Night.
In Yagyu's family dining room, a table full of delicious dishes had been prepared.
The invited guests were Yagyu's future father-in-law and mother-in-law, Yamanaka Inoichi and his wife, along with Ino, who had just returned from a mission.
They sat beside the table.
Yagyu and his mother were also seated there.
As glasses clinked and food was passed around, the future family members chatted and laughed happily while eating.
There was no rule about remaining silent while eating.
Yagyu's mother and Ino's mother chatted together.
One loved reading, the other loved gardening.
Both were refined women with good upbringing, so naturally they had plenty to talk about.
Yamanaka Inoichi held a small flask of sake and leisurely drank by himself.
Meanwhile, Yagyu whispered quietly with Ino.
The scene
Was extremely warm and harmonious.
…
After dinner,
Yagyu's mother, Ino, and Ino's mother began chatting about topics they enjoyed.
As the only man in the Yagyu household,
Yagyu accompanied Inoichi and sat on the corridor of the courtyard, chatting together.
"A few days ago, I heard from Kurenai that you and Anko went on a B-rank tracking mission."
Taking a sip of sake, Inoichi asked,
"How was your first high-level mission? Were you able to adapt to it?"
His tone clearly showed the concern of an elder toward a younger generation.
Counting the years,
Six years had already passed.
Although Inoichi still got irritated whenever he saw Yagyu and Ino being affectionate,
Deep down he had already acknowledged Yagyu as his future son-in-law.
Because Yagyu was truly perfect.
He possessed extraordinary talent,
And that talent had already been transformed into real strength.
Moreover, he was the final disciple personally accepted by the Third Hokage and had inherited the Will of Fire.
He was very likely to become the next Hokage.
Over the past six years, Yagyu's kindness toward Ino had also been obvious to everyone.
So whether it was talent, strength, status, or most importantly character,
Yagyu was an impeccable choice for a son-in-law.
Of course,
There were some things that were never openly discussed.
If Ino married Yagyu, the benefits it would bring to the Yamanaka Clan were obvious.
But neither side would bring it up.
Because there was no need.
Returning to the topic.
Hearing Inoichi's question, Yagyu nodded.
"It was alright. This mission originally wasn't dangerous… even though the target was tracking the whereabouts of an S-rank rogue ninja, Uchiha Itachi, there shouldn't have been much danger."
When he heard the name of the target,
Inoichi's pupils shrank slightly.
He looked at Yagyu.
"Who did you say you were tracking?"
Yagyu answered again.
"Uchiha Itachi."
After a pause, he continued,
"The S-rank rogue ninja who slaughtered the Uchiha clan. We received intelligence that he was spotted in the Land of Birds. Because the situation developed suddenly, Anko accepted the mission immediately."
Inoichi's expression became slightly awkward.
Then he spoke.
"The information about Uchiha Itachi… was extracted by me from the mind of a spy ninja."
In that instant,
Yagyu looked at Inoichi with a slightly resentful expression.
Damn.
Case solved.
The person responsible for that troublesome mission
Was actually his future father-in-law.
Yagyu almost felt like his mind was breaking apart.
That mission had nearly ended his life.
He had almost fought three Kage-level opponents at once with only Elite Jonin-level strength.
Impressive?
Yes.
But Yagyu absolutely did not want to experience that again.
Because it had been extremely difficult.
"Ahem."
Being stared at like that, Inoichi coughed awkwardly and changed the subject.
"You said earlier that there shouldn't have been danger. Does that mean something unexpected happened during the mission? That shouldn't be the case. When we evaluated the intelligence, we believed there was only a thirty percent chance it was true. Why would there be danger?"
As he spoke,
Inoichi's expression became serious.
In an instant he began considering many possibilities.
For example,
Someone leaking Yagyu and Anko's information and setting up an ambush.
It was not that Inoichi was overthinking.
As someone close to the Hokage, he knew far too many things.
Looking at Inoichi's expression,
Yagyu roughly understood what he was thinking.
"That's not the case, Uncle Inoichi."
Taking a sip of juice, Yagyu said helplessly,
"The danger we encountered during this mission was purely accidental. Shortly after we arrived in the Land of Birds, we ran directly into Uchiha Itachi and his teammates on the road."
Under Inoichi's bewildered and strange expression,
Yagyu slowly explained the entire course of the mission.
He did not intend to hide anything from Inoichi.
After all, this was his future father-in-law.
Since the man had personally asked, explaining the situation even if it bent the rules slightly was not a problem.
Even if the Third Hokage found out later, he would not say anything.
After listening to the full explanation,
Inoichi remained silent for a long time.
After taking another sip of sake, he finally spoke.
"Your luck is truly difficult to describe. Although your plan succeeded and your performance was impressive, it was still far too risky. Next time you execute a mission, you must be more cautious and steady."
Their luck really was unbelievable.
Was it good luck?
They encountered enemies they could not defeat.
Was it bad luck?
They ended up locating the primary target of the mission directly.
As for Yagyu's approach when facing Itachi and the others,
In Inoichi's opinion, it had indeed been brilliant.
But it was also far too bold.
One small mistake would have led to total disaster.
That was why
He warned Yagyu to be more cautious in future missions.
Facing the advice of an elder,
Yagyu nodded slightly.
"I understand, Uncle Inoichi. Please don't worry. I still want to marry Ino and live a happy life with her. I definitely won't throw away my life so easily."
Inoichi had been quite satisfied listening to the earlier part.
But the latter part immediately darkened his face.
He silently drank his sake.
Just thinking about how his precious daughter would one day marry this brat made him feel unhappy.
Seeing Inoichi's reaction,
Yagyu simply smiled and did not take it too seriously.
A typical daughter-obsessed father.
He understood it.
If Yagyu had a daughter in the future,
He would probably be even worse than Inoichi.
But understanding was one thing.
He was definitely going to marry Ino.
…
In his room.
Lying on the soft bed, Yagyu's eyes were deep in thought.
"It won't be long now. The Chunin Exams will begin soon. After the Konoha Crush Plan, Konoha will welcome a new Hokage…"
At that moment,
A decision that had remained unanswered for many years finally formed in Yagyu's heart.
The Third Hokage was already old.
Rather than letting such a heroic ninja slowly fade away,
It would be better for his life
To burn with one final flame.
When Orochimaru launched the Konoha Crush Plan,
Aside from targeting Uchiha Sasuke,
He likely had this thought in mind as well.
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