After returning to the palace, Mirai bowed to his mother:
"Mom, I'm going back to my room."
Kurenai squatted down, adjusted his collar, and smiled:
"Go on. After playing all day, you should get some good rest."
Mirai nodded and walked into his room.
The moment the door closed, the childish and innocent expression on his face vanished.
Replacing it was a calm and deep gaze.
Earlier on the street, he had recognized the group of shinobi who had just arrived at the Hidden Gento Village.
Shinobi from the Leaf.
If he guessed correctly, these people were the Leaf delegation coming to deepen cooperation with the Hidden Gento Village.
According to the trajectory of his previous life, the cooperation between the two sides would deepen further.
The Hidden Gento Village would begin constructing schools to help the Leaf Village train shinobi.
He even remembered that before long, his father would take Hinata Hyuga, Sakura Haruno, and Ino Yamanaka as disciples, and ultimately take them as his wives once they reached adulthood.
However, none of this was his main focus.
What he cared about was the Akatsuki.
According to his memory, the Akatsuki would begin large-scale actions next year to collect the Tailed Beasts.
And his father would use the Akatsuki as pawns, stepping in after they had collected most of the Tailed Beasts to seize all nine Tailed Beasts in one fell swoop, accelerating the process of unifying the shinobi world.
Even so, he still felt it was too slow.
Thinking this, those scenes could not help but surface in his mind.
Momoshiki, Kinshiki, Urashiki, Isshiki...
Those figures wearing white robes with horns on their heads, possessing power that could destroy heaven and earth with a wave of their hands.
He remembered his father going from handling things with ease to becoming grave and solemn, then struggling and exhausted, and finally having his heavily injured, dying body lifted by the enemy… that sense of powerlessness and despair was simply like a nightmare.
If things developed at the pace of his previous life, even if his father eventually unified the shinobi world, there wouldn't be enough time to make adequate preparations.
The shinobi world would repeat the mistakes of the past life.
They had to speed up, unifying the shinobi world faster, integrating all resources faster, raising everyone's strength faster, and letting his father reach that legendary realm faster.
Even though he was only three years old now, it was time to take action!
He must help his father speed up the progress!
But... directly telling his father was definitely out of the question.
After all, something like reincarnation sounded far too incredible to anyone.
Let alone coming from the mouth of a three-year-old child.
Therefore, he still had to find a way to push this matter forward...
...
Meanwhile, inside Gento's office.
The Anbu reported the details of the encounter between Asuma and Kurenai on the street.
Hearing this, Gento only showed a look that said "as expected."
Then the Anbu added:
"In addition, the residences for the four Leaf Jonin, including Yugao, have been arranged in the shinobi dormitory area on the east side of the Hidden Gento Village."
Gento nodded.
Compared to Asuma, he was more curious about another person, Yugao.
In the original story, the Jonin leading the Leaf's Genin teams were Kakashi, Guy, Asuma, and Kurenai.
Now that he had whisked Kurenai away, he hadn't expected the Leaf to substitute Yugao.
This one was also a classic beauty!
More importantly...
Gento pulled out an intelligence report, which read:
Hayate Gekko died in battle two years ago.
Indeed, if the plot had developed normally, Hayate would have become Yugao's boyfriend.
According to the original work, Hayate was short-lived, ultimately killed by the Sand Jonin Maki.
Now that he had changed the direction of the plot, he hadn't expected Hayate to still not survive, and even die even earlier.
He hadn't even made it to the point of the battle with the Sand in the original story before meeting his end early.
Since that was the case, the beauty was still unattached, so she deserved to be enjoyed by him.
So, Gento said to the Anbu in front of him:
"Go inform Yugao. Tell her to come to my office on behalf of the Leaf."
"I want to discuss the future cooperation between our sides, and by the way... get to know her on a deeper level."
The Anbu accepted the order and departed.
Not making Gento wait long, the office door was soon knocked on.
"Come in."
The door was pushed open, and a figure stepped inside.
Yugao wore a dark uniform from her Anbu days, but with the mask and back armor removed, replaced with a lighter black top and trousers.
The top was form-fitting, stretching the dark fabric into full curves.
Her skin was fair, her facial features cold, and her entire being exuded a cold aloofness that kept people at a distance.
Walking up to Gento's desk, she bowed slightly, performing a standard shinobi salute:
"Gento, Jonin Yugao Uzuki of the Leaf, reporting as ordered."
At the same time, the system notification rang in Gento's mind:
[Ding! Suitable Dual Cultivation kunoichi detected.]
[Name: Yugao Uzuki]
[Strength: Jonin]
[Overall Evaluation: A-rank]
Gento understood in his heart.
Although she was only A-rank, he had never turned away any kunoichi recognized by the system.
Maintaining a calm face, he gestured with his hand:
"No need for such formality, Yugao. Please sit."
Yugao did not sit.
Standing in place, she took out a scroll from her shirt and presented it with both hands:
"Gento, this is the list of the two hundred Genin coming to the Hidden Gento Village this time. Please have a look."
Gento took the scroll but did not open it, casually placing it aside instead.
He raised his head, his gaze falling on her face, his tone warm:
"If you encounter any difficulties in the Hidden Gento Village in the future, Yugao, feel free to speak to me. If I can help, I certainly will."
Yugao lowered her eyes for a moment:
"Thank you for your kindness, Gento. However, my duty on this trip is to lead the Leaf Genin to cooperate with the mission arrangements of the Hidden Gento Village and assist in ensuring the smooth progress of the cooperation between both sides."
"Other than that, I have no other needs."
Gento naturally heard the coldness that kept people at arm's length.
However, he was not surprised.
After all, Yugao's personality was naturally rather cold and aloof.
"Since that is the case, I won't force it then."
Gento smiled.
"Go get some rest first, Yugao. I will make my own arrangements for the cooperation matters later."
Yugao bowed again, then cleanly turned and left.
Watching the direction she vanished, Gento felt slightly disappointed.
He hadn't expected Yugao to be so cold and aloof.
Had it been any other kunoichi, facing the goodwill he showed, they would probably have wished they could throw themselves into his arms on the spot and fawn all over him.
It seemed Yugao would not be easy to win over.
Anyways, it didn't matter.
If he exhausted all methods and still failed to win her over, the worst-case scenario would be finding an opportunity to use a Lust Pill on her.
Under his tireless efforts over these years, the Lust Gourd had now accumulated two Lust Pills once again.
If there was no affection, then letting feelings develop over time through physical intimacy was also perfectly fine.
Pulling back his thoughts, he finally picked up the list on the desk and casually flipped through it.
The Leaf was indeed full of sincerity this time; the two hundred Genin were all carefully selected, promising talents.
His gaze swept past each name.
Neji Hyuga, Rock Lee, Tenten, Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame, Hinata Hyuga, Ino Yamanaka, Sakura Haruno...
Gento's eyebrows arched, a smile playing at the corners of his lips.
Hinata, Ino, Sakura, Tenten...
He was far too familiar with the names of these four kunoichi.
The heroines of the original work were each youthful, beautiful, and possessed their own distinct charm.
He couldn't help but conceive a bold idea.
Why not just directly take these girls as his disciples?
A waterfront pavilion gets the moonlight first; keeping them by his side to nurture slowly was far better than trying to flirt from a distance.
He was just thinking about how to arrange this when his expression suddenly changed-the shadow clone who he had been keeping tabs on Orochimaru had actually dissipated!
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