However, Kushina, no matter how bold, would never betray her feelings.
Although Kushina was fiery, outgoing, and carefree, appearing thoughtless, she possessed Kagura Mind's Eye and knew precisely what distance to maintain with whom.
In the past, Kushina had told her stories about herself and Minato Namikaze, and she had always been particularly envious of Kushina.
It wasn't false modesty; she felt that if it were her, she might genuinely do such a thing.
Because ever since she could remember, she knew what her life would be like: after coming of age, she married Uchiha Fugaku, becoming the Uchiha Clan's matriarch, fulfilling her duty to the family's legacy. Outsiders envied and revered her.
Her every move, her preferences, and her actions were tightly constrained.
No one had ever asked for her opinion, nor had anyone truly cared about her thoughts; those people only made demands of her.
Under these circumstances, she had always harbored a rebellious urge, a desire to do something out of line, but for various reasons, this urge had been suppressed and never erupted.
Unexpectedly, Kushina actually did that thing everyone thought she shouldn't do.
"Could it be because Lin Mo revealed that the incident from many years ago was actually Hiruzen Sarutobi's scheme?"
"But regarding this matter, at most, Minato Namikaze only guessed it afterward but didn't tell her. She wouldn't go so far as to accuse Minato Namikaze just for that, would she?"
Mikoto truly couldn't understand what kind of mindset led Kushina to do such a thing.
Her curiosity was piqued, so she simply messaged her directly, even though their superficial sisterly affection had long since vanished.
Kushina replied, "What do you mean by 'cheating'? Don't make it sound so awful; I'm doing this openly."
Mikoto asked, "Openly? Did you divorce Minato Namikaze?"
Kushina answered, "This counts as me finding a partner after my husband's death, and I communicated with Minato Namikaze's soul beforehand; I've already made things clear!"
Kushina thought to herself, if she unilaterally declared it over, then it was over.
Anyway, Minato Namikaze was already dead; she couldn't resurrect him just to get a divorce.
But Mikoto misunderstood her meaning.
Mikoto asked in surprise, "What!? You're with Lin Mo, and you even told Minato Namikaze beforehand? Kushina, I didn't realize you were so heartless!"
Kushina replied, puzzled, "??? Uchiha Mikoto, why didn't I know you had a problem with your brain before!"
Kushina explained, "I first made it clear to Minato Namikaze's soul that we were separating, and then later, as a single person, some misunderstandings arose between Lin Mo and me, understand?"
"Damn it, Lin Mo!"
Although she spoke quite sternly to Mikoto, Kushina was secretly fuming by herself in the Sealing Space.
She felt she was truly too foolish to have forgotten that guy might mention it in his diary.
Now, it was great; at least five people in Konoha Village alone knew about this.
How would she face people when she went out in the future?
Mikoto said, "Ahem... you didn't make it clear yourself."
Mikoto felt a little guilty.
Indeed, by a normal person's understanding, Kushina should have first made it clear to Minato Namikaze that they were separating, and then gotten together with Lin Mo.
But how could she have imagined that Kushina would first go to Minato Namikaze to make things clear, and then cause trouble with Lin Mo?
Mikoto quickly changed the subject, saying, "But you broke up with Minato Namikaze so decisively, didn't you?"
Kushina replied impolitely, "Decisive? You don't know the whole situation!"
Then, Kushina recounted Minato Namikaze's attitude towards Naruto and his leniency towards the Third Hokage, one by one.
After listening, Mikoto understood.
It wasn't a matter of who was right or wrong; instead, as Kushina said, it was a conflict of values and stances.
This kind of contradiction was the most unbearable for Kushina, her most sensitive bottom line.
Alas, in the end, it was a trap from beginning to end, mixed with elements of manipulation. Kushina's choice to break up was understandable.
If it were me, I might...
"...choose to forgive," Mikoto said with a bitter, self-deprecating smile.
In her mind, she involuntarily recalled the scene where Fugaku took her to help Uchiha Itachi.
As the Uchiha Clan's leader, he didn't seek a way out for the clan but instead willingly went to his death.
The Uchiha Clan's unyielding pride had long since vanished.
The funniest thing was that the Uchiha Clan was ultimately annihilated, with only Sasuke remaining.
But my heart felt no ripples at all, because my life had been like a puppet, constantly suppressing myself.
With Itachi's actions, for me, it was a kind of liberation.
