Chapter Thirty: The Hokage's Summons

Uchiha Madara awakened the Rinnegan, summoned the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, and by borrowing its power, briefly restored some of his youthful strength—preparing once more to stir up chaos within the ninja world. For now, these events remained some distance from Yufu Kato, though in the end, there was no doubt they would affect him; after all, his life was firmly rooted in this world.

Yufu Kato aspired to be a man as unrestrained and free as the wind, but Uchiha Madara was a hurdle he could not hope to avoid. Though Yufu Kato had seen the main storyline in his previous life, his knowledge was incomplete. He only remembered the broad strokes; the finer details were hazy, and perhaps he would recall them only when confronted with clues or intelligence relevant to those events.

...

Within the Hidden Leaf Village, Yufu Kato—determined to embody the freedom and elegance of the wind—was at this moment neither free nor elegant. He trailed behind Tsunade through the commercial street, his arms laden with shopping bags of all shapes and sizes, none of which seemed remotely useful to him.

Yufu Kato had discovered that women, regardless of the world they inhabit, share an unchanging passion: shopping. Worse still, when he attempted to seal these trivial purchases away with sealing jutsu—as one would with ninja tools—Tsunade had ruthlessly suppressed him.

Her justification had been impeccable: “If everything we buy while shopping is sealed away in a scroll, what is the point of shopping? I can seal things myself if I want to. What use are you then?”

Confronted with such ironclad logic, Yufu Kato found himself speechless. But what could he do? The woman he liked had a unique temperament, her soul radiating a singular charm at every moment.

Having asked her out himself, and faced with these “reasonable” requests, he could only oblige—even if it meant being wrung dry.

In truth, their banter was all in good fun. As a jonin, Yufu Kato could easily carry twice or thrice as much, and take it as an opportunity to practice manipulating wind chakra.

He found little joy in shopping, but he had discovered another, more compelling amusement: from behind, Tsunade’s figure seemed to grow ever more alluring, to the point where her once loose green robe could scarcely contain her curves.

...

After their shopping excursion, Yufu Kato accompanied Tsunade back to the Konoha Hospital near the Hokage’s residence, where she had a spacious office and spent most of her working hours.

The various items Yufu Kato had carried were, in the end, sealed away within a scroll. He was there not simply to keep Tsunade company at work, but to study medical ninjutsu under her guidance.

Given that he would soon be undertaking missions alone, it was only prudent to systematically train in medical ninjutsu. Moreover, the Kato clan possessed significant advantages when it came to healing spiritual injuries.

Indeed, Tsunade and Yufu Kato had skipped out on work to go shopping. Tsunade, in the midst of her experiments, had suddenly remembered her younger brother, Nawaki, who had just graduated from the ninja academy and was about to enter the world of shinobi. There was much he still needed, and as his sister, Tsunade felt she had been derelict in her duties.

Thus, she had whisked away Yufu Kato—who was growing bored of practicing medical ninjutsu—for a lively excursion to the commercial district.

...

Yufu Kato set a papaya and strawberry milk tea on Tsunade’s desk with a flourish. “Here’s your milk tea. I used Wind Release to control the temperature—just like when it was freshly made.”

He then unsealed piles of newly purchased odds and ends, hoping to organize them, and asked, “Are you sure it’s fine to keep drinking cold drinks these days? Didn’t the books say—”

Tsunade, already sipping her favorite drink through a straw, interrupted, “Don’t make a mess of things. If I let you organize these, we’d never be done. I’ll have one of my nurse subordinates handle it later. And as for the drinks, relax—I’m a ninja.”

Faced with the chaos of the office, Yufu Kato immediately abandoned his attempts to help, offering a silent moment of sympathy for the nurse who would be tasked with the job. Better them than me, he thought.

He quickly distanced himself from the mess, intent on continuing his medical ninjutsu studies.

Given his situation, Yufu Kato focused on mastering Yin Healing Wound Destruction, with supplementary training in the Mystical Palm Technique. Both were advanced, A-rank medical jutsu, rarely mastered even within Konoha Hospital. Under normal circumstances, Yufu Kato would have had no access to such techniques.

But with his almost-girlfriend’s support, anything was possible. Tsunade was not only Konoha’s foremost medical ninja, but one of the most skilled in the entire shinobi world. Teaching him these techniques posed no difficulty, and since having medical skills was a valuable safeguard, she was more than willing to be his instructor.

...

As Yufu Kato moved to one side, he suddenly paused, his neatly shaped brows arching in surprise.

“There’s a visitor, Tsunade. Looks like an ANBU from the Third’s side—he’s headed this way. You should tidy up a bit.”

Reluctantly, Yufu Kato returned to Tsunade’s side to help her gather up the recently purchased goods.

Tsunade, unperturbed by his warning, had clearly grown accustomed to his increasingly keen senses. She pressed a button on her desk, summoning a nurse to assist with the cleanup.

“Yufu, just leave it. I’ve already called someone. If you help, it’ll only get messier...”

Before she finished, a white-masked ANBU in a cat-shaped mask appeared in her office with a soft swish.

A crash of boxes followed as the ANBU accidentally knocked over a pile, sweat beading at his brow. “Uh... apologies, Lady Tsunade, I was in a hurry...”

Tsunade surveyed the worsening chaos, her left hand squeezing the now-empty milk tea cup until it crumpled under the pressure.

Her tone was curt: “Enough talk. What orders does the Third have? And before you leave, make sure this place is spotless!”

The ANBU hesitated. “Jonin Yufu Kato, the Third Hokage is waiting in the Hokage’s office. You are to report there immediately upon receiving this order.”

Having delivered the message, the ANBU did not immediately vanish, but instead fixed his gaze upon Yufu Kato, silently pleading for help.

Yufu Kato returned a look of sympathy, subtly gesturing toward Tsunade’s crushed cup as a warning of what awaited those who disobeyed.

“Understood. I’ll head out now. Tsunade, I’ll be back after meeting with the Third.”

Before the words had fully faded, he had already vanished from the office.

...

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