Chapter 268: Yūgao's Heart Returns, A Good Morning from Makoto
Afterward, Temari chatted with Karin and the others. Although the atmosphere was a little polite and awkward, there wasn't as much exclusion or hatred as Temari had expected.
The reason for this was that Akiyama Makoto had used a shadow clone to introduce Temari's situation to them, calling it a political marriage for the sake of Konoha's peace.
Kurenai Yūhi and the others all had Konoha in their hearts. Hearing him consider Konoha so much, they naturally wouldn't say anything more.
What's more, Temari was still young. Even if she and he really developed feelings for each other in the future, by that time, they would probably all have had children with him. There wouldn't be any competitive relationship between them.
Then, Makoto took everyone and silently left Konoha using the Flying Thunder God, arriving at Yukiori City (Snow Weaving City), a town famous for selling fabrics and clothes, and took the girls shopping.
Obviously, shopping with girls was a very hard task, especially when one person was taking ten or so girls shopping and had to carry their things for them.
Fortunately, he used the Flying Thunder God: Guiding Thunder to send the things they bought directly back home. After spending a full twenty million Ryō, he returned home with the girls at sunset.
Kazematsuri Matsugu had already prepared a feast for everyone. That night, the Akiyama house was extremely lively.
Of course, since they had been mourning Hiruzen Sarutobi during the day, it was a bit inappropriate to celebrate now.
But it didn't matter. Under his sealing jutsu, not a sound could be heard from the outside, and no movement could be seen. The lights in his house had even been turned off early.
In reality, Tenten, Ino, Sakura, Hinata, Anko, Kurenai, Yūgao, Karin, Hanabi, Moegi, and the newly joined Temari—eleven people in total—went to the large bathhouse and began their bath time and gossip session.
As the newcomer, Temari was naturally the focus of attention. A group of people pulled her aside and asked her a lot about the customs and practices of the Sand Village.
Temari also looked curiously at the True Spirit Seals on the girls, wondering what they were.
"Want to know? Can't tell you yet! Whether you can know or not depends on your performance later."
Tenten still had some goodwill towards the kunoichi she had fought in the Chūnin Exams. It was just that they were separated by the Konoha Crush plot, so they couldn't become friends right away.
But the current friendly exchange centered around him already made Temari feel flattered. She also gained a little understanding of the atmosphere in his house.
Her initial prejudice against him also lessened a lot. After all, although there were many women here, the only ones who were truly his bed partners were Kurenai and Anko.
More than an hour later, the girls said their goodbyes one after another. Soon, only Anko, Kurenai, Yūgao, and Karin remained in the mansion. Moegi had already gone to sleep with her grandmother, yawning.
"Alright, it's just us left. Let's discuss the division of labor for today."
"After all, starting tomorrow, we probably won't have much time. Even coming back might be a luxury."
Anko stretched. Today, the two Hokage advisors had issued a general mobilization order. All ninja were to be organized into squads to fill various security tasks.
Because Konoha had to guard against not only the Sand Village, but also whether the Rock and Cloud Villages would take advantage of this time to sneak attack Konoha.
Although theoretically, with him holding down the fort, Konoha didn't need to worry too much.
But as he had said, a qualified politician cannot treat the opponent as a monolith, nor assume that the opponent's actions are rational.
Only after the Rock and Cloud remained quiet for a period of time could Konoha slowly relax its guard. The whole process might take two or three months.
These matters had nothing to do with him; the two advisors didn't dare to give him orders. But the girls around him would inevitably have to go to the front lines.
After Anko finished speaking, she exchanged glances with Kurenai.
Clearly, Anko was still very interested in their previous threesome. After all, watching Kurenai gradually break down under his attack was indeed very interesting.
Kurenai glared at Anko fiercely. How could she talk about boudoir matters so casually, especially such shameful play?
And wasn't the most important person for today... already decided?
Anko understood Kurenai's look. Only then did she react and look at Yūgao. "Um, Yūgao, how about you go first?"
"Eh?"
The dejected Yūgao was startled. She quickly blushed and waved her hand. "I-I'm fine—"
"If we don't meet this time, the next time might be months later."
"Some things... you have to walk out of them eventually."
"But this is also—"
Yūgao could ignore Hiruzen's funeral this morning, but she had also sent flowers to Gekkō Hayate afterward—
"Alright, stop talking nonsense. You go first, and we'll follow. Otherwise, you might really lose your chance."
"That's right, Yūgao. Since you were one of the first people to contact Makoto-kun, you shouldn't hesitate anymore."
"Feelings... no one can guarantee they will last forever."
Kurenai also began to persuade her. Her words made Yūgao tremble.
Finally, under the gaze of her two best friends, Yūgao slowly nodded.
Then she was pushed upstairs by the two of them. When she appeared in front of his door, she was only wearing an almost completely transparent black gauze.
Knock, knock!
