Ding!
The sound of metal colliding rang out.
The kunai in Samui's hand slashed against Aoba's Adamantine Sealing Chains.
Sparks flew.
Samui, who had originally prepared to die, froze on the spot, only coming back to her senses when the kunai slipped from her hand and fell to the ground.
Mabui was the same.
"What exactly do you want to do?", Samui's emotions were somewhat breaking down. She had already prepared to die, but to her surprise, at the final moment, she was stopped by the other party.
Aoba released the Adamantine Sealing Chains that had bound the two and said with satisfaction,
"Your bonds, I acknowledge them."
"Wha… what do you mean?", Mabui likewise looked terrified and bewildered.
"It means, none of you have to die, and you can leave here," Aoba patiently explained.
"Not… not going to die?", Samui wiped the tears still not dried from the corners of her eyes. No one isn't afraid of death, she was no exception.
Looking at the boy in front of her, her mood, like riding a roller coaster, finally eased a bit.
"You really plan to let us go?", Looking at Mabui, who also breathed a sigh of relief, Samui couldn't help but feel a sliver of hope in her heart.
If she could really return to Kumogakure like this, she would surely remember this favor.
Aoba shook his head, "If every person who attacked Konoha was let go just by saying a few words, then Konoha would've long been in chaos."
"Then what exactly do you plan to do with us?", Samui and Mabui both looked confused.
'Not killing, not releasing…'
"I won't kill you, but I need you to agree to my conditions. As long as you agree, you'll be free."
"Conditions…"
"I will never betray Kumogakure!", Samui said firmly.
"Don't be so absolute with your words. Otherwise, do you think I spent all this time testing your relationships for nothing?", Aoba felt Samui was a little too anxious now.
Samui suddenly understood something, but then thought of someone they had forgotten.
"Yugito!", Samui and Mabui both ran toward Yugito's location.
They had already spent more than five minutes chatting just now.
But currently, Yugito showed no signs of anything wrong. In fact, she looked…
Fast asleep.
This stunned the two again.
"Don't worry. When I said I'd release the tailed beast, I was just joking with you. I only gave her a simple nap," Although Aoba could handle the Two-Tails, if the Two-Tails were to break out in the village, it would cause some destruction.
Samui said nothing. Looking at the peacefully sleeping Yugito, even smacking her lips in sleep, she breathed a sigh of relief yet felt strangely bitter.
"Yugito, wake up!", She pinched Yugito's cheek hard.
Yugito instantly woke up, staring at her two best friends. She was stunned for a moment, then quickly came to her senses.
She got up and shielded them behind her, warily watching Aoba in front of her.
"Samui, Mabui, are you okay?"
"No… we're okay."
The two's eyes were a bit evasive.
"Ugh… why does my face hurt a little?", Yugito couldn't help but touch her face, then glared angrily at Aoba.
"Was it you? Did you take advantage of me while I was unconscious?"
Samui looked even guiltier.
Aoba twitched at the corner of his mouth, 'This Yugito really was a typical Kumogakure ninja—'
'A beautiful woman seemingly lacking a brainstem.'
He simply turned to Samui and Mabui.
"Have you decided? Do you want to hear my conditions?"
"What conditions?", Yugito looked blank for a moment, then seemed to realize something, "Are you trying to threaten Samui and Mabui to do those kinds of disgusting things?"
"You… mmph!", Before Yugito could finish cursing, she was again bound by Adamantine Sealing Chains, her mouth also gagged.
Samui looked at the helpless Yugito with a complicated gaze, "Go ahead and say your conditions."
Aoba didn't delay anymore, "I hope the two of you can become the Hokage's secretaries."
"?" ×3
"Let… let us be Hokage's secretaries?"
'What kind of condition is that?'
Mabui and Samui both opened their small mouths in shock at Aoba's words.
"I heard you used to be the Raikage's secretaries. You should be experienced and capable of handling this job, right?", Aoba scrutinized the two female ninjas before him.
"The term will be thirty years. After thirty years, you'll regain full freedom."
Aoba added a time limit for them.
"Thirty years…"
By then they'd be old women.
However, compared to death, this was already a very good ending.
But what the two were concerned about wasn't that…
"Unwilling? You don't want to be Hokage's secretaries… you don't want to, and you'll let her die?"
Seeing them hesitate, Aoba directly drew a kunai and pressed it against Yugito's neck.
"Mmph! Mmph! Mmph!"
Yugito struggled hard, glaring at Aoba.
Samui and Mabui: "..."
"It's not that we're unwilling, just… if you let us become Hokage's secretaries, aren't you afraid…"
'Aren't you afraid we'll secretly leak all of Konoha's intelligence back?'
"Not afraid. Kumogakure has already abandoned you. Do you think anyone would still believe intelligence you sent back?", Aoba stabbed straight into their hearts with that line.
'Anyway, Kumogakure will eventually belong to Konoha.'
'By the time the three find a chance to send the intel, who knows if there will still be a Kumogakure to receive it.'
Samui and Mabui both fell silent. Even Yugito stopped struggling, tears brimming in her eyes.
None of them ever thought they'd be abandoned by their village.
"I'll do my best to try," Mabui exhaled deeply.
Since the Raikage already abandoned them, being a Hokage's secretary was better than staying in prison every day.
"If I mess up, don't blame me. Mabui was the Raikage's secretary, I wasn't," Samui also spoke up.
"It's fine. After all, I'm not a devil."
Aoba smiled, "If you mess up, there are other punishments."
"..."
———
The three were taken out of the prison by Aoba.
But the three were still separated. Samui and Mabui were to be Hokage's secretaries, with their own assigned residence. Yugito was taken by Aoba to the Senju clan ancestral home.
But that didn't mean she'd be living with Aoba.
After all, he'd just brought back two. If he brought home a third, even he'd feel a little guilty.
She was merely a tool to ensure Samui and Mabui focused on their work.
Naturally, she had to be watched closely.
'Let's just treat her as another maid.'
'Hmm… a cold and aloof maid who constantly looks at you with disdain, yet can't resist, sounds perfect.'
And with the matter of the three resolved, the date for the third round of the Chunin Exams was finally set.
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