章節 320: Chapter 320 Preparing For Departure in a Time of Turmoil

"I-I... Tsunade-sama, I can't do that." Ino showed a shy expression on her face and subconsciously waved her hands to deny it.

Yet, deep down, she felt a bit happy, her face growing even redder. Perhaps sensing the attention of everyone around her, she found it hard to lift her head.

Before Tsunade could respond, Naruto cut in.

"Alright, alright, I'll behave. Is it good enough?"

Hearing this, Tsunade's lips curled into a smirk, as if she had uncovered one of Naruto's little secrets. She flashed a triumphant smile but quickly composed herself, remembering this was an official setting.

Naruto also saw Tsunade's expression, and his eyelids twitched immediately, thinking that something was wrong. Based on his understanding of Tsunade's devious personality, she was most likely going to use Ino to take advantage of him.

But he didn't mind.

"Alright, old rules… everyone gets ready. We leave in two hours." Shikamaru turned and said to everyone.

The ever-reliable strategist gave a few brief instructions before departing. The others dispersed, and just as Ino was about to leave, Naruto grabbed her hand.

"W-What's wrong?" Ino asked, then glanced back at Tsunade, who was still seated nearby.

Naruto looked at Ino's blushing face in confusion, wondering why she was showing such an adorable expression, like a guilty wife.

'Wait, Tsunade's a woman.'

Tsunade, watching the young pair holding hands, found the scene rather amusing, or so she thought. Leaning lazily in the chair, she subconsciously touched the sake bottle but found it was empty, and she was stunned for a moment.

She remembered that there was still half a bottle left just a moment ago, 'How come it's gone again?'

"What are you so nervous about?" Naruto pinched Ino's hand secretly without changing his expression, and asked, "Wait for me downstairs. I have something to talk to you about."

Ino didn't answer immediately. First, she carefully glanced at Tsunade, who was still distracted by her missing sake. Then, she gave a soft 'mm' in response, and gently pulled her hand free before quickly turning and leaving.

Tsunade was still frowning, trying to recall how much she had drunk earlier that morning when Naruto cleared his throat and spoke, "Stop looking for it. I confiscated the sake."

"You!" Tsunade was instantly enraged. She was tempted to flip the table and punch Naruto so hard he'd be embedded in the wall, impossible to be pried out.

"Don't drink and slack off during work hours. A good Hokage is one who works hard." Naruto lectured with a stern look on his face, acting all righteous and mature.

"What's wrong with your brain? Do you need me to give you a check-up?" After Tsunade looked around, she saw that there was no one around, so she casually propped her leg on the edge of the table, leaning back in her chair.

"If something needs to be cut, it should be cut. The sooner it's treated, the sooner you'll recover."

Hearing the word 'cut' come out of Tsunade's mouth, Naruto felt a chill. Frowning, he decided to get to the point.

"Can Kakashi-sensei provide support in time?"

Hearing this, Tsunade's expression grew serious and she pulled her leg down from the table. She pondered for a while, tapped on the desk again, and then spoke, "He should be able to."

"Should? I wanted to bring this up earlier… too many people can lead to trouble." Naruto said, "With group of seven or eight Chunins, if we run into the Akatsuki, we're done for."

"I know." Tsunade rubbed her temples, sighed and said, "The situation came up suddenly, and Jiraiya hasn't sent any information yet. We don't have timely intelligence on the Akatsuki."

"Even if we want to dispatch Elite Jonin, it will be troublesome. After all, we don't have accurate information to round up the members of Akatsuki. If we fail, we will be accused of wasting the village's resources."

"And the mission this time is only to assist Sunagakure. Some of the elders of Sunagakure are still stubborn and have deep prejudices against Konoha."

Having said this, Tsunade instinctively reached for her sake cup but stopped when she realized it was empty. Then, she continued, "Especially those old advisors from Sunagakure. They don't believe Konoha could have made peace with them so easily. Their mindset are still stuck in the Third Shinobi World War."

Hearing this, Naruto was taken aback for a moment. He hadn't considered things that deeply.

"Isn't that all the more reason to send a Jonin to lead the team? If we just go there with a few snotty Chunin, won't that give Sunagakure some reason to criticize us?"

"Missions have been piling up lately, so let them criticize. Those old bastards think even Konoha's dogs are evil. It doesn't matter." Tsunade said dismissively, waving her hand nonchalantly.

Seeing Tsunade's laid-back attitude, Naruto didn't know what to say for a moment.

"Anyway, I'm sending you to make sure there's no trouble." Tsunade continued, "Don't cause too much conflict with Sunagakure. They are, after all, our ally."

"Also, don't let those kids get mistreated. If anything happens, I've got your back."

Tsunade had subconsciously ignored Naruto's age and excluded him from 'those kids'. Naruto didn't think anything was wrong when he heard that and nodded.

"As long as we don't run into the Akatsuki on the way, everything should be fine. But if something does happen…" Naruto hesitated, "Is there still no word from Pervy Sage?"

"No." Tsunade shook her head, "He has always been used to freedom. Without concrete intel, he won't send any messages."

The conversation ended there.

With thoughts on his mind, Naruto slowly made his way downstairs, where he saw Ino pacing back and forth.

Her gaze wasn't focused directly on Naruto but behind him. Only after confirming that Tsunade hadn't followed him down did she let out a long sigh of relief.

The pressure of facing the Hokage was immense. While Naruto could chat casually with Tsunade, not everyone had that luxury.

Even though Tsunade was approachable and down-to-earth, but in the end, she was still the idol of all Konoha's Kunoichi, the legendary Slug Princess, one of the Legendary Sannin. No matter how casual Tsunade seemed, others couldn't act as freely around her as Naruto could.

"What are you staring at?" Naruto asked, waving his hand in front of Ino's face.

"You scared me! That last thing Tsunade-sama said... it really made me nervous." Ino patted her chest in fear, with a guilty look on her face, "Aren't you scared?"

"Oh~ Yeah, I'm scared," Naruto said lightly.

Ino couldn't help but punch him lightly. But then she realized what she had just done, 'Wasn't that basically admitting something?' Her heart started racing again, and she felt conflicted. Yet, strangely, it also felt kind of nice.

Still, she wasn't sure what Naruto was thinking. Hinata crossed her mind, and her expression turned troubled, while her tone becoming more irritated.

"What did you want to talk to me about?"

"Hmm?" Naruto was amazed at how quickly Ino's expression changed, and thought to himself, 'How can this woman change her expression faster than the weather? Just a moment ago, she was happy, and now she was upset again.'