Nawaki was a child she had raised from the time he was little. He had never suffered a day in his life and had been every bit the pampered young master of a great clan.
But now he had ended up like this. How could Mito not be heartbroken?
"Grandmother, I'm fine. I'm already in my twenties. I'm not a child anymore."
Then he scratched his head. "Besides, this wasn't really hardship. Even though I never found my father and mother, I learned a lot along the way and saw so much of the world."
"I'll tell you all about it in a bit."
Mito smiled and nodded. "All right, all right. Tell Grandmother all about it."
Just as Nawaki was secretly congratulating himself on getting out of trouble so easily, Hashirama stepped in again.
"You little rascal, don't think you can talk your way out of this just because your grandmother is easy to fool!"
The joy in Nawaki's heart instantly drained away, and for a moment, he didn't know what to say.
He kept glancing at Torifu and Tsunade, hoping they would help him.
Torifu understood at once and spoke up. "Master, Nawaki must be exhausted after traveling all this way. Let him go inside and rest for a while. Once you've decided how to punish him, he can do it then. It's still too cold outside, and it wouldn't be good if he got sick."
No matter how stern Hashirama tried to sound, he still cared about his grandson. It was just that his earlier words had backed him into a corner, and he couldn't easily take them back.
Torifu had given him the perfect way out, so naturally, he took it.
Hashirama replied awkwardly, "W-well, all right. Let's go inside, then. It really is a bit