Naruto: Starting with Tsunade

Chapter 240 I am the Hokage, and you will regret it.

The next day, at dawn.

A ray of sunlight pierced through the thick clouds, descending upon the earth and shining into the windows of every household, adding a touch of brilliance to the dim interiors.

"Click."

Inside the room, a door was gently pushed open, revealing a glimpse of gold—a head of fluffy, golden hair. The faint morning light seemed to leap up, shimmering and adorning the girl's body as she moved.

Tsunade glanced sideways, tiptoed to the door of a nearby room, and listened intently for any sounds inside.

This room used to be the room of her deceased parents, but now Tsunade has given it to Aokiji, who has moved in.

It was very quiet inside; the people inside were still fast asleep.

"How lazy, still sleeping at this hour."

Tsunade smiled, revealing a shallow dimple. After a quick wash, she went to the kitchen to prepare a delicious breakfast for Aokiji.

In no time, Tsunade had prepared a plate of egg-wrapped rice for Aokiji. It was shaped like dumplings, with a golden egg skin filled with soft and sticky rice. In addition, there were green cauliflower and red carrots as garnishes. The combination of meat and vegetables looked very appetizing and nutritious.

With a meticulous attitude, Tsunade felt something was missing after finishing the omelet rice. She gently touched her chin with her slender fingers, tilted her head, and thought seriously for a while. Then she smiled, as if she had remembered something.

"Oh right, and this too..."

Tsunade took out a book called "A Bite of China" from a nearby cabinet. It contained detailed recipes for all sorts of delicious food.

For example, the omelet rice I made this morning was something Tsunade learned by copying from it. Otherwise, how could she, with her cooking skills, possibly make such exquisite food?

Tsunade flipped through the pages and came across the omelet rice post.

By comparing the actual product with the picture, she discovered that her omelet rice was missing the last step: spreading tomato sauce on it.

Tsunade picked up a bottle of tomato juice and squeezed it to draw a heart shape on the omelet rice.

"Hehehe... It looks so good, which pervert will get it for free?"

Tsunade stared at the food in front of her, which resembled a work of art, and started to giggle foolishly.

This state didn't last long. Tsunade realized something seemed amiss and fell into deep thought, looking at the omelet rice filled with love in front of her.

"Am I exaggerating a bit? What if that pervert makes fun of me for it?"

Just as she was muttering something to herself like blowing bubbles, a teasing voice suddenly floated from behind her: "Oh my, making breakfast so early in the morning. Who's it for? Me?"

This startled her, her cheeks flushed a deep red, and she unconsciously tightened her grip.

"Let me see how your work is."

Aokiji smirked and walked up to her. When he saw the omelet rice covered in tomato sauce, his face immediately fell. There was way too much tomato sauce on this omelet rice.

"No, it wasn't supposed to be like this," Tsunade quickly explained. "You startled me just now, which is why it turned out this way."

"What was this breakfast originally like?" Aokiji asked with a smile.

"Originally, it was..."

Tsunade stammered, then fell silent, as if she had swallowed a bitter pill, thinking about drawing a heart on the omelet rice.

However, Aokiji saw this as confirmation that Tsunade's cooking was terrible, and gently comforted her, "It's okay, as long as it's something you make, Tsunade, I'll eat it no matter how bad it tastes..."

Aokiji took a spoonful, fully prepared for it to be unpalatable, but surprisingly it was quite good.

Tsunade said with difficulty, "Don't force yourself if it's not good. It would be a loss if you got a stomachache."

Aokiji sincerely praised, "No, it's surprisingly good."

Tsunade was taken aback: "Huh? You're not kidding me, are you?"

"Why would I lie to you? Try it yourself if you don't believe me. Putting aside the fact that a little too much tomato juice was squeezed out at the end, it's surprisingly good in other aspects."

Tsunade took a spoonful with a skeptical look, and found that it was indeed true.

"Ah, Tsunade is getting better and better at cooking. She'll definitely be a wonderful wife and mother in the future."

Aokiji genuinely felt that way.

Tsunade's cooking was terrible at first, but she improved if she really studied hard.

After what she just did, Tsunade felt confident again, her delicate nose perked up high, like a proud little rooster—no, a little hen:

"Don't you even know who made this? Let me tell you, preparing this breakfast for you is more thoughtful than I am about Oudoudou's rope, rope...!"

Sudden.

As if remembering something, Tsunade suddenly screamed, "Ah—!"

"What's wrong?"

Tsunade's startled movements made Aokiji look puzzled: "What's wrong with you?"

Tsunade whispered, "Young Master..."

Aokiji was taken aback: "Younger brother?"

Hearing her say that, he remembered that there really was such a person.

Tsunade cupped her face in her hands, her eyes wide, a look of utter frustration on her face: "I was so busy doing things with you yesterday that I completely forgot about the rope tree I left at Grandma's house..."

Aokiji: ...

"Once you have a man, you completely forget about your younger brother. I'm such a bad older sister..."

Tsunade was covered in black lines, her hands hung down, and she looked somewhat dejected.

Aokiji patted her shoulder reassuringly, "Well, you don't need to be so discouraged. I think Nawaki will understand."

"Probably," Aokiji silently added in his mind.

"no."

