After a few more puffs, he seemed to calm down.
"Have the reinforcements of medical-nin arrived at the frontlines yet?" he asked after a long pause.
"They got there this morning," Koharu answered.
"Alright then."
The Third Hokage put down his pipe and turned to one of the Anbu. "Send a message to Tsunade. Tell her that she's in charge of the negotiations. She can choose whomever she needs. I'm counting on her to handle this."
With the reinforcements in place, Tsunade should have some breathing room.
That meant the negotiation responsibility could be passed on to her.
Jiraiya was stubborn. Once he decided not to do something, that was the end of it.
Orochimaru wasn't any better. If he didn't want to go, he wouldn't even entertain the conversation.
Tsunade, however, had a stronger sense of duty.
The Third Hokage had no choice but to push this onto her.
Meanwhile, in another part of the village...
"You two!!" Nawaki gritted his teeth, glaring at Xin and Minato. "Do you have any idea how embarrassing this is for me? Why did you tie me up and hang me from a tree?"
The more Nawaki spoke, the more upset he became.
Though he didn't mention the part where he had lied to the Third Hokage, even the rest of the story was enough to make Xin and Minato laugh until their stomachs hurt.
"Hahahaha..."
Xin was rolling on the couch, while Minato had collapsed to the floor, clutching his sides.
"And you're still laughing!" Nawaki fumed.
"No, no..." Xin said between fits of laughter, wiping the tears from his eyes. "You were the one who told us to drink with you! You got drunk and started acting crazy. What were we supposed to do? Tie you up and sit around while you went nuts?"
"But why did you have to hang me from a tree?" Nawaki shouted, his face turning red with embarrassment.
Just then, Mikoto Uchiha and Kushina Uzumaki walked in, having returned from shopping. The door wasn't closed, so they let themselves in.
"What's going on here?" Mikoto asked, noticing Xin and Minato's loud laughter.
"These two idiots tied me to a tree last night, and I ended up getting caught by the Anbu! They dragged me to the Hokage's office, where I made a complete fool of myself," Nawaki complained.
He was mortified. The sheer humiliation of the whole situation made him want to disappear. And that wasn't even the worst part. Nawaki had left out the fact that he'd called the Third Hokage a pervert and accused him of trying to spy on Tsunade while she bathed.
If Tsunade found out about that, Nawaki would be in serious trouble.
Just thinking about Tsunade's fists-the ones that could shatter bones with a single punch-filled Nawaki with dread.
"You were drinking?" Kushina asked, looking shocked.
"And acting crazy?" Mikoto added, equally stunned.
Xin sighed, rolling his eyes.
"Alright, you three," Kushina scolded. "You're not even of age, and here you are drinking.
Especially you, Nawaki! Not only were you drinking, but you dragged Xin and Minato into it as well. When Tsunade gets back, I'm telling her everything!"
....
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