Chapter 269: Meeting Tsunade Again, a Refreshing Benefit
Temari's attitude has changed?
Akiyama Makoto had thought it would take more time.
But now it seemed he had indeed grasped her lifeline.
Normally, even if her father was a terrible person, if he killed him, their relationship wouldn't have eased so much.
But he had, in turn, made Gaara normal, and even taught him how to smile. This basically made up for the impact of her father's death on her.
Of course, this alone wasn't enough.
Afterward, he had displayed a strength so powerful that neither she nor the Sand Village could resist, making the entire Sand Village his backing. In this way, she realized she had no choice.
When she accepted reality and he approached her intimately again, her experience and reaction were completely different.
But he didn't go any further, because he knew that once he fulfilled his previous promise and released Gaara and Kankurō back to the Sand Village, she would probably completely submit to him.
Once he helped Gaara become the Kazekage, and even made the Sand Village better, she would probably completely forget about Rasa and treat him as her only reliance.
These things would happen naturally, so he didn't need to rush.
Besides, he had already obtained the Intermediate Wind Release from her. Although it was a pity it wasn't Advanced, since he could use the Five-Element Grand Combo with ease, he wasn't in a hurry to pursue elemental jutsu right now.
After breakfast, he said to Temari, "There are some things I need to tell you."
She quickly sat up straight and looked at him seriously, giving off the air of a well-bred young lady.
But he knew she wasn't actually like that; she was just pretending to be obedient right now.
He didn't expose her act, but said, "Although you can move freely in Konoha now, that's because everyone is giving me face and not causing trouble for you. It doesn't mean you're truly free."
"So don't go to any sensitive places, and try not to interact with ninja. Konoha has just been rebuilt, and some shops for eating, drinking, and entertainment should be open. You can go wherever you want."
"Here is one million Ryō, enough for you to furnish everything in your room. If you need anything else, you can ask the housekeeper."
"If she can't solve the problem, you can come to me."
He then handed a check to her. She looked at him in surprise, her expression strange.
"What's wrong? Do you have any questions?"
He was curious. She quickly shook her head, then whispered, "I thought a big family would have a lot of rules—"
"Rules? Eat well, rest well, train well, and live well."
He left these four almost-childish rules, then disappeared, leaving behind a dazed Temari.
Are these rules meaningful?
If he had heard her thoughts, he would definitely have answered: Not only are they meaningful, but they can also cultivate Super Saiyans! The rules in high-ranking families were, to put it bluntly, the product of compromise between various forces. As for the Akiyama family, right now he was the only and strongest force, so there was naturally no need to consider so many things.
Leaving the Akiyama house, he went to Tanzaku Town again.
Busy with the Konoha Crush plot these past few days, he hadn't even left a shadow clone in Tanzaku Town. Instead, he had left a letter for Tsunade saying he would be away for a few days.
As for the reason... on one hand, he was afraid his shadow clone would be destroyed by a casual punch from her. On the other hand, separation and reunion were more convenient for increasing affection.
There were still two days before Jiraiya brought him to find Tsunade. He planned to send a shadow clone to deal with that.
Even if Jiraiya saw through it, he wouldn't say much. Since Makoto knew the Flying Thunder God, he could come to support at any time, so there was no need to actually travel step-by-step with Jiraiya and train Naruto.
In addition, he hadn't forgotten that in a few days, Itachi and Kisame would be returning to Konoha.
This was almost inevitable. The reason was simple.
First, after the Konoha Crush plot, Orochimaru was causing trouble in Konoha. Itachi, who had a grudge against Orochimaru, naturally had to come and see if his brother was safe.
Second, the fact that Itachi was a spy was only known to a few people like Danzō and Hiruzen Sarutobi. He needed to come back and show his strength, warning the people of Konoha that he, the spy, was still there, and not to touch his brother.
So this event would almost certainly happen. He also wanted to take this opportunity to spar with Itachi and confirm his genjutsu level.
Of course, he didn't need to pay special attention to this.
Itachi and Kisame would be swaggering around Konoha in Akatsuki cloaks, eating, drinking, and having fun. At this sensitive time of Konoha's reconstruction, it was almost impossible for them not to be discovered.
And once they were discovered in Konoha, it meant he would know immediately and could rush over at any time.
For now, what he needed to do was observe Tsunade's recent situation.
He opened the Mind's Eye of Kagura, but closed it a second later.
Because at this moment, Tsunade was fast asleep next door, while Shizune had just gotten up.
He then opened the door, went to Tsunade's window, and met Shizune's gaze.
Shizune was slightly startled, and immediately showed a look of surprise. Just as she was about to say something, she remembered the sleeping Tsunade and quickly gestured for him to wait a moment.
Then, she tiptoed out of the room, came to him, and patted his shoulder.
"You're back! I thought you felt your confession had failed and just ran away!"
When he had left before, he had left a letter telling Tsunade and Shizune that he had urgent business and had to leave, hence Shizune's words.
Then she noticed that his expression wasn't right. She quickly said, "What's wrong? Did you encounter some danger?"
"Or are you injured somewhere? Tell me, I can treat you."
He shook his head. The relaxed look on his face was gone, replaced by a heaviness that didn't belong to his age.
"An elder who valued me died, and an elder I valued also died."
He was naturally referring to Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzō.
Although he and Hiruzen had had some unpleasant moments, Hiruzen had ultimately given him the chance to start, which was why he hadn't ruined his reputation.
As for Danzō... he naturally valued him. He had watched him until his body swelled.
Shizune naturally couldn't understand the true meaning of his words, and her face changed slightly.
