Chapter 144: Reassignment

"Hiss!"

Before Hiruzen Sarutobi could finish his sentence, Kato Yufeng exaggeratedly drew a sharp breath.

Naturally, this was Tsunade's masterpiece. Taking advantage of the moment after Yufeng finished his report and while Hiruzen was speaking, Tsunade's little hand expertly pinched the soft flesh at Yufeng's waist, avenging the nose-scratching incident from earlier.

However, Tsunade hadn't expected her boyfriend to be so utterly shameless. The force she used just now was much lighter than when she had been waiting outside the door.

Previously, when Tsunade pinched him, Yufeng hadn't reacted much at all. Who would have thought that now, right in front of Hiruzen Sarutobi—her own teacher—Yufeng would get pinched and let out such an exaggeratedly loud yelp.

While dramatically rubbing his waist and sucking in cold breaths, Yufeng made mischievous, winking faces at Tsunade, his attractive starry eyes suddenly shifting into deadpan, lifeless fish eyes.

Seeing Yufeng's mischievous grin, Tsunade's fair, delicate face flushed with anger, and her naturally arched willow eyebrows stiffened. She realized she had been played by her boyfriend, who was deliberately trying to make a fool of her in front of Hiruzen.

Tsunade's cherry lips parted and closed, silently forming the words: "You just wait, I'll deal with you when we get home!"

Standing behind the desk smoking, Hiruzen instinctively took a drag from his pipe and asked questioningly, "What's the matter?"

"It's nothing, Master! Yufeng said that to thank you for agreeing to attend Nawaki's apprenticeship ceremony, he wanted me, as an elder sister, to give you a proper shoulder massage, act like a gentle and virtuous good disciple, and show you the utmost filial piety."

Tsunade brushed Yufeng aside, deciding to save the punishment for her man until they got home. She then walked around behind Hiruzen's desk, inviting her teacher back to his seat.

As she did so, Tsunade casually snuffed out the tobacco in the pipe Hiruzen was biting on. Then, she began massaging Hiruzen's shoulders, this time genuinely and earnestly helping her teacher relax without any playful mischief.

"Uh, well, Tsunade, my precious disciple..."

Feeling his shoulders being kneaded in earnest by his beloved pupil, Hiruzen hesitated before speaking.

Tsunade said softly in a gentle tone, "Old man, is my hand too heavy?"

"No, it's not that. I just wanted to say, go ahead and massage if you want—the whole Leaf Village knows you're a filial and good disciple—but could you let me finish smoking the tobacco in my pipe first? It's quite expensive, imported from the Land of Smoke..."

Sensing his precious disciple's filial piety, Hiruzen still voiced his inner concern. After all, his secret stash had just been raided by his wife recently, and his pockets were a bit tight.

The previously gentle and filial little cotton-jacket disciple instantly changed her expression. "Smoke, smoke what? You're only in your forties, and you smoke this much every day. What are you going to do when you're old? Careful or I'll tell Master's wife!"

After lecturing Hiruzen on his bad smoking habit, Tsunade stopped her hand movements and didn't forget to dump the tobacco she had just extinguished straight into the trash can.

"My tobacco... This wretched disciple isn't considerate at all! Whose temperament did she take after anyway? The First Hokage was so great..."

Forget it, Hiruzen could completely kiss smoking goodbye—at least while Tsunade was around.

Resignedly letting Tsunade massage his shoulders, Hiruzen glared at the tobacco in the trash can, too angry to speak out.

***

In front of the desk, Kato Yufeng saw that the conflict had been diverted and his girlfriend's attention had temporarily shifted to Hiruzen, and he smiled inwardly.

Yufeng was quite happy to see this kind of interaction between Tsunade and Hiruzen, especially watching Tsunade carefully massaging Hiruzen's shoulders while scolding him with a feigned angry expression about smoking.

Yufeng found the scene of masterly benevolence and filial piety before him to be heartwarming, touching, and comforting.

