Senju Chen led Maruboshi Kosuke and Shisui to the living room next to them. This is the place where Senju's mansion is specially used to receive guests. Compared with the lively and noisy restaurant next door, which is full of life, this place seems to be another world, so quiet that they can hear each other's breathing.
As soon as they sat down, Shizune walked in with a tea tray. She served hot tea to the two of them with a gentle and polite smile on her face.
Maruboshi Kosuke and Shisui quickly stood up and thanked them. They watched Shizune leave before sitting down again.
The atmosphere in the living room was a little quiet for a while.
It was Shisui who spoke first, with a hint of embarrassment and sincerity unique to a young man on his handsome face.
"Chen, I... I heard about Lady Tsunade. Are you... are you okay?"
After he finished speaking, he seemed to feel that his greeting was too pale, and added, "Don't be too sad, Lady Tsunade... she must have her own difficulties. Besides, you still have teammates like us."
Maruboshi Kosuke didn't speak, he just picked up the tea cup and gently skimmed off the foam with the cup lid. His weathered eyes looked at Senju Chen calmly.
It wasn't until Shisui finished speaking that he put down the tea cup and said in that hoarse and steady voice.
"Shisui is right, Little Chen. The village is big, but the people's hearts are small. Sometimes, the only people around you who can talk are the few people around you. If anything happens in the future, you don't have to shoulder it alone."
Simple words, no gorgeous rhetoric, but full of undeniable weight and warmth.
A warm current flowed through Senju Chen's heart. He knew that the concern of these two teammates came from the heart and was not mixed with any family political calculations. This kind of pure emotion is particularly valuable in the cold world of ninjas.
Alas, they are really two honest people. They never felt that they were being used from the beginning to the end, and they even deeply admired this as a plan of the village's senior officials.
"Grandpa Kosuke, Shisui, thank you, I'm fine." He lowered his head slightly
"Sister, she just wants to go out and relax. She has given too much to the village and it's time for her to take a rest. Besides, Sister Kushina has also moved here. The house is very lively and I'm not lonely at all."
What he said was impeccable, not only expressing his understanding of his sister, but also appeasing the concerns of his teammates, and also pointed out that he was not "alone and helpless" now.
Shisui Seeing him pretending to be strong, he felt sad for him, but he didn't know how to comfort him.
Maruboshi Kosuke also looked at him deeply, nodded, and did not continue this heavy topic. He changed the subject and took the initiative to talk about what happened after they separated. "After we separated from you that day, Shisui and I returned directly to the village. The road was relatively peaceful, and there were no twists and turns."
"Well, Grandpa Kosuke taught me a lot of things on the way back. What about you? What did you and Teacher Orochimaru do after that?" Shisui heard this and immediately took up the conversation.
"Shisui." Maruboshi Kosuke immediately reminded Shisui that because most of the tasks are village secrets, ninjas cannot disclose them casually.
"Chen, I said the wrong thing. I didn't mean anything else. I..." Shisui heard Maruboshi Kosuke's reminder and immediately realized his mistake and hurriedly explained
"It's okay, Shisui" Senju Chen interrupted the somewhat flustered Shisui and explained to Maruboshi Kosuke
"Grandpa Kosuke, the mission that the teacher and I are going to do is not a secret. There is nothing that cannot be said. I think you will hear news about this matter in a while."
He organized his words and began to talk about their experiences after they separated.
"My side... is more tortuous."
"After I separated from you that day, Teacher Orochimaru took me to Land of Rain."
"Land of Rain?" Shisui exclaimed, his eyes full of surprise, "What are you doing there?"
"Go... to express condolences." Senju Chen's tone became calmer, creating a solemn atmosphere, "The leader of Amegakure,'Demigod'Hanzo of the Salamander, his only son was assassinated. The teacher led me to mourn."
