Lava Release and Boil Release were Terumi Mei's unique bloodline limits.
Because of their extremely strong lethality, they had long been an important reliance for her to establish and stabilize her position in Kirigakure.
But in the past two years, these two extremely destructive bloodline limits, she hadn't seriously used them in battle against other people for a long time, and she rarely even displayed them to the outside world.
Or rather, after her special development, she had cleverly applied them to another battlefield.
Because during battles with Aoba, with the combination of these two special bloodline limits, they could often produce a special attack effect on him.
Killing him until he threw away his armor and helmet, crying out repeatedly.
Just like right now.
Terumi Mei wiped, then looked down at Aoba from above, and let out a slightly proud snort.
"Hmph! Now you know how powerful I am, right?"
Hearing this, Aoba couldn't help letting out a long breath. The expression on his face was full of aftertaste as he sincerely praised,
"Mei-nee, your Lava Release and Boil Release are really getting more and more powerful."
"Hmph!"
Hearing that, Terumi Mei snorted with satisfaction again, then lay down in his arms.
With daily practice and real combat, how could it not become powerful?
"I'm exhausted. Hurry and take me to wash up. Once I'm clean I'm going to sleep."
Aoba paused slightly, "Mei-nee, have you eaten dinner?"
When he arrived earlier she had still been working in the office, and then they had gone at it until now. She probably hadn't eaten dinner yet.
Terumi Mei rolled her eyes at him irritably, "I already ate just now."
"Mm… alright then."
Since she said that, Aoba let it go.
With one hand hooking behind her knees and the other supporting the back of her neck,
Terumi Mei cooperated by stretching out her arms and wrapping them around Aoba's neck.
Then Aoba gently lifted her, carrying her in a princess carry toward the bathroom.
But after washing for a while, he realized something wasn't getting clean.
A moment later, another beautiful melody began to play in the bathroom.
By the time Aoba carried the soft and limp Terumi Mei back to the bed, he didn't leave immediately.
Although she said she had already eaten, it felt like there might have been a bit of stubbornness mixed in there. So before leaving, he went and prepared a table full of rich dinner dishes.
After using a dojutsu to keep them warm, he finally left.
That way whenever Terumi Mei got hungry, she could get up and eat.
———
Leaving Kirigakure feeling refreshed, the next destination was Sunagakure.
Gaara was also working in the office.
'This one is a real workaholic.'
Even if Terumi Mei and Kurotsuchi worked overtime, they wouldn't do it for very long, at most just working past dinner time.
But Gaara was different. When Aoba came to Sunagakure with Temari once before, it was said that Gaara even slept in the office every day.
When Aoba arrived, Gaara was initially a little surprised.
But after hearing what he had to say, he actually calmed down.
As for merging Sunagakure into Konoha, Aoba actually didn't even need to discuss it with him. After all, ever since the Chūnin Exams back then, Sunagakure had practically already belonged to Konoha.
Aoba had first subdued them with strength, and then in the past two years he had made them sincerely convinced through the changes in Sunagakure.
Joining Konoha now was basically just a matter of changing their forehead protectors.
Coming here in the middle of the night just to inform him was already giving plenty of face.
Compared to that matter, what Gaara cared about more was actually the timing of the Five Kage Summit.
This was one of the rare opportunities for him to go to Konoha with a proper reason and still have time he could freely control.
When the time came, if he also brought Kankuro along, the three siblings could finally reunite after a long time.
It wasn't that Aoba didn't allow Temari to come to Sunagakure. In fact, whenever Temari wanted to come, Aoba would bring her over.
But the problem was that Gaara didn't have that much free time.
Every time Temari came back, the two of them basically just met briefly before both had to throw themselves back into work.
Gaara wasn't regretting taking this position, of course. On the contrary, it was precisely because he valued it that much. It was just that the other people were difficult to rely on, so he had to handle everything personally.
He truly envied Aoba as Hokage. Even after also becoming the Daimyo of the Land of Fire, he could still live so easily.
Before, Gaara had even considered forming an entire secretary team.
Of course, the proper kind that helped handle official work.
However, when he tried to imitate Konoha's method and had people select suitable talents from the ninjas and civilians of Sunagakure, he discovered that not only were there almost no suitable candidates, there were barely even people with education.
After all, in the past Sunagakure had struggled just to eat enough food. Ninjas only learned how to fight and kill. Normal education simply couldn't be carried out.
Even he himself, the Kazekage, had only become qualified after being guided by Granny Chiyo for a long period of time.
Although living standards had improved a lot in the past few years with Konoha's help, talent couldn't be cultivated in just a year or two.
Konoha could do this because the Ninja Academy's education was extremely comprehensive and covered a wide range of people.
And Aoba was also the Daimyo of the Land of Fire.
But speaking of it, Granny Chiyo actually had the ability to help Gaara share some of the work.
It was just that she was already over seventy years old. After guiding Gaara for nearly a year, all she wanted now was to retire and live a leisurely life.
But since Gaara would be going to Konoha to attend the Five Kage Summit this time, someone still needed to sit in the Kazekage building in Sunagakure. That provided a proper reason for Granny Chiyo to temporarily take over for a couple of days.
There was no helping it. Granny Chiyo would just have to suffer a little more.
After explaining the arrangements for the Five Kage Summit, Aoba saw that Gaara had no objections and didn't plan to stay any longer.
After all, Gaara wasn't his girlfriend. As long as he told him the matter, that was enough. Rather than staying here, it would be better to head back early.
———
When Aoba returned home, the scene in front of him left him a bit confused.
The people were still the same people.
They were chatting lively and harmoniously together.
Actually, that wasn't quite right. There were quite a few more people.
But the extra ones should all be Karin's shadow clones.
They were currently helping Yugao, Konan, and the others by massaging their shoulders and legs.
'Hm?'
'Why are there shadow clones that has even taken my spot?'
'Ahem! Now wasn't the time to think about that. I should first figure out what exactly is going on.'
He couldn't allow anything like bullying the weak to happen in this household.
Of course, Yugao and Konan probably wouldn't bully Karin anyway.
"Karin… what are you doing?"
"Eh?"
The several Karins who had been concentrating on their work all trembled at the same time, then looked up at him together.
"A-Aoba-nii?"
These little Karins, after being stunned for a brief moment, all turned red at the same time.
"… "
How should he put it… the scene was a bit strange.
"So, what exactly is going on here?"
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