After dinner.
Yanbai sat in the reception room of the Hokage Office, brewing tea.
Muye and Silver Moon sat across from him.
As for Sasori, he had already made the Hokage Office's lounge his home, and his sleep schedule was completely out of order.
Sasori worked without regard for day or night.
Just now, for instance, it had been dinnertime, but Sasori had gone to sleep.
After attending Yanbai's "Practical Class" yesterday, Sasori had worked like a madman. Only now had he finished the work at hand and gone straight to bed.
That guy would probably get up in the middle of the night looking for food.
Yanbai had saved him a meal.
It was like... raising a hardworking son.
"You two... saw my mom in that world?" Yanbai blinked. "Did she say anything?"
"Our uncle and aunt came to see us too."
Silver Moon spoke with an air of mystery.
Muye immediately chimed in beside Silver Moon. "Mother, Father was very upset."
Yanbai looked puzzled. "Did something happen?"
"Father originally wanted to ask them to help find your incarnation in that world and wake you," Silver Moon began to explain. "But Grandma didn't agree. She just told us a story and asked us to tell it to you..."
Yanbai narrowed his eyes at that.
Then Silver Moon recounted a story in Yae Miko's exact words:
"The king's gardener fell in love with a Tree Spirit who was the incarnation of a Spirit Tree."
"But the king wanted to use the Spiritwood that had given rise to the Tree Spirit to build a courtyard."
"The gardener could not defy the king, so he could only pray to the king's priest."
"The priest took pity on the gardener and told him to break a branch off the Spirit Tree."
"After the