"Huh?"
"Re...refuse?"
Danzō and Homura Mitokado stared, completely dumbstruck. This was not how they'd seen this going at all.
"Hiruzen, you need to think this through carefully," Danzō's tone shifted instantly, his face turning grave.
"That's right, Hiruzen!" Homura Mitokado chimed in, anxiety creeping into his voice. He took a sharp breath. "Sixty billion in debt will crush Konoha!"
"Oh? And what do you propose we do, then?" Sarutobi Hiruzen shot back with a sarcastic smirk, his voice flat. "Just hand over Lady Mito's remains to the Land of Waves?"
"Well..."
"This is your decision to make, Hiruzen."
"My decision? I choose to refuse!"
"Now, Hiruzen, be reasonable."
"With sixty billion hanging over us, we'll be remembered as Konoha's greatest failures!"
"If I agree, I'll be the failure," Hiruzen paused, his voice eerily calm. "Would you two really be able to live with pushing me into that?"
"We wouldn't, but it's a necessary sacrifice," Danzō said oozing with false sincerity.
"Hiruzen, a man has to be willing to let some things go in the end," Homura Mitokado adopted a consoling, almost paternal tone. "What does personal reputation matter after we're gone?"
"In that case, why don't you two put your names on this proposal instead?" Hiruzen's eye twitched in irritation.
"How about this, Hiruzen," Danzō raised his head, suggesting, "You agree first, and then the three of us will jointly sign the agreement. How does that sound?"
"I believe that is an acceptable compromise," Homura Mitokado nodded in agreement.
Hiruzen didn't answer right away, sinking into a heavy silence.
—
—
Creeak.
The door to the main office swung open.
Tsunade strode in, her golden ponytail swishing behind her. She raised a skeptical eyebrow. "You two are here again?"
The comment was clearly aimed at Kushina and Mikoto, a hint of playful jealousy in her tone.
"It's part of our bodyguard duties, Big Sis," Kushina blinked, replying with an innocent grin. "Just doing our job!"
"Heh." Tsunade let out an unamused snort, her eyes drifting to the large screen on the wall. "Why are you watching these old men? Hoping for a comeback tour?"
"Not exactly. They're debating whether to accept the little rascal's conditions," Kushina's expression suddenly turned awkward.
"What?" Tsunade was taken aback. "What conditions?"
Kushina didn't answer, instead glancing at the Yuto beside her.
"Just say it," Yuto sighed.
"The little rascal's condition is to exchange Grandma Mito's remains for twenty billion of the debt..." Kushina said softly.
"??"
Tsunade's face instantly paled with shock. She grabbed Yuto by the collar with both hands and demanded, "What the hell do you think you're doing? Not even sparing my grandmother?"
"Calm down, calm down," Kushina tried to mediate.
"Calm down my ass!" Tsunade turned her furious gaze toward Kushina, raising her voice. "She was your grandmother too! How can you just stand by and watch? Are you trying to set this little brat up with a four-generation harem or something?"
"Pfft."
Kushina couldn't hold it in and nearly spat out the soda she was drinking.
The term "four-generation harem" caught her off guard, and she couldn't help but mentally applaud her big sis.
"As expected of Big Sis, only you could come up with that."
"Lady Tsunade, Yuto only set those conditions out of necessity," Mikoto, feeling protective of her young man, spoke in a gentle tone. "Could you please let him go for now?"
"Hmph." Tsunade gave Uchiha Mikoto a measured look as she released her grip and sat down beside Yuto. "I'd like to hear exactly what kind of necessity we're talking about."
"It's a curse. Yuto is under a curse," Kushina explained, seeing no further need to hide it from Tsunade. "This curse forces him to do all sorts of strange things, but it also gives corresponding rewards."
"A curse?" Tsunade was stunned, her brows furrowing tightly.
"It's true, I can vouch for it!" Kushina said earnestly.
Yuto himself nodded slightly. "Whatever achievements I have now are thanks to this curse."
The system was a double-edged sword. While it granted him various abilities, it also gradually eroded his sense of propriety and morality.
"So, you really don't have ambitions for a 'four-generation harem'?" Tsunade raised an eyebrow.
"It's not that..." Yuto's eye twitched. "Where did you even hear that from?"
"Those old fools are likely to accept your proposal," Tsunade didn't answer him, instead turning her gaze back to the large screen on the wall, with a detached expression.
Sure enough.
As if to confirm her words, the Hiruzen on the screen gritted his teeth and nodded. "It's settled then. This is the collective will of the three of us!"
"Don't worry, Hiruzen!"
"After coming this far, none of us will go back on our word."
Danzō and Homura nodded in unison.
"Those bastards," Tsunade watched this scene, with a murderous look. She suddenly stood up. "I feel like having a little chat with them right now. May I?"
"Of course," Yuto didn't stop her, making a gesture of invitation. "Be my guest."
Even though Tsunade had already known, in her heart, that the Third Hokage would likely make such a decision, seeing it with her own eyes was still hard to accept.
She had to vent this anger. Otherwise, she wouldn't be able to sleep tonight.
—
In the dimly lit prison cell.
Hiruzen and the others had already relayed their "acceptance of the proposal" to the guards.
The response they received was that a "specialized personnel would come to formalize the contract."
"This feels... odd," Danzō narrowed his eyes, suspicion clouding his features. "Why would we need 'specialized personnel' for a simple agreement?"
"I think Hayashi Yuto just wants to make it all seem more official," Homura Mitokado countered, stroking his beard calmly. "Don't be so paranoid about everything, Danzō."
"Let's just wait," Hiruzen agreed, though he sounded tired. "While this feels... wrong, it is for Konoha's sake."
"Given Lady Mito's noble character, she would understand," Homura Mitokado added, trying to soothe his own conscience.
"Hmph, and if she doesn't?" Danzō sneered, his voice dripping with cold pragmatism. "By that time, she'd already be—"
CLANG!
Before he could finish, the cell door was violently yanked open.
To the astonishment of Hiruzen, Danzō, and Homura, a very familiar and furious figure slowly came into view.
"Tsu...Tsunade?" Hiruzen gasped.
"Go on," Tsunade cracked her knuckles and stretched her neck, stepping into the cell. "She would already be what?"
"Tsunade, are you the... specialized personnel?" Homura Mitokado connected the dots, a cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.
Danzō was momentarily stunned before a desperate, pathetic idea took hold. "Y-You've betrayed Konoha! A descendant of the First Hokage... how could you not have a single shred of—"
THUMP.
The rest of his sentence was cut off as Tsunade's fist connected with his jaw.
The prison block was immediately filled with the sickening thud of impacts on flesh, quickly followed by pained, agonized screams…
_____
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