Little Tomboys Really Weren't Good People!

Kushina still wasn't comfortable leaving Tsunade, who was under a genjutsu, alone in the courtyard.

After kindly carrying her back to the guest room and setting up a simple protective barrier, the two of them headed for the Senju Old Residence together.

As for dispelling the genjutsu?

Come on, if they dispelled it, how could they have their time alone?

Yamanaka Kei and Kushina walked hand in hand all the way to the Senju Old Residence.

Although the villagers around them still looked at them with distance, disgust, and fear.

Kushina no longer spared those people a single glance.

Grandma Mito had once said that when her heart was filled with love, she would no longer feel lonely or afraid because of her identity as a jinchuriki.

"Grandma Mito, look. I'm not lonely or afraid anymore."

Kushina Uzumaki murmured softly in front of the Senju Old Residence.

The next moment, a brilliant smile spread across her face as she tugged Yamanaka Kei along and ran into the old residence.

"Oh, right, Kushina. On this mission, Minato and I brought back one of your clansmen. She's a girl about your age."

As Yamanaka Kei helped Kushina pack her things, he told her about the mission.

"Eh?! R-Really? What's her name? She just got to Konoha, so she must be having trouble adjusting, right? Should I go keep her company? Does she have somewhere to stay? She must have suffered a lot out there, Kei, I..."

"Relax, relax. Don't rush. I'll tell you slowly. Her name is Uzumaki Honoka, and before this, she was..."

Yamanaka Kei patted Kushina's little head and began telling her about Uzumaki Honoka while she watched him with sparkling eyes.

Compared to Kushina Uzumaki's childhood experiences, Honoka's early life could be considered fortunate.

When Whirlpool Country fell, she escaped safely under her parents' protection. Though they drifted from place to place, they soon settled in the Land of Sea.

Since both her parents were ninja, even though they only worked as ordinary hunters, their lives were still fairly decent.

Later, by chance, Honoka's parents came into contact with the Underground Exchange. Then, somehow, they ended up on Summoning Island, helping the researchers suppress certain uncontrollable Summoning Beasts.

After her parents passed away one after another three years ago due to old injuries from their days as ninja, Honoka took over their work and continued assisting with the research on Summoning Island.

It wasn't until Yamanaka Kei and Minato arrived this time that she learned Summoning Island had been supported by Mist from behind the scenes.

Because Minato had saved her, the surviving researchers had all been brought to Konoha as well.

With nowhere else to go, she naturally came here with them.

"Eugh~ Little tomboys really aren't good people. He actually used the old hero-saves-the-damsel trick to deceive an innocent girl, then brought her straight home!"

Kushina wore a look of utter disdain, but most of the worry in her heart had faded.

Because Yamanaka Kei and Namikaze Minato were very close, she was quite familiar with Minato as well.

Even though she had always thought that guy was kind of girly.

She also knew that Minato was an exceptionally dependable person when it came to his companions.

With him taking care of Honoka.

Honoka definitely wouldn't be as lost, lonely, and anxious as Kushina had been when she first arrived in Konoha.

"Hahaha~ Exactly, exactly! Little tomboys aren't good people! Haha~"

Yamanaka Kei shamelessly chimed in with Kushina.

On their way back earlier, he had complained about Minato more than once, telling the guy to restrain himself around him and stop constantly flaunting his relationship.

But that guy had let it go in one ear and out the other.

One second, he was agreeing wholeheartedly; the next, he was lying with his head in someone's lap!

Even when eating, it was "feed me a bite, I'll feed you a bite," and whenever they traveled, they were either leaning on each other or hugging.

How the hell could that be a good person?

"You're not a good person either."

Kushina grinned and made a face at him.

She gave Yamanaka Kei the same not-a-good-person label.

Did he think she didn't know? Among the Konoha ninja of their class, this guy had the worst personality.

He clearly looked sunny and handsome, but when he messed with people, he could make their scalps tingle.

Those self-created and adapted genjutsu of his.

Things like Little Flying Stick Coming, Give You a T, Brother-in-Law's Ecstasy, Zuan Has a Mom, Northern Myanmar Aid Delegation, Poltergeist Curse Experience Card...

With names like those, who would believe he was a good person?

"So you finally said what was really on your mind?"

Yamanaka Kei lightly pinched the tip of Kushina's nose.

Seeing the girl's sweet smile, he couldn't help feeling hungry again.

"L-Let's hurry up and pack! If we get back too late, Tsunade-sama might tear the house apart."

Kushina immediately cowered beneath that wolfish gaze.

"Tch. Weren't you pretty bold before?"

"No matter how bold I was before, it wasn't much of a problem. Now I can't be bold at all."

"And you're proud of that?"

"Mm-hm~"

After busying themselves for quite a while.

Kushina had packed a full eight large boxes of belongings.

That was with her packing only her own daily necessities and leaving every furnishing of the original Senju residence untouched.

Otherwise, forget eight boxes—even eighty might not have been enough!

"Looks like I'll have to use the Shadow Clone Technique."

Kushina dusted off her little hands and was about to form hand seals when Yamanaka Kei caught her hand.

"Let me show you something fun."

Yamanaka Kei took Kushina's right hand. After gathering himself for a moment, he pressed his palm against her wrist.

Chakra and spatial power converged.

In the blink of an eye, a Flying Thunder God mark the size of a ping-pong ball appeared on her wrist: a circular ring enclosing two arrows rotating clockwise.

"What kind of Sealing Technique is this? Mm... it feels like it's meant to keep some kind of power stable?"

Kushina blinked her big eyes as she studied the mark on her wrist.

At its core, a Flying Thunder God mark was a spatial coordinate left behind by using Chakra to draw upon spatial power.

It was then preserved through a special Sealing Technique.

Although Kushina didn't recognize Yamanaka Kei's Flying Thunder God mark, she immediately identified its essence.

"Wait, this still needs a lock."

Yamanaka Kei rapidly formed hand seals, then gently pressed his palm against Kushina's right wrist.

A tiny "Kei" immediately appeared at the center of the Flying Thunder God mark, while a ring of intricate sealing runes emerged around its outer circle.

"Binding Lock Seal? And you even wrote your name on it. What, are you afraid people won't know I'm your girlfriend?"

The tips of Kushina's ears reddened slightly. Though her words carried a trace of mock reproach, her tone was full of delight.

This kind of behavior, wanting to tell everyone that they were together... well, she liked it very much!

"This is my exclusive Flying Thunder God mark."

Yamanaka Kei had no resistance at all to Kushina's adorably reproachful expression. He tapped her forehead and explained with a smile.

The Binding Lock Seal was an intermediate seal that could be cleverly incorporated into many Sealing Techniques, creating composite seals.

Unless it was violently broken with Chakra, a Sealing Technique fused with the Binding Lock Seal could only allow its caster to use their own Chakra to touch the other layer of seal originally contained within.

In other words.

Even if Namikaze Minato could sense the Flying Thunder God mark Yamanaka Kei had left behind.

It was locked from the outside, and his Chakra didn't match.

So he simply couldn't use that mark to move.

"You... you're so possessive. Relax~ Tomorrow, when I go to the Jonin Waiting Station, I'll tell them this is your exclusive Flying Thunder God mar—mar... Flying Thunder God?!"

"Mm."

"Tobirama-sama's Flying Thunder God Technique?"

"Mm."

"...So even if we're very far apart, you can instantly appear by my side?"

"Mm!"

"Ahhh~ Kei, you're amazing!"

Kushina wrapped both arms around Yamanaka Kei's neck, lavishly praising him.