The Temptation of Returning to the Village

'Bang! Bang! Bang!'

"Who is it?!"

Listening to the irritating knocking, Hikari frowned and forced himself to fight off his sleepiness as he glanced over.

"Who has such terrible manners?"

"Knocking on doors this early in the morning—are you trying to die?!"

Tsunade's voice came from behind him, making Hikari's eyes widen.

This isn't my room. Oh my God, did I lose my innocence?

'Smack!'

Unable to endure it any longer, Tsunade slapped Hikari on the head.

"Get out!"

I'll endure it. A good man doesn't fight with women!

Hikari got up and looked back. Tsunade was lying there beneath the blanket, and when her eyes landed on him, they seemed filled with killing intent.

Looking down, Hikari saw that his clothes were still perfectly intact, and he could not help feeling a trace of disappointment.

Sigh, looks like I didn't lose my innocence.

Tsunade really was something. I gave you the chance, yet you didn't know how to seize it. You're even the Hokage. What a disappointment!

"Get lost!"

Tsunade flew into a rage out of embarrassment.

What did he mean, she should have seized the chance?

She was a woman, and she was not that lustful. A mere Hikari was beneath her notice.

Heh, women. You ate me clean and now you refuse to take responsibility, huh!

Though his mind was full of shameless remarks, Hikari left without changing expression. Only after he was gone did Tsunade lift the blanket, revealing the Holy Light beneath it.

'This is so embarrassing!'

'When will I ever fix this bad habit of getting drunk, acting improperly, and stripping off my clothes at random?!'

'Forget it. I won't drink so much in the future.'

Tsunade could hold her liquor well enough, but even she could not withstand drinking from noon until night the day before. The bottles in the room had piled up into a small mountain.

"Scrub-a-dub, scrub-a-dub, I love taking baths, my skin feels so good!"

"Damn it! Why did you come in?!"

Hikari was taking a bath when Izumo Kamizuki unexpectedly walked in, making him instinctively cover his backside.

Trying to sneak attack me? I defended in advance.

Izumo Kamizuki looked at Hikari's lower body, then turned his head away.

"Hikari, we're leaving today. How about you try persuading Lady Tsunade again and take me to buy two maids? I heard the maids here at the Daimyo's Mansion receive professional training. Their ability to serve people is top-notch."

"Do you have money?" Hikari looked at Izumo Kamizuki skeptically.

There was no need to ask. High-quality maids would definitely come with high prices.

With Izumo Kamizuki's income, buying one would not be a problem. But two? He would have better luck dreaming.

"Ahem, that's why I came to find you. Hikari, lend me a little. All these years, I've never begged you over anything else. It's just this tiny little matter—you understand!" With that, Izumo Kamizuki waggled his eyebrows at Hikari.

"I don't understand, and don't ask me to borrow money. As the saying goes, talking about money hurts feelings. Our brotherly bond is so good—you wouldn't ruin it over such a little money, would you?"

"No, it's not like I won't pay you back. Once we return, I'll take missions quickly and repay you as soon as possible. I swear on the name of Steel."

"That's not what I mean!" Hikari felt it was necessary to explain.

"Lady Tsunade doesn't approve of Brother Izumo and me buying maids as wives, so if you buy two, never mind whether your body can hold up. Just tell me, when the two of us see you surrounded by women, how do you think we'll feel?"

Izumo Kamizuki shamelessly replied, "Of course we'll be happy for you."

Hikari: ???

Fine, how had he never noticed before that Izumo Kamizuki was so thick-skinned?

"The two of us are single, while you want to be surrounded by women. That's completely inappropriate, understand?! So, to keep the bond between us brothers from fading, it would be better for you to keep pace with us."

"Stay single. Being single suits you better."

"Fine, I'll head out first. Hurry up and wash. You can't make Lady Tsunade wait for you, right?" Leaving those words behind, Izumo Kamizuki left.

Seeing this, Hikari breathed a sigh of relief and lowered the hand protecting his rear.

'That scared me to death. I thought Brother Tetsu had changed his preferences!'

'If Brother Tetsu really likes men, I still think Brother Izumo is a better match for you. If it really comes to that, I definitely won't look down on either of you.'

'Brother Izumo, I'll leave the grave task of carrying on the Shen Clan bloodline to me. At worst, I'll marry a few more wives. For the development of our Shen Clan, I'm willing to be the ox that works itself to death.'

An hour later, Tsunade led the group away from the Daimyo's Mansion. The eight of them had gathered together once more.

Unlike when they arrived, when everyone had been worried, they were all smiling now.

"Lady Tsunade, we're sorry. We entered the Daimyo's Mansion ahead of time, but we failed to gather any useful intelligence." After Kurenai Yuhi spoke with Genma Shiranui and Aoba Yamashiro, they approached Tsunade to admit their mistake.

"Mm, that's not a problem!" Tsunade generously stated that none of them were at fault.

"I've thought this matter over. I sent you into the Daimyo's Mansion in advance to make preparations in case something went wrong. Besides, I was the one who sent you there, and time was too short. The Daimyo also had jonin guarding him. It was good that you didn't act rashly."

At that point, Tsunade suddenly remembered something.

She remembered that Hikari had sent out a Shadow Clone the night before last to monitor the Daimyo and Root's ninjas. Not only had the jonin beside the Daimyo failed to notice it, but Hikari had even turned Root's ninjas against them afterward.

No matter what method he had used, his strength was definitely far beyond that of an ordinary jonin.

'If it's really as I suspect, then Hikari might actually be an incredible expert!'

'If he can deal with Danzo after we return, then I can consider how to placate him afterward. Since this guy wants to be a slacker, I'll keep him by my side. As long as I keep a close eye on him, he won't escape the palm of my hand.'

At that moment, Hikari had no idea Tsunade was plotting against him. He was still pretending to be an unnoticed little nobody.

"For this mission, I'll distribute rewards according to the standards of an A-Rank Mission. Kurenai, Guy, what do you think?"

"Thank you, Lady Tsunade!"

Kurenai and Might Guy had no objections to the mission rank.

An A-Rank Mission would not only enrich their records, but also put real money in their pockets.

This time, following Tsunade, they had encountered no danger. Aside from being a little rushed during the journey, everything else had been excellent.

Everyone else was happy, but Hikari was the only one who had received no reward, so he could not help saying, "Lady Tsunade, what about my reward? My demands aren't high. Just casually give me the reward for a B-Rank Mission."

Although the bonus from a B-Rank Mission was pocket change to him, thinking about all the wine he had drunk and dishes he had eaten yesterday, Hikari felt awful at the thought of not making some of it back.

"Since you've said so, I'll count it as a B-Rank Mission for you."

Might Guy, Kurenai Yuhi, and all the onlookers: If you two aren't having an affair, we'll write our names backward!