Kushina was overjoyed to see Aoshi. With a bright smile, she immediately hooked her arm through his and pulled him over to the sofa.
"Wait a moment, I'll go grab the food," she said before hurrying off to the kitchen.
Watching her rush away, Aoshi shook his head slightly.
She had grown up a lot, but that impulsive, restless personality of hers hadn't changed one bit.
Once everything was prepared, the movie began.
As soon as the lights were turned off and the room went dark, Kushina instinctively leaned against Aoshi's shoulder. While watching, she occasionally fed him snacks, and Aoshi accepted them without protest.
By the time the movie ended, Kushina was still nestled against him, happily sharing her thoughts about the film.
Suddenly, someone walked in. Both of them turned their heads.
It was Uzumaki Mai.
She had just returned from Minato's home and, noticing the lights still on here, had stepped inside to check.
"Ah, sorry—I didn't mean to intrude," Mai said quickly before excusing herself, leaving the space once again to Aoshi and Kushina.
Watching Mai hurry away in embarrassment, Aoshi and Kushina exchanged a knowing smile. They even began playfully discussing Mai's budding relationship with Minato.
After two years in Konoha, Mai had finally integrated into the village. She no longer lived as cautiously as before. In fact, for the past two weeks, she had been going to Minato's house every day to cook meals.
It was obvious their relationship had taken a major step forward, and Kushina was genuinely happy for her.
"It's already so late, Aoshi. Aren't you going home? Or… are you planning to stay the night here?" A teasing voice broke the mood.
This time, it was Tsunade—just back from the research base.
Seeing Aoshi and Kushina laughing together, a strange emotion flickered in her eyes, and she couldn't help but blurt out those words.
Aoshi immediately stood up. "You're right, it's late. I'll head back now. Tsunade-sama, Kushina—good night."
He left straightaway.
A wise man does not linger beneath a crumbling wall. Move quickly enough, and the storm of jealousy can't catch you.
Seeing this, Tsunade curled her lip, then glanced at Kushina, who was busy tidying up. Saying nothing more, she simply turned and headed into the bathroom to shower.
The night passed quietly.
The next morning, Aoshi woke early, but instead of going to Konoha Hospital, he took a day off.
After buying a bouquet of flowers from the Yamanaka family's shop, he made his way to Tsunade's research base.
When she saw him, Tsunade gave a cold smile.
"Well, well. Skipping out on Kushina to spend time with me today?" Her words confirmed what Aoshi already suspected—she was jealous over what had happened last night.
Normally, he spent time with her here every day, even if most of the time it was only his shadow clone.
Luckily, Aoshi had come prepared. He stepped forward, wrapped his arm around Tsunade's slender waist, and pulled her close, presenting her with the flowers.
"Today, I'm yours for the whole day."
In the two years they'd been working together, counting the shadow clones, they had practically been side by side every day. By now, Tsunade was completely his.
Feeling his embrace, Tsunade's body softened instantly. She had no strength to resist him. Accepting the flowers, she shot him a mock glare.
"Yesterday, it was Kushina. Today it's me. Tomorrow will it be Uchiha Mikoto? And the day after, Nono?"
Aoshi only offered a sheepish smile, wisely staying silent. At times like this, any answer would be wrong.
"Forget it. I guess I've already fallen into your hands. My whole life—ruined by you," Tsunade muttered.
Her words sounded resentful, but her heart said otherwise.
Even knowing he was greedy and unfaithful, she had still fallen hopelessly in love with him. In fact, it was because of Aoshi that her long-standing hemophobia had finally disappeared.
His presence filled the void left by her fear.
"Mmm—" Before she could continue, Aoshi pressed his lips to hers.
Breathless under his kiss, Tsunade gradually melted into it, ignoring his wandering hands. It wasn't the first time—by now, she was used to it. Everything between them had already happened, except for the very last step.
Only when she began to run out of air did she push him back.
"That's enough. We have work to do. There will be plenty of time later." Her words snapped Aoshi back to focus.
"If all goes well, today we should be able to complete the final stage," he said.
Ever since Aoshi had shifted the research toward medical applications two years ago, their progress on White Zetsu's cells had accelerated.
Still, because it involved the human body, they had been careful not to rush into practical use.
Resources were another problem. They only had one White Zetsu corpse, and after two years of experiments, most of it was already consumed.
Unlike Hashirama's cells, White Zetsu's cells lacked overwhelming vitality or invasive growth. For large-scale applications, they first needed to solve the challenge of directed cultivation.
Aoshi's vision was clear: White Zetsu cells could serve as universal organ transplant material.
But they needed to develop the ability to grow specific organs tailored to patients, rather than crudely implanting entire White Zetsu bodies like Madara and Obito had done.
By the end of the day, Aoshi and Tsunade succeeded.
They had perfected both the Directed Cultivation of White Zetsu Cells and the Organ Transplantation Technique.
With their results in hand, they went to the Hokage's office.
After reading the report, Hiruzen Sarutobi was delighted and immediately awarded them great merit.
With these technologies, the number of Konoha shinobi forced into retirement due to crippling injuries would drop drastically. It was an enormous boon to the village.
"Tell me—what kind of reward do you want?"
Tsunade shook her head. She needed nothing; her status already guaranteed anything she desired.
As for Aoshi, after some thought, he chose the Flying Thunder God Technique.
This legendary space-time ninjutsu, created by the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, was an S-rank jutsu that no one besides its inventor had ever mastered.
Not even Minato had learned it yet.
"Aoshi, are you certain?" Hiruzen asked, surprised by his choice. "The difficulty is… extraordinary."
Without hesitation, Aoshi nodded. Space-time ninjutsu was one of the rarest—and most powerful—arts in the shinobi world.
Given the chance, there was no way he would let it slip by.