Chapter 23

"Grandma wants to see Liuyun!" Senju Nawaki spread his hands.

"What? Grandma Mito wants to see Liuyun?"

Kushina cried out, her eyes widening.

She kept looking Liuyun up and down, as though she had discovered some rare species.

"Do you really have to look at me like that?" Kushina's gaze made Liuyun uncomfortable all over.

"Of course I do! Do you know who Grandma Mito is? Apart from me, you're the first person of our generation she's specifically asked to see in all these years!"

Kushina pursed her lips, looking as though she thought he had hit the jackpot.

Beside her, Mikoto's mouth fell open, the shock in her eyes no less than Kushina's.

"Young clan leader Nawaki! Does Lady Mito really want to see me?"

Liuyun pointed at himself, utterly bewildered.

This was Mito Uzumaki—the wife of Hashirama Senju and the first Nine-Tails Jinchuriki in history.

In strength and prestige, she could leave Hiruzen Sarutobi in the dust. Why would she want to see him?

"Yes!" Senju Nawaki nodded earnestly.

"I don't know exactly why, either. Just come with me!"

"Also!" Senju Nawaki paused, a sunny smile appearing on his face.

"Since you're my sister's students, just call me Big Brother Nawaki like Kushina does! 'Young clan leader Nawaki' sounds too distant!"

"All right!" Liuyun and Mikoto nodded in turn.

Actually, he would rather call him his future brother-in-law.

"We're coming too!" Kushina pulled Mikoto over to Liuyun's side.

"No problem, but we'll have to wait outside!" Senju Nawaki said.

"Okay."

They crossed the courtyard where Tsunade lived and followed a corridor deeper into the compound.

After so many twists and turns that Liuyun was starting to feel dizzy, a narrow, moss-covered path appeared before them.

Dew still clung to the moss.

It was just as that line in the book said: the shaded path you longed for was covered in white dew every night and morning.

They followed the path to its end, where an old house, weathered by the years, appeared before them.

"All right! Grandma's inside. Go on in! We'll wait out here," Nawaki said, pointing at the house.

"Mm!" Liuyun nodded to the two girls and walked inside with a calm expression.

Mito Uzumaki truly deserved her reputation as Konoha's most respected figure. Within his sensory range, there were eight guards hidden in the immediate surroundings alone!

Judging by their chakra fluctuations, every one of them was at least an Elite Jonin.

That was not even counting the other guards hidden along the route they had taken.

To put it bluntly, without Senju Nawaki leading them, they might not even have made it past the first corridor.

Creak!

He pushed open the door. An elderly woman with a gaunt face and snow-white hair sat cross-legged before him, looking remarkably alert.

She wore a kindly smile, and her eyes, tempered by the years, were as deep as an abyss.

The moment Liuyun entered, an overwhelming sense of danger washed over him.

It felt as though he could keep no secrets from this elderly woman.

"Lady Mito! You wanted to see me?" Liuyun closed the door behind him and bowed his head respectfully.

That respect came from the heart. After all, she was Kushina and Tsunade's grandmother.

She had raised both his wives. How could he not show her respect?

"I wanted to see you because that girl Kushina keeps talking about you.

"I wanted to see just who this young man she always mentions was!"

Mito Uzumaki's expression was kind, her voice as gentle as any ordinary elderly woman's.

"Now it seems I should thank Kushina!"

Mito Uzumaki narrowed her eyes slightly and continued on her own.

"You carry Hashirama's scent, though it isn't strong. It didn't come from a transplant, either. You must have awakened it yourself!"

"Your mental energy is also exceptionally powerful. Though it falls short of mine, there are very few in all of Konoha who can compare."

"You've certainly awakened your Sharingan. As for the Mangekyo, I can't tell!"

"Add to that the Ice Release bloodline limit Kushina mentioned, and you have three bloodlines in a single body. What a miracle!"

"Your future achievements will surely rival Hashirama's! Am I right, child?"

Having finished speaking, Mito Uzumaki opened her eyes. Her expression had remained kindly throughout.

"I don't know what you mean, but I have indeed awakened the Ice Release and Sharingan you mentioned!"

Though shock surged through Liuyun's heart, his expression remained utterly calm.

"Good! Very good! You're careful and thorough. No matter the circumstances, you must never reveal your trump cards!"

"Your temperament is far better than that of my two grandchildren.

"If they had even half your thoughtfulness and caution, I wouldn't have to sigh over them in private."

Liuyun remained silent. Tsunade and Nawaki really did tend to act without thinking things through.

They would be fine as ordinary clan members, but as future clan leaders, they left something to be desired.

"Child, you're different from the others in the Uchiha Clan. I sense no malice from either you or the girl outside!"

"This old woman has a favor to ask of you!"

Mito Uzumaki looked at Liuyun. Her deep eyes grew cloudy again, and hope appeared on her aged face.

"Please tell me, Lady Mito. If it's within my power, I'll do it!" Liuyun said slowly.

