Take Responsibility for Me

"Are you okay, Sis? Does it hurt?" Mikoto stepped forward to check her injuries.

"How could you be so careless? Look what happened—you hurt your sister!" Kushina was about to teach Hyuga Matsuba a lesson.

"It's fine. He still wasn't using his full strength. Otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable." Tsunade cut her off in time, then deliberately shot the brat a glance.

"Even if I still don't quite understand what that light-emitting technique of yours is, you need to keep it under control. Otherwise, it'll bring you trouble," Tsunade kindly reminded him.

"Understood. Right now, only you know my true strength. The other students merely think I was born a little stronger and got lucky beating a few people." Hyuga Matsuba humbly accepted the advice.

This village was a mess, and Hyuga Matsuba knew it well. Konoha appeared peaceful and stable on the outside, but brawls and purges were frequent within the village.

Civil wars were a common sight here. In other villages, such a thing would have been unimaginable.

In the beginning, how could this village have looked like the strongest? It was only the ruthless Third Hokage who had unified it. Who else could have done that? Danzo, that old schemer? Or Kakashi, who could barely protect himself?

The Legendary Sannin had all left one after another. There had to be some unspeakable secrets behind it all. Anyone who said otherwise was full of it.

If he revealed his true strength now, it might very well bring about his own death.

"Good, as long as you understand. The rest of you shouldn't tell anyone either." Tsunade voiced her approval, then reminded the two girls.

The corners of Mikoto's lips curled upward. Since the two of them lived under the same roof, she had long known Hyuga Matsuba's secret. Back then, right before her eyes, Hyuga Matsuba had dealt with Uchiha Kirito, an Elite Jonin, in a simple and brutal manner.

"How about this? Promise to serve this princess like a slave from now on, and I won't tell anyone." Kushina raised her chin and declared loudly.

"Kushina, what you're doing is very dangerous." Hyuga Matsuba's expression darkened as he slowly approached Kushina.

"W-What are you doing?!"

"You'll find out soon enough."

Hyuga Matsuba turned around and smacked Kushina's butt several times.

A burst of pain shot through Kushina's backside, and her face turned as red as an apple.

"Y-You actually dared to hit my butt?!" Kushina was both embarrassed and furious.

"Heh, I hit it~" Hyuga Matsuba's eyes were full of provocation.

"Everyone in my clan says only a husband can touch a girl's butt! Since you've done this, you have to marry me!" Kushina suddenly felt terribly shy.

"Mm."

"That's not bad news."

Mikoto watched the two of them, stepped forward, and quietly pinched Hyuga Matsuba's thigh as hard as she could.

There was no need to say it—this little ancestor was definitely jealous again. Even though she was usually mild-tempered, any girl would get angry and jealous over something like this, unless she simply did not care about him.

"Hyuga Matsuba is just a womanizer. Mikoto must have been blind to fall for you. Poor Kushina is about to fall victim too." Tsunade shook her head helplessly.

What she did not realize was that every word carried a faint sense of jealousy. But Tsunade refused to admit that she had those kinds of feelings for this little brat too.

The two girls only needed one look to see through Tsunade's true thoughts. A woman's sixth sense was truly terrifying. Hyuga Matsuba, on the other hand, was clueless as a blockhead.

"Hey! So, do you agree or not?!"

"If you're serious about this, then you won't have another chance in the future. If you ever want to leave me, you're dreaming." Hyuga Matsuba spoke solemnly.

"I'm always serious when I speak, okay? I've never regretted anything!" Kushina said firmly.

Even though the two had only known each other for a few days, and not even that long counting today, Kushina greatly enjoyed the safety and warmth Hyuga Matsuba gave her. She liked it immensely.

Otherwise, why would she have secretly followed him to the Training Ground?

"Fine. From now on, Kushina is mine. I'll definitely treat you well in the future. I swear it." Hyuga Matsuba was not grinning playfully. Instead, his face was utterly serious.

"Okay!" Only after truly becoming Hyuga Matsuba's girlfriend did Kushina begin to feel embarrassed.

But Kushina had always been carefree, and her shyness vanished in an instant. In the blink of an eye, she was acting like a tomboy again.

Yet Kushina's personality was not irritating at all. On the contrary, it made her seem charming and lively.

In truth, Kushina was merely a little stubborn.

"Then Mikoto and Kushina, you two need to understand each other and look after one another from now on. Kushina, you can come live at my place now." Hyuga Matsuba took both girls' hands and placed all three hands together.

The two girls looked at each other, and silence briefly filled the scene. If they had immediately agreed and claimed they would not mind in the future, that would have been truly unbelievable.

Hyuga Matsuba understood that too, but time would solve everything. In the original script, these two had been good sisters. Now, it was merely taking a different form.

Watching it all unfold, Tsunade felt strange inside. Now she seemed to be nothing more than a bystander, as though this had nothing to do with her anymore. She could not tell whether she was angry, disappointed, or saddened.

"You all get along well. I'm busy, so we'll meet again if there's a chance!" Tsunade tossed out those words and left.

"Mm, Sis."

"It's fine. It's time for us to go home. We still need to get Kushina's luggage!" Hyuga Matsuba cut in at once.

On the surface, Kushina moving in seemed peaceful, but in truth, the smell of gunpowder had already filled the air.

Besides the village's leaders, other villages had also focused their attention on this young boy.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, the great Hokage himself, had even gone out of his way to visit the head of the Hyuga Clan and earnestly lecture him.

Kushina was closely connected to the Nine-Tails. The village leaders all knew this secret, which was why they cared greatly about the whereabouts of the two girls from the Uzumaki Clan.

In the original script, there had only been Kushina. Now there was also Uzumaki Tomoko. It seemed they now had double protection.

That was why Hyuga Matsuba had dared to say Kushina could come live with him. Otherwise, judging by that old man, the Third Hokage, he definitely would not have been able to sit still. He might even have taken Hyuga Matsuba's life.

The other villages had long been unable to restrain themselves. They secretly sent their people to approach Uzumaki Tomoko and build a relationship with her. If they could gain her help, the Nine-Tails would not be far from their grasp.

At the same time, they complained that the Hyuga Clan had acted too quickly and caught them completely off guard.

But their actions had now enraged Hiruzen Sarutobi. At this point in time, he still had some bite left in him and was not yet an old man with one foot in the grave.

He issued an order forbidding anyone from harboring ill intentions toward Uzumaki Tomoko.

But saying one thing was one thing, and doing another was another. You could forbid people from plotting against her, but you could not know what was in their hearts.

This gave Hiruzen Sarutobi a massive headache. In the end, he secretly sent people to find several suspects and dealt with them thoroughly.