Kushina Asks for Help, Tsunade Drives Up the Price

"Is that Tsunade's decision?"

At the Hokage's Office Building, an Anbu member relayed Tsunade's words.

The Third Hokage waved a hand and said,

"Since it's Tsunade's decision, then let it be. Nothing will happen with her watching over them. Go back and rest."

"Yes!"

Rarely getting a day off, the Anbu ninja were quite happy.

Following the Jinchuriki around in two daily shifts took its toll over time.

People ultimately needed rest. Even ninja were no exception.

Not long after the Anbu ninja left, the office door was pushed open.

This behavior of barging in without knocking displeased the Third Hokage.

But when he saw who it was, he could not vent his irritation even if he wanted to.

"Danzo, what brings you here?"

The Third Hokage continued reading the documents on his desk.

As Hokage, he was both the most powerful person in Konoha and the busiest.

Do not think becoming Hokage was easy. All sorts of major and minor matters filled every day, leaving almost no personal time.

"Hiruzen, why did you withdraw the people following the Jinchuriki?"

"Because Tsunade is with Kushina. With her there, are you still worried?"

The moment Danzo spoke, the Third Hokage knew what he wanted to say.

The Third Hokage raised his head and looked at his old classmate and longtime companion.

"Danzo, we promised Matron Mito that we would treat Kushina well. I hope you have not forgotten your own words."

"Hmph, so what? As long as it benefits the village, what does it matter if a mere promise is broken?"

Danzo did not think there was anything wrong with breaking his word, because he believed everything he did was for Konoha's sake.

A Jinchuriki should be handed over to Root for control, not allowed to run around freely, attend school, fight with other students after class,

or even go out for picnics and eat grilled meat.

What kind of behavior was that?

I knew it would be like this.

The Third Hokage shook his head, ignored Danzo, and continued handling his work.

In any case, he could never accept Danzo's proposal.

Danzo, the Root of Konoha, could shamelessly disregard appearances, but he could not.

As Hokage, he still had to maintain appearances. If he put Kushina under control and word got out, what kind of person would that make him?

Besides, the Third Hokage did not trust Root's people.

If they took Kushina away to control her, then failed to restrain themselves and went too far, releasing the Nine-Tails...

Then Konoha would be finished.

"Hmph!"

When the Third Hokage ignored him, Danzo knew his proposal had failed once again. The Third Hokage would not allow him to touch the Jinchuriki.

Danzo snorted coldly, turned around, and left.

"It smells so good!!"

Kushina still had no idea that Danzo had been constantly keeping his eye on her.

She was busy eating grilled meat, praising it between bites.

Even Tsunade, who had claimed she was not interested, was eating with gusto—and more fiercely than anyone else.

Minato watched the two of them eat like bottomless pits, forcing out a strained smile.

Cold sweat kept dripping from his forehead.

There seems to be a little too little food. Are there enough seasonings?

What do you think!

Those two are eating more viciously than anyone!

Hurry up and dig in. If we wait any longer, there won't be anything left.

Chiyue's eyes widened as he hurriedly joined the battle.

Minato refused to be outdone and began fighting for food as well.

One small wild boar and two wild rabbits quickly disappeared into the stomachs of the four.

Tsunade patted her belly in satisfaction. "Your cooking is pretty good, kid. No wonder Kushina kept thinking about it and insisted on dragging me here."

"Burp~~"

As she spoke, Tsunade let out a full belch.

"Hehe."

Chiyue nodded slightly, accepting the compliment.

Can't find the book by searching its title? Try searching for the author instead—it may have simply been renamed!

He said nothing else, afraid more people might show up to freeload on meals.

Cooking was troublesome enough. The more people there were, the more exhausting it became.

"Kushina, Lady Tsunade, Minato and I are going to train. If you're bored, you can head back first."

After eating their fill and resting for a while, it was time to train. Chiyue and Minato exchanged glances and plunged into the woods.

Neither of them intended to bring Kushina along.

Kushina could not help feeling disappointed. She had actually wanted to join them too.

But neither Chiyue nor Minato had invited her, so she could not bring herself to shamelessly tag along.

After all, ninja did not like others watching them train.

It could expose their information.

Unless it was someone very close to them.

Clearly, Chiyue and Minato did not yet consider her a close friend.

"You'll die at his hands sooner or later."

Kushina's dejected little expression made Tsunade feel both heartache and helplessness.

"What? Die at whose hands?"

Kushina did not understand.

The corner of Tsunade's mouth twitched. Leaning lazily against the tree trunk, she said,

"Nothing. I just suddenly remembered some old memories. I'm going to sleep for a while, so don't disturb me unless it's important. Work hard on controlling your Chakra. Don't let that thing influence you."

With a Nine-Tails inside her, the Nine-Tails had been constantly using its Chakra to erode the seal in an attempt to escape, affecting Kushina's training.

Like Naruto, Kushina was currently at a stage where her jutsu could easily go wrong.

Especially the simplest Three Basic Jutsu.

"Mm."

Kushina wore a serious expression and nodded firmly. "I won't be defeated by the Great Fox. I'll defeat it!"

"Sister Tsunade, can I trade something with you for some jutsu?"

"Jutsu?"

Aren't the Uzumaki Clan's jutsu enough for you to learn?

Just looking at all those Sealing Jutsu scrolls makes my scalp tingle, and you still want more jutsu?

"Wait!"

Tsunade was no naive little girl. She immediately realized what was going on. "You're not trying to trade for a jutsu scroll to help that brat Yagami Chiyue, are you?"

"Because I want to thank him."

Kushina clung to Tsunade's arm and shook it as she pleaded, "Please? Sister Tsunade, I only want one Shadow Clone Jutsu scroll."

Once at school, Chiyue had complained to Minato that if he knew the Shadow Clone, he could improve much faster in both studying and training. Kushina had remembered those words.

So she wanted to trade for a Shadow Clone Jutsu scroll for Chiyue.

"I refuse."

It had only been this long, and Kushina was already thinking of giving things to him for free. What would happen in the future?

No, I object to this marriage.

Pah, I object to you doing this.

"Two hundred thousand!"

Since acting cute did not work, Kushina puffed out her cheeks and held up two fair little fingers.

"If you still won't agree, I'll go find the Hokage. He promised me I could go to him if there was any jutsu I wanted to learn."

"Wait!"

Tsunade suddenly grabbed Kushina and said righteously,

"How can you trouble the Old Man with something like this? He's so busy. Kushina, you're being too inconsiderate. I'll just have to work a little harder instead."

"How about this? Give me four hundred thousand, and I'll teach him. Otherwise, even if you give him a jutsu scroll, he might not be able to learn it without anyone guiding him."

"Don't you think so?"

Tsunade nudged Kushina with her elbow and began bargaining.

"Besides, that kid has a strong sense of pride. If you give him the scroll directly, he definitely won't accept it. I'll go find him and say I'll teach him as repayment for today's grilled meat. That would make more sense, right?"

"Just four hundred thousand. You're not losing out."

"That does make sense, but..."

Kushina felt that something was off. Even if I have plenty of money, you can't just cheat me out of it, can you?

I'm still young. That's my dowry.

And I may be young, but I'm not stupid!

Tsunade did not know exactly how much money Kushina had.

She only knew that Konoha had taken over the Uzumaki Clan's inheritance, then allotted Kushina an entire street in the commercial district.

The street, along with all its shops and land, belonged entirely to Kushina.