But if it were me, when Itachi burst through the door with his sword, I would have to give him a big slap and scold him fiercely: "Are you out of your mind? We fed you, clothed you, trained you, gave you status and resources, and what did you do? You ran off to study abroad (Anbu in the Village), listened to others say that the Earth (Village) was unsafe because your family wanted to seize power, and then you killed your entire family?"
"You idiot, I truly regret giving birth to you."
This is the biggest difference between me and Kushina.
[Uchiha Mikoto]: I can understand you breaking up with Minato Namikaze, but how did you get together with Lin Mo so quickly? This doesn't fit the image I have of you.
[Uzumaki Kushina]: Do you think I wanted to be so fast? It's all because Lin Mo is too amazing.
[Uchiha Mikoto]: What?
[Uzumaki Kushina]: You wouldn't understand even if I told you.
[Uchiha Mikoto in a jumble of garbled text in the group]: If you don't say it, how do you know I won't understand?
[Uzumaki Kushina]: If I say you don't understand, then you don't understand!
[Uchiha Mikoto]: I don't believe it, tell me!
[Uzumaki Kushina]: Don't you want me to help you gain presence anymore?
[Uchiha Mikoto]: ...Sister, I was wrong!
[Uzumaki Kushina]: Good girl, don't meddle in my affairs!
Uchiha Mikoto: "..."
I'll endure it; you'll regret it someday!
"Phew!"
In the Sealing Space, seeing Mikoto finally stop prying, Kushina breathed a sigh of relief.
She was a person who cared about her reputation; she couldn't possibly say that she learned the Spiritualization Technique to mess with Lin Mo's dream, only to be dealt with by him, could she?
Crushed in taijutsu, controlled by genjutsu, and unable to resist attacks from various ninjutsu.
Even the Uzumaki Clan couldn't withstand it.
That night was deeply etched into her soul.
"Hmph, it must be because I'm a spirit body now."
"If I still had an Uzumaki Clan body, I definitely wouldn't have lost."
Kushina secretly vowed in her heart that she would definitely teach Lin Mo a good lesson in the future.
She, Kushina, had never bowed to anyone!
However, immediately after, she began to struggle again.
She could handle Uchiha Mikoto, but she truly didn't know how to approach Yūgao Uzuki.
If she told the truth that she was forcibly dragged to stay up all night sightseeing, that definitely wouldn't work; but if she made up a lie, she wasn't very good at it, and Yūgao Uzuki seemed quite sharp.
"Sigh, I'll just ignore her for now," Kushina decided to put it aside for a while.
She crossed her legs and began to absorb the Nine-Tailed power that had been sealed and converted.
In a short while, she was immersed in it.
Meanwhile, at the Uzuki household, Yūgao Uzuki, who hadn't received a reply, quickly washed up, changed into her ordinary Jonin clothes, grabbed her gear, and intended to go find Lin Mo.
She wanted to get closer to Lin Mo; as long as they sparred as agreed, things would naturally fall into place.
But as soon as she opened the door, she saw Gekkō Hayate standing at the entrance, his hand already raised to knock.
"Hayate-kun, is something wrong?" Yūgao Uzuki asked.
"Yūgao," Gekkō Hayate said, surprised to see her attire, "Did you leave Anbu?"
The identity of an Anbu member had to be kept secret; by rule, private meetings should be avoided as much as possible.
Although it was peaceful now, Gekkō Hayate had also been in Anbu before, using his Transparent Escape Technique, so Hiruzen Sarutobi hadn't really interfered much.
But if Yūgao Uzuki was no longer an Anbu member, then the situation would be different.
He felt this might be some kind of response from Yūgao Uzuki to him.
"Yes, I've returned to being a regular Jonin," Yūgao Uzuki nodded.
Gekkō Hayate immediately asked, "Then before you're assigned to a squad as a supervising Jonin, you should be free, right? Can we practice swordsmanship together now?"
He thought Yūgao Uzuki would definitely not refuse.
But the next second, the smile on his face froze.
"Hayate-kun, don't ask me to practice swordsmanship anymore; I don't need to agree," Yūgao Uzuki said seriously, "I know you have feelings for me, but I don't reciprocate."
"Why?" Gekkō Hayate asked, puzzled; he thought his chances were quite good... "I'm not interested," Yūgao Uzuki said seriously, "You don't need to waste your efforts on me."
"How do you know it's not suitable if we haven't even tried dating?" Gekkō Hayate was still unwilling to give up.
After all, such a beautiful girl was rare in the entire Ninja World, and he just happened to have a chance to pursue her.
"Hokage-sama arranged a marriage for me, and I didn't object," Yūgao Uzuki shifted the blame to Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Gekkō Hayate was too persistent and prone to causing trouble; she had to shake him off.
