Sorry for the delay in updates, I'm feeling a bit under the weather. It doesn't help that the weather in the city where I live is very hot. I still don't have air conditioning at home, so I have to endure this heat. Blame the guy who didn't come to install the air conditioner I bought. I'll see if things improve for me in the next few days, and then I can go back to writing daily. Maybe I'll try to write some extra chapters to make up for it.

***

After having lunch together, the two returned home to find Shizune awake. As soon as she saw the two together, she jumped in joy and hugged them both, happy.

"Yujin! I thought I wouldn't see you anymore."

It's been a few days since she saw Yujin, and it was hard for the girl. Tsunade explained that there would be days like this, where they wouldn't see each other, but the girl still felt sad.

As intelligent as she was, she commented to Tsunade on how she should make amends with Yujin. Although Tsunade tried her best to explain that they hadn't fought, the girl didn't believe it.

Seeing the two together, however, she was satisfied, blindly believing that they had made amends.

Yujin smiled to see how happy she was and felt a little guilty for staying away. He had a reason, but that reason didn't prevent him from visiting the girl.

"Of course not. We're friends, how could I abandon you?"

Shizune gave a broad smile and then commented as she blinked her beautiful eyes.

"I would prefer if you were my dad."

Yujin smiled at hearing this, ignoring the strange reaction Tsunade had, and gently stroked her head.

"I would also like to have a beautiful and intelligent girl like you as my daughter. Let's see, in the future, how it will be."

Shizune gave a broad smile, and Yujin smiled too. He knew how intelligent the girl was, so he understood why she said that. He understood her mindset. She didn't want to be separated from Yujin, and the few days they spent apart made her afraid that this would happen in the future. Therefore, the girl was trying to play the role of matchmaker, which was amusing.

"Why in the future? Why can't you be my dad now?"

Yujin almost rolled his eyes. He could see the cunning sparkle in the girl's eyes, so he patiently explained.

"I also want to be your dad, but we can't force these things. Don't worry. In the future, I will work hard so that you become my daughter, I promise."

Shizune briefly looked between Tsunade, who was red as a tomato, and Yujin, who was smiling gracefully. Finally, she accepted and nodded.

As Shizune was hungry, the three of them left the house. They decided to take Shizune out to eat something and then stroll through the village.

After Shizune filled her little tummy with food, they simply walked around. The people knew and respected Tsunade, so many greeted her, making the walk lively. Many children, mostly girls, looked at Tsunade with admiration and shouted her name from afar.

The attention the villagers gave to Tsunade impressed both Yujin and Shizune again.

They strolled, took Shizune to play in the park, bought her some accessories, among other things.

They didn't do much more than that, but they were satisfied. Yujin could feel that, although Tsunade was more confident after what he said, she was still quite worried, and therefore needed to relax.

As it was getting dark, the three had another meal together and returned home.

Shizune went to bed, and Tsunade brought sake for them to drink. Yujin watched all this with a smile on his face, thinking about how good it would be if this life with the two of them were permanent.

"You have a silly smile on your face."

Tsunade commented when she saw him smiling without saying anything. She could feel how happy he was, and that feeling infected her, a smile on her face too.

"I'm happy, plain and simple."

Yujin poured some sake and began to drink quietly, thinking about the day he spent with Tsunade and Shizune.

"We can't drink too much today. In a few hours, it will be the ritual."

Seeing him drinking in silence, she commented and also poured some for herself to drink. Even though she was happy and satisfied with how the day went, Mito's situation wouldn't leave her mind. Seeing her worried again, Yujin sighed and thought about how difficult this situation was for her to deal with.

"Yes... Do you think the village will be attacked?"

Mito had already mentioned to him before the possibility of external threats, and he kept that in mind. He didn't know how powerful the Leaf Village was, so he was ready to help in case of an invasion. When Tsunade heard the question, the concern vanished, replaced by a coldness in her eyes.

"I don't think, I'm sure. Somehow, Kumo got information about the ritual and they plan to disrupt it. The village is being watched, and there are reports of Kumo troops approaching the village. We don't know how much force Kumo will employ in this attack, but if the Third Raikage shows up, it will be a tough fight. That guy is a monster."

Tsunade had access to advanced intelligence reports, so she knew how powerful the Third Raikage was. Not even Hiruzen guaranteed a victory against him, making the attack really dangerous.

"I've only recovered 60% of my strength in the past few days. By the time of the ritual, maybe only 70% at most, and that's it."

Yujin realized something today. The Chakra in his body was trying to match his Qi, something he no longer doubted. But the closer the Chakra was to his Qi, the slower the process was becoming, which didn't make much sense to him.

It was close, the difference wasn't large, but the Chakra was growing very slowly. One thing to note, however, was that Yujin's Qi reserves were constantly growing thanks to his status as a Grandmaster.

His body pores were open, receptive to natural Qi, constantly increasing his reserves. When he realized this, he understood that maybe because of this, the Chakra couldn't match the speed of growth.

It was as if the Chakra was constantly measuring the size of his Qi reserves, and as the reserves increased every passing second, the Chakra couldn't match the growth rate.

When he realized this, he sealed all the pores of his body, and noticed a rapid increase in Chakra reserves. In another two days, the Chakra would be completely matched, and in another two weeks, he would regain the muscle mass he lost, returning to his peak strength.

Because of this, every second, Yujin was feeling the improvement of his condition, and he felt that, by the time of the ritual, he would be 70% recovered.

"And how strong is 70% of your peak?"

Tsunade was interested in Yujin's strength; she had never seen him fight, but she could feel that he would be a formidable opponent. Unfortunately, she didn't know exactly how strong he was.

"I don't know, I have nothing to compare in this world, honestly."

She then put her hand on her chin and thought for a moment. She wanted to fight Yujin to understand his strength, but she felt that if they went too far and got hurt, it would be bad for the ritual.

"And with the Grandmasters in your world? How do you compare?"

Yujin thought for a moment, remembering what he knew about the other Grandmasters. There were hundreds, and all were ridiculously strong and famous.

"Well... I haven't fought many Grandmasters, so it's hard to say. But in terms of combat potential, for example, I surpassed my master a few years ago. When we fought last, I won most of the time. The times I lost were always due to lack of combat experience, something I don't have much honestly."

Tsunade raised her eyebrows upon hearing this, but still didn't understand what that meant. She didn't know how strong his master was.

"And how strong is your master?"

Yujin was speechless at the question; he really couldn't answer. His master wasn't exactly famous. The only thing he knew was that in the Yin-Yang Harmony school, there were seven Grandmasters, including Yujin, and Yujin's master was the third strongest, which would place Yujin between the second and third strongest.

There wasn't exactly a ranking outside of martial arts schools; there were only vague comparisons made by some people based on some fights.

After all, martial arts go far beyond simple strength.