"It's just a bunch of brain-dead daimyō with no strength to speak of. If they get wiped out, what's there to be surprised about?"
"You all heard that?"
"Uh—"
Yūhi Kurenai froze for a second. It was as if she had accidentally done something wrong, but Kurenai was quick-witted.
After a brief pause, she immediately pointed at Yugito beside her.
"Yugito! Yugito was the one who took me to eavesdrop!"
"Me?"
Suddenly getting dragged into it, Yugito blinked in astonishment.
Well, well. So this little girl had quite the scheming side to her.
"Kurenai."
Yugito narrowed her eyes dangerously at her.
Kurenai actually dared to throw the blame onto her. At that moment, Yugito truly felt she needed to find a chance to teach Kurenai a proper lesson.
But Kurenai completely ignored Yugito's threatening gaze. Instead, she leaned her small face against Shiki's side.
"Hehe!"
The courtyard was filled with cheerful laughter, so lively that no one could hear what Yugito was muttering anymore.
Sigh… what could she do?
Yugito suddenly felt a headache coming on.
Because if possible, she also hoped Shiki would dote on her like that…
For a period of time after that, with the daimyō's residence staying quiet, Shiki's life gradually returned to peace.
At the same time, he could clearly feel that his compatibility with the Golden Lion template was becoming more and more complete.
It felt like it wouldn't be tomorrow, or maybe the day after at most, before that compatibility reached one hundred percent.
And once that happened, he would be able to unlock the next character template.
Just thinking about it gave Shiki a small sense of anticipation.
As he was wondering who the next character template would be, Tsunade suddenly returned.
Although she usually used shadow clones to deal with the mountain of paperwork in the office, Tsunade still handled things personally most of the time. So her sudden return left Shiki a little puzzled.
Especially when he noticed that Tsunade had brought two followers with her.
Shiki raised a brow.
"Who are these two little pests?"
"Uh…"
Tsunade blinked blankly, looking like she wanted to laugh but was too embarrassed to.
"What?!"
Kushina, who had come with Tsunade, exploded on the spot.
"How long has it been? We've met before!"
Even if they hadn't seen each other many times, for him to forget her so completely was just too much.
That's right. The two who had come with Tsunade were Uzumaki Kushina and Uchiha Mikoto.
Being called "little pests" by Shiki made Mikoto's face stiffen slightly, but she didn't say anything. She wasn't the noisy type to begin with.
Instead, Mikoto's eyes were curiously fixed on Shiki.
She truly wanted to know what kind of man this Golden Lion was—the one known as the strongest swordsman in the shinobi world.
To be fair, although Shiki normally didn't give off much of a fierce aura, the powerful, arrogant temperament around him was impossible to hide.
At a single glance, anyone could tell that this lazy-looking man carried the air of someone meant to stand above the summit.
"So handsome…"
The sudden whisper made the atmosphere in the courtyard freeze for a moment.
"Huh? Mikoto?"
Kushina, who had originally been furious, stared at her good friend in shock, as if trying to confirm she hadn't just heard wrong.
Tsunade's expression also stiffened. For a second, she genuinely began to wonder whether bringing her here had been the right decision.
"Ah!"
Mikoto finally reacted.
She had been staring at Shiki for too long and had accidentally let her thoughts slip out loud.
After snapping back to herself, she hurriedly said,
"No, no, that's not what I meant!"
The current Uchiha Mikoto was already the wife of the Uchiha clan head. Naturally, it was impossible for her to harbor any improper thoughts.
She simply thought Shiki looked very handsome.
"Well, no need to explain. After all, being handsome isn't something new for me."
Shiki waved a hand carelessly.
Even if he didn't know her well, he could appreciate her good taste.
After all, he really was that handsome.
Because of Shiki's words, the atmosphere in the courtyard quickly eased again.
"You really do love joking."
Rolling her eyes, Tsunade walked over to Shiki and sat down beside him without a care.
After seeing the tension fade, Mikoto also let out a small sigh of relief. At least she hadn't made things awkward for Shiki's household because of herself.
"Hmph! We've obviously met before, but you still forgot me!"
Kushina huffed as she sat down and pulled Mikoto along with her.
Fortunately, Kushina was here. Otherwise, Mikoto would have felt even more restrained.
Her status as the wife of the Uchiha clan head might mean something elsewhere, but in front of Konoha's Hokage and the Golden Lion, it really counted for very little.
Mikoto didn't dare put on any airs.
"This tomato head… you're Uzumaki Kushina, aren't you?"
Looking at the fiery red-haired woman in front of him, Shiki suddenly remembered.
"You—!"
Kushina nearly blew up again.
It had been years since anyone called her Tomato. The last time had been back in her days at the Ninja Academy.
And now she was hearing it again.
Beside her, Mikoto couldn't help laughing when she heard it.
"Mikoto~"
Kushina immediately turned and glared at her resentfully.
She couldn't beat Shiki, sure—but that didn't mean Mikoto could laugh at her too.
"Sorry, sorry!"
Mikoto apologized at once, though the smile still lingered on her face.
Kushina rolled her eyes and finally let it go.
"Forget it. At least you still remembered me."
"I thought you were dead."
Shiki glanced at Kushina and said it casually.
After Minato's suicide, Kushina had never shown herself around Konoha again. Shiki had even thought she might have followed Minato in death.
He hadn't expected to see her still alive.
"You're the one who's dead!"
Kushina couldn't help glaring at him.
What kind of person even said things like that?
He was seriously infuriating.
"Alright, enough of that. What exactly did you come to me for?"
He waved a hand indifferently.
Compared to the fact that Kushina was still alive, Shiki was much more curious why she had come to see him—and with Tsunade at that.
"I…"
Kushina looked a little embarrassed.
After all, she had come to ask for something, and even she knew the request would sound excessive.
"It's like this."
Noticing Shiki's confusion, Tsunade finally stepped in and spoke on Kushina's behalf.
"Minato committed suicide, right?"
"Mm. I know that."
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