out!"
Aoba nodded in satisfaction.
"Shizune-Nee, we'll need you to spread the word in the village that we're dispatching ninja forces to the City of Fire to rescue the daimyo."
Even if they personally didn't care about the daimyo's situation, to the general populace, the daimyo still held a transcendent status of his own.
With the daimyo taken hostage and the City of Fire in chaos, even Konoha's residents would inevitably feel uneasy.
"Mm, I understand. Be careful on the way."
With everything arranged, just like last time, a wooden dragon rose into the air from the gate of Konoha Village.
That massive wooden body that blotted out the sky also served as a reassurance, calming the originally uneasy Konoha villagers.
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