"Brother Namida. It has been half a year since we last met. How have you been during this time?" Uchiha Ryun asked with a smile.
Uzumaki Namida also smiled slightly and nodded. "It has been much better than staying in the Land of Rain. By the way, Ryun, you may not know yet, but the Uzumaki clan has decided to join Konoha Village. It was decided last month."
Hearing this news, Uchiha Ryun was slightly stunned and thought to himself: Did something happen?
But he still said, "Is that so? What made the Uzumaki clan make such a decision?" In fact, he could guess some of the reasons, but he wasn't entirely sure.
Uzumaki Namida nodded again and explained, "Last month, a group of rogue shinobi suddenly invaded the Land of Whirlpools. They rampaged through the country, burning, killing, and looting without restraint.
The situation was extremely critical. Fortunately, Sakumo-sama led a team to provide support in time. However, they still arrived a step too late..." At this point, Uzumaki Namida couldn't help but sigh deeply.
"Because the attack was so sudden, many shinobi of the Land of Whirlpools were unfortunately captured by those despicable people. Only the Uzumaki clan members who had been forcibly kept in Konoha by Mito-sama remained unharmed.
After this incident, the clan members deeply realized their lack of strength. So in the end, they unanimously decided to join Konoha Village to seek stronger protection and opportunities for development."
"And now, the current Uzumaki clan leader has returned the position to Mito-sama," Uzumaki Namida explained the events of last month to Uchiha Ryun.
Uchiha Ryun nodded. "How did Mito-sama react?"
"Mito-sama was very happy. Now the Uzumaki clan's territory is located next to the Senju clan's land, and the Uzumaki clan has become part of Konoha." As Uzumaki Namida said this, the corners of his mouth lifted.
"That's good." Uchiha Ryun smiled slightly, feeling somewhat pleased. He had foreseen this outcome before, and now that it had become reality, how could he not be happy?
However, nothing was absolute. Some people from the Land of Whirlpools were still captured by those "rogue" shinobi, and their whereabouts remained unknown.
"By the way, Namida, since you run a pastry shop, do you know Mito-sama's favorite flavors? Help me pick some out," Uchiha Ryun said with a smile.
"You've come to the right person. When I ran the pastry shop before, I often let Mito-sama taste new products. For other pastries, Mito-sama would say they were fine, but only for this one, she said 'not bad.'" After saying this, Uzumaki Namida took it out and placed it on the counter.
Uchiha Ryun took it and saw that it was a dark red pastry. He leaned in and sniffed it, catching the fragrance of red dates. His eyes lit up.
"Date cake!" Uchiha Ryun was pleasantly surprised. This was the first time he had encountered such a pastry in this world. Before, it had always been dango and various crisps. This was the first time he had seen this!
"Ryun, what did you say? Date cake?" Then he looked at the pastry in Uchiha Ryun's hand and smiled. "Ah, you mean this." He pointed at the pastry in Uchiha Ryun's hand.
"This is indeed made from dates, but I don't make much of it because people here rarely eat dates." Uzumaki Namida said. The people here still preferred soft, delicate foods.
Uchiha Ryun nodded and then said, "Give me all the date pastries you have, and then pack some of your shop's specialties for me as well."
"Coming right up!" Uzumaki Namida quickly packed the pastries Uchiha Ryun wanted and handed them to him. After some back-and-forth, Uzumaki Namida finally accepted Uchiha Ryun's money.
When Uchiha Ryun stepped outside, he saw Tsunade pulling Nawaki's cheek.
"Wuwuwu! Brother-in-law, save me!" As soon as these words were spoken, Tsunade and Uchiha Ryun froze. Tsunade felt somewhat embarrassed, while Uchiha Ryun thought Nawaki had become much smarter.
He asked, "Oh? Nawaki? What's wrong with you?" Uchiha Ryun pretended not to know, though he was aware that his girlfriend and her younger brother had a good relationship.
"I..." Before he could finish, Tsunade glared at him, and he shut his mouth, looking pleadingly at Uchiha Ryun.
Tsunade's lips curled into a slight smile as she called out softly, "Ryun." Her voice was gentle and melodious, very pleasing.
Nawaki, standing nearby, widened his eyes in shock upon hearing this. "No way, sis, your tone is so gentle. Why have you never been this nice to me? You're always ordering me around!"
At this moment, Uchiha Ryun looked at Tsunade with confusion and asked, "Tsunade, what exactly happened?" As he spoke, he pointed at Nawaki, signaling for Tsunade to explain.
Tsunade sighed helplessly and pointed at Nawaki. "This brat, just now when we passed by a chicken coop, he saw a hen laying an egg. Guess what he did? He ran over and pushed the egg that was about to be laid back into the hen!"
After saying this, Tsunade paused before continuing, "And then... the poor hen died on the spot. Look, that hen lying on the ground over there was killed by this kid." She pointed at the lifeless hen on the ground not far away.
After hearing Tsunade's explanation, Uchiha Ryun was stunned for a moment before bursting into laughter. He laughed so hard he nearly doubled over, even patting Nawaki's shoulder repeatedly as he praised him, "Hahahaha, you're really something! How could you even think of doing something like this?"
Nawaki, who had been scratching his head sheepishly and was about to laugh along, suddenly felt a powerful force strike from the side.
It was his dear sister Tsunade taking action. With a swing of her hand, she delivered a solid slap to the back of Nawaki's neck.
The sudden blow made Nawaki shudder, and his smile froze on his face.
"Hmph! This kid is always fooling around, so unruly! Look, this dead chicken had to be bought because of him, and it cost even more than a live one! So annoying!"
Tsunade puffed out her cheeks angrily, her face full of rage. She seemed genuinely furious.
Uchiha Ryun gave Nawaki a meaningful look and handed him the pastries, telling him to deliver them to Mito-sama first.
Nawaki nodded and ran off, while Uchiha Ryun placed his right hand on Tsunade's waist and said with a smile, "Alright, our princess, don't be angry anymore, okay?"
Under Uchiha Ryun's bold move, Tsunade's face turned red, and she immediately forgot about Nawaki's misdeed. She softly hummed in agreement and then rested her head on Uchiha Ryun's shoulder.
The two of them enjoyed the quiet moment together. Finally, Uchiha Ryun said, "Let's go see Grandma Mito." With that, he took Tsunade's hand and headed toward the Senju clan's land.