After hearing Minato Namikaze's reply, Hatake Ziyan stood up and headed outside.
Once he left the Hokage Office, Hatake Ziyan vanished in a flash, returning straight to Sakumo's courtyard.
Only after returning to Hatake Sakumo's courtyard did Hatake Ziyan relax. He wiped the nonexistent sweat from his forehead and took several quick, deep breaths to settle his turbulent emotions.
Sure enough, women only slow down my sword draw. Just those couple of moments threw my emotions into chaos. No! I can't let this happen again!
Hatake Ziyan was so flustered that he failed to notice someone else standing nearby!
Not far from Hatake Ziyan, Hatake Sakumo stood frozen with a kitchen knife in his hand and an apron on, staring at the rather flustered man.
This probably isn't something I'm supposed to see, is it? Should I pretend I didn't notice? Remembering the methods Hatake Ziyan had used on him before, Sakumo shuddered. I have to pretend I saw nothing! Right! I can't give myself away!
"Uncle Ziyan, when did you get back?" Before Hatake Ziyan noticed him, Sakumo hurried back into the kitchen, then pushed the door open again and came out, feigning surprise as he spoke.
Hatake Ziyan froze, coughed twice, and pretended nothing had happened. "Ah! I just went to get some exercise and worked up a bit of a sweat, so..."
"My goodness! Uncle Ziyan, you're already so strong, and you still keep training! You're amazing!" Seeing Hatake Ziyan at a loss, Sakumo hurriedly offered him a way out.
Hatake Ziyan quickly nodded. "It's nothing! If you want to grow stronger, you can't slack off either! Training is like rowing upstream: if you aren't moving forward, you're falling behind! Understand?"
Sakumo nodded as though he had seen the light and learned a great deal. "I understand!