As he watched Danzo's retreating, dishevelled figure, Hoshiyomi Gekkō continued to pour salt on the wound:
"Be sure to take good care of your health, alright? When people get older, they really need to know their limits. Otherwise, well... one day you might just keel over."
"Ah, no, wait—that didn't come out right! Listen to me running my mouth again. Terrible habit. I ought to slap myself. Danzo-sama, please don't take it to heart!"
As he spoke, Hoshiyomi exaggeratedly slapped his own face a few times, putting on such an over-the-top performance that the surrounding shinobi couldn't help but stifle their laughter.
Who would've thought that the handsome and powerful Hoshiyomi-sama also had this ridiculous side to him?
He was being so obnoxious—some of them actually wanted to give him a good beating right then and there.
As for Danzo, most of the group didn't really pay him much attention. The majority of the shinobi present were only chūnin, and they had no direct dealings with the Hokage's advisory council. They had no idea what kind of person Danzo truly was.
The jōnin who had participated in high-level meetings, however, had long since had enough of Danzo's autocratic ways. His reputation among the upper ranks was anything but good.
That was probably one of the main reasons he could never become Hokage. Danzo only bothered to put on his fake benevolence for people he found useful. Once he decided someone had no value to him, he wouldn't even spare them a glance.
With behavior like that, how could he ever win the hearts of the people? He was destined never to sit in that chair.
Danzo, who had originally intended to walk away calmly, nearly coughed up blood when he heard the laughter behind him.
He wanted nothing more than to disappear immediately. He didn't even bother calling for Shinku to follow, nor did he care anymore about whether the outposts would have problems.
He activated Body Flicker Technique, disappearing into the jungle without looking back.
Watching Danzo's pathetic retreat, Shinku could only shake his head with a helpless smile. He turned to Hoshiyomi and said:
"Aren't you going a bit too far, picking a fight with Danzo-sama like that? He was the Hokage-sama's former teammate, after all. And right now, he's technically our superior on this battlefield."
Hoshiyomi shrugged nonchalantly. He wasn't about to explain how Danzo had tried to use genjutsu to manipulate him. Besides, with the way things were going in this war, Danzo's shady dealings wouldn't stay hidden forever. So instead, Hoshiyomi just brought up Mito-sama's name:
"Before she passed, Grandma Mito told me herself—Her sensory abilities picked up on Danzo's ill intent. She told me to keep my distance from him as much as possible."
"If he tries to recruit you or drag you into any of his schemes, whatever you do, don't get involved."
Shinku thought Hoshiyomi was exaggerating, but knowing his friend's personality, he decided not to argue.
"Anyway, I still believe, deep down, Danzo-sama does care about Konoha's wellbeing. And for now, he's still technically our commanding officer here, so try not to push it too far."
"Oh, by the way—do you want me to accompany you guys for a bit? This stretch of the road isn't exactly safe."
Hoshiyomi glanced in the direction Danzo had fled, his tone casual as he replied:
"No need. We're not that unlucky—we won't have someone tailing us the whole way. And even if we did, I can handle it."
Shinku rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, yeah—we all know how amazing Hoshiyomi-sama is."
After the teasing, he got serious again:
"Well, if you say you can deal with it, we'll head back. Danzo-sama wasn't wrong about one thing—if we leave the outposts too undermanned, that will cause problems. Take care of yourselves out there."
Just as Hoshiyomi had said, the rest of the journey went smoothly. Even when they did run into enemy forces, it was just a few scattered groups of two or three fleeing stragglers. They barely put up any resistance before being dealt with.
After about a day's travel along that route, the transport team finally arrived at the frontline command post.
Tsunade and the others had been waiting for quite some time. The first shipment of supplies mostly consisted of much-needed resources that the frontlines were critically short on. Now that Hoshiyomi had brought this batch over, they could finally breathe a little easier.
But more important than the supplies—
Was Hoshiyomi's arrival.
First, there was their friendship—they had long since gotten used to fighting side by side with him. And second, having someone as strong as Hoshiyomi arrive at the front would give an enormous morale boost.
After all, Hoshiyomi's title, the "Konoha's Silver Moon," carried far more weight on the battlefield than the still relatively unknown title of the Legendary Sannin. When he entered the fray, he was like a living banner, raising the spirits of everyone around him.
When Hoshiyomi started tearing through enemy lines, the surrounding shinobi would no doubt be fired up as well.
Outside, after the transport team had logged their military merits, they broke off into small groups, finding friends to brag and joke with. Hoshiyomi, meanwhile, followed Tsunade and the others into the command tent.
The moment he stepped inside, Tsunade immediately wrapped herself around his arm. Hoshiyomi sighed softly and ruffled her golden hair, letting her cling to him without protest.
Back when Mito passed away, Tsunade had been at her most fragile. Hoshiyomi, unable to harden his heart, had long since stopped worrying about things like "personal space."
The two of them spent nearly every day together now, and their relationship had progressed at lightning speed. At this point, Tsunade didn't bother to hide her dependence on him at all.
At this point, they were basically just one confession away from being an official couple. In fact, Tsunade had already decided: the moment Hoshiyomi gave the word, she'd become his girlfriend—or even his wife—without hesitation.
But Hoshiyomi kept dodging the issue. Maybe it was the lingering instincts from his past life as a playboy. He just felt like he wasn't ready to commit fully to someone like Tsunade.
She wasn't like the girlfriends he'd had before.
With Tsunade, there was no "breaking up." With her, the only outcome was "widowed." And she meant it.
Tsunade wasn't just any girl. When she got serious, she was fiercer than most men.
Whenever Hoshiyomi imagined what life would be like being with her—24/7 monster-strength warnings hanging over his head—his survival instincts kicked in hard.
And so things had ended up like this. To Jiraiya and the others, the two of them looked exactly like a couple. But when it came to actually doing what couples do, they hadn't done a single thing.
Jiraiya, watching the two of them now, rolled his eyes and pulled a face like he was watching some kind of soap opera from the "adult section." Tsunade nearly stomped her size-37 foot right onto his size-42 face.
It was only thanks to Hoshiyomi and Orochimaru stepping in that a full-blown bloodbath was avoided.
After the teasing and laughter died down, the four of them got back to business. They set up a copper hotpot in the middle of the tent, eating while they discussed the current state of the war.
Funny enough, Hoshiyomi was basically the inventor of hot pot in the shinobi world.
He'd introduced them to it once, and they'd been hooked ever since.
For Tsunade, hot pot had even dethroned fried chicken as her favorite food.
They hardly went to the fried chicken restaurants anymore.
The poor owner probably lost six regular customers because of it.
Sitting beside Tsunade, Hoshiyomi swished a slice of meat through the bubbling broth and asked:
"So, how's the situation here right now?"
The three Sannin paused for a moment.
Finally, Orochimaru spoke up:
"Not great. The ordinary Amegakure shinobi are weak and easy to deal with. But Hanzo is far beyond what we expected. It's hard to imagine such a small village producing someone that powerful."