The moment she heard Tsunade's voice, Yugito quickly hid the gentle look she'd had while tending to Shiki. She rolled her eyes at Tsunade as the blonde walked in.
"You're really that free, Hokage-sama? Don't you have anything better to do?"
Tsunade's eyebrow twitched as she glared at Yugito. Just hearing that tone made her irritation spike.
Like I'd just leave and let you make a move on my man while I'm away. Keep dreaming.
"I'm here on serious business," Tsunade shot back flatly. "Not everyone spends all day lazing around like you."
Yugito clicked her tongue, meeting Tsunade's stare with one of her own. Tsunade was annoyed with Yugito, and Yugito was equally fed up with Tsunade. For comments like that, Yugito only shrugged, clearly not wanting to argue.
At that moment, Tsunade turned her attention to Shiki.
"Let's go. Nara Shikaku and the others are back."
"Mm."
It really did sound like something important.
Shiki simply nodded, said nothing more, and followed Tsunade out.
Yugito was unhappy about it, of course, but when it came to actual business, she still wouldn't get in the way.
"Tch. Acting all high and mighty…"
She rolled her eyes again when she caught Tsunade raising an eyebrow at her before leaving.
It's just the Hokage's chair. What's with that attitude…
Of course, she said that, but in Yugito's heart, she was honestly envious that Tsunade had become Hokage. That was the leader of a village. In the ninja world, most people didn't think like Shiki, who treated the position of Kage as no big deal.
In the blink of an eye, Yugito's gaze shifted to Kurenai, who was cleaning up the yard. With Shiki gone, the barbecue grill and everything else naturally had to be put away.
"Kurenai!"
As if suddenly remembering something, Yugito called out.
"What is it?"
Kurenai, who was packing things up, turned her head, looking at Yugito in confusion—only to see Yugito smiling at her, eyes fixed on her face.
For some reason, just seeing that look made Kurenai's heart skip uneasily.
"Let's team up," Yugito said bluntly.
Yugito wasn't the type to beat around the bush or hide her intentions, so she stated her purpose directly.
"Uh…"
Kurenai really hadn't expected that. So that's what Yugito wanted from her?
A little speechless, Kurenai rolled her eyes and answered:
"No thanks."
"Why not?" Yugito frowned. "If it's two against one, we'll definitely have a better chance of beating Tsunade."
Unlike Yugito, Kurenai was far more reserved.
She took a breath and asked quietly:
"Do you know why Shiki-nii is usually the kindest to me?"
"Eh?"
Yugito was stunned for a moment and thought back.
Now that she mentioned it… it was true. The one Shiki spoiled the most was Kurenai. Even Tsunade lost to her sometimes.
"I have no idea," Yugito admitted, shaking her head honestly. Then she looked at Kurenai with expectant eyes.
Is there some secret I don't know about?
Kurenai didn't hide anything and answered directly.
"It's because I don't fight over anything. That's why Shiki-nii dotes on me the most."
Kurenai, stupid? As if.
This girl was very shrewd. She knew Shiki disliked pointless fighting and drama, so Yūhi Kurenai would never participate in the tug-of-war between Tsunade and Yugito.
"Ah…"
Yugito hadn't expected that to be the reason at all. For a moment, she was completely at a loss.
"But…"
Yugito hesitated. Even if that method worked for Kurenai, it was useless for her.
She and Kurenai were completely different types of people.
To not fight at all and just sit back while Shiki and Tsunade were together?
Forget it.
Rather than doing that, Yugito would rather clash head-on with Tsunade.
"Then just leave it," Kurenai said with a small shrug.
She didn't say anything more. Once she finished tidying up, she turned and left. After all, Kurenai was a jōnin now—she still had missions to take.
"So annoying…"
Left alone, Yugito could only stew in her own frustration in the quiet yard.
--
On the other side, when he arrived at the Hokage's office, Shiki saw Nara Shikaku, Yamanaka Inoichi, and Akimichi Chōza already waiting.
"Lord Shiki."
Although Shikaku and the others now held the status of Konoha elders, they still stood respectfully in front of Shiki. That attitude was exactly why he valued the Ino–Shika–Chō trio so highly—they understood their position and never forgot how to read the situation.
Shiki could raise them up and give their clans glory… and if he wished, he could just as easily take it all back. Even if the three great clans of Ino–Shika–Chō joined forces, Shiki could erase them from the ninja world without much effort.
This was the kind of status that absolute strength brought.
"Mm."
Seeing the three of them again, Shiki nodded in satisfaction.
"Not bad. It hasn't even been that many days, and you've already finished negotiations with the other villages."
There hadn't been much time since Nara Shikaku and the others had left the village, yet the talks with Sunagakure, Iwagakure, and Kirigakure were already done.
In terms of efficiency, it was miles better than those two old fossils, Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura.
"Lord Shiki and Tsunade-sama should take a look at this first."
Delighted by Shiki's praise, Shikaku respectfully took out a scroll and handed it to Shiki and Tsunade.
It contained the full list of war reparations Konoha had secured this time.
"Mm."
Not thinking too much of it at first, Shiki unrolled the scroll casually. He hadn't expected much—but after he read through it, his eyebrows rose in surprise.
At his side, Tsunade was just as taken aback.
"There's this much?"
The amount of compensation was honestly ridiculous.
Before becoming Hokage, she had never paid much attention to that side of things. But now that she wore the hat, Tsunade had started to calculate Konoha's finances carefully.
The total value of the reparations extracted from the three villages… even if Konoha didn't take a single mission for the next three years, they'd be just fine.
"Good work, Shikaku. Inoichi, Chōza—you two did great as well."
Tsunade didn't hold back on the praise. Inoichi and Chōza both gave modest smiles.
"Truthfully, Shikaku did most of the talking," Inoichi said. "We just followed his lead."
That was simply the reality. Among the three clans of Ino–Shika–Chō, the Nara clan had the highest intellect and were most suited for handling things like this.
"That's already more than enough," Tsunade said, clearly pleased, clutching the scroll like it was a treasure. The supplies listed there would probably arrive in Konoha before long.
"In truth, the key factor in how smoothly things progressed… was Lord Shiki," Shikaku admitted, carefully pushing the credit away from himself.
He glanced respectfully at Shiki as he spoke.
Shiki, understanding what Shikaku meant, only gave a faint smile and didn't comment.
Tsunade, however, looked puzzled.
"What do you mean? Didn't Shiki go along to negotiate?"
"There was no need for Lord Shiki to be there at all," Shikaku explained. "Once they heard about what our Lord Shiki did in the Third Great Ninja War, none of them dared to say much of anything."
The true reason the war reparations negotiations had gone so smoothly…
Was almost entirely due to Shiki's overwhelming performance in the Third Ninja World War.
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