Tsunade had once told Yufeng that in her heart, Hiruzen was not just a teacher; during the course of her upbringing, he had also played a part in the role of a father.

Looking at the scene before him, Tsunade's image grew even more vivid in his heart. He fantasized about growing old slowly with Tsunade one day, sharing similar interactive moments.

That too would surely be heartwarming, touching, and comforting.

Of course, Yufeng was just using fantasy as a metaphor. Growing old in age alongside Tsunade was fine, but letting their appearances age was out of the question.

In her previous life, Tsunade had relied on the Mitotic Regeneration technique to maintain her youth and eternal beauty. In this life, nourished by Yufeng's vital essence, Tsunade's appearance would definitely not be inferior to her past life, and would surely be much better and even more gorgeous.

***

"Ahem, Kato Yufeng!"

Hiruzen's voice interrupted Yufeng's train of thought.

Ignoring his beloved female disciple standing behind him, Hiruzen said to Yufeng, "Let's leave Nawaki's matter at that. Once the time is set, remember to notify me. Since you're here today anyway, I have some matters to assign to you, saving me the trouble of sending someone to summon you again."

"Please speak, Third Lord!"

Seeing that Hiruzen was about to get down to business, Yufeng straightened his posture, stood at attention, and pulled his focus back.

Standing behind Hiruzen, Tsunade saw that her teacher and her boyfriend were about to start discussing official business, so she stopped making trouble and earnestly continued massaging Hiruzen's shoulders.

As Hiruzen thought, he unconsciously picked up the pipe by his side again, though fortunately, he didn't forget his female disciple's warning and refrained from lighting it.

"Kato Yufeng, for the past half year or so, you've frequently completed high-level missions in the northwest direction of the Leaf Village. You should have a pretty good grasp of the situation in the Land of Wind and the Land of Earth!"

Yufeng replied, "Yes, Lord, over the past half year, the missions I've completed have basically been within the borders of the Land of Wind and the Land of Earth, as well as the Land of Rain. My intelligence regarding these three nations is indeed more comprehensive than what is known about other countries."

"You understand the recent situation in the ninja world. Just like your predictive reports from the past few times, a new round of the Shinobi World War could erupt at any moment."

Hiruzen mentioned the Shinobi World War, and Tsunade, standing right behind him, also listened intently. Her large, round eyes blinked as she looked at her boyfriend across the desk, and her slender willow eyebrows furrowed slightly, clearly guessing something.

Hiruzen continued in a steady tone, "Based on the intelligence you submitted to the village previously, the village recently arranged for other intelligence personnel to cross-verify it from multiple angles. After the Leaf Village's intelligence analysis department synthesized various sources of intelligence, they believe that the predictions you mentioned to me last time should have a very high degree of accuracy."

"Leaf Jonin Kato Yufeng!" Hiruzen called out Yufeng's formal rank.

"Subordinate is here!" Yufeng knew the main topic was about to begin.

Looking at the handsome and young Leaf Jonin before him, Hiruzen patted the arm of his disciple who had unconsciously started using a bit too much strength beside him, and said, "In view of your strength, as well as your outstanding intelligence-gathering and analysis capabilities, I plan to transfer you to the Northwest Fortress Camp of the Land of Fire."

When Hiruzen mentioned the Land of Wind and the Land of Earth earlier, Yufeng had already made a rough guess, so he didn't show much surprise. He simply waited quietly for Hiruzen to continue.

Hiruzen had just said he was transferring Yufeng to the Northwest Fortress Camp, but he hadn't mentioned the specific position yet. They couldn't possibly expect him to go over there just as a regular foot soldier.

"As for the position... originally, according to my intentions, I wanted you to serve as the Second Chief of Staff of the Northwest Fortress Camp, but..."

Hiruzen looked at Yufeng before him, recalling what his old partner, Shimura Danzo, had said during a brainstorming meeting with the Hokage's advisory elder council not long ago.

Danzo had said at the time: "We must give young people more opportunities!"