Minato explained to Kushina that he was busy with Village missions. He was no longer just an ordinary blonde Jonin, but a candidate for Hokage, so he wasn't as free as before.
Kushina forgave Minato after hearing this, but then asked in confusion, "Minato, didn't you kill that guy Ryou with your own hands? Why could he be resurrected?"
Minato explained, "I'm afraid Uchiha Madara was at the scene back then. He cast a genjutsu on me and Jiraiya-sensei, making us mistakenly believe that Ryou had self-destructed."
"It's also my fault. If I had stabbed him in the head back then, it would have been fine."
Kushina clenched her fist like a hissing kitten: "Next time, you must definitely stab him in the head."
Minato nodded, then suddenly froze.
Kurenai smiled softly: "Kushina-senpai, Ryou-senpai has already self-destructed; Hokage-sama has already confirmed it."
Kushina was somewhat disappointed: "What a pity, what a pity. A guy like that should have been captured so I could interrogate him personally."
Kushina then stopped caring about Ryou and began to worry about Tsunade: "Minato, Tsunade-nee was captured by Uchiha Madara. What should we do now?"
Minato was a bit surprised: "You already know?"
Given the isolation of Kushina as the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, no one should have told her news about Madara. This was partly to prevent the Jinchuriki from becoming emotionally agitated.
Once a Jinchuriki loses emotional control, the seal of the Tailed Beast inside their body will loosen.
On the other hand, Madara had once controlled the Nine-Tails, so they tried to avoid letting Kushina and the Nine-Tails know about him as much as possible.
Who told Kushina?
Minato then saw Asuma, who was trying to bolt out the door nearby.
"Asuma, it's you. Revealing such intelligence so casually—just wait and see how Hokage-sama deals with you!"
"Minato-senpai, I'm going to confess my sins to the old man right now."
Asuma quickly scurried away in embarrassment.
Minato shook his head. Compared to his older brother Shinnosuke, Asuma didn't look like a Ninja at all.
If an ordinary person leaked such secrets, they would have been taken to the Anbu for interrogation long ago. As the son of the Hokage, Asuma was being a bit willful.
Minato instructed the Chunin who knew the high-level secrets: "You must not spread the word about Uchiha Madara! Otherwise, it will cause panic."
Kurenai and the others nodded.
Shizune then continued the question Kushina had asked earlier: "Minato-senpai, Lady Tsunade..."
Minato said, "Don't worry, Hokage-sama has already sent a Ninja squad to rescue her."
How could they not worry? That was Madara, the ultimate killer who had beaten Orochimaru to death and left Jiraiya hanging by a thread.
Minato was only comforting Shizune and Kushina.
As Ninjas, they had to be mentally prepared when encountering such situations.
How to prepare? Prepare according to Konoha's traditional customs.
Kushina pulled Minato and said, "We don't trust anyone else. Minato, you have the Flying Thunder God, you..."
Kushina suddenly stopped. The Flying Thunder God wasn't invincible; otherwise, the Second Hokage wouldn't have died in Kumogakure.
Besides, that was Madara, a man a hundred times more terrifying than Kinkaku and Ginkaku. Kushina was a bit worried that her man would be kicked to death if he went.
It was a dilemma where both options were painful!
Minato took Kushina into his arms and comforted her: "Don't worry, Kushina. Lady Tsunade has the First Hokage's lucky necklace; I believe she will be fine."
"Hokage-sama has assigned me a particularly important mission this time. When I finish the mission and return, I'll find a way to rescue Lady Tsunade."
"Thank you, Minato!"
Kushina wasn't shy and kissed Minato directly on the cheek.
The few young Chunin nearby started cheering, and Kushina immediately hid in Minato's arms in embarrassment.
Rin was somewhat envious of the love between Minato and Kushina; their love was completely natural, a match made in heaven.
She looked at Kakashi beside her; Kakashi had always been rejecting her.
