Ryuzetsu left, choosing not to return to the prison to maintain her disguise.
Instead, she found a hidden spot on the island to lie low, planning to observe tomorrow's diplomatic summit secretly from the shadows.
After Ryuzetsu departed, the three remaining in the room stared at each other.
"Why aren't you leaving yet?" Uchiha Hikari retreated back under the covers of Makoto's bed, glaring suspiciously at Tsunade.
"What about you?" Tsunade crossed her arms, retorting.
"I..."
Hikari pouted.
She crawled out from under the blanket, shuffled over, and burrowed directly into Makoto's embrace.
She even proactively took Makoto's arm and wrapped it securely around her own shoulders.
"Mmmhh... Daddy..." she mumbled into his shirt.
"????"
Makoto slowly formed a massive question mark in his mind.
Tsunade was equally stunned.
She stared at Makoto with a shell-shocked expression that practically screamed, 'You two play this wild?!'
Makoto noticed Tsunade's horrified expression and felt incredibly speechless.
Why be so shocked?
Even if she really misunderstood, you've lived for decades—if you haven't eaten pork, haven't you at least seen a pig run?
But upon second thought, maybe Tsunade really hadn't seen it.
The ninja world is notoriously reserved and emotionally depressed.
Jiraiya became an international bestseller just by writing trash smut, vanilla romance novels.
Meanwhile, 'Kakashi's' newer, edgier Vigorous paradise series had already been treasured by degenerates across all the Hidden Villages, praised as culturally surpassing Jiraiya's work.
"Are you reminiscing about the time you spent with your parents?" Makoto sighed, gently patting Hikari's head to clear the air.
Clearly, Ryuzetsu's grim story about the Hidden Grass Village had made Hikari think of Karin.
Karin's horrific background and tragic experiences then made Hikari think of herself.
Before meeting Makoto, her only warm memories were the brief, fleeting times she spent living with her parents back when they lovingly named her "Hikari."
Don't ask how she could make so many deep psychological connections at once.
The Uchiha clan is genetically predisposed to being emotionally sensitive and nuanced—this dramatic leap was completely normal and reasonable for them.
Just be thankful there weren't three episodes of flashbacks inserted right now!
"Oh... so that's what it was," Tsunade muttered, feeling a slight twinge of guilt for her dirty mind, though not particularly ashamed.
"Come here. I'll give you a warm hug too, so you can have sweet dreams." Tsunade's expression softened.
She considerately opened her arms toward the traumatized girl.
"Hmph." Hikari didn't refuse.
Seeking comfort, she shuffled over and burrowed into Tsunade's embrace.
"Hehe, how is it? Does it feel like returning to your mother's warm embrace?" Tsunade affectionately patted Hikari's spiky hair.
'Wow, has she finally reached that age where her maternal instincts can no longer be suppressed?' Makoto thought, watching the wholesome scene.
Smack.
Hikari suddenly slapped Tsunade's hand away, took a swift step back and emerged with a completely deadpan, expressionless face.
"It doesn't resemble her at all."
"...Why?" Tsunade blinked, feeling her pride in certain aspects had just been inexplicably wounded.
'Makoto is a teenage boy!'
'You could recall memories of your father with him! Why couldn't you recall memories of your mother with me?!' Tsunade had been completely serious and emotionally invested just now.
Why couldn't she compare to Makoto's casual head-pat?
"They're too big."
Uchiha Hikari dropped this devastating line before turning on her heel and walking straight out of the room.
'Huh?'
Tsunade looked at Makoto in utter confusion.
She didn't immediately compute what Hikari meant.
Was the girl jealous of her breast? Did she get angry out of spite?
"She means her mother wasn't packing that much fat, so hugging you doesn't feel historically accurate to her," Makoto—acting as Hikari's official translator—easily provided the answer.
"..."
Tsunade was left completely speechless.
Wasn't it universally said that 'bigger meant more maternal love'?! Books really are full of lies!
Grumbling to herself, Tsunade also returned to her room.
...
The next day.
Upon receiving the news from the watchtower, Warden Mui brought his entire staff to wait at the port entrance to welcome the Raikage.
The Hidden Cloud Village's ships were incredibly sturdy and imposing.
