At home.
"Ryun, I wasn't considering things from your perspective earlier, you won't blame me, right..."
Seeing Ryun remain silent for a long time, Kushina couldn't hold back any longer and spoke up with a pleading look.
They only saw each other once a year. It wouldn't be good if they had a falling out over this. Kushina cherished every minute and every second she had by his side.
"Ah... What are you talking about?"
Ryun replied instinctively, his mind currently preoccupied with other thoughts, completely failing to process what Kushina was saying.
After listening to Kushina repeat herself, Ryun finally chuckled and pulled her into his arms.
"Stop overthinking things. The Five Kage, Konoha... none of these matters are as simple as you think. I know what I'm doing, so don't worry unnecessarily..."
Ryun's tone was light and casual, which helped Kushina relax.
"Mhmm, I'll listen to you..."
Looking at the obedient person nestled in his arms, Ryun felt his mischievous thoughts surge uncontrollably.
He wasn't afraid of the Little Pepper's feistiness; it was when this little tomato was obedient that he worried. Whenever she showed this well-behaved side, Ryun couldn't help but want to tease her.
"Really, you'll listen to everything I say? Then can we still sleep together tonight..."
Ryun whispered by her ear, his warm breath hitting Kushina's neck, causing a faint blush to spread across her cheeks.
"No more... I didn't sleep well at all last night. If we don't restrain ourselves... something really will happen..." Kushina pushed his head away, her face red.
She had almost been eaten last night. If she hadn't suddenly blurted out: 'What if we accidentally have a child?', her defenses might have completely collapsed...
Kushina's words instantly made the blood-red in Ryun's eyes clear considerably.
Afterward, he was full of regret. He proactively admitted his mistake to Kushina while also shifting the blame to Ryūchi Cave.
He claimed that while learning sage arts, he had been bitten by a dragon, leading to him acquiring some flood dragon bloodline power within his body. Dragons are lustful by nature, he said, and he had almost been unable to control his desires, nearly crossing the line... it was all that beast Black Dragon's fault!
Seeing Ryun speak so convincingly and logically, Kushina believed his tall tale.
Truthfully, if Ryun had persisted just a bit more last night, Kushina, half resisting and half yielding, would have agreed. After all, they didn't see each other often, and she was also afraid that Ryun, with no outlet outside, might be unable to resist finding those improper, wild women...
Kushina's worry was actually unnecessary because Ryun only occasionally had these beastly outbursts when he was around her. Normally, he was calmer than anyone.
"Alright... You're right. If it were like last night again, I might not be able to control myself a second time." Ryun couldn't help but sigh.
Last night, he could clearly feel his blood boiling. That impulse to procreate reached its peak. Coupled with Kushina wearing light pajamas and nothing underneath, he had come extremely close to truly losing control...
"You're scared?"
Kushina suddenly giggled and teased.
"Scared? Not exactly. I'm just not ready to have children yet, and you also said you wanted to wait until after we got married... I respect your wishes."
Ryun's look of 'I'm doing this for you' made Kushina roll her eyes.
Although she knew it was the truth, she couldn't resist being cheeky:
"I think you're just scared. The moment I mentioned a child, you held back. Isn't it because you're afraid of accidentally having one, and then you wouldn't be able to go anywhere..."
"Alright... Knowing full well I'm scared, you still dressed like that last night... Speak! Were you doing it on purpose? Purposely trying to seduce me? Purposely trying to make me commit a crime..." Ryun 'fiercely' glared at her and questioned.
These simple few sentences made Kushina burst out laughing.
"Purposely seduce you, in your dreams... I wear that to sleep every day. Who sleeps in tight clothes? And don't forget, it was you who sneaked into my room last night... You shameless little thief!" Kushina pinched his cheek and laughed.
Actually, Ryun really didn't change into pajamas to sleep these years because he only needed two hours of sleep to feel fully rested. Sometimes, going a day without sleep didn't make him tired at all. His soul's strength was far higher than a normal person's, and his spiritual power crushed the vast majority of ninjas in the ninja world.
"Heh... I could be a thief, isn't it because Nana secretly gave me the opportunity..." Ryun looked at her with a mischievous smile.
"Annoying... I'm going to take a bath and go to sleep. You won't get another chance tonight!"
Kushina pushed him away, her face flushed with embarrassment, and directly fled in a panic.
Ryun's words just now were saying she had purposely not locked the door, waiting for him to come in. Having her thoughts exposed, the thin-skinned Kushina could only slink away.
That night, a certain locked door was gently knocked on twice. Kushina could hear it but purposely didn't open it. Soon after, she fell asleep with a smug, happy mood.
"She really locked it... I shouldn't have been so cheeky..."
Ryun scratched his head, full of regret.
"The night is long, guess I can only continue training..."
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Sitting cross-legged on the clean floor, the three Ryuns closed their eyes and began sensing the natural energy around them.
Sage arts are not ninjutsu. It's not something you can learn and then ignore, never practicing again.
The mysteries of natural energy are something even the White Snake Sage finds difficult to fully comprehend. Cultivating sage arts requires spending a long time. The longer you accumulate yourself in it, the more your body aligns with natural energy. Your own sage chakra becomes stronger, and the power of the sage techniques you perform becomes greater.
Someone like Naruto's Sage Mode is really just scratching the surface. Immortals fighting but needing to spend time and effort first to gather natural energy? Sage Mode weakening once the time limit is up? These are actually inherent issues and shortcomings.
At least in Ryun's view, an immortal shouldn't be like this, or rather, being like this doesn't qualify one to be called an immortal.
Because he didn't need to sleep much, Ryun himself had far more time available for training than others. Added to that, every time he trained, he would use shadow clones to assist himself. The progress from one training session's insights was tripled. The speed at which senjutsu chakra accumulated into the Yang Seal was also tripled. His current strength at the Super Kage level was inseparable from his shadow clones, and equally inseparable from his own hard work.
The long night quickly passed amidst Ryun's pleasant training, and time flew by until 3 PM.
Konoha Classified Communications Room.
"Has the Hokage made up his mind? Uchiha Ryun is unreliable. Hand over the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, and we can still be allies. Moreover, we can also prioritize guaranteeing the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki's safety."
The moment the network conference began, the Third Tsuchikage couldn't wait to start his verbal persuasion.
Sarutobi Hiruzen could clearly see the smug and mocking expressions on the Four Kage's faces. These people seemed to think they had him cornered into compromising.
"Apologies, it is Konoha that initiated the Five Kage Summit today, but the one who will speak with you next is not me..."
As the Hokage's words fell, the door to the communications room opened with a sound. A figure that made the Four Kage's expressions change drastically walked slowly to Sarutobi Hiruzen's side and greeted the Four Kage on the screen with a smile.
"Good afternoon, everyone!"
"Haven't seen you for a few days... missed you so much!"
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