"Tsunade... what's wrong with her?!"
At Shikaku's words, Bai Ye suddenly had a bad feeling, though he couldn't explain why.
Something about what Shikaku had said felt off.
What did he mean, hoping Bai Ye could still say that after seeing Tsunade...?
Bai Ye had been away from the village all this time. Could it have something to do with Tsunade's identity?!
Had the Uchiha shown hostility toward Tsunade, causing friction between them?!
Surely not...
"You'll understand once you see Lady Tsunade. I imagine it won't be long now. And then there's..."
Before Shikaku could finish, Bai Ye immediately spoke up.
He cut Shikaku off outright.
Clearly, he had no intention of giving Shikaku a chance to speak.
"Shikaku, well, I need to get those kids settled first. You know... those three have real potential. I can't just bring them to Konoha and leave them without any sense of belonging.
"After all, they'll be the founding members of our future Bloodline Families here in Konoha.
"Right now, they only trust me. There's nothing I can do about that. Like you said, the greater my ability, the greater my responsibility. For Konoha's future, I'll sacrifice some of my personal time to take care of this.
"They'll be attending the Ninja Academy in seven days, after all. I should at least familiarize them with Konoha and give them some basic training, right?!
"So I'll leave the administrative work for the next few days to you. As for Tsunade, if she's really that much trouble, just tell her I haven't returned. I'm not in Konoha!!!"
With that, Bai Ye ran off without giving Shikaku a chance to respond.
Shikaku was left standing there dumbfounded, still holding the documents he hadn't put down.
At that moment, only one thought remained in his mind.
*Who