When Aoba brought lunch to find Konan and Shizune, the two women were still fast asleep.
Counting the time, the two of them had already been sleeping for several hours.
So he simply woke them up directly. No matter what, they couldn't skip meals.
When the two of them woke, they were still groggy. Under Aoba's urging, they sluggishly finished eating lunch, then went back to sleep again.
Aoba could only smile helplessly, and then returned to the Hokage's office.
By now it was already the afternoon working hours, but Tsunade was still lying on the sofa sound asleep. Even when he suddenly appeared in the office, she had no reaction at all.
Perhaps it was because Tsunade trusted his presence too much, her sleeping face remained peaceful.
Aoba quietly walked to Tsunade's side and pinched her nose lightly.
Tsunade mumbled half-asleep, "Let me sleep a little longer…"
Aoba couldn't help but laugh, then put her feet, which had been dangling off the edge of the sofa, back onto the sofa, so she wouldn't wake later with her legs numb.
Finally, he found a jacket and draped it over her. After finishing all this, he sat down in the Hokage's seat and began helping handle official business.
Just as he was absorbed in reading the documents in his hands, Tsunade, who had been half-asleep on the sofa, suddenly narrowed her eyes slightly, casting a glance at Aoba not far away.
Her brows furrowed unconsciously, her jade feet rubbed together lightly.
'This guy… looks like he's full.'
Tsunade pouted slightly, then went back to sleep again.
———
No one knew how much time had passed before the sound of knocking came.
Aoba instinctively glanced at the sofa where Tsunade was. Before he could say anything, she was already sitting up.
"Sensei, when did you wake up?"
"Just now."
Tsunade stretched lazily, letting out a small lie.
But very quickly, she straightened her posture and sat with proper dignity.
"Come in!"
The office door opened, and Samui walked in.
At once, she saw Tsunade sitting on the sofa, and in the Hokage's chair, a young man who looked seventy to eighty percent similar to Aoba.
'Who is this? Could it be some relative of Aoba?'
"Hokage-sama."
Samui thought as she gave Tsunade a small bow.
"If there's business, just tell him directly."
Tsunade waved her hand casually, looking completely unconcerned.
Samui froze slightly, but didn't ask further. She was only a mere worker after all, and directly looked at Aoba.
"Samui, I am Aoba."
Aoba took the initiative to introduce himself.
"Aoba-sama? Why did you become like this?"
A flash of surprise appeared on Samui's normally cold face.
Aoba just smiled without explanation, directly asking, "Is there something?"
Seeing that he didn't plan to explain, Samui didn't press further, "The visiting time of the Snow Country Daimyo, Koyuki Kazahana, has already been set, just one week from now."
"Koyuki Kazahana will be arriving next week?" ,Aoba was a little surprised too.
Samui nodded, then added, "And the Daimyo of the Snow Country also hopes Aoba-sama can personally go receive her."
"That's no problem."
Aoba nodded in agreement, "Anything else?"
"No, then I'll take my leave."
Samui bent slightly at the waist, then turned to leave.
"Wait a moment."
Aoba snapped out of the daze brought on by the view revealed when Samui bent over, and quickly called out to stop her.
Samui immediately stopped, turning back to look at him.
"Aoba-sama, is there something else?"
Unlike the tsundere little cat Yugito, Samui, whose personality was relatively cold, was extremely obedient.
It seemed she had already completely accepted her future fate.
Although the agreed time limit was twenty years, she had already prepared herself for the idea of staying in Konoha for life.
Aoba didn't answer her immediately, but first looked over at Tsunade.
"Sensei, I plan to release the seal on Yugito's body, and let her move freely in Konoha from now on."
"Mm? Mm!"
At first, Tsunade didn't expect him to suddenly look at her, then was slightly shocked by his words, fixing him with a gaze full of deeper meaning.
"Are you sure?
"She's the Two-Tails Jinchuriki. If you remove her seal and let her move around the village freely, if she makes trouble, the damage to the village won't be small."
Even Samui beside them was stunned when she heard his words, feeling deeply incredulous.
He actually wanted to let Yugito move freely in Konoha. That was a Jinchuriki who could control a Tailed Beast. Doing this was no different from letting a nuclear bomb stroll around inside the village.
'Could it be he has some special method to restrain Yugito?'
"Sensei, I believe she won't make trouble."
Aoba said seriously.
In the current situation, even if Yugito wanted to cause trouble, Matatabi would stop her, making her obediently act like a housecat.
Without the Two-Tails' cooperation, there were plenty of people in Konoha who could suppress Yugito.
Hearing this, Tsunade's eyes narrowed.
It wasn't that she didn't trust Aoba. The fact that he dared say such words meant he had already completely taken control of Yugito.
'What a lecherous brat.'
Though she had already expected this outcome the moment he brought Yugito back, she didn't expect things to progress this quickly.
This inevitably made Tsunade feel a little uncomfortable.
Aoba felt uneasy under Tsunade's gaze and gave a dry laugh, "Sensei?"
Tsunade crossed her arms and half-squinted at him, "Since you've said so, then do as you like."
"Thank you, Sensei."
Aoba, feeling the pressure of her gaze, turned instead to Samui.
"Yugito will come find you tomorrow."
"R-Really?"
Samui's face was full of surprise, still hardly daring to believe it.
Aoba chuckled helplessly, "I've no reason to lie to you."
"Thank you, Aoba-sama!"
On this matter, indeed, there was no reason for him to deceive her.
So Samui bowed once again, expressing her heartfelt gratitude.
In this foreign land, Samui and Mabui, who had become Hokage's secretaries, had once hoped to return to their village. But long ago they understood it was impossible.
There was no way to explain how, after committing the crime of releasing a Tailed Beast, they could still live unscathed, and even become the Hokage's secretaries.
In fact, before truly taking on the role of Hokage's assistants, even they themselves hadn't believed it.
To the Hidden Cloud shinobi, they were surely seen as having betrayed the village in exchange for survival, already branded as missing-nin.
If not for Konoha's overwhelming strength, the Hidden Cloud might have already sent assassins after them.
So they had long given up hope of going back. Now, they only wanted the three of them to stay together in this foreign land of Konoha and keep each other warm.
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