"It's so big here, it's almost as big as an adult's."
"Wait!"
Kurenai Yuhi followed up by gesturing in front of her chest: "You're saying it's fat here!"
"Then what about here?" She gestured toward her waist.
"Here?"
Akado Hanahana suddenly stopped crying and looked at Kurenai Yuhi's waist: "As for here, it's about the same as yours, Kurenai."
She then shifted her gaze upward: "Speaking of which, you're quite fat here too, Kurenai."
"That's true." Kurenai Yuhi unconsciously puffed out her chest.
The last time they chatted, Hyuga Aokawa said she had the potential to become the second-greatest beauty in Konoha.
Although she didn't know exactly what he meant, being the second-ranked beauty surely meant she was very pretty.
Akado Hanahana reached out to try and feel for herself, but Kurenai Yuhi slapped her hand away.
She then asked, "So, if he was eating with a 'fat girl,' how did he bully you into crying too?"
At the mention of this, Akado Hanahana cried even harder.
She told Kurenai Yuhi everything that had happened today in detail.
"It's all your fault for not letting me go. Now he's been monopolized by another fat girl. You have to take me out for a meal to make up for it," Akado Hanahana complained.
"I can't. I have to go with my dad to turn in a mission in a bit."
Kurenai Yuhi gestured toward Shinku Yuhi, who was coming out of a Ninja Tools shop not far away.
"Let's make it another time."
Leaving those words behind, Yūhi Shinku ran toward Shinku Yuhi.
Hokage Office.
"Noisy again. Why can't these people just behave?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi irritably threw the documents directly onto the desk and rubbed his aching brow.
He picked up his pipe, took a puff, and exhaled comfortably.
He increasingly felt that listening to Danzo's suggestion back then—to hand over public security management to the Uchiha—was a mistake.
Those guys were single-minded, only cared about the letter of the law, and would arrest people at the slightest provocation.
The other major clans would constantly complain to him, requiring him to mediate every single time.
Today was no different; Utatane Koharu's nephew had been taken away by the Police Force for causing a drunken disturbance.
Normally, paying a fine would have settled the matter, but he felt he had lost Face and insisted on bringing the trouble here.
As the Hokage, how could he openly undermine justice?
Knock! Knock knock!
A knock sounded at the door.
"Come in."
The door opened to reveal Shinku Yuhi.
"Ah, Shinku!"
A smile appeared on Hiruzen Sarutobi's Face.
"Hokage-sama, I'm here to report the completion of the mission."
Shinku Yuhi handed over a scroll with both hands.
Hiruzen Sarutobi took the scroll and only then noticed a small Yūhi Shinku standing behind Shinku Yuhi.
He smiled and extinguished his pipe: "This is Kurenai, right? She's growing more beautiful by the day."
"Not at all, Hokage-sama flatters her," Shinku Yuhi said humbly.
However, hearing his precious daughter being praised, he couldn't help but look a bit proud.
After a few pleasantries, Hiruzen Sarutobi got down to business.
"How did Uchiha Tetsubi perform this time?"
"His combat strength is very well-rounded, and he took great care of Kurenai during their coordination in the mission."
"However..." Shinku Yuhi's tone shifted, "his words are still somewhat extreme, and he has many grievances."
Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded: "That is the characteristic of the Uchiha; the more emotional they are, the more powerful they become."
"Guide him more. Try to make him step out of the clan's narrow perspective and set his sights higher."
"Yes," Shinku Yuhi agreed, then asked, "Hokage-sama, is there another mission suitable for Kurenai's training?"
"I've already prepared one."
Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled, took out a scroll from the side, and handed it to Shinku Yuhi.
Hearing that the Hokage had already prepared a mission for him, Shinku Yuhi was overwhelmed by the favor.
He quickly took it with both hands: "This... this is too much trouble for Hokage-sama."
Hiruzen Sarutobi waved his hand: "The Land of Wind's recent actions have been unpredictable and suspicious. Go there and investigate."
"Investigate the Land of Wind?" Shinku Yuhi was startled.
"Hokage-sama, Kurenai is still just a Genin."
"Don't worry," Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled, signaling Shinku Yuhi to stay calm.
"It's just to check their livelihood and environment at the border. I want to look at things from multiple perspectives."
Hearing it was just an investigation into the people's livelihood, Shinku Yuhi felt relieved.
"By the way, your team is still short one person. I'll assign one to you."
"That's naturally no problem," Shinku Yuhi agreed readily. He took the documents handed over by Hiruzen Sarutobi and glanced at them:
"Hyuga Aokawa?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded with a smile: "I almost forgot, you were the one who rescued him and took him to the Hospital last time."
"This..." Shinku Yuhi felt a bit conflicted.
That kid at the Hospital last time had managed to make Kurenai beam with just a few words.
The two of them had chattered away for a long time, ignoring even him, her old father.
If they went on a mission together, with so much time spent together on the road...
Kurenai would be completely charmed by him.
He didn't really want Hyuga Aokawa to join the team.
But he really didn't know how to bring it up.
"What's wrong? Is there some difficulty?" Hiruzen Sarutobi asked curiously.
"Hokage-sama," Shinku Yuhi hesitated for a long time, "I... I just remembered, Kurenai was complaining about being tired all the way here, so I thought I'd let her rest before taking another mission."
Just as Hiruzen Sarutobi was about to speak, a youthful voice from beside him beat him to it.
"Dad, I'm not tired. I can carry out the mission."
Yūhi Shinku blinked her large eyes and looked at Shinku Yuhi with an innocent Face.
Shinku Yuhi slapped his forehead.
It's over!
His little girl was already siding with the outsider.
He suddenly felt a pang in his heart.
It felt as if something was starting to drift away from him.
Seeing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi also laughed: "Hyuga Aokawa is only joining your team temporarily for this mission. After it's done, I'll transfer him to another squad."
Seeing that the Hokage had put it that way, Shinku Yuhi had no choice but to agree gloomily.
On the way back, Yūhi Shinku was much more active, like a happy butterfly, looking here and there.
In contrast was the long-faced Shinku Yuhi behind her.
To be fair, based on his two observations of Hyuga Aokawa at the Hospital...
Hyuga Aokawa's performance had been excellent.
But his daughter's complete lack of defenses really worried him.
He could only hope she wouldn't fall for him too quickly.
"Dad, I'm going to tell Aokawa the news."
When they passed a fork in the road, Kurenai Yuhi spoke up.
"Wait, I..."
Before Shinku Yuhi could finish, she had already happily run off toward the side road.
Watching Yūhi Shinku disappear in a flash, Shinku Yuhi sighed helplessly... Root.
Underground laboratory.
Danzo Shimura held a test tube and handed it to Orochimaru.
Orochimaru looked at the few strands of hair in the test tube, a glint flashing in his eyes.
He stuck out his tongue and licked his lips, his tone carrying some anticipation: "Whose Kekkei Genkai is this now?"
"Hyuga Aokawa's."
"Hyuga, huh..."
Orochimaru suddenly felt a bit disinterested, and the light in his eyes dimmed.
He casually placed the test tube into a rack on the table: "I've researched the Hyuga Clan enough. There's nothing new there."
Danzo Shimura said calmly, "Hyuga Aokawa has awakened a new Kekkei Genkai. He can condense a Chakra Bow with a range of 600 meters."