Aoba left the Hokage Building with Uchiha Hikari.
The two of them walking down the street drew quite a few looks.
Originally, Aoba did not attract that much attention as Hokage, since he usually kept a low profile.
But now things were different. Besides being Konoha's Hokage, he was also the daimyo of the Land of Fire.
When this news was announced before, it had been heavily promoted throughout the village.
So many people looked at him with eyes full of respect and admiration, and Uchiha Hikari beside him naturally received the same treatment.
As Konoha villagers, they had heard quite a few rumors about Aoba, this young daimyo who also served as Hokage.
Of course, his reputation outside might not be very good, but inside Konoha, even if something was black, it had to be called white.
For example, under the propaganda of enemy villages like Kumogakure, Aoba was described as an extremely lecherous man, a s3x-crazed demon who liked to k!dnap female ninja from other villages and then subject them to indecent training.
But in Konoha, that naturally became the Hokage enduring humiliation and bearing heavy burdens, forming alliances far and wide, using marriage to maintain unity among the village's ninja clans, and then unifying the ninja world.
Of course, that was the real truth. Kumogakure was purely spreading rumors and slander.
And now, being able to walk alone at Aoba's side while shopping on the street, she was very likely the next daimyo's wife.
It was just that this new daimyo's wife looked a bit sloppy, didn't she?
Faced with so many strange gazes, Uchiha Hikari, who had already resigned herself and kept her head down while following Aoba all the way, instead began to feel unable to endure it.
She had never been looked at like this before.
Before being sealed away, she was basically locked inside a prison. Only when the clan needed her to act would they let her out.
But even then, when she walked on the street, the looks she received were full of dislike and disgust.
She never expected that just by walking next to this guy, she could receive so many admiring looks.
'It seems this guy really is deeply loved by this village.'
Uchiha Hikari secretly glanced around again.
The street was bustling with people coming and going. From time to time, elderly people and children passed by, and the smiles on their faces made her feel as if she were in another world.
In the Uchiha clan of the past, you could not see such a scene. Adults died on the battlefield before they could grow old, and children were already preparing to step onto the battlefield themselves.
It was a gray world with no sign of life at all.
"Where exactly are you taking me?"
"The Senju ancestral residence. It's also where I live. You'll live there from now on."
Aoba did not hide anything and said it directly.
'Senju…'
When she heard this surname, even with the seal suppressing her, Uchiha Hikari's eyes turned blood red in an instant, before being pressed back down by the seal and returning to that somewhat lifeless black.
'Just hearing a surname and you bristle up like that? That reactive?'
Aoba felt a bit helpless, "Actually, you really don't need to hate the Senju clan so much now. After all, in a certain sense, the Senju clan has already disappeared from the ninja world."
"Hm? What do you mean?", Uchiha Hikari was slightly stunned.
"There's only my teacher left of the Senju clan now, and my teacher doesn't even carry the Senju surname. So the Senju clan has actually existed in name only for many years already. As for the Uchiha side, it's also very different from your era."
As they walked, Aoba patiently explained the current situation of the Senju and Uchiha clans to Uchiha Hikari, and in the end also talked about the general process of how the ninja villages were founded.
As she listened to Aoba's explanation, Uchiha Hikari became more and more confused.
Just talking about the founding of Konoha alone.
'The Senju clan, the Sarutobi clan, and the Hyuga clan. Weren't these all enemies of the Uchiha clan in the past?'
'Why would the Uchiha get mixed up with these clans?'
Black Zetsu and Uchiha Madara never explained any of this to her when they released her. They only talked about that so-called Eye of the Moon.
So only now did Uchiha Hikari finally understand the general situation of this era.
It was basically a crash course in the recent history of the ninja world for her.
But as they chatted, Aoba suddenly noticed a problem.
That was Uchiha Hikari's current clothing.
Maybe because she had stayed in a dark and damp place for too long and had not changed clothes in a long time, they even looked a bit stiff and grimy.
On top of that, after her fight with Aoba earlier, that black coat she was wearing had some damage at the hem and sleeves.
"How about I take you to buy a few sets of suitable clothes first?"
"Hm? No need."
Uchiha Hikari snapped out of her confusion and instinctively wanted to refuse Aoba's inexplicable kindness.
"Uh… even though it's rude to say this, those clothes you're wearing probably haven't been washed in a long time, right? And you might not notice it yourself, but I can already smell it."
As Aoba spoke, he even put on a perfectly timed look of disgust.
"..."
Hearing this, Uchiha Hikari subconsciously stopped in her tracks and looked at Aoba in a daze.
After she fully processed what that sentence meant, her fists clenched tightly, and a layer of red crept onto her originally cold face.
In the end, she was still a girl. Even after being treated as a weapon for so many years, some of her nature was still hard to erase.
A girl's blush was already enough to explain everything.
———
Aoba, very familiar with the area, found a fairly large clothing store on the commercial street.
This store had a good variety, quantity, and level of refinement in its clothes. Sakura and Ino both liked coming to this shop.
After entering the store, Uchiha Hikari also clearly showed an interested expression.
She looked around curiously at the dazzling array of clothes.
After scanning around, her gaze finally settled on a blue coat that was similar to what she was wearing now.
Aoba naturally noticed this and glanced at it as well, "You want this one?"
Uchiha Hikari originally wanted to shake her head, but thinking about being told earlier that she smelled strange, she still nodded a bit awkwardly.
"Mm."
"This coat looks a bit old-fashioned. For someone your age, I'd actually recommend dresses more."
Aoba pointed to a light blue dress not far away.
Uchiha Hikari looked over, and when she saw that dress, her eyes clearly lit up a little.
But she still shook her head, "Dresses aren't convenient."
Aoba noticed the change in her gaze, directly took the dress down, and handed it to her, "Try it."
"But…", Uchiha Hikari hesitated.
"You don't need to fight anymore!"
"..."
Uchiha Hikari stared blankly at Aoba. Only at this moment did she truly believe that he really was not treating her as a weapon.
"So there's no need to worry about so much. And these clothes suit you too. Try them all."
As Aoba spoke, he took down various clothes that would suit her and handed them to her.
Uchiha Hikari herself, however, kept her head lowered and stood there without moving.
It was only when the clothes were almost too many to hold that she softly let out three words.
"Thank you…"
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