Pakura! Pakura!

Konoha, Tobirama Residence, dining room.

The aroma filled the air.

A lavish dinner covered the long table.

There were no rare delicacies, only ordinary home-cooked dishes. But to Pakura and Maki, who had just endured the ravages of war and had even prepared themselves to survive on bran and wild vegetables, it was practically an imperial feast.

Yet neither of them dared to move.

Pakura stood at the side with her hands lowered, while Maki tightly clutched Pakura's pant leg, swallowing hard with timid eyes.

In their understanding, as prisoners and maids, they were only qualified to eat the cold leftovers after their master had finished.

Tobirama sat at the head of the table, with Tsunade and Konan seated on either side.

He picked up his chopsticks, glanced at Pakura, who was still standing there like a statue, and frowned slightly.

"What are you standing around for?"

Tobirama tapped the rim of his bowl, producing a crisp sound.

"Sit down and eat."

Pakura stiffened and looked up in disbelief. "Master... we are maids. This isn't proper..."

"In Sunagakure, such overstepping would be punished."

"That's just Sunagakure making a fuss over pointless rules."

Tobirama picked up a piece of braised pork and placed it in Konan's bowl, his tone calm yet domineering.

"Here, there is only one rule: my words are the rules."

"If I tell you to sit, you sit. If I tell you to eat, you eat. Don't make me say it twice."

Pakura looked into Tobirama's unquestionable eyes, and her heart suddenly trembled.

There was no humiliation, no beating or scolding.

He had even... let them eat at the same table?

Sometimes, this Devil was truly impossible to understand.

"...Yes. Thank you, Master."

Pakura pulled Maki along and carefully sat down at the far end of the table.

The moment hot rice entered her mouth, Maki nearly burst into tears and began wolfing down her food.

Pakura maintained her composure, but her eyes still stung.

To think that she could feel such long-lost peace in an enemy's home.

The atmosphere at the dinner table was fairly harmonious.

Tsunade set down her chopsticks, wiped her mouth, and her expression turned more serious.

"Tobirama, the casualty figures from the front lines are out."

"Speak." Tobirama did not even raise his head.

"Thanks to your timely arrival, and because your intimidation forced the three great nations to withdraw quickly."

Tsunade took a deep breath, her eyes carrying a trace of admiration.

"So the number of casualties was not too severe. It remains within an acceptable range."

Tobirama nodded faintly.

"Not bad. Konoha wasn't disgraced. Double the compensation payments. If there isn't enough money, get it from the Feudal Lord's Mansion. Tell them I'm borrowing it."

"You..." Tsunade smiled helplessly. "How could the Feudal Lord possibly be that easy to talk to?"

Pakura, listening to their conversation from the side, tightened her grip on her chopsticks.

Konoha had not suffered many casualties.

But what about Sunagakure? More than half of its forces had been killed or wounded. Its backbone had been completely broken.

That was the difference.

Before this man, numbers meant nothing at all.

Late at night.

After dinner, Konan took Maki to the side bedroom.

The little girl was delighted to finally have a playmate her own age. Although Maki was still somewhat shy around strangers, under Konan's enthusiastic efforts, the two quickly began playing together.

Second-floor hallway.

Tobirama stood at the entrance to the master bedroom and pointed at the room next door.

"Pakura, you'll stay in this room."

"Yes." Pakura lowered her head in reply, secretly letting out a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, she would not be staying in the same room...

"However."

Tobirama changed the subject, a teasing curve appearing at the corner of his lips.

"As my personal maid, your work isn't over yet."

"Tonight, you'll stand guard outside my door."

"If I'm not sleeping, neither are you. If I have any orders, you are to be there the moment I call."

Pakura froze for a moment, then bit her lip. "...I understand."

It was only keeping watch.

As a ninja, going several days and nights without sleep was perfectly normal.

But... why did she have to guard the door? This was the heart of Konoha. Could there really be assassins here?

Tobirama did not explain. He directly pulled the flushed Tsunade into the master bedroom, where the two would begin today's ninjutsu sparring.

Bang.

The door closed.

Only Pakura remained in the hallway.

The lighting was dim. She leaned against the wall, crossed her arms, and closed her eyes to rest.

She continued to encourage herself inwardly.

"Pakura, you stayed for Maki's sake. Endure it. You only need to endure..."

However.

Not long afterward.

The sounds coming from inside the room completely shattered her mental defenses.

At first, there were only faint voices talking.

Then came an uncontrollable series of sounds, like a raging storm.

"Mm... Tobirama... be gentler..."

"What is this compared to anything? Weren't you acting pretty arrogant during dinner?"

"Bastard... that's a different matter... ah!"

"The Senju Clan's Sage Body should have good endurance, right? Let me see where your limit is."

Outside the door.

Pakura abruptly opened her eyes, her whole face instantly flushing down to the base of her neck.

She might have never experienced such matters, but she was still an adult. She knew perfectly well what those sounds meant!

Even if this was a sparring match between master and disciple, wasn't this far too intense?

"This... this bastard!!"

