Unless some scandal that people can't accept comes to light before she officially takes the position, no one can shake Tsunade's candidacy for the role of Hokage.
With Tsunade herself clearing out the Anbu, removing unrelated personnel, the remaining individuals naturally swore loyalty to her. After all, it's only a matter of time before Tsunade becomes Hokage.
Moreover, due to Tsunade's specific instructions, Anbu members won't cause themselves any unnecessary trouble. Less work is better than more work, and since Danzo was already under secret surveillance, having someone else take over wasn't necessarily a bad thing for them.
Anbu was still short on personnel, so if they could reduce one troublesome mission, they had fewer things to worry about. Unless an Anbu member was out of their mind, they wouldn't voluntarily report it. Only if the Third Hokage noticed something and asked directly would they come clean, in which case his dissatisfaction wouldn't fall on them but on Tsunade.
When Takuya woke up, the sky had already darkened. Danzo stayed obediently at home, careful not to cross any of Takuya's boundaries.
Unapologetically occupying Danzo's bathroom to take care of his personal needs, Takuya told Pakura, "You can head back and rest for a while. I'll take over here. Also, go find Kushina and ask her to buy some extra meat from the BBQ place, including spices for seasoning. I feel like having a BBQ."
After a whole day without food, someone in the area would undoubtedly crave the aroma of barbeque.
Military ration pills? That stuff might as well be poison. Eating too many of those isn't good for your health.
"..." Pakura nodded silently, casting a sympathetic glance at the wooden house before turning and leaving.
Takuya's sensory range covered both his own home and the BBQ restaurant, so as long as Pakura didn't do anything foolish or try to escape, Takuya wouldn't overly restrict her movements. Of course, if Pakura did decide to make a run for it, Takuya wouldn't mind a long game of hide-and-seek. The consequences for getting caught, though, would be serious.
"Why can't Takuya just come to the BBQ restaurant himself?" Kushina was puzzled when Pakura came to her.
If you want BBQ, you could just go to the BBQ place, right? Why buy all that meat and seasoning? It's such a hassle.
The BBQ from the Akimichi clan was famous—high-quality meat, special secret seasoning—the best you could get. Normally, if you wanted their BBQ, you had to eat at the restaurant itself.
Takeout? They usually wouldn't allow it.
"This is exactly what Lord Takuya said," Pakura explained, showing that she had no choice but to follow Takuya's instructions.
"Alright, there's no point in explaining it to you," Kushina muttered. "And Takuya, honestly, doesn't even have time to come to the restaurant himself?" She sighed and, after a couple of complaints, grabbed Pakura and headed straight to the Akimichi BBQ restaurant.
Most people couldn't request takeout, but Kushina wasn't just anyone. The Akimichi were more than happy to grant her request.
"We're on a special mission that requires us to watch over something constantly, so he can't leave," Pakura explained as they walked.
Kushina nodded in understanding.
So it's a mission, and a special one at that, which requires them to be vigilant at all times. Well, that makes sense now.
As for what exactly the mission was or how special it might be, Kushina didn't ask. She wasn't one to pry.
When they arrived at the BBQ restaurant, Kushina requested to see the owner and explained what she wanted. After a brief moment of hesitation, the owner smiled and agreed.
After packing everything into sealing scrolls, Pakura was still stunned. She once again witnessed how much of a "little rich lady" Kushina was.
Buying a bunch of meat and spices wasn't particularly expensive, but they ended up using several sealing scrolls.
If you know the cost of sealing scrolls, then you understand. Even if you have the money, it's not easy to get them.
But for Kushina, it was simple—she was just making sure Takuya ate well. The cost of a few sealing scrolls? That was nothing.
Money is meant to be spent, after all.
This spending habit was something Pakura found hard to understand. Growing up in the Sand Village, she was used to hardship and frugality.
Compared to Konoha, the Sand Village's finances were so tight they could barely make a dollar stretch. Even if you had money in the Sand Village, there weren't many places to spend it.
"Have a seat and eat with us."
With the ingredients delivered, Takuya took out the BBQ grill from the sealing scroll, lit the fire, and began preparing a delicious barbeque meal.
"???" Pakura looked hesitant, glancing at Takuya, who placed the meat on the grill. He noticed her hesitation and asked, "Is there something wrong?"
With Takuya's direct question, Pakura took a deep breath and said, "I wanted to carry the stuff over, but Kushina was worried the secret seasoning might spill, or the meat might get contaminated by dirt, so she used the sealing scrolls."
"Oh," Takuya responded calmly.
Is using sealing scrolls really that strange?
Pakura: "....."
Did I express my feelings the wrong way?
Takuya saw Pakura's conflicted expression and decided to explain, "Kushina's quite the little rich lady, you know. An entire luxury shopping street in Konoha is her property, and she gets annual dividends of tens of millions of Ryo."
Compared to Kushina's wealth, a few sealing scrolls were nothing.
Not to mention Kushina—Takuya himself didn't consider the cost of a few sealing scrolls to be anything significant.
Pakura's chopsticks slipped from her hand and fell to the ground. She was stunned.
She had visited that luxury shopping street in Konoha before with Kushina. It was bustling, filled with all sorts of shops where you could find almost anything you wanted. To think that an entire street there was Kushina's property, generating millions of Ryo in dividends every year—without having to lift a finger. Not to mention the land itself was in her name.
How much revenue did the Sand Village generate last year?
Thinking about it, Pakura suddenly felt like crying. Why didn't the Sand Village have someone like that?
"Damn it!!!"
As the scent of barbeque filled the air and Takuya kept bragging about Kushina's wealth, Danzo's heart was filled with envy, jealousy, and hatred.
Meanwhile, at the village gates, Nawaki spread his arms wide and dramatically exclaimed, "Finally, I'm back! I love you, Konoha!"
Everyone passing by gave Nawaki odd looks, and the ninja handling gate registrations sighed in exasperation. What kind of weirdo did the Senju Clan produce?
"I'm leaving; enjoy your moment," Minato said, his facial muscles twitching. He hurriedly left, not wanting to stand there looking foolish alongside Nawaki. The guy was beyond saving.
First, Minato planned to head home for a shower, change into clean clothes, and then go visit...
Returning to Konoha, Minato's first thought was to find Takuya, but he soon changed his mind.
After scrubbing off the salty sea smell, he put on a fresh, cheerful outfit and double-checked that everything was in order. He even bought some gifts along the way and sneaked over to the Uzumaki district.
However, before he could get close, a red-haired girl appeared around the corner.
They met at the intersection, and Minato's smile froze. The girl's eyes lit up in surprise. "Minato, you're back?"
"And those are...?" Kushina looked at the gifts in Minato's hands, inspecting him up and down. Remembering some of the things Takuya had told her, she smiled teasingly.
"Rushing over here the moment you got back, huh?"
It's over. I've died of embarrassment.
Minato's face turned bright red, like a teenager caught sneaking out for a date.
"Uh, hey, Kushina, fancy seeing you here."
"It really is quite the coincidence. There were some things I needed to handle in the clan, so I came over here. I didn't expect to run into you."
Not being honest, are we? You've done a great job keeping this under wraps, huh?
Seeing Kushina's sly smile, Minato wished he could dig a hole and crawl inside.
"Alright, I won't tease you anymore. All the girls from the Uzumaki Clan are home right now. The hot pot place is closed for today, so good luck," she said, patting his shoulder with a smile before walking away.
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Next Bonus: 200
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(P)(S): If you're interested, you can read up to chapter 500+ at Patreon com/ Emik01.
And Visit Me On Scribble_Hub for the other chapters
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