Minato Namikaze looked at the brand-new crystal window, and the dissatisfaction in his heart finally faded away.
That was crystal made through Crystal Release—far better than ordinary glass. It was both beautiful and safe. Looking at the new window, his thoughts began to wander.
He thought to himself: Now that the window has been replaced with crystal, that bastard Gekko Chizan shouldn't still be able to sneak in through the window, right? After all, it's crystal he made himself.
Poor Minato—he had already been driven crazy by Gekko Chizan's torment. He had even lost the ability to think rationally.
He didn't even consider who made the crystal in the first place. As the one who created it, how could Gekko Chizan possibly be blocked by his own crystal???
"I'll let this matter go. I won't say any more about it."
"Chizan, the intelligence network has already achieved the initial results I wanted. You deserve great credit."
Minato Namikaze sat in his office chair and launched straight into official talk.
Hearing this, Gekko Chizan showed a trace of disdain and said bluntly:
"Stop. Can you not bring that official tone in front of me?"
"Back then, when you were a little blond brat secretly chasing Kushina, I knew all about it. Do we really need to be like this between us?"
"Just be more casual, okay?"
"If Fugaku likes this kind of thing, then you can talk to him like that."
The unspoken meaning was obvious: We're old acquaintances—why put on an act?
Minato Namikaze almost suffocated himself in one breath! He glared viciously at the old friend in front of him.
"You all leave."
"Yes, Hokage-sama."
For the sake of his pitiful pride, Minato hurriedly dismissed the ANBU.
Once the ANBU left, he couldn't sit still anymore. He stood up and rushed straight at Gekko Chizan, shouting angrily as he went:
"You bastard! Can't you leave me even a little respect?!"
"I'm the Hokage!"
"Enough talking! Let's fight!"
The moment he grabbed Gekko Chizan, the Flying Thunder God activated.
The two of them instantly arrived at the back mountain of Konoha.
The instant they landed, they both attacked at the same time.
Their marked kunai scattered in all directions, yellow light and black light weaving through each other.
"Hahahaha, Minato, I admit my reaction speed isn't as good as yours."
"But don't forget, I'm someone who avoids getting injured. As long as an attack can hurt me, my sixth sense will react!"
"Hey, hey, hey! Hit me~ hit me~"
The two exchanged blows while Gekko Chizan laughed heartily. When it came to reaction nerves and dynamic vision, he really was inferior to Minato Namikaze.
He was also a shinobi who used the Flying Thunder God, and his use of it was incredibly smooth. Relying on so many years of Number Six experience, he could still handle this technique.
But despite what he said, he was completely focused during the fight. Minato was simply too fast—several times, Minato's fist was about to land on him before he realized he needed to run.
When it came to Flying Thunder God speed, Gekko Chizan generously admitted that he was inferior to Minato.
The two chased each other like this from daytime all the way into night.
...
In the end, it wasn't that they ran out of chakra—they simply couldn't run anymore.
Under the night sky, two grown men—one rubbing his calves, the other rubbing his feet.
"You bastard. I thought you'd slack off in training. Who would've thought?"
"Tell me—did you also secretly take Kushina out to play?"
Gekko Chizan had been running east and west, north and south every day for who knew how long, yet Minato had chased him to the point he was nearly foaming at the mouth.
Hearing this, Minato Namikaze laughed awkwardly.
"Me? I learned it from you. I had the shinobi going on missions throw my kunai into other countries. Whenever I'm free, I just teleport over and look for good food and fun places."
"Then I take Kushina and Naruto with me."
"The Land of Birds you recommended, the Land of Frost—I've been to all of them."
After hearing this, Gekko Chizan gave him a look that said "I knew it."
"Chizan, there's something I need to thank you for."
"The Uchiha clan isn't like before anymore. Fugaku has managed the Uchiha very well."
"His iron-blooded methods—even I was a bit stunned watching them."
"I'm really curious. What exactly did you say to him back then?"
Minato Namikaze lay flat on the grass, asking about Uchiha Fugaku.
Gekko Chizan laughed loudly and told the truth:
"You know me—I'm best at hitting people where it hurts."
"Fugaku is a good man and a good father, so what do you think?"
Hearing this, Minato Namikaze instantly sprang up, his face full of shock as he blurted out:
"You threatened him with his children?!"
"My god, you bastard—you're really not human!"
"Fugaku dotes on his sons so much, and you still went that far."
Instead of feeling anything was wrong, Gekko Chizan burst into even louder laughter.
"What's the problem with that?"
"Just tell me—aren't the Uchiha better now?"
"If you ask me, Fugaku should learn from me. All this back and forth—if it doesn't work, fight. If you can't win, run. All that hesitation—I can't stand it."
Minato sat back down and fell into deep thought.
Thinking back on everything Gekko Chizan had done over the years, he actually felt that this way of living wasn't bad at all.
Using One Thousand Years of Death to mess with Sakumo Hatake, stealing Hiruzen Sarutobi's pipe and crystal ball, endlessly sending Tsunade back to the village during her travels.
Smashing the windows of the Hokage's office—my god, was there anything this bastard didn't dare to do?
Even when he was a child, he was like this, causing trouble for this person one day and tormenting someone else the next...
"Chizan, you really can..."
"When it comes to freedom, neither Fugaku nor I can compare to you."
"Oh right—congratulations. You're about to be a father again."
Everyone already knew about Pakura's pregnancy. Even if Kushina had told him—who could blame her, when he was busy to death every day?
"Hahahahaha, thank you, thank you!"
"I have to help the Gekko clan spread its branches and leaves! That's a heavy responsibility—Gekko Dōnin alone can't handle it."
"I have to find him some helpers!"
Hearing this, Minato Namikaze was rendered completely speechless.
He thought to himself: Once a person has no shame, they truly become invincible.
"Chizan, there was a great battle in the Land of Rivers before. Do you have any news about it?"
"Judging from the level of destruction, both sides in that battle were extremely strong."
Suddenly, Minato Namikaze brought up an incident from long ago.
Gekko Chizan nodded. Since Minato had already brought it up, that meant he had already roughly figured out the identities of both sides.
Since that was the case, there was nothing that couldn't be said anymore—what mattered was how to say it.