To put it bluntly, it was because of Lin Mo, wasn't she just using him as a shield?
Although Gekkō Hayate was not much in front of Lin Mo, Yūgao Uzuki instinctively felt that she shouldn't do such a thing.
So, she chose Hiruzen Sarutobi as an excuse.
Would Gekkō Hayate dare to go ask the Third Hokage?
Indeed, Gekkō Hayate felt as if he had been struck by lightning; he was so shocked he couldn't speak.
But he had no intention of inquiring with Hiruzen Sarutobi at all.
"Hayate-kun, you will definitely meet the right person; live well."
Yūgao Uzuki dropped this polite remark, locked her door, and left by herself.
After her figure disappeared, Gekkō Hayate's eyes suddenly flared with fire, carrying a hint of anger.
"Yūgao still cares about me; she definitely has feelings for me. It's all been delayed by the Third, no, that Old Man Sarutobi's orders."
"Sarutobi, for taking my wife, we're not done yet!"
Gekkō Hayate resolved, his body flickered and became transparent, disappearing directly into the ground.
On the other side, on the rooftop of a restaurant in a small town in the Land of Fire, Shizune chatted with Lady Tsunade: "Lady Tsunade, let's assume that Kato Dan pursuing you was Danzo Shimura's doing. What exactly was he after?"
"I guess he either wanted to weaken your ability to contend for Hokage, or he wanted to get close to you in advance, planning for the future," Lady Tsunade hadn't even spoken when Shizune continued, "I think the first possibility is greater, otherwise Kato Dan wouldn't have died so miserably."
"Furthermore, this Kato Dan definitely didn't have good intentions towards you."
"The problem lies in the promises he made to you."
"What, that after becoming Hokage, he would fully support your medical reforms? Why couldn't you become Hokage yourself? At that time, who was more qualified than you?"
"Kato Dan always used this rhetoric to make you feel that only he becoming Hokage would be best for you, so you would give up the idea of becoming Hokage, and he could eliminate you as a rival."
"Also, after making an agreement with you, you would definitely support him wholeheartedly, and he would gain another asset for becoming Hokage."
"Coupled with his merits in battle using the Spiritualization Technique and the reputation he gained from saving the wounded, he was simply the most suitable person to be Hokage after the Second Great Ninja War, even Konoha's White Fang couldn't compare to him."
"This also meant Danzo wouldn't tolerate him and would definitely send people to kill him."
"So when you were on a mission, even though several people were protecting him, he was still killed, dying so miserably."
"Lady Tsunade, Kato Dan completely used you!"
Shizune finished speaking in one breath, speaking faster and smoother.
All this information, strung together, made perfect sense.
This was clearly Danzo and his cronies plotting against Lady Tsunade; that guy even wanted to take the opportunity to cause some trouble, but ended up being harmed by his own master.
Tsunade: "..."
Why am I so unlucky?
"Let's go!"
After a moment of silence, Lady Tsunade called Shizune to continue their journey.
She had to return to Konoha; she had to find a way to get to the bottom of things from Lin Mo.
Otherwise, she would feel like a puppet being manipulated throughout her journey, almost starting to despise herself.
At the same time, in Konoha Village—
Hey, Ruoshui, the novel group number is 97562, 8841, right? Did Ruoshui forward anything in the group? 975? 632410? These numbers are confusing me.
Lin Mo was completely unaware of the secrets between Lady Tsunade and Shizune, otherwise he would surely have cheered in delight.
He had just heard a hint about Uzumaki Kushina being manipulated.
But when it came to the relationship between Dan and Lady Tsunade, he was completely in the dark.
Who would have thought that Shizune would put on such a show in front of everyone?
However, now Lin Mo himself encountered an equally bizarre incident.
A girl dressed in a yellow kimono with Byakugan suddenly appeared before him as if she had fallen from the sky.
When the girl saw him, her face also showed a surprised expression.
But immediately after, she excitedly shouted, "Brother-in-law!"
Brother-in-law?
Lin Mo was stunned.
If he remembered correctly, this girl should be the grown-up Hyuga Hanabi.
So, he was going to marry Hinata in the future?
"Wait!"
Lin Mo didn't find it strange that he might marry Hinata in the future.
Hinata was always shy around him; if he couldn't win her over, he wouldn't deserve to be in the entertainment industry.
But he suddenly realized that this was not the time to think about such things.
The most important thing now was why the seemingly twenty-something Hyuga Hanabi was here.
"Sharingan, activate!"