Zongman: Capturing the goddess from Demon Slayer

After dealing with the Sand Village ninjas, the four of them resumed their journey back to Konoha.

The forest, once transformed by Wood Release: Advent of a World of Flowering Trees, returned to normal, as if nothing had ever happened.

Previously, Tsunade had been worried that Arakawa Meio's strength might not be enough, and that he wouldn't be able to keep up with her pace, so she hadn't used chakra to speed their travel.

But after witnessing Arakawa Meio's true strength, Tsunade no longer held back.

She concentrated chakra in her feet.

And sped through the mountains and forests.

Along the way, Tsunade's mind was filled with thoughts.

"Arakawa Meio..." Tsunade suddenly called out Arakawa Meio's name.

"Hmm?"

"Are you really not a ninja from the Rain Village in the Land of Rain?" Tsunade asked.

"Of course not. I can't even be considered a ninja right now, since I'm not even a genin. What, do you really want me to be a Rain Village ninja?"

Tsunade shook her head.

She just wanted to confirm it.

If Arakawa Meio wasn't a ninja from the Rain Village or any other ninja village, then could she try to bring him into Konoha and make him a Konoha ninja?

Her great-grandmother, Uzumaki Mito, as the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, had the ability to sense malice.

As long as she brought Arakawa Meio before her great-grandmother, she could determine whether Arakawa Meio was harmful to Konoha and whether he could be won over.

Inadvertently, Tsunade looked at Arakawa Meio.

Hmm... a very handsome young man.

And also very strong.

Being his wife should be very happy, right...

Eh—

What am I thinking!

Although Arakawa Meio is indeed very handsome and strong, but... uh... but she can't come to a conclusion so early!

She doesn't even know what kind of person Arakawa Meio is.

What if he's a pervert like Jiraiya?

After all, looking at her chest openly and being able to say it so righteously, saying something about appreciating beauty, I don't believe you!

Tsunade quickly turned her head away, no longer looking at Arakawa Meio.

In her heart, she had already labeled Arakawa Meio as a pervert.

After an afternoon of travel, the four of them finally arrived at the entrance of Konoha Village.

At the entrance, Tsunade's younger brother, Nawaki, had been waiting for a long time.

"Sis!"

Upon seeing Tsunade return, Nawaki ran quickly to Tsunade's side and began to act spoiled.

Faced with Nawaki's spoiled behavior, Tsunade reached out and gently pinched Nawaki's cheek, dotingly saying:

"Didn't eat properly these past few days while I was gone?"

Nawaki raised his thumb, pointed at himself, and confidently smiled:

"Of course I did! I'm a man who's going to become Hokage. Good health definitely comes first!"

"Is that so? Nawaki is really amazing~ Do you want to go visit Great-Grandmother with me?"

"Ah! Really?" Nawaki asked in surprise.

"Really!" Tsunade smiled.

Now, Uzumaki Mito is in her twilight years, and won't live for many more years, and her strength is also far from what it used to be.

Once Uzumaki Mito is harmed, the Nine-Tails will be released.

At that time, the damage to Konoha will be unimaginable.

Therefore, even though Nawaki is Uzumaki Mito's grandson, without the permission or guidance of a specific person, he cannot meet with Uzumaki Mito alone.

Having not seen his kind grandmother for a long time, Nawaki missed her very much.

"Bai Pu, go submit the mission report. I'll personally report about Arakawa Meio's matter," Tsunade said to Bai Pu, who was beside her.

Bai Pu nodded, and then disappeared from everyone's sight in a Body Flicker Technique.

"Arakawa Meio, let's go, we'll go visit my great-grandmother, the wife of the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, who also uses Wood Release, Uzumaki Mito!"

"Wood Release!" Nawaki looked at Arakawa Meio in surprise.

"You can use Wood Release?"

"What's wrong, man who will be Hokage?" Arakawa Meio joked.

Man who will be... Hokage?

That's not right, is it?

Nawaki reacted and quickly explained:

"What man who will be Hokage! I clearly said 'I'm going to become Hokage...'"

"..."

The word 'man' was clearly on the tip of his tongue, but Nawaki just couldn't say it, because after Arakawa Meio said it like that, it felt like it had changed its flavor.

"No, no! What I said was, I'm going to become Hokage!"

"Yes, that's right! I'm going to become Hokage!"

"Not a Hokage's man!"

"Okay, okay, it's Hokage, not a Hokage's man," Arakawa Meio nodded in agreement.

Clap!

He clapped his hands together, then opened them, and a wooden figure more than twenty centimeters tall appeared in his hand.

A wooden figure that looked exactly like Nawaki.

"Here, I'll give it to you!"

Arakawa Meio threw the wooden figure to Nawaki.

