Building an emotional bond... to put it nicely, it was about establishing a connection.
To put it bluntly, it was a honey trap.
This was a mission that required one's own life as the price.
The only thing that made Nono Yakushi feel fortunate was that her target, Minato Namikaze, was truly an outstanding boy.
Whether in looks, personality, or talent, he was impeccably excellent.
But Nono Yakushi felt Danzo had overlooked an important matter...
"Lord Danzo, regarding the mission, I have one more question..."
"Speak."
"Does building an emotional bond with Minato Namikaze mean... making him fall in love with me?"
Nono Yakushi asked.
"You can understand it that way."
Danzo nodded slightly; in fact, that was exactly what he meant.
"Compared to the friendship between comrades, a relationship where two people spend their lives together is indeed more reliable."
"Then... how should I make him like me?"
Nono Yakushi tilted her head, her small face filled with confusion.
Although life in the orphanage made her more mature than her peers, she was still just a five-year-old girl.
In the past, she had lived in the orphanage, satisfied with just having enough to eat and wear, never having the mind to think about other things.
Then she was suddenly brought to Root by Danzo and told to build an emotional bond with a strange boy.
To be honest, she was a complete blank slate in this regard.
"You have the gentleness of a Yamato Nadeshiko, and your appearance is also outstanding. That is why I chose you."
Danzo said indifferently.
"Men like gentle women, especially those who only have eyes for them."
"But... Lord Danzo."
Nono Yakushi said timidly.
"All the girls in the class are like that."
"How is that possible?"
Danzo snorted coldly.
"Everyone is an independent individual, so their personalities are naturally different."
Nono Yakushi nodded.
"Yes, but they all act very gently in front of Minato."
"..."
Danzo was silent for a moment.
"Tell me more."
"Yes."
Nono Yakushi reported in detail.
"Every time class ends, the girls in the class surround Minato, inviting him to lunch, to walk home, to train, or for dates. I can't even get a word in."
Is this kid that popular?
Danzo's cold eyes widened slightly.
I wasn't bad-looking back then either, but I wasn't this popular!
Danzo wouldn't understand that there are levels even among handsome guys.
There are many handsome guys in the world of Naruto.
The ones publicly recognized as the most handsome include: Sasuke, Itachi, Madara, Izuna, Hashirama, Tobirama, Minato, Kakashi, Yahiko, Nagato, Sasori... none of them were people Danzo could even hope to compare to.
"Girls nowadays really aren't reserved at all..."
Danzo shook his head.
"In our era, even girls who had just entered the Academy had quite excellent ninja qualities."
"Um..."
Nono Yakushi opened her mouth.
"Actually, they are still very reserved when facing other people."
"..."
Meaning I'm not handsome enough?
You're being quite subtle, aren't you?
Danzo fell silent for a while; he began to doubt his eye for picking people.
After a long silence, he spoke calmly.
"So your problem is that there are too many competitors, and you can't get the target's attention?"
Is he changing the subject?
Nono Yakushi pursed her lips.
"Yes. I wonder if Lord Danzo has any experience in this regard..."
Danzo fell silent again.
Why does this child keep poking at my sore spots?
If it were any other subordinate, he might have directly assigned them a mission to assassinate the Raikage.
But Nono Yakushi was just a five-year-old girl, orphaned and without any experience in this area.
To take his anger out on her for such a thing, even someone as despicable as him felt it was a bit unreasonable.
After all, even he didn't understand these things very well.
His trustworthy subordinates were all killing machines with their personalities erased; they didn't even have a basic sense of self, let alone romance.
Thinking of this, Danzo was at a loss for a moment.
After pondering for a long time, he waved his hand.
"Before he clearly shows who he likes, just maintain the status quo for now. You may leave."
"Yes!"
After Nono Yakushi left, Danzo summoned a subordinate.
"Go, buy some books on lov... emotional matters."
"Yes!"
Meanwhile, at Tsunade's house.
Minato cut the newly bought mutton into small pieces and marinated it to remove the gaminess.
Then he created several Wood Clones.
The Wood Clones surrounded the large basin of mutton and used bamboo skewers made with Wood Release to thread the meat.
Tsunade stood to the side, looking curious.
"Is this... mutton BBQ?"
"Mhm... you could understand it that way."
Minato smiled; what he was making were spiced mutton skewers.
The recipe for these skewers is simple: besides the step of removing the gaminess, you only need salt, cumin, and chili powder.
However, when roasting, the amount of salt must be well-controlled; too much and it's too salty, too little and it lacks that authentic flavor.
"Are we only eating mutton?"
"There are also grilled vegetables to cut through the grease!"
Minato took the freshly bought vegetables from the refrigerator, washing and cutting them.
Watching Minato work, Tsunade's gaze softened.
"By the way, I haven't asked yet—how was your first day of school?"
"It felt pretty good."
Minato thought for a moment.
"But I'm not very interested in the other courses. If possible, I'd rather spend my time on training and send a Wood Clone to school."
"A Wood Clone, huh..."
Tsunade sighed.
As expected, even a child with a personality like Minato's didn't like going to school.
"Wait a bit longer. At your age, you should make more friends and play with them. Many of my friends were met at school. With your looks and strength, you must be very popular at school, right?"
Minato smiled helplessly.
"Yeah, it's almost a bit scary..."
"Hehe, I knew it..."
Tsunade gave a playful smile.
"What about you? Is there any girl you like?"
"No."
Minato quickly shook his head; he didn't want to become fodder for Tsunade's gossip.
And perhaps influenced by the original work, he had a natural favorable impression of Kushina, so his first choice would definitely be Kushina.
Rather than letting others gossip about him, Minato preferred gossiping about others.
"What about you, Sensei? Do you have someone you like?"
"No~ I'm quite popular too, you know. Unfortunately, so far, no man has been able to make my heart flutter..."
Speaking of which, Tsunade suddenly remembered the slight flutter she felt from Minato a few days ago and coughed awkwardly.
"Is it because there isn't a type you like, Sensei?"
"Something like that..."
"Then what type do you like?"
"First, he must be handsome, of course. Second... a gentle personality? His strength shouldn't be too weak either. And of course—"
Tsunade spoke and then suddenly paused, turning her head away somewhat guiltily.
"Hmm? And of course?"
Minato's vegetable-cutting motion stopped, and he turned his head in confusion.
"No, nothing, haha~"
Waving her hand awkwardly, Tsunade's smile was a bit forced.
Of course, it would be even better if he were good at cooking...
She really couldn't say something that sounded so much like a hint!
Actually, as Minato's teacher, with their fourteen-year age gap, she could have quite openly said, "A boy like you—sunny, handsome, gentle, considerate, and able to cook—is very good, but unfortunately, they're too rare."
But she had a guilty conscience.
This led to her feeling a sense of perversion, as if she were committing a crime against a minor, no matter how she phrased it...
————