"Call me Grandma Mito, just like Kushina does! It feels warmer that way!"

"Grandma Mito!"

"Good! What a good child!" A smile appeared on Mito Uzumaki's gaunt face once more.

"What I ask is very simple for you. In the years ahead..."

"If Nawaki and Tsunade ever find themselves in danger, I hope you'll lend them a hand!"

(Those who send flowers will be looked after by Airi tonight. Those who send rating votes will be looked after by Tsunade! Those who send both will be looked after by both women!)

Mito Uzumaki's generous reward! (First update!)

"Lady Mito, you must be joking. Teacher Tsunade and Big Brother Nawaki—one is the Third Hokage's prized student."

"The other is the future leader of the Senju Clan. How could they possibly be in danger?"

Liuyun shook his head with a warm smile.

Mito Uzumaki shook her head and sighed, sadness in her eyes.

"Whether you understand or not, if that day ever comes, I hope you'll help them!"

Liuyun nodded firmly. "I will!"

He naturally understood the Senju Clan's predicament. At its root, it boiled down to this: their achievements threatened their ruler, and their prestige was too great.

Put simply, in Konoha, you might not know who the Hokage was, but you would certainly know where the Senju Clan was!

With that kind of prestige, who else would the reigning Hokage target? If I were in his shoes, I'd target you too!

Yet ever since Tobirama Senju's death, the Senju Clan had failed to live up to its name. By now, it did not even have a single Kage-Level Strongest.

Or perhaps it did, and that scheming old bastard Hiruzen Sarutobi had quietly disposed of them.

No matter how arrogant the Senju Clan was, it still served under the Hokage.

A few high-risk missions, coupled with Danzo's cooperation, would be more than enough to put them in their place.

When a clan's prestige outstripped its strength, its decline was already inevitable. That went doubly so with a pack of hungry wolves eyeing it from the shadows.

Without the old relic sitting before him, the Senju Clan would probably have fallen apart long ago.

But knowing was one thing. Saying it aloud was another.

Liuyun could only pretend he knew nothing.

"With your promise, I can rest easy!"

Mito Uzumaki seemed to have lifted a great weight from her heart, and the smile on her wrinkled face deepened.

"I won't ask you to do this for nothing!"

Mito Uzumaki took a scroll from inside her clothes and tapped it lightly!

Poof!

Amid the spreading smoke, an enormous scroll appeared.

"This! What is this?" Liuyun asked in confusion.

"It contains every Forbidden Jutsu Tobirama developed, all of Hashirama's Wood Release Ninjutsu, and the Sealing Jutsu and insights I've accumulated over the years!"

Mito Uzumaki smiled. "This is the best reward I can offer!"

"Lady Mi—no! Grandma! You really don't need to do this! It's far too valuable!"

"Tsunade is my teacher, and that means Nawaki is hardly a stranger. If they really were in danger, I would definitely help!" Liuyun shook his head earnestly.

He was certainly tempted by all of this, but the temptation was still well within his control.

His own Ice Release and Genjutsu already gave him enough to develop. Adding these would only hinder his progress.

"Ah! Your character amazes me once again. To resist such an enormous temptation at your age... it's not impossible that you might surpass even Hashirama one day!"

Mito Uzumaki looked at Liuyun with even greater satisfaction, like a mother-in-law sizing up her son-in-law, making him uncomfortable all over.

After sealing the enormous scroll back into the storage scroll, Mito Uzumaki handed it straight to Liuyun.

"Take it! If anything happens to me, or if disaster really does befall the Senju Clan, you can simply return it to them then!"

"Just consider it something I'm leaving in your safekeeping! It can also serve as my wedding gift for you and Kushina!"

With Mito Uzumaki putting it that way, Liuyun would have been a fool to refuse again.

He tucked the Sealing Scroll straight into his clothes.

"That's more like it!" A few more wrinkles appeared on Mito Uzumaki's smiling face. She was clearly pleased with his response.

"Child, you should go now! Grandma won't keep you!"

Mito Uzumaki breathed a little heavily, her expression kind.

"All right! Take care, Grandma Mito!"

Liuyun politely said goodbye to Mito Uzumaki, then turned and opened the door to leave.

After closing the door behind him, Liuyun immediately spotted Kushina and Mikoto a short distance away, their eyes shining.

"Well? Well? What did Grandma Mito want with you?"

As soon as Liuyun reached them, Kushina was bursting with curiosity.

"It's all because a certain someone keeps mentioning my name to Lady Mito every single day. She's heard it so often that her ears have practically grown calluses.

"So when she heard I was visiting the Senju Clan Compound, she specifically wanted to see what I looked like!"

Liuyun rolled his eyes and gave Kushina an exasperated look.

"So it was because of me! Honestly, Grandma Mito!" Kushina covered her face shyly and ran behind Mikoto.

She murmured, "Really, how could Grandma Mito do this!"

Tsunade was asleep, and Liuyun and Mikoto had already accomplished what they had come for. There was no reason to stay any longer.