Aokiji looked at Tsunade, who had a resolute expression, and asked, "What's wrong?"

"I need to hurry to my grandma's house and apologize to Rope Tree."

"Oh? You're leaving?" Aokiji felt a little regretful; he wanted to spend more time with her.

Tsunade stood on tiptoe and gave Aokiji a small kiss on the cheek: "Sorry, consider this my compensation to you."

Then, perhaps out of shyness, Tsunade turned around and hurriedly left the spot, running towards the Mito residence.

With a click, the door closed and Tsunade disappeared from sight. Aokiji touched the spot where he had been kissed, exhaled, and said thoughtfully, "It seems that Nawaki is a problem. I need to get rid of him."

He muttered something under his breath, and perhaps feeling that his words might be misunderstood, Aokiji let out a soft "uh".

Don't misunderstand, he meant that if Madara Uchiha came to capture Tsunade, Nawaki, who had no fighting ability, would definitely become the breakthrough point.

What should I do...?

As Aokiji ate his breakfast, he couldn't come up with a solution.

Well, in short, let's focus on improving our strength first.

Strength is the foundation of everything.

I spent the whole day with Tsunade yesterday and didn't train at all. I need to work harder today to make up for what I missed yesterday.

After finishing his breakfast, Aokiji washed the plate clean. Then, with a wave of his hand, he wrote his destination on a piece of paper and placed a pair of chopsticks on it to prevent it from flying away accidentally. When Tsunade returned, she didn't know where he was and couldn't find him.

After doing all this, Aokiji went out to the training grounds to begin his training.

………………

The Hokage's office building, a conference room.

Four middle-aged men gathered together, discussing a pair of figures who were the center of public discussion in the village.

"Hiruzen, those two people that everyone in the village is talking about, you must have heard of them at least a little bit."

Danzo, with his bandages covering his eyes and only one cloudy eye visible, spoke in a sharp and sarcastic tone.

Hiruzen Sarutobi paused for a moment, closed his eyes, and nodded in response.

"I told you long ago that we should extract the five tails from this kid's body and put them in a more reliable person."

Danzo's hostile tone was directed at Hiruzen Sarutobi: "This situation is a result of your dereliction of duty as Hokage. When we meet again in the afterlife, how will you face your former mentor, Tobirama-sensei?"

After saying that, he glanced at the two men seated in the lead seat with his one cloudy eye, hoping to gain their support.

Soon, the two of them chimed in with their own words, but they were much more tactful than Danzo, taking a stance that offended neither side, agreeing with Danzo while also saving face for Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Hiruzen Sarutobi remained silent, waiting for them to finish speaking before slowly opening his mouth, and then refuting their points one by one until they had nothing to say.

Extracting a tailed beast sounds easy; if it were just an ordinary brat, it would have been extracted without hesitation.

But Aokiji is a genius on whom the Uchiha clan has placed great hopes. How can you just whip him like that without considering the feelings of these people?

As the saying goes, one should not pursue a desperate enemy.

Over the years, the Uchiha clan has faced considerable discrimination, and their discontent has been growing. If a conflict were to erupt at this critical juncture, the consequences would be unimaginable.

The correct approach is to gradually weaken their power, like boiling a frog slowly, rather than directly extracting the Five-Tails as Danzo suggested. Such a brutal approach would inevitably provoke strong resistance and backlash from them.

Although the Uchiha clan is not as powerful as it used to be, it is still a force to be reckoned with, even if it is weakened.

After Danzo, Koharu, and Homura finished speaking, Hiruzen Sarutobi slowly opened his mouth. Unlike the excited expressions of the others, his expression was calm and composed:

"Okay...yes, I've heard your thoughts and I've taken them into consideration, that's good."

Danzo was taken aback, sensing that something was amiss.

This statement seems to be an agreement, but it is not.

First affirm the other party's statement, and then refute it, leaving the other party speechless. This is a common trick that Hiruzen Sarutobi often uses when speaking.

Soon, Danzo's conjecture was confirmed. Hiruzen Sarutobi used the transition word "but," which indicated that his previous agreement was all nonsense.

Hiruzen Sarutobi continued, "I have seriously considered your ideas, but we must consider the reality and the overall situation, and never blindly choose a one-size-fits-all approach."

"Your suggestion might be effective in peacetime, but we are in a time of war, and it is precisely when manpower is needed that the power of the Uchiha and Jinchuriki is indispensable."

Upon hearing this, the three fell silent.

Hiruzen Sarutobi added, "Besides, doesn't Aokiji not have the Sharingan?"

Danzo disagreed, scoffing and stating bluntly, "Hesitation leads to chaos, and indecisiveness will inevitably cause future trouble. Who knows if he'll awaken his Sharingan one day?"

Faced with Danzo's aggressive attitude, Hiruzen Sarutobi's tone became more serious, his authority as Hokage unquestionable: "Danzo, don't forget, I am the Hokage now."

Danzo's face darkened. The phrase "I am the Hokage" was like a thorn stuck in his chest. Whenever Hiruzen didn't want to argue with him anymore, he would always bring up this phrase to leave him speechless.

Then, as is customary, he could only utter a reluctant closing remark: "Hiruzen, you'll regret this."

(End of this chapter)