Naruto: Starting with Tsunade

Chapter 281 I, Aokiji, Didn't Eat a Kept Man's Food

More than a week later, Aokiji and his three companions, who had completed their mission flawlessly, returned to the village to report on their progress. However, upon seeing the village, their faces all showed solemn expressions.

The walls were broken and the houses were dilapidated, looking as if they had just been bombed.

"This is..."

There wasn't much time to wonder. The four of them rushed to the Hokage's office, found Hiruzen Sarutobi, and asked him what had happened.

Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed and explained the reason.

The gist of it is that while Konoha was busy with the front lines, the ninjas from the Land of Sky launched a direct air raid on Konoha Village, causing serious damage to the village. What Aokiji and the others just saw was the scene of the bombing the previous night.

Jiraiya, looking furious like a leader, angrily exclaimed, "Damn Sky Country, they're so audacious!"

After he finished speaking, the other three ninjas nodded in agreement, indicating that the ninjas of the Land of Sky had gone too far and needed to be dealt with severely.

Hiruzen Sarutobi composed himself solemnly: "For the time being, the four of you should refrain from going out."

Tsunade asked, "Is this to guard against the Sky Ninja?"

Despite their young age, these four are incredibly strong and are among the top-tier Jonin, easily ranking among the best. If the Sky Ninja dare to attack again, these four can be very effective.

Following Tsunade's words, Hiruzen Sarutobi continued, "That's part of the point, but more importantly, I want the four of you to await orders before launching a full-scale attack on the Land of the Sky?"

Tsunade looked at the other person in surprise.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression darkened: "This time, the Land of Sky not only launched a surprise attack on our Konoha, but also attacked the location of the Daimyo of the Land of Fire."

"Although no real harm was caused to the Daimyo, the Daimyo whose life was threatened was extremely angry and demanded that Konoha carry out the most severe retaliation against the Land of the Sky."

Aokiji squinted his eyes, seemingly lost in thought.

In the original story, it seems that the Land of Sky was destroyed by Konoha.

Now it seems that I am standing right on this historical timeline.

If nothing unexpected happens, the Land of the Sky, having angered Konoha this time, is likely to suffer a catastrophic disaster.

The Land of the Sky is a mobile fortress with an unpredictable location. Hiruzen Sarutobi ordered the four of them to wait for orders, with the aim of first sending people to find out the exact location of the Land of the Sky, and then sending the four of them to lead a group of Konoha ninja to destroy the Land of the Sky.

"clear."

The four received their mission, left the Hokage's office, and went back to prepare, ready to carry out the mission at any time.

As Aokiji and Tsunade walked side by side down the street, villagers would occasionally cast strange glances at them. Even now, they still found it hard to imagine that the two of them would end up together.

However, the two people involved have already gotten used to it.

Walking along the road, Tsunade casually asked, "Aokiji, why do you think the ninjas from the Land of Sky attacked our village?"

This statement may sound like nonsense, but it is not.

If there is fighting and killing on the battlefield, there may be mediation and reconciliation if a ceasefire is reached later. However, if a village is attacked directly, the nature of the conflict changes, and it will directly escalate into a situation of no return, making mediation very difficult.

Historically, there have been instances where wars have reached the village level and then been resolved through diplomatic mediation. However, this has only occurred between major powers, where both sides weigh the consequences of continuing the conflict.

However, small countries and large countries do not act this way. On the one hand, large countries have the power to directly destroy small countries without fear of retaliation. On the other hand, it also serves to tell other small countries that their hegemonic status is not to be violated.

So now that Konoha is being attacked head-on, their natural thought isn't to mediate, but to immediately prepare to wipe out the Land of the Sky as a warning to others.

Aokiji casually replied, "You're asking me? Who should I ask?"

There are many mentally ill people in this world who lack self-awareness and cannot be understood in the way normal people think.

For example, in a fanfiction, the seven new brats from Kirigakure plan to use seven ninja swords to start the Fifth Shinobi World War, which almost made people laugh to death.

How incredibly ignorant must one be to do something so stupid? If the other six ninja swords were as strong as Samehada, it would be one thing, but the problem is that out of the seven ninja swords, only Samehada is somewhat decent; the other six are just there to make up the numbers.

This really proves the saying that the more ignorant a person is, the more inexplicable their self-confidence becomes.

Before they knew it, the two had arrived at the Uchiha clan's territory.

Compared to other villagers, the members of the Uchiha clan were surprisingly open-minded in this regard. They greeted Aokiji and Tsunade with smiles and kindness.

"Oh, you two are together again, so loving."

"By the way, when are you two planning to get married?"

And then it usually starts like this, they care more about when these two will get married than about their own son.

Aokiji said awkwardly, "Marriage is too early for me..."

The elderly Uchiha woman who greeted Aokiji frowned and said, "What do you mean, too early? Let me tell you, when I was your age, I already had a child who was one or two years old."

"Besides, you're always going in and out of Tsunade's place. Even if you don't care about your own reputation, you should at least care about Tsunade's reputation as a young lady. Take your aunt's advice and get married quickly to settle your status, so that no one will gossip."

Tsunade silently lowered her head, while Kaslan's big eyes stole glances at Aokiji to see his attitude.

"You're so concerned, I don't believe you're completely without ulterior motives..." Aokiji changed the subject, dodging the question: "Oh? Your crab is quite big and fresh, how much is it?"

"Honestly, you always dodge the question whenever I ask a crucial one." The old Uchiha woman put her hands on her hips. "Can't you be a man and be decisive for once?"

Aokiji: ...

The elderly Uchiha woman tossed the large crab into a plastic bag, handed it to Aokiji, and said irritably, "It's free."

"Oh, how can you be so shameless?"

Aokiji was genuinely embarrassed.

The Uchiha woman said irritably, "This isn't for you, it's for Tsunade."

"For Tsunade?" Aokiji glanced at Tsunade, thinking to himself: What kind of relationship do you two have that good?

How come I didn't know?

The elderly Uchiha woman continued, "I am also a member of the Uchiha clan, and in a sense, we are related by blood."

"So, consider these big crabs a personal donation to you two, so people won't keep saying you're a kept man."

Me, a kept man?

Aokiji, who had a tube inserted into his lungs, jumped up and shouted, "This is a lie! This is absolutely a lie!"

This rumor has been circulating in the village for quite some time.

It's obvious that these are the insults directed at Tsunade's admirers behind the scenes.

In the past, Aokiji didn't care about personality or anything like that, but things are different now.

He could be indifferent, but he couldn't be indifferent to Tsunade's feelings.

Although Tsunade wouldn't take it to heart, he couldn't think that way.

This feeling is like a woman telling her lover that money doesn't matter when she's with him, but a man can't think that way.

Therefore, even if Aokiji is truly living off a woman now, we must respond strongly and refuse to admit it.

I, Uchiha Aokiji, am not a freeloader.

He actually has the ability to completely avoid being a kept man, but he still chooses to do so without hesitation.

What is the goal?

He just wanted to maintain the intensity of his relationship with Tsunade.

It's important to understand that in a relationship, it's essential for each other to feel valued, as this increases each other's sense of security and strengthens the bond.

Choosing to be a kept man at this time is a good thing, as it makes the woman feel strongly that the man needs her, thus creating a sense of security.

To outsiders, the act of living off a woman is only the first layer of reality; in fact, the true extent of the problem lies in the inner atmosphere.

To carefully cherish this hard-won relationship.

Aokiji is saying, "Do you think it's easy for me to be a kept man?!"

(End of this chapter)