Even though the flowers she sent were pink roses representing a confession, Kakashi didn't give them a second look. Instead, he opened Ebisu's "Mirror of the Romantic World" and read it until his face turned red.
Wait, why would Kakashi read that kind of book? Kakashi, this isn't your style at all, hey!
Rin quickly took away Ebisu's erotic book.
Kakashi snapped back to his senses and sat up straight, looking like his usual cold and aloof self.
Only then did Rin become happy. This Kakashi was the one she liked, not at all the closet pervert Kakashi that Ebisu described.
Ebisu saw this, adjusted his sunglasses, and gave a rakish smile. His eyes had never misjudged a person.
Ebisu secretly pulled another book from his ninja tool pouch and quietly slipped it under the covers to Kakashi.
You couldn't give it to a closet pervert like him in front of everyone; you had to do it secretly.
Kakashi put it away without a word.
Kakashi couldn't get into Jiraiya's "The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi," but "Mirror of the Romantic World" opened the door to a different world for him.
He hadn't yet moved on from Obito's sacrifice and needed a distraction.
"Mirror of the Romantic World" filled that void perfectly.
No one expected that Ebisu's erotic book would cause the closet pervert Kakashi to go online ahead of schedule.
According to the original story, Kakashi was supposed to wait until he was 18 and received "Make-Out Paradise" from Jiraiya before falling into being a closet pervert.
By that time, Kakashi would have experienced three betrayals: Obito's death, Rin being killed by his own hand, and Minato and Kushina sacrificing themselves during the Nine-Tails' Attack on the Village.
Kakashi could have committed seppuku like his father at any time.
Jiraiya, fearing Kakashi would do something rash, used strong medicine to forcibly pull him out of his gray world.
Now, Ebisu was also using this method to save Kakashi.
When Kakashi went to the battlefield, he fought with a ferocity as if he were in a hurry to be reincarnated.
It could only be said that Kakashi read the right book at the right time.
Kushina then asked about Jiraiya: "Minato, is Jiraiya-sensei out of danger yet?"
Minato smiled: "Sage Fukusaku said that Jiraiya-sensei's heart has been stabilized thanks to the Slug Sage's treatment. He'll be able to walk after another two weeks of rest."
Hearing this, everyone became happy.
The pressure from Madara was truly too great; Orochimaru was dead, and Tsunade was captured.
If something happened to Jiraiya, Konoha would only have Minato and the Third Hokage to carry the burden.
Although Jiraiya was usually informal, everyone trusted him at critical moments. He was a person all Ninjas were willing to trust with their backs.
Orochimaru was somewhat gloomy; some children would cry from fear upon seeing him.
As for Tsunade, people were more interested in... watching her back.
Minato spoke words to boost morale: "Rest assured, everything will get better. Uchiha Madara is just one person; he cannot defeat the entire Ninja world."
One person cannot fight the whole world; that is a law of history.
Then Minato looked at Kakashi: "Kakashi, are your injuries healed?"
Seeing Minato ask this, it meant it was time for Minato's Squad to perform a mission. Kakashi immediately jumped up, fully revitalized.
"Minato-sensei, the doctor said my bandages can be removed. Don't worry!"
Kakashi patted his chest. Having been lying down for quite a while, he had long wanted to cut someone.
The others looked on with envy. Ninjas practiced their value by performing missions.
They didn't have the decadent thought of why they should risk their lives for a few thousand yen per mission.
The more important the mission and the stronger the enemy, the more they could practice their Ninja way.
Minato nodded.
Kushina was puzzled: "Minato, what mission are you going on this time? Don't let it be related to Uchiha Madara."
Minato gave an apologetic smile: "Kushina, I'm sorry."
Kushina didn't say much, she just straightened Minato's collar.
"Minato, be extra careful."
Minato nodded, then looked at Kurenai: "Kurenai, is Shinku-senpai at home?"