Maruboshi Kosuke and Shisui looked at each other, and both saw shock in each other's eyes. The heir of Hanzo of the Salamander was assassinated? This was a big event that could shock the entire Shinobi World! They were in Konoha, but they knew nothing about it, which shows how tightly Amegakure blocked the news.
Senju Chen continued, "The atmosphere in Land of Rain is very depressing. It is full of cold steel and patrolling ninjas, and everyone is like a tight bowstring. When we saw Lord Hanzō, he was very angry, and even suspected that his son's death was related to us Konoha." (Hanzo of the Salamander: Fart, the timing of your appearance was too coincidental, so I suspected it!!!)
"What?!" Shisui exclaimed again, "How could they think that!"
"Because the poison used by assassins is very clever." Senju Chen's voice was lowered, with a sense of mystery, "Lord Hanzō himself is a master of poison, but he could not find out the origin of the poison. Later, it was Teacher Orochimaru who took action and analyzed it from the corpse. It was a compound neurotoxin, one of the core materials, which is only found deep in the desert of Land of Wind."
"Land of Wind? Sunagakure did it?" Shisui immediately came to the conclusion.
Senju Chen shook his head, with a thoughtful expression that did not match his age. "I thought so too at the time. However, I felt very strange, how could a murderer use something that is only available in his own country to kill people? Isn't this a clear way to tell everyone, 'I did this'? I told the teacher this idea, and the teacher also thought it made sense..."
He cleverly packaged his analysis into the innocent doubts of a child, and passed the credit to Orochimaru.
"... Later, under the guidance of Teacher Orochimaru and my 'nonsense', Lord Hanzō finally did not anger us Konoha. In order to express his gratitude, he also wanted to ask the teacher to help investigate the real murderer. The teacher asked me to meet the suspects..."
He described the process of how he used words to deceive the real murderer in an understatement. He only said that he was lucky and the female spy had such poor psychological quality that she was exposed after he casually frightened her.
"... Finally, it was found out that the murderer was Kirigakure's spy who had been lurking for five years."
When Senju Chen said the last word, the living room fell into deathly silence.
Shisui was completely stunned. He opened his mouth, and his brain came to a standstill due to the overwhelming amount of Yamato information. He went to execute a C-Rank Mission, but first encountered Kusagakure Jonin ambushed, then followed Orochimaru to Land of Rain, faced "Demigod" Hanzo of the Salamander, and finally uncovered the Kirigakure spy who assassinated his son...
This experience was more bizarre than any novel he had ever read! Looking at his teammate who was one year younger than him, he felt a little admired for a moment.
Maruboshi Kosuke's reaction was even deeper. The knuckles of his hand holding the teacup were slightly white. He was not a young man like Shisui. He could tell from Senju Chen's understatement that A thrilling and dangerous confrontation with "Demigod", to find the real murderer in the heavily guarded Amegakure... Every step of this process is like dancing on the tip of a knife. If you are not careful, you will be doomed.
He raised his head and looked deeply at Senju Chen with his cloudy but sharp eyes. "Little Chen, you did a good job this time. You and Lord Orochimaru saved Konoha from a war."
Senju Chen met his gaze with a shy smile on his face, like a child who was embarrassed after being praised by his elders. "Teacher Orochimaru was there to guide me, and I actually didn't do anything."
After chatting for a few more words, Maruboshi Kosuke and Shisui stood up and left. The impact they received today was too great and they needed time to digest it.
Senju Chen also stood up and sent the two to the door, saying that their team members were now complete. After asking teacher Orochimaru, they could continue to pick up and complete the task.
Both of them thought that Senju Chen wanted to temporarily forget the sadness of his loved ones leaving by doing tasks, so they both said there was no problem.
Watching Maruboshi Kosuke and Shisui walk away, he turned back and looked across the porch to the restaurant behind him.
Kushina was dancing and talking to Minato Namikaze.
Senju Chen feels that his lost heart is being repaired bit by bit. Although his sister has left, there are still so many people who care about him...