Recalling that he had said he had urgent business and had to leave, it seemed he had gone home to handle the funeral of an elder.
At this thought, Shizune suddenly felt a wave of sadness. She subconsciously hugged him. "My condolences. If you want to talk, I can keep you company."
Shizune wasn't suddenly overflowing with kindness. It was just that she was theoretically his "older sister." After all, she was Tsunade's older sister too.
Now that he was treating her as the oldest one, she naturally had to act according to her status, didn't she?
He hugged her back, resting his head on her shoulder, enjoying her embrace.
Compared to Tsunade's, Shizune's embrace could be considered a steel plate. However, she was a clean girl, and the faint fragrance on her body smelled much better than the often alcohol-scented Tsunade.
She hadn't expected him to be so close to her, and for a moment, she was a little flustered.
But then she heard him say "thank you," his voice gentle and tinged with relief. This made her feel that everything she had done was worth it.
The two of them hugged for five minutes until a sarcastic voice came. "How long are you two going to hug? Don't tell me that while I was asleep, you two developed a different relationship?"
Tsunade was leaning on the windowsill, bleary-eyed, wearing only a yukata. A large area of her body was exposed.
This didn't mean she was used to this. It was just that she wasn't guarded against him, and seeing him and Shizune acting as if no one else was around made her care even less about her appearance.
She even started joking. "Shizune, I remember saying that if you're interested in this kid, you should just marry him!"
"You're not getting any younger. It's time to find a boyfriend—"
Before the blushing Shizune could retort, he said, "Big Sister Tsunade, don't be rude. You have to call her Big Sister Shizune."
Shizune was stunned, and Tsunade was even more dumbfounded. Then the two women remembered what had happened before. Tsunade's face instantly darkened, her fists clenched, muscles trembling.
Shizune's eyes curved into crescents. She looked back at him happily, then said, "That's right, Tsunade. You have to be polite. Come on, call me Big Sister!"
"I—"
Tsunade wasn't the type to take insults lying down. Normally, if Shizune dared to speak like that, she would have punched her already.
However, if there was one thing she cared about immensely, it was her youthful appearance.
To maintain this youthful look, she could pay a great price, and she absolutely didn't want others to see her true appearance, so she naturally didn't want others to know her true age.
Caught between being exposed by Shizune for acting young and calling Shizune "Big Sister," Tsunade was silent for a moment. Finally, her cheeks flushed, and she said awkwardly, "Big Sister Shizune—"
"Right, right! That's right!"
Shizune went to Tsunade's side and reached out to pat her head.
This action stunned even Tsunade. Shizune suddenly felt guilty, quickly picked up Tonton, and said, "I'm going to prepare breakfast for you. See you later."
Watching Shizune scurry away, Tsunade was furious. Finally, she looked at him with annoyance.
"Since you ran away, why did you come back?"
"Didn't you say an elder in your family passed away? Instead of staying home to accompany your family, you came to a place like Tanzaku Town. If others find out, what will they think?"
He stood in front of her, separated by the window, showing a polite smile. However, his eyes seemed to reveal infinite sorrow.
"I have no family left."
She froze, looking at him. She could tell at a glance that he wasn't lying.
That lonely and helpless look... she had experienced it more than once. A familiar feeling welled up in her heart. Looking at his appearance, she thought of her little brother.
If Nawaki had shown such an expression... At this thought, her expression immediately softened. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say that."
After speaking, even she was a little surprised. How many years had it been since she said sorry to someone?
Indeed... it's all because of acting young!
However, she still didn't want to stop the act. Perhaps she was worried about losing such an outstanding "little brother"-like friend?
He shook his head. "Big Sister Tsunade, the place where I live is very complicated. I don't want to say too much. I have no family there, and besides that, I don't have many friends. I just want to come back to you guys."
"With you, I feel relaxed and at ease."
He was telling the truth. He really didn't have many friends, although he had a lot of wives.
She immediately laughed. "Alright! Since you're here, we're best friends. After I finish breakfast, I'll take you sightseeing, and then tonight, we'll go on a killing spree together!"
"I promise to take you out to play until you forget all the pain in your heart. How about it?"
"Okay. It's a deal!"
"It's a deal!"
Seeing the pinky finger he extended, she didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but she still pretended to be enthusiastic and hooked pinkies with him.
After completing this ritual, a strange feeling spread in her heart, as if she really had become younger.
"By the way, Big Sister Tsunade, there's something I have to tell you."
"Hm? What?"
He blushed and looked away. "You're exposed."
She looked down at her loosened sash. Plus, she was leaning over the windowsill. From his height looking down, the beautiful scenery on her body was almost completely visible.
For a moment, she felt a sense of panic and shyness. She instinctively punched at him.
Fortunately, she quickly realized what she was doing and retracted her monstrous strength, turning the punch into a normal one.
But she had to play the part. "Who told you to look?! Forget everything you just saw!"
As luck would have it, the punch hit him right on the nose.
At first, she didn't think much of it. She tied her sash, but then slowly began to tremble.
There was a drop of blood on the back of her middle finger.
At this moment, he stood up covering his nose, looking at her with a resentful expression. "I didn't mean to! Who told you to dress so revealingly, Big Sister Tsunade—Big Sister, what's wrong?"
Seeing her face turn pale, he immediately understood that her hemophobia had flared up.
With his current body recovery speed, an ordinary punch wouldn't even give him a nosebleed. In fact, the moment he was injured, his body had already recovered.
Therefore, the bleeding was part of his plan.
Hemophobia was a necessary prerequisite for advancing his relationship with her.
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