The next day, at dawn.
A ray of sunlight pierced through the thick clouds, spilling over the earth and shining into every household, adding a touch of brilliance to the dim interiors.
"Click."
Inside the room, a door creaked open gently, and a streak of golden light emerged—it was a head of fluffy blond hair. The soft morning light danced over it, rippling as the girl moved, wrapping her figure in a gentle glow.
Tsunade glanced sideways, tiptoed over to the door of a nearby room, and pressed her ear against it to listen for any movement inside.
This room used to belong to her deceased parents. Now, she had given it to Tōshirō, who had moved in.
It was very quiet inside, which meant the person was still sound asleep.
"So lazy, still sleeping at this hour," Tsunade smirked.
After a quick wash, she headed to the kitchen to prepare a delicious breakfast for Tōshirō.
Before long, Tsunade had made him a plate of omurice. The golden omelet was shaped like a dumpling, filled with soft, sticky rice. On the side, green broccoli and red carrots added both color and nutrition. It looked appetizing and well-balanced.
Ever the perfectionist, Tsunade felt something was missing after finishing the dish. Resting a delicate finger against her chin, she tilted her head thoughtfully. After a moment, she smiled—she had remembered something.
"Oh right, there's still this…"
Tsunade pulled out a book from a nearby cabinet titled Gourmet Delights at the Tip of the Tongue, which contained detailed instructions for all sorts of recipes.
Today's omurice was one of the dishes she had learned by copying the recipe from that book. Otherwise, given her cooking skills, she could never have made something this pretty.
She flipped through the book to the omurice page.
Comparing the real thing with the picture, she realized she had missed one final step—adding ketchup.
Tsunade picked up a bottle of ketchup and squeezed a heart shape onto the omelet.
"Hehe… looks so cute. That pervy wolf is getting spoiled."
Staring at the artistic plate of food in front of her, Tsunade giggled like a fool.
That didn't last long, though. Tsunade suddenly realized something wasn't right. Looking at the love-filled omurice, she fell into thought.
"Is this a bit too much? What if that pervert teases me about it?"
As she muttered and grumbled like she was blowing bubbles, a teasing voice suddenly came from behind her:
"Oho? Making breakfast this early? Who's it for, I wonder? Could it be… me?"
She was startled, her cheeks instantly flushed bright red, and her grip on the ketchup tightened instinctively.
"Let me take a look at your masterpiece."
Tōshirō snuck around to face her, grinning mischievously. But when he saw the omurice drenched in ketchup, his smile froze—it was way too much ketchup.
"This isn't what it originally looked like!" Tsunade blurted in panic. "You startled me, that's why it ended up like this!"
"What was it supposed to look like?" Tōshirō asked with a smirk.
"It was… it was…" Tsunade stammered. She remembered how she had drawn a heart on it, and immediately went silent—like a mute forced to swallow bitterness.
To Tōshirō, this reaction was no different from confirming her terrible cooking. He comforted her gently:
"It's okay. No matter how bad it tastes, if it's made by you, Tsunade, I'll still eat it."
Tōshirō took a spoonful, bracing himself for disaster—only to be pleasantly surprised by the flavor.
"If it's bad, don't force yourself," Tsunade said uneasily. "It's not worth getting a stomachache."
"No, it's surprisingly good," Tōshirō said sincerely.
Tsunade blinked. "Huh? You're not just saying that, are you?"
"Why would I lie to you? Try it yourself. Aside from the ketchup overload, everything else is pretty nice."
Still skeptical, Tsunade took a bite—and sure enough, it really was decent.
"Wow, Tsunade's getting better at cooking. She'll definitely make a great wife and mother someday," Tōshirō said genuinely.
Tsunade's cooking had been terrible at first, but as long as she seriously tried to learn, she could make real progress.
After that little boost, Tsunade was brimming with confidence again. Her delicate nose lifted proudly like a little rooster—no, a little hen:
"Of course! Who do you think made this? Let me tell you—making you this breakfast, I put even more effort into it than I did for my dear bro—Shizune… uh…"
Suddenly—
As if remembering something, Tsunade let out a shriek: "Ah—!"
"What's wrong?"
Startled by her sudden outburst, Tōshirō looked confused. "What happened?"
Tsunade lowered her voice and whispered: "Onii-chan…"
Tōshirō froze. "Onii-chan?"
Once she mentioned it, he remembered—there was someone like that.
Tsunade held her face in her hands, eyes wide with regret. "I was so caught up spending time with you yesterday… I completely forgot about Nawaki, who I left at Grandma's place…"
Tōshirō: "…"
"Now that I have a man, I just tossed my little brother out of my mind… I'm a terrible sister…"
Tsunade was surrounded by a dark aura, her hands hanging limply by her sides. She looked utterly defeated.
Tōshirō patted her on the shoulder and said calmly, "Hey, no need to get so down. I'm sure Nawaki will understand."
