From Tsunade's perspective.
Mitsuki was now someone she truly acknowledged.
In him, she saw the future that Nawaki — her sacrificed younger brother — had never been able to reach.
And with Mitsuki's outrageous amount of chakra, there was a high chance he carried Senju blood within him, mixed into Konoha's veins.
She made a note to look into the clan records once they returned.
From Mitsuki's perspective.
Ever since that day a few months ago when he made Tsunade cry during their spar, she had been insisting that he call her Onee-san.
Naturally, Mitsuki wasn't willing. His actual age might not even be younger than hers.
Besides, in that match, he had clearly won. If anyone was going to call the other "older sibling" it should have been her calling him Onii-san.
Mitsuki swore to himself: Even if I die out there, even if I jump off the Hokage Monument, I'll never call Tsunade "Onee-san."
…"Do you want to learn the Flying Thunder God Technique? If you call me Onee-san, I'll teach you the method of training it~."
By common reasoning, Mitsuki should not have been swayed by temptation—those who achieve greatness must remain unmoved. But what she was offering was simply too much.
Sigh… to accomplish great things, one cannot sweat the small details.
Mitsuki prided himself on being someone who could accomplish great things. And thus, that ridiculous scene unfolded.
As it turned out, Mitsuki was still too young. Tsunade really did promise him the Flying Thunder God Technique—but only once they returned to Konoha. Because the version she intended to give him wasn't the one stored in the village's Scroll of Seals — it was the Senju clan's private version.
In truth, there wasn't much difference. Both had been written down by her grand-uncle, Tobirama. The Scroll of Seals copy required going through the Third Hokage, memorizing and transcribing it. Tsunade, being lazy, thought that was too troublesome.
Her exact words had been: "The Scroll of Seals? What a hassle. Once we're back in Konoha, just come to my place. I'll hand you the original manuscript. You can read it whenever you like, Mitsuki."
One could only say: Youth doesn't know the sweetness of a rich woman's generosity.
…Recap over. Back to the present.
The choices for the camp were limited.Either launch an offensive to force Sunagakure's hand,or wait for Suna to initiate and respond with counterattacks.
The first option carried higher risk, while the second was safer.
After long deliberation, Shikaku finally spoke up.
"Everyone, please listen."
…
"Finally, the meeting's over."
Mitsuki stretched lazily as he left the command tent and returned to his quarters.
"Genjutsu: Demonic Illusions: Shackle Stakes."
The moment Mitsuki stepped into his tent, he felt a familiar chakra attempting to interfere with his own.
"Fix."
Drawing on the power of the Six Eyes, Mitsuki effortlessly stabilized his chakra network, preventing any effect.
"Too naïve, Ruri. Genjutsu doesn't work on me."
Of course he knew immediately who it was—the woman always trying to assert dominance over him.
"Where's Heiji?" Ruri snorted and replied,
"He didn't come. On this return trip, the Hyūga clan reassigned him to the Kiri front."
Ruri had thought that, with her newly awakened advanced Sharingan genjutsu, she could finally outdo Mitsuki in at least one area. But the truth was cruel—her illusions had been useless when she only had two tomoe, and even now with three tomoe, they remained useless.
It was simple logic: genjutsu was based on chakra flow manipulation. Unless it was something on the level of Infinite Tsukuyomi, it wasn't going to faze Mitsuki's mastery.
After answering his question, Ruri spun gracefully, her inky black hair drawing an arc through the air as she sat elegantly in a chair, long legs crossing smoothly.
Watching her, Mitsuki couldn't help but admit inwardly—Ruri was truly an Uchiha. Setting aside her personality, her looks were impeccable. Straight black hair… it really hit his type.
"Your turn now" the black-haired beauty said.
"…What?" Mitsuki blinked in confusion.
"You attended the war council, didn't you? What's our next move?"
"That's classified. But honestly, you'll know by tomorrow anyway."
It wasn't a stall tactic—the war mobilization would begin camp-wide in the morning.
"With our relationship, you still need to keep secrets from me?" Ruri suddenly pressed directly.
"?"
When I put out a question mark, it doesn't mean I have a problem—it means you do.
"…We're teammates… right?" Mitsuki wasn't sure where this was going.
"Oh~? Aren't we living together too?" Ruri tilted her head, twirling a strand of hair around her finger. The gesture was undeniably cute. But Mitsuki wasn't in the mood to appreciate it.
"Ruri…? We're only quartered together as part of a squad. And Heiji was with us before."
For shinobi on the front lines, a tent was nothing more than a place to sleep—most didn't even remove their combat gear.
"But now he's gone, isn't he?" For some reason, Ruri was being especially assertive tonight.
"Fine, fine, I give up." Mitsuki raised his hands in surrender.
"I can't tell you the exact plan, but I can share the general idea."
"What is it?" Ruri slid her chair closer to him.
Feeling her approach, Mitsuki paused before continuing.
"Same as before—defensive counterattacks. Right now, we hold absolute advantage in the Land of Rivers. There's no reason to gamble with reckless offensives."
"As expected. That's just Konoha's style." Ruri's expression said she'd predicted it all along.
Mitsuki glanced at her cold face.
"Given your strength, you'll probably be placed directly in the combat units."
The Uchiha's strength was largely reflected by their Sharingan. With her fully matured three-tomoe Sharingan, Ruri's power was already jōnin-level.
She was a few months older than Mitsuki, and in terms of awakening speed, one