After all, they frequently traveled by sea to transport goods to their crucial Island Turtle.
Makoto, Hikari, and Tsunade stood quietly at the back of the crowd, simply watching the spectacle unfold.
First, let's see how much muscle the Raikage actually brought... Makoto analyzed the descending figures.
The Fourth Raikage himself was leading the charge, looking as massive and angry as ever.
Killer B was also here.
Though it felt somewhat strange for B to leave the safety of Cloud Thunder Valley at this specific time, it made sense given the diplomatic stakes.
Also present were B's three elite disciples: Samui, along with Karui and Omoi.
'Hmm... wait. Huh?'
Standing quietly beside them... wasn't that the Two-Tails Jinchuriki, Yugito Nii?
Did the Raikage seriously bring both the Two-Tails and the Eight-Tails on the same boat?
Looking at it this way, the Raikage must have obtained highly detailed information about the Box of Ultimate Bliss in advance.
Mui's sinister plans were probably entirely known to him.
Precisely because Ay understood that opening the Box required a massive amount of chakra, but worried that extracting too much at once would fatally harm his brother Killer B, he directly brought two Jinchuriki to split the bill and share the damage.
(Yugito's internal monologue: Thank you so much, Lord Raikage. I love being a spare battery).
The Cloud Hidden Village's most crucial strategic combat forces were all here in one place.
It seemed the Raikage was feeling highly paranoid.
The Cloud Village had witnessed the absurd power of artifacts from the Six Paths era before (the Gold and Silver Brothers).
With Hozuki Castle being on an isolated island difficult to reinforce, Ay could only bring as much overwhelming combat power as possible at once to ensure absolute safety.
What appeared to be a reckless, full-force deployment was actually the most prudent, calculated strategy.
To balance the scales at home, the Raikage's right-hand men—his elite guards Darui and Cee—were noticeably absent, left behind to manage the defense of the Hidden Cloud.
"Warden. Let's not waste time with pleasantries. Take us to see the Box of Ultimate Bliss."
After stepping forward to crush Mui's hand in a brief handshake, the Raikage went straight to the point.
If Mui tried to keep them here overnight to delay or set traps, Ay would absolutely not agree to it.
"No problem, Lord Raikage. But... there was an unexpected situation yesterday..."
When Mui reached this point, the Raikage frowned deeply, assuming Mui was starting to make cheap excuses to back out of the deal.
But then he saw Mui gesture for the prison guards to step aside, clearing a path through the crowd.
Following the direction, the Raikage's gaze landed on two very familiar figures standing at the back of the courtyard.
"Tsunade?! No... the Fifth Hokage now... and THAT GUY!"
The Raikage's pupils contracted to pinpricks.
Sparks of lightning subconsciously crackled across his skin.
Naturally, the Raikage recognized Tsunade.
Years ago, when one of his trusted subordinates was hit by a lethal Exploding Bug jutsu, Ay had sought out Tsunade, begging her to treat him.
Tsunade had casually agreed but didn't take it seriously, continuing to drink and gamble.
When the appointed time came, Ay had stood waiting in the pouring rain all night.
It wasn't until the next day that the Raikage, through an arm-wrestling bet, finally secured treatment for his subordinate, saving his life.
From this, it was clear that the Raikage was a straightforward, honorable man.
He waited all night without holding a grudge.
For his comrade's life, he was willing to set aside all of his pride.
As for the other one...
The person who truly caught the Raikage's attention, the one who made his blood boil and his pupils contract—was Makoto.
During the recent political upheavals between the Cloud and Stone Villages, Ay had launched a small-scale covert raid to seize the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki from the Hidden Waterfall.
(What right did a minor village like the Waterfall have to possess a strategic weapon like a bijuu anyway?)
But at the waterfall entrance on the front lines, his elite team had encountered this exact young man.
His physical strength was no less than Tsunade's, whom Ay had personally arm-wrestled.
And it was this very man who had effortlessly styled on his squad, snatched the prize from their grasp, and taken the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki right out from under the Hidden Cloud's nose!
Now, this absolute menace was appearing alongside the Hokage of Konoha.
'Is he here to intercept us again?!'