Upon hearing her voice, Minato felt a warm sensation in his heart.
He had been on the battlefield for three months, and his mind had remained under intense strain without a moment of relaxation.
He was well aware that even the slightest negligence on the battlefield could lead to irreversible consequences.
Yet now, upon hearing Mikoto's familiar voice, the tension that had gripped him eased slightly.
Although Shurou was also an old acquaintance, Minato didn't share the same closeness with her as he did with Mikoto.
Since entering the Ninja Academy, the two had been close friends. Later, when Kushina transferred in, the trio became inseparable, attending classes and training together every day.
Seeing Mikoto brought Minato a brief moment of nostalgia—flashes of that lively, energetic girl always by Mikoto's side, the one person he cherished most.
"It's been a long time," Minato replied with a smile.
Mikoto softly smiled in return. "You must have gone through a lot lately, right?"
Among the many gazes surrounding them, Mikoto's toward Minato seemed the most genuine. Clearly, compared to his growing reputation, what she truly cared about was his personal well-being.
By nature gentle and peace-loving, war was something extremely difficult for Mikoto—even going against her very nature.
"Not too bad. How about... you all?" Minato hesitated slightly before slowly asking.
Mikoto understood right away and answered with a smile, "We're fine. Thanks to your efforts at the front, the village has stayed peaceful."
Minato felt relieved. However, Mikoto shifted tone slightly and added, "Kushina has something she wants me to pass along to you. But it's not really appropriate to say here."
Mikoto glanced around. Many eyes were watching them—people who had come specifically to observe Minato.
Minato's face lit up. "Then let's move somewhere else."
With that, the two walked out of everyone's sight.
After walking for several minutes, Minato and Mikoto finally found a quiet spot. After all, more than two thousand people occupied the forest.
Once stopped, Minato asked first, "After I left, did Kushina cause any trouble?"
"She wouldn't be herself if she didn't," Mikoto chuckled slightly before replying. "During the last reinforcement mission to the Land of Rain, she knocked out a chunin and impersonated him using Transformation Jutsu, but was discovered by the Anbu."
"Did the village elders punish her?"
Minato frowned slightly. Kushina's actions clearly violated certain taboos of the village, especially given her unique status.
Not only the Third Hokage, but other high-ranking officials in Konoha had their eyes on her—the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.
"No, she just received a scolding from the Third Hokage." Mikoto answered.
Minato nodded. It seemed the Third had taken care of everything regarding Kushina's misconduct.
"Did she blame me?" After confirming Kushina was safe, Minato began to feel uneasy.
Mikoto furrowed her brows slightly. "Why would you think that?"
"I left without telling her... and hid the fact that she was going to the battlefield herself," Minato said, lips tightly pressed.
"Yeah, that really was pretty harsh," Mikoto said, pretending to be serious.
Minato's expression immediately darkened the moment he heard that.
"Pfft."
Seeing his face, Mikoto couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"Minato, don't take this the wrong way, but even though your talent in training and ninjutsu is astonishing, you're seriously slow when it comes to certain things," Mikoto said.
Minato blinked, caught off guard by her words.
"You see," she continued, "even though you left without telling her, once Kushina found out, how could she possibly blame you? All she felt was worry for your safety. Looks like you really don't understand girls at all."
Sometimes, Mikoto really thought Minato was a bit airheaded.
"It was my fault to make her worry about me," Minato murmured.
"As ninja, we must naturally follow the village's orders. And sending you to the battlefield wasn't a bad thing—it actually saved many of our comrades. Kushina was really proud of you, probably even prouder than if she'd done it herself," Mikoto smiled.
If Minato hadn't come to the battlefield, Konoha might not have pulled off such a decisive victory.
That was something she had heard directly from Kushina.
"But still, you've kept quite a few things from us in the past. I never knew you were this strong."
Mikoto sighed slightly; after all, they were the same age, yet Minato had already reached the level of being able to defeat enemy jonin.
Jonin were the true backbone of a Hidden Village and represented the first step on the path to becoming an elite ninja.
Without anyone realizing it, Minato had quietly crossed that threshold.
"Hehe."
Minato didn't want to dwell further on this topic. His expression showed eagerness as he quickly asked,
"Kushina sent you here to tell me something—what exactly did she say?"
Hearing this, Mikoto's big eyes twinkled mischievously, but she decided not to tease him any longer. She rummaged through her ninja pouch for a moment.
Then she stretched her hand out toward Minato, palm open. At the sight of the object in her hand, Minato paused.
It was the hairpin he had bought from a street vendor in the Land of Hot Springs long ago and given to Kushina.
Over the past year, Minato had never once seen Kushina take it off.
"This is it," Mikoto took Minato's hand and placed the hairpin into his palm.
"Kushina wanted me to tell you that she'll stay in the village and keep the promise the two of you made. She'll wait there for you to return and personally clip it back into her hair again," Mikoto explained, watching Minato's expression with a playful glint in her eye, although she already knew the relationship between him and Kushina.
As Minato gazed at the hairpin resting in his palm, Kushina's determined face came clearly into his mind — waiting for him back in Konoha.
He slowly curled his fingers around the hairpin, clutching it tightly as if he could feel Kushina's presence right there.
His bright blue eyes gazed toward where Konoha lay in the distance.
"Now that you mention it, what exactly is the promise between the two of you? How come I didn't know about this?"
Mikoto chimed in from the side. Though not one to snoop into others' business, she found herself genuinely curious about what was going on between them.
At this, Minato just smiled faintly, saying nothing. His eyes slowly shut as his thoughts drifted away:
"Kushina, I'll give it my all to protect the village and my comrades. And I'll come back safe—I'll brush your hair myself and place this hairpin in it once more..."
"I've already told you—we're meant to be together forever. This time, no one can take you away from me!"
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