Chapter 223: What?
In the living room of Kushina’s home, the tea had long since grown cold.
Tsunade sat on the sofa, cupping the teacup in both hands. Her gaze was fixed on the reflection in the tea, motionless. The reflection was blurred, obscuring her specific expression, but she knew exactly how she looked right now.
Kushina sat beside her in a single armchair, resting her cheek on her hand. Looking at Tsunade’s current state, she felt nothing but helplessness.
She remembered it clearly. A month ago, when Kitahara Kaede had come looking for someone, he had looked incredibly nervous. He had simply asked if Lady Tsunade was in. The moment Kushina replied that she wasn’t, the kid had turned and left immediately.
And then there was Tsunade now. The dark circles under her eyes were deeper than any she had ever seen after a sleepless night shift.
These two had definitely fought, and things had turned ugly.
Kushina took a breath and tried to probe. "Lady Tsunade?"
Tsunade didn’t look up; she simply gave a noncommittal grunt.
"What exactly is going on between you two?"
Tsunade’s eyelashes fluttered slightly, but she remained silent.
Kushina didn’t give up. She leaned in closer, her voice softening. "Just tell me. Maybe I can help you figure something out."
Tsunade pursed her lips. She desperately wanted to vent.
But how could she even start?
’I suspect he has another woman. When I was walking through the shopping district, I saw him with my own eyes, accompanying some woman while she bought clothes. The way that woman looked at him... any woman would understand.’
But if she said those things out loud, the first person she would have to face was herself. After all, she still had no concrete evidence.
What if it really was a misunderstanding? Wouldn’t she just be making a scene for no reason?
But what if it wasn’t a misunderstanding?
Tsunade let out a long, muffled sigh. "You wouldn’t understand."
Those three words made Kushina’s lip twitch.
*Fine, fine. I don’t understand. You two are the only ones who understand, and I’m just clueless, right?*
Kushina swallowed the rest of her words. She realized that being caught in the middle of these two was purely asking for trouble. If they ended up making up, anything she said today could easily make her the villain in the eyes of both.
At that thought, Kushina sighed. "Lady Tsunade, when it comes to relationships, if there’s a problem, you have to solve it. If you don’t talk it out, that knot will stay tied forever."
Tsunade lowered her eyes. She knew the logic. She could even imagine that if someone else had come to her with this problem, she would have given them a lecture on the importance of communication and not bottling things up.
But when the situation actually happened to her, it wasn’t that simple.
Kushina looked at her stubborn expression, her lips parting several times, but she ultimately decided to stay quiet.
Forget it. She gave up.
Just then, the sound of the front door opening echoed through the house.
Hearing the noise, the vacancy in Tsunade’s eyes vanished instantly, replaced by a mask of composure.
Kushina looked at the entrance, then back at Tsunade, secretly impressed. The speed of that transformation was incredible.
Minato Namikaze walked into the living room. Kushina stepped forward to take his coat as he removed it, a look of surprise on her face.
"Minato, why are you home so early today?"
Minato gave a gentle smile. "I’ve finally finished most of the backlog of administrative work. Besides, I just finalized a critically important matter, so I decided to come home early."
As he spoke, he walked further into the room and gave Tsunade a slight nod of greeting. Tsunade nodded back.
"A critically important matter?" Kushina asked curiously as she hung up his coat and followed him. "What could possibly be so important that it takes up so much of your attention as the newly appointed Hokage?"
Minato sat down on the sofa, the smile fading slightly from his face. "The Hidden Mist Village sent a top-secret, urgent letter. They want to form an alliance with Konoha."
"The Mist?"
Kushina’s eyes widened, almost thinking she had misheard. "They’ve been completely silent until now. Why the sudden desire for an alliance?"
Minato hummed in affirmation and began to explain. "There are severe ’special problems’ within the Hidden Mist. The situation is chaotic, and they urgently need external power to help break the deadlock."
He paused, his gaze shifting toward Tsunade. "However, the conditions for this alliance are very stringent."
Tsunade’s movement to lift her hand paused slightly. She met Minato’s eyes.
*Why is he looking at me? Does this have something to do with me?*
Tsunade frowned slightly. "What are they demanding?"
Minato spoke slowly. "Kitahara Kaede."
The name landed in the living room, followed by several seconds of silence.
"The Hidden Mist specified that the diplomatic envoy must be him, and him alone."
Tsunade snapped upright. The movement was so sudden that her knee slammed into the coffee table. Tea splashed out of the cup, spilling across the tabletop.
Kushina was startled by Tsunade’s reaction. Even Minato looked a bit stunned. He knew the relationship between Tsunade and Kitahara Kaede was deep, but he hadn’t expected such a violent response.
Tsunade stared intently at Minato.
"Lady Tsunade, please don’t be agitated. Sit down first and let me explain," Minato said, quickly standing up and gesturing downward with his hands to calm her.
"How can I not be agitated!" Tsunade interrupted him sharply. "Do you know how many of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen he killed? Now the Hidden Mist is naming him specifically to go there alone—this is clearly a trap!"
"Who gave the order?" Tsunade’s gaze locked onto Minato’s face. "Was it you? Or those old fogies on the advisory board? How could they let him go alone!"
Minato gave a wry smile and waved his hands to clarify. "Neither."
"Lady Tsunade, please calm down." He didn’t pause, letting the words out in one breath. "The moment I received the letter, I went to discuss it with Kaede. I warned him face-to-face that this could be a trap. But Kaede believes this concerns the village’s strategic interests. He decided to go of his own volition."
Tsunade froze.
She didn’t hear a word of what Minato said after that. Only one sentence echoed in her mind:
*He decided to go of his own volition.*
But that was the Hidden Mist—the village of the Bloody Mist. He had killed so many of their people; they had even placed a Gold-lettered bounty on his head. Now, sending him there alone... was that a negotiation or a suicide mission?
Tsunade took a deep breath. All the cold war, the suspicion, and the anger were swept away by a far more surging emotion.
That idiot. That bastard.
He thinks he can escape by going to the Hidden Mist to die? Not a chance!
"When does he leave?" Tsunade grit her teeth.
Minato answered blankly, "Tomorrow morning—"
Before he could finish, Tsunade had already bolted toward the entrance like a whirlwind. Her figure disappeared through the open doorway, not even bothering to close it behind her.
Kushina stood frozen in place, her mouth slightly agape. She turned to look at Minato.
Minato looked back at her.
The two stared at each other in silence for several seconds before Minato finally spoke.
"Lady Tsunade is..."
He stopped himself halfway through the sentence. He silently stood up, walked to the entrance, and closed the door.
When he returned to the living room, his expression had returned to its usual gentleness. He looked at Kushina and smiled, a hint of helplessness in his voice.
"It seems Lady Tsunade really does care about Kaede."
Kushina rolled her eyes and sat down to pour herself a glass of water.
"You’re only noticing that now?"
Minato sat beside her and let out a soft chuckle.