It could be said he surpassed him in every aspect; his strength awed the ninja world, and Konoha Village flourished, already becoming the wealthiest village in the ninja world. These were all things Hashirama had intended to achieve over decades, but Torifu had accomplished them within just a few years of taking office.
His own son was out of the question. Though his grandson and granddaughter were decent, they couldn't compare to Torifu at all. Hashirama had once hoped that Nawaki could also surpass Torifu, but the boy went searching for his father, and that search lasted ten years. This directly shattered Hashirama's dream. However, Hashirama estimated that even if Nawaki hadn't gone searching for his father and had diligently focused on improving his strength in Konoha Village, he still wouldn't have been Torifu's match.
About half an hour later, Mito finished preparing all the dishes and called everyone to start eating. Nawaki couldn't help but swallow. After being away for so long, what he missed most was his grandmother's cooking. Today, he finally got his wish.
"Don't just stand there, help me bring out the dishes."
"Alright!"
Nawaki, Tsunade, and Dan quickly entered the kitchen, helping Mito carry out the dishes, one by one. In Nawaki's hands was a stew. It was thick with oil and rich sauce, looking incredibly appetizing just by sight. The aroma wafted out ceaselessly, making him absolutely ravenous.
Like this, a total of ten dishes, sixteen dishes, were all placed on the table. Naori and Tsunade had helped with some of them; otherwise, Mito truly wouldn't have been able to manage.
"Where's Amado? Why isn't he here yet?" Mito didn't know what everyone had been discussing outside just now. Seeing that everyone else was seated at the table, with only Amado missing, she asked.
Torifu then directly told Mito about Amado and Anka meeting on the way. Upon hearing this, Mito's face showed an expression of 'I understand': "In that case, let's not wait for him, let's eat!"
"My grandson came home today, and I'm truly happy. All of you eat to your heart's content, and if you want anything to drink, just get it from the fridge."
Tobirama and Hashirama, of course, wanted sake, so they got up and brought back a flask of sake. Torifu asked around, and the rest wanted juice. He directly helped retrieve all of it.
As soon as he sat down, Mito asked again, "When did things start with Amado and Anka? How come I've never heard about it?"
Torifu smiled slightly: "Mistress, it was the day of the New Year. They ran into each other on the street and seemed to take an interest in each other, so I helped play matchmaker for a while. I didn't expect it to actually work."
Mito nodded, looking as if she understood, then her gaze shifted to Nawaki. Nawaki, who was gnawing on a bone, felt a 'danger' sign appear above his head and instantly had a bad premonition. His bone-gnawing slowed, and he looked up blankly at Mito.
"Eh... never mind. Just eat your meal. It's not too late to talk about such things later."
With the crisis averted, Nawaki hadn't expected his grandmother to be so understanding. His mood brightened considerably at once.
"Okay, thank you, Grandma."
Mito smiled cheerily, completely unable to resist her grandson's coaxing. Torifu secretly wiped a bead of sweat. If Nawaki had gone crazy with Mito again, he truly wouldn't have been able to bear it. Fortunately, everything was normal, and nothing happened.
Amidst the clinking of glasses and lively chatter of the large family, dinner pleasantly concluded. Tonight was Nawaki's most satisfying and relaxing dinner. Indeed, the taste of his grandmother's cooking was incomparable.
After dinner, Torifu chatted with Hashirama for a while about matters concerning the Rain Province. Then he left with a large group of people.
"Nawaki, Minato and the others are likely to depart tomorrow or the day after. If you're going, you should prepare quickly."
Nawaki thought for a moment, then shook his head: "Master, I'll go with you then. I just got home, so I want to spend some time with Grandpa and Grandma."
Torifu naturally had no objections. What Nawaki said was also very sensible: "Alright, then you can come with me when the time comes. With your strength, going to the Rain Province right now would indeed be overkill." After saying that, he turned and left the Senju clan compound.
When they came out after dinner, it was already past six o'clock. At this hour, all the lights in Konoha Village were already lit. Many lanterns hung in the streets, allowing Torifu to feel the last vestiges of the New Year's festive atmosphere.
"I'm so full tonight. It feels like Mistress's cooking has improved even further," Torifu said, rubbing his belly and chuckling.
Naori, holding Akihara, also echoed, "I feel the same way. I suppose it's because Nawaki is back, so Mistress put more effort into her cooking. We also benefited from it."
In any case, Torifu was very satisfied with his meal tonight. He just wondered how Amado and Anka were doing. Would this date allow their relationship to make any breakthrough? Previously, every time he created an opportunity for them to meet, the scene was incredibly awkward, and the atmosphere felt as if it would solidify. Torifu hoped they would get along more comfortably this time.
Tsunade and Dan, as a couple, listened from the side, not making any comments. They felt they already knew enough. If they continued to discuss it, they might get silenced at some point.
Along the way, Torifu and Naori chatted and laughed, and the children followed behind, talking among themselves. When they arrived at the Kumotsuru Clan compound gate, Tsunade and Dan bid farewell to Torifu before heading home.
"Huh? Did Big Brother return so early?" Minato said, surprised, as he watched Amado drinking tea in the courtyard.
Torifu, however, waved his hand, signaling Minato and the others to go back and do their own things. Torifu decided to go ahead and check the situation himself. Minato, Yahiko, and Konan, naturally very obedient, all returned to their rooms, but without exception, they all secretly peeked through the doorways, listening in.
"Big Brother, you're back? Hashirama-sama and Mito-sama didn't say anything, did they?"
Torifu let out a faint sigh: "Mistress was a bit emotional, but Master stopped her, and I also offered some advice. Anyway, in the end, nothing came of it, so you don't need to worry."
Torifu was right; Mito was emotional, but it was an emotion of joy. Amado didn't pay much attention to these things, and after learning that nothing serious happened in the end, he felt relieved.
"Thank you, Big Brother. I met Anka on the road today; otherwise, I definitely would have gone."
Amado proactively brought up Anka, which saved Torifu from having to initiate the topic himself. "Speaking of which, how are things progressing between you two? This meal should have brought you two closer, right?"
"Huh?" Amado was momentarily bewildered. He hadn't said anything, so why was Big Brother asking about their progress already? Had his efforts to keep it a secret not been thorough enough?
.......
Chapter End
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[TL Note: I apologize for the unreliable chapter updates. I lost motivation for doing this work long ago and find it a chore. Right now, am just forcing myself to work for the paying members on patreon and chugging a couple dozen chapters once a week whenever i get free time. As of this day, the work at patreon is at 1344 chapters and around 260 chapters are left. I would really appreciate it if you guys could spare some donations if your situation allows it - Buy one time subscription of this fanfic collection, or a monthly subscription. One thing it occured to me was that due to my unreliable release schedule, it works better if you buy the whole collection, it saves fees in case of works that have too many chapters and relatively slow release pace. If you could help, that would be really kind of you. Meanwhile, I am trying to set up the auto release feature for webnovel here to around 3-4 chapters a day. ]