Chapter 137 (Patreon)

The Akatsuki in the Land of Rain had begun preparing for a full-scale invasion of Konoha.

In response, Konoha had recently strengthened its defenses considerably.

Every shinobi in the village was waiting for the mysterious organization to make its move. Although no one openly admitted it, a sense of unease hung over them all.

There was, however, one person who showed no sign of concern.

Cheerful laughter drifted from the courtyard of Yujiro’s home.

“Hehe! This is so much fun!”

“The only problem is that I start feeling dizzy after a while. It’s a little scary too!”

“It really is fun! Yujiro-sama, you’re amazing!”

Inside the courtyard, three girls dressed in maid uniforms were floating through the air.

If an ordinary person had witnessed the scene, they likely would have fled in terror.

Yujiro lounged comfortably in a rocking chair. Izumi Uchiha sat quietly to his left, while Yūgao Uzuki lay on his right, fast asleep with her head resting on his lap.

As he watched the three maids drifting up and down, a faint smile appeared on his lips.

Yujiro was using the opportunity to practice controlling gravity. He had reduced the gravity within the courtyard to one-twentieth of its normal strength.

As a result, even a small jump was enough to send someone floating through the air for quite some time.

At that moment, Tsunade returned from the Hokage’s office and pushed open the courtyard gate.

She stopped upon entering, staring curiously at the maids floating before her.

“What’s going on here? That actually looks fun.”

Without waiting for an answer, Tsunade hurried into the center of the courtyard and lightly pushed off the ground with her toes.

Her entire body immediately floated into the air.

She slowly descended again—headfirst.

Watching her, Yujiro could only shake his head.

Did she have no idea how much strength she possessed?

After playing around for a while, Tsunade stomped over to Yujiro in a huff and dropped into another chair.

“Why did they stay in the air longer than I did? And why did I come down headfirst?”

She turned and narrowed her eyes at Yujiro.

“Tell me. Were you messing with me?”

“Don’t blame me. I didn’t do anything,” Yujiro replied, raising an eyebrow.

“Yujiro, we want to try too,” Yūgao whispered beside his ear after waking up.

“All right.”

Yujiro smiled and raised his right hand, curling his fingers toward the three maids in the air.

An invisible gravitational force immediately pulled all three of them toward him.

Izumi and Yūgao eagerly ran into the area of weakened gravity and began playing together.

Mei Terumī, Pakura, and Yugito Nii landed lightly beside Yujiro. Without needing to be told, Mei began massaging his shoulders, Pakura knelt beside him and kneaded his legs, while Yugito peeled grapes and fed them to him.

“You certainly know how to enjoy yourself,” Tsunade remarked, rolling her eyes.

“They’re merely fulfilling their duties,” Yujiro replied with a perfectly serious expression.

“Yes, of course they are.”

Tsunade curled her lips before continuing.

“Enough about that. Minato told me that all the defensive assignments around Konoha have been arranged.”

She leaned back in her chair.

“Now, all we have to do is wait for the Akatsuki to come to us.”

After a brief pause, she looked at Yujiro again.

“Yujiro... are you really certain about this?”

Yujiro smiled faintly and glanced at Yugito, who was peeling another grape for him.

“They want to take such a capable and obedient maid away from me?”

His smile widened slightly.

“They should have asked whether I would allow it first.”

Yugito’s face immediately turned crimson. Although she lowered her head, her heart was filled with warmth.

Yujiro accepted the grape she brought to his lips and slowly chewed it.

“What belongs to me will remain mine. Anyone who thinks they can simply take it away is making a fool of themselves.”

Tsunade gazed at Yujiro’s calm expression, and the lingering unease in her heart completely disappeared.

That was right.

He was Yujiro.

Besides, Konoha’s own fighting strength was hardly weak.

Finally reassured, Tsunade relaxed and lazily leaned back in her rocking chair.

Yujiro tilted his head toward her and grinned.

“Don’t you need to be at the hospital, old lady?”

“Go to hell, brat!”

A vein bulged on Tsunade’s forehead.

“Who are you calling an old lady?! You should be calling me big sister!”

“Fine, Granny Tsunade.”

Tsunade knew there was no winning an argument with Yujiro, so she merely snorted and turned away from him.

“If you aren’t going to work at the hospital, I suppose I’ll have to report it,” Yujiro said with a soft sigh.

“When the time comes, I’ll tell Minato-sensei that Granny Tsunade has been neglecting her duties and lazing around at home.”

He paused briefly before adding:

“If that happens, there won’t be any reason to continue paying your salary.”

“Yujiro!”

Tsunade’s eyes snapped open as she shouted angrily:

“Shizune and Haku are both at the hospital! We already have more than enough people there!”

“Besides, both of them are excellent medical-nin!”

At that moment, Tsunade suddenly remembered something that had happened long ago.

Yujiro had once approached her and asked to learn medical ninjutsu.

She had only demonstrated everything to him once, yet he had mastered it all immediately.

Even now, the memory remained painfully clear in her mind.

“Monster,” Tsunade muttered under her breath.

Yujiro merely grinned before releasing the weakened-gravity field surrounding the courtyard.

He then rose from the rocking chair.

He had somewhere to be today and couldn’t spend the entire day relaxing.

Yesterday, Yujiro had promised Kurenai Yūhi that he would evaluate Team 8.

These days, Yujiro had very little to do. During the day, he usually trained with Naruto and Sasuke. In the evenings, he guided Yūgao and Izumi through their training.

All things considered, his life had been rather peaceful.

After saying a few words to the girls, Yujiro left the courtyard.

Mei, Pakura, and Yugito obediently headed into the kitchen to prepare the meal.

The moment Yujiro was gone, Tsunade quickly pulled Izumi and Yūgao over to her side.

“What’s wrong?” Izumi asked.

Neither she nor Yūgao understood what Tsunade was trying to do.

Tsunade glanced around cautiously before a conspiratorial smile spread across her face.

“Hehehe... so, how are things progressing between you two and Yujiro?”

“What progress?”

Izumi and Yūgao stared at her blankly.

“The matter I discussed with you before!”

Tsunade pursed her lips and chuckled.

The moment Izumi and Yūgao saw her expression, they immediately understood what she meant.

“Hehehe... the important task of restoring the Senju Clan rests on the shoulders of you two!”

Tsunade looked between Izumi and Yūgao, becoming increasingly satisfied the longer she studied them.

“Wait... something about that doesn’t sound right,” Yūgao said, her cheeks turning faintly red.

“Izumi and I aren’t members of the Senju Clan. How are we supposed to restore it?”

“Exactly.”

Izumi nodded with an extremely serious expression.

“I’m from the Uchiha Clan.”

“And Yūgao-nee is from the Uzuki Clan. Neither of us has anything to do with the Senju Clan.”

After saying that, both girls turned their attention toward Tsunade.

“But you’re a member of the Senju Clan, Tsunade-nee, aren’t you?”

“After all, you were once known as the princess of the Senju Clan.”

“Your Senju bloodline is also far purer than anyone else’s here.”

The two girls exchanged glances before reaching their conclusion.

“Therefore, we believe Tsunade-nee should also take part in the plan to restore the Senju Clan.”

“Eh?!”

Tsunade stared at them in astonishment.

She slowly raised a finger and pointed at herself.

“You mean... you want me to take part personally?”

“Well...”

Izumi and Yūgao looked at each other, their voices becoming barely louder than a whisper.

“You would just have to... do the same thing as us...”

“Whaaat?!”