Pakura cursed furiously in her heart.

No wonder!

No wonder he had made her stand guard outside!

He had done this on purpose! This was blatant humiliation!

She wanted to cover her ears. She even wanted to run away immediately.

But Tobirama's order to be there the moment he called wrapped around her like a tightening curse.

She did not dare leave.

The sounds inside the room grew louder and louder.

The specially made solid wooden bed let out strained creaks, as though it were enduring an earthquake of magnitude eight.

Tsunade's voice went from firm and provocative at the beginning, to pleading, and finally devolved into incoherent sobs.

"No... no more... you really are a monster..."

"Shut up and focus, Teacher Tsunade. This is the decisive moment of our master-disciple sparring."

Pakura leaned against the wall, and her legs somehow began to weaken.

Even through the wall, she could feel the masculine hormones and terrifying vitality erupting within, burning her nerves like blazing fire.

That man...

On the battlefield, he was an invincible god of slaughter.

In this kind of matter, he was also so... terrifying?

Tsunade was one of the Legendary Sannin!

Princess Tsunade, who possessed the Strength of a Hundred and such a powerful physique, was actually begging for mercy?

Was this Tobirama Uchiha even human?!

Time passed second by second.

Half an hour... one hour... two hours...

Not only did the storm inside show no signs of stopping, it only grew more intense.

Pakura's initial shame and fury turned to shock, then eventually into an indescribable heat.

She was a normal woman.

Listening to such a high-quality live performance, she simply could not control her body's instinctive reactions.

Her breathing grew rapid, and fine beads of sweat seeped from her forehead.

Images began surfacing in her mind against her will.

What if...

What if she were the one inside...

How many minutes could she endure?

She would probably die before lasting even ten minutes, wouldn't she?

"Damn it... what am I thinking!"

Pakura fiercely pinched her thigh, trying to use pain to stay clear-headed.

But it was useless.

Those sounds were like demonic music pouring into her ears, endlessly battering her eardrums and heart.

"Ah!"

Finally, after Tsunade let out the sound of defeat.

The room gradually quieted down.

Only Tsunade's intermittent panting remained, making her sound like someone who had just finished a hundred-kilometer marathon and could not move even a finger.

Pakura let out a long breath. She felt as though she had gone through a great battle herself, her entire body drenched in cold sweat.

Finally... it was over.

If it had continued any longer, she felt she would have collapsed.

Just as she was preparing to sneak back to her room and rest.

Tobirama's lazy, hoarse voice suddenly came from inside the room.

"Pakura."

Pakura jolted, nearly jumping into the air.

"I'm... I'm here!"

Her voice was dry and trembling.

"Come in."

Only two words.

Yet they instantly sent Pakura's heart into her throat.

Go inside?

Now?

What was she supposed to do going in at a time like this?

Could it be... he was still not satisfied? Was he going to make her...

Countless chaotic thoughts exploded in her mind.

Fear, shame, and a trace of... secret anticipation that even she had not noticed?

With trembling hands, she grasped the doorknob.

Click.

The door opened.

A thick, overwhelming scent rushed toward her.

The room was unlit, with only moonlight spilling in through the window.

By the moonlight, Pakura saw the scene inside, and her pupils instantly contracted.

A chair had fallen over, the table was crooked, and the carpet was bunched into a mess.

The large bed was even more of a disaster.

Tsunade was wrapped in a blanket, one jade-like shoulder exposed. She was curled up in the corner of the bed, her long hair disheveled, clearly completely unconscious and unable to even open her eyes.

And Tobirama Uchiha.

At that moment, he was bare-chested, leaning against the headboard with a cigarette lit between his fingers.

His lean, steel-like muscles were still beaded with fine sweat, gleaming with a wild beauty beneath the moonlight.

He looked refreshed and alert. Where was there even a trace of fatigue on him?

When Pakura came in, Tobirama pointed at the clothes and bedsheets scattered messily across the floor.

"What are you standing around for?"

There was a hint of post-satisfaction languor in Tobirama's voice, yet it remained as domineering as ever.

"The room's too messy to sleep in."

"Change the sheets and clean up the floor."

"Keep it down. Don't wake her up. Otherwise... I'll hold you accountable."

Pakura stood there blankly, her face flushing so red it looked ready to bleed.

So... he had called her here to clean?

He was actually making her handle something so private?

"What? You unwilling?"

Tobirama narrowed his eyes slightly. The predatory look that flashed through them made Pakura feel as though she were naked.

"No... I... I'll do it."

Pakura lowered her head, not daring to look directly at that man brimming with masculine presence.

She hurried over, crouched down, and began picking up the clothes from the floor.

When her fingers touched the torn fabric and felt the lingering warmth on it, her heart raced uncontrollably.

Was this the fate of a maid?

She looked at the unconscious Tsunade on the bed, then at the man beside her, powerful as a demon god.

In that night steeped in an intimate atmosphere, the last shred of pride Pakura possessed as a strong person finally dissipated completely.

She knew.

For the rest of her life, she probably would never escape the palm of that man's hand.