As Minato departed using the Flying Thunder God, Yakushi Nonou stared blankly at the spot where his figure had vanished. She felt immense regret now! Clearly, she was the one who had arrived first—
Simply because of Kushina, she had kept this affection suppressed in the depths of her heart, unwilling to interfere in the relationship between the two. And now she was being told that Minato wasn't just dating Kushina alone? Crucially, Kushina had even agreed to it?
Then what did these three years of me following the rules count for? Just my bad luck?! If she had revealed her feelings a bit earlier, at least there would be a place for her by his side now, wouldn't there?
She didn't have Kushina's willful and frank temper, nor was she a favored daughter of a Great Clan like Mikoto. As an orphan whose life had been saved by Minato more than once, she felt a certain degree of inferiority in her heart when facing Minato.
Her feelings for Minato weren't just simple affection; they also carried the worship and longing one has for an idol. Precisely because of this, she placed Minato on a very high pedestal in her heart while placing herself very low.
So she didn't care at all whether Minato was a playboy; she only felt remorse for missing her chance! Damn that Danzo, saying I have dark traits—
Looking at it now, my moral standards were actually too high! At the thought of Danzo, Yakushi Nonou gritted her teeth in hatred.
Those evaluations Danzo made of her back then were also one of the reasons she had hesitated to reveal her heart for so long. Fortunately, it wasn't as if she had no chance at all—
Glancing out of the corner of her eye at Konan, who looked slightly uneasy because of Minato's departure, a trace of a smile appeared at the corner of Nonou's mouth. Once some things have a beginning, they become unstoppable.
After sending Konan to the Orphanage, Minato also recalled this Wood Clone and learned the ins and outs of the situation. Afterward, he sent another Wood Clone to the Land of Rain, responsible for teaching Yahiko to Cultivate while searching for Nagato's whereabouts.
The territory of the Land of Rain wasn't large, but without intelligence, trying to find a specific individual was truly no different from searching for a needle in a haystack. Speaking of which, the Land of Whirlpools hadn't been destroyed yet, and Nagato should already be a few years old. Looking at it this way, Nagato's mother probably wasn't a refugee, but a member of the Uzumaki Clan living abroad.
Or was it a plot bug? Under the moonlight, Minato pondered silently.
Although he had the original plot as a reference, this was a real world after all. Minato didn't dare to fully trust the original plot, let alone the fact that he, this big butterfly, had long since flapped the plot into a total mess.
Furthermore, Uchiha Madara hadn't made a single move until now. Logically speaking, having caused such a huge commotion in the Ninja World, the other party should have sent a few White Zetsu to observe, even if only to steal a few glances from afar.
After all, he possessed Wood Release. With Uchiha Madara's personality, the moment he learned of Wood Release, he should have sent White Zetsu to investigate. To see if he had Aptitude comparable to Hashirama, and then mock him with something like: 'Mere gravel, not even half as good as Hashirama'—
But after transmigrating for so long, Minato hadn't sensed even a single White Zetsu. It couldn't be ruled out that Uchiha Madara knew Wood Release could sense the traces of White Zetsu and refrained out of caution, but this was a bit too cautious.
Uchiha Madara, Black Zetsu, Ōtsutsuki Kaguya—
Actually, Minato could still accept these enemies. Though there was some pressure, the intelligence on them was basically transparent.
In contrast, the other members of the Ōtsutsuki Clan who might appear in the future were the existences that made him most uneasy. However, considering that Shippuden and Boruto were by two different authors—especially with Ikemoto's shit-like art style and aesthetics—it was hard to say if these two plotlines would even connect in this real world.
For now, he only needed to focus his attention on Madara. Kaguya definitely had to be resurrected; such an immortal and indestructible existence was simply a time bomb that had to be dealt with.
But before that, he had to grow to a level that surpassed Kaguya. The urgent priority was still to develop steadily and wait for the Rinnegan to awaken—
The next day, early morning. Kushina knocked on Minato's door first thing in the morning, actually getting up earlier than Minato, who usually made breakfast!
Minato rubbed his messy yellow hair, his face full of confusion: "Why are you up so early?"
"Hmph hmph~" The corners of Kushina's mouth curled up slightly, and then she threw herself into Minato's arms, sniffing the warm scent on him and letting out a series of 'hehehe' laughs. "Since we're dating, Minato, will you go on a date with me today?"
The little red-haired girl rubbed against Minato's chest, carrying a faint fragrance that made Minato's heart feel a wave of tenderness. Just as he was about to agree, he saw Tsunade suddenly walk out of the bedroom while yawning: "I'm afraid that won't work~"
"Eh—Why?!" Kushina puffed out her cheeks, her expression displeased.
"This kid just performed such a great military feat. Never mind that he just got back yesterday, the Old Man will definitely look for him today." Tsunade counted on her fingers: "Directly crushing the front-line forces of Sunagakure and Iwagakure, killing over a thousand enemies, plus the Third Kazekage and Tsuchikage—these merits, if converted, would allow you to read the scroll of seals like a manga."
"But I've already finished reading the scroll of seals." Minato spread his hands; forget the scroll of seals, even those shady secret documents of Root were available for him to flip through at will.
"Then convert it into money. After all, you have two girlfriends now; your expenses will definitely be higher than others, not to mention you're quite a big eater yourself." Tsunade's mouth curled slightly as she leaned against the doorframe with her arms crossed: "Besides, you're famous throughout the Ninja World now. For the next period of time, there will probably be countless designated missions seeking you out. You'd better be mentally prepared."
Tsunade's prediction was correct. Just as they had finished breakfast, an Anbu member came to the door. "Minato-sama, Hokage-sama requests your presence."
The Anbu figure appeared in the courtyard like a ghost, speaking in a respectful tone. "Minato... sama, huh~" Nawaki propped up his chin, his tone carrying a hint of sadness. He suddenly realized that a lamentable thick wall had already formed between himself and Minato.
Kushina puffed out her cheeks, looking unhappy. However, business came first, and she didn't cling to Minato. After comforting Kushina, Minato followed the Anbu to the Hokage Building.
"Ha—It's the Yellow Flash!" Before he had walked very far, Minato saw a four or five-year-old boy holding his mother's hand, looking at him with an excited face.
The boy's mother noticed Minato's gaze and smiled apologetically at him. Minato also nodded politely in return. "The Yellow Flash, huh—" Minato chuckled.
"That's the title Sunagakure gave you. Everyone felt it was very fitting, so it spread." The Anbu explained thoughtfully: "They seem to have a trend of giving people titles over there. Lord Sakumo's title of 'Konoha's White Fang' was also given by them."
"I actually quite like it." Minato nodded; after all, that was his title in the original story.
From the perspective of the Ninja World, a title given by the enemy carried a lot of weight. Like Konoha's White Fang, the Copy Ninja, Body Flicker Shisui, and the Sannin—these were basically all titles bestowed by enemies. But giving yourself a title would just be pure chuunibyou behavior—
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