Chapter 154 (Patreon)

After receiving Yujiro’s permission, Tsunade opened the door and walked straight into his room.

“Who are you?”

Her eyes settled on the woman standing before him, and her expression immediately grew dangerous.

“Lady Tsunade, I’m the attendant Lord Raikage sent to look after the three of you,” Samui replied.

“I see.” Tsunade nodded, then took a closer look at her. “Why is your face so red?”

As she spoke, she found herself comparing their appearances.

The woman before her also had blonde hair, and her figure... was quite similar to Tsunade’s before Yujiro had enhanced her body.

Unfortunately for Samui, those enhancements had left Tsunade looking even better than before.

“I was preparing the hot water,” Samui answered softly, lowering her head.

“Lord Yujiro wants to take a bath, so...”

She left the rest unsaid.

Tsunade understood immediately and glanced at Yujiro in surprise.

Since when had he become so forward?

Was that a good thing or a bad thing?

No. She knew nothing about this woman. She couldn’t simply leave them alone.

Tsunade shook off the thought and smiled.

“In that case, could you prepare a bath for us in the room next door?”

“Of course, Lady Tsunade!”

Samui had been preparing herself to accept whatever happened tonight.

Tsunade’s request felt like an unexpected reprieve. She quickly left the room before Yujiro could say anything else.

Yujiro sighed.

Tsunade had done it again.

“What are you sighing for? Because I interrupted you?”

Tsunade covered her mouth and chuckled.

“Besides, even if she’s gone, you still have your maid, Konan.”

“Is that all you ever think about?” Yujiro asked, giving her an exasperated look.

Tsunade blinked.

“What did I do?”

“That woman was sent here to gather information for the Raikage.”

Yujiro rubbed his brow.

Why did Tsunade suddenly seem incapable of thinking these things through?

For a moment, he genuinely wondered how she had managed to become the Fifth Hokage in the original story.

“What? But she said she was an attendant...”

Tsunade stopped halfway through her sentence as realization finally dawned.

“Now you understand?”

Yujiro reached out and flicked her forehead.

“Ow!”

Tsunade held the spot and looked at him indignantly.

“How was I supposed to know?”

“All right. Go back and get some rest.”

With that, Yujiro headed into the bathroom.

Tsunade stamped her foot before leaving his room.

“Have the effects of the genetic enhancement already started showing?” Yujiro murmured.

Her behavior had become much closer to that of a woman in her twenties. Apparently, the enhancement didn’t merely rejuvenate the body. It also restored some of the mind’s youthful vitality.

Tsunade was already showing signs of that change.

“Young at heart, too.”

Yujiro grinned.

Over the following week, he made no further attempts to put Samui in a difficult position. Instead, he spent each day exploring Kumogakure with Tsunade and Konan.

Both women had received his genetic enhancements, and both were gradually regaining a more youthful outlook.

That didn’t mean they were losing their experience or becoming weaker.

It simply meant recovering the curiosity and enthusiasm that time tended to wear away.

Might Guy was a good example. No matter how old he grew, his passion for youth never seemed to fade.

Then there was Jiraiya and his tireless enthusiasm for gathering “research material.”

Some things probably wouldn’t change for as long as those two lived.

A week later, Yujiro stood in the Raikage’s office.

Across the desk, A watched him with barely concealed apprehension.

“We’ve just received word from Genbu. It may take another two weeks to reach us. There’s a powerful underwater current obstructing its route, and it can’t move forward at the moment.”

When A had first received the report, he had immediately burst into a string of curses.

Another two weeks?

That meant he would have to keep hosting this terrifying man for another two weeks!

“Have them hurry as much as they can,” Yujiro said, his voice low.

Recently, he had felt his inner demon becoming increasingly restless.

If this continued, even he might struggle to keep it suppressed.

He wasn’t afraid of confronting it, but his chances of success would be higher at the Falls of Truth.

The waterfall could provide an additional safeguard.

Furthermore, even if his inner demon broke free, confronting it on Genbu would keep Kumogakure’s innocent residents out of danger.

Yujiro killed when he considered it necessary, but he did not kill innocent people.

That was a line he would not cross.

Overcoming his inner demon was a test of his own strength. If he failed, that was his fate to bear.

Other people had no reason to suffer for it.

Yujiro understood that much perfectly well.

That night, a terrifying pressure suddenly descended over Kumogakure.

Shinobi and civilians alike jolted awake.

The oppressive presence was so overwhelming that A mobilized the village’s entire fighting force in the middle of the night, preparing to confront whatever had caused it.

Only during the latter half of the night did the pressure gradually begin to fade.

Inside his hotel room, Yujiro sat enveloped in a black haze of energy.

His clothes were already soaked with sweat.

Tsunade and Konan stood beside him, their faces tense with worry.

The moment that dreadful presence appeared, the two women in the neighboring room had sensed it.

They had rushed over, only to find black mist drifting around Yujiro’s body.

The aura that made them tremble from head to toe was coming from him.

There was no obvious trace of pain on his face, but neither woman was fooled.

He was enduring something far beyond what an ordinary person could bear.

“Whew...”

Yujiro slowly exhaled and opened his eyes.

“I’m all right.”

Seeing the worry on their faces, he offered them a reassuring smile.

“You... Why are you still putting on a brave face at a time like this?”

Tsunade clenched her teeth, her voice catching as she struggled to hold back her tears.

Konan’s eyes were wet as well.

She finally understood why the man before her was so powerful.

To gain that strength, he had endured far more pain than she or the others ever had.

Their concern stirred something warm in Yujiro’s chest.

“Don’t worry. I’ve suppressed the inner demon.”

He smiled again.

“Inner demon?”

Tsunade and Konan exchanged a confused glance. Neither had heard him use that term before.

“Everyone has darkness within them,” Yujiro explained as he stood. “The difference is how strong it is.”

“The method I use to grow stronger is extremely powerful. The inner demon that develops alongside it is just as dangerous.”

“That’s why I came here to find the Falls of Truth. I need to defeat it. If I can’t, I’ll die.”

“What?!”

The moment they heard those last words, both women went pale.

“Yujiro, I don’t want you to die!”

Konan and Tsunade rushed forward together, throwing their arms around him and holding him tightly.

Yujiro’s smile stiffened.

Had he explained that badly?

He had been trying to reassure them. How had he managed to make them even more upset?

All he had done was give them a brief explanation.

Yujiro could only sigh inwardly.

Perhaps drawing people to him really did come naturally.