Surrounded by the crowd, Takumi finally arrived before Hiruzen.
He restrained his smile, making his expression solemn.
The surrounding noise gradually became quiet.
The atmosphere became solemn.
Takumi took two steps forward to stand before Hiruzen, his gaze focused and earnest.
"I have fulfilled the mission, Hokage-sama."
He nodded slightly.
"Well done, as expected of a Konoha's Shinobi."
Hiruzen nodded with a smile, then patted Takumi twice on the shoulder. "You must continue to strive in the future, let the entire Shinobi World know the power of Konoha."
"The future of Konoha belongs to your generation!"
'If you know that, why don't you hurry up and abdicate?'
Takumi silently complained internally, but on the surface, he showed a delighted smile.
Receiving Hiruzen's commendation in front of everyone,
Takumi's popularity in Konoha was already unrivaled.
Even Hiruzen, as Hokage, seemed to be somewhat left behind.
Hiruzen wasn't anxious though.
He felt that with his physical condition, he could continue being Hokage for a few more years.
After he organizes Konoha sufficiently well, he would then hand over the perfectly intact Hokage's position to a sufficiently excellent successor like Takumi.
This way, when he retired, he could peacefully enjoy his old age at home.
As for what he wanted to organize, that was anyone's guess.
It couldn't be Root, could it?
After all the trouble Danzo had caused, Hiruzen hadn't imposed any punishment on him.
It was hard to imagine Hiruzen doing anything to Danzo.
Of course,
All of this was just Hiruzen's inner thoughts.
Takumi didn't care.
Even if he knew, he would only snort disdainfully.
What praiseworthy things had Hiruzen done during his reign?
Besides making Konoha increasingly decline, not a single praiseworthy thing!
Not one!
Perhaps if he took this opportunity to abdicate in favor of someone more capable, even if it wasn't to Takumi but to excellent Jonin like Kakashi, it might still be a sufficiently excellent choice.
Maybe Takumi would even think slightly higher of him.
But given Hiruzen's personality, this was basically impossible.
After the commendation, Hiruzen pulled Takumi to stand before everyone and gave a passionate speech about the Will of Fire for an hour.
Fortunately, with Takumi present, the crowd was just excited to see Takumi and didn't care what Hiruzen was saying.
This made Hiruzen increasingly glow with health and vitality.
He seemed to mistakenly take all this as a sign of his own popularity among the villagers.
Admittedly,
In front of some villagers unaware of the truth, Hiruzen was a very respectable person.
After all, he was the Hokage.
But among the major Shinobi Clans of Konoha, aside from the Sarutobi Clan, the high-level members of most clans probably didn't have a very good impression of Hiruzen.
Even those clans that supported Hiruzen were the same.
Finally shaking off all that, by the time Takumi got home, the sky had already turned dusky.
"You're finally back?"
After he returned, Yugito immediately came to his house.
She looked at Takumi with aggrieved eyes.
For her, this was, after all, an unfamiliar village.
The only familiar person was Takumi.
Although Rin had been with her, it was only for that one day.
Ultimately, she wasn't very close to Rin either.
In such an unfamiliar environment, the only person Yugito could rely on was Takumi.
Besides, she currently couldn't leave Takumi's side and had to rely on him for replenishment to survive.
Although she had mentally prepared herself,
Knowing that Takumi, as an Elite Jonin of Konoha, would probably often be away on missions,
She hadn't expected that only two or three days had passed before Takumi left for so long.
It really scared her.
Now, the helpless Yugito was too dependent on Takumi.
If she didn't see him for a while, she felt like she was going to be abandoned.
On the first day, she could barely endure.
But starting from the second day, she kept letting her imagination run wild.
All kinds of negative thoughts appeared in her mind.
Like Takumi left for so long because he didn't want to deal with her,
Or Takumi was conspiring with people in Konoha to secretly dispose of her, etc.
All sorts of fantastical ideas popped into her head,
Completely disregarding any logical reasoning.
So, when she heard Takumi was back,
The heart she had been holding up finally fell heavily, and her thoughts became normal again.
As someone also resurrected by the Summoning Spirit Technique,
Rin was much better off than Yugito.
Rin was originally from Konoha.
Even if she didn't see Takumi for a while, she didn't mind.
Although a long time had passed since her death,
There were still many people she knew around.
So Rin wouldn't feel lonely.
The only trouble was that if she didn't see Takumi for too long, it might delay her replenishment.
If the supply was cut off, she would disappear again.
This was the only thing Rin found worrisome.
"Okay, okay, I'm back now, aren't I?"
Takumi gently hugged Yugito, patting her back to comfort her.
"I'm sorry, but this mission was very troublesome, related to the safety of the entire Shinobi World, so..."
"I can't guarantee I won't go on longer missions in the future, but..."
"We can specially train some messenger birds. When you miss me, you can send letters via the messenger bird, how about that?"
Takumi finally found a makeshift solution.
He released his hold, looked down at Yugito's tear-streaked face, and felt tenderness in his heart.
Compared to the other women outside,
Yugito was the only one who followed him back to Konoha.
Although this was partly due to the Summoning Spirit Technique requiring her to regularly receive replenishment from him,
Being able to make this choice was also a decision that required great courage for Yugito.
Her past identity as a Kumogakure Jinchuriki destined her not to be welcome in Konoha.
Relations between Konoha and Kumogakure had never been good.
There had been many diplomatic incidents.
Neji's father, Hyuga Hizashi, had even lost his life because of this.
Now, coming to Konoha alone, some radical elements might secretly make a move on her.
Although with Yugito's strength, even without a Tailed Beast, she was still not to be underestimated,
This was, after all, not her familiar environment.
And if he brought her back only to have her live in fear every day, that would be too much of a failure.
Of course, this kind of thing hadn't happened yet.
For some Konoha's villagers, Takumi's act of luring Kumogakure's key Jinchuriki to Konoha actually gave them an intense sense of pride.
Thanks to Takumi's influence, the possibility of Yugito encountering assassination was very low.
Even if assassins appeared,
It might be Danzo secretly trying to pull some strings,
Or it was Kumogakure's spies worried Yugito might reveal some of their village's secrets and silencing her.
Fortunately,
Thanks to Takumi's request, Hiruzen had two Anbu teams secretly watching over Yugito.
Ordinary people simply couldn't get close.
Moreover, he had secretly asked Sasori to keep an extra eye on Yugito.
It was only after making these covert arrangements that he could peacefully go out to execute missions.