Tsunade!?

Jiang Feng met Hiruzen Sarutobi at the Sarutobi clan compound.

Before his transmigration, Jiang Feng had read many Naruto fanfictions. Some of them depicted the Sarutobi clan as a massive family with three thousand, even six thousand shinobi, citing references and offering explanations for such arguments.

Was that the truth?

Jiang Feng didn't know. All he knew was that in the Ninja World he had transmigrated into, the Sarutobi clan didn't have that many members.

Counting even those clansmen who lived like ordinary civilians, the Sarutobi clan had about a thousand people, of which only two hundred were ninja. These thousand-plus individuals all lived together in what could be called a "village within a village"—the Sarutobi clan grounds.

Correspondingly, the Uchiha were the same. Both their total clan population and ninja numbers were roughly equal to the Sarutobi's, and their clan grounds were just as vast, located in Konoha's central district alongside the Sarutobi.

If anything, the current Uchiha and Sarutobi clans were neighbors.

Not long after arriving at Hiruzen Sarutobi's residence, the Third Generation's wife, Biwako Sarutobi, made an excuse to take everyone on a tour of the Sarutobi clan. She led away Kurenai Yuhi, Asuma, and Kurenai Yuhi, leaving Jiang Feng alone with Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"Come, come, play a game of Go with me. I've improved my skills a lot lately—this time, I'll definitely wipe away my past shame!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't put on the airs of the Hokage. Without a second word, he brought out a Go board and challenged Jiang Feng to a match. Jiang Feng sat down across from Hiruzen Sarutobi without hesitation, letting the old man take black and move first.

The Third Generation was also Jiang Feng's friend, a cross-generational bond.

After laying out the opening patterns with standard joseki, Hiruzen Sarutobi's pace of placing stones slowed considerably. Jiang Feng's Go skills were formidable—meeting all sorts of extraordinary people in the martial world wasn't unusual, and among his fifty-plus expert templates, several were masters of music, chess, calligraphy, and painting.

"How have things been going with that little girl from the Yuhi clan lately?" Hiruzen Sarutobi asked casually.

"Same as before."

"Quasi-boyfriend and girlfriend?"

"Mm." Jiang Feng nodded.

So-called quasi-boyfriend and girlfriend meant that Kurenai Yuhi considered Jiang Feng her boyfriend, making them a quasi-couple. Whenever Jiang Feng decided he considered her his girlfriend, the "quasi-" could be dropped.

Hiruzen Sarutobi grew curious: "Do you think Kurenai Yuhi isn't pretty enough?"

"She's very pretty."

"Do you think her personality is bad?"

"Her personality is excellent."

"Do you simply not like her?" Hiruzen Sarutobi pressed.

It was possible to find everything good about someone yet still not like them—Hiruzen Sarutobi, with his vast experience, had seen such cases a few times.

"No, I quite like her." Jiang Feng shook his head.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was baffled: "Then why are you still just quasi-boyfriend and girlfriend?"

Yeah, why?

Because Kurenai Yuhi was three years younger than Uchiha Jiang Feng. At thirteen, she had just entered adolescence, a delicate little girl carved from jade. Meanwhile, Jiang Feng, nearing the end of his own adolescence, already looked like an adult.

Kurenai Yuhi saw no problem dating someone three years older, but Jiang Feng had reservations.

That was what Jiang Feng thought, but he wouldn't say it—because it wasn't cool enough. He had an almost obsessive fixation on being cool, like a character straight out of a Gu Long novel or a Wong Kar-wai film, where posturing had become second nature.

Uchiha Jiang Feng placed a stone: "Because I know that what you can't have is always the best. So until the time is right, I'll never tell her how much I like her."

Don't ask—ask, and the answer is that the time isn't right.

Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed: "No wonder everyone says you have a way with young, beautiful women."

Strong, handsome, and even using military tactics like playing hard to get—how could his own foolish son Asuma ever compete with someone like that?

"The world misunderstands me greatly. The truth is the opposite—I actually have no way at all with young, beautiful women."

Some say the best topic between men is always women. The moment women came up, even the aged Hiruzen Sarutobi perked up.

"How so?" Hiruzen Sarutobi asked with keen interest.

"There's a type of man who usually acts righteous and proper, but the moment he sees a young, beautiful woman, his bones go soft. He'd give her his life if she asked for it."

"Jiraiya—you must mean Jiraiya!" Hiruzen Sarutobi would never admit to being that kind of old lecher.

Jiang Feng shook his head: "No, I'm talking about myself."

Hiruzen Sarutobi was greatly astonished—how could that be?

"The women who like you could line up from Konoha to the Land of Fire's capital. You dismiss the vast majority of them."

"Yes, because they aren't pretty enough."

"Your friends are also numerous enough to line up from Konoha to the Land of Fire's capital. Whenever any friend asks for your help, you never refuse."

"It's not that I can't refuse, but I'll do my best to help when I can."

"Likewise, your friends are the same. If you asked any of them to lend you money, even if you gave no reason and couldn't name a specific repayment date, they'd still lend it to you—even a hundred million yen."

"Most of my friends are broke. Not many could lend me a hundred million yen."

"Then how can you say you're a lecher who loses his composure around pretty women?" Hiruzen Sarutobi was utterly perplexed.

"People always say that men value friends over women, which shows that in most eyes, friends and women can't both be had—they're always in conflict."

Uchiha Jiang Feng sighed: "The reason I act that way is to keep others from knowing that I'm actually someone who loses his composure around pretty women.

At least this way, no one will think I value women over friends. As long as I don't have that reputation, even if I occasionally slip up around a beautiful woman, it won't matter much."

After saying that, Jiang Feng and Hiruzen Sarutobi both laughed heartily, and the living room was instantly filled with a cheerful atmosphere.

There is a kind of wind that can ripple the calm surface of a placid lake, and also smooth the wrinkles on a person's face. Every time he chatted with Jiang Feng, Hiruzen Sarutobi felt great joy, as if he had not yet aged, as if he had not yet lost the youth he so fondly missed.

At the same time, Hiruzen Sarutobi finally confirmed that the young man across from him indeed had a knack for dealing with young, beautiful women.

Young, handsome, and smooth-talking—such a man would naturally be liked by women.

"Since you say that, then I definitely have to see for myself—just how distracted you get when you meet a young, beautiful woman."

"How will you see that?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi put down his chess piece, picked up the old pipe beside the board, and took a puff: "I happen to know a woman who is both young and beautiful."

"Who?"

"Tsunade."

"Oh, Tsunade... Tsunade!?"

Uchiha Jiang Feng was astonished—astonished that Hiruzen Sarutobi could bring up Tsunade's name in such an atmosphere, in the middle of such a topic.

It felt like two veterinarians were having a serious academic discussion on the subject of "postpartum care for sows," and then one of them suddenly said: "Ruri Tachibana's riding technique is unmatched."