Establish an emotional bond...
To put it nicely, it was "establishing a bond."
To put it bluntly, it was a "honey trap."
This was a mission that required paying with one's own life.
The only thing Nonō felt somewhat fortunate about was that her target, Minato Namikaze, was truly an outstanding boy.
Whether in looks, personality, or talent, he was impeccably excellent.
However, Nonō felt Danzo had overlooked an important detail...
"Lord Danzo, regarding the mission, I have another question..."
"Speak."
"Does 'establishing an emotional bond' with Minato Namikaze mean making him fall in love with me?" Nonō asked.
"You can interpret it that way."
Danzo nodded slightly. That was exactly what he meant. "Compared to friendship between comrades, a relationship where two people walk through life together is indeed more reliable."
"Then... how do I make him fall in love with me?"
Nonō tilted her head, her small face full of confusion.
Although life in the orphanage made her more mature than her peers, she was ultimately just a five-year-old girl.
In the past, she had lived in the orphanage, satisfied just to be fed and clothed. She had no energy to think about anything else.
Suddenly, she was brought to the Root by Danzo and told to establish an emotional bond with a strange boy.
Honestly, she was a blank sheet of paper in this regard.
"You possess the gentle grace of a Yamato Nadeshiko (ideal Japanese woman), and your appearance is outstanding. That is also why I chose you."
Danzo said calmly, "Men all like gentle women, especially women who only have eyes for them."
"But... Lord Danzo."
Nonō said timidly, "All the girls in the class are like that."
"How is that possible?"
Danzo scoffed. "Every person is an independent individual; naturally, their personalities differ."
Nonō nodded. "Yes, but they all act very gentle in front of Minato."
"..."
Danzo fell silent for a moment. "Elaborate."
"Yes."
Nonō reported in detail, "Every time class ends, the girls in the class crowd around Minato, inviting him to lunch, to walk home together, to train, to go on dates. I can't even get a word in."
Is the kid that popular?
Danzo's sharp eyes widened slightly.
Back in the day, I wasn't bad-looking either, but I was never this popular!
Danzo couldn't understand that there are levels even among handsome guys.
There were plenty of handsome guys in Naruto.
Generally recognized top-tier handsome guys included: Sasuke, Itachi, Madara, Izuna, Hashirama, Tobirama, Minato, Kakashi, Yahiko, Nagato, Sasori...
Any one of them was out of Danzo's league.
"Girls these days really lack reserve..."
Danzo shook his head. "In our time, even girls who just enrolled had considerable ninja discipline."
"Um..."
Nonō opened her mouth. "Actually, when they face other people, they are still very reserved."
"..."
So you mean I just wasn't handsome enough?
You're putting it quite euphemistically, aren't you?
Danzo fell silent. He began to doubt his judgment in selecting personnel.
After a long silence, he spoke calmly. "So your problem is that there are too many competitors, and you cannot attract the target's attention?"
Is he changing the subject?
Nonō pursed her lips. "Yes. I wonder if Lord Danzo has any experience in this area..."
Danzo fell silent again.
Why does this kid have to poke where it hurts?
If it were any other subordinate, he might have assigned them a suicide mission to assassinate the Raikage.
But Nonō was just a five-year-old girl with no parents and no experience. Getting angry at her for this... even a despicable man like him felt it was unreasonable.
After all, even he didn't understand these things well.
His trusted subordinates were all killing machines with their personalities wiped clean. Forget romance; they didn't even have a basic sense of self.
Thinking of this, Danzo was momentarily stumped.
After pondering for a long time, he waved his hand. "Before he clearly shows a preference for anyone, maintain the status quo for now. You may leave."
"Yes!"
After Nonō left, Danzo summoned a subordinate.
"Go buy some books on... romance and relationships."
"Yes!"
Meanwhile, at Tsunade's house.
Minato cut the newly bought lamb into small cubes and marinated them to remove the gamey smell.
Then he created several Wood Clones. The clones gathered around a large basin of lamb, using bamboo skewers made via Wood Style to skewer the meat.
Tsunade stood by, looking curious. "Is this... lamb BBQ?"
"Um... you could call it that."
Minato smiled. He was making Xinjiang Lamb Skewers.
The recipe for Xinjiang Lamb Skewers was simple. aside from removing the gamey smell, all you needed was salt, cumin, and chili powder.
However, when grilling, the amount of salt had to be controlled perfectly. Too much and it's salty; too little and it's not "Xinjiang" enough.
"Are we only eating lamb?"
"There are also grilled vegetables to balance the greasiness!"
Minato took the vegetables he just bought from the fridge, washing and cutting them.
Watching Minato busy at 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 interested in the other classes. If possible, I'd rather spend my time on training and send a Wood Clone to school."
"Wood Clone, huh..."
Tsunade sighed. As expected, even a kid with Minato's personality didn't like school.
"Let's wait a bit longer. At your age, you should make more friends and play with them. Many of my friends were made at school. With your looks and strength, you should be very popular at school, right?"
Minato smiled helplessly. "Yeah, it's actually a bit terrifying..."
"Hehe, I knew it..."
Tsunade smirked playfully. "What about you? Is there any girl you like?"
"No."
Minato shook his head quickly. He didn't want to become fodder for Tsunade's gossip.
And perhaps influenced by the original story, he had a natural fondness for Kushina. His first choice would definitely be Kushina.
Instead of letting others gossip about him, Minato preferred to gossip about others.
"What about you, Sensei? Do you have someone you like?"
"No~ I'm quite popular too, you know. But unfortunately, no man has made my heart flutter yet..."
Speaking of this, Tsunade suddenly remembered the flutter she felt from Minato a few days ago and coughed awkwardly.
"Is it because there's no one of Sensei's type?"
"Pretty much..."
"Then what type do you like, Sensei?"
"First, of course, he has to be handsome. Second~ gentle personality? He shouldn't be too weak, either. Of course—"
Tsunade stopped mid-sentence, turning her head away guiltily.
"Hm? Of course?"
Minato paused his chopping and tilted his head in confusion.
"No, nothing, haha~"
Waving her hand awkwardly, Tsunade forced a smile.
Of course, being a good cook would be even better...
She really couldn't bring herself to say something that sounded so much like a hint!
Actually, as Minato's teacher, with a fourteen-year age gap, she could have openly said: "A boy like you—sunny, handsome, gentle, considerate, and a good cook—would be great. Too bad they're so rare."
But she had a guilty conscience.
This led to her feeling like a pervert committing a crime against a minor, no matter how she phrased it...
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