"Probably," Tōshirō silently added in his heart.
"No, I must go," Tsunade said firmly.
Tōshirō looked at her resolute expression and asked, "What's wrong?"
"I have to hurry to Grandma's house and apologize to Nawaki."
"Huh? You're leaving already?" Tōshirō sounded a little disappointed; he had wanted to spend more time with her.
Tsunade tiptoed and gave Tōshirō a quick peck on the cheek. "Sorry, take this as my apology."
Then, perhaps out of embarrassment, she turned on her heels and hurried off toward Mito's residence.
With a soft click, the door closed behind her. Tōshirō touched the spot where she had kissed him, savoring the lingering warmth, and muttered thoughtfully, "Looks like Nawaki's going to be a problem... I'll have to take care of that."
After mumbling to himself, he let out a soft grunt, realizing that what he said could be easily misunderstood.
Don't get him wrong—what he meant was, if Madara Uchiha were to come for Tsunade, the completely defenseless Nawaki would surely become the weakest link.
What should he do about it...?
Even as he ate breakfast, Tōshirō couldn't come up with a clear answer.
"Oh well. In any case, I should focus on strengthening myself."
Power is the foundation of everything.
He'd spent all day yesterday with Tsunade and hadn't trained at all. Today, he'd have to work even harder to make up for it.
After finishing breakfast, Tōshirō washed the dishes, then wrote down where he was going on a piece of paper. He placed a pair of chopsticks on top to keep it from flying away so Tsunade would know where to find him.
With that done, Tōshirō left the house and headed to the training grounds.
Meanwhile, at the Hokage's Office — in a meeting room:
Four middle-aged men gathered around the table, discussing the most talked-about duo in the village.
"Hiruzen, I'm sure you've heard the rumors about those two by now," Danzo said, his tone sharp and cold, his only visible eye cloudy behind his bandages.
Sarutobi Hiruzen was silent for a moment. He closed his eyes and nodded in response.
"I said it before—we should've extracted the Five-Tails from that brat and sealed it into someone more reliable," Danzo continued, his voice accusatory, turning his ire directly at Hiruzen. "This mess is a result of your failure as Hokage. If we all end up in the afterlife, how will you face our former teacher, Tobirama-sensei?"
He then glanced at the two men seated beside Hiruzen, seeking their support.
The two quickly chimed in, echoing his sentiment—but in a more diplomatic way. They carefully balanced their words, offering agreement to Danzo while preserving Hiruzen's dignity.
Hiruzen remained quiet, letting them finish before slowly preparing to counter them point by point.
Talking about extracting the Tailed Beast as if it were nothing—how naïve.
If it were just some random kid, sure, go ahead and extract it. But Tōshirō is a prodigy the Uchiha clan has pinned their hopes on. It's not as simple as removing a beast from a vessel. One must consider the Uchiha's reaction.
As the saying goes, don't drive a desperate enemy into a corner.
The Uchiha clan had already been under intense pressure for years, breeding discontent. If a conflict were to erupt now, the consequences would be catastrophic.
The wise approach would be to slowly diminish their power—like boiling a frog in warm water—not Danzo's brute-force suggestion of extracting the Five-Tails. That would only provoke fierce resistance.
Even if the Uchiha weren't as powerful as they once were, they were still a force to be reckoned with—a dying camel is still bigger than a horse.
After the others had finished speaking, Hiruzen finally responded. Unlike the others' impassioned tones, his expression was calm and composed:
"Alright... I've heard your views. I understand them. That's good."
Danzo was momentarily stunned—something felt off.
This phrase sounded like agreement, but it was actually anything but.
This was one of Hiruzen's usual tricks: acknowledge the opposing opinion, then follow it up with a rebuttal that left them speechless.
Sure enough, the moment Hiruzen said "But—" it became clear the previous agreement was meaningless.
Hiruzen continued, "I have considered all of your proposals seriously. But everything must be based on the actual situation and the bigger picture. We cannot make blind, sweeping decisions.
"If we were living in peaceful times, your ideas might work. But we're in the midst of war, and now is when we need manpower the most. Both the Uchiha clan and the Jinchūriki are essential."
The three men fell silent.
Hiruzen elaborated further: "Besides, Tōshirō doesn't even have the Sharingan, does he?"
Danzo scoffed. "Indecisiveness invites disaster. Who knows—he might awaken the Sharingan one day."
Faced with Danzo's relentless stance, Hiruzen raised his voice, reinforcing his authority: "Danzo, don't forget—I am the Hokage."
Danzo's face darkened. The phrase "I am the Hokage" stabbed like a thorn in his chest. Whenever Hiruzen wanted to shut down further debate, he would throw out that line—and Danzo would be left speechless.
As always, he had no choice but to deliver his bitter closing line:
"Hiruzen, you'll regret this."
(End of Chapter)
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