The crisp voice reached Hiruzen's ears. He lifted his head and his gaze fell upon Mitsuki's white hair, and for some reason it reminded him of Tobirama .
"If it were Tobirama… what would he do?"
Hiruzen's expression softened. He nodded kindly toward Mitsuki.
After sending Mitsuki away, Hiruzen lowered his head and looked at the two open scrolls in his hands—one had the character "Three," the other "Extreme."
According to Mitsuki, one contained the corpse of the Third Mizukage, and the other held a bio-weapon Madara cultivated using Hashirama's cells.
Hiruzen called an ANBU squad to take the scrolls away. Then he picked up his pipe from the desk, lit it, and began to smoke quietly.
"So many troubles at once…"
…
Because so much had happened, by the time Mitsuki finished his report and walked out of the Hokage building, the sun was already clinging to the edge of the mountains, moments away from disappearing.
He had truly been busy these past two days.
After traveling across two countries, defeating Madara, then rushing to destroy Kirigakure, and today returning to Konoha to give his mission report — his schedule was as tight as the unlucky protagonist from that certain Academy City.
Speaking of which… he still hadn't seen that house the Hyuga clan gave him.
Mitsuki took out the property certificate and keys Hizashi had given him, and followed the address.
He eventually stopped in front of a three-story detached house. Looking at it, Mitsuki couldn't help but admire how rich the Hyuga clan truly was.
He opened the door, walked through the small front yard, and made a quick round inside. There wasn't much furniture—likely because the Hyuga didn't know his preferences, so they chose not to risk decorating it wrong.
This place was in the center of Konoha. It might not seem like much now, but by the Boruto era… this spot would be worth a fortune.
Stealing that Byakugan was worth it.
Speaking of which, Heiji had invited him over to his house once Mitsuki returned. But there was no rush for that now.
Mitsuki strolled back toward the Senju compound. He'd sensed earlier that Rin, Tsunade, and Shizune were all home.
Bang!
Mitsuki slammed open the living room door and shouted:
"I am back!"
Shizune turned in surprise. "Huh? Mitsuki!"
"Coming home is one thing, but don't shout so loudly. You're a jonin now, you should act like one,"
Tsunade said, lying facedown on the couch while Shizune massaged her shoulders. Having lived through two ninja wars, a few months of separation meant nothing to someone like her.
But for a certain someone, it was another story.
Rin peeked out from the kitchen, her face blooming with joy. "Mitsuki! Welcome back! And you too, Shukaku!"
Mitsuki nodded toward her, pulled out a chair, and sat down. "You're an adult. How can you still rely on your student every day? If this keeps up, you're going to ruin yourself."
Tsunade snorted. "Hmph. Are you jealous of my lifestyle? Haha."
He felt personally attacked. Damn it. How did she see through him? These past days in the Land of Water, he'd been beating up elderly monsters, dropping bombs on villages, constantly under the sun and wind.
Meanwhile she was here getting daily massages…
Shukaku hopped off Mitsuki's shoulder and stretched on a corner of the sofa. All the humidity in the Land of Water had been miserable for him.
Rin, wearing an apron, brought dinner to the table and said apologetically,
"Sorry, Mitsuki. I didn't prepare anything you or Shukaku particularly like."
"Don't worry about things like that. I came home so suddenly anyway."
Tsunade's eyes lit up. She threw an arm around his neck and grinned.
"I heard you killed the Seven Ninja Swordsmen in the Mist battlefield. Not bad!"
Rin had also heard. She knew Mitsuki's hatred toward them. When she heard the news, she even bought flowers to help Mitsuki mourn Uncle Kento.
Mitsuki smirked. "Heh… I didn't just kill the Seven Ninja Swordsmen."
So he retold the brief version of everything he'd told Hiruzen before.
Shizune covered her mouth the whole time and eventually muttered,
"I… I'm not even sure I should be hearing this…"
Technically this was top-secret information—but Mitsuki never liked keeping secrets from his own people.
"Relax. There's no outsiders nearby. As long as you don't tell anyone, nobody will know."
Tsunade wasn't concerned with rules. She was hung up on one thing.
"Idiot Mitsuki!" She smacked him on the head.
"Ow!"
Mitsuki clutched his skull and yelled, "What did I do?!"
"You know how dangerous Madara is! He faked his death and hid for decades—God knows what he's plotting. And you went to pick a fight with him alone! Are you insane?!"
She was relieved nothing happened to him. If Mitsuki had died, she would have started believing that necklace really was cursed.
Rin didn't have any strong feelings about the name Uchiha Madara. The Academy didn't teach proper history anymore, so most young Konoha ninja didn't understand the weight that name carried.
Compared to Madara, Rin was much more concerned about Tsukizuki's experience in Kirigakure.
"Tsunade, Mitsuki always plans ahead. He wouldn't pick a fight unless he had everything prepared." Rin scooted her chair closer and gently rubbed Mitsuki's head.
"You spoil him too much," Tsunade grumbled.
Mitsuki smiled. "Yeah. I'll be more careful from now on, Tsunade."
"Hmph. Make sure you are. Stop thinking you have to solve everything by yourself."
Tsunade was speaking from fear—she couldn't bear losing another important person.
Shukaku really wanted to ask what she meant by "solve everything by yourself". Did he, Shukaku, not count as a person?! But one look at Tsunade's fist made him quietly bury that thought.
Shizune asked curiously, "So Mitsuki, just how strong are you now? You invaded a major village and killed the Mizukage… it's unreal."
Mitsuki frowned, thought about it, and said, "Hmm… barely around the level of a normal Konoha genin."
"…"
Shizune was speechless. That had to be a jab at her, right? She was the only genin in the room.
Rin and Obito had already become chunin under Minato's recommendation after the Suna frontline ended.
"Oh, right."
Mitsuki reached behind him and pulled out a scroll. He released the seal and—
A huge pile of souvenirs from the Land of Water spilled out onto the floor.
"It's a gift! Eh-heh~"