Anko helped Yūgao knock on the door. He said "Come in."
Seeing the person who entered, he was slightly taken aback. Then, ignoring the chaotic noises he had just heard, he said, "You're beautiful."
"—Thank you."
Yūgao was still figuring out how to speak and whether she would be rejected by him, but hearing his praise, everything became logical.
He reached out, pulled her forward, pushed her onto the bed, and kissed her slightly cool lips.
An hour later, Yūgao, her cheeks flushed, leaned against his chest, pure tears at the corners of her mouth.
The whole process was much more relaxed and soothing than she had imagined. She was easily immersed in it. This was enough to prove that all of Yūgao's worries were not worth mentioning in the face of her feelings for him.
On his side, he also received the system prompt.
[Ding! Achieved most intimate contact with the ninja Uzuki Yūgao. Simulation Attempts +10.]
This showed that she had completely fallen for him, and it was no longer because of the memory pollution brought by the chakra exchange.
Then it was time to lift the seal on her memories.
"Yūgao, let me show you something."
"Okay."
Then, he began the Dream Inheritance, showing her the process of her forcibly breaking into his home and then having her memories sealed by Ino.
Her face slowly turned pale. She covered her temples with her hands and said in disbelief, "Is... are the feelings between us fake?"
"No—I don't want to lift the seal. This is fine. I like my life now—"
However, her words did not stop him from lifting the seal. As the lost memories returned, her face alternated between green and white, finally settling into a complex gaze.
Her worry that her feelings for him were fake did not happen. Instead, the two equally deeply engraved feelings from the two memories were superimposed, bringing her love for him to its peak at this moment.
It turned out that he had sealed away a Yūgao who loved him more. But that memory wasn't real enough; a part of it was false. That was why he had sealed her memory to start over with her.
"Yūgao, if you blame me, then hit me."
Just as he finished speaking, she rushed up and slapped him hard—with her lips.
Then, the Yūgao whose two memories had merged into one seemed to become the impulsive Yūgao who had rushed into his house that day. She pushed him down without a word. She wanted to vent all her feelings on him.
A day passed in the simulation, and another hour passed in reality. Only then did Yūgao collapse limply in his arms, satisfied. She opened her hazy eyes and murmured softly, "Actually, it wouldn't be bad if we became rogue ninja. We could live a peaceful life."
"But then I wouldn't be able to save anyone. Now I've saved a lot of people, it's just—"
Before he could finish, Yūgao hooked her leg around his, stopping him from continuing.
She had lost her reason because of the impending Konoha Crush plot and rushed into his home, while he had forcibly changed the outcome of the plot through his own efforts.
Although Hiruzen and many ninja had still died, he wasn't a god. Since he had done so much, what more could she say?
What's more, once in the simulation and twice in reality, he had not let her down. That was enough.
"Makoto-kun, from today on, I will take the surname Akiyama—I am yours, forever."
Looking at the love blooming on her beautiful face, his heart stirred again. Just as he was about to act, Anko knocked on the door.
"Yūgao! Are you still alive? Shift change, shift change! Let us experience it too!"
Yūgao's body tensed. She tried to sit up, but with a whimper, she lay back down.
She rolled her eyes at him and quickly said, "Hurry up and heal me. I'm going to sleep."
He flicked his finger, and a chakra thread wrapped around the door handle, opening the door. Looking at Anko and Kurenai wearing purple and black lace lingerie, he gently bit Yūgao's earlobe and said, "That won't do. Since you're here, don't even think about leaving."
"No, absolutely not, I—"
Yūgao still wanted to struggle, but Anko had already pounced on her.
Kurenai shook her head helplessly, but turned and closed the door, having no intention of letting Yūgao leave.
They didn't know his progress with Yūgao, and they planned to improve the relationship between the two sides.
Now that the Akiyama family had been officially recognized by Konoha, expanding the entire family was the responsibility of all of them.
So, for the sake of this responsibility, the four of them were sleepless this night.
The next day, when he came to the living room, Karin and Temari were staring at him with dark circles under their eyes.
Karin's gaze was mostly shy, while Temari's carried a hint of resentment. She had never thought that the quality of her sleep at his house would be worse than in prison.
"Is the soundproofing in your room that bad? Should I put a soundproofing seal on it for you?"
He sat between the two girls, then turned and lifted Karin's chin, kissing her.
A few seconds later, he turned to look at Temari. "Come on. Good morning kiss. It's our family custom."
Temari stared, dumbfounded. She looked at Karin, as if asking, Is this real?
Karin was already immersed in the sweet kiss and nodded repeatedly. Temari could only grit her teeth and close her eyes.
Then, he seemed to taste the sweet scent of pineapples.
But what surprised him even more was the appearance of a system prompt.
[Ding! Deeper contact with the ninja Temari achieved. Simulation Attempts +3.]
He looked up at her in surprise. She immediately turned her head away, leaving only her reddening ears visible to him.
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