After a light hug as a greeting, the two quickly separated. Kuugetsu couldn't help glancing cautiously at Tsunade, worried that her teacher's wife might feel unhappy about it.
Tsunade did feel a bit displeased at first—seeing Hoshiyomi hug another woman was never pleasant—but after remembering that Hoshiyomi held a father-like place in Kuugetsu's heart, she let it go.
With a magnanimous expression, she stepped forward and gave Kuugetsu a hug as well:
"You must have been terribly worried during this time."
Only after confirming Tsunade's expression hadn't darkened did Kuugetsu finally relax. She then turned to Hoshiyomi, her tone full of concern:
"I was very worried. These three years, I asked everywhere about your whereabouts, but I could never find any clues.
I even asked Minato—he only said you disappeared somewhere near Rōran."
Hoshiyomi was touched. He avoided saying anything that would deepen her worry and simply explained that there had been an accident during the mission, which caused his three-year delay in returning.
At this point, the younger ones could no longer follow the conversation.
Obito and Sasuke—one clueless, one too young—kept chattering, wanting to hear more stories.
But Rin, Shisui, and Itachi were much more perceptive. Seeing that the three adults had serious things to discuss, they each pulled one of the little troublemakers away and tactfully took their leave.
After the kids left, the three adults didn't stay in the Uchiha compound either.
They returned to the Gekko residence, set up a copper hotpot, and started cooking a long-missed hotpot meal.
Most of the conversation over dinner revolved around the past three years—especially Kuugetsu's experiences.
As previously mentioned, after the Nine-Tails incident, Sakumo retired, and Kuugetsu took over as the head of the Anbu.
Over these three years, she completed numerous high-difficulty S-rank missions and had grown significantly in strength.
Three years ago, she barely counted as Kage-level only because of her Mangekyō Sharingan.
Now, even without using her Mangekyō abilities, she was a genuine Kage-level powerhouse.
She had already become a legendary kunoichi known throughout the entire shinobi world.
Aside from that, Kuugetsu shared something that Hoshiyomi found particularly interesting—this year, she had taken on a new Anbu recruit as her own disciple.
According to Kuugetsu, this recruit joined the Anbu specifically because Kuugetsu was her idol.
She even learned kenjutsu because she had heard of Kuugetsu's achievements and wanted to follow that path.
And this little disciple had a rather curious connection to Hoshiyomi.
Her name was—Uzuki Yugao.
Had Hoshiyomi, the transmigrator, not altered the storyline, this Uzuki Yugao should have eventually become his daughter-in-law.
But due to his butterfly effect, his chronically ill son Gekko Hayate disappeared entirely from the timeline, so Hoshiyomi assumed he and this sword-wielding girl would never cross paths.
Yet somehow, after looping around fate, the connection reappeared through Kuugetsu.
Hoshiyomi found this amusing—he even thought that if he had the chance, he might personally teach Uzuki Yugao someday.
After finishing the hotpot, the sky was completely dark.
It was already around nine at night, and Kuugetsu had no intention of staying the night, so she prepared to head home.
But as Hoshiyomi walked her to the door, a small unexpected incident occurred.
Because Hoshiyomi lived near the Senju Clan's territory, the surroundings were sparsely populated, and the streetlights were quite dim.
Hoshiyomi walked Kuugetsu to the door and was just about to turn back when he suddenly heard her gasp behind him.
He turned around and saw that Kuugetsu had tripped slightly over the doorstep she hadn't noticed.
Although her ninja reflexes allowed her to regain her balance almost instantly, the sudden sense of weightlessness still made her let out a small involuntary cry.
In an ordinary person's life, this would have been nothing—just a trivial mishap.
But Hoshiyomi's expression changed sharply the moment he saw it.
Kuugetsu was a Kage-level shinobi. Someone like her should not stumble over a doorstep like an ordinary civilian.
For something like this to happen, there was only one explanation.
He quickly stepped forward. Seeing him approach, Kuugetsu's expression grew flustered.
Hoshiyomi spoke seriously:
"Your eyesight is starting to fail, isn't it?"
Kuugetsu pressed her lips together. She originally wanted to stubbornly deny it, but after seeing the sharp look in Hoshiyomi's eyes, she deflated.
Like a child who'd been caught doing something wrong, she murmured timidly:
"The Mangekyō's consumption really exceeded my expectations…"
She'd spoken lightly about it during dinner, but the truth was that on the night of the Nine-Tails' rampage, in order to dodge its attacks and neutralize the Mangekyō genjutsu affecting it, she had pushed her ocular abilities far beyond her body's tolerances.
Her vision had been slightly blurred ever since.
In the two years after becoming Anbu Commander, she frequently traveled through the underground black markets to solve difficult missions and search for information about Hoshiyomi.
She had been ambushed more than once. Even though she had consciously tried to reduce the use of her Mangekyō, she was still forced to use Higan several times.
By now, the damage to her eyesight had become quite serious.
Seeing her like this, Hoshiyomi sighed and rubbed her head irritably.
Kuugetsu tried to avoid his hand but failed, ending up letting him ruffle her hair like a small rabbit—timid and silent, completely unlike her usual cool demeanor.
"You—honestly. Why didn't you mention this during dinner?
If I hadn't noticed it myself, were you planning to wait until you went completely blind before telling me?"
Kuugetsu muttered weakly:
"I wouldn't tell you even if I went blind…"
When Hoshiyomi glared at her, she shut her mouth immediately.
Only after a long moment did she mumble gloomily:
"I haven't seen you in three years, Sensei… today is supposed to be a happy day. I wanted to talk about it later…"
Looking at his disciple, Hoshiyomi felt both helpless and distressed. In the end, he threatened her with mock severity:
"Until I fix your eyesight, you are not allowed to use Higan again.
No matter what happens, let me handle it. Understand?"
Faced with her teacher's fierce expression, Kuugetsu nodded quietly.
She didn't say anything, but her heart felt warm.
"What are you standing around for? Come on. I'll walk you home."
He poked her on the head and supported her as they headed toward the Uchiha compound.
Watching Kuugetsu walking beside him, lost in thought, Hoshiyomi mused silently:
Tomorrow I should go check Orochimaru's lab. I wonder how Shin's development has progressed over the past three years… It's about time to proceed with the Hashirama-cell and Yin-Release chakra infusion experiments.