Nawaki caught the wooden figure, very happy.

"It really is Wood Release!"

"Thank you for giving me the wooden figure!"

"You're welcome."

Seeing that her younger brother Nawaki had already received the wooden figure and was fondling it.

Tsunade was helpless, nodded and smiled at Arakawa Meio to express her gratitude for giving her younger brother a gift.

Xiao Nan, who was standing next to Arakawa Meio, showed an envious look when she saw Nawaki receive Arakawa Meio's gift.

Arakawa Meio squatted down, clenched his fists with both hands, and stretched them out in front of Xiao Nan.

"Open them and take a look."

Seeing Arakawa Meio's half-clenched fists, Xiao Nan was very sure that Brother Meio was holding something in his hands!

Xiao Nan placed her small hands on Arakawa Meio's fists with anticipation.

His fists opened smoothly, and two colored, very delicate wooden puppets appeared in Arakawa Meio's hands.

They were Arakawa Meio and Xiao Nan respectively.

Looking at the puppets of herself and Brother Meio in Arakawa Meio's hands, Xiao Nan excitedly picked up the puppets.

She took a step forward and kissed Arakawa Meio on the cheek.

"Thank you, Brother Meio!"

"Hehe, Xiao Nan, so good!" Arakawa Meio ruffled Xiao Nan's hair.

Holding hands with Xiao Nan, they followed Tsunade and walked towards the place where Uzumaki Mito lived.

The ninjas responsible for guarding around Uzumaki Mito's villa, after seeing Tsunade, not only didn't ask Tsunade why she came here, they didn't even ask Arakawa Meio.

They let them pass directly.

Seemingly, it was the value of being the granddaughter of the First Hokage, but in fact, when Tsunade brought Arakawa Meio to the entrance of Konoha Village, everything was seen by the Anbu.

At the same time, the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, was also using the Telescope Technique through the crystal ball to observe all of this.

The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, one can't be careless!

"A young man who can use Wood Release, and whose ninjutsu range is similar to that of the First Hokage?"

"Friend or foe..."

Inside the villa.

Uzumaki Mito, with a pair of buns... dumpling heads tied on her head and a purple rhombus mark on her forehead, smiled when she saw that her granddaughter and grandson had arrived.

"Tsunade, Nawaki, you've come, quickly sit down!"

"Oh~" Seeing the handsome young man behind Tsunade, Uzumaki Mito said in surprise:

"Tsunade, is he your boyfriend?"

Tsunade was stunned, and a blush instantly rose on her face.

She quickly explained:

"Great-Grandmother, what nonsense are you talking about."

"He's not my boyfriend! His name is Arakawa Meio, and he's a refugee from the Rain Village. The reason I brought him here today is because he can use Wood Release, and the power is basically no different from Grandpa's Wood Release ninjutsu."

"Wood Release!" Upon hearing the words 'Wood Release,' Uzumaki Mito's originally cloudy eyes suddenly became spirited.

Her eyes were bright and piercing, not at all like those of an old woman with only a few years left to live.

Mito Uzumaki stood up and walked towards Aon.

"You know Wood Release?"

"I know a little," Aon nodded.

Mito Uzumaki picked up a small pot from the table, in which a withered branch was planted, and asked:

"Can you use your Wood Release to revitalize this flower?"

"Easy!"

Snap!

Aon snapped his fingers, and the withered branch in the small flower pot instantly swelled, the branches twisting.

At the tip, a flower bud quietly appeared, quickly blooming into a pink flower.

Seeing the flower blooming in the pot, Mito Uzumaki smiled knowingly.

"Thank you, Aon."

She placed the flower pot on the balcony to let it bask in the sunlight.

Sitting back down on the bedside, Mito Uzumaki looked at Aon and asked:

"Aon, what do you think of our Tsunade?"

"Ah!"

Not only was Aon surprised, but Tsunade, Nawaki, and Konan were also taken aback and confused.

"Grandma, what are you talking about?"

"What do you mean, 'What do I think of me'?"

Tsunade was bewildered. She came here to have her grandmother assess whether Aon was a threat to Konoha.

How did it suddenly become, 'What do you think of our Tsunade?'

Was she trying to set me up with Aon?

Mito Uzumaki didn't answer Tsunade's question, but instead gave her a look that said, 'Don't worry, Grandma has everything under control,' before looking back at Aon.

Tsunade sighed and sat in her chair, watching Aon, also wanting to know how he would answer this question.

Nawaki's gaze kept darting back and forth between Tsunade and Aon.

Could it be that Aon was going to become his brother-in-law?

"Well... Tsunade..."

Aon looked at Tsunade, who was also looking at him.

She quickly turned her head away.

