"Is that so?"
Hearing Kurotsuchi's mockery, Mei Terumi instead revealed a faint smile. Then she mimicked what Kurotsuchi had just done and lifted them slightly.
Boing! Boing! Boing!
They bounced several times.
The visual impact was maxed out.
Clearly something Kurotsuchi just now couldn't compare to.
This undoubtedly made Kurotsuchi's expression darken again.
Seeing her like that, the disdain on Mei Terumi's face became even more unrestrained. She even acted like she was reluctantly complaining after getting the better end of the deal.
"But actually, this isn't entirely a good thing either. After all, it's quite a burden. Carrying around such heavy weight every day, moving and working, it's really troublesome. My shoulders get sore from time to time."
"..."
Hearing Mei Terumi's words, Samui couldn't help lowering her head to look at herself.
What Mei Terumi said wasn't wrong. She could relate quite a bit.
She often talked about this with Mabui too.
But unlike Mei Terumi, she wasn't saying it to show off.
She genuinely often suffered from shoulder pain because the burden was too heavy.
After all, compared to her, Mei Terumi was still a bit lacking.
Mei Terumi naturally didn't know what Samui was thinking. She shifted her gaze downward, staring at Kurotsuchi's chest, which could only be considered modest in size, and said in a rather show-off tone, "I really envy you, Kurotsuchi. You don't have this kind of trouble at all."
"Such a shameless big-chested woman!"
Kurotsuchi gritted her teeth, wishing she could pounce over and bite her. But she noticed Samui, who had just entered the water, and said with some disdain, "I'm still young, and younger than you. I'll definitely grow more in the future. Unlike you, you've probably already reached your limit. Compared to Samui, you're not that impressive."
Samui: "…"
'How did this end up involving me?'
Samui simply stayed in the hot spring with Mabui, not wanting to respond.
But after soaking for a while, Mabui gave her a look, then silently swam away.
Samui: 'What's that supposed to mean?'
Then she followed Mabui's earlier line of sight and looked down, only to realize she seemed to be floating on the surface.
"..."
The corner of Samui's mouth twitched.
'How can you blame that on me?'
'This is actually really tiring, okay?'
Not to mention the shoulder strain, there are also many times she gets messed with by a certain someone. It's really exhausting.
As her good friend, she doesn't understand her at all.
Samui let out a soft sigh and simply soaked quietly.
The hot springs of the Land of Hot Water, given how busy they usually were, it was rare for them to experience this.
Treating it as a vacation wasn't bad.
After hearing Kurotsuchi's words, Mei Terumi naturally glanced at Samui. After comparing, although she knew she couldn't match her, she still didn't agree with what Kurotsuchi said.
"Even if I might not catch up to Samui, that doesn't mean you'll necessarily grow more. After all, some people can't, for their whole lives… uh."
Mei Terumi stopped midway through her sentence.
She was just bickering with Kurotsuchi, but she felt that if she said it, she might accidentally hit someone else.
The two of them seemed to think the same thing, and in tacit understanding, they both looked toward Shizune, who was about to enter the water.
Along with them, the others also looked over.
"…"
Feeling everyone's gaze land on her, Shizune's lips twitched.
'I haven't even said anything yet, why did you take shots at me?'
Shizune said unhappily, "Why are you all looking at me?"
"Ahem! Nothing. Shizune, let's soak together."
Mei Terumi withdrew her gaze, stopped bickering with Kurotsuchi, and pulled Shizune into the hot spring.
Shizune: "..."
"It's okay, Shizune-nee, let's work hard together!"
Kurotsuchi instead clenched her fist and cheered Shizune on.
"Heh!"
Shizune just let out a stiff smile.
She wasn't a little girl like Kurotsuchi. When it came to this kind of thing, she had already come to terms with it.
After all, she had seen all kinds. At home, aside from Karin, no one was smaller than her.
You could only say she was used to it.
For a moment, the scene fell into silence.
Kurotsuchi didn't say anything more to Mei Terumi either.
But after soaking quietly for a while, she suddenly noticed a problem.
Then, somewhat embarrassed and annoyed, she slipped out of Aoba's embrace.
She turned her head and glared at him.
There were so many people here, hugging like that was a bit much.
Aoba just smiled, then stood up and cleared his throat.
"Alright, in that case, let's officially begin today's meeting."
As he spoke, he looked toward Shizune, "Shizune-nee…"
"Wait!"
But before he could finish, he was interrupted again.
"Hmm?"
Aoba looked curiously at Mei Terumi, who had just cut him off.
"So you brought us to this hot spring just to hold a meeting?"
Mei Terumi frowned as she asked.
"Well, it is a Five Kage Summit."
There was indeed a bit of another purpose, but there were also things that needed to be arranged.
For example, the next steps of the plan.
And how to rely on the villages' power to take over the other four great nations with minimal loss.
Once everything was arranged, it would naturally be time for a happy party.
It was just a matter of order.
But Mei Terumi obviously didn't know what Aoba was thinking.
After narrowing her eyes and showing a speechless expression, she suddenly shot forward like a torpedo.
With dissatisfaction, Mei Terumi directly tackled Aoba into the pool.
"What kind of joke is this? I spent so long picking out this swimsuit!"
"And since we're at a hot spring, relaxing properly in the hot spring is the main thing. Those matters can wait until afterward."
The two of them sank into the hot spring water, and the splash that rose up drenched Shizune and the others.
Kurotsuchi stared blankly, clearly stunned by Mei Terumi's bold move.
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