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"MANJI, I LOVE YOU!"
Tsunade's face turned bright red, but she still tried to play it cool. She pulled out the bouquet she had been hiding behind her back and shoved it into Manji's hands.
"Tsunade..."
Manji looked down at the flowers, then met her anxious stare. He had lived for far too long and endured more partings than he cared to remember. Somewhere along the way, he had grown used to being alone.
His life was almost endless. Tsunade had at most a hundred years. Spending a few short decades with her and staying by her side until the end didn't seem so bad.
Besides, a few decades meant nothing to him. He had once given up that much of his life leading Konoha.
"My answer is yes, Tsunade."
Manji smiled and accepted the bouquet.
"Manji, you...!"
Tsunade froze, unable to believe what she had heard. Then she let out a cheer and threw herself into his arms, locking both arms around his waist.
A second later, she burst into tears. Hot tears soaked into Manji's shoulder.
"Why are you crying?"
Caught off guard, Manji gave her back an awkward pat. Wasn't this supposed to be the happy part? Tsunade was one of the toughest people he knew. He hadn't expected her to cry so easily.
"Because... I finally have a family again..." Her voice broke, and her shoulders trembled. "Nawaki is gone. Grandma is gone. I've been alone all these years... but now I have a boyfriend."
Manji understood right away. In just two years, Tsunade had lost both her dear younger brother and her grandmother. She had no one to rely on. Of course, those losses affected her deeply.
He smiled sadly and pulled her closer.
Tsunade wasn't satisfied with a hug. She rose onto her toes and kissed him before he had any idea what she was doing.
"Mmph??" Manji's eyes widened.
At that exact moment, a jealous stare focused on him from all around.
'That old bastard Hiruzen? Is he seriously spying on this too?'
It had to be the Telescope Technique. Hiruzen was always snooping around under the excuse of "monitoring Konoha's younger generation."
The man seriously needed a healthy hobby.
Manji ignored whoever was watching. He wiped the tears from Tsunade's cheek and lowered his voice.
"Want to go inside and talk?"
"Oh? You want to..." Tsunade gave him a playful wink, then smiled and pushed him back. "Yeah, I know what you want. I'm not ready for that yet."
Manji nodded without a change in expression.
..............
On the other side of the crystal ball, the person watching them wasn't Hiruzen.
It was Kaguya Ōtsutsuki.
Seeing Manji holding and kissing Tsunade made Kaguya lose control. Jealousy and anger twisted her beautiful face into something scary.
Crash!
She hurled the crystal ball against the ground, shattering it into countless glittering fragments.
"YOU SAID YOU NEEDED TIME TO PREPARE! YOU TOLD ME TO WAIT FOR YOU!"
Kaguya screamed until her voice became rough. Her white hair whipped around her as a storm of chakra flowed from her body, and her Byakugan was streaked with blood.
"I stayed at Mount Myōboku and waited like you asked! This is how you repay me?"
"You went out and fell in love with some worthless little mortal!"
"Manji, you heartless bastard! I hate you!"
"That bitch Tsunade doesn't deserve you! That was supposed to be mine!"
Kaguya was coming apart.
Manji had managed to control her obsessive, all-or-nothing nature, but seeing him agree to be someone else's boyfriend ruined all that progress. He had left Mount Myōboku to be with a mortal. He would rather be with another woman than return to Kaguya.
After a thousand years at his side, did Tsunade's few years with him mean more?
Kaguya had always believed Manji was a good man. Now her old obsession returned in full force.
"I hate you! I hate you!"
"I'll lock you away! Then I'll kill that woman Tsunade right in front of you!" Kaguya's eyes grew cold. Her love had turned into hatred, but the hatred didn't erase her love.
She wanted to lock Manji up and keep him like a caged bird. She wanted to bring Tsunade there and kill her in front of him. An even darker thought came next: she could force herself on Manji while Tsunade watched.
There was only one problem.
Could she overpower him?
Kaguya clenched her fists. With her current power, she had no chance. Even at her peak, she wasn't sure she could beat the Manji of today.
..............
Meanwhile, Manji and Tsunade were baking together at his house.
Tsunade took a bite from one of the cupcakes he had made and smiled in satisfaction.
"Mmm! Manji, these cupcakes are so good!"
Manji smiled. "Glad you like them."
...
In the Pure Land, Hashirama, Tajima, and the others used their connections and finally found the Sage of Ninshū, Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki.
"..."
Hagoromo looked at the group with a tired expression. He had promised the Great Sage. He could share some things, but others were completely off-limits.
The Great Sage's aliases and true identity belonged in the second category. Hagoromo could never reveal those secrets to people from the mortal world.
The entire matter was tied to a much larger plan for the shinobi world. The Great Sage was playing a long game, and Hagoromo had no intention of upsetting the board.
"I can't tell you anything about this," Hagoromo said, keeping his answer deliberately vague. "Those people still have a part to play in history."
Tajima, Hashirama, and the others exchanged looks.
"Then what's going on with our clan elder?" Jin Uchiha asked. "He's been alive for almost two hundred years now. Doesn't that seem a little...?"
Hagoromo pressed his palms together.
"That topic is off-limits. Completely!!"
With no answers coming, the group had no choice but to leave empty-handed.
Hagoromo shook his head. He didn't want to be involved in any of this. His job was managing the Pure Land, and he planned to keep it that way.
Haori approached him with a smile.
"What's wrong, dear?"
"It's nothing." Hagoromo smiled back. "Just another problem from the mortal world."
..............
At the Mountains' Graveyard, Madara Uchiha put down the intelligence report in his hand.
"We found him. His name is Nagato Uzumaki."
Tobirama Senju looked over the information and nodded. "Good. Let's finish this. There aren't many Uzumaki left to pick from."
Izuna Uchiha nodded in agreement.
Madara clapped his hands, and Tobi slowly emerged from the ground.
"Lord Madara!"
Tobi spoke in his usual dim-witted voice. By then, he had already wormed his way into the group and convinced Madara that he was a unique creation of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
"Transplant these eyes into him."
Madara tossed him a scroll. Tobi caught it, nodded, and disappeared with White Zetsu.
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