After studying Tsunade for a moment, Aon continued:

"I think Tsunade is very good, both in appearance and in heart."

She's grown right on my...

Mito Uzumaki nodded gently.

As the wife of Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage, and also the first Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.

Mito Uzumaki's resolve and conviction were stronger than many ninjas.

Like Hashirama Senju, she was full of love for the village.

Her heart was set on the village.

The Nine-Tails was powerful, but to Hashirama Senju, who had Wood Release, it was just a slightly larger toy.

Now that the Land of Whirlpools had been destroyed, the Uzumaki clan, who excelled in sealing techniques, was also gradually withering away.

Sooner or later, there would come a day when no member of the Uzumaki clan could be used to seal the Nine-Tails and become the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.

Mito Uzumaki had to consider the future.

For the sake of the village.

Although Hashirama Senju didn't pass down the Wood Release, the bloodline limit that countered Tailed Beasts, fortunately, Aon, whom Tsunade brought back, had the Wood Release bloodline limit.

Moreover, its power was about the same as Hashirama Senju's.

If Aon's Wood Release bloodline limit could be kept in Konoha, then there would be no need to worry about the Nine-Tails in the future.

"If you become Tsunade's husband, would you become Hokage?"

Aon shook his head.

"No."

Why would I become Hokage when I have nothing better to do?

Being a carefree person in Konoha, picking up girls when I have nothing to do, and casually showing off unintentionally, isn't that better than being a miserable Hokage?

"I see..."

Mito Uzumaki nodded slightly.

Through the perception of the Nine-Tails chakra, she was very clear that Aon was not an evil person, nor was he a great saint.

If she had to describe him, he was a very ordinary person.

To have such a powerful ability and still maintain an ordinary person's heart was already very rare.

That's what Mito Uzumaki thought.

Next, she needed to see Aon's attitude towards Konoha.

"Aon, if the Nine-Tails wreaks havoc on Konoha in the future, will you take action?"

Without the slightest hesitation, Aon replied:

"Yes!"

In Mito Uzumaki's perception, Aon said 'Yes' from the bottom of his heart.

But the truth was that Aon wanted to use this opportunity to show off and pick up girls.

The Nine-Tails wreaking havoc on Konoha? That would be great.

As for taking action, you didn't say when to take action. Wouldn't it still be considered taking action if I took action when the Nine-Tails was about to completely destroy Konoha?

"Very good, Aon, have you thought about what you want to do in the future?" Mito Uzumaki asked.

A talent like Aon must be kept in Konoha.

And it would be best to make the most of his talents and bring out Aon's value.

"Travel the world? Who can say for sure about the future."

It was impossible to stay in Konoha all the time. Mei Terumi of Kirigakure, Mabui of Kumogakure, and Kurotsuchi of Iwagakure were all waiting for him.

Afterward, Mito Uzumaki asked Aon a few unimportant questions and then said:

"Aon, from now on, you and Konan will live in Konoha."

"Tsunade, you can arrange it. It would be best if you were neighbors. Of course, it would be even better if you could live together."

Faced with her grandmother's deliberate matchmaking, Tsunade was quite helpless. They weren't even close yet.

"Understood."

The group left Mito Uzumaki's residence, and Tsunade arranged for Aon and Konan to live next door to her.

They became neighbors.

And Tsunade wasn't the only one who was Aon's neighbor. There was also Kushina Uzumaki.

"Tsunade-nee!" Kushina Uzumaki said hello after school when she saw Tsunade.

Aon looked over and saw Kushina Uzumaki, who was about ten years old.

She had beautiful, waist-length red hair and was a very cute little girl.

Although Aon thought it was a very beautiful hair color, for some reason, the other students at the Ninja Academy thought it was an ugly hair color.

This reminded Aon of his first wife, Mitsuri Kanroji.

Damn it, as long as it's a female character, does her hair have to be black to avoid being insulted?

Why aren't there any students insulting the yellow-haired Minato Namikaze?

This is unreasonable.

"Who is she?" Aon asked Tsunade, who was beside him.

"Kushina Uzumaki, she's attending the Ninja Academy. Why are you asking?"

"It's nothing, I just think her hair color is very pretty."

Hmm? Tsunade was puzzled, because she had heard that Kushina Uzumaki was nicknamed 'Tomato' by those hateful boys at school because of her hair color.

Although Kushina Uzumaki had beaten them all up after her teaching.

But she also earned the nickname 'Red Hot Habanero' because of it.

This was the first time she had heard a boy compliment Kushina Uzumaki's hair color.

The few of them weren't very far apart, so Kushina Uzumaki naturally heard Aon say that her hair color was pretty.

This was the first time since she came to Konoha that a boy had complimented her hair color.

......