Chapter 248: 248.After the Fight

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Tsunade was so furious that she almost pinned Shizune down on the desk and spanked her to vent her anger.

Just as Kazuki was about to praise Shizune, the mischievous girl—who had clearly learned how to stir trouble—added fuel to the fire.

“After all, Kazuki has already had a taste, Hokage-sama. Did you forget?”

Tsunade: “…..”

Kazuki: “…..”

That night, Shizune was left alone in the Hokage’s office, pitifully ignored by everyone.

Meanwhile, Tsunade—who had been seething with rage not long ago, ready to kill Kazuki—now walked arm-in-arm with him to a barbecue restaurant for a private feast.

The poor little secretary had become the target of a joint bullying campaign by the Hokage and her advisor. Her hopes for a barbecue feast vanished into thin air.

—

“Please deliver this to the Hokage’s office and give it to Shizune.”

At the barbecue restaurant, Kazuki packed some freshly grilled meat into a takeout box and asked the staff to deliver it to the Hokage’s office building so Shizune could satisfy her cravings and fill her stomach.

“You’ve got some conscience left, brat. Shizune hasn’t been thinking about you for nothing.”

Tsunade, her face flushed from drinking, gave Kazuki an approving look.

Kazuki ignored her and placed the freshly served meat onto the grill.

Tsunade was too busy drinking and eating to bother with cooking. Expecting her to grill the meat was nothing short of a fantasy.

—

“Do you think the Five Great Shinobi Villages can eliminate the Akatsuki this time?”

Between bites of barbecue, Tsunade couldn’t help but voice her doubts.

“Unlikely.”

Kazuki set down his chopsticks, wiped his mouth, took a sip of juice, and shook his head firmly.

“The Akatsuki isn’t as simple as they appear on the surface. If it were just Amegakure and a few rogue ninjas, they wouldn’t be much of a threat—just a handful of S-rank criminals who can’t cause real chaos. The true terror of this organization lies in its leader.”

If given enough preparation time, Nagato’s Six Paths of Pain could single-handedly overthrow an entire shinobi village.

And this time, the Five Great Villages were joining forces against the Akatsuki.

But none of them would commit their full forces. The outcome? Even Kazuki couldn’t predict it with certainty.

One thing was clear. it wouldn’t be an easy victory.

Fortunately, Konoha was only playing a supporting role. The main forces were Kumogakure and Iwagakure.

No matter how many casualties those two villages suffered, Kazuki wouldn’t lose sleep over it.

“The power of the Sage’s eyes is far beyond what we can imagine. Luckily, Konoha is just there for show this time. If things go south, we can retreat.”

“You really think the Akatsuki can stand against the Five Great Villages?” Tsunade found that hard to believe.

But how many of Kazuki’s words had ever been false?

She had no choice but to take him seriously.

“You’ll see when the time comes. I think you’ll be glad the village didn’t get too involved. The other villages might end up suffering heavy losses. By the way, are you going to participate in this joint operation?”

“No.”

After a moment of consideration, Tsunade shook her head decisively.

“I’ll stay in the village. External affairs are your responsibility—that’s the division of labor we agreed on, right? There’s too much going on in the village right now. I don’t have the energy to focus on outside matters.”

The Hokage was always busy. Every generation of Hokage had been the same.

Just look at the Third Hokage and Naruto—so swamped with work that they barely had time to go home for meals or spend time with their wives.

Tsunade was no exception. But after delegating external affairs to Kazuki, her workload had lightened considerably.

Though the Third Hokage wasn’t entirely pleased with this arrangement, Tsunade wasn’t someone he could easily influence.

After failing to persuade her, he simply pretended not to know and quietly retired to his peaceful life.

“Men handle the outside, women manage the inside?”

Kazuki couldn’t help but laugh.

“Such a serious matter, yet the way you say it makes it sound like a married couple dividing chores.”

“…..”

You’re asking for another beating, aren’t you?

The veins on Tsunade’s forehead bulged once again.

“Listen here, brat. I’ll give you one chance. If you dare admit it, I’ll dare to follow through! You keep provoking me, mocking my age—do you really think I’m made of iron?”

“You’re serious?”

Tsunade was drunk.

The moment those words left her mouth, Kazuki knew she was far gone.

A glance at the empty liquor bottles on the table confirmed it—she was completely wasted.

Otherwise, the normally composed Tsunade would never have issued such a bold challenge.

—

“Let’s go!”

Without a care for whether the bottle would shatter, Tsunade tossed it aside, hooked an arm around Kazuki’s neck, and dragged him out.

“Hokage-sama, Advisor-sama…”

As soon as they stepped out of the private room, they ran into a staff member of the barbecue restaurant. The employee, utterly unfazed, smiled politely and asked.

“Will that be…?”

“Put it on my tab. The Hokage is drunk.”

“Understood. Please take care.”

Kazuki was a regular at the restaurant, and tab payments were nothing unusual. The establishment never worried about him skipping the bill.

—

“You’re really going through with this?”

Back at home, Kazuki tried to get Tsunade to release him.

But the woman dragged him straight toward the bedroom with terrifying strength—no amount of resistance could break her grip.

A woman who trains in superhuman strength is terrifying.

This kind of raw power wasn’t something an ordinary person could withstand.

“Stop talking and hurry up.”

With a forceful yank, Tsunade pulled Kazuki into the bedroom and kicked the door shut behind them.

“???”

—

The next day, Tsunade arrived at the Hokage’s office with heavy dark circles under her eyes.

Shizune, ever attentive, brought her a cup of hot tea.

“Hokage-sama, did you not sleep well last night? Did you drink too much again? Here, have some tea.”

“Sleep? What sleep?”

She had gotten into a fight with Uchiha Kazuki—one that lasted far too long.

By the time they finally stopped, dawn was already breaking.

As a responsible Hokage, Tsunade had no choice but to drag her exhausted body to work.

After taking a sip of tea and feeling slightly better, she muttered under her breath.

“Hokage-sama, what did you say?”

Noticing Tsunade’s lips move, Shizune tilted her head in confusion.

Tsunade blinked, then shook her head.

“Nothing. Just saying I taught that brat Kazuki a lesson last night. Finally put him in his place.”

“…..”

The innocent and clueless Shizune giggled.

“I hope you didn’t destroy the house while fighting.”

“…..”

What Shizune didn’t understand was that, in the following days, Kazuki and Tsunade seemed to argue far less frequently.

Kazuki stopped provoking Tsunade, and Tsunade’s temper mellowed significantly.

Could fighting actually help stabilize emotions?

Shizune’s little brain couldn’t quite wrap around the logic.

—

Kumogakure acted swiftly. After securing the funds, they immediately turned their efforts toward persuading the other villages.

While the others hesitated, they used Konoha’s agreement as leverage.

If even Konoha and Kumo are willing to move against the Akatsuki, what’s stopping the rest of you?

After internal discussions, the other villages eventually accepted Kumogakure’s proposal.

Thus, the joint operation of the Five Great Shinobi Villages was finalized.

A joint operation of this scale necessitated a Five Kage Summit.

Tsunade had no desire to attend.

But while she could delegate most matters to Kazuki, skipping the summit would invite criticism.

So she decided to attend alongside Kazuki.

Once the summit concluded, she would return to the village, leaving the rest to him.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep