Right to My Door

"If I remember correctly, you should be in confinement right now."

Although he had not seen the visitor, that terrifying Chakra—more immense than everyone present combined, almost like a moving dragon vein—immediately told Guo Wang who it was.

The red-haired girl wore an unprecedentedly brilliant smile. Holding a pot of freshly brewed tea, she approached him ingratiatingly.

"Grandpa Danzo, you worked hard in this battle against the Land of Lightning. I specially brewed a pot of your favorite Gyokuro. I hope it will soothe your body and mind while you recover."

Guo Wang's expression was exceedingly strange. If the memories he had examined were correct, this crazy girl had never shown him such a pleasant face since childhood. When she was young, relying on Uzumaki Mito's favoritism, she had run rampant through the village. She had slipped into the Hokage Building, the confidential archives, the Fuinjutsu chamber, and even the Anbu under his command several times. Danzo had flown into a rage more than once, only to be stopped by Sarutobi Hiruzen.

Because of that, the girl deeply disliked Danzo, this fierce old senior. Quite a few of her inventive pranks had been pulled in the Anbu.

"As a shinobi, you should know that you are not allowed to move about freely during confinement. I specifically told that Oni from the Nara Clan to assign more people to watch you closely. It seems none of you took my words seriously."

Guo Wang snorted through his nose and rose from the wooden couch. His stern, unsmiling face made even Uzumaki Kushina, who feared neither heaven nor earth, fidget uneasily.

She had not understood before. Relying on her special status, powerful backing, and her own "formidable" strength, her only impression of Danzo had been that he was a "disgusting, gloomy old man." But running away from home to find her boyfriend this time had shown her just how vast the world truly was.

The Jonin strength she had been so proud of was nowhere near comparable to these old seniors.

The tremendous commotion caused by Guo Wang's clash with the Raikage, their battle-hardened combat techniques, Ninjutsu and secret arts, even the forbidden techniques that shook the earth—all of it had opened the eyes of Uzumaki Kushina, who had never once left the village.

That was why Kushina, who had become somewhat more sensible, knew she had caused quite a serious mess this time. Afraid that returning home would affect Namikaze Minato's succession as Hokage, she wanted to use the "cute" impression she had left behind as a child to make Grandpa Danzo stop pursuing the matter.

"I happen to be thirsty. Leave the tea and go. I need to rest."

Guo Wang had some ideas about Tailed Beasts, but his current physical condition did not allow it. As a living fossil who had experienced three Shinobi World Wars, Danzo's memories contained many horrifying scenes of Jinchuriki ravaging battlefields and changing the landscape.

Any Tailed Beast, once its strength was fully unleashed, would be no weaker than a Kage.

The most typical example was Kumogakure's Eight-Tails. It could exhaust the Third Raikage, a War Machine, until he collapsed unconscious. Not even a hundred Danzos could accomplish that.

A village possessing a Tailed Beast was almost incapable of losing on the battlefield.

If Sunagakure of the Land of Wind had not been so unlucky that its Jinchuriki died of old age before the war began, it would not have been crushed head-on by Konoha and forced to sign a humiliating treaty just to preserve its foundations.

Why else was Ōnoki jumping around so eagerly? Both of the Jinchuriki under his command were at their peak, and Iwagakure had the largest number of shinobi, nearly enough to rival the other four great nations combined.

"Grandpa Danzo, get some good rest. Kushina will be leaving now. I'll come see you again tonight."

Though she was deeply displeased, she thought of how her man was currently at a crucial turning point. She did not want Danzo, as a general, to transfer his prejudice against her onto Namikaze Minato. The red-haired girl forcibly suppressed the anger in her heart, squeezed out a smile, poured the tea, and placed it before Guo Wang. Then, in an extremely ladylike manner, she backed out of the tent.

"Damn old bastard. Tonight, I'll make you drink my bathwater."

After she left, Three Tomoe Sharingan suddenly appeared in Guo Wang's eyes, and his expression turned thoughtful.

"That was the Nine-Tails just now."

When Uzumaki Kushina handed him the tea, he had casually accepted it, and the two had come into contact. A nearly undetectable yet exceptionally dense stream of Chakra had entered his palm through the black cup and warm tea, nourishing and activating the weakened, powerless cells in his right hand.

"It seems I'll need to go back and thoroughly look through the books regarding the origins of the Tailed Beasts."

Guo Wang used his pure spiritual power to control the threads of flame-like red Chakra in his right palm. The Three Tomoe in his right eye suddenly transformed into a Mangekyo pattern, and the cooled-down Vacuum Infinite Sword activated once more.

"Huh? That old man is drawing in Natural Energy again. Is he developing a new technique or something else?"

Jiraiya was not sitting inside a tent. Instead, he was facing the post-rain morning sun and lying atop a large boulder to recuperate. Sensing the Natural Energy between heaven and earth continuously gathering toward Danzo's location, he turned his head to look, only to see his disciple's wife emerging from there. His mouth fell open.

"Kushina, weren't you confined?"

"I made Brother Choza a delicious meal, so they let me out."

Jiraiya's horse-like face lengthened, and he looked utterly helpless. When it came to this eccentric little girl, even his teacher, the Third Hokage, could do nothing about her.

Only Danzo, who always wore a cold expression, could make the "Red Hot Habanero" avoid him somewhat.

That was why he found it very strange to see Uzumaki Kushina coming out of Danzo's tent.

"You're Minato's teacher, yet you don't understand? He's at the most important turning point of his life. Whether he can fulfill my dream and become Hokage depends on this war against the Land of Lightning. If Old Man Danzo suppresses him, recalls Minato when victory is at hand, and sends him back to the village under the authority of a general, wouldn't all our efforts be wasted?"

Clearly, Jiraiya could not quite keep up with Uzumaki Kushina's leaps in thought. Still, he understood the general meaning.

"So, for Minato's sake, you went to curry favor with Danzo and lower your head? Oh, this is the power of love..."

Before Jiraiya could finish speaking, the blushing girl punched him in the chest. His already badly injured body immediately spewed three pints of blood, and he fainted once more.

"Someone, come quickly! This is bad! Senior Jiraiya got too much sun, suffered heatstroke, and passed out!"

That evening, as Danzo waited for the cooking shinobi to deliver his meal, he sensed Kushina's enormous, undisguised Chakra again.

"Grandpa Danzo, you're not well, so I specially made some light food..."

The red-haired girl deliberately spoke in a cute tone and entered the tent with a sweet smile, only to meet a pair of blood-red eyes marked by black tomoe.

"Since you've delivered yourself to my door, then I won't be polite."